Tag: tariffs

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

The Trends

Interesting trends are taking over the United States.

Manufacturing and production plants are shutting down or gone. It varies by region and industry.

The United States had about 25,000 malls in the 1980s. We’re down to about 1200. Many rural malls have shut down. Stores like Aldi and Dollar General or Dollar Store have replaced them. Some are being successfully repurposed by turning stores into churches. Some areas turn to casinos to counter the loss of malls and manufacturing.

Rural movie theaters are closing, as are rural hospitals, which is creating healthcare deserts.

These are anchor industries. As plants, malls, movie theaters, and hospitals close, jobs are lost, along with local revenue streams. Income drops; spending drops. Local restaurants and service industries suffer. That ripples into the local area’s ability to maintain public buildings, schools, and infrastructure. As these effects are felt, more people move away. People lack incentives to move there. The population shrinks.

With fewer students, rural public schools close. Small community colleges and universities feel it as enrollment drops. Falling enrollments force them to cut programs and raise tuition to fill the gaps, but factors have changed, and the loop of falling tuition and less classes grow.

Railroads, which used to be a rural lifeline, have cut way back in the United States. Small-town passenger train service is mostly gone.

Meanwhile, Data and AI Centers are being built fast. They’re being built in rural areas where there used to be mining or manufacturing. While they’ll provide temporary economic stabilization and add some revenue from construction, these places don’t typically employ many people. Automation takes care of many service needs. Such centers also don’t produce products that can be taken to a store and sold.

I was thinking about all of this because those kinds of economic and service declines in rural areas were a meaningful part of the political environment that helped Donald Trump gain support. He frames his attacks on ‘narco-terrorists’ as a war on crime and drugs. The war in Iran is part of his America First agenda. They build on the same themes of strength, distrust of elites, and national priority that resonated politically in earlier elections.

All those rural trends have been causing a youth drain. Educated young citizens are moving out of rural areas. Those left behind tend to be older and less educated and are more likely to be Trump supporters. For me, then, what Trump is now doing will do little to ameliorate the polarization affecting United States politics.

Long-term rural revitalization isn’t just about economics or infrastructure. It’s deeply tied to political will, governance, and coalition-building. Without bipartisan or broadly supported political action, even the best economic initiatives struggle to take hold.

Trump’s style, though, is exactly the opposite; he goes it alone instead of building coalitions, demonizing political opponents. At the end of the term, we’re likely to see many of the same problems affecting rural areas that we now see. The polarization will remain, but there will be less voters in the rural areas to support people like Trump.

They may have won some short-term victories by putting Trump in office, but the problems remain.

A war in Iran does nothing to help.

1

Trump: Round and Round

Round and round and round we go.

Where we’ll end up, nobody knows. Especially Trump.

I saw a comment the other day which summarizes Trump voters for me. I remember what they said but not who said it:

“Trump didn’t betray you. He showed us exactly who he is. You betrayed us.”

Look at these headlines.

Trump rules out ceasefire as US sends more troops to Middle East

Trump says US considers ‘winding down’ Iran military effort

US Sends Another 2,500 Marines to Iran as Ground Option Emerges in War

Same war, same Trump, intentions going everywhere in a lost haze of thought.

TSA lines are causing traffic delays as TSA agents don’t come to work. Why should they? Trump is not paying them because of his partial government shutdown.

Now, some small regional airports might shut down due to Trump’s partial government shutdown.

As oil prices go up, so do gas prices at the pump but analysts warn that oil prices will hit every sector because of shipping. Meanwhile, another set of analysts warn that we’ll probably start seeing food prices increasing because of Trump’s tariffs — from ‘liberation day’ of last year. Companies were spreading the costs out among multiple products and lines to spread increases and ease the pain. Now, forced to the wall, Food Navigator thinks the price increases will be more direct.

My wife and I are forever laughing about economists and their expectations. Earlier this month, the poor jobs growth surprised them. Now APNews reports it’s consumer wholesale prices.

U.S. wholesale prices came in hotter than expected in February, driven partly by a sharp increase in food costs.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.7% from January, and 3.4% from February 2025. The year-over-year increase was the most since February 2025.

The price gains were bigger than economists had forecast, and they occurred before the U.S. and Israel attack on Iran pushed energy prices sharply higher.

It’s like, where do these economists live and shop that they don’t walk into a place and notice prices going on month by month? It’s surreal.

Now my wife and I are trying to figure out what a ‘K-shape economy recovery’ looks like. I’m telling you, if it’s not one thing…

Oh, BTW. Remember how Trump said he and one of his Republican lackeys had a great plan to send a hospital ship to Greenland? Surprised everyone because we all knew the Navy’s hospital ships weren’t available, but Trump’s ‘plan’ grabbed headlines and distracted everyone from the Epstein files for a few days. No ship was ever sent.

I mention it now because Trump signed an executive order to have the government work with the NCAA and whatever so that the Army-Navy football game is the only game being broadcast.

That smacks of classic Trump distraction. Polls for him are down, the economy is swirling around the toilet, and the Epstein files still haunt him. Now, what he thought would be a one and done in Iran is a growing disaster. Quick! Distraction: Army-Navy game.

Who still falls for his inanity these days?

3

Wednesday’s Theme Music – FAFO

Ashland, Oregon — Wednesday, March 18, 2026.

Sunshine and blue sky rule this morning. My current thermometer reading is 53 F with 79 F possible after seeing 80 yesterday.

The assisted living facility where Mom resides shared pix of their St Patrick’s day festivities. There was Mom, smiling, looking happy with a silly little green hat on.

Sis suspects that our youngest sister is secretly in contact with Mom and helping her. Mom has been quiet, not reaching out to any of us. Maybe we’ve found the balance for peaceful co-existence. I plan to send Mom a small Easter present.

We’re deeply into the Fuck Around, Find Out phase of Trump’s second term. After expending a lot of air and time on how ‘hot’ the United States is as a country, how other nations were ‘going to hell’, and how we don’t need them, Trump is now asking for help.

According to Trump, nobody anticipated Iran’s response after they were attacked. In fact, who didn’t anticipate it, other than Trump? Now, as the war and its costs are dragging on and dragging him down, he called on other nations to help.

No, they responded.

It’s classic FAFO.

Likewise, Trump insisted his tariffs were legal and would save the nation. No, to both, almost everyone outside of the GOP said. The Supreme Court ruled that the largest ones Trump installed were illegal and refunds were due, a costly, prolonged project.

Trump claimed that last year’s 4th quarter GDP would be 5.4%. It came in at .7%. He claimed his tariffs would decrease prices and unemployment. Didn’t happen. FAFO.

Meanwhile, Trump is pushing hard getting the SAVE Act passed. It’s more classic FAFO moment. We know the ramifications of the act if it passes. We’re not the fools Trump thinks we are. Neither are the Democrats in Congress refusing to go along with the SAVE Act, no matter what Trump threatens.

Trump acts alternately triumphant and angry, demanding help and attention and insisting it’s not needed. His performance reminds The Neurons of a song by the Who, “I’m One” from “Quadrophenia”.

This song is about a young man struggling with mental issues, trying to fit in, coping to find out who he is and create an identity for himself. That’s where I think Trump is. His threats and bullying have less and less impact. What he thought would work isn’t working, and even his bubble isn’t protecting him from knowing the truth any longer.

May this day find you chilling with some hope and grace that Trump will bottom out, the Democrats will take over in a blue wave, and we can begin fixing the Trump Mess. It’s so bad, I think that’s how we should call this period from when Trump began running for office last decade until he’s finally gone: the Trump Mess. We can refer to things pre TM and post TM. Trump likes his name on things. I think we give it to him.

Although Trump Mess might not be strong enough. Trump Hole? Trump Disaster?

Something to think about.

Cheers

7

Waiting On Trump

We’re almost halfway through March of 2026 and have seen the United States attack another nation, embrace more tariffs, and see more rising prices.

After a breakneck pace, fallout is arriving. Under Trump, led by Noem at Homeland Security, ICE created recurring headlines around confrontations, court cases, and death. Now Noem is out.

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the administration could not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping global tariffs. National refunds were ordered.

It’s a $170 billion dollar refund question, and Customs and Border Protection initially said, they can’t do it — yet.

The agency estimates that there have been roughly 53 million entries subject to IEEPA tariffs as of March 4, accounting for roughly $166 billion in deposits. The agency further said because CBP personnel must validate all refund requests, it would take over 4 million labor hours to complete returns for all IEEPA tariffs.

Trump hastily swung to other rationales for the tariffs, invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a new 10% tariff on imports from all countries. He later threatened to raise that to 15%.

Twenty-four states sued, arguing Section 122 requires tariffs to be applied nondiscriminatory and uniformly, contrary to Trump’s announcement. Some critics argue Section 122 has never been used for broad tariffs because it was meant for narrow, temporary financial emergencies that no longer exist.

We’re waiting to see what happens next.

More critically, we’re waiting to see what will happen next in the Trump Iran War. Israel is moving aggressively with the U.S. alongside them as a military power but costs are stacking. The war is expensive in terms of human life and financial costs. Most importantly to Trump, he’s probably realizing he’s a FAFO fool for attacking Iran, destabilizing the region, and upending the global economy.

Patterns and reminders are fast emerging that this is economy depends on shipping and cooperation. Trump was warned that before, when he broke trade agreements, arbitrarily imposed-rescinded-imposed-changed tariffs, and when he attacked allies and let the U.S. walk away from defense agreements.

Oil and gas prices swiftly went up. As oil storage tanks filled, production facilities shut down, because the shipping lanes have been impacted.

The results of all those are hurtling toward us in big ways. While ‘inflation’ is stable, that doesn’t include volatile things like food and energy prices. Food and energy are where American consumers are most affected.

More people are becoming aware that Trump promised no new wars. Now words like draft and phrases like ‘boots on the ground’ are rising in use. Polls show voters don’t like the air and naval war already in progress. They’ll like it less if large ground forces are sent into Iran.

When will it end?

We don’t know.

Neither does Trump, apparently. He has said, “We won.”

Trump also said — on the same day — it’s “ending soon.”

He also said that it’ll end whenever he says it ends.

Joe Rogan, a Trump supporter, seems like a bellwether. He’s called the Iran war, “nuts.” In comments made in an interview, Rogan pointed out that Trump is breaking his campaign promises.

“I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on ‘no more wars,’ ‘end these stupid, senseless wars,’ and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it.”

Many Trump voters had already awakened to Trump’s broken promises about lowering food prices on Day One.

They’ve noticed, too, that Trump didn’t end the Ukraine War on Day One. He later claimed he was being “sarcastic”.

That response is part of Trump’s regular responses whenever something is pointed out that’s factually wrong. For example, during the early part of the Trump Iran War, a school in Iran was bombed, resulting in 165 and 175 people killed, mostly children.

Trump suggested it was Iran’s fault.

“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran…We think it was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions, they have no accuracy whatsoever, it was done by Iran.”

When pressed by a reporter if Mr. Trump’s assessment was accurate, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded that the Pentagon was “investigating,” adding that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”

Investigations show a U.S. Tomahawk missile hit the school.

Trump responded, “I don’t know about that.”

The impact of Trump’s whimsical, chaotic approach is slowly adding up. I’m just waiting for the tipping point.

It can’t come too soon for me.

2

Trump Fantasies

Donald Trump is scheduled to give a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress tonight. This is an opportunity for him to tout what he’s done and shape messaging ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

It comes at an interesting time. As trends now go, Trump’s popularity is falling. At least 31 Republicans in Congress announced that they’ll retire instead of vying for re-election.

I expect Trump to brag about wars he ended or stopped. I think he’ll talk about how great he thinks the economy is, perhaps even mention beating affordability — a Democratic hoax in his mind — and ‘ending inflation’.

Trump seems to fantasize about what he’s doing, dreaming up a result, then acting like it’s reality. To me, that’s exactly what the video he made of himself as a hockey player winning an Olympic gold medal is all about, along with the video he made before as a superhero.

This also explains why Trump is so terrified of the Epstein files being released that he keeps trying to stall, redact, and distract from it. Like his taxes, the Epstein file will reveal a truth that Trump hides, dashing his fantasies about who he is.

It’s funny, too, in a very sad way. The hockey team won a gold medal as a team. Trump sees himself as achieving success while being part of a team, but never actually acts as a team player.

What I would like to see from Trump’s State of the Union address is an announcement that he’s resigning. I’d him to say he’s retiring from the public eye and, paraphrasing Spiro Agnew, we won’t have Trump to kick around any more.

Since I’m fantasizing this, I think I’ll treat it as reality. It’s a done deal.

And as Trump might say, it’s the most beautiful thing ever.

1

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, February 24, 2026. February is winding down. The NFL ended its season and the Olympics ended. Rain pours from a flat gray sky. Mists swallow the mountains and the temperature hums along at 51 toward a possible high of 52 F.

The east coast’s blizzard stuns me with its strength, size, and the amount of snow. What staggering levels. I hope that all stay safe and recovery is quick and painless. Fingers crossed as I think that.

The weather doesn’t overly bother Papi. He goes out and stays under a protected area, sniffing, grooming, ears tuning. The wind isn’t blowing. Sunshine is absent so he comes in, finds his chair, commences his orange fur grooming.

I wade through the morning texts and muddle through the morning routines, eager to move on to other matters. I’m not looking forward to Trump’s State of the Union address at all. In my mind, the question will not be, will he lie? It’s a matter of how large the lies are, and how often he repeats them.

Looking back on news from the last few days, many positive reactions were seen when the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of one law to impose tariffs. Trump cursed and accused others of being ungrateful to him and then launched more tariffs under other laws. Markets spiraled down and trade partners reconsidered their position with the U.S. But Trump presses on.

I can only recall the snipper of one small dream last night. A woman was giving me a handful of silver change. I thought we were exchanging change and protest, laughing, she was giving me too much. But she insisted, “No, here, this is all for you.” I was like, what am I going to do with all this change?

Wakening, though, I thought about all the change going on and smiled at the messages my subconscious seems to be sending.

The Neurons have “Ordinary World” by Duran Duran playing in the morning mental music stream. Specific lyrics hooked me.

Lyrics h/t AZLyrics.com

Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Fear today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here beside the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk

(Just blown away)

And I don’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

The 1992 was written and recorded in the face of lingering low morale among the band’s members. Simon Le Bon’s built lyrics around “ordinary world” and a desire to regain a familiar and comfortable reality. I certainly get where they’re coming from.

I hope you survive and grow through this ordinary world and become happier and healthier. I’ll try to do the same, starting with a little coffee and a little writing.

Cheers

0

Sunday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Sunday, February 22, 2026. Sunshine washes mountain conifers and hardwoods as ominous clouds float away, revealing a hazy blue sky. 51 degrees now, a 56 F high is projected.

Papi is enjoying the wind-free sunshine, soaking it up like his body was starving for it, then rolling around on the patio.

It’s quieter back east this morning as Mom tries again to reset everyone’s relationship with her back to what it was a month ago. She’s trying to engage allies to move her back home; all of her offspring agree, sorry, Mom, but where you’re at is the best situation for you. It’ll take a long time for Mom to accept that.

On top of that, though, sis reports that she’s sick today. While the stress didn’t help, neither did her daughter’s illness. It’s going around, and sis’s daughter didn’t take precautions to avoid contaminating others. Sigh.

News headlines were about an armed man being shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago and Trump raising tariffs, among others. The basic scan reveals a chaotic but quiet Sunday morning.

This is our new norm as Trump challenges norms and ignores lawful processes and limits, such as firing James W Hundley. The Trump administration failed to follow the process to have an AG appointed for Eastern Virginia. A law covers that contingency, and the Virginia judiciary followed that law, appointing Hundley. The Trump Administration promptly fired him without cause, despite him being legally appointed. And so, another legal battle ensues.

Just think, it was only a year ago that DOGE was spreading a swath of destruction across the federal government. We’re still learning the ramifications. Trump may consider himself the peace president and a uniter, but I see him as the President of Chaos, sowing and encouraging it, to no one’s benefit but his own.

It’s interesting to remember, too, that Trump first promised to ‘declassify’ the Epstein files while campaigning in June of 2024. Then he dismissed it as a hoax. Since then, We the People notice a continuous pattern that he delays and distracts. Meanwhile, in Europe, real justice is being pursued. They are setting the standard that the United States needs to follow. Although I do note that right now, they’re going after the former prince for divulging information and not other crimes, but other crimes are being investigated.

Sensing my mood, The Neurons have plucked Rush out of memory and put “Working Man” in the morning mental music stream. This is a song that says to me, you gotta keep doing what you need to do. That’s about how I feel for today. Press on regardless.

Lyrics h/t Genius.com

It seems to me I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am
I guess that’s why they call me
They call me the workin’ man

Let’s give a shout out to peace and grace, see if we can get them back into our lives and move forward into a better existence.

Cheers

2

Saturday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Saturday, February 21, 2026. 40 F, the wind is beating the trees up. Sunshine intermittently brightens the world but someone spilled a can of mottle gray paint over the sky. Today’s high will be in the low fifties.

Great night of sleep, a few remembered dreams. My nose and nasal passages are about 90% clear today. Light, unproductive cough. Mucus discharge was thick and green, the first like that. Energy levels and focus are way up. It’s day 11 of my upper respiratory infection.

My mornings now include an hour catching up on text messages about Mom. She’s in assisted living, plans to stay there until the end of February, and then return to her home. We’re against that last, and so is everyone else in the world. But the system says, let her do as she chooses because she’s an adult. Our reasoning doesn’t sway her. I put out energy that she’ll change her mind, be happy, and stay where she’s at. At the same time, I respect all the changes she’s been enduring. That’s tough on anyone.

I’ve also been in conversations with others and know our problems with our aging parent is not that rare. We, as a society, need to figure out a better plan moving forward. This is not sustainable, and I want to spare others this sort of mess.

With all that’s going on — writing, politics, Mom — well, life — The Neurons have introduced “Roll with the Changes” into the morning mental music stream. REO Speedwagon released it back in the late 1970s, and I always enjoy its high energy. I think it’s perfect for shifting gears from recovering from sickness, dealing with Mom, and coping with the Trump cycles. In a way, I hope it presages a future where more SCOTUS decisions go against Trump and more people announce their disapproval of him and/or his policies. I also hope it foretells more names coming from the Epstein files and some justice for the people who abused others, and those who were abused. The Europeans are leading the way in this, so let’s hope that the truth emerges from across the ocean, as our government seems too eager to predict the guilty and damn the innocent.

Friends have invited us over to play games at their place with another couple, so I’ll be socializing. Going to go the whole nine yards — shower, shave, dress. LOL. I can imagine people responding, “Well, I hope so.”

My hope for you and me and us is that we all get a little more than the recommended daily minimum of grace and peace in our lives today, maybe enough to fertilize some optimism for where we’re going and who we are as a people and a nation. For now, I have coffee.

Cheers

2

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