Read and help if you can. Call your Senator and let them know where you stand, and how you want them to vote on your behalf, and why. I fell fortunate that I have two solidly Democratic Senators in Wyden and Merkley representing my state.
Wenzda’s Theme Music
Weather is dipping our beaks into the winter pot. Rain has shown itself, following a path fashioned by a lumpy charcoal and gray sky carpet. Sunshine has shown no plans to be much involved today, telling us in its slow way, you’re on your own for warmth.
This is March 12, 2025, in Ashlandia. 45 F and light rain, it’s down from an earlier temp of 48 F. 51 F is supposedly the day’s high.
With all the negative news stories raining through our days, another blogger brought out one of the world’s classic protest songs. “Ohio” was written by Neil Young and recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young in response to American National Guard shooting protesting students at Kent State University in May of 1970. What a dark time. Before then, most adult Americans distrusted and blamed the protestors. This event marked the beginning of a change. Shame that such a watershed moment had to be bloody but that’s often the outcome when change is sought, and that’s not just in the United States.
With “Ohio” in my ears, The Neurons began thinking of other famous protest songs. They were soon queuing in my head. One eventually took over the morning mental music stream. “Get Up, Stand Up” was written by Peter Tosh. Bob Marley and the Wailers came out with it in 1973. The lines hooking The Neurons this morning were part of a stanza saying, “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. So now we see the light, what you gonna do? We going to stand up for our rights.”
That’s the protest needed now. As the Trusk Regime rages like a fire through people’s rights and needs, burning the protections set up by checks and balances, people need to stand up.
Coffee has stood up for me again. Hope you have a solid day in all needed regards. Time to press on once again. Cheers
Twosda’s Theme Music
Sunshine richly soaks Ashlandia’s end of the valley where I5 climbs into the mountain pass between Oregon and California. But this Twosda finds it a chill morning. 42 F, the sun is pulling us out of the mid-thirties trough where we spent the night. Like yesterday, our high will eye the 60s; I saw us at 64 yesterday at my place.
This is Twosda, March 11, 2025. Although spring is closing on us, a winter warning has been issued for tomorrow. That’s wholly in keeping with expectations. Before reading of that warning yesterday, I applauded the spring but then reminded myself that winter likes to make one last, dramatic March appearance in our area.
The Neurons are treating me with “Only You Know and I Know” in the morning mental music stream. Dave Mason penned the song, but Delaney & Bonnie had more of a hit with it in the U.S. I had the Dave Mason original in mind this morning. Comes solely out of thinking about PINO Trusk and his sneering as he ‘makes dramatic announcements’. That’s how the mainstream media often portrays him. ‘Trump Makes Dramatic Announcement About New Tariffs on Canada’. I’ve seen the first iteration and the rest of this song and dance is tiresome. But you and I know how much of his grandstanding is done to keep his base’s attention; he loves it when they thrill over his words, swoon over his actions, orgasm and gasp over his power and prophecies. Never mind that many of his words are lies, his actions are bullshit, and his power is right out of the dictator handbook.
But you and I know. Those of us with some smattering of understanding about history and politics know. Smattering to me is that you learned about these things in junior high or high school, but also that you understood and remember it. PINO Trusk’s base often does not.
Anyway, I enjoy this video of Dave Mason and his group performing a rockin’ rendition of the song. Hope you do as well.
Coffee is purring away in my innards, restoring some of my faith in my existence. Hope you have a royally awesome day. Here we go. Cheers
Munda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
PINO Trusk’s Regime suggested that with egg prices increasing, people should just get their own chickens.
Trump Admin Says Americans Should Farm Chickens to Combat Egg Prices
Let’s address this as if we’re seriously thinking about it.
One, getting a chicken. My understanding of the current dynamics is that the price of eggs is high and going higher because of avian flu. Birds have died from this, and birds have been killed to prevent the disease from spreading.
The Trusk Regime may not be aware of this, but chickens are birds. As such, they’ve been killed by millions. That means there are fewer of them. If I understand elementary supply and demand, having fewer birds available makes the price increase, especially if demand increases. This is the essence of inflation. Buying an egg-laying chicken might not be as cheap and easy as the Trusk Regime lays out.
Two, raising a chicken. As any backyard gardner will tell you, raising your own food isn’t cheap. With chickens, you’d need to provide feed, have a place for them, protect them, and keep them warm and safe. These supplies and materials all add up…quickly.
Three, back to the beginning and why the price of eggs has been rising and is expected to go higher: avian flu. It’s killing birds. And birds are being killed to prevent the spread. So, if you have a chicken, it may succumb to avian flu.
Thus, buying your own chicken to raise your own eggs might not be the genius idea some people perceive it to be.
At least, in my opinion.
Sunda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
Mellow and quiet are the best descriptions for Ashlandia today. Turning attention to politics for a bit, I found a few sites with ideas that merit being shared with others.
Lithub presents, What Is Donald Trump Doing? Three Theories for the Madness.
- Theory 1: Trump is a Russian Asset. This theory isn’t new, but let’s be real: If someone had laid out Trump’s actions over the past several years and presented them without names attached, the conclusion that he’s working to advance Russian interests wouldn’t sound like a wild conspiracy.
- Theory 2: Trump is Trying to Foment Global Chaos. For a man who ran a campaign on the promise of putting “America First,” Trump sure seems intent on making the world and America a far more unstable place.
- Theory 3: He’s Just Worse at Presidenting Than Last Time. As shocking as this might sound, it’s possible that Trump’s presidential skillset second term is shaping up to be even less stellar than his first.
‘Less stellar’ made me chuckle. I think the author, Aron Solomon, is being generous.
Over on The Democracy Labs, they’ve provided us with a very useful map. The Trusk Regime is wielding DOGE to curtail leases on thousands of government buildings. This can well mean that people will need to go further and wait longer to reach the Federal office which can assist them. You know, places such as the VA office, FEMA, Social Security, IRS, Medicare, Medicaid, NOAA…
Driving longer distances isn’t good for people or the environment: it came mean longer trips in motor vehicles. If you’re in a gas or diesel powered vehicle, you’ll spew more emissions into the air. And you’ll pay for more vehicle fuel. If you’re worried about inflation, buying more gass can translate into more demand and higher prices.
Driving further and waiting longer will also mean that if you’re a person being paid by the hour or working the gig enonomy, it may well cost you more in your wages. Then there’s the age and handicap issue: traveling longer distance and waiting longer can often be emotionally wearing and physically tiring.
This essentially demonstrates how little the Trusk Regime cares about people.
What this map does is show us what’s being closed where, and importantly, what member of Congress to contact about it. You know what to do with your phones and keyboards, right? That’s right: raise your voice.
Finally, Jill Dennison shares a story of the sublime. Don’t Say That Word!!! covers the growing list that the Trusk Regime forbids to be used in official documents.
What follows is a list of words that are either forbidden or ‘discouraged’ in federal government communications, both formal and informal, under the current regime. Take a look for yourself … even words like ‘women’, ‘racism’, and ‘pollution‘ are taboo! And of course ‘Gulf of Mexico’ cannot ever be used in federal communications! An article in the New York Times provides more information, but do take a glance through this list … it will raise your hackles!
And that’s always something that I need: something else that the Trusk Regime is doing that raises my hackles.
WTF, America
In another bit of WTF, America, some new DOGE bullshit springs into the spotlight.
Military to Remove ‘Enola Gay’ Photos for Violating DEI Rules
Images of “Enola Gay,” the aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan are among those targeted by the U.S. military in an initiative to eliminate content related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
They are among a number of photos unrelated to DEI that have been mistakenly flagged, including those from an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California, seemingly because an engineer in the image had the last name “Gay.”
I mean, how, how, how amazingly ignorant is the Trusk Regime? How stupid is DOGE?
Beyond the fundamental stupidity of making a decision based on a single word, they are demonstrating amazing ignorance about our heritage. Our history.
Does that history matter to them? No, apparently not.
And that really brings the Trusk Regime’s crock of shit about ‘gay’, DEI, woke into an electron microscope level of insights. Our history is being denied based on some shallow, closed minds? They’ll deny the role of an aircraft in our history because of a single word, literally one of the most critical moments in modern human history, the one and only damn time when one nation used atomic or nuclear weapons on another nation? What are they going to do, rewrite the textbooks so that Colonel Paul Tibbets and his crew flew an unnamed aircraft on that historic mission? How much of a disservice is it to not just the crew that flew that machine but the enemy killed on the ground?
That’s just the damn bottom of the barrel, though. The Trusk Regime and the GOTP is trying to deny the role of anyone who does not fit their narrow, bigoted views. Gay, trans, lesbian military members who fought for the United States are being washed out of history by this pathetic group, most of whom never served in a military capacity.
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But those who deliberately wipe it out are bent on creating a new circle of ignorance.
But, I mean, come on. Seriously. What did we expect of ol’ Bone Spurs Trump? His grip on history and logic is pathetically weak.
He who cited the use of aircraft and airfields in the American Revolutionary War.
He who referred to Senator McCain, a navy aviator who was captured and held as a prisoner of war, as a loser.
He who warns of the threats of cancer from windmills, a claim without any merit.
He who used a marker to try to change the projected course of a hurricane.
He who had his staff saying that he suggested nuking a hurricane.
He who was documented to lie over 30,000 times in his first administration.
A man who still lies as much as he breathes.
That individual is a fucking idiot.
And you know what that makes his supporters and enablers.
Frieda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
The Great Deflector blames ‘globalists’ for the market drops.
Later in the same press event, Trump again blamed globalists for the market downturn. “I think it’s globalists that see how rich our country’s going to be, and they don’t like it.“
What an absolute crock. Couldn’t be the old standard of people and institutions who invest in the stock market were protecting their profits and selling stocks, could it? Oh, no, he has to pull up some bullshit bogey man.
Then again, PINO Trusk isn’t a deep thinker. Not a sharp guy. Doesn’t understand the global network of finance, manufacturing, and supply chains at all. Nope. He prefers a stone-age ‘isolationist’ approach. Thinks that will ‘make America great again’.
Meanwhile, treating your friends like shit ends up with them getting pissed at you and treating you like shit.
Ontario cancels Starlink deal over US tariffs — Italy may follow due to US pullback from Europe
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he would cancel the $100 million deal the Canadian province signed with Starlink in response to Trump’s 25% tariff on Canadian goods. He’s also imposing a 25% tax on electricity exports, with New York, Michigan, and Minnesota being the most affected. CBC also reports that U.S.-based companies are banned from procurement contracts with the province.
X Threatens Our Democracy. Canada Should Ban It
Last year, as the U.S. government debated and then followed through on banning TikTok, Republican lawmakers advanced numerous arguments against allowing a hostile foreign power to control a significant medium of public discourse.
They said a social media application owned by someone who is close to an autocratic leader might be used as propaganda.
They said the amount of data harvested by the app from users’ phones could pose enormous security risks, providing information to the security services of a hostile power.
Of course, I might be in the minority in my concerns about PINO Trusk.
What Big-Business Leaders, Including Democrats, Say Privately About Trump
One Wall Street executive told me that Mr. Trump remains better than any of the alternatives. Another — citing Elon Musk’s government shake-up — said he likes what he sees so much, he now regrets voting for Ms. Harris.
It wasn’t just that this group resented Mr. Biden’s intrusive regulatory policies. They didn’t like diversity, equity and inclusion policies either — or anything they derisively described to me as “woke stuff.” Now executives and bankers alike (my circles tilt a bit toward Wall Street) are celebrating early signs of a reversal.
I’m not really astonished by claims that business leaders ‘favor’ PINO Trusk’s trash and burn approach. Stories are rising across the political spectrum about people who first cheer the Trusk Regime’s behavior. Then they’re personally affected, and the song they’re singing goes from praises to complaints. So, as PINO Trusk burns supply chains, declares tariffs (and reverses them), and alienates markets and customers outside of the US, we’ll see how they’re feeling in a few months. Sure, they’re wealthier; their wealth cradles their asses as we go through chaos and inflation.
Or, as Paul Krugman stated it, One thing that really struck me from Rattner’s piece — something I’ve heard from other sources — is that big businessmen think Elon Musk is doing a good job. I guess this is one of those cases where power and privilege make you blind to things that are obvious to everyone else.
After all this fucking around, I’m waiting to find out.
Frieda’s Theme Music
Howdy men and women, boys and girls, and all others regardless of your name, gender, or orientation. Welcome to another installment of Frieda.
Today is March 7, 2025. Blue sky and sunshine are stamping Ashlandia’s scene. Although it’s 38 F now, warming sun will carry us into the upper 50s. I can dig it.
So the Jobs Report came out, and I think I smell a con.
The US economy added 151,000 jobs in February in first full jobs report under Trump’s second term It’s like, what? How? Given all that I’d read about job losses throughout the month of Feburary, suddenly it’s good news? Call me old-fashioned but if I step in a pile of shit and it smells like shit, I call it shit. Additionally, given how the Trusk Regime has infiltrated every Federal computer system, and PINO Trusk’s propensity of lying, cheating, and being generally untrustworthy, I think there’s every reason to believe that we’re being gaslighted. That economists believed 160000 new jobs would be added blew my mind.
This is an interesting piece of the article:
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has made monumental policy shifts — including large-scale federal layoffs, funding cutbacks, a back-and-forth on tariffs and mass deportations — that have spilled into the broader economy, shaking business and consumer confidence, and resulting in several data points flashing warning signals.
However, the Department of Government Efficiency-driven employment cuts weren’t expected to make a big splash in February’s jobs report. That’s partly because of timing of the two surveys that feed in to the monthly employment snapshot and also due to the structure of employment separation agreements.
Still, Friday’s report gave a hint of what could come: The federal government posted a loss of 10,000 jobs for the month, with 3,500 of those losses coming from the US Postal Service.
So, they’re saying this is all timing? I remain incredulous.
This being the anniversary of one of America’s version of Bloody Sunday, reading about it triggered The Neurons to fold U2’s song, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, into the morning mental music stream. It’s the 60th Anniversary of the violence in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
The U2 song is about another government killing citizens. “One of U2’s most overtly political songs, its lyrics describe the horror felt by an observer of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, mainly focusing on the 1972 Bloody Sunday incident in Derry where British troops shot and killed unarmed civil rights protesters.” h/t to Wikipedia.org
Little changes, it sometimes feels. Governments kill their protesting citizens. Reminds me of PINO Trusk’s first term. Remember when he wanted to have the military shoot protestors?
Coffee has rescued me again. Hope you have a solid day. Cheers
Munda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
A remarkable shell game has taken over U.S. politics.
Here we have Donald J. Trump, a convicted felon, basking in the glow of the ‘law and order’ party. They support the blue, you know. That’s despite his attempted Jan. 6 coup, where his supporters attacked the police defending Congress.
Here we also have exhibit B, Donald J. Trump, known liar, having his praises sung by people who say ‘he speaks for us.’ They are, then, by the transitive property, liars, too, aren’t they?
As exhibit C, Donald J. Trump, failed business man (the proof is in the bankruptcies) is going to ‘run the government like a business’. Never mind that a business pursuing profit and a government serving its people have two wholly intentions, philsophies, and guiding principles.
To top that off, we have Elon Reeve Musk, unelected to any office, not even a U.S. citizen, accessing and cutting American programs. This is supported by the party that kept screaming about election fraud and stolen elections. Now they’re mostly silent on stolen government. Where citizens are voicing their displeasure to their elected Federal officials in the GOTP, those officials are running away. They don’t want to hear what ‘we the people’ have to say.
Finally, we have the Family Values party, the GOTP, formerly known as the GOP. They want to restore marriage because that will Make America Great Again. *snicker* Despite Donald Trump’s affairs and multiple marriages. To top that, as exhibit D, Elon Reeve Musk, Donald J. Trump’s top advisor and henchman, has had added another child to his growing family. His fourteenth child? With how many women?
The news comes as Musk’s custody issues with another mother of children, St. Clair, play out in the media. St. Clair, who is suing Musk for sole custody, has characterized him as an absent father who has only met their child three times and was not present for the birth last year.
What else can I say and expect? They voted for Trump to ‘Make America Great Again’. He’s responded by turning it into an imperial presidency, the ‘unitary executive’. They voted for Trump to lower prices and improve the economy, and everything he’s done has had the opposite effect. They voted to restore the nation’s standing in the world. He’s instead turned on allies, reducing U.S. influence, isolating us as we grow closer to countries like Russia and North Korea.
Question: if Russia is so trustworthy, will PINO Trusk let Putin put missiles in Cuba?
Follow up: With PINO Trusk bending over and presenting to Putin in Russia, does Russia need missiles in Cuba?
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Donald J. Trump a con man, idiot, and bully. He’s a user and sociopath. He doesn’t care about people except how they can be used to further his own wealth and power.
Yes, I’ve said it before, but as it’s been proven again and again, the GOTP is a spineless party. Project 2025 is interested in advancing the nation as a white Christian theocracy. And the MAGAts are racist, sexist sheeple. The list of what Trump has said compared to what he’s done in opposition to what he — and the GOTP — promised goes on with many more examples. There is a simple bottom line.
They’ve been conned, but they were willing victims, and we’re being taken for a ride.
Twosda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
My, my, the GOTP and all those MAGAts sure are quiet as some Canadian takes over the U.S. Government and makes himself a shit ton of money. A shit ton, for the uninitiated, is more money than what can be measured.
The Canadian in question is one Elon Reeve Musk. Having effectively conned the simpleton named Donald J. Trump — and I don’t use simpleton lightly, as the average simpleton is much smarter than DJ — by financing Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, Elon Reeve Musk is now enriching himself through new government contracts.
Musk’s Starlink gets FAA contract, raising new conflict of interest concerns
It’s all such a sick mockery of justice and ethics. Here goes Elon Reeve Musk and DOGE, cutting contracts, terminating employees, ignoring the will of the people except the fucker known as Trump, calling it ‘savings’, and then turns around and gets rewarded with new contracts. Tell me, oh, great MAGAts, how does Musk and his company receiving new government contracts help save money in this period of farcical austerity?
Don’t worry, I’m sure this all legal and ethical. Otherwise, Federal watchdogs such as Inspector Generals, would be raising the alarm.
Oh, wait: Trump Purges Inspectors General Investigating Musk’s Businesses
It’s like sending a killer to investigate the murders he just committed. What could go wrong?
Michael Seidel, writer 