Tag: Israel

Wednesday’s Theme Music – Rock & Hard Place

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

Pleasant valley Wednesday. 66 F, sunshine percolates through some clouds. Rain and a high of 76 F are expected.

Mom and my sister went through a rough day yesterday, spending over eight hours at ER. Classic ER scene as the staff attempts to help everyone but there are so many who need help. They got home early in the AM this morning.

We’re not sure what’s going on with Mom. She had a CT scan but no results have been shared with us. At one point, they asked her if she wanted or needed anything, then added, but nothing to drink or eat. We all knew that usually means surgery. But surgery was never mentioned. She went home tired, thirsty, hungry, and sleepy.

Home: her shared room at the assisted living facility.

The US — or Trump, specifically — is between a rock and hard place. After Trump claimed he would end the Russia – Ukraine War, it continues with fresh strikes by Ukraine on Russia today.

Over in Iran, where Trump decided to start a war and declared it over, Iran launched an attack on a Kuwaiti airport.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who said this was a small operation back in March, was not available for comment. Trump’s Iran War was supposed to be over in weeks if not sooner, according to Republicans back in March. Now the war has been going 95 days.

Without too much surprise for me, I read that the Trump administration is dragging its feet on refunding Trump tariffs as ordered by the courts. Meanwhile, Trump dropped more tariffs on 60 nations, claiming it’s because they use forced labor.

Over in World Cup news, a Swiss player is waiting to see if he’ll be taking part in the games because the US has not said he’s allowed in yet, and the Iranians are worried about their team’s ability to come and go to the US.

The US mint announced FIFA World Cup coins. McDonalds announced a World Cup meal so the poor can get in on the excitement. Papi announced he’s taking a World Cup nap. It’s World Cup mania! Except ticket sales are flat and FIFA is being accused of using unofficial resale sites to cut prices.

The Epstein files aren’t completely released, and the Epstein ballroom is still short of funds but under construction. Under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump is now not worried about it as a ballroom, but as a drone port. It’s all about the nation’s defense!

Of course, as I understand it, arming the White House to the teeth basically raises its value as a military target. After all, that’s what the US did in Iran: we went after the drone and missile launch sites.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

What hyperbole. Trump blasts a judge and rants, “we can no longer defend Washington, D.C., with rifles and pistols, alone.”

No kidding, Trump. You just proposed a 1.5 trillion-dollar defense budget, the largest in history, and you think D.C, us being defended by ‘rifles and pistols’?

Let’s face it, too; if the US has reached a point in a conflict that we’re depending on drones on top of the White House to defend us, we’re pretty screwed.

Today’s music comes out of the thought stew bubbling my brain this morning. Spying on me, The Neurons brought the Rolling Stones and “Rock and A Hard Place” to the morning mental music stream.

Sample Lyrics:

We’re stuck between a rock
And a hard place
Between a rock (yeah) and a hard place

This talk of freedom
And human rights
Means bullying and private wars and
Chucking all the dust into our eyes

And peasant people
Poorer than dirt
Who are caught in the crossfire ain’t nothin’

To lose but their shirts, yeah

May your day be carried forward with peace and grace.

Cheers

2

Monday’s Theme Music — Straight Up

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, June 1, 2026.

It’s 53, expecting a high of 85 F. A solidly blue sky and bright sun have taken over.

It’s a new month. Papi and I are celebrating by doing the same thing we do every morning. Eat, wash, etc. He sniffs the ground and air, I sniff the news.

Right now, dealing with Mom. She’s struggling to think, speak, plan things, respond.

Then, dealing with family. Older sister is moving from her condo of 13 years in a place more physically acceptable for her. One sister’s young son just graduated high school. Lots of moving parts. Past, present, future all breaking at once.

Also dealing with news.

Multiple individuals dead after mass shooting in Oregon: ‘I know many people are grieving,’ police chief says

I look for details, wondering, how many dead, searching for the circumstances, thinking about the people involved.

Hell of a way to start June.

Trump’s Iran war still goes on. It’s now over three months old.

Good thing there’s a cease fire. We had several more attacks between the US and Iran. I always thought ‘cease fire’ meant no one would shoot. Of course, Trump and the angry inch have fluid definitions, changing and using them to suit their needs.

Oil prices surged again after Iran said it’s withdrawing from negotiations and would close the Strait of Hormuz. This comes on the news that gas prices in some parts of the US dropped to below $4 a gallon. Wonder how long it’ll take for them to go back up?

The Epstein ballroom is still under construction, too, and the Epstein files have not been fully released.

We’ve had over 2,000 cases of measles in the U.S. 318 locations so far in 2026. 73 new cases in the last two weeks.

But in the latest phase of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, the Great American State Fair *cough cough* will go on.

Your Trump Quotes of the Day:

Today’s song is “Straight Up” by Paul Abdul.

It’s in the morning mental music stream because of my coffee. I picked up my fresh cup and inhaled. “Smells good,” I told Papi, who was watching. “Just as I like it. Black, straight up.”

The Neurons replied, “Oh, we know that song.”

Song came out in 1980s when I was stationed in Germany. I was at the NCO Club with friends after work, having a beer. MTV was on the television. The video came on for this song. Several friends said, “Wait, I have to watch this.”

What?

They’d pay no attention to any previous music videos but for them, Paula Abdul was a conversation stopper. *smile*

I hope your day is straight up awesome.

Cheers

1

Monday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, May 25, 2026.

Sunny, cloudy, dry. 60 F with 81 potentially the high. Rain is expected. The sky has that look, and the air has that skin.

It’s Memorial Day in the US, as specified by Congress in the 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act as one of the Monday holidays. The act was about creating three-day weekends for Federal employees. I recall as a youth hearing about it being promoted. They said at that time that it was for productivity; the Monday holidays would interfere less with business and the work week, and would be could for the economy because people could take mini-vacations during the three-day weekends.

My wife’s family knew it as Decoration Day. They always observed it by going to the family cemetery and cleaning up the grave markers and cemetery and decorating them with flowers.

My family always celebrated it by having cook-outs. Others call this a ‘barbeque’ or ‘barbecue’, or even grilling out. It was a day of eating, fun and games for us. For a few years, this meant going out to Keystone Lake. We’d pile into the car before 8 AM so we could beat the traffic, get good parking, and have a good picnic spot. Then full and exhausted, we’d head for home before one. Which was okay because we often had rain showers in the afternoon.

Back home, we’d have watermelon and leftovers. Mom made terrific potato salad, and fried chicken. We’d also have apple pie, chips, cookies, burgers, and hot dogs.

Now it’s just another Monday for me, another pause to look back on what was and what would never be.

I read about the rains and floods striking the eastern and southern states. Good luck and safe harbor to all of them, and the animals.

Also read that Trump is going to the hospital for some checks and dental work tomorrow. Is it part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to distract us from the war in Iran, high gas, food, and energy prices, grift, corruption, and Epstein ballroom?

It could be a ploy to gain sympathy after the latest White House shooting didn’t move the needle on Trump’s declining approval ratings.

Or, Trump could really be ill. He looks and acts the part.

This may be all three — a diabolically clever ‘weave’ by the self-professed genius to confuse us about what’s going on. The biggest problem with his weave is that he often entangles himself. Reality, lies, and fantasy fuse into a glaze of uncertainty, changing directions, and contradictory words and behavior. The truth is, his weave confuses him more than it does us.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Here, as part of Trump’s clever weave, the person who referred to himself as a unifier denigrates others with childish nicknames. That was the same speech in which he considered himself a peacemaker. This was a little while before he began blowing things up and killing people.

Trump also said in that speech that he hoped his election would bring “a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable.”

Irony is completely lost on him.

Bonus Trump Quote:

“It will be the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama Administration, which was a direct and open path to a Nuclear Weapon for Iran. No, I don’t do deals like that! President DJT.”

Yes, because that was quite a disaster. No war, no death. No rising oil prices because of a closed strait. No rising food and energy prices because of the rising oil prices. No strain on our military because of wanton bombing and ship deployments.

Oh, yeah, and they weren’t working on their nuclear program. That didn’t begin until Trump withdrew from the JCPOA.

Yep. Quite a ‘disaster’.

Today’s theme music comes from an exchange with my wife. Standard one: “How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“I slept great,” I said. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good.”

Those words awoke The Neurons. They immediately summoned John Prine to the morning mental music stream. I soon had him singing, “Pretty Good” in my head.

Hope you have a pretty good day, and a pretty good week, too.

This coffee tastes pretty good right now.

Cheers

1

Friday’s Theme Music — Surrender

Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, May 1, 2026.

It’s 57 F outside and a high of 77 is predicted, despite clouds and haze obscuring the sun.

Good-bye April, hello May. As it’s May 1st, I’m staying home and not buying anything today.

The fifth month of 2026 begins with little change politically.

  • Trump remains in office
  • Prices are still rising, with gas in the US setting records for how fast they’re rising
  • Kash Patel is still running the FBI but that’s not expected to last
  • The Epstein files haven’t been released
  • Trump’s approval ratings are falling and his disapproval is climbing

May begins as the third month with the US Schrödinger’s War with Iran where we’re at war and not at war. Common sense says we attacked them, bombed them, killed people, all in pursuit of Trump’s fragile objectives — ego, approval, masculinity. Iran has fought back and we have warships stationed over there. Ergo, it’s war.

Legal semantics are being employed to argue the US is not at war because, law. “Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL” began on February 28, 2026. Trump formally notified Congress on March 2. Today is then the legal deadline to either stop the war or get a formal Authorization for Use of Military Force. All eyes still wearily blink at Congress to see who among them have grown a spine.

Republicans argue that sudden withdrawal would embolden Iran. I think Trump’s failed bombing campaign is already doing that.

Newsweek offered some classic clickbait:

Donald Trump’s odds of winning 2026 Nobel Peace Prize surge

The article says they gave him a 55% chance of winning last year, and now give him a 25% chance. Sounds like Trump math. He’s still in sixth place or lower as a potential winner. In my mind, if they gave the prize to Trump after all his bombing and threats, the prize would lose all credibility.

Trump has seemed very low key, low energy recently. It’s like he checked out. Never one to be on top of things, he’s always been bombastically out there, pretending like he is. I wonder, though, if it’s not a culmination of his war against the press merging with the press’s weariness over his lies and attacks resulting in less reporting of him. Could be, too, that he’s simply retreating into trusted safe places.

Whatever the cause, the optics of his absence as ‘commander in chief’ promote the impression that he’s overwhelmed and flailing. Stacked on top of ‘the bulge’ in his pants, his weary appearance, and fewer, more muted appearances, I’m getting a lame duck vibe.

I’m looking forward to his May 17th Rededicate 250 speech. At this point, anything he says and claims about Making America Great Again is going to remind us about how much worse the nation is now compared to two years ago.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

I have “Sweet Surrender” by Sarah McLachlan in my morning mental music stream. This actually came about when my ginger fur friend, Papi, did a roll at my feet on the patio as we tested the weather together. I chortled and gave him some skritches and rewarded him with extra treats. His move seemed like he was doing a sweet surrender, but so did my response.

I hope this day goes well for you, with good friends, good food and drink, and good news.

Cheers

1

Thursday’s Theme Music – Fronts

Ashland, southern Oregon — April 30, 2026.

A new weather front has moved in. It’s 54 F under layers of clouds and sprinklings of sunshine, a typical Ashlandic spring day. Highs in the upper 70s are forecast for us. Right now, with all those clouds, it feels weirdly chilly.

Good news from the home front. Mom is electing to stay in assisted living and cooperating. She’s also agreed to sell her house and furniture. While it’s welcomed, it’s also so sad for her and our family. She wanted to be there; we wanted her to be there. Yet, practically, it could not work. Personally, I will miss go home, to her house, to hugging her in her living room, chatting with her in her kitchen, helping her with her laundry. And I will miss the many wonderful dishes she used to make. Her potato salad, spaghetti with meatballs, and chili all remain the best I ever had.

I will say, though, my sisters are a little annoying with their texting. They get up early, before six, and text. My first text from them came at 2:12 AM. I have my phone set up to notify me of texts from the family, in case there’s an emergency, but these were casual, informational texts. Okay, rant over.

No, I haven’t spoken to them about it. They’re doing so much to take care of Mom and help, etc. It would be really petty of me to complain to them about the time they send their texts. I’ll just whine here instead. *smile*

I’ve not seen much surface changes on the Trump front. The voting front is rapidly changing as the Roberts Court dish out their rulings and states respond. A situation as messy as first graders fingerpainting is going to get muddy and sloppy. That mud and slop favors the GOP and Trump. That’s why they’re pressing it. Not about democracy; it’s about staying in power.

Meanwhile, it’s been quiet on the Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! front and the Epstein front.

With the war in Iran at a stalemate, more conversations about the US military’s capabilities are emerging, such as this one. And they’re right; as often happens, the military fights the last war. We’re built for vast nuclear battles in the US with technologically sophisticated but expensive systems. Iran is countering us with different tactics and inexpensive weapons.

In a sense, what we’re seeing in this war echoes wars for the US back to the American revolution. The British were fighting an old war. The colonist changed tactics and won.

Changing policies and weapons in the US will be a challenge. As President Eisenhower warned, the military-industrial complex has a firm hand on procurement. Defense companies manage Congress through projects, manufacturing, and employment. We build systems as much for our economy as much as we do for our security. Meanwhile, the public nods agreeably because, ‘patriotism’.

Trump is responding by increasing the defense budget and calling for more expensive weapons systems. He’s pushing hard on a new class of Trump battleships. As with many things Trump, the battleships he envisions are outdated and bloated relics better fit for the past.

As the war stays stall, oil prices are slowly rising. A Gasbuddy AI analysis from March of 2026 is hilarious to read:

“GasBuddy’s latest projection paints a starkly different picture from the past. The company now forecasts the 2026 U.S. gasoline price average to fall to $2.97 per gallon, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline and the lowest average since 2020. This sets up a clear seasonal pattern, with prices expected to peak in May around $3.12 per gallon before declining steadily to a low in December of $2.83 per gallon.”

Mock Paper Scissors found a saner prediction from a Gasbuddy expert:

“GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan, a widely cited gas price expert, predicts the national average price at the pump will hit $4.50 a gallon within a week (currently $4.30).”

Never to shirk from taking advantage of a bad situation, British Petroleum is making some handsome profits from the war and the world energy situation.

Oil giant BP announces huge rise in profits in first results since Iran war

Your Trump quote of the day:

“Gas prices have risen 49% since the beginning of 2026, according to prices tracked by AAA. They dropped by an average of 7 cents a gallon after a two-week ceasefire was announced last week.”

And as any driver now knows, that drop is already gone.

The Neurons observed my thoughts on fronts and responded. They put Elton John and “All Quiet on the Western Front” from 1979 in my morning mental music stream. Lifted from a movie of the same name, it’s not a song that comes on the radio much. The song’s tempo’s and musical style reminds me of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” from 1975.

I hope your front is calm and peaceful and that you progress to better and better places for you in all ways possible.

Cheers

2

Wednesday’s Theme Music – Trump Circles

Ashland, Southern Oregon — Wednesday, April 29, 2026.

Sunshine and blue sky rule the valley with a 47 degree temperature and a high of 72 F possible this afternoon.

I read a Paul Krugman post this morning. In “The Oil Squeeze Tightens”, Krugman asks, “How long will it take before Trump accepts the reality that he doesn’t have the cards, that in the end his Iran venture will be resolved in a way that leaves Iran stronger and America weaker than before the war?”

Krugman concludes that Trump is clearly dissociating. I feel the same. Trump has become strangely quiet. Is it because of his health? I think it’s that failures are stacking for him. The usual tried and true schemes aren’t working.

Regardless of whether the assassination attempt at the WHCD last week was staged or real, Trump probably expected a bounce from that. He got none. It didn’t help his cause that he immediately pivoted to “Build the ballroom! Security!” It was such a non-sequitur that everyone immediately pounced on the flawed logic.

Trump expected his war with Iran to be over. Instead, more and more are suggesting the US lost that war. It’s at a stalemate, which aren’t good optics for what’s supposed to be a world superpower.

Prices are going up. I don’t think Trump cares about prices for oil, gas, and food, except as it affects his popularity. Nor does he care that he promised to lower them on day one. He lies about prices as much as he lies about losing the 2020 election. His lies are losing their power. Too many are experiencing the real impact of high prices.

Trump probably wants to attack another nation but with Iran going poorly, he’s probably being warned not to. Likewise, he probably wants to escalate on attacks on Iran but somebody with more sense is holding him back.

Meanwhile, summer travel is coming, the war goes on, and Trump’s popularity declines. Beyond all of that, the Epstein files still shadow everything Trump does.

Everything Trump is doing seems flaccid and limp. In his latest Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! effort, it’s announced his face and signature will be on passports. The usual rejection chorus rang out, but overall, the effort has fallen flat. It’s same old, same old, Trump wants to be idolized, the GOP is supporting it, but it does nothing for anyone but Trump.

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is in danger of becoming Operation Epic Dead Squirrel.

Today’s music in my morning mental music stream riffs off that trend. “Face to the Floor” by Chevelle contain these lines:

Well, caused by their own
And by default
Time to vamanos

Well course now the cracks
Should we intervene?

It brings a chortle out. The 2011 song is probably too alt metal for many but its heavy sound fits my morning mood.

May this Wednesday see you through to a brighter future.

Cheers

2

All These Things: Trump in decline

The way Trump has been carrying himself is creating speculation about his mind and health.

Much of this is caused by broken promises (like no new war) and things not going his way:

  • Job growth is poor
  • The national debt is growing fast
  • Oil, gas, and associated costs and prices are rising
  • His Iran war is not near an end and seems to be getting worse
  • Epstein’s ghost and his files, linking Trump to Epstein’s crimes, are still out there
  • Trump’s approval ratings drop more each week

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! did not distract people the way it used to. Trump has almost emptied his quiver. He can’t retract or retreat; that’s against his brand and would lose him his base.

All that remains is that he fire people in his administration to blame them for his failures. People are wondering now, who is next to fall under Trump’s blade? Patel, Hegseth, Kennedy?

It could be a bloody week.

More columns are talking about how badly things are going for Trump.

This Is Not a Man in Control of Himself

Jaimelle Bouie noted:

“The president is struggling with the consequences of his actions, raging in protest of the fact that for all its firepower, the United States cannot bomb Iran into submission. When Trump launched his “short-term excursion,” he assumed that it would be — in the words of a Pentagon official in the last Republican administration to launch a Middle East war — a “cakewalk.”

“That, as Trump’s own intelligence agencies told him, was a mistake. Now, he is stuck. And he lacks the skill and patience to find a way out of his self-inflicted catastrophe. Unable to will a better outcome into existence — there are limits to the power of positive thinking — and frustrated by his own impotence, his response, familiar to anyone who must manage the emotions of a young child, is to throw a tantrum.

“Over the last few days, Trump has denounced “the Fake News Media” as “CRAZY, or just plain CORRUPT!” for its reporting on the war. He attacked Pope Leo XIV in a bizarre rant, calling him “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” And he posted an A.I. image of himself as Jesus, surrounded by devotees, healing an unnamed man.”

Donald Distracted

Andrew Egger observed:

“Well, here we are again: The ceasefire in Iran is once again in a state of near-total collapse. The U.S. military hasn’t yet resumed its bombing campaign of the Iranian mainland, but the danger in the Strait of Hormuz is as bad as ever.

“After claiming Friday that the strait was now open and letting a trickle of ships through, Iran abruptly reversed course Saturday, firing on at least two merchant vessels and insisting the strait would remain closed as long as America maintained its military blockade of Iran’s ports. Then, yesterday, U.S. forces fired on and seized an Iranian cargo ship that they said had tried to run their blockade—causing Iran to announce it was pulling out of the second round of Islamabad peace talks, which were scheduled to begin today. Oil prices, which on Friday had fallen by more than $10 a barrel on Iran’s claims of an open strait, rocketed back upward, now hovering back around $100.

“In one sense, we’re right back where we were last month—the strait closed, Iran intransigent, Donald Trump threatening. But that undersells the damage. A cancer patient who goes under the knife and wakes to discover they couldn’t remove the tumor isn’t likely to be comforted that at least the doctors stitched him up properly. The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz is becoming a global economic catastrophe, and it’s clear Trump is running out of options to compel Iran to stop throttling it.”

Inside the reckoning Trump didn’t see coming | Opinion

Robert Reich pointed out:

“It’s not just that Dems are winning special elections by wide margins (and even where they’re not, they’re “overperforming” in ruby-red areas by an average of 16 points).

“Nor just that Hungary’s Viktor Orbán was overwhelmingly defeated after 16 years of authoritarian rule, with almost 80 percent of eligible voters turning out. (The victor, Peter Magyar, overcame Orbán’s rigged system by focusing on Orbán’s corruption and linking it to the economic difficulties facing average Hungarians.)

“Or that Trump posted an image of himself as Jesus, revealing his God complex and causing even evangelical Christians in his MAGA base to question his religiosity and mental stability.

“Or that Trump and Vance were dumb enough to pick a fight with Pope Leo, who has used it to explain his (and, for Catholics, Jesus’s) objections to war and to tyrants everywhere.

“Or that Trump’s major ally in Europe (and the only European leader to attend his inauguration), Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Malone, described Trump’s attack on the pope as “unacceptable” (Trump responded by attacking her for “lacking courage” in refusing to join his war on Iran).

“Or that Trump threatened to wipe out Iranian civilization — prompting even Tucker Carlson to call Trump’s threat “vile on every level,” Candace Owens to demand that the 25th Amendment be invoked to remove him from office, conspiracist Alex Jones to accuse Trump of threatening “genocide,” and Megyn Kelly to concede that Trump’s coalition is “completely fractured and in smithereens.”

“Or that Trump’s war has been such an abominable failure that it’s demonstrated his dangerous ignorance and diminishing mental capacity.

“It’s all these, together.”

Yes, it’s all these things.

It’s also that Trump doesn’t know what to do. He’s run out of gimmicks and is losing support. He needs a win to bolster his fragile ego and his support.

Oddsmakers are betting that there’s a 63% chance that Trump will escalate the war in Iran.

Given his past, who would bet against that?



2

Monday’s Theme Music —

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, April 20, 2026.

Sunshine baths the east. Dark, stormy clouds claim the rest of the horizon. It’s 58 F outside with a mild, pleasantly balmy wind. 62 is expected to be the high as rain returns to the valley.

We’re going into eight weeks in the Trump Iran war. Trump and Iran each are declaring victory. As it was a month ago, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. The ceasefire that Trump declared is fracturing as Iranian ships fire on tanks and US ships fire on Iranian ships and seize them.

Trump’s comments are the war seem almost meaningless. He doesn’t seem to understand what’s going on sometimes, making contradictory claims. He’s proving himself to be as poor at managing a war or negotiating a ceasefire as he was running his businesses. The difference here: he can’t save himself in a bankruptcy court. There are no contractors he can stiff and walk away from. The art of the con has been fully exposed.

Stories have emerged that Trump was kept out of the planning stages for the airman rescue in Iran because the military and staff worried that Trump would derail it. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump raged about fear of failure.

Stock markets don’t know to go up or down. Oil prices immediately rose.

So, we sit on Monday morning, waiting to see what will happen on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Epstein files are still out there, waiting for all to be revealed.

My wife and I watched Shrinking last night. Today’s song was featured. My wife sang along with it; when the show was over, she walked around the house singing it. Somehow The Neurons ended up mindlessly playing it over and over in the morning mental music stream.

From out of 2011, here is Christina Perri with “A Thousand Years”.

The lyrics cycling through my brain:

I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don’t be afraid
I have loved you for a thousand years
I’ll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What’s standing in front of me
Every breath, every hour has come to this

The song was originally written and featured on “Twilight”, which I’ve never seen. I found an interesting ‘cover’ of the song and thought I’d share it here.

My wish for you is that you find yourself on Tuesday healthy, happy, safe, and free.

Cheers

0

The Trump Descent

After bluffing and bullshitting and actively weaving chaos and doubt, Trump’s act has worn thin.

Evidence that the United States is no longer respected and feared is showing up everywhere. Most pointedly, we see it as Iran refuses to give in while our nation’s traditional allies turn down Trump’s requests for help. Instead, they’re forming new alliances and agreements, leaving the US in the cold.

MAGA has responded to Trump’s losses and failures with predictable childishness, “Your rules.” Obstinate to a fault, they just do not learn. As the world moves on from its dalliance with right-wing theater, they’re going to be left behind. Which, if you recall, is why some of them turned to Trump in the first place. They will continue to pursue their FAFO course.

The International Monetary Fund issued warnings that the United States under Trump could drag down the global economy. It’s the war. Mostly. Trump’s Iran War is supercharging the oil and gas prices and disrupting supply lines. That means modestly less growth, but as the war continues, the chances for a global recession increase.

Symptomatic of Trump’s wide-ranging, negative impact are World Cup tourism forecasts. This should have been a boon for the United States and the eleven US cities hosting World Cup events but — Trump.

The United States is already coping with reduced tourism. Rising prices, triggered by Trump’s Iran War, broken trade agreements, and Trump’s tariffs are one big reason. However, experts are pointing to Trump’s hostile immigration policies. Even when people are authorized to enter the United States, they’re sometimes being turned back. Some of the reasons cited is that they criticized Trump. Not taking chances, people are talking with their cash and staying away from the United States.

Trump has bankrupted six businesses. His corruption is becoming as legendary as his lying.

Yet, there are those who still follow him, even as he takes us down, down, down.

5

Monday’s Theme Music – A Sunny Day

Ashland, Oregon, April 13, 2026.

We begin the day with rain, which is expected to continue off and on into the evening. It’s 50 now with a high of 54 F possible. Sunshine does break through, but clouds quickly rush over to block it.

It’s another Trump day. We’re now into week seven of Trump’s Iran War. Trump is blockading the Strait of Hormuz to keep it open and bring Iran to its knees after assuring us, “We won.”

The peace president continues to threaten to bomb Iran if they don’t capitulate. That’s the ‘art of the deal’ for you. It’s worked wonders so far.

The Pope’s comments about peace and the Iran war outraged the peace president. Peace president Trump blasted the Pope on crime and foreign policy, areas which Trump has demonstrated no knowledge in. That means that he assumes he knows more than anyone else, in his mind.

To complete the journey around the bend, Trump shared a social media post likening himself to Jesus. Jesus, who helped the poor and sick and counseled against wealth, greed, and rich men; and Trump, who lies, makes life more miserable for the poor and sick, whose names is almost a synonym for 21st century greed and avarice. Trump certainly remains tone deaf to irony.

Happily, over in Hungary, Viktor Orbán appears out after losing the election and conceding. I hope that’s an omen that more positive change is coming.

Today’s music is brought to me by my dreams. I went through another long one last night. Loaded with family, many of my family members were often on bicycles while I was walking or running. We mostly stayed in contact during this shambolic excursion, which was sometimes alongside a river and was mostly on a dusty road. I was young in the dream, and often sweaty. There were stops for food and eating, and beds where I sometimes stopped and rested. While doing that once, an older copy sat on the bed’s edge to rest. Remembering that I wanted to tell my sister and her husband something, I sprang up from the bed, apologizing to them for startling them. I noticed that the man looked like Alan Rickman.

I was thinking about the dream, revisualizing the part where I began running along the river, when The Neurons introduced music to the morning mental music stream. CCR came out with “Walk on the Water” after John Fogarty’s brother died from a blood transfusion. The song makes sense to me because it’s about being near home.

Late last night, I went for a walk
Down by the river near my home
Couldn’t believe, with my own eyes
And I swear I’ll never leave my home again

Hope peace and grace lift you up and carry you through all your adversity and troubles.

We’re off to do Food & Friends deliveries.

Cheers

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