Worse things than the Epstain — sorry, Epstein — files are taking place. What’s fascinating is how Trump is diligently trying to deflect and distract from it. He’s metaphorically jumping up and down, trying to point to anything else, everything else, as long as it’s not the Epstain — sorry, did it again — Epstein file.
Of course, with almost legendary projection, Trump accused others of breaking the law while he breaks the law with impunity. Did it as a citizen, and has done it as POTUS.
And yet, this time, it doesn’t seem to be working.
But my real point here is, what shall we call this? The Trump-Epstein Scandal?
Huzzah! The Enshittification of the United States continues at a shitty pace in the United States under PINO TACO. In this story, we have TACO’s full fears on display. See, under the deal approved by the FCC under Trump for Skydance to acquire Paramount, ARSTechnica is reporting that TACO’s regime is permitted to influence editorials at CBS.
Are you ready for a laugh? Here’s what one of the Republican commissioners approving it said:
“Under the agreement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr explained that Skydance has given assurances that all of the new company’s programming will embody “a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.” Carr claimed that the requirements were necessary to restore Americans’ trust in mainstream media, backing conservatives’ claims that media is biased against Trump and appointing an ombudsman for two years to ensure that CBS’s reporting “will be fair, unbiased, and fact-based.” Any complaints of bias that the ombudsman receives will be reviewed by the president of New Paramount, the FCC confirmed.“
*giggle giggle giggle* So fucking hilarious. They — the lyin’ right wing, led by the lyin’ Trump — are gonna ‘restore trust’ in the mainstream media.
Trump has been at war with the media, mainstream or not, whenever they criticize him. Screaming, “Fake news!”, TACO waddles hastily away from any confrontation with facts and reality. Want the truth of that? Hell, it’s all over our news for the last dozen years. Just harken back to when Trump kept insisting that President Obama prove that that he was born in the United States, a fact that had been proven and vetted again and again. Trump pushed that fake news all the way, while insisting it was the truth, and then tried to blame it all on Hillary Clinton.
Look at TACO’s dodging and weaving to prove he never had an affair with Stormy Daniels and never paid her off. Just ask Michael Cohen and Hope Hicks about that.
How ’bout that whopper he keeps telling about the 2020 election being stolen from him, a claim never proven and thrown out of court over 60 times?
Let us consider the current truth Trump is trying to bury, that he and Jeffrey Epstein were never a thing. The latest laughing about the truth of that is how fast Trump’s AG, Bondi, went from saying “the list is on my desk” to Trump and the DOJ claiming there is no list.
Epstein & Trump, BFFs
Trump buries his financial records because he fears the truth. He hides his school records because the truth about them is too much for him to handle. He’s lied and cheated throughout his entire adult life, cheating on wives, cheating on business partners, cheating students at Trump University, cheating investors cheating contractors, and lying about it all.
TACO and the GOTP. They can’t handle the truth. That’s why Trump is always chickening out.
Now it looks like Skydance, Paramount, and CBS can’t handle the truth, either.
Frida, July 25, 2025, landed on Ashlandia with a gently familiar thud. Weather is a relaxed blue-sky & sunshine state of being. 70 F now, we’ll be clicking on the low 90s by daylight’s end, which is about our average. No smoke bothers me. The Cram Fire is the largest, 95K of acreage, 77 % contained, north of us. South, in California, is the 19,000 acres Butler Fire. Prevailing conditions are keeping us safe, knock on wood.
Being Frida, the news front is slow and lazy. A shooting at a college in New Mexico results in more gun violence death. Couple police officers were ambushed elsewhere, shot and killed during their lunch break. This will all generate more handwringing but no action. Another handwringing moment hangs in the air as it was revealed that under the guise of ‘shipping out criminals’ during the Venezuelan swap, the United States imported a convicted killer of three. Terrific. Yes, the Trump Regime is always sloppy about vetting the details. But hey, he’s white and male, so it’s okay, right? Beyond that, the story still smokes about how Trump lied to Jerome Powell at the Fed, was called on it, and just blew it off. Lying is what he does, along with posting and sharing fake information, and splashing the world with bellicose hatred. This is the current face of the United States.
Today’s song is an ode to the cat. When he was served up and chowed down, he purred and chirped like, this is just what I needed. Which, yes, compelled The Neurons to serve up the 1978 ditty, “Just What I Needed”. Whole thing gives me a happy smile. A new wave pop song, it was part of the regular FM radio cycle for a while. So easy to hear, easy to understand, non-offensive and easy to sing along to, the cat gets it.
A smoke smell pesters my nostrils. The windows are closed for the day, to be re-opened tonight. I don’t see any discoloration in the sky. Air quality remains good. It’s just me and my olfactory processes working overtime.
Time to advance into the fray. Hope your Frida meets your needs. I’m gonna do my best to fit it to my needs, starting with coffee, I think. Cheers
Another sunny summer day has been born in Ashlandia. We shall name this day Thirstda, July 24, 2025. Temps right now are moderate at 83 F but if you stand in that sunshine and let it beam down on you, the sweat comes fast. Today’s high will peak at about 92, 93 F, I think. Clouds, dust, or smoke hazes some of the sky’s blue, but I don’t smell smoke. The ol’ schnoz seems unafflicted by particulates today. Yea for me, I guess.
Hulk Hogan has passed away. I greet that with a shrug. Ozzy Osbourne passed a couple days ago. I mourn him more, but it’s remote mourning. I’ve been expecting him to pass. Thanks for the music and entertainment, Oz.
A net friend, Annette, posted a reflective post about family, wealth, and change. It melded well with my mood and thoughts after long exchanges with my sister about my mother, Mom’s health, and her living situation. Life, mortality, and death seem to be draping themselves all over me as I observe others’ situations and reflect upon my own. Make hay while the sun shines, right? Because storms can crash in and change everything in an eyeblink.
Over on the political spectrum of my existence, I grimace to more news about the enshittification of things. Yes, it makes me unhappy. Reading opposing opinions about things like cuts to NPR and public broadcasting, the celebration of their potential demise depresses me. Others are scornful and dismissive of any positive impact they may have on people, communities, and civilization. Some things seem to be strictly defined through a narrow scope of costs, profits, and losses, as if this is what life is about. The debt, the debt, some scream, we must do something about the debt! More tariffs! More tax cuts for the wealthy! More tax write-offs for the ultra wealthy. Less help for the states! Less help for the poor! And so it will go until they need help from other states, need help from the poor, say, in a war, for example, or to work. Yes, I’m disgusting by the right-wing tilt going on. I think it counterproductive to common goals and needs. The tilt benefits a few at the expense of the nation.
Today’s theme music is both homage to Ozzy’s memory, my own life, and how I view the current world situation. Yes, it’s “Crazy Train” from 1980. I told others while commenting on Ozzy last night that I’ve been on the crazy train. I’ve seen my family on the crazy train, and friends. A friend replied, “I think we’ve all spent some time on the crazy train.” Now I think the world is climbing on the crazy train.
Crazy, but that’s how it goes Millions of people living as foes Maybe it’s not too late To learn how to love and forget how to hate
Mental wounds not healing Life’s a bitter shame
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train I’m going off the rails on a crazy train (Let’s go)
I’ve listened to preachers, I’ve listened to fools I’ve watched all the dropouts, who make their own rules One person conditioned to rule and control The media sells it and you live the role
Mental wounds still screaming Driving me insane
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train I’m going off the rails on a crazy train
I know that things are going wrong for me You gotta listen to my words, yeah, yeah
Heirs of a cold war, that’s what we’ve become Inheriting troubles, I’m mentally numb Crazy, I just cannot bear I’m living with something that just isn’t fair
Coffee has infiltrated me again. Time to rock another day, even if it’s only a gentle rock, just a little more than a nudge. Hope your day fulfills you in ways you need. Cheers
You know, Rep. Mike Johnson and other GOTPers have been bubbling about Trump having a 90% approval rating. Most of the rest of us, tragically tethered to reality as we are, reacted by basically muttering darkly, “WTF are you talking about?”
Another sharp-thinker, Steve Benen, emerged with what they saw as the answer: Johnson, et al, were talking about Republicans only. The poll they referenced showed 90 percent of Republicans polled approved of Trump. As Benen wrote, “And therein lies the point: The House speaker pitched a seemingly ridiculous figure, not just to deceive the public, but also because from his perspective, Democrats literally don’t count.”
Talk about cherry picking information!
All that matters is their people. Republicans. White, wealthy, and male, if you want to be more exact. Everyone else is secondary, tertiary, or beyond their thinking, except for how they can be used. We’ve seen this demonstrated in Texas, where investment in a warning system for flash floods was rejected with tragic results. It’s been demonstrated again and again in GOTP abortion guidance where they proclaim themselves pro-life until the child is born, then they’re on their own. We’ve seen it in their attitude toward due justice, where they’re trying to carve that down from what the Constitution states. And it’s evident in places like Ohio, where gerrymandered districts give Republicans undeserved power, allowing them to mock democracy with impudence and aggressively work to undermine public education. We’ve seen it as well with the right-wing loaded Roberts Court, where Trump rulings are handed down that counter precdence and prevailing understanding of how the Constitutional system of checks and balances are supposed to work.
Selfishness, ignorance, and narrow-minded are core values of the GOTP, no matter where they’re located.
They get it from their leader: Donald J. Trump. And that’s what’s wrong with the United States.
We’re rejoicing and celebrating another coolish day in Ashlandia. 76 F, sunny with lurking peripheral clouds stretching arms over their heads, we expect 86 F today and 61 F tonight. Good stuff, IMO, though smoky particulates are noted in the air by my sensitive proboscis.
Household conversations this morning was about some decor changes, vacation plans, and, “Is Trump dying?” Well, as Sen. Joni Ernst likes pointing out, we’re all dying. With the mango sloth, we were talking about how bad he appears, the swollen ankle thing, the make up on his hand, and the aspirin he’s been talking regularly. Aspirin for cardiac prevention only works if you have a pre-existing condition. Our questions as concerned American citizens, voters, and tax-payers, is this man healthy enough to safely lead the nation? Did the physician lie to us about Trump’s state of health in April?
*gasp* Is the Trump Regime lying to us about Trump’s health? Is there a cover up going on?
Because, gosh, they are so darn concerned about the last POTUS and what was going on. Should we not be more or equally concerned about the current White House resident and his health? Good for the gander and all that.
And while my wife and I discussed the mango sloth’s health, I stumbled over a terrific Alternet opinion piece by D. Earl Stevens about Trump’s health, This White House lie shows they know Trump is in trouble | Opinion. I highly recommend it for more insightful thinking about Trump’s health than I can offer.
The Neurons offer Mark Knopfler in today morning mental music stream. Something being said in the kitchen during a conversation with my wife caused me to say, “Boom, just like that.” I don’t remember the precursor to those words being uttered, but The Music Neurons took that as an open door to introduce Mark Knopfler’s 2004 song about Ray Kroc into the morning mental music stream, “Boom, Like That”.
And with that, I’m in pursuit of coffee in my body and words in my novel. Hope your Twosda offers you the joy, comfort, and success which you deserve, along with some good stuff to eat. Here we go. Cheers
Stealthy clouds crowd the sky over Ashlandia, dropping high and low temperatures by ten degrees plus. After an overnight low of 61 F, today’s high is expected to be just 78 F today. Air quality is good at 22, although wildfire smoke smells linger like a memory of a flirtatious kiss. This is Munda, July 21, 2025.
We had an active shooter incident the other day on I5 just outside of Ashland. The shooter was on an overpass and the Interstate was shut down for a few hours. A man was eventually arrested. No injuries were reported. We don’t know about his motivations yet.
Just finished reading The King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby. Terrific page turner with marvelous and fresh, inventive writing, tight plotting, and strong characters. On to The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. My wife just finished it. I’ve been eyeing it and she recommended it to me.
My morning reading included several Trump-voter FAFO tales. One, by Red Painter via Crooks & Liars, was about Arkansas farmers filing for Chapter 12 bankruptcy. Painter writes, “Only 45 farms filed in the entirety of 2024, which seems about average. Well, 2025 has been exponentially worse for farmers – a shocking 88 had filed for bankrupcy by the end of Q1 2025!” Arkansas Senator John Boozman blames previous POTUS Biden, of course; that’s the GOP playbook answer, blame Democrats, avoid voters, or pretend it’s not happening. But never, never take responsibility for bad news.
The other FAFO tale was out of Nevada. Broadacres Market closed down in June after the national wave of prominent ICE raids where brown people were snatched up by masked individuals. A large open-market venue that serves about 15,000 people every weekend, Broadacres Marketplace vendors particularly cater to the Latino population. They don’t know when they’ll reopen. Read full story here.
“We don’t want any of our customers, vendors, or employees to be detained at our business or for us to be a beacon of shopping and entertainment while our federal government is raiding businesses and detaining its people,” the Broadacres Marketplace Management team wrote on social media.Read full story here.
Like Arkansas, Nevada went for Trump, partly supported by an increase in Latino support. Said one Latino voter back in 2024 after Trump’s victory: “Initially, I will say I did not agree with him,” said Mario Jr., 29. “Then I started seeing that he was not afraid to speak his mind and I noticed that he was not scared to say what he felt, regardless of what people would say. I think I respect that about him.” No word on what he thinks now. Read full story here.
Meanwhile, Trump, still operating that he’s under the King of All, is trying to force the Washington Commanders, NFL team, to revive the racial slur they’d previously used. Naturally, the bully’s tool of choice is to withhold funding for the team’s new D.C. stadium.
After that and other reading, The Neurons seeded “The King of Wishful Thinking” in the morning mental music stream. This is a 1990 song from Go West. Heard it a bunch on radio during the last century’s last decade. It’s an easy sing along. I think news about Epstein, Trump, and the MAGAts being upset about Epstein file’s handling by the Trump Regime inspired The Neurons with this song choice.
Got my coffee running its route through my systems. Hope this Munda and the week it commences finds you in good spirits and good health, and that you have the best week you can. Cheers
The president is trying to change the subject after the attorney general closed the case on disgraced financier and Jeffrey Epstein. That’s why Donald Trump has lately been harping on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Someone is to blame for some makebelieve problem and Trump wants to be seen as the solution.
But even if Trump were able to redirect the press corps’ attention, he is unlikely to change the dynamics under way among the MAGA faithful. Trump says Powell must go so that interest rates fall, but to the extent that MAGA base was ever motivated by inflation or the cost of living, it was a secondary concern. MAGA’s principal motivation is drawn from a cosmic story about the battle between good and evil, and with the Epstein scandal, Trump has raised doubts about which side he’s on.
Which story? QAnon. It’s the belief that Donald Trump is the epic hero in a secret war against powerful and malevolent (and Jewish) conspirators who have plotted with agents in the government (the deep state), corporations (wokeness) and the media (lies) to sabotage America. The end of the story was supposed to come when Trump released the Epstein files in advance of executing God’s enemies.
Stoehr’s piece of thinking tickled me. I knew MAGALand was infuriated by how the Trump Regime is handling the Epstein Files. Trump promised to release the files so they could know the truth. MAGAts want the files, specifically, ‘the list’, released. The List is supposed to be the smoking gun, the evidence of all the deep shit that Trump has been claiming the hated Democrats and Liberals have been doing in secret while creating and managing their vast shadow government, where they control the weather and scheme against the pure Christians and whites who deserve a nation unsullied by non-whites, a land where education isn’t tainted with facts and truth that makes them queasy.
But after detail after detail is put out there about the Epstein file, Trump finds himself increasingly angry, defensive and isolated. He’s flailing to make the rest of the world turn the damn channel. But as Stoehr points out, MAGALand can’t; to disavow the Epstein files as Trump demands means that they must also disavow the entire fabric of the QAnon universe.
Pulling that thread would unravel their fantasy. MAGALand knows it; Trump is trying to pretend it isn’t true. But if MAGALand is forced to accept that the Epstein files lack all the damning evidence that Trump has claimed is in it, they might be forced to confront, how else has he lied to us? They might even start realizing how much Trump duped them and used them. They might even question if Trump was sent by God. As one of Trump’s far right supporters, Nick Fuentes, said, “You are fat, you are a joke, you are stupid, you are not funny, you are not as smart as you think you are,” Fuentes said, later adding, “This entire thing has been a scam.”
That could be the end not just of Trump but of all those others who spread and supported his fictions. For him, for them, it’s less about if Trump is in the files; it’s more about the Democrats not being in it.
Fingers crossed that this all blows up. Frankly, I don’t give a damn any longer who might be in it.
The work week is at its end. That’s what we used to call the Monday to Friday gig. Don’t know if that’s still the handle.
Yes, today is Frida, July 18, 2025. Today in Ashlandia, we’re at 73 F and expect a high of 95 F under skies that go on forever blue and steady sunshine.
More sucky news fills the cyber pages. I’m one who prefers to skim the net and read the news rather than turning to streaming or OTA tv. A news piece touched me with serendipity. From the 1440 Daily Digest was a summary of a new procedure to reduce disorders in newborns.
Mitochondrial disorders, affecting about 1 in 5,000 births, are transmitted via the mother and can cause vision loss, diabetes, and heart issues. Six of the eight babies showed a 95% to 100% drop in mutated mitochondrial DNA, while two showed reductions between 77% and 88%. All eight remain healthy; one experienced and recovered from an irregular heartbeat.
I had read the news elsewhere before. On the same day that I read the news, Jill Dennison shared the song, “In The Year 2525” from 1969. One stanza struck me from the song in connection with this news:
In the year 6565 Ain’t gonna need no husband, won’t need no wife You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter too From the bottom of a long glass tube, whoa
I guess my point is that I have always felt that’s the general direction we’ve been headed: manufactured people, whether it’s through cloning or genetic manipulation, or some other technology. I always think there will be dire unforeseen and unintended consequences. Time will tell, right?
My morning mental music stream music is much lighter than that other song. “Take the Money and Run” by the Steve Miller Band, is a 1976 offering about robbery and murder, but with a peppy pop beat. I’s about whims and things that go wrong, and how the consequences. A detective chased them and they remained on the run forever. But to me, the song was always about opportunistic criminals, like those populating the current GOP. Do what you can and need to get yours and screw all others. Yeah, you knew I’d turn this political. LOL. That’s me. At least, that’s why I think The Neurons put it in the morning mental music stream.
Have the best Frida you can. That’s my goal. Here we go again. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 