Trump Prizes

I saw this post and kind of laughed today:

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.

July 3, 2026 3

Tuesday’s Theme Music – Crashing

Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

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.

This morning had news about Scott Bessent, Trump’s secretary of something, claiming that prices are coming down. I’m sure you can cherry-pick and find some prices have declined. Overall, prices remain 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.

Trump’s war is now 101 days old and counting. Iran shot down a helicopter. Trump vowed retaliation. That’s how it works with cease-fires with Trump.

The other big Trump news was about Trump attending the NBA game in New York.

Trump couldn’t make time to go to his son’s small, private wedding, but oh, boy, he loved showing up at an NBA playoff game.
The arrogance and selfishness Trump showed by going to that game, and its impact on fans’ ability to enjoy the game.
Boos rained down on Trump. He heard it and tried to pretend it was cheering. LOL. But he knew it was booing, and he didn’t like it.
A photo showed Trump asleep at the game. Real? I don’t know. But Trump has been shown sleeping at enough events that the photo has legs.
Trump looks really bad. Sick. Tired. OLD. DOTTERING.

Not a good outing for Trump.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

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.

Cheers

June 9, 2026 0

Facts & Response

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.

MAGA:

TA: Biden!

MAGA: Biden sucks!

May 28, 2026 2

Thursday’s Theme Music

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.

Big Trump news is that the Trump DOJ is ‘investigating’ E. Jean Carroll. Come on, raise your hand if you’re surprised.

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.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

No evidence that holds up to scrutiny has ever been found that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

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.

Cheers

May 28, 2026 0

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.

May 24, 2026 4

Monday’s Theme Music – Hope

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, May 4, 2026.

It’s cloudy this morning but it’s not a solid mass. Sunshine washes through to warm us. It’s 55 F but we expect a high in the mid to upper 70s, and thunderstorms. We experienced a high of 80 yesterday before thunderstorms cooled us in the mid-afternoon hours.

Trump’s thin ego and weak position has been on display all weekend, beginning on Friday night. Heather Cox Richardson summarized Trump’s frenzied Friday night texts in her May 3, 2026, edition of “Letters from An American”.

This great uniter called Rep. Jeffries ‘low-IQ’ and a thug
Trump continued his pattern of spreading fake information, showing an AI-generated image of Jeffries holding a bat
Likewise, Trump showed an image of him and some of cabinet desecrating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a national monument
Trump added a text showing his worry about the mid-term elections; in his mind, they’re going to be stolen

Trump also makes the fake claim that Democrats destroyed the US after the 2020 elections. History shows otherwise. BTW, gas was a lot cheaper back in President Biden’s days, wasn’t it?

Trump was promising to release the Epstein files, and still hasn’t released them all.

And we also weren’t at war.

Your Trump Quotes of the Day:

Hope is my theme today, though. Last night, I watched a documentary on Netflix about the making of the song, “We Are the World”. The documentary came out two years ago. Here is the Wikipedia summary of the song:

“We Are the World” is a charity single recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album We Are the World to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. With sales in excess of 20 million physical copies, it is the eighth-best-selling single of all time.

Documentary trailer:

It’s the hopeful nature of the endeavor that made me decide to play the song today. The song was made at a time when there was a lot of hand-wringing as people asked, “We can we do?” It reminds me of now, as so many watch Trump stagger through the world, destroying the nation, peace, and the environment. Come together, focus, and work against him and his reactionary, destructive policies.

The documentary was full of some fascinating moments. Diana Ross took her music to Daryl Hall and asked him to sign it for her because she was his biggest fan. Watching those singers cope with the notes, wording, and situation fired my amazement about how capable and accomplished they are. They were also often star struck by the others in the room.

One of the most hilarious pieces came from an anecdote related Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles talking together. Both are blind. Ray commented that he needed the restroom. Stevie said, “Oh, I’ll show you where it is.” Stevie then led Ray away, leading someone to crack, “The blind are really leading the blind here.”

Hope you have a great day. I’m off to do Food & Friends deliveries with my wife.

Cheers

May 4, 2026 0

Sunday’s Theme Music – Going Down

Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, May 3, 2026.

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*

We have months to go before it’s all over.

BTW, have you seen Iran’s humorous take on Trump?

The confluence of news, dreams, and mood inspired The Neurons to pull the trigger on “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”.

The Fall Out Boy chorus fills the morning mental music stream:

“We’re going down, down in an earlier round, and sugar we’re going down swinging. I’ll be your number one with a bullet.”

My hope for you today is that you weather it all and come out stronger, healthier, and happier.

Got my coffee. Time to rock on. Cheers

May 3, 2026 1

The Bottom Line for Trump

For Trump, 2026 mid-terms are coming fast. Reminders are coming, too: of what he promised, the promises he broke, and the failures littering his promises. Here’s one person’s reflections on Trump’s state of the mid-terms worth reading.

Election 2026 #2

April 29, 2026 0

Tuesday’s Theme Music — Enduring

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, April 28, 2026.

Spring endures in Ashland. 48, blue skies, clouds, sunshine, high in the mid-sixties expected.

Mom endures in her assisted living facility. My sister couldn’t do the things she enumerated yesterday. Mom remains in the assisted living facility and seems agreeable to selling her house. However, she’s trying to manipulate us in other ways, according to my sister. She said Mom wrote a long text that she wanted sis to share with all of us. My sister refused. Life.

My plumbing endures. Mixed results with the plumber yesterday. Both shutoff valves replaced at the toilets, but the plumber felt only one had a leaking wax seal. When he pulled it, lo, the wood under it was soaked. So, wax ring replaced, toilet put back, but now we need to send someone under the house to examine that area. I’ve been under the house; not fun. We have a low, low crawlspace. But I don’t have the expertise needed for this kind of assessment. Thought about using different cameras to see what it looks like. Still noodling that.

Trump endures, too. It is remarkable but many speculate that Trump staged the attempt on him. While Trump blames ‘the left’, he continues to incite hatred and violence toward others while asking that we be nicer to him.

Part of this is that Trump is a documented liar and cheat. He wants to be feared, liked, respected, admired. As part of his ‘weave’, he’ll say anything but that’s shredded his credibility. We know now he makes grandiose promises and bizarre accusations and declarations; it’s all just air.

Doesn’t help, neither, that within hours of the attempt, Trump was calling to build his White House ballroom because, “Security!” But the WHCD was not in the White House. Even if the ballroom had been done, it wouldn’t have affected what happened at the WHCD.

I will also say that even if Cole Tomas Allen left behind a ‘manifesto’ and seems to have a life, Hollywood has convinced me that creating a legend like that is very possible. While I don’t particularly believe the Trump administration is sanguine enough to get it done, there are some high-tech security firms in his corner who could do it. If I believe Hollywood, so could the CIA.

Why not? It’s the age of deep fakes and AI.

With Trump not being held accountable for his lies and behavior, it’ll probably because worse as others attempt to emulate and duplicate his success as a con artist. More troubling is how his actions undermine our trust and belief in authority.

Meanwhile, the squeeze is on U.S. farmers. They’re in a bad situation: diesel is up, fertilizer is up, interest rates are up, available migrant labor is down, and droughts are in the forecast.

Perhaps they will reconsider who they vote for in November.

Your Trump quote of the day:

“Data from the USDA show that soybean exports to China, as of March 19, are about half the amount they were last year.”

Reminder: we’re into the eighth week of the Trump Iran War. He has no exit plan.

Reminder: the Epstein files have not been completely released.

Reminder: Trump’s popularity is declining and prices are rising.

Expect some new Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! breaking news soon.

“Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” ended up in my morning mental music stream. So many bricks being put into place between what we were, what we could become. Trump builds walls to divide and separate, keep the poor in misery and empower the wealthy, along with walls against equality, freedom, science, and education.

Hope you end up in the best possible place when this day is finished. Onward.

Cheers