You know the difference between Iran and Vietnam?
Trump knew how to get out of Vietnam.

















And from 2024, when Trump was running to be elected…

Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not


















Let’s just look at this first post, a quote from Trump.
“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are.”

Trump claimed they obliterated Iran’s nuclear capability last October. Then he claimed he needed to attack them in February because of their nuclear threat.
Now he’s saying that Iran’s military has been destroyed 100%. But he’s calling on other nations to send ships to protect the strait.
Notice, too, that he claims that Iran is ‘totally decapitated’ — but that didn’t end the threat?
Then Trump claims, “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
Just as the strait was before Trump’s attacks in February. In other words, he wants the world to fix his mistakes.
Just as President Biden had to fix Trump’s economy.
And in other Trump Derangement News (TDN)…










We’re almost halfway through March of 2026 and have seen the United States attack another nation, embrace more tariffs, and see more rising prices.
After a breakneck pace, fallout is arriving. Under Trump, led by Noem at Homeland Security, ICE created recurring headlines around confrontations, court cases, and death. Now Noem is out.
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the administration could not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping global tariffs. National refunds were ordered.
It’s a $170 billion dollar refund question, and Customs and Border Protection initially said, they can’t do it — yet.
The agency estimates that there have been roughly 53 million entries subject to IEEPA tariffs as of March 4, accounting for roughly $166 billion in deposits. The agency further said because CBP personnel must validate all refund requests, it would take over 4 million labor hours to complete returns for all IEEPA tariffs.
Trump hastily swung to other rationales for the tariffs, invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a new 10% tariff on imports from all countries. He later threatened to raise that to 15%.
Twenty-four states sued, arguing Section 122 requires tariffs to be applied nondiscriminatory and uniformly, contrary to Trump’s announcement. Some critics argue Section 122 has never been used for broad tariffs because it was meant for narrow, temporary financial emergencies that no longer exist.
We’re waiting to see what happens next.
More critically, we’re waiting to see what will happen next in the Trump Iran War. Israel is moving aggressively with the U.S. alongside them as a military power but costs are stacking. The war is expensive in terms of human life and financial costs. Most importantly to Trump, he’s probably realizing he’s a FAFO fool for attacking Iran, destabilizing the region, and upending the global economy.
Patterns and reminders are fast emerging that this is economy depends on shipping and cooperation. Trump was warned that before, when he broke trade agreements, arbitrarily imposed-rescinded-imposed-changed tariffs, and when he attacked allies and let the U.S. walk away from defense agreements.
Oil and gas prices swiftly went up. As oil storage tanks filled, production facilities shut down, because the shipping lanes have been impacted.
The results of all those are hurtling toward us in big ways. While ‘inflation’ is stable, that doesn’t include volatile things like food and energy prices. Food and energy are where American consumers are most affected.
More people are becoming aware that Trump promised no new wars. Now words like draft and phrases like ‘boots on the ground’ are rising in use. Polls show voters don’t like the air and naval war already in progress. They’ll like it less if large ground forces are sent into Iran.
When will it end?
We don’t know.
Neither does Trump, apparently. He has said, “We won.”
Trump also said — on the same day — it’s “ending soon.”
He also said that it’ll end whenever he says it ends.
Joe Rogan, a Trump supporter, seems like a bellwether. He’s called the Iran war, “nuts.” In comments made in an interview, Rogan pointed out that Trump is breaking his campaign promises.
“I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on ‘no more wars,’ ‘end these stupid, senseless wars,’ and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it.”
Many Trump voters had already awakened to Trump’s broken promises about lowering food prices on Day One.
They’ve noticed, too, that Trump didn’t end the Ukraine War on Day One. He later claimed he was being “sarcastic”.
That response is part of Trump’s regular responses whenever something is pointed out that’s factually wrong. For example, during the early part of the Trump Iran War, a school in Iran was bombed, resulting in 165 and 175 people killed, mostly children.
Trump suggested it was Iran’s fault.
“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran…We think it was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions, they have no accuracy whatsoever, it was done by Iran.”
When pressed by a reporter if Mr. Trump’s assessment was accurate, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded that the Pentagon was “investigating,” adding that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
Investigations show a U.S. Tomahawk missile hit the school.
Trump responded, “I don’t know about that.”
The impact of Trump’s whimsical, chaotic approach is slowly adding up. I’m just waiting for the tipping point.
It can’t come too soon for me.
Ashland, Oregon — Monday, March 9, 2026.
Cold and gloomy this morning. 44 F underneath clouds and tepid light. Showers are possible, along with a high in the fifties. Not bad as weather goes; just uninspiring.
Many things rocking the mind in this early Monday hours. A new week is underway and we don’t know what will happen next. We can guess but the overall trajectories are pointing toward bleak.
The partial government shutdown is creating travel problems as unpaid TSA agents fail to show up for work, resulting in long security lines in the United States. More importantly, a stressed and diminished security force can be a huge liability as Trump increases attacks on Iran.
A Federal court ruled that Kari Lake lacks the authority to make changes to the Voice of America and ordered people released to be returned.
Besides a rising death toll and greater regional destruction, the Trump Iran War is causing international shipping and travel chaos.
With Iran’s previous leader killed in the initial bombings, a new leader has been established: his son, a hardliner, much like his father.
Measles outbreaks continue growing in the United States, with sharp inclines in North Dakota, Utah, South Carolina, Colorado, and Ohio reported, along with a Texas Homeland Detention Center. Over 1100 cases are reported so far in 2026.
Although the weather here isn’t stormy, the mood around the world seems stormy and moving toward greater destabilization, and we must ride it out. Thinking of that inspired The Neurons to deliver “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors to the morning mental music stream.
This atmospheric song from my youth is always thought provoking but, on my way to find a video to share, I came across Playing for Change’s version, which includes Robby Krieger and John Densmore of The Doors. I enjoyed the new musical inflections added by different singers and instruments from around the world. I hope you enjoy this as much as me.
And off we go. I hope for the best for you and us, this day and every day.
Cheers
Ashland, Oregon – Friday, February 27, 2026. Fifty degrees F outside, the sun is burning away some final blue and gray tendrils, delivering a summer blue sky. Today’s highs are expected to be kicking the upper sixties. I appreciate that weather for today, and the chance it gives us to be outside, in sunshine and fresh air. Plants are blooming and blossoming out there. The march toward spring seems to have begun.
The Mom front continues to be quiet. It’s a question of is this ‘no news is good news’, or the calm before the storm?
Not binary, it could be both. We want Mom to be as safe and comfortable as possible as her days wind down, but she’s fought us. She wants her independence and the home where she lived for the last thirty years plus. We all have tried hard. There’s not blame to spread so much as understanding of the multiple variables and facets.
So many news stories to read today. The news overall continues to trigger worries and growls. One story ends with me shaking my head.
Melania Trump chairing a UN Security Council meeting. I don’t know how symbolic this is, or cynic that I am, just more White House distractions from other events.
The meeting is about “Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict.” But how many children have been detained by Homeland Security via ICE and the Border Patrol? Before we go off to tell others what need to be done, why hasn’t — or why isn’t — Melania Trump doing more for children being detained and held in detention centers in the United States? If she was really concerned about children, wouldn’t she be front and center for taking care of them, rather than making a documentary about moving into the White House?
It’s another one of those places for me where the administration expresses concerns but then takes actions which seem completely contrary to their stated concerns. It’s like how Trump tells us he’s for freedom but then attacks others for criticizing him or making fun of him and demands they’re fired. Or how he thinks he knows more than history and economic experts about tariffs being the best way forward. There’s a body of incoherency about Trump and his processes that make me doubt and question every damn thing he does or says.
The Neurons supplied the morning mental music stream with “Over the Hills and Far Away” by Led Zeppelin. They got suckered in my thinking about what I know. The song contains the lyrics, “Many times I’ve lied, and many times I’ve listened. Many times I’ve wondered, how much there is to know.”
I hope you weather, your day, and your life all go well for you and your family. I’m going to start with a cup of coffee and build from there, reading more news, going on.
Cheers
Scotti provides us with a somber but excellent collection of memes and news over at Scottie’s Playground. They all struck hard and true. Some stayed with me more, so I included them below. I hope you’ll check them all out. Cheers








I’m on a tour of political headlines from this week.
Trump continues making news by making statements that are not true. Worse, he builds policies off those claims. Although the United States is not at war with any nation, Trump used the military to attack targets in another country again.
Cutting Federal spending on social safety net programs, cancer research, and education while building more detention centers really shows ‘put your money where your mouth is.’ In Trump’s case, he’s putting his money on locking people up, not taking care of citizens.
Despite Federal budget cuts, Trump’s national guard deployments cost almost half a billion dollars.
We want names! Keeping with their ‘freedom is not free’ position, Trump’s DHS wants social media companies to provide them with the names of anyone who posts anything anti-ICE. They’re doing it quietly.
Now why would they want that information?
Trump just goes on and on lying about election results. He keeps insisting he is more popular that he is. Yet, Trump says, “Democrats have gone crazy.”
That article talks about the partial government shutdown as Congress adjourns and elected officials leave D.C. Key in that story, though his how Trump continues to lie about ‘crime in blue cities’. Studies show that simplicity is misleading, that the truth has far more nuance.
Acting more like an absolute ruler than ever, Trump announced that voter IDs will be required for the mid-term elections. Although House Republicans are trying to get that requirement established, it’s not expected to pass in the Senate, meaning that it can’t be signed into law. Trump, though, just insists that it will happen, as if he has the magic right to make it so.
The truth is, a President can’t just make it so. Congress must be involved, and there are tricky obstacles in the Constitution and various amendments would need to be addressed.
Such trivialities as facts and truth don’t seem to hinder Trump. Even as the Reiners’ son was in custody for killing their parents, Trump created a fantasy motive for the double homicides. Trump claimed Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”
Measles cases are rising, food, electricity prices, and other prices like new cars are rising, and optimism is falling.
It’s still only the second month of Trump’s second year. More wine, please.