Tag: protests

Thursday’s Theme Music — Wrong Direction

Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, June 11, 2026.

It’s blue skies and warmer temperatures for us today. Like the weather has just awakened to the season and decided, alright, let’s go.

Tear it up, break it up, go for it. That’s Trump. He alone decides what ‘we’ the nation will do. This is true whether we’re going to war, escalating violence, tearing down the White House, remodeling it, building, modifying, or renaming monuments.

Trump ignores the law, goes around the requirements, skips past reviews. Then, as work begins and We the People protest, we go to court. While the issues are adjudicated, Trump keeps tearing and down and building. He’s been doing this with attacking Iran, building the Epstein ballroom — well, it’s a long list.

It’s also a giant middle finger at We the People, our political norms, checks and balances, laws, and Constitution.

The GOP is okay with it. Him. Speaker Johnson metaphorically shrugs. The media tiptoes around what he’s doing, because the other thing Trump does is threaten. His administration holds a bunch of keys. Everyone knows it. And Trump has demonstrated he has no concerns for anything and anyone but himself. Beyond his words, his policies reflect it. He thinks, oh, the war will end and prices will drop.

Really? Is that what happened when prices rose during COVID?

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Trump was lying, of course. He always lies. He began acting like a dictator on day one, and still is.

That’s why protests are important. When Congress stands aside, SCOTUS enables, and the press backs away, We the People must stand up.

No Kings is coming up again. Sunday, June 14, 2026.

Show up again. Keep showing up, please. We don’t like the direction Trump is taking us and must change it.

Today’s morning mental music stream song is “Invisible Sun” by The Police. I was reflecting on my childhood and pictures of smoky, polluted skies we would see in the newspaper. By then, our skies were much clearer and cleaner. Now, Trump is turning it back in the name of making money.

Sample Lyrics

It’s dark all day and it glows all night
Factory smoke and acetylene light
I face the day with my head caved in
Lookin’ like somethin’ that the cat brought in

My hopes for you are that the sun is warm, the air is fresh and clean, and your spirits are high.

Cheers

0

Sunday’s Theme Music –

Ashland, Oregon — Sunday, March 29, 2026.

49 F here this morning, we’ll looking for another day where the high temperature is in the low 70s. Yesterday ended with clouds mixing up with sunshine, and that’s where we’re starting today.

My wife and I were zonked out from attending the No Kings protests. Standing there, holding letters spelling out “No War”, blasted by sunshine, car exhaust, and noise, just undone us. We ate at Ruby’s Grill, a local favorite afterwards, and then did some errands. Back home, I read myself into a thirty-minute nap.

Still, it lifted our spirits to be among so many protesting Trump and his policies. I was pleased by how many young people participated this time. The responses from motorists going by also pleased me, especially when I say cars full of young children go by, the driver honking their horns while the children waved, gave thumbs up, or flashed peace signs.

Seems like ICE isn’t popular. Nor is the Trump Iran War. Nor is Trump’s grifting, tariffs, lies, and pardons, or his connections to Epstein.

My sisters and I received a good Mom report today. Karin — daughter of Mom’s late partner, Frank — visited Mom yesterday. She reported that Mom was happy and healthy. Using her walker, Mom showed Karin around the assisted living facility, pointing out her friends and their names. Mom said she could live alone at home except she struggles to get out of bed.

My sisters and I pointed out to one another that Mom is doing well because she’s more active. Part of that is her vanity: other women are using their walkers there, so Mom will, too. She doesn’t want to be known as the ‘old woman in the wheelchair’.

Mom is also eating better there, and probably sleeping better. Her desire to be home stems from her fixation on finances: she has a home that she owns and doesn’t want to be paying a small fortune for a place to lay her head. Mom also knows her finances will only go so far — and then what?

Yes, it’s an aging riddle wrapped up in a social enigma. We’re happy that Mom is reported to be doing well.

Today’s morning mental music stream inhabitant is “Only A Fool Would Say That”. This is a 1972 Steely Dan tune. It came to mind yesterday during the No Kings protest in Medford. A young white woman stopped at a traffic light rolled her window down and shouted “God bless Trump” five times.

People around me laughed and said, “What a fool.” The Neurons picked it up and rushed to the music memory module to find the Steely Dan song.

I hope your Sunday proceeds with grace and peace.

Cheers

0

No Kings.

Anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ rallies pop up in thousands of US cities

It was a good day to exercise our Constitutional rights and freedoms to show Trump and the GOP what we think of them.

Here’s a picture where I’m protesting. Yes, that’s me left of the middle with my wife and a few friends, on Biddle Road in Medford, Oregon. Large, positive crowd and great energy. Motorists were supportive about five to one IMO. I only witnessed two thumbs down, one index finger, one Trump is Jesus flag on a truck, and one young female driver yelling, “God bless Trump!” She gave us a great laugh.

Go HERE for more great photos of protestors.

KDRV covered the Ashland and Medford protests in southern Oregon.

Ashland, Oregon:

Salem, Oregon:

Seattle, Washington

Portland, Oregon

Medford, Oregon

Minneapolis, Minnesota

3

Saturday’s Theme Music – No Kings!

Ashland, Oregon – Saturday, March 28, 2026.

Happy No Kings Day!

I hope you have your protesting clothes on and are ready to step out to join the millions telling Trump and the world what we think of Trump.

It’s beautiful protesting weather here today, 46 F but expected to climb into the low to mid-seventies with sunshine and blue skies.

I read about the TACO Index today. It’s a beautiful attempt to understand and track what Trump is doing to the financial markets. Here’s an explanation from the France 24 article to explain it:

‘The “TACO” index uses four factors to measure negative impacts and evaluate the probability that Trump will change his opinion.

‘These are: one-year inflation expectations, changes in Trump’s approval ratings in the month prior, the performance of the S&P 500 stock market index (which tracks stocks from the 500 leading Wall Street companies) and the evolution of US Treasury yields (interest rates that the government pays to borrow money).

‘“These are factors that stock market analysts were already examining separately, so it makes sense to combine them into a single index to assess the level of political and economic pain that Donald Trump is likely to be able to withstand,” says Alexandre Baradez, an analyst for the broker IG France.’

It’s funny but sad. Funny, because it acknowledges Trump’s wrecking ball impact on the world. Sad that we’ve reached a stage after 250 years in existence that the United States has put such a disastrous human in charge.

It is especially sad that voters chose to do this because Trump a much more intelligent, organized, and capable person, Kamala Harris. Voters didn’t vote for her because she’s a woman, a person of color, or from California. They didn’t vote for her because they wanted ‘change’. They didn’t vote for her because IMMIGRANTS! They didn’t vote for her because they didn’t think her well-documented plans and policies were better than Trump’s promises and mocking.

Now we are at war in Iran, our allies are distancing themselves from us, and prices are on the rise. Good thinking, Trump voters.

Early figures estimated Trump’s Iran War is costing one to two billion dollars a day. It has no end in sight and our national debt is ballooning.

The Roberts Court partially rejected Trump’s tariffs. His administration has been ordered to pay refunds. That in itself is a monumental task, costing us yet more millions.

Just to ice the cake on the waste and recklessness of Trump, the United States will pay two billion dollars to stop sustainable energy projects.

Mom is pretty quiet this morning, as our my sisters. She told one sister last week that she is mean and Mom was through with her; today, Mom told that sister to have her husband pick Mom up at the assisted living facility to take her home.

Had some terrific, humorous dreams last night. Yet, I ended up with Golden Earring playing “Twilight Zone” in my morning mental music stream. The song is about consequences and results. I can only guess that The Neurons are playing this song in my head today because of the joint streams of Mom and Trump.

Here we go. Have a pleasant Saturday of peace, grace, and political engagement.

Cheers

0

Trump: Regression and Incompetence

Just a brief Trump note.

Trump and his cabal tend to think in simplistic terms.

Simplest to them is “Might makes right”. They started a war in Iran predicated on having a lot of sophisticated weapons and little intelligent planning. This manifests as:

  • No clear objectives
  • No Plan B in case Plan A goes wrong
  • Underestimating the enemy’s strength and will
  • Fighting the wrong kind of war
  • Not anticipating collateral damage and issues
  • No exit plan

Part of this is because of a Trump tendency that extends throughout his administration. Trump wants people who idolize him and protects him from the truth when things aren’t going well. That’s who he hires, promotes, and keeps.

We’re seeing this in tariffs, in court cases where ICE and their tactics keep getting batted down, in energy policy, and in Iran. All of those things are not going according to plan. But because Trump resists facts and truth, he will not adjust and correct to improve the situation; he’ll keep regressing, taking a sledgehammer to hit a nail. Even now, Trump plans to send more troops to Iran and escalate the confrontation.

I read a transcript of Paul Krugman’s video this morning about the Iran War. Krugman cites many of these things in a more coherent manner. Krugman sums up the Trump era in one clean observation:

So we have this kind of real extreme, not just political extremism, but complete lack of ability to do the job, which is almost, in a sense, incompetence is a job requirement.

That’s terrifying. First, that incompetence is a job requirement. Second, that Trump supporters endorse this a good direction.

That last piece is going to make it hard to restore the United States where it’s on a path toward the future, and not the past.

See you on the streets, March 28th. Let’s show the world, we aren’t supporting Trump’s Incompetent Regime.

1

Monday’s Theme Music – Simpler Times

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, March 16, 2026.

Hazy but sunny, it was 43 F out when I got up this morning but now it’s 61, with a high in the upper 70s expected. This is part of the California coast heatwave. Being Oregon, we don’t get as much national attention as our southern neighbor, but the conditions striking California are also nailing us. We might set a new record high for the date tomorrow as analysts say that the low 80s are possible.

The news cycle brought more war news along with stories about Academy Awards winners and losers. The Trump Iran War continues. Suggestions swirl that both the United States and Russia will deploy ground troops to Iran. Despite Trump’s claim that Iran’s military was 100% destroyed, Iran hit a UAE oil port and Dubai airport.

Trump doesn’t always understand percentages, though. He promised drug prices would go down by 1500%, which is factually impossible.

Friends yesterday talked about the current political atmosphere. Many were dismayed by how easily Trump launched new military attacks and dragged us into war. While we naturally recognized, this has been an ugly trend by the left and right for decades, it’s really disturbing that a person who often speaks like he’s high is able to launch powerful, deadly weapons almost at will.

Others brought up how Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC, is threatening the freedom of the press. One friend said when that Democrats return to a position where it can happen, there should be some Nuremburg-style trials. There wasn’t much further discussion of that, but the general consensus is, changes are needed.

I later received an email from another friend, who wasn’t at our little gathering. She wrote,

“We need Nuremburg-style atonement. Without it, we’ll just continue on our late-stage capitalist descent into the ranks of failed experiments with democracy. But hey, at least we have energy sucking, water guzzling generative AI to make silly videos of pets in bathrobes enjoying the spa to distract us from all this while data centers drink our future…”

Today’s song came from a concert by the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band yesterday. I’ve always enjoyed it so it’s no surprise that when The Neurons heard it yesterday, it resurfaced in today’s morning mental music stream.

The concert’s theme was Echoes of Oregon and featured composers who lived in or were educated in Oregon. One of these was Mason Williams, who came out with “Classical Gas” in 1968. The song is an instrumental featuring an acoustic guitar and symphony. I’ve always been drawn to its soft, contemplative beginning and then its urgent, more soaring sound later. A simple melody, the song reached number two behind a song by The Doors. Pretty remarkable.

Someone else who was at the concert and heard “Classical Gas” lamented she wished we were in a simpler era. Several of us scoffed, reminding her of all that was going on in 1968. All of us remembered headlines about the civil rights movements, riots and protests, the Vietnam war, space race, dark, filthy air with rivers on fire, and the cold war and its nuclear threat.

We were left wondering, when were simpler times?

Hope your day is simple, carefree, and satisfying to you in important ways. Off we go, one more time.

Cheers

2

Sunday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Sunday, March 1, 2026. It’s raining and foggy in Ashland, with temperatures tottering around 50 degrees F. Not a shred of sunshine out there, and a high of 57 is expected. Spring is muscling in.

It’s a day of questioning for me, starting with what’s going on with Mom to what’s going on in the world and the nation.

I learned yesterday that another sister — our youngest — had been going to visit Mom, taking her things, etc. The youngest has been designated as our contact with Mom because she has the best relationship of everyone living nearby. I reached out to her to see how Mom was doing.

The youngest related that when she arrived, Mom was playing bingo with five or six others at a table and apparently laughing and having fun. Mom told the youngest that she’d gone to church, which she enjoyed, and seemed pretty content and happy.

After wheeling Mom back to Mom’s room, the youngest found clothes all over Mom’s area. Mom complained she didn’t have hangers. Sis pointed out that they’re in the closet, and told her, you need to look, and helped Mom tidy.

Then, though, today, Mom asked the youngest to bring her cookies — “Anything but chocolate chip.” Oatmeal raisin cookies were brought, which made Mom mad. She then gave my sister ‘mean faces’ and quit speaking with her. The youngest rolled Mom to the dining room so she could eat, and then left.

The youngest sister also related that Mom’s roomie is 95 years old with congestive heart failure and two ‘bad shoulders’. She had a hospice aid visiting. My sister suggested that maybe we should get Mom a hospice aid. That took me back, because there’s nothing indicated to me at this point that Mom is ready for hospice.

It’s just as troubling and confusing elsewhere in the world. Trump ordered the U.S. to attack Iran, a joint operation with Israel, “Operation Epic Fury”. While Iran’s supreme leader was killed, Iran retaliated. Americans were killed and injured. More critically, is this the opening that will explode the area into another war? Trump and his advisors seem to think in terms of gunship diplomacy and regime change.

Trump — the peace president, a self-made assertion that has Orwell laughing in his grave — said that the attack was to protect Americans. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Trump said in prerecorded remarks posted on White House social media accounts early Saturday morning.”

Back in 2011, Trump said President Obama would start a war with Iran. “Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak and he’s ineffective.”

Who is weak and ineffective now, Trump?

Protests in Baghdad broke out, with “Death to Israel, death to America,” being shouted. This smacks of the 1970s and 1980s, so it sickens me that we seem to be going into another war spiral. I hope to hell that’s not true.

As I sat with that information, news arrived of a mass shooting in Austin, Texas. Next came updated information about deaths in Iran where 85 are reported killed: “The majority of the dead are schoolgirls aged between seven and 12 years old, according to the regime-controlled news outlets Tasnim and Fars.”

Senseless killing, once again. I expect anger and hatred in Iran to rise in response. This is exactly where we were before, using violence and killing to win hearts and minds. It did not work then; I don’t expect it to work now.

BTW, remember when Trump vowed no more wars when he campaigned? Guess that promise meant as much as Mexico paying for the wall and lower food and energy prices.

The song in my morning mental music stream came when I first looked out the windows, before reading any news. “Rainy Night in Georgia” came out in 1970. The Neurons put it in there when I thought, “Another rainy day in Ashland.” I didn’t remember who performed the song and looked it up to learn it was Brook Benton.

I call again for peace and grace to find its way to us, and maybe it will someday. Right now, it feels less likely than it did last week. But things will change. It’s really just question of how and why.

Cheers

0

Taking Stock: Another Year of Trump

With another year under Trump completed, it’s time to take stock.

I was one of those who predicted that Trump would be aggressive in his immigration policies and against political opponents, and would be detrimental to our nation. I believed Trump’s social, economic, and trade policies would worsen life for people in poverty or needing assistance. And, while there may have been places where the Federal government could have been trimmed, DOGE’s cuts did not address needs or cause and effect.

So, here we sit.

Affordability remains an issue for many places and families, even if Trump and his cabinet claim otherwise.

Plans for more ICE facilities have community leaders across the nation pushing back, worrying about social and economic impacts.

Dealing with flattening revenue streams and running out of surplus funds, local and state taxes and fees are rising to compensate for Federal cutbacks.

Insurance rates and repair costs for personal vehicles are rising. So, too are healthcare premiums and healthcare costs, further eroding spending power for many families and individuals.

Housing prices are high, and Trump says he wants them to go higher.

New car sales dropped in 2025, surprising analysts who thought sales would rise.

Uncertainty among corporations is showing up in job reports. Corporate layoffs touched a level not seen since the 2008 recession. New employment is flat with companies backing off hiring plans. Minority unemployment rose, and disparities widened.

Tourism to the United States is down, affecting the hospitality and tourism industries. It’s uncertain now how proposed Trump policies to request people’s social media history might affect travelers to the United States.

Measles outbreaks continue to rise in the United States. 2025 saw 2,255 cases, the most since 2000. 2026 is expected to be worse.

These patterns culminated in falling consumer confidence in 2025.

None of this surprises me. History and science told me that this is where Donald Trump’s philosophy would lead. The results are catching up with his decisions.

And voters are awakening to the impact.

0

Monday’s Theme Music

February 2, 2026, in Ashland. Colder today, as a cold front moved in last night. The sky was glassy clear and the moon boomed with bright light as temperatures fell into the high 20s. We’re recovering now, with temps up to 41 already under sunny conditions. Another dry day, we’re on our way to highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Reviewing the weather, much of North and South Carolina received more snow today than we’ve received all winter. We’re not a ridiculously snowy place in Ashland but it usually snows enough to paint the world white for a few days. If I was a conspiracy guy, I’d suggest that some evil overlords are testing a weather machine, aiming to see how the southern U.S. copes with winter conditions.

Speaking of evil overlords…

Trump’s shifted position on his aggressive immigration Minnesota policy. Daily Kos had a good summary, Why Trump is finally waving a white flag in Minnesota. Daily Kos points out, Alex Pretti is the reason for Trump’s shift.

ICE agents killed Alex Pretti in January in Minnesota during an ICE raid. Recorded by Minnesotans on their phones, the official narrative of another ‘domestic terrorist’ didn’t fit — Alex Pretti was young, white, male, an employed VA nurse, who arrived with a legal gun. Stacking this on top of the other narratives of death and violence, such as Nicole Good’s shooting death, Trump’s logic was suddenly toppling, taking his approval ratings with it.

That, as Daily Kos documented, is why the situation is changed in Minnesota.

Personally, I think it’s a victory. More critically, it reinforces the power of showing up, getting involved, and being witness, along with using phones to record what’s happening.

I expect Trump will launch another Minnesota surge in a different location. Trump’s softening stance is a politic move, not a change in attitude. He remains a bully, employing intimidation in attempts to dominate.

Another example of that tactic rose today, as Trump threatened to sue the Grammys over a Noah Trevor joke making fun of Trump.

“Noah said, incorrectly, about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. Wrong. I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media,” said Trump. “Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast. It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$.”

That bully, Trump, isn’t changing. We the People must remain alert to respond and stand up for our rights and each other, again, again, and again.

Reading over my shoulder, The Neurons were stirred to bring up a 1971 John Lennon, “Power to the People”. This is a cover made by Tom Morello, Bruce Springsteen, Ike Reilly, Al Di Meola, Rise Against on January 30, 2026, in Minnesota.

Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people

[Chorus]
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on

[Verse 1]
Say we want a revolution
We better get it on right away
Well, get ya on your feet
Into the street

As Morello put it in the video, “We’re going to go out and kick ass in a peaceful way.”

Rock on into 2026 with peace and grace and the certainty that truth and justice will find its way forward again. Cheers

2

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑