Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
Today began with some clouds. Sunshine won for an hour and then fog rolled in. Fifteen minutes later, the fog passed on, leaving us with blue sky flavored patches of clouds. Our temperature scaled the mercury to 69 F before receding to its current 51.
It came through just a short time ago that the Republicans are relying on Jim Jordan and John Thune for ‘leadership’. Which means, they will support Trump and stay the same course that took them crashing through the blue waves.
Trump, as noted in another post, is still floating on clouds of lies, delusions, and faux machismo. After Donald Trump floated ideas about changing his immigration, his MAGA base threw a tantrum. Trump quickly shifted to TACO and reverted to form.
That tells us a lot about how the Republicans, MAGA, and Trump, are planning to play the next two years. They’ll continue their ways, trying hard to obstruct the Dems. Trump and the GOP aren’t going to do anything to improve affordability in the US — especially if the Democrats are sponsoring the legislation.
I’m just floating through days myself right now, hitting medical appointments, adjusting to news, going on with my writing endeavors, living my best life, even if it sometimes feels very mediocre. The Neurons inserted a Modest Mouse tune into my morning mental music stream, “Float On”. Song came out in 2004 and was written about the politics of the time as George W. Bush led the United States into wars with Iraq and Afghanistan based on rumors Dick Cheney floated about WMDs.
Trump is doing his dance once again, singing a weave of lies, blame, and misinformation mesmerized and fooled so many in 2016 and 2024.
That must be qualified. Some were fooled because they weren’t paying attention. They liked Trump’s sound bites about affordability, releasing the Epstein files, and no new wars.
Stalwart MAGAts were not fooled. They knew what Trump was, and they liked it. Trump talks about hating others, and they like that because they hate others, too. Trump also blames the ones he hates for what happens to him, and those stalwarts like that because they like to blame the ones they hate for what has happened to them.
White Evangelicals weren’t (mostly) fooled. They’re interested in a Christian nation, as long as they can re-define Christianity (and American history) in ways that make them feel righteous and justified in hating others and preaching hate.
The wealthy were not fooled, either. They see Trump as a wealthy but useful idiot, cutting regulation, encouraging greed and profiteering as long as they gave him a taste.
Nor were the rock-hard conservatives like the Heritage Foundation fooled. They also saw Donald Trump and his stalwart base as useful tools for breaking the norms and precedents established through 250 years of existence as a nation. They disliked the direction of the country because it was too liberal and progressive, and they really prefer kings and dictators.
Those are the groups who sit in Trump audiences, regurgitating “Lock her up” and “Let’s go, Brandon”, limited in scope about what they’re able or willing to see and accept. Despite the blue wave of the 2026 midterm elections, those are the groups Trump is trying to win over again.
Just watch Donald Trump’s 2026 song and dance.
First: Trump thinks himself very popular. Why, if he was on the ballot, the results would have been very different. Even though all the accepted and respected polls tell Trump that most of the nation dislikes and disapproves of him, he insists otherwise.
Third: Donald Trump is very contrite in an interview. Yes, I went through this yesterday, and some media, as they so frequently did with Trump, tried to humanize and normalize him.
How long did that last? Why, within a few days, Trump was doing his regular dance moves.
Fourth: The midterm elections were stolen!
Gasp! How is that possible! It’s never been claimed before — except, of course, by Trump and MAGAts, people who can’t believe they lost and refuse to accept the evidence right before their eyes.
Donald Trump has declared the Iran war he started as over, effectively over, or won before, and told the world that it would be over in a few weeks when he started the war over eight months ago.
Donald Trump also said he would not start wars, that he would stop war.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Donald Trump also said he never promised he would never start a war.
The next step will be Trump declaring that the economy is doing great! Prices are already coming down! They’re coming down fast! We’re in a golden age. A gaggle of distractions will be released, like this one, trying to change the subject.
Next, we can expect Trump to blame former Presidents Obama and Biden. Why, it’s their fault.
It’s the same ol’ song and dance that Trump was doing in 2015 – lie and blame others. Accept no responsibility. As the blue wave demonstrated in November of 2026, Trump’s song and dance is so yesterday.
A change is needed. The blue wave was the beginning, but a lot of work remains to be done.
Gotta love that Donald Trump, don’t you? So very, very predictable, always wanting credit for how great he thinks himself, while shedding responsibility like a rattler shedding its skin.
Appearing on CBS’s revamped “60 Minutes”, Trump was contrite about the ICE raids and his anti-immigration policy. “It was too tough. I think it might be too tough,” Donald Trump said.
Before his contrite admission was even aired, Trump promoted Stephen Miller to be his White House Chief of Staff. Miller, who was the primary architect of the immigration policy which might have been ‘too tough’.
Trump makes it sound like, well, gosh, he had little control over it. Because anyone in charge of something can change it, right? Especially if they don’t like how it’s going. And the way that Trump kept framing it, repeatedly insisting that the midterms were lost due to “bad messaging”, doesn’t show that he didn’t like policy; it was the public’s response which bothered him.
And then, Donald Trump promoted the person in charge of it — Stephen Miller — and gave him more power.
How very contrite.
CNN wrote it up as a ‘striking acknowledgement’. Please, Donald Trump acknowledged nothing. Trump merely gave cover to himself, trying to lull people and get them to lower their guard.
A truly contrite person would have said something like, “We’ve already made changes.” Trump didn’t say that, and won’t, because this is just a PR stunt.
Trump also declared that he has no idea that he’s making money or how much he’s making. He doesn’t know what stocks he has…
Yet, Trump was upset with his lawyer’s husband when he made a chunk of millions, mentioning
Just in, more consistently than the sun’s rising and setting, Trump has spun back. Donald Trump originally said that he accepted the elections results. Less than a week later, he’s gone back on what he said.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Donald Trump’s new weave is just like his old weave — misinformation, lies, and fantasies. Diehard MAGAts will eat it up.
The rest of We the People have had our fill. We have learned from watching and listening that Trump makes promises, breaks promises, and goes on, pretending like everything is great as it all falls apart.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, November 8, 2026.
Drizzly and chilly outside, a beaten gray sky hangs low over Ashland. 54 degrees, it rains off and on, a pattern expected to carry through the high of 60 F. A few remaining shimmering maples are ablaze in red against the misty gray.
Gina (sister) took Mom by the house Friday. The house is Mom’s house. Given the upcoming holiday season, my mind flashes back to past travels and its associated planning. Ten years ago — 2016 — my wife and I would be talking about going back East to see Mom and my sisters in Pittsburgh, then visiting my wife’s mother and sister in West Virginia. We usually flew into Pittsburgh, rented a car, visited a day or two in Pittsburgh, drove down, visited there for several days, and then drove back up to Pittsburgh and spent several more days.
Plans slowly changed. My wife’s mother moved into an assisted living place as her Parkinson’s advanced. Our visits were quiet times sitting with her, waiting for her to speak. We would take her favorite food to her a few times, dinner from Bob Evans. Then she passed and the visits were only to Pittsburgh.
Reflecting on this year’s travel plans, I’m working around my medical issues, and my wife’s RA issues would make cross-country travel a daunting challenge.
Part of these thoughts emerged from a friend’s medical crisis. She lost her husband on October 17, 2026. Thursday, she had a stroke and went to the hospital for a carotid artery stent. Her surgery was Friday morning. She’s been unresponsive since then.
Sorry. I didn’t plan to write a somber post. That’s just what emerged. It’s not unique; millions of people have similar stories about life, family, and change. Experiencing these things in parallel to me, my wife says little about it, but I know she deeply feels the changes and losses. Ultimately, as with almost everything else, we process differently. Neither way is right or wrong, just different.
On the very, very positive side, I have wonderful memories of journeys ‘home’ to visit with Mom and my sisters and their families and will keep feasting on them.
Also emerging were more reflections about the 2026 blue tide. Republicans staying home instead of voting was a significant reason why Democrats strongly prevailed. That’s nothing to count on for future elections, but it certainly repudiates Trump and the GOP’s direction for the company: Republicans couldn’t even hold their noses to vote to keep Republicans in office under Trump.
It seems like Trump is subdued since then. I imagine that a sane person in Donald Trump’s situation would be digging into the post-mortem to discover what went wrong. But Trump always buries his head. Right until he election, he insisted that his approval ratings were great. Since then, he blamed the losses on the candidates, continuing his standard of ignoring truth and reality.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Donald Trump refuses to accept that he was on the ballot, and that’s why Republicans lost. Trump thinks “everyone is profiting” because the stock market is up, completely ignoring the affordability issues caused by rising gas, diesel, oil, food, and healthcare prices.
Just like their leader, Donald Trump, MAGAts are blaming everything rather than looking squarely at the truth and Steve Bannon wants to double down on the failed policies.
With my thoughts of going ‘home’ in the past and Republicans staying home, Les Neurons predictably responded with…a song about home.
The Neurons actually played multiple songs about home in my morning mental music stream. We had Ozzy, Bruce, John Denver, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motley Crue, Simon and Garfunkel all offering songs about being home, hometowns, and going home. It was Home-a-palooza in the head.
I eventually landed on a favorite song by Blind Faith, a 1969 gem called “Can’t Find My Way Home”. I came across this version by Rachel Price and enjoyed it, so I offer it to you.
I ended up on this song because I wondered how the GOP was going to find their way home. Under Trump, they’ve been promoting election deniers and candidates running on hate and deception. The voters rejected so where — or how — will the GOP turn now?
Meanwhile, the Democrats have found a cadre of strong, principled, young candidates, and many won. I’m not going to celebrate too much because holding office change people, as do events. Despite my age, I still can’t see the future.
May you and your family enjoy a wonderful day at home or traveling, whatever works for you, as long as you find solace and joy in what you do.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, November 11, 2026.
Overcast and wet defines the morning’s view of the sky and land. Still colorful but fading, November is taking over, kicking October’s influences out. It’s 52 F with a chance of 58 F as a high.
My 1440 minutes are consumed with writing and BCG wash number 5. My wife and I were talking about going to a Day of the Dead celebration after my appointment but we both realized how stupid that would be. *smile*
Nothing new from Mom’s negotiations with my sister, Gina. I don’t expect a fast decision. Gina is always suspicious of Mom these days. In Gina’s view, Mom uses pain and problems as tools to manipulate others, so she’s waiting to see how sincere and true Mom’s offer to apologize to Gina’s husbands really is.
I don’t blame Gina at all. I’m extremely leery of Mom’s current entreaties. I want Mom to be happy but I’m not certain she has that capacity any longer.
My wife and I talk about the midterm elections a lot at our house. There is a bit of fatigue in our conversations. The GOP’s television commercials are so friggin’ annoying.
Like Brad Hicks, running for state office. Part of the appeal he makes to voters is that ‘one party shouldn’t be in charge of everything.’
Hello, Brad. You’re a Republican. You do realize that Republicans control Congress and the White House, don’t you? You are, in effect, arguing against voting for Republicans because one party shouldn’t be in charge of everything.
Other than that, and attack, attack, these Trump-supportingcandidates try to appeal for affordability and common sense. They never elaborate on either and don’t address the Trump-sized elephant who is affecting affordability in America.
So we are really, really, REALLY looking forward to Election Day — ESPECIALLY if We the People manage the blue wave so many are predicting.
With those thoughts in mind, The Neurons have placed “Sweet Tuesday Morning” in my morning mental music stream. This is a Badfinger song which came out in 1971. I had the album and listened to the tune often. I don’t think I’ve heard it on the radio in decades, which is a shame. Other than being about Tuesday, though, the song doesn’t have much to do with election day or the stresses, worries, and frustrations it represents.
I hope your 1440 minutes are stress free and relaxed although I suspect many are like me, hopeful but anxious, angry and weary.
Science fiction and fantasy writer John Scalzi weighed in on the 2026 midterm elections and who you should vote for in Ohio, where he resides. I think much of his advice applies to other states in 2026. Really, his final paragraph summarizes it all very well.
“And don’t vote for any Republicans. Let their manifest exile begin this year. Let it be compounded in 2028. Let them wander in the wilderness for a very long time. They deserve it.“
I urge you to read the rest of his post. It might make you smile.
That last headline is interesting. It highlights Trump’s patterns, IMO.
Trump likes to lie to win over voters (which some admire because he’s ‘telling it straight’ to them, in their mind). Then he makes solemn promises — over and over — about the great things he’ll do for people and the nation. Righteous declarations follow about who he is — a peace president who stopped eight wars, a unifier, a churchgoer who cares about everyone, a person who would never condone violence.
Then Trump broke many of his promises. Donald Trump often claimed that wasn’t what he said, that wasn’t what he meant, or that he was joking.
Next, Trump cut funding to programs and services. Some was done in secret, depending on the category of spending and how his ‘base’ feels about it. However and whyever Trump cuts, repercussions emerge. Experts often warn Trump and his supporters that those results will probably happen, but they ignore them, because TRUMP.
Then, lo, the results come in, almost as predicted. People become angry. If the angry people are part of Trump’s base, he slowly, belatedly, tries to fix things. Trump’s typical fix is usually a cash offer of dividends, subsidies, assistance. Those things sound terribly socialist, because such government handouts are branded as socialist by the right, but that’s okay; that’s Trump and his base.
That’s different.
It always is one standard for Trump and his supporters, and another for everyone else.
It’s the Trump Double Standard.
The debacle with the farmers can be traced across Trump’s second term.
Farmers’ problems began well before Trump came into office the second time as climate change, widespread heat, and drought changed weather patterns, and insurance costs skyrocketed. But I want to specifically address how Donald Trump’s actions actively worsened the situation for American farmers.
DOGE cut USAID funds because America First. As part of those cuts, the Food for Peace funds were cut. While the Food for Peace program fed people outside of the United States, Food for Peace bought billions of dollars of produce from American farmers. Just like that, that market was gone. Thank you, Donald Trump.
At the same time, funding for programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) was frozen, leaving farmers who had already invested money into soil and water conservation projects completely in limbo regarding federal reimbursements. Thanks again, Donald Trump.
Then, while farmers and most Americans were struggling to pay bills, Trump launched his war against Iran, immediately affecting global oil shipments and the international supply chain, resulting in higher prices for oil, diesel, and fertilizer for farmers. Thank you a fourth time, Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s solution for the problems he caused American farmers from the 2025 DOGE cuts, lost global markets, and higher prices from the 2026 Iran war was to throw money at it. Just days before the November 2026 midterms, the USDA scrambled to pledge $15 billion in emergency ad-hoc aid.
It’s too late for many farmers. They already declared insolvency. It’s also too late for those who are planning their fall purchases and next year’s crops. Not for the first time, Donald Trump, self-proclaimed expert in so many fields, failed to grasp the powerful negative impact of his decisions. And not for the first time, Donald Trump has No. Way. Out.
Thank you again, Donald Trump. Thank you for worsening the situation for farming in America. Thank you for raising the prices of food staples, oil, gas, diesel, and fertilizer. Thank you very damn much.
November has arrived, and it looks tired out there today. Dispirited. Like it’s beginning with a hangover. Limp with rain and moisture, many leaves have surrendered, leaving their trees almost naked. The remaining leaves appear dull, as if they’re just hanging on.
Fog and mists cut down the light and block the views. It’s warmer today, already 43 F, with a high of 53 possible.
Mom sent out a text to Gina (my sister) yesterday. Mom will give Gina $4K a month and apologize to Pat if she can come live with Gina.
The money aspect isn’t a concern for Gina. It’s always been about Mom’s accusations about Pat and her refusal to apologize to him for what she claimed he did to her. Mom claimed that Pat spied on her all the time, took and hid her remote, and used an ‘invisible device’ on her head to cause her pain.
I don’t know what will come of this. Texts exploded yesterday after Gina and Mom became angry again, with Gina threatening not to take Mom to her appointment or to vote next week.
With November here, the midterm elections are at last in reach. I’m feeling the anxiety that many others. One, a hope that there is a blue wave.
Two, a worry that there won’t be a blue wave.
Three, a worry that there is a blue wave and Trump reacts by inciting violence. There is infamous precedence for that.
For whatever reasons, the Bachman-Turner Overdrive song, “Roll On Down the Highway”, is being cranked through my morning mental music stream.
The song was released in 1975. I was in my first year of service in the US Air Force and my wife was a senior in high school. She graduated and we married, and this was part of our soundtrack of the time.
Today, my mind is stuck on the chorus, “Let it roll, down the highway.” It’s a reflection for me that I’m ready for some changes. The dice are thrown. Let’s see how they roll.
I hope the dice roll breaks in your favor today and everyday. Have a peaceful and joyous Sunday.
Another 30-degree night. White clouds overly the blue sky, creating a hazy white and blue sky. About 50 degrees high expected, I think.
Halloween has arrived in the US. At last. Decorations have been up for a while, and a casual topic of conversation, a filler. “So, do you have any fun plans for Halloween?” “Do you get many tricker or treaters?”
We have no fun Halloween plans. Going to a Day of the Dead party, but that’s on Monday. No, we don’t get any trick or treaters, and we’ve ceased buying treats because we ended up eating them all or freezing them forever.
I chuckled as a I dressed today. I’m wearing a sweater with a black tee shirt under it. I bought the sweater before moving from California to Oregon, so that’s over 21 years ago. But I recognized the tee shirt as one of the black cotton tee shirts with a chest pocket that I wore with my battle dress uniform in the Air Force over thirty years ago. I was in special ops for a while, and they required black tees. I still have three of them. Amazing how well they held up.
Gosh, if we’re getting richer, as Trump claims, I wonder what’s causing the soaring personal bankruptcies this year if we’re all ‘getting richer’? And if the US as a nation, why is our national debt so high and climbing, or that the budget deficit is getting worse?
I also wonder why so many people are complaining about the high costs of food, healthcare, and just about everything else. Besides increasing personal bankruptcies, personal savings are cratering in the US, and credit card debt keeps going up. Even farmers and ranchers, beneficiaries of Trump’s attempts to buy them off, are starting to say that Trump is a disaster.
Well, the truth to Donald Trump’s assertion is in his words. When Trump says “we’re getting richer”, he doesn’t mean We the People. Trump means Donald Trump and his family and peers like the wealthiest five percent of the nation are getting richer.
For Trump, it’s always about us and them. Trump managed to con a large portion of the population into thinking he included them when he said ‘us’, but they’re starting to understand that Donald Trump is a greedy, lying narcissist who is using his position to enrich himself.
‘Starting to’ is key to that. Many Trump supporters ‘sort of kind of maybe realize’ it but support Trump despite what it does to the nation because they like his brand of greed, hate, division, faux religion, and chaos. They approve of his ‘small government model’ because it means less regulation for business and more money and opportunity for them to get wealthier! “Everyone for themselves!” is their model, echoing the Founders’ intentions.
As everyone knows, it’s all part of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all white men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Christian God with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Getting Richer, Screwing Everyone Else, and Doing Everything to Hold onto Power.”
Every school child is taught that early in American schools, especially private, white Christian schools paid for by vouchers made possible by poor taxpayers.
For as the old maxim goes, “We are only as strong as our weakest link, so we need to break those links and replace them with links like us. For in conformity is strength.”
Today’s theme music is by Pink Floyd. “Us and Them” was part of the album, “Dark Side of the Moon”, which was released in 1973. The lyrics are perfect for the Trump era, as he’s constantly dividing the nation, world, and even his own party under terms which call out us and them.
Sample Lyrics
“Forward”, he cried from the rear And the front rank died The general sat and the lines on the map Moved from side to side
Black and blue And who knows which is which And who is who
Up and down And in the end It’s only round and round, and round
“Haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words?”
The poster bearer cried “Listen, son”, said the man with the gun “There’s room for you inside”
They’re not gonna kill ya So like, if you give ’em a quick short, sharp, shock, they won’t do it again Dig it? I mean he got off lightly ’cause I would’ve given him a thrashing I only hit him once It was only a difference of right and wrong, innit? But really, I mean good manners don’t cost nothing, do they, eh?
Down and out It can’t be helped But there’s a lot of it about
With, without And who’ll deny It’s what the fighting’s all about
I hope you and me, and all our friends and relatives, have very good days and comfortable nights.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, October 29, 2026.
Another cold autumn night fell over us last night. I awoke this morning to 30 F and frost on the ground. A line of high and thing white clouds stretches over the blue sky. 36 F now, we expect a high of about 52 F today.
Happy birthday to Mom! I called and spoke with her for thirty minutes. She’d just had pizza for lunch as part of her birthday celebration, which the assisted living people did for her. They also presented her with a birthday cake for them to all to enjoy. Yellow cake with thick white frosting with yellow, purple, and pink flowers on it. Sheet cake. Mom was eating it while speaking with me. Our conversation was peppered with, “Oh, this cake is so good.”
My sister, Gina, complained that Mom is losing it because she paid for her rent with old checking account, and if Mom keeps doing that, that account will run out of money.
I resisted responding, yes, as you get older, change is harder to process. It doesn’t necessarily mean Mom is ‘losing it’. But changing habits and routines get more challenging as we age — especially since Mom didn’t participate in making the change. Gina made the change and forced it on Mom.
But I don’t think I would change Gina’s mind with those insights, so I’ll go on.
Mom had some coughing fits while I was talking to her and asked me if I could call her again later. So we agreed that I will call her again tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, the flowers I ordered her were delivered after our conversation. She should have them by now but hasn’t mentioned it. Maybe she’s saving it for tomorrow. *smile* She does that.
Back to politics. It’s asking a lot for some people, I know, but I hope they go into the 2026 midterms, think, and vote. Hard to do when Republicans are juking and jiving, avoiding giving truthful answers about anything and everything. They try to dismiss inflation by mentioning that it’s not as bad as it was under President Biden, while ignoring the practical ramifications of how much more things cost now. And the Iran war? Why, that’s necessary to save us, using the same kind of trumped up *sorry, not sorry* excuses used to invade Iraq.
So I hope people think and vote blue. Hope they realize that Donald Trump lies and breaks promises. Hope they think and understand that Donald Trump can’t be trusted. Hope people think and see that Donald Trump’s policies are not making America great in any sense of what that means.
I know I’m 1) a broken record about this (ha, ha, hope you’re old enough to understand the reference) and 2) that there’s a solid wall of Republicans who say, “Never Democrat”. 3) There’s also a group of voters out there who remain ignorant, some deliberately so, and 4) some MAGAts love the way Trump is tearing down the nation because of their framework, emotions, self-pity, or whatever.
So here is Aretha Frankling with “Think!” A rousing song, it’s one of The Neurons’ favorite songs and often haunts the morning mental music stream.
Sample Lyrics
People walk around everyday Playin’ games and takin’ scores Tryin’ to make other people lose their mind Well, be careful you don’t lose yours
Ooh think (think) Think about what you’re tryin’ to do to me Woo-hoo, think (think) Let your mind go, let yourself be free
I love this scene in the movie. Makes me grin and laugh every time. Hope you enjoy it as well.
