Tag: opinion

Saturday’s Theme Music — Who Made Who?

Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, June 27, 2026.

A cool summer day, overcast and dark. Rain showers came and went yesterday, and the high never broke the low 60s.

Today, it’s 51 F and seems like it might not get as warm as yesterday. I’m okay with it but I worry about how it affects the local agriculture. The good news that emerges from it is that we’re less likely to suffer from a wildfire in our area.

I’m doing much better today with post-op. Moving more like myself. Not bothered by a feeling that I constantly need to pee, I’m also able to sit and bend much more comfortably. The hiccups continue, though; violent hiccups awoke me at 2 AM on Friday morning. They lasted about thirty minutes. Had two more attacks yesterday, mollifying them with Manuka honey. Another attack this morning but it ended after just a few minutes on its own.

Hiccups are common after being intubated, and I was intubated after I was sedated. Several reasons for the hiccups are given, including irritating Vagus nerves and diaphragm tissue.

As an aside, I did wake up several times last night to ensure my tube was draining correctly. I don’t know what prompted that concern, as it always was. Thank you to everyone who texted, emailed, or commented on my medical issues and wished me well.

Catching up on the news, I see that Utah is now on the wildfire front. I feel for them and wish them safety.

My wife pointed me toward an article about the new US commemorative passports Trump created. They feature Trump’s likeness face and say, “Welcome, but be good.”

Like, WTF, old man, do you understand that the passport is for US citizens to go overseas and return?

Meanwhile, we continue to deal with Trump’s messes: Iran war, Epstein files, tariffs, the ballroom, a worsening economy, and the ongoing problem of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, otherwise called Algaegate. The thing about all of these is that he took a fair to middling to good situation and worsened. That is the Trump legacy.

In the Iran War, the US and Iran have signed some kind of something to agree not to fight but are shooting at each other once again. Neither side trusts the other.

As part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump threatened European countries with a 100% tariff if digital services taxes are implemented. Everyone mostly shrugged. One, this is TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out. While he frequently threatens, Trump also slinks away without carrying out on his threats. The pattern has been well-established.

Two, a February Supreme Court ruling limited what tariffs Trump can legally employ. That results in a more complicated and limited process.

I also read that Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration was sparsely attended, leading to him pleading for greater attendance. That brings us to your Trump Quote of the Day:

Newsflash, Trump: historians are rating you as one of the worst presidents ever! As the Trump disasters stack, we expect Trump to cement that legacy as the worst ever. As for popularity, Trump keeps sinking in almost every poll except for the ones he and his staff fake to appease his ego.

Today’s song is “Who Made Who” by AC/DC. The song is in today’s morning mental music stream because of a dream. Not a great deal of the dream was remembered but in one point of it, I remember asking someone else, “Well, who made you do that?” As I sat and remembered that piece of dream, using it as a lure for the rest of the dream to follow and re-emerge, My Neurons — who don’t always pay attention to what I’m doing — began playing the song.

The song was released in 1982 as part of a movie soundtrack. I’ve often thought it as I wonder about people like Donald Trump: who made you? How did you get into power?

In a funny way, I found a good summary of Trump in an historic fiction book, “The Winter King”. This is by Bernard Cornwell. I enjoy many of his books and was re-reading “The Winter King”, which is based on who the mythological King Arthur may have been, and that era of pre-England when Britons were fighting the invading Saxons. In later Cornwell historic series, including “The Last Kingdom”, the Saxons are fighting off the Danes to establish ‘one England’. What a history.

Anyway, in “The Winter King”, paraphrasing, a character describes Lancelot as a man who makes lying a choice and always lies to cover his weaknesses and to make people like him. Lancelot is portrayed as a coward who takes others’ victories as his own and is able to charm others into believing his lies. I’m fascinated because that’s exactly how I think of Trump, and this description of Lancelot was published in 1995.

I hope your day is full of positive energy and that you and yours stay safe and secure.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music — Fighting Fires

Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, June 25, 2026.

Cooler today — just 85 F — but the summer mix of blue sky and sunshine continues without interruption in our valley.

I haven’t been watching the World Cup games. Not my kind of football. But I dreamed that I was working with a gregarious black guy, trying to sell team jerseys to fans. He’d come into a large shipment of them at a discount, but he didn’t know what sizes he had. All had been manufactured outside of the US, and they weren’t using the labels familiar to me. I was using the Internet to help him size them so he could sell them.

Results are not back from Mom’s tests yesterday, except they have confirmed she doesn’t have a yeast infection. My sister, Gina, related that Mom was complaining about the sunglasses Mom was wearing: they were too big. She went on a rant that Frank probably let his sister, Joan, wear them, because Joan has a big head. She finished, “I could just kill Frank.”

Gina replied, “Mom, you do know that Frank died last year, don’t you?”

I feel like I’m in a variation of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. In that 1989 song, he recites court decisions, celebrity names, historic events, and pop culture fads and trends that took place between 1949, when Joel was born, to the current date in 1989. As I read the news, there’s a Billy Joel rhythm: Supreme Court rules, shooting leaves x dead, earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, climate change denial, Trump texts, Trump promises, Trump lies, Trump claims, distraction, distraction, distraction, fake news, elections, corruption, facts, truth, history, Epstein files, Epstein ballroom, tariffs, Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Musk, Venezuela, Ukraine, Russia, China, ICE in the cities, economy, jobs, prices, prices, prices, crisis, crisis, crisis!

Trump didn’t start the fire. But he threw gasoline on it and gave it oxygen. He didn’t start it but we’re gonna fight it.

The song had a lot of airplay back in the early 1990s but has since faded. Not one of Joel’s better offerings, the chorus was pretty familiar to everyone because of the airplay.

Despite those thoughts, The Neurons have the Allman Brothers performing “Statesboro Blues” in my morning mental music stream. A favorite song and cover, it has a jumping, thumping sound to it which always kickstarts my energy.

I hope you have great day, summer or winter, wherever you inhabited for now, and that all goes well for you and yours.

I’m off to my appointments. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music – Helpless

Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, June 23, 2026.

Hot, mid 90s today, copy of yesterday for our valley.

We cope without using the A/C. I like them in cars and businesses, don’t like using them at home. At night, I cool-drench the house and that usually carries us through the day.

Smoke was in the air last night when I popped the door open. Not strong but I definitely smelled it. NextDoor had the answer: a controlled burn in the town next door. They have orchards. Blight had struck. To contain the blight and stop its spread, they cut off the affected limbs and burned them.

People were worried, though. We’re in a red flag situation. Sure, it was a controlled burn, but controlled burns can get out of hand.

Shows the complexity of the entire matter — drought, fire, trees, economy — on one succinct scenario.

At about 6, my wife went into the garage for something and returned. “I want to leave a door open and let hot air. Warm the house. It’s so cold in here.”

It was 92 outside. In the house at that point, it was 79.

She’s been having greater issues with staying warm. More issues with moving. Strength challenges. So freaking depressing to witness. Stoically bearing it, she complains little. Rocks to stand. Grunts with effort. Hangs on to balance herself.

We went to the growers market this morning. Bought baked goods for a friend and took them to him. He has Parkinsons and cancer. His wife is away on a trip with her sister to Alaska. The woman needed it.

Our friend is doing well. The housekeeper was in, finishing. Said she’d be back at 5. Meanwhile, friends are delivering pizza for his lunch at 2 PM.

It takes a community to cope with these things.

I had a pre-op telephone appointment for my bladder cancer on Thursday. Usual stuff about times, bathing with Hibiclens, drinking fluids, eating, where we’re going, where to park, how long it’ll take.

My wife asked, “What about afterward? What’d they say about that?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. This was pre-ops.”

“They’re all so compartmentalized,” she snapped.

I can’t argue that. It’s very true.

My wife and I chatted about the news. She had just read about Trump’s claim that the economy is the ‘opposite of a recession’.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

This seems like another part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, an attempt to distract us from what’s really going on.

Anyone living outside of a millionaire’s bubble will probably take issue with Trump’s claims. People are dealing with rising costs associated with energy, housing, food, consumer goods, and healthcare. Trump seems to believe that making these claims will make them true or enough people will simply go along with him on his magic thinking ride.

For the record, for example, oil prices aren’t even down to the levels they were when Trump took office.

Brent crude oil – Price – Chart – Historical Data – News

Beyond Trump’s fractured economic reality, people are awakening to the MOU that ended Trump’s Iran blunder that cost lives and money. They’re basically responding, WTF?

Besides the ongoing saga of the Epstein ballroom construction, we’re also dealing with Algaegate. Trump is straining to point the finger at someone else for the clear disaster that it’s become. It’s such ugly optics, but it perfectly summarizes Trump’s flawed grip on truth, facts, and history.

Today’s music is “Helpless” by Neil Young. Reading the news on some days just engenders that frustration and helplessness, a sense of ‘go do something.’ Protest, scream, call people, write things. Some mornings, I’m a stick stuck in the mud. But I drink my coffee, write out some of my anger. Suck in some air. Count my advantages. Move on for a short while, at least.

“Helpless” is performed by Neil and The Band. Hope you find it worthwhile to hear and watch.

Hope you’re feeling good, doing well, and looking forward to better days.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music – Lonely Boy

Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, June 21, 2026.

Welcome to the first day of summer for those living above the equator. Sunny skies and 85 F are in our valley’s forecast today. It’s a pleasant 68 F right now.

Of course, if you’re south of the equator, welcome to the first day of winter. Stay safe and warm down there.

Oh, and Happy Father’s Day in the US.

And Happy Pride Month in the US.

Eureka, Utah, has been evacuated due to the growing Iron fire, a somber reminder that we’re in wildfire season. People are out using power tools right now, which is permitted in the early morning, when it’s cool.

It’s a lazy morning for me. Still sobering up from my dreams. Experienced many vivid ones. So I’m being lazy with my theme music, and posting a few things from the net. They caught my attention and add perspective on what continues to go on with the corrupt Trump administration and their leader’s many failures.

On that, I’ll move on. Today’s music is “Lonely Boy” by Andrew Gold. Song came out in 1977. The Neurons set it off in my morning mental music stream after I looked at some photos of Trump at the G7. I thought, wow, he looks so lost. And, well, lonely. Like he has no friends and has no idea of what to do. Because nobody wanted to be with him. They know what a pompous fool he is/

May your days, whether they’re summer or winter, be filled with the warmth of friendship, love, and hope.

Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music – Yesterday

Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, June 16, 2026.

Cooler forecast for today: 85 F. Thunderstorms and lightning are in the mix, making people apprehensive about lightning strikes and wildfires.

We had the windows open last night at 10.

“I smell smoke,” I said.

My wife agreed. “It smells strong.”

I went around closing windows and turned on a few exhaust fans. Then spent half an hour on different channels/media, trying to find where the smoke was coming from, what the threat was. 11 PM, I stepped out and took a deep breath.

Smoke smell gone.

Well, good. I returned inside and opened a few windows to continue cooling the house.

I’m a little groggy today. It’s a privileged whine, as I stayed up reading to finish a book, “Yesteryear”. I enjoyed it a great deal. Excellent satire. That’s the third terrific book I’ve read this month, the others being “James” and “A Drop of Corruption”.

All quiet with Mom. Mom is feeling better and asked when my sister, Gina, could come and visit with her, have a ‘real’ visit. Gina had to defer as her plate is filled with being parent & grandparent, taking care of Mom’s affairs, and working. There are also several graduations. It also happens that her vacation, planned for next week. It’s a trip down to the NC coast, where they’ve been going a decade, a small luxury to help her recharge. The house closing is set for July 17. She’s investigating whether it can be moved back, and whether she wants to.

Yesterday’s news was about the Iran truce deal. That was early hours. Later hours had Trump blustering about bombing Iran again if he’s not happy with the deal and how he thinks Iran is doing.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and Trump’s crowing about ‘fixing it’ is just like the Iran war. Trump complained about how the reflecting pool was, hired a crony to fix it and now it’s worse.

Trump starts something, boasts about how much greater he will make, and then it turns out it’s not. It becomes a recurring pattern of stupid is, stupid does.

The latest news out of the training facilities in San Antonio, Texas reflects the same pattern. The “I Know Better” administration decided flu vaccinations are not mandatory, but voluntary. About 40% of trainees opted IN for the flu vaccines. Now there’s 159 cases of flu reported and one recruit is dead. Way to go, Trump! Way to ensure the military is in top form and able to respond.

News yesterday included a report that a new Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll of 5,469 adults found that 59% now believe Trump is a “dangerous dictator”. Last year showed 56% of Americans thought that, while the poll results in March resulted in 52%.

Acting quietly, it appears that the Trump administration secretly moved taxpayer’s money to pay for the Epstein ballroom construction. After often and loudly proclaiming that the US taxpayer wouldn’t need to pay for any of it, Trump asked Congress for the money and was denied. Now, using his standard tactics, Trump is siphoning and moving money to pay for it, money that Congress earmarked for other matters.

Is it any wonder that most of us see Trump as a dangerous dictator?

That’s just one of a multiple of reasons.

It’s all sticking on Trump now. Trump’s economic approval rating is at 33%, below the lowest rating that President Biden ever had.

Today’s song is “That Was Yesterday”. This is a rock ballad by Foreigner released in 1985 about a failed relationship. The Neurons plugged it into my morning mental music stream when I was talking with my wife this morning about the news. Something she said caused me to laughingly respond, “Well, that was yesterday.” The Neurons, being the inattentive buggers which they are, thought I wanted to hear the song and fired it up. Now I must pass it on to you.

The video begins with the end of some other song before it leaps into today’s music. Just bear with it, okay?

Hope your day follows positive twists and turns as you make your way from yesterday until tomorrow.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music – Dealing

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, June 18, 2026.

We’re sitting in 72 F. Sun was out but clouds have moved in, murmuring about thunderstorms. One source said today’s high will be 98 F. Another said 91. I think the second one is correct.

We’re all abuzz about Trump’s deal. Fought a war — sorry, conflict — for it, and all we got is a lousy tee-shirt.

That’s the bottom line. Reviews on the left side of the political spectrum can be summarized, “Are you kidding me?” The right side is trying to rally to support Trump but I think the NY Post’s headline says it for many:

Trump’s Iran deal gives the Islamic Republic big wins up front — and America nothing

As part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump’s Iran war did give Trump some respite from his failing economy, the Epstein files and Epstein ballroom, and the mounting court losses.

Overall, though, in a resume of bankruptcies and failures, this will go down as Trump’s biggest. The ‘Iran conflict’ will be the crown jewel in the write-ups about his ranking as ‘the worst president ever’.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Unfortunately for Trump, we have documents and videos from his speeches, texts, and interviews. They don’t align what his claim about getting 99.9% of what he set out to do.

What Trump Said He Wanted To Achieve in Iran War—And What He Says Now

It’s good to record what Trump is saying now and what he said a few months ago. Because in a while, perhaps a few months, perhaps a year, Trump will claim, I never said that. Because that’s what he consistently does.

Shaking my head, I was laughing to myself about Trump’s deal with Iran as I made breakfast. It’s like going in to get a pay raise and promotion and coming out agreeing to work more hours, with more responsibilities, with the same title and pay.

Spying on me, The Neurons broke out “Deal” in the morning mental music stream. The Grateful Dead tune is about being cautious about the deals you make.

Sample Lyrics:

Wait until that deal go ’round
Don’t you let that deal go down, oh no

Costs a lot to win
Even more to lose
You and me bound to spend some time
Wonderin’ what to choose

Trouble for Trump, he thinks he’s a military genius. He thought Iran would be a cakewalk. Once again, the truth — Trump is a liar and con man, and not a genius — has been revealed.

I hope you make better deals for yourself than Trump did for the nation. May peace and grace carry you today and every day.

Cheers

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Reflections On Trump from the Net

Collections from BlueSky, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

Trump and Iran have a Memorandum of Understanding about not shooting and killing any longer. Much is being said about the $300B portion of the MOU. None of that money is supposed to be from the US government.

Tell you, what, though. Trump has established a pattern of being opaque about money, where it came from, and where it went. Trump made claims about Mexico paying for the wall. Cutting the national debt. Money for the Board of Peace. Trump makes big, headline-grabbing claims that rarely materialize as truth.

Trump claimed he would release the Epstein files and then tried to write it off as a hoax and keeps using every trick possible to keep them from being fully revealed. Likewise, Trump resists releasing his full income tax information, leading many, including me to wonder, what is he hiding?

Then there’s the ballroom, which was to cost US taxpayers nothing, and now — yeah, you get it.

Onward to the news!

TACO Rides Again!!!

TDS: Trump Double Standards

Summarizing Trump: ABSE: Always Blame Someone Else

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Is It Over?

Is Trump’s war with Iran over?

Maybe. Documents have been signed. Proclamations have been made.

Was Trump’s war with Iran worth it? Many are saying no. Personnelente shared a good image (originally on NewsThump, a satire site) demonstrating the differences between before and after:

Yes, that kind of winning is like scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter with two minutes remaining when your team is down by four touchdowns and the other team has pulled half its starters.

Regime change wasn’t affected. The nuclear program, while degraded, exists. Many Iranians were killed and injured, which probably will be a negative point for our nation; Iranians will look at the destruction and think of the dead and remember, the US did this to us. I hope they amend that with, Trump did this to us.

I always viewed the war through a prism. Trump needed something to boost his approval ratings and thought bombing Iran was a path. Experienced generals and diplomats had been removed and a blowhard was installed as the Defense Secretary, so there were no guardrails. Likewise, a Congress led by weak Republicans wasn’t going to stand in the way of ‘their’ POTUS.

Two, Trump needed distractions from failures stacking and the Epstein files. The war was launched as part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to distract us from his character and the evidence that exists that reveals his past.

The third reason is that this is Trump. He wanted to do it to prove he could do it. He’s excited to have all that power and wanted to flex it, to ‘show the world’ who he is. He thinks that’s manly. ‘Bad ass’.

The world already understood who he was; Trump cemented our understanding of him as a shallow thinker who thinks he can bully and bluster his way through a situation. Trump has shown that when things go bad in business, he blusters and walks away. Usually fails upward in business and personal relationships.

But war and running the Federal government are not like running a business. Trump, MAGA, and even many GOP don’t understand it. The consequences of being wrong when bombs are dropped and missiles are launched are much larger. The ripples of failing last longer and have much greater consequences.

Trump’s Iran war might not be over, though. While never admitting it, Trump will feel the sting of this limp victory and smell the stench of the critiques. It’s possible as he hurtles through more losses that he’ll use cover of any small provocations to drop more bombs on Iran.

Distracting, glorifying himself, and covering his ass is what his second term is all about.

It’s called Operation Enduring LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! was just a small part of it, to distract us from the Epstein files.

Operation Enduring LOOK — SQUIRREL! will probably offer a lot more distractions and claims in the very near future.

Like, say, a reflecting pool?

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Monday’s Theme Music – Fight!

Ashland, southern Oregon – Monday, June 15, 2026.

Another hot day in the valley. Blue sky was tinged with smoke from a fire north of us. That smoke has receded.

The temperature now is 89 degrees. Today’s high will be 99 F.

A late start for me today, as we had Food & Friends deliveries. A sadly short list is one way to look at it, because we wonder, what happened to the people previously. On the other hand, less people need the service, right! At least in our area and the route we do. The truth is, we don’t know, and can only guess.

Mom’s home buyer backed out. The realtor ascribed it to cold feet as the reports and inspections had not even been completed. Our realtor is going to talk to the second-ranked buyer to see if they’re still interested.

Our big news is that Trump celebrated his 80th birthday and stayed awake! He held a UFC event, Operation Epic IT’S ALL ABOUT ME! on the White House south lawn, a solid performer under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! umbrella of distractions.

Trump is a peace president. A violent blood fight at the home of We the People is a perfect demonstration of how much his words really mean.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

When Trump said, “I would never condone violence,” it had an asterisk. Trump only condones violence to celebrate himself, to entertain himself, to distract others from his grift and corruption, have people riot and try to overturn the election, and to kill other people via the military to show how tough he is. Otherwise, he would never condone violence.

Trump says peace is at hand with Iran. I don’t believe him. He’s lied too many times to accept at face value.

News analysis of the peace deal with Iran shows that many of the goals Trump stated when he started the war is unmet.

Trump said that his war saved Israel from nuclear extinction. Trump also said that the bombings he ordered last June, 2025, destroyed Iran’s nuclear program. And he had already claimed victory dozens of times earlier this year. He claimed that the war would be over by April 22, 2026.

Trump always insists that everyone is lying, especially the media. “Fake news!” he shouts. Documentation shows he’s done it well over 1,000 times.

Yet, he wants us to believe them now, when they report that ‘he’s won’. How can we when he’s conditioned us to disbelieve everything being said?

Trump’s name has been removed from the Kennedy Center. The Epstein ballroom is still illegally under construction. There are stories that the work Trump had done at the Lincoln Reflecting Pool is shoddy and already coming apart. Just like his lies, isn’t it?

Let’s see how much he starts caring about inflation now that he’s declared his war with Iran over.

In honor of Trump’s White House fight, My Neurons summoned an old disco-oriented song to the morning mental music stream. Carl Douglas wrote and performed “Kung Fu Fighting” in August of 1974. A global hit, it was on the radio often and I heard it often as I finished high school, graduated, and joined the military. I always thought it a silly song but it hooks me with the lyrics and melody.

I hope your day comes with good news and a good life.

Got to run now. Two dental appointments. First in Medford, the next in Ashland. It’s all about my final implant, where the cyst was removed from my gums.

Cheers

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