Well, I’m sure after all the attacks on Iran so far, Iran will now meekly submit — right? Sure. I have a Trump golf course to sell if you believe that. Based on previous responses, the Iranians will fight back. That’s what tends to happen when you kill and threaten to kill more. People get upset.
On other aspects of this escalation, sinking oil tankers is probably not good for the environment, and will be bad for oil, gas, and diesel prices. Might be bad for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, too, which might be bad for the global supply chain.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Of course, Trump did promise no new wars. Like everything else he does, he’s lying about what he said and meant. Just like when he told his first (and second) wife that he would love them forever and never cheat on them.
Just think of what We the People could have done to help the poor and sick. But no, Trump wanted to golf. Priorities, am I right?
Trump also claims that this is not a war. He’s just ordering the US Army, Navy, and Air Force to bomb things and kill people in Iran and on Iran ships.
Reading Trump’s quote shows the extent of his delusions. Trump claims ‘we had no equipment’ when he came into office. Sure. Search the net to find out how long it takes to build aircraft carriers like the USS Abraham Lincoln. Years, friends. Does Trump think he just snapped its fingers and ‘lo, there it was?
Likewise, the US military had huge numbers of personnel and armaments in place before Trump arrived. If anything, we’ve seen how Trump’s mismanagement and abuse of our military power is weakening the military.
As proven through the years, though, Trump is a lying idiot who fancies himself an expert on everything.
To the people like MAGAts who went to tear down everything, he’s perfect for the job.
Ashland, southern Oregon. Thursday, September 3, 2026.
Cool rainy weather continues here. Today’s high will be 63 degrees F, ten degrees above the present temp. Blue sky is a memory as gray clouds take over from horizon to horizon, no matter where I look. Rain fell yesterday, and it was very enjoyable, almost springlike to me. No more rain is expected today; just clouds and cool temperatures.
My sister, Gina, is irritated with Mom again. This is about Mom’s Amazon purchases but also this new account Gina set up. Apparently, Mom can only have six transactions a month. Mom used three on Amazon already, then Gina paid three bills but forgot to include those for her calculations for Mom’s account, so Mom now can’t spend any more money in September, according to Gina. As she’s not communicating with Mom, she is asking one of us to tell Mom for her. I think Gina needs to own it.
I admit, I’m a little irked with Gina’s thinking here. On the one hand, she’s complaining about Mom’s deteriorating mental state and memory. On the other hand, she sets Mom up with an account with expectations that Mom will think of everything she’ll need for the month and place one order. Hard to fault Gina, though, because she — almost alone — is the one child living locally trying to help Mom.
My wife told me about a mother of five being convicted.Her crime was letting her five-year-old walk a few blocks by himself in their gated community in Virginia.
My wife and I were astonished. Our parents would’ve been thrown under the jail, as much as we freely roamed. I walked, ran, and biked everywhere, starting when I was about five. By the time I was twelve, I was hitching rides with strangers. On the other hand, maybe I was just lucky that nobody wanted to get me during that era. No one tried that until I was sixteen, when a crew-cut man in a pickup truck in his early fifties begged me to show him my pecker and offered money.
Today’s news has alarming moves revealed by the US Postal Service. As expected, Trump is trying to weaponize the USPS to stop voting by mail. As he and the GOP take a wrecking ball to nation’s norms, buildings, arts, laws, economy, healthcare system, and military, Trump is trying to keep as many people as possible from voting. He claims voting fraud but has never proven it. Likewise, other than small and isolated amounts, it’s never been found or proven elsewhere in the nation in this century.
Trump, though, is at once desperate to claim he’s popular by making the mid-term elections about him. He’s also afraid of that truth that he’s not popular. Whenever a candidate backed by Trump losing, Trump blames the candidate. Of course, the candidates he’s backed aren’t generally quality people, either, so there’s a load of blame to spread around.
Paxton is a GOPer modeled after Trump. Paxton paid $300K to get securities fraud charges against him dropped, and his wife is divorcing Paxton after reports of numerous affairs.
Big question: is Paxton also in the Epstein files, like Trump?
This was a hilarious headline:
Donald Trump ‘will quit after midterms and hand presidency to Vance’, expert predicts
That’s so ridiculous it’s not worth addressing beyond noting its existence.
Well, I also will say, if you think Trump is going to quit, I have a Trump Bible to sell you, barely used.
Speaking of selling, the Trump coin is officially available to buy. Except it’s sold out. And it’s a collectible, not legal tender. Talking about it with my wife, she asked, “Is that all they do, sit around talking about ways for Trump to put his name on things and make money?”
Why that song? The song was released in 1995 and was It seemed to come from thinking about refusing to accept all the crap Trump is doing to our world. Then, thinking about why MAGAts go along with it. Then, reflecting on history — McCarthyism, the Ku Klux Klan, the way blacks, the people who lived on this continent before us, women — anyone who wasn’t white CIS male — was treated.
We overcame those things before; we need to overcome them again. And this song speaks to that: “I don’t owe you anything.” I’m speaking to the MAGAts who believe they’ve had it so bad.
Sample Lyrics
I still refused all the methods you abused It’s alright if you’re confused, let me be I’ve been around all the pawns you’ve gagged and bound They’ll come back and knock you down and I’ll be free
I’ve taken all and I’ve endured One day it all will fade, I’m sure
I don’t owe you anything I don’t owe you anything I don’t owe you anything I don’t owe you anything
I had no hand in your ever desperate plan It returns and when it lands, words are due I should’ve known we were better off alone I looked in and I was shown, you were too
I’ll close with wishes for you to achieve and persevere today and everything, in good health, with good friends. Peace and grace to you.
“I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world? I built our military.”
Trump’s claim that ‘I built our military’ barely stands up to any scrutiny. Most of the military hardware and personnel were part of the US military before Trump entered office in 2017. That is well documented.
His claim that he didn’t ‘guarantee’ no war is technically true: he didn’t ‘guarantee’ it. But he implied no new war by using the words no now war. His claim now goes against the vast Internet documentation of him promising “No new wars.”
Of course, in his mind, we’re not at war, even though he reminded everyone that we were at war, because he’s trying to gaslight us with one of his fabulous word weaves. Most of the world calls his word weaves ‘bullshit’ or early signs of cognitive issues, but to Trump, it’s genius.
Challenged about attacking Iran, Trump claimed, “If I didn’t go in there with the B-2 bombers, they would right now have a nuclear weapon, and it could be that half of the world would be eradicated already.”
Unfortunately for Trump, this was contrary to all evidence and facts, including his claims from June of 2025. Apparently becoming upset by having facts and evidence pressed on him, Trump declared, “I’ve had enough,” and stormed off the set. This could be why some have labeled him as TACO, for, “Trump Always Chickening Out”.
On the good news side of things, Trump managed to stay awake during “Meet the Press”.
There’s no confirmation that Trump had to leave because he felt a need to take a nap.
The last day of sunshine finds our area with blue skies and sunshine. It’s 48 F now and we expect a high in the mid 70s.
The Mom report is that she fell over backwards in her wheelchair and hit her head hard on the ground. A facility employee was present when it happened and wanted Mom to go to the hospital. Mom declared that. It happened at 7 AM but she didn’t share that news with us until the late afternoon. Now we worry and wait, hopeful that she didn’t do more damage to herself.
When Mom spoke to me last week, she mentioned that they were required to be in the dining room for breakfast at 8 AM. Mom has a roommate and one bathroom that they share. The roommate is on hospice, and the guidelines are that hospice residents have bathroom priority. In practice then, Mom can’t get ready to go to the dining room in the morning because her roommate is in the bathroom, and ends up getting down there late or skips breakfast.
It’s also reported that Trump is urging to cancel it outright, classic Trump Always Chickening Out.
I’d prefer the latter. If Trump is there, he would make this overtly political. It’ll be less about the United States and more about him. Sure, he’ll say that we’re a ‘great nation’. Then he’ll go on to say how great he is, how great he made the nation, call former President Biden some names, name some others as enemies, and rail about how Democrats are ‘ruining’ the nation, and spread lies about what he’s done and how others think he’s doing a great job.
Exhibit A:
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
*snark alert* Isn’t that sweet how Trump compares himself to ‘The King’ of rock and roll, someone who has been dead almost fifty years, someone who people paid to see? If he wants to draw the largest draw, he’ll need over 3.5 million people.
Trump is against Democrats because Democrats keep pushing on voters’ rights, diversity, law and order, truth, facts, and history. Those principles and ideals often collide with Trump’s grifting, ego, ignorance, and authoritarianism. Trump would prefer to lie about what’s going on, making up information, and boast about doing things like lowering prescription prices 1,000 percent. While Trump campaigned on no new wars, releasing the Epstein files, lowering food and energy prices on day one, he broken all of those promises.
His supporters like Trump and still support him because he runs roughshod over the Constitution, ignoring due process to go after political enemies, ordering ICE to attack anyone who might be illegal — especially if they look like they’re anything but white. ICE goons will ignore evidence that others are here legally and will react violently when confronted. That’s Trump’s ‘law and order’ for you: a police state.
Meanwhile, his destruction of Washington DC and the White House continues. Not satisfied with tearing up a public golf course, screwing up the Lincoln Memorial, and tearing down the East Wing to build the Epstein ballroom, Trump is now talking about the Kennedy Center never re-opening.
After illegally changing the Kennedy Center’s name by adding his to it and closing the center for ‘renovations’, a judge ruled put the name back to what was established by act of Congress, per the law, and open it. TACO immediately whined that he’s not being allowed to do what he wants to do and threatened to keep the Kennedy Center closed forever.
Of course, much of this classic Trump bluster is part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Keep everyone distracted so he can enrich himself. Like, where is the money for the Board of Peace?
After thinking about how Trump is taking the nation in the wrong direction, The Neurons had a response. They brought “Wrong Way” by Sublime to the morning mental music stream.
That surprised me. I didn’t know The Neurons have such a dark sense of humor. The punk ska melody is all about young prostitution and the struggles of young women and what they face.
“Wrong Way” Lyrics:
Annie’s twelve years old, in two more, she’ll be a whore Nobody ever told her it’s the wrong way Don’t be afraid with the quickness, you get laid For your family, get paid It’s the wrong way
I gave her all that I had to give I’m gonna make it hard to live Salty tears running down to her chin And it ruins up her makeup and never wan’ give
A cigarette pressed between her lips But I’m staring at her tits It’s the wrong way Strong if I can, but I am only a man So I take her to the can It’s the wrong way
The only family that she’s ever had Is the seven horny brothers and a drunk-ass dad He needed money, so he put her on the street Everything was going fine, until the day she met me
Spring continues in Ashland where hefty cumulonimbus clouds are invading the blue sky. 43 F, we’re rich in sunshine at the moment. Rain is expected in the afternoon with a high of 65 F.
It’s a busy morning of waiting. Water showed up on one bathroom floor last week. I did some amateur diagnostics and concluded, 1) blocked sewer line; 2) blew out the toilet wax seal. After researching the DIY, my wife and I reached out to friends for a plumber recommendation.
In parallel, the toilet shutoff valve in the other bathroom began leaking. I turned it off but it kept leaking. I modified an extra kitty litter box to catch the water and empty it. Then water showed up on that floor.
It’s a single story place with stacked drains, etc. So called the plumber last week. He can’t get to us until today, 11:30. That’s my day.
My texts blew up at 2:50 AM. Mom pulled a 180 on us. Had been campaigning to leave assisted living. My sister approached her about staying there, selling the house, etc. Wrote to us, “Mom seems agreeable to selling her house and staying there.”
On the other hand, the staff wanted to take Mom to the hospital because Mom was leaning to the left and her eyes looked bad. Mom said no.
Sis said she would go over and check out the situation today. She is also finally focused on getting a power of attorney and taking Mom to the post office to change her address.
Waiting for updates to see how this all went. I’m not sure why my sister felt a need to send it so early in the AM. It was 5:30 in Pittsburgh…
Trump had three more people killed in the eastern Pacific and Carribbean. Some news articles give Trump cover by saying the deceased were accused of being drug runners or narco-terrorists.
Sorry, but they accused. They weren’t seen in court. There was no jury, just the U.S. military again killing civilians.
That brings the number killed to at least 186 for the Bible-thumping regime.
We’re still waiting on the full Epstein files, and we’re waiting to see what will happen next in Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! We’re also waiting to see what will happen next in Trump’s Iran War, now beginning its ninth week.
Today’s song is “Waiting” by Green Day. The tune is all about the frustration of waiting for changes and differences — “Wake up!” Billy Joe sings. No wonder The Neurons pulled it into my morning mental music stream.
Hope your day has less waiting than mine and that you end up looking back on it and say, “That was a pretty good day.”
As I read news and reflected on trends and events, I realized that not a whole lot will change once Trump is out of office. It’s a sad reflection but the MAGAts are dedicated to him. Doesn’t matter how well the country is or who is POTUS. They will always insist that Trump was better.
The evidence is clear. They disparaged President Biden as being too old, too tired, insisting he didn’t have it together mentally. Yet, with Trump now the oldest elected president and clearly showing signs of not having it together, they talk about other things.
Trump promised to do so many things — release Epstein files, no new wars, lower prices — and did none of it. They still love him.
And his base love it. They always love it until it hits them in the face. Even then, though, they’ll insist, he’s still better than a Democrat.
Trump feeds off that. Despite telling the world that he is a unifier, Trump doesn’t just politically blast political opponents or their policies. He makes it personal and hateful. Democrats are denigrated as scum and the enemy. These are United States citizens and account for half of the adult population or more.
Trump says half the nation is ‘the enemy’.
His deployments of ICE and national guard units reflect this thinking. He sends in troops and law enforcement to battle protestors, calling them ‘terrorists’ when they’re nothing of the kind. ICE killed Renee Nicole Good; Trump called her a terrorist. ICE killed Alex Pretti; Trump called him a terrorist. Trump accused Good and Pretti of being violent, threatening ICE agents. Videos show the truth, that neither person threatened others.
Every act of violence, such as Charlie Kirk’s murder, is blamed on the left, no matter what facts show.
Trump’s base has embraced it all, and anyone in the GOP who wants to be the party’s next leader sees and understands what Trump has done. JD Vance had already demonstrated the spine of a jellyfish and will eagerly say and be whoever that base wants him to be. The message is hate, the enemy is progress, and the goal is power.
That’s the lesson that Trump has bestowed on the GOP. He wasn’t the first. He’s the latest in a line but clearly the most nakedly selfish, self-serving, lying, ignorant person to hold office.
Sadly, too many Republicans are willing to go along with this charade, pretending that Democrats — and immigrants — have never brought anything worthwhile to our nation. So long as that base willingly rides the tide of hate and ignores the truth, facts, and history, they will be a force we must endure and turn back.
All we can do is remind ourselves of history, keep track of the truth, and keep pushing back until we finally start moving forward again.
More snow was falling and an inch accumulated. 35 degrees F, sunshine emerged, the snow stopped, and today’s accumulation melted off the streets. We still have several inches in the yard but the roads are clear. Today’s high will be 41 among expectations that more snow flurries are due.
My cold is so much better today. I slept terrific, straight through about five and a half hours. Didn’t get up to pee, blow my nose or take meds, or read a text, stacking small victories.
As I reflected on my cold, I thought about how long it was lasting and remembered reading about a virulent strain going around the region.
I began exploring my cold as a vehicle for reacting to life. Some with the cold would rush to the medical facilities for help. Others would take no protections and keep working either because they financially needed to or they wanted others to catch the cold so we could develop ‘herd immunity’.
A faction might use the cold as a launching pad to campaign against our modern diets and processed foods. Others might see the cold as proof that our society is over-vaccinated. I think a sector would call it a warning to get closer to mother nature, and another group would decree that the cold and its spread is due to modern stress weakening our systems and high population densities.
In truth, I suspect the cold and its spread has some truth in all of these things. Our modern life feels like it makes everything monolithic when there are so many nuances and variables involved.
Mom’s saga continues in Pittsburgh, PA. Sis sent out alarming emails at 4 AM eastern time about her anger at Mom and how she wasn’t going to do this and that. The tone worried me. Sis is Mom’s primary engine at this point and if she quit on behalf of Mom, team Mom would be seriously depleted.
But that rant seemed to help her because this morning, she was more methodical and very calm, checking out assistance living places, talking to the social worker, etc. I let out a huge sigh of relief.
Riding some dream energy. The Neurons noticed and fed the morning mental music stream with The War on Drugs and “Red Eyes” from 2013. Its vibe suits my mood.
Lyrics h/t to Genius.com
[Verse 1] Come and see Where I witness everything On my knees You beat it down to get to my soul Against my will Anyone could tell us you’re coming Baby don’t mind Leave it on the line, leave it hanging on a rail
[Verse 2] Come and ride away It’s easier to stick to the old Surrounded by the night Surrounded by the night, and you don’t give in But you abuse my faith Losing every time but I don’t know where You’re on my side again So ride the heat wherever it goes I’ll be the one to care, woo!
Hope you have some strong, positive energy today and it takes you to good places. Until later. Cheers
It’s a day of conflicting signals. Friday, February 6, 2026. Ashland began at 37 F at my house. Yesterday was gorgeous, dry as summer, warm as spring. Today has the southern sky hazy with a little gray with blue commanding the remaining vista. Highs will escalate into the mid to upper 60s.
Papi and I enjoyed sunshine in the back. He rolled around in warm grass while I cheered, declining his invitation to join him rolling around. Returning inside, I offered him some of my morning coffee, which he declined with a mild golden-eyed gaze.
I perused the news with a little edge of worry about what might have happened overnight or in the early hours. Yes, there was more bad news.
Trump posted an immature video on his social media account depicting former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys. After immediate and widespread criticism, the video was removed and a staffer was blamed.
Unfortunately, I think it undermines Trump’s assertions of being a unifier or peace president. Consistent, emerging patterns keep showing Trump as the opposite of peace and unity. His silence since matters as much as the initial posting, as a unifier would be out front, apologizing and taking responsibility.
Some probably theorize that Trump was trying to reinvigorate his base or that sharing the video was an effort to distract from the growing Epstein noise, or the less than impressive TrumpRx rollout. They may be correct, for all I know. Trump remains opaque and transparent.
The Neurons ended up feeding me “December” by Collective Soul in my morning mental music stream. I sang along, “Don’t scream aloud, don’t think aloud, turn your head, now baby, just spit me out.” A song written out of hope and frustration, it feels like a fitting song for today, after Trump disparaged the Obamas, who offered hope when they loved in the White House.
I hope Friday finds you safe and healthy. May peace and grace hold and carry you.
Michael Seidel, writer 