Tag: economy

Saturday’s Theme Music

It’s Saturday, January 31, 2026. Almost time to close the books on 2026’s first month.

Colder air returned to Ashland as last night’s temps found the mid-thirties. We’re already close to our high now, 57 F. This remains a hell of a lot better than places like Pennsylvania, where my sister told me it was 9 degrees F during our text exchange.

It’s still a dry winter for us in Ashland. Mt. Ashland, our local ski resort, is closed due to a lack of snow. Even snow machines couldn’t create the needed conditions. That doesn’t spell good news for our local tourism, and that ripples out to employment and the economy.

Our local economy is already suffering with tourism and college enrollment down, utility prices up, and wheat exports cratered. Southern Oregon wheat farmers had a bad 2025 as fertilizer prices jumped and wheat prices fell. It can take years to recover from setbacks like these for farmers, and right now, the Trump solution is a handout. Long term solutions aren’t being addressed. It feels like we’re dying from a thousand cuts.

As American states dig out from Winter Storm Fern’s effects, I’m watching for the Trump Effect (TE). The TE is the combination of unforeseen circumstances brought on by short-sighted decisions and the Trump philosophy. Short-sighted decisions were witnessed when Trump unleashed Elon Musk and DOGE last year. Firing people and breaking systems, the Trump Administration then needed to rehire people to come back and fix things — or train people to replace them.

The Trump philosophy (TP) is about the Federal government’s cutback on services and assistance given to states. For example, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agent (MEMA) said the Trump administration announced the disaster assistance threshold for Mississippi was increased from $5.5 million to $22 million. That leaves a gap that MEMA doesn’t think it can cover.

As with everything — deep breath — we’ll see.

Trying to raise my spirits, Papi the ginger wonder and I played this morning, a game of chase with a laser pointer. Papi endured it for about 2.25 minutes but during that time, he was a wild thing. Watching him, Les Neurons popped “Gimme Dat Ding” by the Pipkins, a 1970 novelty song. It was perfect for Papi’s red dot pursuit — “Gimme dat! Gimme dat!”

Hope you have a comfortable day wherever you are, no matter the season, and that peace and grace come along with some props. Cheers

5

Friday’s Theme Music

Ashland settles into Friday, January 30, 2026, with a long sigh of clouds. 46 F now, we don’t expect it to get much hotter or colder. We’re still looking for our first winter snow.

In other U.S. regions, snow and ice remain big problems. Power outages continue, communities are digging out, but more snow is on the way in several places.

Turning to political ICE, ICE remains a problem for too many as another ICE detainee’s January death was a homicide. Add Geraldo Lunas Campos to the list of deaths beside Keith Porter, Renee Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti.

A new story highlights that ICE is converting warehouses and industrial buildings located by 23 towns around the United States. Each is expected hold thousands. Concerns emerge about the conditions of those buildings and the impact on local fresh water supplies. The Trump ICE team plows on regardless of worries that We the People express. Trump is in charge, and ICE is going to remind you, it’s the Trump way or else.

These new Trump ICE facilities are in addition to existing facilities.

Trump was called out for lying — again. The subject was California and Walmart. Trump claimed that California’s minimum wage was too much for WalMart, and WalMart was closing stores. Trump stated that California’s minimum wage is $22 per hour but it’s $16.90, except for fast-food workers, paid $20 per hour.

Trump claimed WalMart was closing 250 California stores. “This isn’t accurate information,” an unnamed Walmart spokesperson told CNN. “In fact, we actually just recently opened a new store in California.”

CNN calls Trump’s claims ‘wildly inaccurate’. Based on Trump’s extensive catalogue as a serial liar, I think Trump’s claims can safely be declared another lie.

The Neurons have Faith No More singing “Epic” from 1990 in the morning mental music stream.

“Epic” Lyrics

Can you feel it, see it, hear it today?
If you can’t, then it doesn’t matter anyway
You will never understand it, ’cause it happens too fast
And it feels so good, it’s like walking on glass
It’s so cool, it’s so hip, it’s alright
It’s so groovy, it’s outta sight
You can touch it, smell it, taste it, so sweet
But it makes no difference ’cause it knocks you off your feet, say

The song mostly just rhymes to a heavy beat, challenging you to follow the logic. It fits as today’s theme music because following such hollow logic is how it is for me with MAGA and Trump. What’s the logic, and how does it hold?

I find many Trump and MAGA claims effectively hold up as solidly as a brown paper bag in water. Affordability and the assertion that Trump is the Peace President — and a unifier — sit at the top of the messed-up logic pyramid. MAGA and Trump both keep squirming away from the truth, but the truth is rising faster than the new Trump ballroom.

The trick at this point is not to become inured or complacent, or as worse, too weary and drained to respond. Thom Hartmann wrote about the dangers, and Jill Dennison shared it for us. A good read, it’s a necessary reinforcement, this is not the end or beginning; we’re in the middle.

I hope peace and grace finds you and keeps you warm, safe, strong, and healthy — today and every day. Cheers

1

Saturday’s Theme Music

Today is January 24, 2026.

Saturday came to Ashland dressed in the same weather that Friday wore. Coldish but clear, with sources reporting 36 to 46 degrees F in Ashland, with blue skies. We no longer have a stagnant air advisory and the high will be in the 50s.

As I watch the storm developing in the eastern U.S., I realize that I’ve taken on a new life as a tracker. My tracking life is an old life, but just freshly understood — tracking weather, prices, people’s health along with their moods and situations, and politics.

Sis reports what’s up with Mom, which is mostly moods and mental issues. The truth is, Mom’s issues made co-existing with her a struggle, no matter who it is. A sad trend, sure, but we’ve seen this happening for years. When her boyfriend, Frank, was alive, she complained about him, accusing the 95-year-old of being mean, cheating on her, and secretly plotting and planning unnamed things.

Mom’s prescriptions and credit cards are now the issue. Mom insists she doesn’t have a co-pay; she does until she maxes her deductible. Her credit card was blocked because Frank’s name was on it, too, and his family tried closing it. Sis reports daily rounds about the co-pay and credit cards. Mom is furious with sis because sis argues back and has the receipts, which shows what’s going on. Mom ends with telling sis that sis is being mean — just as Mom used to say about Frank.

As for politics…

Trump requires heavy tracking energy, as that meme shows. His logic defies logic, his history defies history, and his facts defy the truth. That shifts heavy lifting to those aware of these things — tracking them. We know the real story when he says that prescription drugs will be 1,000% (or more) lower or that he’s stopped hundreds of wars and saved millions of lives. We live the truth that the economy and the deficit are not rosy, as he declares.

The Davos show was interesting. According to some reports, he was expected to make an announcement about using 401(k)s to buy houses. But he never mentioned that, instead focusing on himself and disparaging the rest of the world, particularly our allies. Speaking in Switzerland, he said that we’d all be speaking German, if not for the United States, another testament to his vast wasteland of broken understanding.

So much of this places me in a waiting stage, waiting to see what happens with Mom, the economy, politics, the weather, and our life. I’d selected “Wind of Change” by the Scorpions as today’s theme music. It plays in my morning mental music stream, an homage to Francis Buchholz, the group’s bassist who recently died. Written in the USSR during perestroika, the song reflects the sense of change in the nation as realization arrived, the cold war is ending.

Look at the song’s lyrics:

The world is closing in, and did you ever think
That we could be so close like brothers?
The future’s in the air, I can feel it everywhere
I’m blowing with the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change

It’s about moods, expectations, and how they impact us. That’s why I think it perfect for today.

Stay warm, be safe, and keep tracking what matters to you. May the day bring you grace and peace. Cheers

2

Friday’s Theme Music

It’s Friday, January 23, 2026. Eight more days, and 2026’s first month is done.

Ashland’s weather is again blue sky, sunshine, and 36 to 46 degrees F, with stagnant air. I guess the weather isn’t into changing much around here.

Reading of the advance of that big winter storm smothering the eastern U.S., I’m happy with my weather today. Snow, ice, freezing rain, sleet, and record cold temperatures are aligned to strike. All of you in that weather’s path, take care and hang on.

Tell me you don’t know the difference between weather and climate without telling me

It’s sad that people like Donald Trump don’t understand the difference between weather and climate. I don’t think it’s a failure of education as much as it’s lazy thinking. As they say, weather is your mood today; climate is your personality.

I’d like to insert a courtesy reminder that today is a Day of Truth and Justice. This is to remind us that an ICE agent killed a person, Renee Good, earlier this month. Since then, ICE has increased its presence and violence in Minnesota.

While official-sounding reasons about immigration sweeps are announced, the primary reason seems to be retaliation. That explanation fits with the pattern to date under Trump 47. Minnesota is blue and Donald Trump is levying vengeance on any state that he didn’t carry, in much the same way that he’s trying to bully other nations to do whatever he thinks is best.

To counter Trump’s tactics and strategy, a general boycott to support Minnesota and those suffering from ICE’s attacks on Americans is in effect today, January 23, 2026. If you care, don’t buy, please.

For me, that means staying at home to write and not spending any money for anything past what’s already committed for health, safety, and security, such as electricity and water.

The Neurons inserted a song by The Smiths in the morning mental music stream, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. The trigger for the song’s recall was, “Why do I give valuable time to people who don’t care if I live or die?”

I believe it’s a general reflection that many of us are trying to improve everyone’s life. That includes some people who don’t care about others living or dying. Some even have expressed it online with lines like, “Die Liberal Scum”. It’s enough to make you wonder, as The Smiths did.

My hope for you today is that you’re safe, healthy, and warm. Happy would be nice, too, if it can be managed. For now, I’ll accept coffee. Cheers

1

Trump 2026: Chaos, Tariffs, and Presidential Whims

Recent Trump actions and behavior have me rolling my eyes.

First, congratulations to Trump for finally releasing a healthcare ‘plan’.

After ten years of promises, it underwhelms. Trump believes that giving money directly to taxpayers so they can ‘make their own decisions’ will make healthcare cheaper and more effective. The White House has declared this as a framework and urges Congress to take it up.

How much Trump’s healthcare idea will help is unknown, but —

  • The plan lacks implementation detail and is light on issues such as rising costs or coverage gaps
  • Potential impacts on revenue streams due to additional administrative and bureaucratic costs must be a concern
  • Uncertainty about its legislative prospects loom as midterm elections draw near
  • The competitive, heavily regulated nature of the industry means oversight will be needed, and that is opaque
  • His proposal might help where healthcare is well established, like cities, but not in rural areas where options are limited
  • Trump’s Inspector General purge of 2025 included HHS, handicapping the oversight mechanisms which already existed

As misdirection, Trump’s plan helps shift attention from unfavorable facts, like less than one percent of the Epstein files has been released, and ICE is increasingly unpopular with voters.

Trump’s second move is another emerging from the swollen perception he has of his intelligence, acumen, influence, and his abuse of what patriotism is.

A man who never served in the Army or Navy, who played football briefly as a teenager, Trump wants to dedicate one Saturday’s four-hour window to have only the Army-Navy college football game televised. To make that happen, Trump, professing he’s being patriotic, declares he’ll sign an executive order to make it happen.

I think if he wants to be patriotic, he’ll let Congress pass laws about things like that, according to what We the People want. Trump’s move is all about indulging his own whims as a barometer of what’s best. With all that’s wrong with the world, presidential oversight of college football television scheduling is completely unneeded.

Playing for the trifecta, Trump tied two favorites together, tariffs and Greenland, in one quick chop. Frustrated by other nations rallying around Greenland to stymy Trump’s plans, Trump declared tariffs on eight nations — all allies — to coerce them into ‘giving’ Greenland to the United States.

I can’t comprehend how taxing Americans and reducing product availability will force those nations to ‘give’ away Greenland. Never mind that Greenland belongs to one nation, Denmark. He wants other nations to do his dirty work and convince Denmark to give up Greenland, which Denmark and Greenland consistently reject.

Trump’s new tariffs fly against the trade agreements he’d just completed with these EU nations regarding tariffs, reducing their trust of the United States. Trump earned himself the nickname TACO — Trump Always Chickening Out — for the manner he rolled out and rescinded tariffs in 2026. Economists and CEOs often cited the resulting chaos from Trump’s practice for business uncertainty and confusion.

Trump still doesn’t get that We the People often end up paying the tariffs and rising prices result, directly impacting affordability.

Prices will likely increase, if Trump follows through with these new tariffs. Congress is talking about intervening, but the established pattern doesn’t bode well for any early or quick relief. The Trump Administration tends to actively resist rulings against their policies, push backs hard, and delays implementation.

With prices — like beef — already high, the stacking effect means other prices end up rising from demand. People who can’t buy beef buy chicken, for example, pushing up the demand on chicken, increasing prices.

While those EU prices might not directly drive up prices, pressures in the supply chain and indirect costs associated with them might be experienced.

Too early to say. Trump may chicken out from imposing the tariffs, or lower the tariff amounts — who knows?

I know the global markets didn’t like it, as many economists and investors worry about a trade war.

The only thing clear at this point is that 2026 is much like 2025: chaotic and uncertain.

With Trump still calling the shots, I expect it to get worse.

1

Short-sighted Solutions, Complex Problems

Drew Magery lashed out on SF Gate with an arresting piece, “JD Vance is a piece of s—t”. Magery critiqued how Vance carries on the Trump practice of bending reality and spreading misinformation.

Magery’s anger is contagious, and it hardens my own frustration with what’s happening in the United States. Examining the stack of events, it seems clear that Trump uses diversions from issues like the Epstein files to maintain his base support.

To his supporters, Trump offers solutions such as capping interest rates or creating home-buying schemes. These measures address symptoms and energize a base that distrusts banks, viewing them as elitist institutions.

Yet these proposals don’t address the root causes. Low wages and the reliance on credit to cover essentials push prices up via supply and demand. Credit card debt is a symptom of the U.S.’s market-oriented economy; a simple cap might make splashy headlines, but it won’t fix it.

Likewise, Trump’s attempts to encourage homeownership are unlikely to succeed. Housing supply is limited, and that limitation stems from a complex mix of zoning, construction, labor, and infrastructure issues. Increasing mortgage availability without addressing supply may even drive prices higher, as more buyers compete for the same homes.

The situation is worsened by climate change. Extreme weather, wildfires, and prolonged drought threaten housing stability and supply across the country. Yet Trump and the GOP consistently deny climate science and oppose measures to mitigate its effects.

Returning to Magery’s critique of JD Vance, the Trump Administration’s approach is to deny facts and evade responsibility, especially when policies produce negative outcomes.

That, to me, is the nub of the problem. Trump, the GOP, and their base want quick, easy solutions to systemic problems rooted in culture and structure. Real solutions require hard work, difficult choices, and confronting uncomfortable truths — none of which will happen if people continue to ignore facts.

MAGA is fundamentally about nostalgia — “Making America Great Again.” The movement promises a return to a simpler time but refuses to confront the long-term, structural problems which actually determine outcomes. They prefer finding easy targets as scapegoats.

This creates a cycle of frustration and illusion. So long as this pattern continues, the solutions pursued will recede further from reach. Military action won’t help. Greater attacks on immigrants won’t help. Crackdowns on protestors and freedom of speech won’t help. Nor will increased polarization and divisiveness.

If this cycle continues, I wonder, when will Trump’s base accept reality, roll up their sleeves, and go to work on the hard solutions?

Judging from what I read on sites crowing about Trump’s ideas and victories, many years will stack up before that happens.

2

Thirstdaz Theme Music

Invisible fog continues to blanket Ashland. Alexa declares that it’s foggy in Ashland, 36 degrees F. I see 30 on my system and only blue sky, sunshine, and hard white frost outside. The difference between what she reports and what I see annoys me. I like things to be upfront and clear.

One other clear point is that our local snow-free winter continues. I’m not a snow fan. Yes, it can transform a landscape into a beautiful, magical white land, but problems arrive, too. It’s beautiful in the short term but melding snow often sometimes refreezes. Commutes become sloppy and hazardous. Deliveries are held up, and people run out of home supplies, and store shelves

I’ve been thinking about those invisible weather forces as I consider the skein of Trump’s affordability announcements. Trump often frames affordability as a ‘Democrat scam’ or ‘Democrat hoax’. But he’s spending a lot of time addressing it. Much of what he’s offering is splashy and excites his supporters.

What Trump offers does not provide answers, but bandages to symptoms. Root causes — low wages, high prices due to product availability, including housing supply — are untouched.

Peering out my window, thinking about the invisible forces giving me clear skies and sunshine as Alexa tells me it’s foggy, reminds me that nothing Trump is proposing will address the invisible forces driving our economic issues. Perceptions of even potential war trigger protective, ‘just in case’ behavior. Credit dries up, interest rates — including mortgages — rise, and supplies decrease.

Just as I can’t see the big picture on what goes on behind Alexa’s weather observation, Trump seems inure to the big picture behind global economics. It’s not that I’m an expert, but these are things I’ve witnessed during my life and read about in history books.

The Neurons eagerly insert “Invisible Touch” into my morning mental music stream after these early morning thoughts about invisibility. Phil Collins wrote the song, recorded and released by Genesis in 1986. A playful song, “Invisible Touch” summarizes the way another person can sometimes get under your skin in ways you can’t see, but you can feel.

Coffee is up. The first few sips are hot and fresh on my tongue. Neurons clamor for some of it, and I smile.

This is Thirstda, January 15, 2026. Time to go meet the day and find our way through its touch, invisible and otherwise. Cheers

4

Breathe

sighing

reading

thinking

restless

my mind twists and seethes

trapped

with mindless energy

about how the world

has changed

worrying

speculating

drifting

I wonder

what will come to be

roaming through memories

of hopes

history

half-remembered

dreams

darkness

spreads

across the nation

troubles

rise

around

the world

I struggle

to find the shadows

or how

we

once were

now I find

I’m frankly

a little

out of breath

I need to go somewhere

quiet

and give my brain

a rest

1

Wenzdaz Theme Music

Wenzda, January 7, 2026, has settled in for its time in the spotlight. A winter storm is supposed to be striking us. I spend time watching for signs of it.

Southern and eastern views earn sun-filled eyes. It’s a gorgeous day out there! Moving on to the west, my spirits are throttled down by a foggy, white cloud view. I’m not sure how to take these signs.

I check four weather sources, and all agree, it’s 44 degrees F out there. 45 is our projected high. The alignment between the temperature readings feels like a sign but I don’t know if it’s good or bad.

I likewise don’t know how to process the signs in the political world. Whether it’s the economy, Trump’s latest military adventures or his subtle hints he’s planning more, up is down and down is up. I tell myself, just wait. All will be clear.

Waiting is frustrating because I suspect the outcome is already too clear. For example, some thinkers believe Trump’s military overtures are being tacitly accepted by China and Russia because it provides cover for their military plans. For China, that includes attacking Taiwan. Some analysts tell us that all the signs are there but they’re mostly the same signs we’ve been noticing for a quarter century.

On top of that, I’m thinking about life in general and looking for signs that 2026 will be a better year. Questions stack up: what do I mean by ‘a better year’. Well, in general, I mean a healthier year. Less death among my friends and family and fewer GOP actions that make me fear and worry for my nation’s future. That’s the small tip of a very large iceberg in my sea of worries.

The signs and worry message permeate The Neurons’ bubble. They respond with “Signs”. The original came out in 1971 by the Five Man Electrical Band. Tesla later covered it, putting out their own release in 1990. I resisted choosing between them, giving you a Wenzda twofer.

I hope the signs for you are indicating a better life to come. How that is measured is a matter of your terms. Cheers

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