It’s pretty hilarious. Completely tone-deaf.
Thomas warns intolerance among younger generations will ‘infect’ courts
Trump yanks millions from Catholic Charities amid Pope feud
That’s Trump for you.
That’s the GOP for you.
Unintentionally ironic.
Thursday’s Theme Music – Too Much
Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, April 16, 2026.
It’s fifty shades of spring green outside. How quickly the front yard tree went from being bare to full of green leaves. I was out there working on the yard the other day and noted how bare it was and wondered when its leaves would arrive. Then the leaves were full and green on it, as though they’d been delivered via Amazon. “Your leaves are on the way and will be delivered by 3:30 PM on Wednesday.”
It’s 46 now, up from 32 F, and expected to climb to 52 F. Thunderstorms are expected tomorrow.
In fifty shades of Trump, Republicans in Congress are sticking with their leader, refusing to hold him accountable for the war in Iran. Some have compared it to Operation Poseidon Archer under President Biden. It’s messy, but there was a difference in scope, costs, and intentions. Although President Biden’s operation lasted fifteen months, his administration notified Congress before military operations were ordered and carried out. Not so with Trump, who has been operating more unilaterally, limiting how much Congress is told, and sometimes not telling them until after the fact. President Biden’s operation was also well-defined in objectives and stayed in scope. Trump’s Iran war has been much broader and general, with no clear cut stated goals. While various reasons have been stated, Trump has also threatened to destroy Iran as a nation and attack civilian targets.
- Operation Poseidon Archer cost about $400 million a day, with a total of $5 billion dollars for the first year of operations. Trump’s Iran war has spent $1 billion dollars per day on average, with an estimated expense of 35 to 51 billion dollar so far. Some experts believe that Trump’s Iran war could exceed one trillion dollars.
- President Biden’s Yemen strikes had a relatively contained economic effect. Trump’s Iran war has caused gas prices to soar to $7 in some states while disrupting global air travel due to airspace closures.
- Trump’s war has also affected the price of fertilizer for US farmers. The Strait of Hormuz closure has restricted access to components like sulfur, which is required to manufacture phosphate fertilizers in U.S. plants. Many small farmers are facing fertilizer costs which are 30 to 40 % higher than planned. The scale of the impact on increased cost for food and consumer goods will depend on how long Trump’s Iran war lasts.
- Total deaths for President Biden’s Yemen operations were estimated at 106 to 337 lives. Trump’s Iran war has claimed an estimated five to ten thousand, so far. No US military members were killed in the Yemen operation, while Trump’s war cost fifteen US military members to date.
It all added up to too much. That was enough for Les Neurons to invite the Dave Matthews Band into the morning mental music stream with “Too Much” from 1996.
I eat too much
I drink too much
I want too much
Too much
Hey
Suck it up, suck it up
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up, yeah
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up baby
h/t to AZLyrics.com
Hope your day isn’t too much for you, and that all goes well.
Cheers
Tuesday’s Theme Music — Dirty Deeds
Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
No rain today! Cloudy, blue sky is visible. 62 F is expected to be our high but it’s 46 F right now. Spring weather but more rain than we typically receive.
Trump’s body count continues to rise. As part of his project, Operation Look — Squirrel!, SOUTHCOM ordered more boaters killed. No court, no evidence, no trial; it’s the Trump Method.
I’m not surprised SOUTHCOM killed five more this week, bringing the total murders to 170. Trump Iran war, now seven weeks old, isn’t going well. Efforts to find peace and withdraw are going worse.
Then, his latest ploy in Operation Look — Squirrel!, to depict himself as Jesus while claiming it wasn’t a depiction and he was a doctor, went sideways fast, with the post quickly deleted.
This all comes on top of Melania Trump’s desperate efforts to project herself completely uninvolved with Ghislane or Epstein. Melania used the classic Trump defense, “Don’t believe the photographs and testimony, believe me, because I tell the truth.” While it works sometimes for Trump because he speaks the hate which MAGA and Evangelicals like, it didn’t work for Melania. She is experiencing historically low poll numbers for a first lady.
Instead of reassuring everyone, Melania also managed to remind everyone about the Epstein file. Dozy Donny has been trying to make it go away. After using it as a campaign tool by promising to release it all on day one, he’s complaining that people won’t forget it. Must have brought him a lot of joy *snark* when Melania held a conference to talk about it.
All that bad news was on top of rising gas prices in the US. High gas prices are not usually good for the economy, and the Trump economy was already not doing well, with the farmers and rural citizens who make up Trump’s base, doing especially poorly.
Well, things are blowing up for Trump, I thought this morning.
Boom *sorry*, The Neurons loaded the morning mental music stream with AC/DC and “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”. The 1976 rocker is all about a man willing to do dirty deeds for a price. That pretty well summarizes Trump’s minions and suck ups for me.
Hope your day is free of murders and travesties against humanity, sickness or illness. In other ways, hope it’s a good day for you and yours.
Cheers
The Trump Jesus
Yes, gagging a bit and almost losing my breakfast, I’m sharing the Trump Jesus image.
Had to be done; so insane, it must be shared so that everyone can see how Dozy Donny Trump sees himself.
What’s funniest about this is Trump’s answer when he was asked if he posted it.
Reporter: Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ?
Trump: It wasn’t a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one.
LOL
OMG
- “It wasn’t a depiction.” Yeah, sure, that was ripped right off your work on the golf course.
- “…I thought it was me as a doctor.” You can’t be serious; what about that picture says ‘doctor’? The glowing hand? Why do you think the hand is glowing? What’s that, radioactive material?
- “And had to do with a red cross as a red cross worker…” Can you point that red cross out to us, Dozy Donny?
Come on, man. This is the work of a person living in a fantasy. He can’t even understand what he posted.
Worse, this is not the first time that Trump has depicted himself as something extraordinary. Remember the time he posted himself as Superman? How ’bout when he showed himself as a muscular Jedi war, king, cowboy, or astronaut?
The post has been deleted but the truth is out there. I can’t believe Republicans keep denying and follow this delusional individual as their leader.
But they probably will until a FAFO moment that can’t be fixed.
That calls for a song.
Monday’s Theme Music – A Sunny Day
Ashland, Oregon, April 13, 2026.
We begin the day with rain, which is expected to continue off and on into the evening. It’s 50 now with a high of 54 F possible. Sunshine does break through, but clouds quickly rush over to block it.
It’s another Trump day. We’re now into week seven of Trump’s Iran War. Trump is blockading the Strait of Hormuz to keep it open and bring Iran to its knees after assuring us, “We won.”
The peace president continues to threaten to bomb Iran if they don’t capitulate. That’s the ‘art of the deal’ for you. It’s worked wonders so far.
The Pope’s comments about peace and the Iran war outraged the peace president. Peace president Trump blasted the Pope on crime and foreign policy, areas which Trump has demonstrated no knowledge in. That means that he assumes he knows more than anyone else, in his mind.
To complete the journey around the bend, Trump shared a social media post likening himself to Jesus. Jesus, who helped the poor and sick and counseled against wealth, greed, and rich men; and Trump, who lies, makes life more miserable for the poor and sick, whose names is almost a synonym for 21st century greed and avarice. Trump certainly remains tone deaf to irony.
Happily, over in Hungary, Viktor Orbán appears out after losing the election and conceding. I hope that’s an omen that more positive change is coming.
Today’s music is brought to me by my dreams. I went through another long one last night. Loaded with family, many of my family members were often on bicycles while I was walking or running. We mostly stayed in contact during this shambolic excursion, which was sometimes alongside a river and was mostly on a dusty road. I was young in the dream, and often sweaty. There were stops for food and eating, and beds where I sometimes stopped and rested. While doing that once, an older copy sat on the bed’s edge to rest. Remembering that I wanted to tell my sister and her husband something, I sprang up from the bed, apologizing to them for startling them. I noticed that the man looked like Alan Rickman.
I was thinking about the dream, revisualizing the part where I began running along the river, when The Neurons introduced music to the morning mental music stream. CCR came out with “Walk on the Water” after John Fogarty’s brother died from a blood transfusion. The song makes sense to me because it’s about being near home.
Late last night, I went for a walk
Down by the river near my home
Couldn’t believe, with my own eyes
And I swear I’ll never leave my home again
Hope peace and grace lift you up and carry you through all your adversity and troubles.
We’re off to do Food & Friends deliveries.
Cheers
Sunday’s Theme Music
Ashland, Oregon — Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Another chilly spring dawn greeted us. Light rain fell yesterday and overnight. The front and its clouds keep the sun from warming us. Yesterday was mostly bleak, as if the sun felt too tired to heat up. It’s 49 now and the high will be 52 F.
And here we go again:
Trump threatens Strait of Hormuz blockade after US-Iran ceasefire talks end without agreement
Trump said he has “instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.” Other nations would be involved in the blockade, he said, but did not name them.
Yes, other unnamed nations are involved, just like unnamed former presidents are cheering Trump on.
Just like that, Trump has decided the US Navy will be the police of the high seas, interdicting ships ‘who pays an illegal toll’. Funny sentiment coming from a person who loves announcing illegal tariffs.
Where the hell is Congress? Oh, that’s right — they’re on a break. Congress being on break while Trump grows increasingly unstable and belligerent is another sign of the nation’s misplaced priorities. It’s absolute nuts.
Trump also wants to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with “magic paint”. Trump says unnamed experts endorse this plan. Meanwhile, real named experts say that it’s a bad idea.
There are several recurring Trump themes here. One, Trump thinks he knows better than experts. We’ve seen him proclaim that throughout his business career as he conned others and declared bankruptcy after bankruptcy. We’ve seen it, too, with tariffs and medicine, such as his suggested COVID-19 treatment ideas.
Trump’s other trend is mentioning people who can’t be named or don’t want to be named. People congratulating, calling him, thanking him, advising him. How many of them are real?
A third Trump trend we’re seeing is his dependence on “his feelings”.
Trump says war with Iran will end when ‘I feel it in my bones’
In 2025, Trump made similar comments about childhood vaccinations. “This is based on what I feel. The mumps, measles and — the three should be taken separately. And it seems to be that when you mix them, there could be a problem,” Trump said. “So, there’s no downside in taking them separately. In fact, they think it’s better. So let it be separate.”
Is it just my imagination or is this really nuts?
When ‘imagination’ crossed my mental threshold, The Neurons pounced like a red light in front of Papi. They quickly ran “Just My Imagination” by The Cranberries into the morning mental music stream.
It’s a light song, with chill lyrics from a ‘saner’ time of 1999:
There was a game we used to play
We would hit the town on Friday night
Stay in bed until Sunday
We used to be so free
We were living for the love we had
Living not for reality
Hope you have a sane, safe Sunday, full of peace, grace, and joy.
Cheers
Saturday’s Theme Music –
Ashland, Oregon – Saturday, April 11, 2026.
Another rainy day for the valley. Thunderstorms struck again yesterday but it was just a fifteen-minute visit. We’re seeing 54 F now and anticipate 58 as the high…
Nothing from Mom…more of the usual about Trump. Many headlines about the historic spaceflight. So many seem so hungry for it, like they needed some good news.
I read Paul Krugman’s post about the labor news. He speculates that we may have achieved a zero growth state. Since people aren’t immigrating into the country, there’s not more demand for jobs.
Makes you wonder. If population is flat and either sated with their purchases or too poor and working too hard to buy them because high gas, food, and healthcare prices are taxing their finances, who will buy new goods and services?
I was proud and pleased by how Boise, Idaho, responded to a ban on pride flags. Narrow-minded Idaho legislators specified what flags are allowed in their quest to limit freedom of speech and expression. They were particularly incensed that Boise had flown a gay pride flag for over ten years. Oh, the horror.
That couldn’t stand, so they passed a law against it, enforced with hefty fines.
Boise responded beautifully, by wrapping poles with gay pride flags.
On to a quiet day for me. Today’s music came from Papi walking around the room this morning. All of a sudden, he whirled and looked back.
I turned and looked as he stared, alert. The two of us went down the hall together. I don’t know what he saw or heard. After a moment of standing in the bedroom, Papi gave his face a little wash, turned and left, resuming his previous activity.
That was all enough for The Neurons to pull up some lyrics from the Oasis song, “D’you Know What I Mean?” and slot the song into the morning mental music stream.
Lyrics:
Step off the train all alone at dawn
Back into the hole where I was born
The sun in the sky never raised an eye to me
The blood on the trax and must be mine
The fool on the hill and I feel fine
Don’t look back cos you know what you might see
Look into the wall of my mind’s eye
I think I know, but I don’t know why
The questions are the answers you might need
Coming in a mess going out in style
I ain’t good-looking but I’m someone’s child
No-one can give me the air that’s mine to breathe
Yeah, don’t look back because you know what you might see…
Hope your day is filled with powerful energy that takes you in the right direction.
Cheers
The Net’s Take: This Week with Trump
Humor, facts, truth, history, reminders…and Melania.
History
The Art of the Deal
Pretty bad people…
Behold, TACO’s Arch
Ah, memories…
USA…not first for Trump…
Friday’s Theme Music – The Circus
Ashland, Oregon — Friday, April 10, 2026.
56 F right now, 62 is our projected high on a day when rain clouds have moved in and await their cue.
Had a big-ass thunderstorm here yesterday. Began with a heavy rain. Not monsoon level — I’ve experienced them in Southeast Asia — but heavier, harder, more intense than we typically experience. Thunder rolled in.
I went out on the porches to check the gutters. There are two places where the water was splashing out. They’re the usual suspects and need cleaned out again.
While I was out there, I saw lightning to the north. As I thought, lightning, boom, thunder cracked through the valley, violent and loud. That storm was right on top of us. We experienced several more sharp flashes of lightning and deep thunder and then it moved on.
I checked on Papi. My poor orange boi was retired to the master closet. No windows there. It’s his standard safe haven.
Stalemate with Mom continues. Won’t sell her house and asks my sister when the house is being put up for sale. Insists that she can live alone, and rejects anyone telling her otherwise. Doesn’t have a plan except to get out of the assisted living place. Which was basically her plan when she lived with my sister. It’s so frustrating.
Melania Trump stormed onto the national stage to insist that she doesn’t have anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein, and put in a demand about helping the victims.
Meanwhile, inflation was up in March to the highest level in two years, 3.3%. Gasoline prices in the US climbed over 21%. It all can all be traced to Trump’s war on Iran.
Trump responded by releasing a graphic, violent, racist video on ‘Truth Social’ and blaming President Biden.
Who is surprised by any of this? This is par for Trump, creating a distraction from bad news, especially inflation and Epstein, and blaming others. Trump has turned our lives into a three-ring circus.
Today’s song is “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes. This came about when I was doing something and my dream surged back to me. I said, “Hold on,” and spent a moment collecting and assembling dream pieces.
But The Neurons, being who they are, kicked “Hold On” into the morning mental music stream. It’s a solid choice. I heard it I think the year it came out. But when I first heard it on the radio, they never told the song’s title or performer. So I listened, memorizing lines, then went back in and did a net search. Glad I did.
It’s also a song I don’t ever hear being played on the radio these days. That’s a shame.
Hope you and yours are doing well, and peace and grace carry you through whatever the circus of life brings to town.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music — Gambling
Ashland, Oregon — April 9, 2026.
Springish today. After an evening of solid rain, clouds maintain a presence and sunshine is muted. 54 F is our temperature now, with the chance of more rain and a high in the mid 60s. Right now, if you walk out and the clouds are merged, it’s chilly. But when sunshine is freed, you feel the heat.
Late blogging/writing start. We ran errands this morning, looking for plants to fill gaps. Then, since we were out and around grocery stores, quick runs to pick up a few items.
There’s also been heavy texting with my sister about Mom. Mom asks when sister is selling Mom’s house and also talks about plans to move in there, leaving us wondering, what? D Day, when Mom said she is moving out of the assisted living facility, arrives soon. Everyone advises her not to, but she’s adamant about her intentions, even if she lacks plans.
Is the Iran War cease fire holding? The news cycle runs fast these days and I haven’t been at my computer for hours. All manner of disasters, attacks, and accusations may have happened in the four hours since I was last on the ‘puter.
Bad news is emerging out of the US Postal Service. They’re suspending FERS contributions due to a cash flow problem. But this stuff has been going on for a while. Rural areas have been suffering as the USPS closed rural post offices and satellite operations. Meanwhile, as the cost of a first-class stamp keeps rising. Now, thanks to Trump’s Iran War, the cost to ship things such as the mail are also rising.
This all puts more stress on our economic system and the most vulnerable of our society. Consider how many elderly and rural people depend on the postal service to receive medication and bills. They’re the ones who were most negatively impacted by several aspects of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill and are the ones who will suffer most under his proposed 2027 budget.
It’ll be interesting to see how our political leaders respond. Polarized, Congress has been gridlocked and even routine budget seems like titanic challenges. Can a Trump -led government rise to the level of thinking and cooperation needed to address this problem or will we wait until it’s a crisis.
Today’s news and environment encouraged The Neurons to play “Living in the Past”. This Jethro Tull came out in 1969. It’s all about waiting to live in a more peaceful, relaxed time, so you can see how it plays in this period.
Hope you have a relaxed day, filled with peace and grace, and if not that, that you emerge safe and unscathed.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 