Just a short piece over at Nan’s, pointing something out that many of us wondered about. Cheers
Thirstdaz Wandering Political Thoughts
One thing many of us notice when we buy things online: they frequently arrive in boxes. Sometimes it’s boxes in boxes. The Bloomberg News information read via Alternet about box sales then becomes another warning sign for the Trump economy:
‘Not looking great out there’: Analysts warn this unexpected indicator predicts Trump slump
Bloomberg reports falling cardboard box sales are starting to worry analysts about consumer spending in the Trump economy.
“It’s just not happening, and they have no control over it,” said Adam Josephson, a former sell-side analyst who covers the paper and packaging sector. “[Across industries] all the measures I track are pointing in a not-very-good direction.”
Given Trump’s fear of facts and truths, it would surprise me not if some wealthy donors or other organization just starts ordering boxes to push the numbers up. Illusion, lies, and misinformation is the TACO Regime way. As noted economist Paul Krugman has commented, the hard data catches up with the soft data. And the soft data of CEOs announcing plans to cut back on production, lay off employees, and raise prices due to tariffs, shows the economy heading downhill.
Wenzdaz Wandering Thoughts
I’ve been hearing a little voice in my head. Well, there are actually a few. I live by a committee of voices in my head. Some are writing advisors, editors, and muses. Others are DIY budgeteers. Several more very vocal citizens and progressives are in there, often spitting mad with exasperation and disgust as the Trump wrecking ball obliterates democracy, decency, and morality in the United States. Besides them and voices of memory who like to bring up things I have done and enjoyed, I also have a couple health consultant voices, a few therapists and exercise coaches, and relationship advisors. On the whole, they’re mostly civilized, respecting the other voices, only speaking up when the others are quiet.
One thing I’ve learned from all of these is not to ignore them. As time has threaded past, I’ve repeatedly been re-educated that the little voices often know a lot more than me about what’s going on and what I should do. When I ignore them, things will go bad, as they predict. Naturally, they then say, “I told you so. You should’ve listened.”
So I’m vowing to them again, “Okay, I’m listening.”
Naturally, one snidely replied, “Sure.”
The voices are a lot like me.
Twosdaz Theme Music
Are you ready for another one? Today is Twosda, August 12, 2025. Today’s expected to be cooler today than yesterday. 101 F will be the high, up 28 degrees from our current residence of 73 F. Skies so blue arc over the hot land as a growling sun lifts over the horizon and bears down on us.
I read of a shooting in Austin, Texas. A person shoot and killed three in a Target store. Surely Trump is sending Federal troops to Austin, and maybe even all Target stores. After all, he deployed troops to take over D.C.’s police force over a mugging.
Trump probably wants to send troops to Arkansas, too, where a couple were murdered while hiking. Little Rock, Arkansas, has had a sharp increase in homicides this year.
Yeah, but we know that Trump’s motives when sending troops to any city isn’t about law and order. He proved that when he encouraged rioters to descend on the U.S. capitol on that infamous day, Jan 6. Trump did nothing while his beautiful supporters broke into government buildings, shit on Federal property, damaged it, and assaulted police. Then he pardoned his beautiful thugs, which should have marked ‘false’ all claims to him being a law and order dude. That, plus his energetic pursuit of disappearing people without due process, establishing a DOJ in the process that actively avoids judge’s valid and legal order, shows he’s far removed from being interested in law and order. My cat is more law and order than PINO Trump. That’s why he sent troops to a blue city enjoying a 30-year low in violent crime, over a mugging.
No, Trump’s troops to D.C., just as his troops to LA, are all about exercising strong arm tactics. This is what dictators and wannabe dictators do. And TACO is a wannabe dictator. He’s said that over and over in actions which shouted his intentions. Such people ignore the law, decreeing themselves to be the law. That’s just another reason why the Offal Office mango needs to be impeached and fired.
Today’s music was suggested by The Neurons after reading about Bobby Whitlock’s death. Whitlock, a musician with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, left that group, along with a few other of the band’s musician. Hearing that, Clapton approached them to form a group together. Thus came to the world Derek and the Dominos. Out of that union, coupled with friendship with an Allman brother, came a song which always entrances me: “Layla”. So here we go.
Coffee has assumed the position. Time to go rock the world. Hope that your day has peace and grace. Cheers
Sharing – The Adult in the Room
I enjoyed this piece’s optimistic, reflective view. Right now, there seems to be few Adults in the room in the Trump era. Hopefully, as posited in this post by earlthepearl137, the young generations will rise up, see what needs to be done, and get it done. Fingers crossed, ya know?
We were taught to respect him. He wore a tie to breakfast. He had opinions on everything from foreign policy to potato salad. He shook his head at protests, praised moderation, and told stories where he was always the hero.
He was The Adult in the Room.
He built systems that favored the seasoned and the serious. He spoke in spreadsheets and nostalgia, mistaking legacy for wisdom. He said youth should “wait their turn,” even as the clock ticked toward irreversible climate change, social fracture, and another news cycle full of grief.
When the world caught fire, The Adult offered a lecture. When the oceans rose, he proposed a committee. When children cried out in fear or fury, he complimented their passion… and resumed business as usual.
But then something shifted.
Continue reading here…
Fridaz Wandering Thoughts
Dad and I spoke for almost an hour today. The conversation energized me, boosting my mood into a happier place. On the surface, a high percentage can be attributed to relief: Dad was home. No greater problems were found during his latest hospital visit, and it was a short one. He and his wife were both friendly, engaging, and happy on their end. Undoubtably this fed me and my spirits.
I also insist, though, that some of this came from just speaking with Dad. He and I are familiars. We mock and respect one another. He’s one of the few people I sense I can really spill myself to regarding what’s going on, whether it’s politics, writing, relationships with my wife, Mom, and sisters, or my DIY projects.
We’ve not always been like these. It’s been a long evolution. I’m glad we made it here, though. It’s taken time. We followed a torturous path. But here we are.
Finally.
Thirstda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
I just want to note. Children are dying of starvation around the world, but most especially, most visibly, in Gaza. And the self-described ‘pro-life’ party in power, the ones who hounds every woman seeking an abortion with religious zeal while screaming about the sanctity of life is doing fuck all about the dying children. No, the greedy Republicans like Speaker Johnson and Donald Trump are focused on making money and saving money, and protecting Trump from the Epstein Files fall out and exposure as a pedophile.
As always, actions speak louder than words. The GOP’s actions scream with hypocrisy.
Wenzdaz Wandering Political Thoughts
It’s the age of betrayal, it’s the era of MAGA. Trump demands loyalty but will instantly betray anyone who sullies his self-image of magnificence.
That idea that he demands personal loyalty means nothings to his regime. They’re true to him, and that’s it. So, with little surprise, I read that FEMA probationary employees are being reshuffled to ICE.
I can imagine how that’s going down. FEMA interviewee: “Yes, I want to join FEMA and help my fellow citizens recover when disaster strikes. I want to comfort and reassure them, and help them rebuild.”
“Okay, we’re sending you to ICE.”
“ICE?”
“Yes. Here’s your mask and gun. Go round up brown people.”
“Brown people? That’s not legal.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just arrest them and let Trump sort them out.”
Apparently, *ahem* this personnel action is being taken because the Trump Regime is struggling to fill its ICE ranks. Rounding up citizens is labor intensive, especially on the scale that Trump envisions. Word around the coffee shops is that ICE is also paying hiring bonuses.
It occurs to me that this might be a good way to resist the Trump Regime. Join ICE, take the money, and then start sabotaging it from within. When intel about a raid comes available, broadcast it to apps to let people know that it’s coming so they can scatter and hide while protestors establish a cover force of protests and harassements.
While I write all this in a blend of seriousness and jest, I find it sad and disturbing that Trump and the GOP have formulated such an atmosphere that such thinking must exist.
Trump has proven to be the greatest at taking things and thoroughly enshittifying them. He is, in essence, the Enshittifier in Chief.
Twosdaz Wandering Thoughts
I should probably buy a new computer. Microsoft has warned me that it won’t be supporting this one much longer. That is a concern. Chrome never makes such dire threats. I don’t know if I can use another OS and other browsers. Probably can but it would be more of an investment in time than I want to do.
The computer is over a decade old. It can’t run Windows 11 without more changes. More importantly, the computer has developed some issues. Its chassis is slightly bent. That causes some control issues. Several keys have been replaced but it hasn’t been a successful fix. The HP Envy’s silver edges are worn black. The tab, q, and x keys often leave their stations. The backspace key broke in half and is held together by cellotape. Several keys, specifically the e, d, c, o, l, and n keys, have lost their identity as my fingernails tapped it away. I often need to consciously press hard on the t, c, and n key to get a response, along with the ctrl key and the delete key. It all slows me down. Every once in a while, the CD drive will pop open on its own, shouting, “Surprise,” like a drunk uncle, just to remind me that it’s there.
So a new computer need can be shown. But, this one still works. I’m just loathe to get rid of things just because they’re not the newest or because it’s less than perfect. Sure, it takes five minutes to fire up. When Chrome is used, five more minutes will pass before that is loaded. It plays pretty well with Windows and Edge, though.
I don’t know. I have the money. It was my birthday and I didn’t get anything else. Maybe it’s time, but I’ll probably let a few more weeks of sleep pass before I look for another. The whole thought train reminds me that I bought my first computer forty years ago.
Seems like it was yesterday.
Sundaz Theme Music
Another cool, blue-sky deal rolls into Ashlandia. It’s Sunda, August 3, 2025, and 68 F. Claims are being staked that it’ll be 86 F with thunderstorms later today but I’m living in the now. We’re enjoying this streak of average normal summer. Been a few summers since we’ve had an extended streak, knock wood. Meanwhile sympathies and thoughts to all the places enduring floods, fire, wildfire smoke, and other disasters.
The morning joke between my wife and me is, “What has he done today?” We worry that the mango Offal Office occupant will launch a nuclear strike because he had a bad day at golf or more information about him and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was revealed. We joke without humor, “Did he raise tariffs 1,000 percent on food and rooster about how much we’re winning?” We’ve not seen any of his ‘wins’. Prices are still up and climbing. When prices aren’t climbing, it’s often because companies are giving you less for the same price they used to charge.
We were looking at online photos of his White House ‘improvements’. A huge, tacky gold-plated ballroom, with none of the grace of the building that houses the President and their family. Sickening. And look at that paved over Rose Garden. It demonstrates such a bare, empty vision. Yes, that is PINO TACO.
Today’s music came from dialogue with my spouse. We were talking about health issues. I was helping her with putting something on. “Easy, easy,” she cautioned. “Sorry, I answered. “I’ll try to use more care.”
The Neurons snatched that up like a dog going for a dropped piece of bacon. “Handle with Care” by The Traveling Wilburys was soon bouncing through the morning mental music stream. The Wilburys were a pop rock group formed by well-pedigreed pop rock musicians: George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Bob Dylan. Each claimed to be a Wilbury brother. Their music was fun and relaxed, people with little to prove doing the thing that they loved to do.
“Handle with Care” was the group’s first effort, and it’s most commercially successful. Originally intended to be the B side of a song George Harrison was releasing, record company execs thought it too good for that purpose and suggested the group expand its efforts and make more music. And it all came about with serendipity. George needed another song. He met with Jeff for dinner, but Jeff was already dining with Roy, so the three of them dined together. George invited Jeff to help him with the song, and Roy asked if he could come along. A studio was needed; George remembered that Bob Dylan was local and had a garage studio. Sure, you can use it, Bob said. George needed his guitar, which was over at Tom Petty’s house. Tom asked if he could join because he had nothing else going on.
I mean, come on. What a neighborhood. Much better than mine, where we nod and complain about weather, politics, and prices. Maybe we should start writing songs about that stuff.
Time to rock on. Hope your day finds peace and grace, and perhaps something tasty to eat for your neglected taste buds. I’ve got coffee. Here we go. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 