Time again to assess how the net feels about the state of the union under Trump.
As backdrop:
Trump’s Iran war is heading into week 11. Donald “No new wars” doesn’t like to call it a war except when he reminds us that we’re at war.
Republicans have asked for $1,000,000,000 for the Epstein ballroom that was begun under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Trump said the ballroom would cost $200 million and that US taxpayers wouldn’t pay for any of it.
Epstein files still aren’t fully released.
The April Jobs Report surprised everyone because jobs were added, but the 185,000 jobs were well below the jobs President Biden’s administration saw every month.
The Trade Court struck down another set of Trump tariffs.
It’s a springy 63 F in Ashland this morning. Clouds feather the sunshine effect. We’re expecting a high of 77 F and thunderstorms.
All is quiet on the Mom front. I’m privately mourning the changes and losses to her life. Don’t know what my sisters are thinking but their relationship with Mom was rockier than mine. Part of that is that I moved out early and was away for years at a time, inuring me to her chaos.
Unfortunately, we’re not inured to Trump’s chaos. Let’s call it Traos. No matter what I drink or how much, he’s still there, and the reality of what he’s doing to us gets worse with every viewing.
Now several months into Trump’s second year of his second term, certain trends have become cemented as part of his legacy.
Trump is a corrupt person, enriching himself at the expense of the country
Trump’s cabinet is inept and chaotic
Dizzy Donnie’s health is worsening and he’s hiding something
Whatever is in the Epstein files, Trump doesn’t want it found
Trump has no plan forward except to cut everything except Homeland Security and Defense, impose more tariffs, and isolate the nation
Between his lies, broken promises, failed policies, and delusions, Trump can’t be trusted
Some will say that I’m being harsh. I am. But I’m using standard benchmarks for my judgements.
Trump keeps playing ‘hide the Epstein file’
His personal wealth has grown while social services and education are being cut
The national debt is growing at a record rate and has overtaken the GNP
Prices are rising and he can only offer band aids like the $6000 tax credit for seniors that results in $720
Awakening to his grift, his approval ratings are falling, and his disapproval ratings are rising
He promised no new wars and started one
Declaring himself the unity president, he’s done more to polarize voters than any other in modern history
And as final proof of how delusional he is, he keeps ordering things renamed for himself, and planning monuments for himself, because he thinks everything is going great. The rest of the world knows, if he was worthy of monuments, we’d be proposing and building them on our own. Instead, brown nosers who like to kiss his ass are trying to find new ways of doing it.
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! still goes. No doubt trying to regain some of his mojo, Trump announced some major gun safety changes. Makes the NRA happy. That’s what’s important. *snark*
Clouds rule our valley this morning. It’s an almost unbroken sea of white and gray but thin enough to let sporadic sunshine sneak in and out. 59 F now, we’re anticipating a high of 77 today. Again.
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! has recommenced. After Trump successfully grifted Republicans in Congress into believing that Trump’s Iran War is over, Trump has turned his sights to Cuba.
To recap:
Eastern Pacific/Caribbean – killed 181 to 186 people while destroying 40 ‘drug boats’
Venezuela: abducted the nation’s president and first lady
Greenland: threatened to take it in the name of peace
Iran bombed it twice
October 2025, to ‘obliterate’ its nuclear capability
February 2025 to now, because of its nuclear threat
“In a February 2016 interview with MSNBC, Trump said the wall would go “probably 35 or 40 feet up.” The height reduction was short-lived, however. Later in the same interview he said “And I heard [Mexican President Vicente Fox] said that we will not pay. Guess what? The wall just got higher.” At rallies in early 2016, Trump repeatedly said the wall gained 10 feet everytime Mexico rejected paying for it.
“At the Republican presidential debate in March he reverted to his earlier claim that “the wall’s 50 feet high.” Later that month at a MSNBC town hall he stated the wall would be “a good 35 feet. It’s getting higher all the time” and reiterated Mexico “will pay in one form or another.” At the same town hall the price of the wall jumped to $10 billion.”
Repeat after me: you can’t believe anything that Trump claims.
Now tell me, who is going to pay for the ballroom? And how much will it cost?
Today’s theme music came as I went about lazily doing things this morning. Papi had been fed and was outside, washing, being a cat. I was lost in thought about a dream and realized, damn, time! So I told myself, “Get it together. Let’s go. Move.”
Hearing that, The Neurons hooked up with a U2 song, and delivered it to my morning mental music stream: “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”.
Sample Lyrics
You’ve got to get yourself together You’ve got stuck in a moment And you can’t get out of it
The song came out in 2001 — before 9/11. Yet it feels like a perfect summary of our political situation in the US since then, with war, Trump, the Great Recession, etc.
It feels like a moment we’re stuck in, and can’t get out.
I hope the end of today finds you better off than the start of the day, and that you can stack good days upon good days.
April is marching on. Spring is going with it in this area.
Today is sunny with a blue sky. One small cloud visible from my window when I look west. Looks like a small white bird with spread wings. A peace dove.
46 F now, our high today is predicted to be in the upper sixties. We saw 72 F at our house for several seconds yesterday. Then the sun moved on, the clouds gathered over, and the shadows cut the temp. Still, that was the formula for a pleasant day to be outside, and is a marked improvement over blizzards, monsoons, wildfires, etc.
Trump’s DOJ continues to try to pull the nation backward. They’re bringing back the firing squad. Business as usual for the ‘pro-life’ camp.
Despite it’s presence in popular culture, The Conversation notes, “Of all of America’s methods of execution, it has been least often used. From 1900 to 2010, only 35 of America’s 8,776 executions were carried out using this method, and since 1976 just three people have faced a firing squad, with the last one carried out in Utah in 2010.”
The move works for Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Headlines are full of the announcement. People like me will respond and condemn it. Many others will applaud. More importantly for Trump, there will be less news about his failures.
Trump’s long list of failures and setbacks is growing. Headlining: rising disapproval ratings. High gas prices on the cusp of May and the annual travel vacation months. A miserable war that’s dragging on into its eighth week after he said it was practically already over.
Talking out of the other side of his mouth, Trump also that the war would probably be over in five to six weeks. That time is passed. Since then, he’s whined that he needs more time and not to rush him. Then, in a really stupid move, he invoked how long the United States military was in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, wars which Americans would rather move on from.
Yet, the Epstein file is still out there, shadowing every move Trump makes, echoing through every word, flowing through every decision.
That clock is still ticking, and he hears it.
Your Donald Trump quote of the day:
From Factually: “Former President Donald Trump cherry-picked these statistics. Although some stations are charging $5 to $7 a gallon, about 99.2% of U.S. gas stations are selling gasoline for less than $5 a gallon, GasBuddy.com data shows.”
It was almost as if Donald Trump was predicting the future if he won.
Today’s music comes from thinking about highs and lows. The Neurons brought out “Low” by Cracker. In a lot of ways, the drippy, loopy 1993 song doesn’t make sense.
Lyrics
A million poppies gonna make me sleep Or just one rose, it knows your name My fruit is rusting on the vine My fruit is calling from the trees
Or hey, oh, don’t you wanna go down Like some junkie cosmonaut? A million miles below their feet A million miles, a million miles
I’ll be with you, girl, like bein’ low Hey-hey-hey, like bein’ stoned I’ll be with you, girl, like bein’ low Hey-hey-hey, like bein’ stoned
A blue, blue is the sun A brown, brown’s the sky A green, green are her eyes A million miles, a million miles
Strong sunshine spreads across the valley from the east this morning. There are few clouds. The temperature is 41, the forecast calls for sunny weather, and the high end will see 67 F.
The latest move in Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! came out today.
How badly Trump’s war in Iran is going, which he declared over as soon as it began (among other things)
The 1973 War Powers Act and the 60-day limit
Upcoming 2026 midterm elections and a potential blue wave
The Strait of Hormuz and whether it’s blockaded, who is doing it, and whether ships are paying tolls, and who’s collecting it
Trump’s feud with Pope Leo XIV
Rising disapproval numbers and bad polls
The backlash to depicting himself as Jesus via AI
Labor market weakness
Exploding national debt
Low consumer confidence
Trump’s health, stumbling, and slurring
The Epstein files, and Trump’s role in Epstein’s life and crimes.
If it’s not one thing, it’s the same damn thing, over and over.
Trump did his Bible verse reading. The right-wingers predictably gushed over Trump’s bold leadership. Many of the rest of us said, “Wow, that was terrible.”
Jokes arose about whether Trump would read from the Quentin Tarentino version. While others’ Bible reading was live-streamed, Trump’s was recorded and heavily edited.
Your Trump quote for the day:
Ah, Trump math. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it.”
Sure, we have. Many con artists make outlandish claims like this, such as George C. Parker, famous for selling people ownership in the Brooklyn Bridge.
Today’s music comes from my dream side. During the dream, I kept hearing the song, “Shame on the Moon” by Bob Seger.
But the dream was about this big birthday celebration for somebody. At its end, Shirley Bassey was introduced to sing.
As I remembered the dream, The Neurons introduced a different Shirley Bassey song, “History Repeating”. The one with her and the Propellerheads from 1997 took over the morning mental music stream.
Lyrics
The word is about, there’s something evolving Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving They say the next big thing is here That the revolution’s near But to me it seems quite clear That it’s all just a little bit of history repeating
The newspapers shout – a new style is growing But it don’t know if it’s coming or going There is fashion – there is fad Some is good – some is bad And the joke is rather sad That it’s all just a little bit of history repeating
We heard from Mom. The social worker contacted her. Mom sent a chaotic text summarizing it. Basically, the social worker said that they would not be helping Mom move from the assisted living facility. Mom ended the text by asking my sister if she’ll help her move out at the end of the month.
It’s fifty shades of spring green outside. How quickly the front yard tree went from being bare to full of green leaves. I was out there working on the yard the other day and noted how bare it was and wondered when its leaves would arrive. Then the leaves were full and green on it, as though they’d been delivered via Amazon. “Your leaves are on the way and will be delivered by 3:30 PM on Wednesday.”
It’s 46 now, up from 32 F, and expected to climb to 52 F. Thunderstorms are expected tomorrow.
In fifty shades of Trump, Republicans in Congress are sticking with their leader, refusing to hold him accountable for the war in Iran. Some have compared it to Operation Poseidon Archer under President Biden. It’s messy, but there was a difference in scope, costs, and intentions. Although President Biden’s operation lasted fifteen months, his administration notified Congress before military operations were ordered and carried out. Not so with Trump, who has been operating more unilaterally, limiting how much Congress is told, and sometimes not telling them until after the fact. President Biden’s operation was also well-defined in objectives and stayed in scope. Trump’s Iran war has been much broader and general, with no clear cut stated goals. While various reasons have been stated, Trump has also threatened to destroy Iran as a nation and attack civilian targets.
Operation Poseidon Archer cost about $400 million a day, with a total of $5 billion dollars for the first year of operations. Trump’s Iran war has spent $1 billion dollars per day on average, with an estimated expense of 35 to 51 billion dollar so far. Some experts believe that Trump’s Iran war could exceed one trillion dollars.
President Biden’s Yemen strikes had a relatively contained economic effect. Trump’s Iran war has caused gas prices to soar to $7 in some states while disrupting global air travel due to airspace closures.
Trump’s war has also affected the price of fertilizer for US farmers. The Strait of Hormuz closure has restricted access to components like sulfur, which is required to manufacture phosphate fertilizers in U.S. plants. Many small farmers are facing fertilizer costs which are 30 to 40 % higher than planned. The scale of the impact on increased cost for food and consumer goods will depend on how long Trump’s Iran war lasts.
Total deaths for President Biden’s Yemen operations were estimated at 106 to 337 lives. Trump’s Iran war has claimed an estimated five to ten thousand, so far. No US military members were killed in the Yemen operation, while Trump’s war cost fifteen US military members to date.
It all added up to too much. That was enough for Les Neurons to invite the Dave Matthews Band into the morning mental music stream with “Too Much” from 1996.
I eat too much I drink too much I want too much Too much
Hey Suck it up, suck it up Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up, yeah Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up baby
Trump and his cabal tend to think in simplistic terms.
Simplest to them is “Might makes right”. They started a war in Iran predicated on having a lot of sophisticated weapons and little intelligent planning. This manifests as:
No clear objectives
No Plan B in case Plan A goes wrong
Underestimating the enemy’s strength and will
Fighting the wrong kind of war
Not anticipating collateral damage and issues
No exit plan
Part of this is because of a Trump tendency that extends throughout his administration. Trump wants people who idolize him and protects him from the truth when things aren’t going well. That’s who he hires, promotes, and keeps.
We’re seeing this in tariffs, in court cases where ICE and their tactics keep getting batted down, in energy policy, and in Iran. All of those things are not going according to plan. But because Trump resists facts and truth, he will not adjust and correct to improve the situation; he’ll keep regressing, taking a sledgehammer to hit a nail. Even now, Trump plans to send more troops to Iran and escalate the confrontation.
I read a transcript of Paul Krugman’s video this morning about the Iran War. Krugman cites many of these things in a more coherent manner. Krugman sums up the Trump era in one clean observation:
So we have this kind of real extreme, not just political extremism, but complete lack of ability to do the job, which is almost, in a sense, incompetence is a job requirement.
That’s terrifying. First, that incompetence is a job requirement. Second, that Trump supporters endorse this a good direction.
That last piece is going to make it hard to restore the United States where it’s on a path toward the future, and not the past.
We’ve come to a new 2026 Satryda.Falling on January 10, nothing in my introduction to it portends to anything significant — yet; the day is early.
46 F outside, with clouds and stagnant air planning to shuffle us into the low to mid 50s. Despite storm warnings about snow, none materialized in our town. The surrounding mountains received a chunk. As that’s where the snowbank resides, it’s reassuring that some moisture has been stocked up for the summer. More is still needed.
I’m thinking about patterns today — life, daily, political, weather. A dream inspired the initial thought flow. Then my usual consultation of temperatures, my weather cat — Papi — and the view outside intersected.
Weather shapes our lives, as does technology, relationships, and modern politics. Each day is a snapshot of the present, but we can see the past and future in it. Interpretations of those depends on which details we notice and how we apply knowledge to what we see.
More, some let themselves try to see less to force it into a preconceived framework. They work to strengthen their framework by challenging less.
Conversely, I think knowing less weakens our framework. I always fear that I’m limiting myself, that I’m chasing facts to support assumptions. I know I have biases which emerge to curtail my views.
I can see that happen in the entire spectrum of myself, whether the thoughts are about writing, fiction, sports, weather, politics, or personal relationships. All these things have their own spectrums. I move along them, and they move along me. The resulting dynamics are always complex.
I want to have a fidelity to truth, facts, honesty, and history. But it seems like we’re living in a period in which those elements are under consistent attack.
At the same time, I remind myself that I’ve never lived in another period. I can easily visualize hundreds or thousands of years ago when people struggled to understand and learn the truth and apply it to their lives, just as I’m doing now.
The more things change, the more they remain the same. That’s the essence of all of these thoughts about patterns.
Getting involved with my thoughts, The Neurons planted “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac in the mental morning music stream. The Neurons weren’t focused on the dream aspect, though; they came through with the song’s first lines.
“Well there you go again, you say you want your freedom. Well, who am I to keep you down? It’s only right that you should play the way you feel it.”
Because, you know, beyond all those facts and truths, we’re always dealing too with emotions.
Hope this Satyrda finds you safe and comfortable in your patterns, ready to move forward in positive ways. Cheers
First, happy Samhain or happy Halloween, whatever works for you.
I disagree with Jasmine Crocket. I like the humor but she’s wrong.
Trump is also progressing toward one-party authoritarian rule. When Trump briefed ‘Congress’ about his military activities, he only included Republicans.
Democrats Fume After GOP Shuts Them Out Of Briefing On Trump’s Military Strikes
“What the administration did in the last 24 hours is corrosive not only to our democracy but downright dangerous for our national security,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Thursday, warning that the move set a “troubling precedent” that had trampled on the longheld bipartisan tradition of bipartisan briefings of Congress on U.S. military activities abroad.
Tens of thousands of seats have been left empty at the three main performance venues, according to The Washington Post.
About 43 percent of tickets remain unsold according to the Post’s daily analysis of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, Concert Hall and Eisenhower Theater from Sept. 3 to Oct. 19.
New Trump administration rule bars student loan relief for public workers tied to ‘illegal’ activity
On Thursday, Oct. 30, the Education Department finalized new rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which allows people in specialized careers – such as nursing, firefighting, teaching and certain types of nonprofit work – to have their student debt canceled after 10 years of timely payments. The program was mismanaged for years until recently, when former President Joe Biden reformed it, ultimately forgiving billions of dollars in debt for more than 1 million Americans.
This topic shows Trump is now more actively and progressively deciding who is breaking the law and deciding who will be a target based on his discrimination without evidence or due process.
Specifically, the rules prevent businesses and organizations that have engaged in activities with a “substantial illegal purpose” from being eligible to participate.
Yet it’s not clear exactly what the Education Department will ultimately define as an “illegal” activity. According to the new regulations, such conduct will likely include providing support for undocumented immigrants, gender-affirming care for minors, supporting “terrorism” and aiding and abetting “illegal discrimination.”
Now some points of interest about current events from the web.
These posts reflect the lack of thinking behind the GOP and Trump’s actions and claims. This isn’t new. These are continuing trends. Trump and the GOP mouth things about the importance of law and order, how much they cherish life, children, and families, and then by their actions, they show that none of that matters. All that matters to them is money, being in control, and power.
The next one reveals so much about Trump. Trump doesn’t understand leadership, history, or Lincoln.
President Lincoln would not have been proud that the priority for the POTUS was to remodel the bathroom as millions of Americans face starvation. Of course, I’m pretty certain that President Lincoln would have been appalled that Trump is off golfing as the Epstein Government Shutdown of 2025 continues.
Yep, that’s the Trump M.O. all the way. Witness those recent talks with China. He created the problem and now he’s strutting around like he’s a genius.
This next one has special meaning to me. My brother-in-law is a MAGA with a ten-year-pin. He’s supported Trump for POTUS from go. He engaged my wife about antifa and tried to claim that it’s a national organization with elected officials, etc. She laughed and said, “You do realize that your father was antifa.”
He responded in surprise, “What?”
And she replied, “Yes, he fought in World War II, didn’t he?”
My wife’s point completely stunned my BIL. As it does with many MAGAts. They don’t understand history or choose to ignore it, and they just don’t think, preferring to parrot inane talking points.
Michael Seidel, writer 