Over in the Department of Defense,another endless war is going on, this time with Iran. The Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, worries about testosterone levels in the military members. Denies promotions to women and people of color.
After paving over the historic Rose Garden, Trump is paving more of the White House grounds, ignoring again that it’s not his place, but belongs to We the People.
Good. We need a gold commemorative reminder of how horrible life is becoming under Trump.
Trump and his administration do little to address the real problems facing real people. All he does is go on about how wonderful he is, whining how people cheat and persecute him.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Gonna be 95 F here again. 79 right now. Will drop tomorrow to 85, they say. We’ll see.
Happy birthday to my younger sister. A mother of two, grandmother of two, she just retired from a long and very successful career in banking, and continues to have a happy marriage after 48 years.
To the news.
Heather Cox Richardson’s letter for yesterday — July 14, 2026 — relates how the United States slowly created and built its national parks and monuments. Presidents from both parties embraced the idea of saving natural lands for people to enjoy.
Armed with Project 2025 ideas and declaring a national energy emergency, Trump has rolled back protections. Even though people love the parks and the parks bring income into the nation’s coffers and create jobs, Trump is more interested in what it can do for the timber, mining, and energy industries. Under him, the parks will be smaller and trashier than they’ve been since the 1890s.
“White House every day is looking more like a red neck garbage dump,” someone else blasted, with a fourth viewer weighing in, “Just because it’s gold doesn’t make it elegant. At some point, it starts looking less like a palace and more like a casino lobby.”
An article from TNR asked a question which many of us wonder:
Nice summation of the current mess in Trump’s war with Iran right here:
“The two New Jersey property managers Trump sent to negotiate his surrender produced a poorly written memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that captured the new power relations—Iran got nearly everything it demanded, including a $300 billion reconstruction fund, while the United States got vague promises of talks on all the issues Trump had started the war to resolve.”
Now Trump is back at it, launching attacks, still after the same objectives that he claimed to have achieved before, fighting the way he claimed to have won before.
Feels like just more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to me.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Classic Trump word weave. Little meaning, less truth, far less connection with reality.
I’m not an expert but based on experts’ opinions and history, I believe this policy will dramatically increase the costs of goods in the US, thereby increasing inflation, straining affordability and healthcare for many Americans.
Today, in honor of MAGA and Republicans, Les Neurons served up a song called “Love is Blindness”. U2 came out with it first. It was too mellow and chill for me. I prefer Jack White’s harder, more challenging edge.
Sample Lyrics:
A little death Without mourning No call And no warning Baby, a dangerous idea That almost makes sense
Love is drowning In a deep well All the secrets And no one to tell Take the money Honey Blindness
h/t to Bing.
May this day come with peace, grace, and joy for you, and gently carry you forward to the best times possible.
We’re climbing through the 70s, on our way to 90 degrees F. Sunny. Blue sky. No clouds. Supposed to be different tomorrow, with a 55% chance of rain. We will see.
We took a moment at our house to talk about Sam Niell passing. We both enjoyed his work. I was just watching him in the television “Peaky Blinders” last night.
I’ve been following numerous stories in the press that analyze what Trump says and how much of it is a lie. It’s become like a hobby for me. It takes enormous time because Trump lies frequently.
Tax cuts and spending increases have pushed current spending. The nation is expected to borrow $2T to finance the debt in 2026.
Trump still believes in magic, though, claiming he will balance the budget without doing a thing. Your Trump Quote of the Day:
I file this Trump declaration with Trump’s many other declarations, lies, and broken promises, including the one about no new wars, releasing the Epstein files, and that other one about lowering inflation.
Today’s morning mental music stream is “Sweet Lies” by Fleetwood Mac. The Neurons inform that they are playing this song for me because Trump tells sweet little lies. MAGAts and Republicans faithfully nod, agreeing with his lies. Does that make them liars by proxy?
Hope your day comes free of lies and full of joy, peace, and security.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, July 11, 2026.
65 and cloudy, it feels like a comfortable 72 outside. The temperature will rise into the high 80s today in our valley.
It seems to me like Trump has been losing mojo. Just IMO. Gas prices are rising — again, after a brief reprieve while a ceasefire was in effect — and the recession vibe remains strong. People keep talking about it and they’re not pleased.
Although Republicans ‘support’ the war with Iran, it’s not very popular. His objectives are all over the place, as is the timetable. Only the triple impacts of death, destruction, and costs are clear.
Hustling to keep power, Trump is trying distraction after distraction under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! This week, he rolled out the classic right-wing trope, ‘commies’.
Like many of Trump’s tactics, he’s going after emotional votes, and uses fear. Basic insights tell us that this shift is to attract anyone previously affected by communism, such as Cuban voters who escaped Castro. It’ll also speak directly to those cold war survivors who had the commie threat ingrained in them for decades.
Threat inflation, I believe it’s called, and it’s been used in politics forever, most recently when JD Vance and Trump made up stories about Haitians eating people’s pets.
Trump is hoping that the commie threat will distract us from the tangible and intangible expenses of his war with Iran. He also has his fingers crossed that it’ll be enough of a distraction to lower our concerns about the rising challenge of affordability in the US, extreme weather problems being fueled by climate change, his grifting, and the many other ways he’s broken promises and failed.
That emotional vibe is what keeps MAGAts riding the Trump bus.
Meanwhile, the rural hospital crises goes on. Measles outbreaks have already surpassed 2025’s total, and will get worse. Measles used to reflect the school-year cycle but now, as children attend summer camps, the spread of measles is no longer contained to the school systems as much as it was.
A new vision of Trumpland rises. The wealthy top five to ten percent enjoy life as poverty grows. People outside of the wealthy class increasingly struggle to keep up with needs — food, health, shelter, energy — or the house and health insurance to save them when things go wrong.
Emotional voters will vote for him because he says it like it is, because he speaks to their fears.Yes, that’s a little reductive; others will vote for him because ‘the Bible’ or ‘woke’. More will vote for him because ‘Merica, or ‘Republican’.
That’s what we face to bring sensible change back into the national conversation.
Today’s song came out in 1973. The ballad of the “Uneasy Rider” was by the Charlie Daniels Band — CDB. It tells the story of a long-haired person driving through the south back in the early 1970s when they have a flat tire.
While waiting for their tire to be fixed, the narrator takes refuge in a bar, where he hides his hair up under his hat. But circumstances arise when he must ‘tip his hat to a lady’. He does, revealing his long hippie hair.
Suddenly he’s nervous and in danger. In order to escape, he starts accusing one of the others of various things — playing on fears. Here’s the lyrics that tell the tale:
I bet you he’s even got a commie flag Tacked up on the wall inside of his garage” “He’s a snake in the grass, I tell you guys He may look dumb but that’s just a disguise He’s a mastermind in the ways of espionage”
We’re expecting another warm one, low 90s, with dry air. It’s 73 now. Not getting very cool at night, and doesn’t stay cool long. But these are not bad conditions. Fingers crossed that thunderstorms don’t move in and start fires.
We received bad news yesterday. Feeling ill, my brother-in-law drove himself to the hospital. Bottom line, they admitted it because his enzymes were high and he seemed to be about to have a heart attack. He’s going through a catherization as we speak. I don’t know what was blocked or any percentages involved. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up with a stent or two. He’s a great guy, a few years younger than me, and deeply loves my sister. Hoping for the best for him.
Stories are circulating that Mitch McConnell is brain dead. His office is saying otherwise. His wife, Elaine Cho (edit – not Margaret, lol), went to China, which is totally and completely rational. Many people who rush out of the country when their partner is seriously ill.
Circumstantial evidence that McConnell isn’t doing well is rising. Social media accounts being deactivated. No one going in and out of their home. His office and staff aren’t returning calls.
The US is out of the World Cup. As I’m not a fan, I shrugged. Belgium eliminated the US and then mocked Trump in their victory by using his dance. Feels a bit like karma.
As part of the celebration of our freedom, democracy, and independence, a bunch of masked white supremacists marched around D.C. Nothing like old-fashioned racism and hatred to celebrate!
Realizing instantly that it’s bad optics, folks like Laura Ingraham immediately tried to pretend it was ‘Antifa’ faking everyone out. But at least one of the took their mask away and revealed the truth.
Sitting around a short time ago, I was on Bing and typed in, “How are food prices”. Bing responded with a list of facts about what’s going on with food prices in India.
I was like, India? Okay, I feel for them but why am I getting food prices for India? Wasn’t planning to shop there anytime soon. I asked Bing, “Why am I getting food prices for India?”
It responded with a laborious explanation about India exporting rice, and how that can affect prices. I replied, “But it didn’t tell me how prices are in the US.” It then told me how I can check prices in my area.
That just triggered my WTF meter to new levels. Being older than a teenager and a regular shopper, I already have a pretty good damn idea about how to find the prices in my area. I’m not impressed with Bing’s AI and search engine.
Today’s music is “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits. The Neurons put it into the morning mental music stream as I was thinking about Trump. He’s made two billion dollars in his first year of his second term, basically by being there. And the nation picks up his golfing fees. So it’s all money for nothing and his golf for free for him.
In true Trump fashion, he made out but others riding his wave went under. His other businesses, Trump Phone and Trump shoes, are doing as well as Trump Steaks (2007), Trump University (2005-2010), and Trump Air (1989-1992). Even hawked by Lee Greenwood, Trump Bibles aren’t selling great, probably because of their impressive markup.
Trump Presidency (2025 to now) is making Trump much more money. That’s why he’s trying to game the mid-terms. Trump has never had a business that has done this well, making money for nothing.
As the song says, “That’s the way you do it. Let me tell you, them guys ain’t dumb. Maybe get a blister on your little finger. Maybe getting a blister on your thumb.”
Trump has perfected the art of getting money for nothing.
I hope you stay safe and healthy, wherever you are. Have the best day possible.
I distinctly remember other times when ‘survival’ was the prize during other times and researched to confirm I wasn’t making things up.
What is most interesting is that we went into ‘survival prizes’ whenever the nation was in a crisis, such as the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo and the 2008 recession.
We’re not supposed to be in a recession now or crisis now. Trump keeps telling us how great everything is.
Yet, economists such as Paul Krugman keep noting that people are talking about recession vibes, or ‘vibecessions’. The economy doesn’t have a ‘feel-good’ tone. Instead, what’s manifesting is a ‘feel-bad’ sense.
I have the feel-bad tingles. Although financially secure, whenever I shop for groceries these days, I experience shock about how much prices have gone up.
For instance, Ben & Jerry’s was my ice cream of choice for years. Actually, I was a froyo guy but I can no longer find it in local stores. I still look, though.
I used to get a pint of B&J froyo for under $3. We’re talking about fifteen years ago? This week, an Albertson’s was heralding a sale on B&J pints: almost $8 with a digital coupon.
I flipped. $8 for a pint of ice cream? Has the world gone insane?
It’s not all Trump, but he’s done us a lot of damages.
It started with his tariffs and his crazy insistence that We the People won’t be paying for them. Any who took basic high school history lessons knew that wasn’t true.
We see his damages when we look at the photos of the laughably cheap props created under his eye for the Great American State Farm and the empty fairgrounds. We see it when he shows us photos of tacky gold embellishments on the home of We the People.
We see it when we look at the mess Trump made of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, listening and watching as he squirms, trying to blame others for how it looks, denying what he did and its results.
We see it in the paved over historic Rose Garden and the destroyed White House East Wing. We heard it in the lies when Trump proclaimed it would cost us nothing.
He didn’t realize how much it already cost when we saw what he callously did to the property that belongs to We the People.
We hear it when Trump weaves one lie after another about why he ordered attacks on Iran, how long it would last, and what objectives he’d established and didn’t achieve.
We heard it when Trump talked about how much richer he is now after being back in the White House for over a year.
We felt it when Trump laughed and said, we’re all profiting because the stock market is up, exaggerating that it’s up 85%, because we knew that wasn’t true.
And we knew it when Trump said that he couldn’t fix inflation. We knew it when he said he didn’t care about affordability. We knew it when he said he was a peace president and began ordering attacks.
We knew it when Elon Musk and DOGE made wanton wholesale cuts to government programs established by the government through meticulous processes.
We knew it when Trump’s Congress cut subsidies to healthcare premiums. We knew it when Trump promised not to touch Medicare and then cut it in the monstrously ugly named, One Big Beautiful Bill.
We knew it when Trump’s budget was all about defense, setting a record high, telling us that we couldn’t afford childcare. We knew it when he directed that the United States build battleships, an obsolete weapon system. We knew it when Trump said it was a Trump-class battleship.
We knew it when Iran fought the US to a standstill and closed the Strait of Hormuz.
As we approach our celebration of 250 years as a nation, the feeling is not of being united and free. Nor is it a feeling of hope or patriotism.
Nor is there optimism.
It’s a feeling instead, that we’re in a mess. We’re fighting to extricate ourselves, but we’re torn about how to do it.
That’s the crises we now face, and why survival is now the prize.
Lightly rained off and on all day yesterday. We have a marbled sky today, gray and white against blue. Sunshine cuts through the clouds, darkening the mountain’s greenery with shadow islands. 56 F, our high will cut into the mid 70s. I don’t mind; give me this instead of the drought’s extreme dry and the blistering heat that usually strikes.
Gina is on the warpath, as we put it in my household growing up, a carryover from Mom and her generation and those before her. Mom called Gina with reports of theft and the lack of regular cleaning. Mom said that she’s been cleaning her own bathroom floors with wet wipes.
As the most confrontational of my family, Gina charged right in: this needs to be fixed. What’s the ‘or else’ implied? I’m not sure. It might be ‘more Gina’.
My wife got her latest ‘real ID’ yesterday. This one has the star. What will adorn them next?
Getting that for her required an appointment and a visit to the ‘big’ DMV in Medford. It was either go there or camp out at the Ashland DMV every morning and hope the Gods of Bureaucracy were kind.
She took in her birth certificate. Not the real thing, but a tattered, certified ‘photographic reproduction’ created in 1962. Much of the birth certificate’s entries were in cursive. The DMV agent, a very nice person, laughed about the struggles to read cursive, as she hasn’t had to in a while. That led to a sidebar about her children. They don’t know cursive and when she writes notes using cursive, they ask things like, “What language is that?”
That chased us into a conversation about signatures. The DMV agent said anything can be used and recognized as a ‘signature’. From further conversation, it appears that we’re basically going back to ‘making our mark’.
On the Trump side of things, my wife and I were talking about the food prices. My gosh, how they’ve gone up.
I did a search about Bessent’s claim and saw that he’s made that claim a few times the last several months. And as late as last November – 2025 – he was trying to blame Democrats for the prices. I know from Trump’s latest Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! pivot, aka the Trump Iran war, that Trump knows that prices are higher. He knows that the war is causing it.
*probably also knows his tariffs are causing them but won’t admit it because that would reveal he’s been wrong all along*
Trump, though, has pivoted. He’s not worried about high prices, affordability, or Americans’ finances, no; he’s saving us from Iranian nukes.
Ironically, of course, that was also the Bush-Cheney claim for the war against Iraq: WMD.
Yes, Trump and the GOP have dragged WMD back out of the closet. They’ve avoided using that phrase.That phrase — WMD — is loaded with baggage for US voters and the world.
It shows that in the end, Trump and the GOP only have three dimensions to their strategy: fear, distract, and cause dis-unity. For when facts, truth, and unity show up, Democrats win, and we move forward. Not evenly, and certainly not perfectly. But we move forward in our efforts against poverty, food deserts, climate change, and real challenges. Not fake challenges that are monsters only in unthinking minds.
The Epstein ballroom remains under construction. No new news on who is paying for it.
Trump’s approval continues its slow crash. Disapproval numbers show a sea of red. In a way, Trump is starting to live up to the vision he had of himself as a ‘unifying’ force; unity in disapproval of him and his policies is increasing.
My morning thoughts were about a dream that involved flying. The Neurons were snooping around, found out, and introduced “Aeroplane” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers into the morning mental music stream. Hope you enjoy it.
My hopes for everyone and everything is to go with peace and grace and make life better for all of us. Not just a privileged few.
Trump Administration (TA): Woke ruined everything! White men are being discriminated against! It’s not fair to white men!
MAGA: Yea! Woke sucks!
TA: Cities – especially blue cities – are the economic engines of the US. So let’s send ICE there and disrupt flights into them and cause a slowdown there because we don’t like them and their woke liberal policies.
MAGA: Yea! Libruls suck.
TA: Companies will move out of blue cities and blue states to red states.
MAGA: Yeah! Libruls suck.
Blue States: Even though the nation is going through a drought and there’s less and less water available to drink?
MAGA: Fake news!
TA: We have plenty of water, don’t worry. There is a drought going on, don’t worry. It’s weather! Louisiana isn’t sinking, don’t worry. The glaciers aren’t melting, don’t worry. The sea level isn’t rising, don’t worry. The average temperature isn’t rising, don’t worry. That’s all a Chinese Democrat Deep State hoax.
MAGA: Yeah! Hoax!
Media and Economists: The tariffs and war in Iran are driving up oil prices and disrupting supply chains. That increases energy and fertilizer prices. That raises transportation and shipping costs, food prices, healthcare costs, and consumer goods prices.
TA: Prices might go up a little bit for food but don’t worry, we’ll be better off for it in the long run.
MAGA: Um…yeah.
TA: Don’t worry about the national debt, either. We’re all going to get so rich, it’ll be beautiful.
MAGA: Yeah.
Media and Economists: The rising prices will also affect insurance premiums because they’re tied to the costs of everything else. Insurance is also going up for many homeowners due to more extreme weather events and wildfires.
MAGA:
TA: Forget the Epstein files! It’s a Democrat hoax! They’ve all been released. They’re nothing.
MAGA: Grumble grumble grumble
TA: Look at this ballroom! Isn’t it beautiful? It’s the biggest and most beautiful in the world!
MAGA:
TA: Donors are paying for the ballroom! It’ll only cost 200 million! 300 million! 400 million! We need a billion dollars to make it safe!
MAGA:
TA: And look at this 250th celebration of our nation. Look at this fight we’re staging at the White House!
Media: It’s just like the Coliseum in Rome. Or the Olympic Games in Berlin before World War II.
MAGA:
TA: We’re winning the war in Iran! It’s already over! We obliterated their military! There is no more threat from Iran! It’s all or nothing! They’re running on fumes there! The people are going to rise up and take over! The Strait of Hormuz will be open, or else! We’ll bomb them more! The clock is ticking! They must give up their nuclear program! We destroyed their nuclear program! They have nothing!
MAGA:
Media: Trump has gone golfing today. He’s golfed 23% of the time he’s been in office.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, May 28, 2026.
Thursday, Thursday (la la, la la la la). Can’t stand that day.
Are there songs about Thursday? I put it to the net.
Why, sure, the net responded. Here’s a list.
Oh. Yeah. I forgot about all of them. Senility? Or lack of coffee?
Sunday has the most songs written about it, in case you’re interested, as I was.
Which day has the least songs written about it? That would be Wednesday, kind of surprising, since it’s humpday — or was — for many 9 to 5ers.
Today’s weather is gloomy again. Rain and Thunderstorms are projected. High of 72 F. Currently 50. We need the rain, though, so bring it. Just hold off on floods, please, okay?
I’m surprised that Memorial Day travel set new records. I thought the high price of gas and travel (caused by the Trump Iran war), would dissuade people from hitting the road. As I said before, our area seemed to have less travel and visitors associated with the holiday weekend.
But I wonder how many people were just tired of bad news and rising inflation and said, “Screw it, we’re going somewhere and doing something.” I came to that conclusion because the data suggests people celebrated but changed destinations, went shorter distances, stayed shorter periods.
Trump has always used lawfare to threaten and attack others. He’d already attempted (and failed) to persecute and prosecute political enemies.
Despite right-wing claims, lawfare as an expression goes back several decades and was not escalated as a form under President Biden. MAGA thinks Trump and his lawyers were unfairly attacked, charged, disbarred, etc. They overlook that the stimulus for much of that was Trump’s attempted insurrection and the riot it caused, along with his unfounded but continuous claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Court case after court case was thrown out for lack of evidence. As some lawyers took to fabricating claims or failing to uphold the law as an officer of the court, they suffered the lawful consequences.
That upsets Trump and MAGA. They share a common trait: they feel the world is against them. That’s why they continue to lean on one another and probably will until death do they part.
Today’s theme music by the late Aretha Franklin. My wife and I were in the snug. We rose to go do other things. I said something like, “Time to get up and go.” My Neurons added with a laugh, “My get up and go must have got up and went,” from an Aerosmith song.
My wife said, “Go. Go. Go.”
We then broke into a spontaneous rendition of “Freeway of Love” from that point and danced to it a bit. Then we laughed like idiots. The song stuck in my morning mental music stream, so here it is, pour vous.
Hope you’re strong today, and stay strong, healthy, happy, etc. Let’s push through this setback called Trump. Keep the torch burning for those who come after us.
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.
Michael Seidel, writer 