Hilarious Trump News
If you need a little smile, read this piece from the Daily Beast.
Trump, 80, gets roasted by a hologram in pep talk gone wrong
An artificially-generated President Theodore Roosevelt managed to get in a few barbs at Donald Trump on Wednesday as the 80-year-old president sought to appropriate some of the 26th president’s glory.
After traveling to North Dakota alongside that state’s former governor, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, to open Roosevelt’s presidential library, Trump was filmed interacting with an AI version of his predecessor, who had no choice but to talk to him.
~snip~
These are my favorite paragraphs. Teddy is responding to Trump after Trump talked about Teddy’s greatest achievement:
“The Panama Canal showed what America could achieve if we held steady and acted fast when the world dragged its feet. That said, I measure my greatest work by the lives improved, parks set aside, food and drugs made safe, the Square Deal given to all—not just to a few,” it told Trump, who has made sweeping budget cuts to the National Park Service.
The Trump administration has also made cuts to the Food and Drug Administration, which some critics argue will increase the chances of unsafe products being purchased.
Trump didn’t get it at all. Thinks he’s like Teddy and will go to his grave telling himself he is.
Like so many other nuances, it’s all beyond Trump.
Thursday’s Theme Music – Working
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, July 2, 2026.
It’s blue-sky Thursday. Admittedly, that’s the July norm for our parts. 61 F now, our high is jumping into the mid eighties today. There’s a good feel to the air. Papi and I sat back and sucked it up for a while. I went back in, and he commenced a vigorous pre-nap cleaning.
No smoke, either. I feel for places enduring wildfire and its smoke and its impact, such as Utah. I understand from my sisters that their area is insufferable due to high humidity and high heat. They’re trapped under that dome of dangerous heat affecting 160 million Americans.
I’m feeling so good today, it’s almost criminal. Had amazing dreams and a solid night of fantastic sleep.
Mom has been quiet. As has two of my sisters, on vacation. Hope it’s because all is well with all of them. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc.
What can we say about Trump and the news at this point that hasn’t been said? Empty promises, lying to promote himself, extending the Trump touch to everything, he gets wealthier while whatever he touches withers and collapses, decaying and fading.
Trump, though, feeds off others’ energy. He’s a strange, unusual creature. That’s why he likes to do rallies, have them all smiling hopefully up at him, agreeing with all he says as he spins stories about his greatness, ‘telling it like it is’.
Job numbers were down. Analysts expected 100K and only 57K were reported. Unemployment also ticked down but that’s because less people are participating in the work force. It’s at its lowest level since 2021. We won’t know what it all means for months but the people embroiled in it probably will tell you, “I know exactly what it means: the economy sucks.” The questions about why it sucks will rage on.
My wife told me of an interview with people in Florida that she watched. Asked about the economy and Trump’s increasing wealth, one said, “He’s not doing anything for the middle class but he’s certainly enriching himself.”
While I like hearing that from others, hoping it’s a sign that people are shifting from Trump, I read — but couldn’t vet — remarks from the MAGAsphere that Trump is so smart, and that’s why he’s making money. *gag*
More news came out about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pond and Trump’s ‘renovations’, aka Algaegate. Now they’re saying toxic materials were used. Bad for the environment, but that’s never been a Trump worry, long as he has a golf course.
The Epstein files still haven’t been fully released. Although not fully financed, the Epstein ballroom construction rolls on. With Trump’s manhandling of it, the nation continues to stumble through the celebration of 250 years.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump made that statement in January of 2026 when he was asked about conflicts of interest.
He is wrong, of course, but it’s not surprising that he believes it. Being told by staff, friends, and family would let him shrug it off, as they knew he wanted to do. As he’s not a student of law or history, neither of those aspects would affect him, either. Since his bottom line has and is always how can he make things better for himself, how he can make himself look better, and how he can make himself richer, he was happy to run with what he was being told.
As usual, Trump heard what he wanted to hear, so he could think what he wanted to think, and do what he wanted to do.
That is exactly why his approval ratings keep declining and why more and more people seem to actively hate and resent him.
My thoughts this morning were a stew. Jobs reports, working people, the upcoming holiday, and the struggles with affordability. Tasting it as I stirred, The Neurons emerged with “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” by Styx. The 1978 song is all about working and making a living, and the determination to get ahead.
I’m off to other matters. Stay comfortable and safe, whatever conditions come at you, and go with grace and peace.
Cheers
Broken Trust
I’m reminded once again why I’m suspicious of businesses and corporations. Why I think that they’re all about making money at the expense at everything else.
Not like it hasn’t happened before. I remember the Ford Pinto and the exploding gas tank and the cost/benefit memo.
I also remember the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma, Oxycontin and the opioid epidemic that swept the US beginning in the 1990s.
There was also the environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1980s involving Beatrice Foods, resulting in so many local cancer cases.
Not to mention the case involving PG&E and the Hinkley drinking water which brought Erin Brockovich fame.
And since we’re on PG&E, what about their role in the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 84 people, caused in part when PG&E deferred maintenance to increase profits?
I lived in California when Enron famously manipulated the power grid and the price of electricity in order to enrich themselves.
Who can forget the 2007-2008 recession caused by derivatives, CDS, the housing bubble and AIG (American International Group)? Remember all those corporate bailouts?
While I’m in this memory hole, I might as well remind everyone of the savings and loan schedule of last century, Charles Keating, and the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal.
These are just a few examples of Why. I. Don’t. Trust. Corporations.
Now comes this.
Three egg producers will pay $3.3 million and donate 53 million eggs over price-fixing
Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch — have been found to have colluded to artificially inflate egg prices from June 2022 to March 2025.
And there was Donald Trump throughout 2024, up there ranting and raving about President Biden’s inability to control egg prices, ignoring the bird flu of that time.
Now we learn that companies actively worked together to raise prices.
Meanwhile, during the 2024 election season, MAGAts regularly posted photos of grocery receipts and egg cartons, arguing a dozen eggs cost roughly $1.50 during Trump’s first term but spiked significantly under the Biden-Harris administration.
To which I say to Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch: you assholes.
Trump Optimization: Breaking Down
I’ve been reflecting on Trump’s threats, lies, and broken promises.
I know that I’m on a loop with this. Partly blame my curiosity for checking the news each morning, a memory that pretty reliably reminds me of what happened in the past, and the constant news barrage about Trump. As POTUS, he and/or his administration are often suing and being sued. He keeps breaking political norms which served the nation well and does so on airy, fantasy fueled whims and desire for more power and control.
Yet, the power and control he exercises is often flawed and grows out of control. Trump consistently proves he’s a shallow thinker, with little thought or interest in collateral and secondary impact — unless they’re enriching him, or increasing his fame. His is a narrow spectrum of thought.
He makes and breaks promises with regularity that rivals the setting and rising sun. These are easily proven because of modern technology. We don’t need to pour over journals, records, ancient manuscripts, or dig through bones. Search engines verify them with a few fingerstrokes and clicks. Only those who are using his agenda to further their interests or those who want to willingly accept him as their golden leader pretends otherwise.
Trump is aware of his shortcomings on one level and tries to hide them or compensate. This has led to an ongoing, widening series of provocative declarations and impulsive actions which I lump under the umbrella of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Trump counts on people being easily charmed by him. He counts on being able to menace and bully people through power and wealth. His strategy leans heavily on people having short memories, being too busy to pay attention, or lacking the mental faculties and critical thinking to parse what he’s done and their impact.
His strategy is working on a smaller and smaller percentage of people.
That makes Trump more dangerous, because as he flails, fades, and fails, he seeks greater confirmation that he’s powerful, beloved, in control, and that all is going great, and that all is going great is due to him, and his leadership. Now, desperate to remain in power because he knows the consequences of not being in control will be accountability, Trump is fighting hard to control the upcoming elections.
Screaming fraud and stolen elections for years, he’s never proven any of his claim. On the contrary, investigations show the voter fraud is impressively small.
Nevertheless, Trump has gone after every facet of voting that he can. The Constitution specifies that states handle the voting mechanism, including time, place, location. States also determine voter eligibility and register voters. They decide how the voters are legally handled and counted. This has been going on as nation for almost 250 years, and has been under almost constant scrutiny and improvement.
Trump, however, is trying to increase the Executive Branch’s direct control over how the states register people, let them vote, and count the votes. Beyond his usual executive decrees and flawed texts and speeches about voter fraud, Trump has employed Federal money to bribe and coerce the states. He’s trying to curtail how ballots are counted by limiting when they must be received and counted. Trump is going after the state voter rolls themselves. Some states are pushing back but too many, led by GOP governments, are rolling over to Trump’s demands like well-trained pets.
All of Trump’s actions align with the Unitary Executive Theory, which gives the president and executive branch more power while sidestepping Congressional input and authority, and curtailing the judiciary’s impact and influence. We the People speak primarily through our elected officials in Congress.
With the UET in place, our voice is effectively muted. Congress can pass laws and establish agencies and dictate what’s supposed to be done and how the mechanics of government is supposed to work, but if Trump decides, “No, that’s not what I want,” then he ignores all of those limitations and legal requirements and does as he desires.
Trump’s approach becomes bifurcated, then. His financial policies and blueprint typically favor himself and the wealthiest in our nation. However, he leans on his shrinking base and Project 2025 for support, which means he advances policies to reduce business oversight and regulations for all aspects of working and living in the US.
Right now, aided by the Roberts Court and a compliant GOP in Congress, the Trump administration is trying to consolidate power. It all reminds me of the ECU problem.
Back in the late last century, computers were introduced to cars to manage engines, something called the Electronic Control Module. With it in place, car engines were constantly monitored for knocks and performance. The ECU then adjusted different aspects — fuel/air mixture, timing, advance, etc. But sometimes, by rigidly focusing on fixing these things toward one optimal goal, they ended up stopping the car from running. Mechanics then had to tear it all apart and rebuild.
Likewise, the Soviet Union, through Gosplan and central planning. Yet, when the data didn’t match the expectations demanded or expected, data was falsified, classic Cover Your Ass behavior.
Sound familiar at all?
Trump tends to fire those who don’t give him the news he wants. This will remove him further and further from contact with what’s really going on. So, like that ECU, he’s trying to overoptimize the system to the point that it will be rigid and then break under its own mechanism.
The questions are, where will we be then, and how will we adjust?
Post-Op Update
TL/DR: My bladder cancer surgery went well yesterday. Two tumors were removed. I’m at home in recovery and awaiting biopsy results. We don’t know when they’ll be in.
The longer version…
I’m standing up to type. I have an 18 French Foley catheter in me. It’s inflated with saline solution.
Sitting is hugely uncomfortable. Taking a few drugs for that but whenever I sit, an enormous urgent need to pee wells up and doesn’t end, even as I see urine going down into my collection bag.
All went great yesterday. First, just as we were leaving the house, the surgery called and asked if we could hurry in. If we could, my surgery would be moved up by an hour. Yes! Let’s go.
I head to the Self Check-in Kiosk. A young volunteer rushes over to help me. She’ll type for me. Okay. I read faster than her, so I answer before she finishes asking. We zip through.
My wife and I laugh about this whole process. Weird to have a self-check in that isn’t a self-check in. We’re sent over to another area. This is where my wife gets her information about waiting for me. We go into the waiting area. We’re only there for three minutes before Sophia arrives to take us back.
She confirms my name and birth and gives me my wrist band, asking me to confirm it’s right. I strip down and answer Sophia’s questions. Bowel movements, eating, drinking, then she left. Another nurse came in, Sarah, and asked questions, verified information, checked my BP and pulse, and put inflation leggings on my calves. I wondered to them, when will we get Tricorders? She laughs.
Everyone always looks at my wrist band and ask me to say why I was at the hospital – *TURBT* — Transurethral Resection Bladder Tumor with Gemcitabine bladder instillation — name, and birthday. Did I do the Hibiclens shower the night before? Under Sarah’s guidance, I wash with more wipes, get into my gown and the bed. BP and pulse taken, IV port installed. Then…waited.
My anesthesiologist, huge, grinning guy, came in with his questions and explanations. It’s a three-minute drill.
My surgeon comes in. She looks like a little blue and raspberry Samurai warrior in her surgery garb.
Another nurse came in, Sarah. She was wheeling me to the operating room. During the ride, I mentioned that she was my second Sarah of the day. “Yes, it was a popular name during the eighties,” she says.
I reply, “Yes, Michael was popular when I was born.”
Sarah answers, “I was going to be Michael. They thought I was going to be a boy.”
“Were you named after a specific Sarah?”
“No, my brother picked my name. He said he would only play with me if I was named Sarah.”
We arrived at the surgery and introduced to more team. Slid myself from the bed to the operating table. Ugh. Much less comfortable. “There’s a hole in the table,” Chris says as I move. “Aim your rearend for that hole.”
Alrighty.
Monitors were attached. The anesthesiologist said, “I’m administering your anesthesia now. Deep breaths.”
Three deep breaths later, I was gone.
Awakening, I think, oh my God, I have to pee. I’m scrambling to get out of bed. Except there’s a bar in my way.
A nurse grabbed me on the other side. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Go back to sleep.” She pushed me back down. I remembered, oh, yeah. I’m at the hospital. Man, do I have to pee, though.
I’m in the recovery area. Looking around. “How long am I going to be here?” I ask the nurse. She glances at the clock on my monitor. “Another twenty minutes.” I checked the time so I can track it myself.
Other recoverees are wheeled in. We’re half-surrounded by curtains and equipment but I can see three. I can’t see Grace, but Grace doesn’t hear well, so I hear everything that they’re telling Grace.
I’m in space 18. The guy in 19 is awake. I wave at him. He seems to be looking at me. I wave again. He waves back. I smile, give a thumbs up. He does the same, then lays back and closes his eyes. They wheel him back out ten minutes later.
A new woman is wheeled into 17. Her bare shoulders and upper chest are exposed. I wonder what’s going on with her. A nurse or tech wheels in an x-ray machine and tells her that she needs to get some shots. I expect the curtains to be pulled. They’re not. I look away, trying to give 17 some privacy. She’s wheeled out a little later.
I check the time. Still ten minutes left. Man, recovery time is going so slowly. Classic first-world complaint.
Sarah the second returns to wheel me back to my room. “How long have you been doing this, Sarah?” I ask.
“Three years.”
I nod. She’s a vet.
She maneuvers me back into my original little room SUU 3. Paula, another nurse, comes in to begin my post-op care instructions. She asks if I have anyone with me. “Yes, my wife.” Paula goes out and has someone go find my wife in the waiting area.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressing. Absorbing instructions. My penis is attached to my groin’s right side via a tube stuck on my thigh so the tube and collecting bag can go on my right, because that’s how I get out of bed, on the right side. It’s a bummer because I hang to the left. Sorry if that’s TMI.
I’m given mesh underwear to put on. A pad is thrust in there to absorb bleeding, and there is bleeding. Then I dress.
Paula explains how to use the catheter. I’m familiar with it. The one difference this time is that I was given chemo. Gemcitabine was instilled. It’ll take 48 hours to flush. I’m instructed to flush twice after emptying the bag, and to be very careful because of the gemcitabine.
Four medicines have been prescribed for pain, the urge to pee, and stool softeners.
I later read two tumors removed. Largest was a posterior papillary bladder tumor measuring 2cm x 3cm.
We’re back home by 4 PM. I have a light lunch, then read and nap for several hours.
It often burned when I urinated last night and this morning. That’s faded a lot, thank dog.
Per Paula’s instructions, I showered last night. My penis tip was caked with drying blood, and pubic hairs were trapped in it. Once that was washed off, a lot of discomfort went away.
I’m due to remove the Foley catheter on Monday. Get in the shower, cut a valve off, let the saline drain, jerk the catheter out.
It’s good to have something to look forward to.
Another Wandering Thought
My sister showed a photo of my nieces and nephews from fourteen years ago.
Some voice in me said, “Wow, that was fourteen years ago.”
Another voice of mine said, “Wow, that was just fourteen years ago.”
A third voice of mind said, “That was fourteen years ago?”
A fourth voice observed, “Look how they’ve grown and changed in fourteen years.”
If it takes a village, I might be okay. I got one thriving in my head.
