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Finally, a reason to smile.
Sunda’s Insights
Saturda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
The Trusk Regime elitests are at it again. They’ve already well-established multiple double standards.
Like, there is one set of law, justice, and order for everyone except the wealthy. There’s another for the wealthy. Now Trump and the Grand Ol’ Trump Party has established that they put themselves above the law, even the law enforcement standard meant for the wealthy. Look at Trump’s Oval Office crowing about how much money he made his cronies after his tariff pause. Tsk, tsk, tsk, the people bellowed. Isn’t that illegal insider trading? Not if you’re part of the Trusk Regime.
How ’bout that pesky law that established that the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff’s requirements. The law said the nominee must have been a vice Chief of Staff or a chief of staff, of the Air Force or Army, Commandant of the Marine Corps, or Chief, Naval Operations. Besides those rules, he the nominee was commander of unified or specified command, that was accepted.
All of those are four-star positions or higher. Trump wanted a loyalist in there, so that law and its requirements were dismissed. Yet, the compliant Congress installed the retired three-star who Trump wanted. Yeah, that’s good news.
In the latest example of do as I say, not as I do, the Trusk Regime is requiring scientists, biologists, etc., to clean restrooms. If you recall, the Trusk Regime fired 1,000 national park service employees. That was a ‘money-saving move’. That meant that there was no one around to man the gates and clean the parks and clean the restrooms. So that genius called Trump and his surrogates decreed, hey, let’s have the high-priced professionals hired for their research skills go clean the shitters.
See, I wouldn’t have a problem with this, but I haven’t seen the Trump administration doing the same. How many White House staff has been cut? Why isn’t JD Vance and Elon Reeve Musk cleaning the West Wing toilets once a month? Why doesn’t Trump order noted drinker and partier Pete Hegseth or his three-star pet, John Dan Caine, to clean the Pentagon latrines? Peter Navarro should be put to work cleaning Mar-a-Largo’s bathrooms for Trump. Kristi Noem has time to cosplay as a border patrol agent on government time; surely, she can take time to clean some toilets, too.
Or is the Trusk Regime and his minions just too elite to do such work?
Saturda’s Wandering Thoughts
“Easter is a week away,” my wife said. “You need to get a haircut.”
I just got one last month. Her observation annoys me. I spent twenty years in the military. Keeping your hair cut and neat was, like, an actual regulation. After being freed from military constraints, I’m not interested in being so neat and tidy when it comes to hair. I will lose this discussion, though, and cave. Being neat is extremely high on my wife’s list. She is also adept at being severe and disapproving.
“Want to hear my sister’s text?” I ask.
“Go ahead.”
I read my sister’s updates from Pittsburgh. She’s buying her daughter a new phone. Several features on her present phone are failing. Replace it before Trump’s tariffs add hundreds, she reckons. She used the same logic to replace her eight-year-old ride. She also cashed in her small 401K and put it into certificates in December because she believed Trump was going to trash the economy. She tells me about my other sister’s financial worries.
Four sisters share Mom. Two of them are extremely responsible. The other two are not exactly flighty but they seem to have many crises and make choices that cause more problems. I probably would make more choices that aren’t wise ones, but I’m married to a diligent person.
My sister also comments about how expensive everything is, and how hard it is for young people like her twenty-something daughter these days.
My conversation with my wife swirls into a new zone. “Mom should be using red-light therapy to help with her healing, injuries, and inflammation.” My wife and I both champion red-light therapy. It has helped us in numerous ways. Besides that, NASA, soccer leagues, and the NFL are all red-light therapy true believers.
My wife tells me that Jan approached her for help with another person. The other person suffers Renaud’s disease in her feet. She’s been warned that she might lose her feet if she doesn’t get treatment. The woman doesn’t like going to the doctor. Almost has a pathological fear about it.
Renaud’s has plagued my wife for years. She once showed me her finger. White as a candle, bent and misshaped, horrifying to look at. She aggressively applied red-light therapy and resolved the problem.
“I told Jan to tell her friend about red-light therapy,” my wife says. “She can at least buy a belt and try it.” Pros and cons are discussed for a few more minutes. My wife complains about friends who were told about it but haven’t tried it. She doesn’t understand their reluctance.
I text my sister to ask her if Mom has tried red-light therapy. Then I get online to make a haircut appointment.
There are some things which must be accepted and done.
Trump is Crashing Another Piece of Democracy
FEMA cancelled BRIC projects.
April 8, 2025. Friday, FEMA announced that it is ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and canceling all BRIC applications from Fiscal Years 2020-2023. If grant funds have not been distributed to states, tribes, territories and local communities, funds will be immediately returned either to the Disaster Relief Fund or the U.S. Treasury. It has also canceled the fiscal year 2024 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), where $750 million in grants was to be allocated.
FEMA’s press release says ‘President Trump’ and Kristi Noem eliminated waste.
Ending this program will help ensure that grant funding aligns with the President’s Executive Orders and Secretary Noem’s direction and best support states and local communities in disaster planning, response and recovery.
Just a reminder, but BRIC was established and funded by Congress. The canceled projects were jointly developed by state, Federal, and local officials using history, engineering, insights, and science to identify problems and develop ways to mitigate the potential impact.
But these projects don’t meet Donald Trump’s understanding of how government is supposed to work in the United States. He has no empathy, and as he often does, he looks backward. He’s not forward thinking. His actions are not those of a President. They are not the actions of a servant of We the People.
Peruse this abbreviated list of the many projects, states, and communities affected. And call your Congressman.
Let them know that the United States is not the sole domain of one citizen.
Funding cut to Austin’s flood mitigation program
Grants Pass loses $50 million grant for water plant as FEMA program is killed
FEMA cancels grant program, funding for projects in Tulsa, Stillwater
Conway scrambles for new funding after FEMA halts grant for flood prevention project
Loss of $20 million in FEMA infrastructure grants ‘devastating’ to North Dakota communities
FEMA slashes $300 million in flooding, hurricane relief projects in Florida
Update: Baton Rouge flood projects paused after FEMA program cut
Mapleton Water District faces setback due to cancellation of FEMA’s BRIC program
N.C. town hit hard by floods could lose millions in federal dollars
Catskills town hit by Irene loses FEMA assistance after federal program cut
Trump cuts upend major NJ storm protection projects
FEMA Cuts Will Stop Flood Mitigation Projects in Brooklyn
Elected officials blast Trump over FEMA cuts affecting Queens flood mitigation
FEMA cuts $30 million grant earmarked to improve flooding, drainage issues in Savannah
Napa County ‘Deeply Concerned’ As FEMA Cancels $35M Wildfire Resilience Grant
Calling All Concerned
I’m sharing Annie’s post about more Trump/Vought attacks on the Social Security Administration. They’re killing it by a thousand cuts. I wanted to reblog Annie’s post but WP wouldn’t cooperate.
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ACTION ALERT: “SOCIAL SECURITY IS ON LIFE SUPPORT”
PLEASE WATCH THIS 3:50-MINUTE VIDEO (THAT WP WON’T LET ME INSERT HERE) AND ACT NOW!
https://jesscravenvideos.substack.com/p/i-got-more-dirt-from-my-social-security
I don’t like to be an alarmist, and I try hard not to send unmitigated bad news. But Jess Craven of Chop Wood, Carry Water is very well-connected and reliable. In this video, she cites information from a former Social Security Administration employee who’s hearing from many of his colleagues who still work there.
They report that Russell Vought (Mr. Project 2025), who now heads the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Donald Trump are about to launch another “significant” reduction in force (RIF) that will destroy the Social Security Administration’s ability to function.
BUT WE MAY BE ABLE TO STOP THEM IF WE MAKE A LOT OF NOISE, NOW! (That’s the potentially better news.)
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS ASAP AND TELL THEM NO!! NO MORE CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY!! THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE REPUBLICANS. THEY MUST HEAR FROM YOU! BUT DEMOCRATS NEED TO KNOW YOU WANT THEM TO FIGHT HARD FOR THEM.
AND ALL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS NEED TO HEAR STORIES ABOUT HOW YOU AND/OR YOUR LOVED ONES WILL BE HURT IF THIS SYSTEM CAN NO LONGER DELIVER THE EARNED BENEFITS THAT AMERICANS HAVE RELIED UPON SINCE 1940.
Congressional switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Note: Congress is in recess until after Easter, but the members get their messages. Many will be holding town halls in their districts. Try to attend one, or even create one with a few friends; find the elected’s district phone number and invite that person to participate. If you’re interested, here is Indivisible’s Town Hall Guide.
THANKS FOR YOUR PROMPT ACTION. PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN.
Annie
Frida’s Wandering Political Thoughts
I’m trying to decide: are we living in the New Dark Ages, or the Chaos Era?
I think it might be both.
It could also be that the Chaos Era is the New Dark Ages intro. Too early for mere mortals to decide. Historians or AI will call it at some future date.
The news churn stays heavy. Stock market swings and bond selloffs, inflation, and tariff wars suck up most of the oxygen, followed by Trump administration emergency appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, and docket rulings. I’m forced to hunt for updates to stories which I follow, like the U.S. measles outbreaks.
West Texas has 541 reported measles cases but ‘only’ 30 of them are still able to spread. The U.S. has over 700 cases now. Six states are reporting measles outbreaks. The U.S. is reporting 90 new cases in one week in the nation, the highest since 2019.
Trump was POTUS for that 2019 outbreak, too. I think there might be a pattern there…
With vaccination rates down, measles cases have been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.
Under RFK Jr’s guidance, the Federal government’s response is spotty. That reminds me that we already had the Anti-science Age and Misinformation Age under way, along with the Conspiracy Era.
Donald Trump may have put the name on the period for us: “I couldn’t care less.”
Yes, it’s the Careless Age of Misinformation and Chaos. CAMAC. A place of chaos, misinformation, declining personal freedom, drooping consumer confidence, rising prices, growing ignorance, increasing disease, less trust, more danger, and mushrooming lawlessness.
Also known as Trumpworld.
Worth Listening To
My wife played this for me today. I thought others might enjoy it. Like you, perhaps? This is Billy Simons Jr with his folk song, “We Are Great Again.”
Frida’s Theme Music
Greetings again, world. It’s time again for Frida. Today is April 11, 2025. Those of you in ‘Merica might note the date and say, “Oh, yeah. Taxes.” I finished mine back in early Feb but held off submitting because I owe, I owe. Submitting them is on tonight’s agenda.
It’s 54 F at this point. Feels like it to me. Sunshine is a light version of itself today. Mmm, yeah, cloudy. Might rain. Might not. Might get up to 60 F. Then again, might not. This is Ashlandia spring weather.
Been reading and digesting the news. I know what I make of things. I see that on the political spectrum’s right side, they’re either cherry-picking info or hiding it. Cherry-picking as in, “Look how strong the market was Wednesday.” Hiding, as in, crickets about inflation and the price of eggs. Eggs bounced up into record realms. Rising prices were offset by Trusk Regime imports from Turkey and South Korea.
“Turkey and South Korea,” my wife said. “Wonder if the tariffs will change that.”
Looking out the window, I noted the weather change. The Neurons perversely seized the weather change and fired up “Call Me the Breeze”. They had the 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd cover of the JJ Cale classic going in the morning mental music stream in short order.
“Ain’t no change in the weather
Ain’t no change in me
Ain’t no change in the weather
Ain’t no change in me
I ain’t hidin’ from nobody
Ain’t nobody hidin’ from me
h/t Genius.com
I enjoy the LS version but we’re not all the same, so here’s Eric Clapton and JJ Cale doing another offering.
And then we have an offerin’ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
I find them fine but in different ways. Hope one suited your Frida taste buds.
Coffee and I have metaphorically joined hands once again. Hope your Frida is going strong and just gets better and better, and I’m not being snarky when I say that.
Cheers
Thirstda’s Theme Music
Thirstda, April 10, 2025, cracked opened a new package of spring in Ashlandia. Filled with fresh air, new blooms and blossoms, dark and heavy green grass, and bright sunshine highlighting lazy clouds, it’s a day full of promise. 54 F now, that sunshine makes it feel like 67 F. 72 F is being shaken as an offering. Attached to the end of the weather promise is a warning that it’s gonna cool down tomorrow by more than ten degrees.
Newsweek is brimming with a tale of Donald Trump’s tanking approval numbers. Over on a rightwing site, they’re psyched about Trump having the highest approval rating among the last four presidents at this point in their term. Are we united yet?
News stories are rich about several matters on Trump. They’re still talking about him floating the idea of bombing our friend, neighbor, and ally, Mexico. After Trump said that he wouldn’t back down, he put tariffs on pause for 90 days for most countries, with a few exceptions for certain industries and imports. China’s heavy levies remain. In a surprise move that surprised only those half asleep under rocks, the House GOP passed Trump’s budget. Oh, but there was talk of such a rebellion going on there! Such dramatic stances were kind of made by these spineless caricatures of principled GOTP politicians. Several made it clear that they thought it was the wrong move but they voted for it anyway.
Primers regarding ‘how we got here’ are circulating. Not with Trump per se but our manufacturing issues in the United States. Many point out that goods are still produced in the U.S.A. These are often made in automated factories with few employees. History lessons are presented as reminders that it was that right-wing darling, Ronald Reagan, who championed changes in laws that allow the massive stock buybacks that are now the standard operating procedure for U.S. corporations. They point out that it was the right-wing business hero, Jack Welch of GE and “30Rock” fame, who led the charge to outsource and offshore. Hoping to keep up, and seein’ how GE financially thrived for a while, the same course was charted for many U.S. corporations. China and underdeveloped nations hungry for opportunity eagerly offered their land and people as new manufacturing bases. Now Trump blames those countries for what we as a nation did. Classic Trumpism: cluelessly blame others.
Today’s theme music is a matter of a haunting. Someone posted a comment about Joe Jackson and his song, “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” The Neurons trapped it in my morning mental music stream. I need to share it to exorcise it from my head. Not a bad song at all but speaking personally, having the same song playing over and over in my mind starts increasing my whacko factor. My whacko factor, or WF, is already naturally high.
I’ve chilled with some coffee and played with the cat. He enjoys some hide and seek and chase in the morning. Hope your day gives you all you need and more. Here we go.
Cheers
Humpda’s Wandering Political Thoughts
I want to believe. But the rug was pulled out from under me last November. I’m leery of trust and hope. They used to be my friends. Now they let me down.
I read a Brian Tyler Cohen post. Petitioning the King. Cohen writes well. Intelligently. Persuasively. Mr, Cohen says,
It’s clear by now that Trump’s imposition of tariffs has been a disaster. The market has crashed, wiping away all gains since he took office, companies are laying off employees by the hundreds, fears of a recession are reaching a fever pitch, and far from pressuring other countries into coming to the negotiating table, they’re going around the United States and entering into new trade agreements without us. New reporting suggests that Japan and South Korea are coordinating with China to respond to our tariffs. How’s that for 4D chess? At a time when American superiority is threatened by China, Trump is driving other countries into the arms of China.
And so given how disastrous these tariffs are on the economy, and given how potent the issue of high costs are (Trump himself admitted that he won the 2024 election as a result of high costs), it would lend itself to reason that he would want to avoid this like the plague. Even someone like Trump (who can’t bring himself to admit fault because he views any capitulation as a sign of weakness) can see how disastrous this is and should want to cut his losses.
Which raises the question: why plow ahead?
Right on dubious schedule, Trump announced a 90 day suspension on tariffs for all nations except his arch enemy, home to his products, China. So Trump is not plowing ahead.
Could it be that his falling poll numbers changed Trump’s mind?
Perhaps it was the turning of the worms like Joe Rogan, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and Thom Tillis.
Maybe Trump had a good game of golf. It could be that he saw that shares of DJT were down, affecting his personal wealth, or he noticed that crytocurrency had precipitiously dropped.
I personally doubt it was any of those things. They would indicate logic, consistency, personal reflection, things that Trump doesn’t do. I think he did it to amuse himself because he likes being the talk of the world. He’s that kind of egomaniac.
I think Brian Tyler Cohen may posit it’s something else. He finishes:
Now comes the hopeful part: we’re wise to his plan.
There is a reason that the Trump administration suddenly rescinded the nomination of Elise Stefanik to be UN ambassador, fearing Republicans would lose a seat in a district that Trump won by 21 points in November. And they saw what happened in Wisconsin, where Trump-endorsed conservative candidate Brad Schimel lost by 10 points in a 50-50 state. And they saw what happened in Florida, where even though Democrats lost a pair of special elections, the races saw an average 16-point swing to the left. And on Saturday, they saw millions of Americans take to the streets to protest their overreach. This matters because this administration derives its power from the perception that it is untouchable and can act with impunity. The fact that Americans are standing up, turning out, and fighting back threatens their entire power structure. I know it doesn’t feel like we have much to celebrate, but I want to be clear: the energy, the momentum, and the enthusiasm is on one side right now, and it’s not Donald Trump’s.
Boy, I’d sure like to believe Mr. Cohen. But one thing my recent experience has taught me is, don’t get too hopeful.
That’s probably Trump’s plan: keep folks like me from getting too hopeful.
He’s diabolical in that way.
Michael Seidel, writer 