Collections from BlueSky, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Trump and Iran have a Memorandum of Understanding about not shooting and killing any longer. Much is being said about the $300B portion of the MOU. None of that money is supposed to be from the US government.
Tell you, what, though. Trump has established a pattern of being opaque about money, where it came from, and where it went. Trump made claims about Mexico paying for the wall. Cutting the national debt. Money for the Board of Peace. Trump makes big, headline-grabbing claims that rarely materialize as truth.
Trump claimed he would release the Epstein files and then tried to write it off as a hoax and keeps using every trick possible to keep them from being fully revealed. Likewise, Trump resists releasing his full income tax information, leading many, including me to wonder, what is he hiding?
Then there’s the ballroom, which was to cost US taxpayers nothing, and now — yeah, you get it.
As Trump and MAGA break our norms, spread hate, and attempt to rewrite history, Jill Dennison reminds us of the results of such hate, events like the Pulse Nightclub murders.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, June 11, 2026.
It’s blue skies and warmer temperatures for us today. Like the weather has just awakened to the season and decided, alright, let’s go.
Tear it up, break it up, go for it. That’s Trump. He alone decides what ‘we’ the nation will do. This is true whether we’re going to war, escalating violence, tearing down the White House, remodeling it, building, modifying, or renaming monuments.
Trump ignores the law, goes around the requirements, skips past reviews. Then, as work begins and We the People protest, we go to court. While the issues are adjudicated, Trump keeps tearing and down and building. He’s been doing this with attacking Iran, building the Epstein ballroom — well, it’s a long list.
It’s also a giant middle finger at We the People, our political norms, checks and balances, laws, and Constitution.
The GOP is okay with it. Him. Speaker Johnson metaphorically shrugs. The media tiptoes around what he’s doing, because the other thing Trump does is threaten. His administration holds a bunch of keys. Everyone knows it. And Trump has demonstrated he has no concerns for anything and anyone but himself. Beyond his words, his policies reflect it. He thinks, oh, the war will end and prices will drop.
Really? Is that what happened when prices rose during COVID?
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump was lying, of course. He always lies. He began acting like a dictator on day one, and still is.
That’s why protests are important. When Congress stands aside, SCOTUS enables, and the press backs away, We the People must stand up.
Show up again. Keep showing up, please. We don’t like the direction Trump is taking us and must change it.
Today’s morning mental music stream song is “Invisible Sun” by The Police. I was reflecting on my childhood and pictures of smoky, polluted skies we would see in the newspaper. By then, our skies were much clearer and cleaner. Now, Trump is turning it back in the name of making money.
Sample Lyrics
It’s dark all day and it glows all night Factory smoke and acetylene light I face the day with my head caved in Lookin’ like somethin’ that the cat brought in
My hopes for you are that the sun is warm, the air is fresh and clean, and your spirits are high.
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.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
Wet, gray morning. Furnace is running to keep us warm. 49 F. 72 is the day’s potential high. That depends on when the rain moves on.
We’re not getting a lot of rain, mind. Just showers off and on. Still, the cooler temperatures, while not my preference, are better than hot, dry conditions. Saves our water, etc.
Papi isn’t pleased with the weather. He came in wet and released a plaintive, “Meow,” that’s quite unlike him. Dried him with a towel and bribed him with treats. Now he’s vigorously grooming.
Spent an hour on the phone with Mom yesterday. She called to talk to me about my health. She sounded so tired and struggled to put words together and finish thoughts.
My sister got the power of attorney done and signed an agreement with a realtor to sell Mom’s house. Then I spent an hour with my sister, texting back and forth as she addressed her relationship with one of her daughters. It’s a challenging world. Always has been, a shifting spectrum of needs, problems, and expectations. Memories and history and differences add more unique elements to finding understanding and developing relationships.
Heard from Trump that he’s in perfect health. Despite his struggles with speaking, walking, and staying awake he aced everything! Trump is a documented liar, so I don’t believe a word of it.
Same with Trump’s war and ceasefire with Iran. Epstein files. Mexico and the wall. Golfing. Trump chose golfing over his son’s wedding. Just as he chose other women over his wife — sorry, wives. Oh, but then, Trump must have realized how bad the optics were, golfing instead of attending his son’s wedding, and changed his plans.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump paid for sex with Stormy Daniels in 2006. Melania is his third wife. In addition to his sex with Stormy Daniels, Trump allegedly had a ten-month affair with another woman, Karen McDougal, starting in 2006. Trump is also in the Epstein files but it’s unknown to what degree; just as he reneged on other promises, he reneged on his promise to release the Epstein files.
Instead of releasing the Epstein files, Trump began Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Under this program:
Trump ordered attacks on Iran to destroy their nuclear program
The Epstein ballroom was first supposed to cost $200 million, and would be paid for by private donations. It would then cost 300, no, $400 million. Now the White House asked Congress for one billion dollars for it.
No, I don’t trust a word he says.
Many other Americans also are losing trust in Trump. His disapproval ratings are reaching record levels.
Yet, Republicans just keep walking away from everything Trump does. That thought inspired The Neurons. As I shook my head, dismayed again, The James Gang with Joe Walsh on guitar and vocals, began playing “Walk Away” in the morning mental music stream.
Trump is trashing historic norms and trust in the government. Unlike the GOP, I just can’t walk away.
Hope you have a day memorable with good times, good friends, and good foods.
It’s 54 F with a high of 60 in sight. The waves are calmer, but the wind continues ransacking the beach. Nobody is down there right now. I did see four small figures walking it an hour ago…
We opened our laptops to see if Trump passed away or if the war was over. Big news is that some Republicans said no to Trump’s ballroom drone port military underground bunker funding request of a cool billion. Seems like its elections optics and not principles. Few are bothering to recall that Trump said it would be built with donations and cost just two hundred million and the American taxpayers would pay nothing.
One of those ‘standing up’ is Susan Collins, who exhibits the same moral fortitude as a feather on the wind. Yeah, I’ not impressed.
Trump’s response: attack those who said no, etc. Says, paraphrasing, ‘This is all according to the plan and we’ve been saying it all along.’ Sure; that’s why there’s no evidence online of that. Question: does he think us all that stupid, or is he that stupid?
He’ll probably steal, er, shift the money from somewhere else. That’s his MO. Screw the laws, constitution, all that.
It’s all part of the same game for him: launch a war, say it’s over, promise it will be over shortly, tell us that it’s not long compared to other wars, tell us it’s not a way. Just like his healthcare plan that never arrived. His promises to lower prices day one. Claim that he’ll ‘fix’ the Lincoln Reflecting Pool for 1.8 million which becomes over ten million.
Still waiting on the Epstein files.
My sister, Gina, is busy selling Mom’s household items and pushing to get the house sold. I admire her energy level and remain really thankful that she’s there to do these things.
Today’s music is by Damn Yankees. I don’t know why “High Enough” is in the morning mental music stream today. It could have to do with a dream, I suppose. The Neurons aren’t connecting the dots for me.
I hope your day goes well, and you go to bed satisfied with what’s transpired for you.
I first learned about this from Representative Pam Marsh, Ashland’s citizen elected to serve in Oregon’s state legislature.
Here is the KOBI 5 article and a link to it. I think it’s something worth celebrating in this age of Trump, the Golden Age of Corruption, and also the Golden Age of Science Denial.
CENTRAL POINT, Ore. – On Friday, several organizations as well as U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, gathered as the state’s first floating solar project went online. The project aims to deliver affordable, renewable energy while also conserving water.
1,700 solar panels have been mounted on water-safe floating platforms on Medford Irrigation District’s reservoir in Central Point. These panels will be able to supply energy to families and businesses in Jackson County, lowering energy costs and creating revenue for the irrigation district.
Not only that, but the panels also shade the reservoir which can preserve water in the warmer months. It can also improve water quality by slowing algae and weed growth. Being the first of its kind here, it will be studied for other communities facing similar issues of high energy bills and drought. Julie O’Shea, executive director for Farmers Conservation Alliance said,
“This project benefits Medford Irrigation District and their strategies and plans to be able to modernize their irrigation infrastructure which is so critical when we’re facing the drought we’re facing this year. And we’re hoping [to] save water from preventing evaporation and so many other benefits. There’s many other irrigation communities in the state and across the west working on floating solar projects right now.”
Many organizations are behind the project, including the Medford Irrigation District, Energy Trust of Oregon, Farmers Conservation Alliance, Imagine Energy and more. More general and subscription information can be found online.
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Pam also noted, “It’s a project with multiple benefits that will also generate a funding stream of $75,000 a year to the district.”
Blue, blue sky. 67 F that we now feel would’ve been the high a few days again. Now it’s a measurement as the thermometer sings toward 83 F. Higher is possible, I think.
Mom is settling into acceptance that the nursing facility will be home for a while. Although she looks and seems happy in photos and videos, she doesn’t like paying the money and doesn’t like having her independence curtailed.
I hear her. I can see myself feeling and doing the same. I wish something better was available for her.
Meanwhile, my sister is moving forward on selling Mom’s house and getting powers of attorney. Sis has been patient and persistent and gets a lot of points for that.
My sisters and I shared health texts yesterday. We older beings laughed as we compared our health issues. My younger siblings were agog with dismay. My older sister responded, “Getting old ain’t for sissies.”
Big news front that I’m seeing is Justice Roberts is upset.
Chief Justice laments perception of ‘political’ Supreme Court
I read that to my wife. She laughed. “Gosh, I wonder why.”
No kidding. The shadow docket has surged under Roberts once Trump came into power. The Brennan Center summarized exactly why we think the Roberts Court is politicized and favoring Trump:
“The Court has sided with the administration 80 percent of the time when making “emergency” rulings, often without revealing its reasoning.“
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Despite Trump’s claim, made less than three months ago, Republicans are now asking for $1,000,000,000 for the ballroom. Trump also claims the Epstein ballroom is under budget, even though they’re now asking for five times the original amount to build it.
Trump can’t be trusted. Nor can the GOP. What’s your guess for how much the Epstein ballroom will end up costing?
Between the Epstein ballroom and Trump’s Iran War, Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is becoming one of most expensive fiascos in history.
Today’s theme music is “Under My Wheels” by Alice Cooper. The song came out in 1971. It entered my morning mental music stream today after reading Jill Dennison’s blog. It featured the ELO song, “Telephone Line”. That was enough to inspire The Neurons to lift “Under My Wheels” out of my dusty folds of memory. See, the song begins, “The telephone is ringing,” and the line is repeated throughout the song.
Hope you enjoy it. Still sounds good to me, fifty years plus later. However, I don’t often play Alice Cooper these days; he’s a right-wing individual who trashes trans ‘as a fad’.
I hope this day finds you doing well in all ways that matter. May peace and grace carry you on no matter what adversity life might deliver.
personnelente shared a post today about Trump. It’s divided into two convenient parts.
Part one reveals the GOP moves to honor Trump. The most horrible of these is a move to force the State Department to issue a Trump Peace Prize.
Part two is a recap by Daniel Dale of CNN about Trump’s Iran War lies, such as Trump’s lie that the Pope wants Iran to have nuclear weapons.
It’s a wonderful side by side comparison, revealing the GOP’s kiss-ass attitude toward Trump while showing that Trump is an absolute liar and can’t be trusted.
Michael Seidel, writer 