Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
It’s all about the danger within now. It begins with rising prices. Keeps us distracted, part of Donald Trump’s Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! The war does its part to distract us, keep us turning our heads.
Then we have the many competent and capable people Donald Trump has fired. Trump has attacked every institution, and assails and threatens freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
All in the name of greed, power, and stupidity.
Here we go, once more toward November, people.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, October 19, 2026.
I don’t know about everyone else but October is running a fast pace. Today is busy with appointments and contractors coming by. My wife completed her mail-in ballot yesterday, and I need to do mine this week.
A cool day, with clouds hiding the sun and filtering its light and warmth. Rain threatens. Right now, it’s 52 F and we might make it to 60.
Nothing from Mom or my sisters yesterday or today, both a relief and a worry. I’ll take relief for 100, Alex.
As I’m push for time, this is short. Nothing about Trump. I have a song stuck in the morning mental music stream. Titled “Expressway to Your Heart”, the song was released by the Soul Survivors in 1967. I honestly enjoy this song. Nice rhythm is embedded in it, and it’s easy to sing along. I also like little flourishes they use — changes in tempo, the organ, the piano, the use of traffic sounds, the electric guitar. Loved hearing all of that when it came out when I was 11, and I still like it.
For a bonus, this is video from early days of “American Bandstand” and a young Dick Clark. I didn’t watch the show consistently but had many friends, especially females, who set their schedule around it. They liked hearing the music but also seeing the clothes and make up being worn, and the latest dance moves. Watching it makes me smile. It’s terrific, when you think about it, that we have a technology that allows us to revisit moments like this from our past.
Watching this video from 1967, we have no sense of all the drama going on in the world. These are just young people enjoying music. No sense of the demonstrations taking place, the social change being pursued. During that era, we had the cold war boiling along with Vietnam, and still stood in the shadows of WW I, WW II, and Korea — and that was only the wars overtly involving the US. Many other wars and conflicts rage.
Comparing this time to now, we can how far we’ve come but how much further we have to go. We also see how some things haven’t changed much.
Back in 1967, voters were standing up for equal rights for women and minorities. The nation was trying to move away from ‘separate but equal’. Integration was replacing segregation.
And now, almost sixty years later, it feels like Trump is trying to drag us into the 1950s. Donald Trump and his administration are moving against equality, rewriting history to downplay the parts of anyone except white men, even trying to downplay the role of anyone but Republicans. Trump a war that he promised he wouldn’t, a shadow that won’t go away.
Then we have the Epstein and the disgusting revelations in it.
Long sigh.
On to other things momentarily. May good things happen to you today.
Cheers
Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, October 18, 2026.
It’s totes autumn today, with rich fall foliage decorating trees with red, gold, orange, and yellow leaves burying the greens. Sun is up, delivering tepid temperatures, putting us at 60 F right now. 72 F is in the future for the valley and its blue sky.
Nothing from Mom today, and I only recall one dream. It was another military-themed dream where my hair was out of reg.
Today’s music is by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The song, “Thrift Shop”, was released in 2012. My Neurons released it into the morning mental music stream as I read political news. Donald Trump is running on nothing but fear, trying to convince everyone that absolutely everthing will be much, much worse under Democrats. Republicans are pouring money into the 2026 midterm elections. So is Elon Musk, which should tell you how worried Trump and the GOP are at this point.
Trump has already tried buying votes. Donald Trump has offered seven different dividends or financial incentives for supporting him while crowing about how great everything is. Trump claims we’re in a new golden age in the United States.
But the actual numbers for most Americans show a completely different story. Compared to when Trump took office, most ordinary expense has increased for the majority of Americans.
It’s not surprising after noticing these price increases that “Thrift Shop” is playing in my morning mental music stream. Trump crows about how great things are but most people are worrying about how much money they have. Personal bankruptcies are up. Personal savings are down.
So. Much. Winning. For Donald Trump and his wealthy cohorts, like Elon Musk. They’re much, much wealthier now than they were before Trump took office in 2025.
May money worries leave you alone to enjoy the day, no matter who you’re with or what you’re doing.
Cheers
Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, October 17, 2026.
It’s a cool morning, 48 F. Dogs are barking outside, and neighbors are warming up motorcycles for a fall Saturday ride.
I asked Alexa the weather. She told me it was a sunny 43 degrees. As I peered out, observing the clouds and looking for sun, she went on, “Today’s high will be 72 degrees and the low will be 45. There is no rain expected.”
My wife and I looked at each other. But, but — if today’s low is going to be 45, and it’s now 43, what does that make 43 in this report? It’s another modern puzzle.
Mom is on the warpath again. We grew up hearing that expression. Mom had several she regularly used: the poor house, insane asylum, and warpath are three prominent examples. She regularly warned us that she was on the warpath, that we were driving her to the poor house, or that she was going to end up in the insane asylum because of us.
It’s about diapers. She’s out of them and weirdly, they’re difficult to find them locally. She wants to order them online but is having trouble doing that. My sister, Gina, recommended Mom ask one of the young women who work in the assisted living home help her. Mom replied that to the effect that she’s the smartest one there. Gina said, “Well, they’re younger and are probably more familiar with the technology.” Mom refused to budge, insisting that they would be no help.
Donald Trump is on the campaign trail. He’s visiting places where he won. Yes, because that’s the sort of ‘fighter’ TACO is. Remember that he was named TACO? ‘Trump Always Chickening Out’.
Holding true to that, TACO is going to Iowa, where Republicans are struggling to win votes in a reliably red state. It’s not a puzzle why: a CNN poll found 70% of likely Iowa voters said current gas prices were a moderate-to-severe hardship, 74% said Trump administration policies had increased the cost of living, and 48% named the economy or cost of living as a top election issue.
Where this is a puzzle is that with the economy the leading issue, why are some Republicans still ready to vote for more of the same?
Do Iowa voters support Trump’s war in Iran? I read that they didn’t.
Are Iowa voters against abortion choice, or do they the absolute bans which Republicans have pursued? Again, I read that most Iowa voters are against strict and absolute bans.
And, like most US voters, those in Iowa are for limiting new AI and data center construction, a position which is 180 degrees from Trump’s position.
As I say, it’s a puzzle.
All this puzzle thought stirred The Neurons. I ended up with a Radiohead song about puzzles in my morning mental music stream. As the song streamed through memory, I couldn’t quite place it. Had to resort to looking it up. Yes, Radiohead. From 2007! Thought it was older than that. Ah, memory. It’s called “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”. Has naught to do with politics; this song is all about a wild night out.
Sample Lyrics
Just as you take my hand
Just as you write my number down
Just as the drinks arrive
Just as they play your favourite song
As your bad day disappears
No longer wound up like a spring
Before you’ve had too much
Come back in focus again
May the month find you happy with you are and sure of where you’re going.
Cheers
Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, October 16, 2026.
Another warm autumn day has climbed into the valley. Sunshine brings the trees to bright life, and a warm wind chants with confusion. 79 F now, we’re going to be in the 80 to 90 range, depending on where you are.
Mom’s partner, Frank, passed away a year ago today. I don’t like to linger on anniversaries like these. It just came to me last night. There’s sadness that he’s gone, joy that I knew him, and sympathy that he’s no longer part of Mom’s life.
Frank, though, was 95 and lived an interesting, full life. He raised a family and helped his sisters through their struggles. Widowed thirty years before, he and Mom found one another, enabling them both to enjoy another chapter.
Well, we already turned the page on Trump’s new press secretary.
My wife wondered if Fox News was going to run out of young blondes at the rate that Trump is going through them. Then what will they do?
I told her that I was sure that blonde MAGAts are out there, ready to jump into bed with Trump in whatever role he offers.
Looks like Trump may be moving on from Kristi Noem, too.
It seems like Kristi Noem has managed to become so toxic, even Trump is distancing himself from her.
Watching Trump campaigning for the 2026 midterms, declaring that people should ‘vote like he’s on the ballot’, it’s apparent that many Republican candidates are distancing themselves from him.
In our area, Republican candidates are trying to even distance themselves from the GOP. They refuse to mention their party affiliation in their ads and commercials. When they talk about party, they often lip sync that they’re trying to bring balance, common sense, and affordability to voters in Oregon. It’s hilarious how they wrap themselves up in knots to avoid Trump and the GOP, promising that they’ll make things more affordable as Trump, in D.C., bellows that affordability is a hoax.
Truly headspinning.
Trump also launched another episode of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! This one showed Donald Trump running around, laughing and playing with a tiger. You could tell it was fake because Trump doesn’t laugh or smile. He smirks and growls, trying to project a tough guy persona, using old films as his inspiration.
Trump also said — again — that the war with Iran will end when he “wants it to end”. Rather arrogant, again. Has nothing to do with foreign policy nor military objectives, or rising costs and prices for oil, gas, food, fertilizer, shipping, construction and the many other things growing more expensive. Nor does it have to do with Trump’s concern for Americans and their ability to pay their bills and enjoy food and housing security. No. Trump makes it clear — again — it’s all about him, and nothing else.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Gas prices remain much higher under Donald Trump than they were during most of President Biden’s term in office.
Today’s music is “Turn the Page”. Originally performed by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, The Neurons unleashed Metallica’s cover in my morning mental music stream.
May your October day begin with happiness and end with joy.
Cheers
That’s especially true in this era, when extreme weather strikes more frequently, and el Nino is bringing in new changes to the patterns.
Donald Trump’s pattern under pressure and criticism is to become more belligerent and aggressive. He rails more; whines more; and attacks more. The midterms are coming up, and prices are not coming down. Trump, who once promised no new wars, instead finds the war he started with Iran dragging on. Trump has claimed it’s over, it’s almost over, or ‘we won’ numerous times before. Now, Trump is saying the war will “probably end after the mid-terms”.
Doubts about Trump are growing and persisting. Regardless of what polls say about the elections and a midterm blue wave or Donald Trump’s declining popularity, the tells of his decline among his base are visible. Rallies where Trump is appearing are weakly attended. Trump’s calls to support AI and data centers construction are met with silence.
After all that’s gone wrong and getting worse for Donald Trump, I was unsurprised that Trump’s DOJ raided Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in Minnesota. Rep Omar has three things going against her in Trump’s eyes: she’s an intelligent woman, a refugee from Somalia, and an outspoken Trump critic.
I guess Trump sees Rep. Omar is a good test case for Trump’s increasing tactics of lawfare and weaponizing the government against his opponents. Trump’s previous efforts to prosecute political opponents, James Comey, Letitia James, and David Hearn, flopped in big, audacious ways.
But Trump has nothing else to offer. Trump already went after the press, trying to ban press organizations who tell the truth about his sparsely attended rallies, terrible and worsening economy, and the growing disaster that is now the Iran war. Trump also dislikes being reminded that he’s breaking promises and laws, and that he is not the all-powerful, all-knowing, always-right person he likes to pretend he is.
The press fought back, and the courts have sided with the press, so far. Precedence would point to a win for the press in all the courts. Freedom of the press is one of those things we used to pride ourselves on in the United States. Donald Trump arrived on the scene, though, and weaponized people’s distrust of the press to gain popularity.
Now, with his popularity waning, even Donald Trump’s MAGA base are walking away from him. Not because of the attacks on the press, or attacks on the sitting members of Congress, or using the government as a weapon to persecute and prosecute opponents. No.
MAGAzens are turning on Trump because he failed to release the Epstein files and he failed to lower prices. Now, thanks to Trump’s own failed policies, it’s too late for him to fix either.
Trump has tried badgering and bullying his way back to strength. He’s lied from the beginning and fed people’s hate and fear. Those aspects of his portfolio have grown old and thin.
Trump tried bribing We the People, attempting to buy popularity with various ‘dividends’. But Trump’s brand is so toxic, even that failed to gain Trump any props.
Trump tried to lower prices, drilling, making deals for oil and gas, temporarily suspending sanctions and tariffs. They, too, failed to win anyone back, as his efforts instead highlighted his hypocrisy.
Now Trump has returned to his most proven, effective tool, attacking immigrants and women. Doesn’t matter if the woman he’s attacking is a sitting member of Congress, legally elected to the office by We the People, and legally sworn in.
Trump has never cared for law or justice and won’t begin now. Donald Trump will just attack more, hoping to bully his way into popularity once again.
So, brace yourself. I don’t doubt that this is just a test case. Trump and his minions and advisors floated this raid on Rep. Omar to see how it floats with his base.
Trump doesn’t see that a growing number of people are weary of him and ready to turn the page.
Vote blue in November, so we can keep turning the page on Donald Trump.
She unleashed a rant this morning, growing angrier as she spoke. The focus of her ire was dual: Trump and his remarks about Iran taking out a couple American cities, and the news coverage of it.
Actually, her ire grew because of how Nebraskans reacted, laughing and cheering. I don’t know which aspect of this pissed her off more.
First, she found Trump’s comments, made in a speech in Nebraska about Iran ‘taking out San Diego or Los Angeles’ as treasonous. “A President should not be suggesting things like that.”
What triggered her was the ho-hum coverage in so much of the media. “They’re writing it off as, oh, that’s just Trump being Trump! That’s one of the big problems with our country. They keep normalizing this insane shit that Trump says.” She went on with a louder, angrier tone about this.
Then, though, her anger punched through the roof as she talked about Nebraskans’ reaction. “They laughed and cheered. Oh, those are California cities! Who cares! Well, hello, Nebraska. What would you think if Trump suggested that Iran could take out Omaha. How would you feel then?
“Did they even think about what he was saying. Do they know how much California contributes to the economy? Think your fertilizer prices are high now? How much higher those prices are going to be if the ports of Los Angeles and San Diego are gone!
“California has a huge economy! Think of all the subsidies that the government would no longer be able to pay if two California cities are destroyed. And what about the radioactive fallout? What do they think, that it’s not going to spread to more of the country, that it’s not going to drift over the Midwest?
“And look how much of the military would be damaged! The Navy has a fleet stationed there, marines!”
She was furious by this point. “I don’t care why Trump said it. No American should cheer that. No human should cheer that kind of killing and destruction.
“Even if he was just suggesting that if he didn’t take action, nobody should be cheering the possibility of someone nuking and killing someone else.”
I think I correctly conveyed the gist of what my wife said. Hard to say, because she was going loud, fast — and angry.
Donald J Trump’s latest efforts to protect himself has shown ghastly ignorance and is deeply rooted in fear.
The fear that Trump is feeling is that if the GOP loses control of Congress, he will be investigated, impeached, and convicted.
The fear that Donald Trump selling is another of those tired, worn out, overused ‘what if’ kind of fears that the weak-minded feed on:
What if Iran has nuclear weapons and ‘takes out a California city’?
Multiple facts spring to mind in response to Trump’s remarks. Donald Trump claimed to have destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability several times before. Yet here he is again, trying to instill fear in others that Iran has them and will use them.
Donald Trump claimed that the war he began with Iran is over or almost over thirty-eight times before last night. After all of those statements, why should anyone believe that the war is ‘almost over’ again, or will be over after the midterms? Trump originally claimed the war would be over in a few weeks. Donald Trump made that claim over 167 days ago. What has changed to make us believe that Donald Trump is suddenly telling the truth?
Worse, most cravenly, is how Donald Trump so cavalierly writes off the chance of a couple US cities. He dismisses the lives which would be lost in such a strike to be ‘a very small price to pay’.
The MAGA crowd Trump was speaking to cheered.
Trump’s MAGA crowd cheered for American deaths.
It apparently doesn’t matter to them if Americans are killed. What’s important to Trump and MAGA is that these are not Americans to them, no, they are Democrats, and *gasp* probably liberals.
They do not care at all if among those Democrats are MAGAts just like them, or Republicans.
Nor does this ‘pro-life’ crowd care if there are children among the dead. No, they’re just vacuously cheering Donald Trump’s threats.
Beyond the callousness about life and death and the disregard for American lives, Donald J Trump and his supporters display amazing stupidity. San Diego and Los Angeles are huge ports. Los Angeles has been the number 1 container port in the world for years.
Shall we talk about what the devastation of any two American cities would do to the United States and global economy?
Donald Trump also dismisses what such an impact would have on the safety and security of the United States. San Diego is home to a US Navy fleet and training center. It’s where the USS Abraham Lincoln went home for repairs after serving in Trump’s war with Iran.
Donald Trump doesn’t care. All Donald Trump cares about is protecting his ass and staying in power.
And to hear those MAGAzens cheer, they’re of one mind with him on this.
Trump is so scared and desperate at this point, he’ll say and do anything to protect and promote himself. No life matters to him but his own. That’s why the Democrats must take control of Congress next month.
Vote Blue in November.
Ashland, southern Oregon. Sunday, October 4, 2026.
Supposed to be bright, sunny, and hot today, but clouds swamped three fourths of the sky, and sunshine struggled to be seen and felt. Never reached close to the 90 which was forecast, but it’s now 83 F.
Dreamed last night that I was in basic training. When I awoke and saw the date, I realized it was the anniversary of my first enlistment. October 4, 1974, I took my first oath. Twenty years later, I declared done.
I remember that first day. Rainy and overcast. Went in oh dark thirty. Was given a meal voucher for breakfast at a nearby local diner. Then had lunch at the same place with another voucher. We didn’t take off until late that afternoon.
That was my first time in an airplane, too. Flew from West Virginia, where I then lived, to San Antonio, Texas, via some other city.
It was a Friday, too. When we arrived at Lackland AFB, Texas, to begin basic training, we were informed there weren’t enough to make a full flight. We wouldn’t begin training until the following Tuesday, and spent the extended weekend in silence in our civies, waiting to begin.
Yes, welcome to the military. That’s how it was during my entire career: hurry up, then wait, then GO!
I spoke with Mom today. She called so I ended up chatting with her for an hour, just talking about life in the assisted living facility, Heritage Grove, Penn Hills. While I was speaking with her, my wife took a call on the home line and we learned that our friend, Larry, passed away at 3 AM this morning.
Larry was 96, and a military veteran. Obtaining a degree from Purdue via the GI Bill, he ended up as an engineer and an executive in the aerospace industry. After college, he lived and worked most of his life in the Los Angeles, California, area, moving up here to Ashland after retiring. He was married and adopted and raised two children and had two grandchildren. Although staunchly conservative and Republican, he was intelligent, trustworthy, and fun. I’ll miss him.
I read the NYT’s coverage of a 2026 Trump rally. They’re heavy with promise and rituals: attack the Democrats, maybe throw in a commie scare. Lie about multiple things. Donald Trump will use profanity — his fans love it when he uses profanity, because he’s telling it like it is, isn’t he? Trump sometimes claims prices are way down, which probably surprises anyone who regularly shops.
At many stops this year, Trump is begging people to support AI and data center construction. It’s the primary commercial construction now underway. He might claim the US already won against Iran, or he might threaten Iran with more bombing.
What is so sad is that after the many lies Donald Trump has made, and after all the promises that Donald Trump has broken, his brand of chaos, hatred, and bigotry still serve a portion of the Republican party.
Today’s music is by Incubus. The 2011 song, “Promises, Promises” did not come from reading the news. It came instead while listening to my mother talk about the inherent promises made — work hard, save your money, buy a house, raise a familiar — all that American dream debris, will bring you happy closure when you pass away. Mom relates that she and her gang of assisted living friends refer to their new home as jail — three hots and a cot.
I hope you live up to the promises you make, and that others fulfill the promises they make to you.
I also hope that promise and swear to Vote Blue in November, 2026.
Cheers
A twofer is when you get two for one; with a threefer, well, you can do the math.
Donald Trump is known for telling lies. It’s been hugely documented. This week alone brought evidence of lying a few more times.
He’s also known for trying to bribe people to curry favor. That’s also historically demonstrated.
Finally, Donald Trump is a master of distraction. His attempts to change the narrative via have been ongoing but largely unsuccessful, thanks to modern technology. To Donald Trump’s surprise, modern technology is able to show videos and transcripts with the exact words, date, time, and context when he blustered or lied. I like to file these attempts under the umbrella, Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
As a sign of how desperate Donald Trump is, he gave us three for one yesterday — a lie, a bribe, and a distraction.
For background, the 2026 midterms are coming up in the United States. Democrats are expected to win, largely based on people disapproving of the job Donald Trump is doing and the direction the nation is going.
Donald Trump is desperately aware that’s he doing terrible. Claiming that he’s doing great, Trump grows angry and throws tantrums whenever someone asks about one of the many things not going well. That would include releasing the Epstein files, rising gas and food prices that Trump hasn’t been able to lower, the war in Iran Trump started, the many lies he’s been caught making, and his disastrous attempts to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The other things going terribly under Donald Trump was his attempt to add his name to the Kennedy Center, rising measles outbreaks and measles deaths in the United States, and the surging federal debt.
Besides those things, the other things going poorly for Donald Trump is the growing backlash to AI/data center backlash, multiple court rulings against his plans and tariffs, reported munitions shortages due to Trump’s Iran war, the debacle with the USS Abraham Lincoln, and his poorly attended midterm convention, Trumpapalooza.
Additionally, the things going bad for Donald Trump include anemic job growth, especially when compared to the success which Presidents Biden and Obama had with job growth. Donald Trump is increasingly shown injured, sleeping during meetings, or confused about what’s going on, a bad, bad image for Trump after he pummeled President Biden for being old and sleepy.
Aware of these things, Donald Trump presented his threefer.
Yes, another cash giveaway, or shall we call it a bribe?
Donald Trump promised cash giveways before.
Trump’s announcement about this $100 senior giveaway is another obvious bribe and distraction. But he also lied when he made the announcement. That gives us the threefer!
Donald Trump said the giveaway would, “…help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums, which we have already reduced by significant amounts.”
And there’s the lie. Trump Medicare Part B premiums have not been reduced. They’ve gone up, up, up. Anyone paying Part B premiums know this. And it’s easily verifiable by using a search engine on the Internet.
As an aside, that $100 would pay less than half of one month’s Part B premiums.
And BTW, Donald Trump said ‘he’ would be sending ‘nearly $100’ but the White House Fact Sheet puts it at $90.
Donald Trump had Trump lied again.
Those who still believe Trump after this threefer remain the hateful, the ignorant, or the ones who just don’t care about what Donald Trump is doing to this nation.
I guess they share the same values as him.
