Tag: current events

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

We’re mired in a gloomy late spring day. Dull sunshine seeps down through swollen rain clouds. 48 F now; 60 F later.

Despite this cool temperature and rain clouds, the drought is already browning the valley. A wildfire was fought and put out not too far away. The air this morning smells like the remains of a sodden bonfire.

Many of my Pittsburgh family members gathered at the youngest’s house for a BBQ. They also played Kornhole and shared social media photos of the gathering. All my sisters were there with their partners. Most of their children and grands, and their children’s partners. Some were missing, as there was a baseball tournament where they were playing. And other than my sister, the Georgia contingent was absent. Of course, Mom and Frank weren’t there in a long line of firsts we’ll encounter this year.

In Trump Iran War news, the US broke the ceasefire. That was okay, though, because it was the United States, which, under Trump, doesn’t follow the rules and norms. That generally leads to anger, reprisal, uncertainty, and confusion. We’ll see how it goes this time.

The Trump administration labeled these ‘self-defense’ strikes. Funny how self-defense is ‘needed’ when there’s a ceasefire on, and the war is over or almost over, and the US won, which are all things which Trump claimed.

The war is now into it 87th day.

The full Epstein files have not been released.

Prices are rising.

The Epstein ballroom funding is short of its need.

The Trump tariffs ruled illegal by the Roberts Court are being refunded to businesses. Consumers beginning to sue businesses to get their share of the tariff refunds.

I’m reading the novel, “James”, by Percival Everestt. James had a wonderful line:

“Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.”

That summarizes my attitude toward not just religion, but how patriotism is invoked in the US — especially by Trump — and also how I see the Constitution now often being employed.

Of course, ‘they’ do it with team and family, as well: “We’re one team!” “We’re a family!”

True when it’s useful to be true.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Today’s music comes from a glance in the bathroom mirror. I laughed at my reflection. I look less like Mom or Dad than I used to, I thought, and sort of reflected on that. (No, I am not sorry for that phrase!)

Seeing an open door, The Neurons came in with “Mirror in the Bathroom” by English Beat in the morning mental music stream. It’s such a classic 1980s sound for me. Brings flashbacks and smiles.

Lyrics:

Mirror in the bathroom, please talk free
The door is locked, just you and me

I hope for the best for you, your family, home, and region. Stay strong.

Cheers

0

Monday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, May 25, 2026.

Sunny, cloudy, dry. 60 F with 81 potentially the high. Rain is expected. The sky has that look, and the air has that skin.

It’s Memorial Day in the US, as specified by Congress in the 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act as one of the Monday holidays. The act was about creating three-day weekends for Federal employees. I recall as a youth hearing about it being promoted. They said at that time that it was for productivity; the Monday holidays would interfere less with business and the work week, and would be could for the economy because people could take mini-vacations during the three-day weekends.

My wife’s family knew it as Decoration Day. They always observed it by going to the family cemetery and cleaning up the grave markers and cemetery and decorating them with flowers.

My family always celebrated it by having cook-outs. Others call this a ‘barbeque’ or ‘barbecue’, or even grilling out. It was a day of eating, fun and games for us. For a few years, this meant going out to Keystone Lake. We’d pile into the car before 8 AM so we could beat the traffic, get good parking, and have a good picnic spot. Then full and exhausted, we’d head for home before one. Which was okay because we often had rain showers in the afternoon.

Back home, we’d have watermelon and leftovers. Mom made terrific potato salad, and fried chicken. We’d also have apple pie, chips, cookies, burgers, and hot dogs.

Now it’s just another Monday for me, another pause to look back on what was and what would never be.

I read about the rains and floods striking the eastern and southern states. Good luck and safe harbor to all of them, and the animals.

Also read that Trump is going to the hospital for some checks and dental work tomorrow. Is it part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to distract us from the war in Iran, high gas, food, and energy prices, grift, corruption, and Epstein ballroom?

It could be a ploy to gain sympathy after the latest White House shooting didn’t move the needle on Trump’s declining approval ratings.

Or, Trump could really be ill. He looks and acts the part.

This may be all three — a diabolically clever ‘weave’ by the self-professed genius to confuse us about what’s going on. The biggest problem with his weave is that he often entangles himself. Reality, lies, and fantasy fuse into a glaze of uncertainty, changing directions, and contradictory words and behavior. The truth is, his weave confuses him more than it does us.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Here, as part of Trump’s clever weave, the person who referred to himself as a unifier denigrates others with childish nicknames. That was the same speech in which he considered himself a peacemaker. This was a little while before he began blowing things up and killing people.

Trump also said in that speech that he hoped his election would bring “a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable.”

Irony is completely lost on him.

Bonus Trump Quote:

“It will be the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama Administration, which was a direct and open path to a Nuclear Weapon for Iran. No, I don’t do deals like that! President DJT.”

Yes, because that was quite a disaster. No war, no death. No rising oil prices because of a closed strait. No rising food and energy prices because of the rising oil prices. No strain on our military because of wanton bombing and ship deployments.

Oh, yeah, and they weren’t working on their nuclear program. That didn’t begin until Trump withdrew from the JCPOA.

Yep. Quite a ‘disaster’.

Today’s theme music comes from an exchange with my wife. Standard one: “How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“I slept great,” I said. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good.”

Those words awoke The Neurons. They immediately summoned John Prine to the morning mental music stream. I soon had him singing, “Pretty Good” in my head.

Hope you have a pretty good day, and a pretty good week, too.

This coffee tastes pretty good right now.

Cheers

1

Trumptoids

The new Trump phone is here! The new Trump phone is here!

Unfortunately for its buyers, many are already referring to it as overpriced junk. Perhaps it’ll find a second life on eBay.

The GOP called for a resolution to end Trump’s war in Iran. Then, realizing it might pass, they pulled it.

Tulsi Gabbard is out as DNI due to her husband’s health. Wonder if Kash and Stephen Miller can find similar reasons to resign…

I don’t wish cancer on anyone. And I wish her husband and their family well as they endure his cancer and treatment. But I am jaded and cynical, wondering if Trump’s declining popularity and continuing chaos played into Gabbard’s resignation.

And I think, ‘who made who?’ Did the current environment make me as cynical as I am, or did my thinking help create this environment?

Probably a bit of both, with a little help from my friends.

Project Epic LOOK – SQUIRREL! took an unsurprising turn this week when the Trump administration announced they’d indicted the ex-President of Cuba. Here’s a quote that had me laughing/gagging:

‘While announcing the charges, Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said President Donald Trump “will not forget its citizens.” Separately, the president said the US will make an announcement on the embargo against Cuba “pretty soon.”’

The headline in the link says:

Indictment holds accountable those who kill Americans, Blanche says

Hell, if that headline was true, ICE would be facing accountability, as they have killed Americans.

This is just more Trump theater. He’s lost approval among voters and found a way to get some love from the Cuban/American community. $1776 to service members, a slush fund for J6 insurrectionists, attacks on Iran for the war mongers…and do you see how he’s releasing women from his cabinet?

Wonder who he’s trying to win with that move.

In other news…

Read the entire article at NPR where the Trump voter says, yes, he and his wife cope with high food prices by fasting, while giving Trump an A+.

It’s frustrating to read this article. This Trump voter claims he’s a critical thinker and that’s why he voted for Trump.

Why? What was it? Was it Trump’s claim that if Kamala Harris became POTUS, we’d be at war in Iran? Was it Trump’s business bankruptcies, his multiple marriages, his failure to come through with his promises to have Mexico pay for the wall? Was it Jan 6 when Trump encouraged rioters and attempted to overturn the election? Trump’s continued lying and obsession with losing in 2020, claiming without any evidence that the election was stolen? Was it Trump’s documented 30,000 plus lies in his first four years in office?

What, what, what did this critical thinker research and think to come to his conclusion that Trump was the answer? That’s what we really want to know.

Because now this Trump voter claims that the high prices are worth it if Iran is put into its place. Yet, Trump had them worried about Kamala Harris started a war there.

Lot of critical thinking going on there…yessir…

Likewise, Donald Trump keeps making crap claims like this: President Biden had FBI agents in the Jan 6 crowd.

Those critical thinkers who support Trump overlook the fact that Trump was POTUS on Jan 6, and had been for the previous four years. How would yet to be POTUS Joe Biden have that power?

Ah, yes, the eternal MAGA boogey man: the deep state.

This is what we face. Fact-adverse Trump supporters who turn away from everything he does that goes against what he said he’d do.

No new wars.

A unifier.

Drain the swamp.

How many more years will it take for them to learn?

Well, that question assumes that they CAN — or that they want to.

4

Sunday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — May 24, 2026.

Home again, home again…

Papi was as pleased as he ever shows himself to be when we opened the back door and called his name. Standing, stretching, he paused to wash, then began to trot towards us, then stopped to stretch, and finally walked over, sat down, washed, and looked up: “Oh. Hi. Didn’t see you there.”

Good to see him.

56 degrees F here, roaring power lawn equipment has replaced the sounds of surf. There’s no beach to ponder, no waves to assess and admire, no fresh ocean air to breath, no ‘sea breeze’ to battle as I walk.

Bummer. It’ll be 85 and dry here…

One thing that struck us yesterday coming home was how empty the roads were. Motor homes were especially absent, but in general, it was light traffic to moderate traffic. Long stretches of secondary roads were driven where we met no other cars, followed no vehicles, and had nothing in our mirrors. It did not seem like the holiday traffic — or even the coastal traffic — we’ve encountered in previous years.

Gina, my younger sister, makes progress selling Mom’s possessions: $530 has been realized. The dining room table, chairs, hutch and sideboard are gone. Gina is wheeling and dealing. Someone shows interest, she reaches out, negotiates, shows them what else is available. More prospective buyers are coming by tomorrow. Vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, and polishing is underway. Our oldest sister is driving in from Georgia to help out this week.

Trump says the US is almost close to a peace deal with Iran. Let’s add it to the list of times he said the war was over, we won, or that a deal had been negotiated before.

Iran says that they’ll control the Strait of Hormuz and that their nuclear program isn’t being discussed. They’re proposing ‘fees’ instead of tolls or taxes to use the straits.

It’s the same kind of deals we often see on the local levels when our local government wants to raise money but knows that ‘taxes’ will cause a backlash. The answer: fees. We see it with airlines, too. Security fees, handling fees, administrative fees. Not charges, not taxes, not tolls — fees. I remember once reading that Texas had no taxes but they charged fees on everything.

Besides the Golden Age of Corruption, it’s the Golden Age of Fees.

The war costing our nation a small fortune, monetarily. We also killed many people, disrupted lives, and lost military members.

Economists note that the US has been adding to its national debt at the rate of $5,000,000,000 per day since October of 2025.

In an interest coincidence, October of 2025 is when Trump demolished the White House East Wing to begin building the Epstein ballroom under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Coincidentally, Trump’s disapproval ratings continue to rise to record levels in polls.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Today’s music is by Night Ranger. The Neurons unlocked it when I was in bed this morning, remembering dreams and drifting in and out of sleep. During that fugue state, “When You Close Your Eyes” from the 1980s began playing in the morning mental music stream.

As I remembered the song, I also remembered this was one of the songs I heard while visiting Mom and family after returning from Japan on military duty. My youngest sister and I were together. The song came on the radio. She smiled wide and said, “I love this song.” *smile*

And I realized that’s why the song came into the morning mental music stream; that sister had been in my dream as a young person.

I hope this day is going well for you, and you enjoy a day of peace and grace. If you can’t have that, I hope you can at least have a good meal and some happy times.

Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Newport, Oregon coast — Saturday, May 23, 2026.

Yes, mea culpa, I typed up yesterday’s theme music as Saturday instead of Friday. Blame it on the wind. Or blame it on a conversation I was having with my wife about Saturday. Saturday got stuck on the brain like bubblegum on my shoe.

Fog set in yesterday, and then some drizzling — but the wind let up! Today, blue sky is reflected in the water in stretches, making the ocean blue instead of bland rock gray. We have a new record for number of people on the beach at once: the previous record was eleven. Today, we see seventeen, and three dogs.

With the moon still waxing and just reaching a quarter, we’ve had very low tides. Yesterday’s was so low and so far out, I walked a couple hundred yards across beach that’s usually covered by water. Not that you can tell; it’s all sand.

It’s 52 F today. 60 F is a possible high. But we’re heading south again, turning for home, Ashland. It’ll be 85 F there today. The catsitter reports that Papi is enjoying this stretch of sunshine, chillin’ in his favorite shady spaces, snoozing the day away yesterday. I look forward to seeing him but admit that I’m not overly enthusiastic about abandoning this life of leisure by the ocean. I am excited to get back to my writing routine, though. My wife tried to give space for me to write but it was erratic and problematic, if you get what I mean.

We will be stopping for breakfast for a final time at The Green Salmon. Looking forward to it!

Read this article this morning:

Court-ordered release of Trump ballroom donor deal sparks uproar

“Public Citizen sued for access to the funding contract for Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom and prevailed, resulting in the document’s release. The agreement between the White House, National Park Service, and Trust for the National Mall permits anonymous donations and omits the White House from conflict-of-interest reviews. Known donors include Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Google, and Palantir, all with significant federal contracts, and about $300 million has been raised privately to date.”

The usual suspects doing the usual grifting in the Golden Age of Corruption under Trump. Interesting to note that only $300 million has been raised to date to build the Epstein ballroom.

Trump’s Iran boondoggle has been going 84 days. Still waiting for another Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! release.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Sure, that’s why he did it. No, he’s not trying to buy loyalty from his base to use as a personal army. Nope. LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Today’s music is “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE. This came about because we were eating dessert by the ocean last night. Not cake, but lemon bars. Not caring about the details, The Neurons turned on the song last night and it remains in the morning mental music stream today.

Swedes Mattman & Robin produced the song, which is how it ended up with this title. From Wikipedia: ‘The song’s title originated from Mattman & Robin’s repeatedly confusing the phrase “sex on the beach” for “cake by the ocean”.’

Hope your day is charmed with good weather, good food, good company, and good news.

Cheers

6

Thursday’s Theme Music

Newport, Oregon — Thursday, May 21, 2026.

Fog struck. The wind’s been strong the entire visit. Today, it felt like it shifted into a higher gear, cutting through our clothing with an icy edge. 52 F in the morning, the day’s high would be 58 F, but the wind would make it feel much colder.

We checked out early, heading north just a few miles, to Newport. Here we’ll stay two more nights. A new hotel, a new view, but it’s the same ocean and Oregon coast.

Meanwhile, we stopped at our favorite coastal eatery, The Green Salmon. It’s all vegan there. After a satisfying breakfast — “Only Murders in the Building” omelet for me — we fought the wind walking on the 804 trail for ten minutes. Retreating from nature, we went north to Depoe Bay to see if any whales were hanging around. Short answer: no.

Retracing our steps, we went back down Highway 101 to Nye Beach. A bookstore popular with us, Nye Beach Book House, was no longer a business. We stopped at a bakery and shared a large frosted cinnamon roll, hot out of the oven. Then, on to our Newport hotel, Hallmark and checked in. Once we were settled in, my wife napped. I went for a walk on the beach, one mile in each direction, battered by the wind in both directions. As long as I didn’t look at the buildings overlooking the beach, I could pretend that I was an exploring, the first to walk on this stretch of land. As it was entirely empty, it was entirely believable.

Is it any wonder that The Neurons are playing “Against the Wind” in the morning mental music stream? Well, it started in the morning but it played all day. The 1980 song was a hit for Bob Seger, who wrote and performed it. It’s about looking back and thinking about the choices made. Besides the wind, being alone on that beach made this song a good companion piece because of that connection about reflecting on life.

As far as the news goes, we went without knowing anything until about an hour ago. We’re just starting to reconnect with the world again. I see that Trump’s war has now been going 82 days — longer than the four to five weeks that he once claimed.

I see that the Epstein files still aren’t released and the price of gas here is still high, as it does across the nation.

It seems like Trump is counting on his ballroom to distract us as part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Trump is now babbling about the ballroom’s roof as a drone base and snipers’ nests. Not sure why he thinks either are needed as part of Washington D.C. Maybe he’s planning to stay there, hunker down after he’s removed from the Oval Office.

I hope your day was as satisfying for you as my day was for me.

Cheers

2

What A Deal

I read about the deal between Trump’s DOJ and Trump’s IRS that Trump will drop his lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for immunity from audits.

What absolute crap.

How very un-American. So contrary to the ideals of freedom and equal, a democracy where we all answer to the law of the land.

I vaguely wondered and researched if there had ever been a precedence for this. I also wondered what Constitution originalists would have to say about it. They’re always touting what they think the founders were thinking when the government was established, talking about intentions. How will they reconcile this ‘deal’ with the founders’ intentions?

Trump is acting like a king, giving himself royal prerogatives about how the government will treat him and his crimes.

The reactions are about what we’d expect. MAGA supporters are pleased that Trump is beating the ‘deep state’. Sorry, but I’m not linking to any of those subjects.

These things are happening while Trump pretends to celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the nation he’s undermining and the policies and norms he’s betraying. It’s such a slap in the face to We the People. More troubling is that most of the Republican version of We the People are so willing to be complicit in this travesty.

A ‘modified’ Trump Quote of the Day for you:

Fascinating how the truth is encoded Trump when he projects as he does, isn’t it? It’s one of the few times he tells the truth.

Let’s say it again: no kings. Not in 1776.

Not 250 years later.

4

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Florence, Oregon coast — Tuesday, May 19, 2026.

Catsitter called to say all is well with Papi. He was sort of quizzical about his morning routine, looking around for us, not really ready to eat at first but then gave in and chowed down.

Yes, we’re still at the coast. Another day, another photo.

Temperature is 58 F for the record, not far off of the expected high of 63 F. Tide is out. It was waayyy low earlier this morning.

Other than thinking about Trump and growling about what he’s done so far, I’m not paying much attention to the news. Saw there was another shooting, along with the usual responses from the usual suspects.

It was striking to see how many police cars mobilized to the shooting site in San Diego. We could save so many lives and need far less resources like this if we’d take a sensible approach to gun ownership. Someday, someday, someday…

For music, The Neurons went with “Margaritaville.” This is a Jimmy Buffett song. The Neurons fed it to the morning mental music stream as I cruised the sand. The surf’s sound pounded my ears and the wave play was fantastic. Soooo refreshing. I had a cuppa coffee in my hand as I walked… Well, truth: I had a four shot Americano as I walked. Good stuff. *smile*

Hope you day goes as well as mine, and that our days together will grow brighter, better, and healthier.

The Pacific said to say, “Hello.’

Cheers

2

Sunday’s Theme Music — Sunday blues

Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Wet, chilly 44 degrees F. Clouds are throttling the sunshine. Rain fell overnight, a good short-term addition to keep the land wet, the plants green, and the reservoirs and cisterns full. Today’s high will be 64 F.

My news feed includes stories on an airline passenger biting a crew member, Trump threatening Boebert, and a car crashing into a crowd in California, killing people. The sad thing about these news pieces are how frequently things like this now fill my feed.

The Trump Iran War has been going 78 days.

The Ukraine-Russia War continues, despite Trump’s promise to end it day one. He later said he was being sarcastic. He also said it was harder than he thought.

The Epstein ballroom is still under construction.

The complete Epstein files have not been released, despite Trump’s promise.

Trump’s disapproval ratings continue to climb. The NYTimes compiled a list of 826 poll results. I reviewed the first pages. Only one poll of 120 showed Trump to have a positive approval rating — +2, by a Republican pollster. All the preceding polls showed polling about Trump red with disapproval.

Project Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! remains in a quiet phase. Get ready for a breakout.

Crooks & Liars shared coverage about Trump and Vance and their financial paperwork. Setting the tone for Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Trump and Vance always diligently fill their paperwork accurately and on time.

No; that’s how it’s supposed to be. But in Trump’s Golden Age of Corruption, Trump and Vance keep failing to fill paperwork on time. Other presidents haven’t had this issue, but then, other presidents weren’t buying and selling stock as Trump does. The Trump White House countered, blind trust, but a rep said, “No, we have the paperwork with Trump’s signature.”

Lies, grift, and chaos are the hallmarks of a Trump operation.

Conover Kennard wrote the C&L post, “Rules Are for Little People”. I love her final paragraph because it summarizes the law-and-order hypocrisy of the Trump operations.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here to suggest that Trump isn’t being forthcoming. Shocking, I know. Last year, Trump publicly attacked Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri for collaborating with Democrats on legislation that would have prohibited the president and vice president from trading stocks. Imagine that.“

Yeah. Imagine that.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

I’d be impressed if Trump began by making the White House crime free.

That’s not going to happen. Bolstered by the Roberts Court ruling that things Trump does as president is above the law, Trump has a different set of rules for himself. He has another set for wealthy friends and powerful people, a third set for his supporters, another set for everyone else except immigrants. Trump has a special set of rules for them, and it doesn’t include law or order, due process, or any of that other fancy US Constitution stuff.

I’m frankly disgusted with Trump’s plan to pay J6 rioters and insurrectionists. Sure, this is law and order in the MAGA mind:

  • Try to overturn the peaceful, fair, and legal elections
  • Threaten elected officials
  • Threaten and beat up law enforcement and destroy government property
  • Reward them for those crimes and behavior

That’s how upside-down Trump, the GOP, and the Roberts Court has turned the world.

Today feels like a bluesy Sunday. Sensing that, The Neurons hooked Gary Moore’s song, “Still Got the Blues (for You)” from the memory bank and began playing it in the morning mental music stream.

My hope for you is that the day works out for you with some semblance of peace, grace, and happiness. Stay strong.

Time for Operation Epic Drink Coffee.

Cheers

0

Watching the Pile Up

It’s a slow-motion crash.

From the beginning of Trump’s run for nomination, he’s made promises, and then broke them. Ignoring laws, experts, and history, he’s followed his own path. Experts warned about the consequences. History informed us about what had happened the last time the things he’s trying were tried. Laws were made to check power and ensure We the People were heard.

Trump ignored it all. The consequences are accelerating.

Trump began his term as 47 suggesting the United States should add a 51st state.

Puerto Rico? Washington, D.C.? Guam? All are natural choices, since their citizens are US citizens.

No. Trump scorned them. An advocate of states’ rights when it suits his agenda, Trump wants the Federal government to take over D.C. Says, “I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful.” You know, like the USPS is doing under him. Or any of his bankrupted businesses.

No, Trump meant Canada should be the 51st state.

Canada balked against the idea. Then they got pissed. Basically flipping the bird at Trump and the United States, Canada reacted to Trump and his threats and tariffs by withdrawing business from the US. Canada’s purchase of US alcohol has dropped 63%.

Using cell phone data, economic analysts are reporting that Canadian tourists boycotted coming to the United States for business and vacations more than is generally reported. When they did come, they stayed for less time and spent less money.

Pivoting under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump suggested Greenland would be a great 51st state.

Then, deciding that law and order meant whatever he decided it meant, Trump used the US military to kidnap Venezuela’s President and his wife. Trump later suggested, maybe Venezuela should be our new 51st state, bringing WTF frowns to many people’s faces. Many frowns deepened when he’s shifted to talking about Panama as a 51st state.

The bottom line from Trump’s rash behavior is the US lost a valuable trading ally in Canada. Canadian tourists are staying away. That’s contributing to declines in tourism to the US. Most of the money being spent on travel in the US now is by US citizens.

Meanwhile, Trump’s military has been spending so much money that they now must save money. How will they do that? Why, by cutting training. Yes, sir, nothing works better to keep the nation’s military strong and ready then cutting training! How very Trumpy logic it is.

Part of the reason why the US military is cash strapped is Trump’s war with Iran. Trump had Iran attacked in June 2025 to stop their nuclear program. Trump declared that military operation was successful.

Yet, in February of 2026, Trump had Iran attacked again. To stop their nuclear program. In April, he declared that Iran’s military was ‘decimated’.

But here we are, more than two and a half months later, with Trump threatening to attack Iran again as Operation Sledgehammer because Iran is still fighting back.

As part of Trump’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse, he created DOGE. Headed by billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE trampled constitutional norms and arbitrarily decided what was waste, never mind what Congress had decided. That campaign led to over $100,000,000 in funding for 1,400 grants to the National Endowments for the Humanities (NEH) being cancelled or terminated.

A year later, a judge has ruled what many of us said a year ago: Trump lacks the authority to cancel these grants. The people he authorized to do so employed specious reasoning when they cancelled them. That Trump and Musk worked through two twenty-year-olds without experience in grants or the humanities, people who did not bother to review the applications or grants, was just another demonstration of the Trump administration arrogance, recklessness, and due process.

NEH is expected to restore the funding. We’re waiting to see if Trump’s DOJ will appeal.

Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, was caught blatantly lying by Jen Psaki. Jen Psaki noted that Eric, a citizen entrusted with running the Trump business while his father is in the White House, went to China with Dad. Eric said it was because he was an adoring son. Psaki said it was because he was doing business with China and was on the board of Alt5. Eric denied having anything to do with Alt5 and threatened to sue Psaki and the network. Psaki pulled up the information about Eric Trump being introduced as a board member of Alt5 last year.

BTW, Eric Trump is cozying up to the Chinese to build Data Centers in the US with a Chinese chip manufacturer.

Eric, like Dozy Donnie, thought he could lie with impunity. He and Donnie both forget we’re in the information age. Fact checking is easily available if you have the time and interest.

Trump’s backward thinking is catching up with Trump and his family and supporters. It’s a slow-motion crash, but sooner or later, the tipping point will be reached and it’ll all fall over.

Many events are on the horizon which could cause the tipping point:

  • Climate change and forecasted super El Nino, with hot, dry weather extending the drought
  • The Trump Iran War, and its disruptions to the global supply change and rising prices
  • The accelerating national debt
  • More legal rulings against Trump, DOGE, Trump’s tariffs
  • A cratering economy
  • Rural healthcare hospital crises and rising insurance premiums and costs
  • Low tourism to the US with falling World Cup ticket prices and attendance
  • Trump’s worsening health and cognitive decline
  • Trump’s increasingly open corruption and grift

My question is, how bad will the fall be for the nation and its people?

2

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