Thank you to those in Ireland who took the time to make Trump a greeting for his pending visit.
h/t to Daily Kos.
Couldn’t put it better myself.
Over in sports, they’re talking about the Trump Curse. Two of the three teams Trump he mentioned as capable of winning the Superbowl, New England and the Los Angeles Rams, lost their season’s first game. It’s a long season, though. Trump will probably deny he ever said it.
Trump is scrambling like a quarterback under a fierce pass rush, trying to buy time, searching for ways to remain in power. First was the effort to block voting by mail, now thrown out by another court — or was it Republican efforts to gerrymander their way to power? The two actions were being done in parallel.
More recently came the $5K ‘Trump Dividend’, money Trump is willing to pay out of the nation’s funds if his party stays in power.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Ashland, southern Oregon. Friday, September 11, 2026.
Today it’s 66 in Ashland with rain and a high of 83 F on the way.
It’s the anniversary of 9/11.
Yes, a quarter century has really passed since that day. We had unity in the US for a while after that. Dubya parlayed that unity to into wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. With Dick Cheney as his VP, the intel was constantly skewed to reinforce a drumbeat to war. The intel about WMD was all about stoking fears of greater attacks.
Those paying attention at the time called bullshit. But our voices were often ignored. We’ve learned in drips since that the intel was flawed. We learned that war was a costly and disastrous mistake.
Wreaths will be placed in many places in the US. A moment of silence will be held. Speeches will be made, and people will recall where they were when.
Then we will move on into the divisive era fostered by Trump and the MAGAzens, embraced by the Republicans, fostered by the Roberts Court.
Like many, many others, I will sigh, suck it up, grit my teeth, and go on.
Today’s music is “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. The song came out in 2005. Billy Joe Armstrong, Green Day lead guitarist and vocalist, wrote it about his father’s death in 1982. But the song’s sentiments of loss, suffering, and reflections work for anyone’s mourning, including those of us looking back on the 9/11 attacks.
Sample Lyrics
Summer has come and passed The innocent can never last Wake me up when September ends
Like my father’s come to pass Seven years has gone so fast Wake me up when September ends
Here comes the rain again Falling from the stars Drenched in my pain again Becoming who we are
As my memory rests But never forgets what I lost Wake me up when September ends
“Since Trump started his second term, prices have gone up in 5 of 8 areas he pledged to cut. Inflation spiked earlier this year as the Iran war drove up prices for gas and other essentials.”
Your Trump Quote of the Day 1:
Here’s a useful table for validating Trump’s claim.
The grocery items people actually buy
We can go one level more concrete using BLS’s average retail prices, rather than indexes:
Item
January 2025
July 2026
Change
Large eggs, dozen
$4.953
$2.189
−55.8%
Butter, stick
$4.912
$3.922
−20.2%
White bread, lb.
$1.925
$1.820
−5.5%
Whole milk, gallon
$4.025
$4.313
+7.2%
Ground beef, 100% beef, lb.
$5.545
$6.885
+24.2%
All uncooked ground beef, lb.
$5.820
$7.116
+22.3%
Regular gasoline, gallon
$3.211
$4.094
+27.5%
This is based on the BLS’s information. I must point out that egg producers were later convicted of price gouging during President Biden’s term.
Headlines tell more about the worsening economic conditions we’re facing as we move toward the midterm elections in the United States.
Funny how Trump interprets these to be much better with him in the Oval Office. Back when President Biden was leading the nation, Trump kept screaming about these prices.
Your Trump Quote of the Day 2:
Your Trump Quote of the Day 3
Your Trump Quote of the Day 4:
Your Trump Quote of the Day 6
As this sequence of Trump quotes reveal, Trump will absolutely lie and promise without regard to reality. Perhaps the only quote we can really trust from Trump is this, which Trump made earlier this year.
Your Trump Quote of the Day 7:
While Trump said that last quote in May of 2026 while talking about the war he started with Iran. But even that was part of Trump’s shifting explanations and claims about what’s going on. He says one thing about the Iran war — and denies it’s a war — while claiming to be lowering prices — when the prices are going up, and the war is contributing to them — while saying the war is necessary to stop Iran from having a nuclear capability after HE has said that he has destroyed that capability — while also claiming ‘we already won’ and the war wouldn’t last for more than four or five weeks. Those specific inconsistences trouble me.
The greater point is that prices are not coming down and the war is not over.
It all adds up to a credibility problem, a legacy of lies, corruption, and broken promises for me. Keeping Trump and his power will lead to higher prices, more war, and more violence, based on what I’ve seen under Trump in this term.
Donald Trump continues pretending that he’s doing so well — and so are we!
After claiming that the US won the war in Iran which Trump started back in February, the US is now escalating it.
Iran is warning of more attacks on the US. It’s the tit for tat phase of the war, which Trump says isn’t a war. The GOP agreed it’s not a war. Beyond what it’s doing to Iran and the loss of life, the war is costing We the People. Estimates range from $37B to over $100B, with heavy hits to munition and equipment levels, such as Reaper drones.
Being a child of the sixties who joined the military in 1974, I can’t help but see parallels between Trump’s escalation with what happened in Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder was specifically designed to disrupt North Vietnam’s ability to supply the war in the South; impose costs on Hanoi until its leadership decided continuing the war was too expensive; demonstrate U.S. resolve; and eventually force political concessions.
Back then, North Vietnam adapted and shifted tactics. Despite Trump’s insistence that ‘we already won’ and the ‘US destroyed Iran militarily’, Iran shifted toward drone warfare and demonstrated impressive resilience — emulating the success which Ukraine is experiencing with Russia.
This is a war Trump said would happen if Vice President Kamala Harris won. Trump then did his weave — which the rest of us call lying — and said he never guaranteed a new war.
Like many, I believe that Trump started this war to distract everyone from the Epstein files and what the files revealed about Trump.
Especially when Trump campaigned on ‘no new wars’, complaining that Democrats were often starting wars. He also campaigned on stopping wars, like Ukraine – Russia — which is still ongoing, 18 months after Trump took office.
Once again, Trump’s history shows how much his words are worth.
Go forward with Trump at your own peril. But if he tells you that a bridge is safe to cross, I would definitely seek someone else’s opinion — someone not involved with Trump.
Tuesday, September 1, 2025. Ashland, southern Oregon.
September arrived in Ashland, bringing colder weather. 58 F now, our projected high is 72 today with 72% chance of thunderstorms. Tomorrow is expected to top out at 60 F, with 98% chance of rain. So rain will come at last.
Meanwhile, most of the United States east of the Rockies to the Atlantic, north to Canada and south to the Gulf of Mexico, are enduring a heat wave
I’m a bit dispirited today. Another friend has prostate cancer. And Mom sent me a lengthy text last night.Another of my sisters, Lisa, took Mom new checks, along with a new tee-shirt and sweater. Mom told me that she felt chest pains yesterday and rested in bed. Also told me that it takes her three hours to get ready for bed. If true, that’s actually reduced from the three hours she required for several years. I was always astonished when visiting her and she would announce, “I need to get ready for bed.” She usually went to bed at midnight but began getting ready at 8:30.
Today, Mom texted me to ask, “Should I use my old checks to pay my rent?” I just went over that with her last Friday. So did two of my sisters.
Instead, we have Trump offering a cartoonish AI-generated video of blowing up Kharg Island, declaring it’s “blown to smithereens”.
Like, wow. How old are you, grandpa? I know the expression but I’ve honestly don’t think I’ve heard it in years, maybe decades. It’s extremely bizarre to hear it said by an adult while discussing a war. I mean, it’s such a childish expression.
It’s a useful video for Trump, however. As part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump’s video has us wondering about his word choices and sanity, instead of dwelling on the continuing affordability crisis, or his lies, corruption, and general incompetence.
There are no reports that Kharg Island has been ‘blown to smithereens’. A US military official in fact said it was not targeted.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Yes, I’ve used that quote before. But it’s important, I think, to remember that when Trump was running for office in 2024, he blamed President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for bombs falling in the middle east — Gaza. He was arguing that the Biden administration had produced exactly the things he said a Trump presidency would prevent. Then he won, took office, and started war after claiming he would prevent wars, causing the inflation and rising prices which he claimed he would prevent.
Infuriating as hell.
Meanwhile, the Roberts Court said Trump could proceed building the Epstein ballroom. They avoided saying that it was legal for Trump to tear down a wing of the White House and start building something else without funds approved by Congress. That’s perfectly aligned with the weak principles of the Roberts Court. Equally, Roberts was part of the dissent, which is particularly laughable. He was basically bemoaning what the monster he helped create was doing.
Trump’s use of smithereens provoked My Neurons to bring up songs by the Smithereens. Among the songs in my morning mental music stream was “Only A Memory”. The 1988 song is about love, memory, loss, and history. As I have no love for Trump and wish he was history, it seems like a fine song for today.
I hope your spirits are high and your hopes are strong, and that you have the fortitude to overcome whatever is thrown your way.
Ashland, southern Oregon. It’s the next to last day of August – Sunday, August 30, 2026.
Autumn has definitely inserted itself around her. Chilly last night, dropping into the forties. Trees are turning gold and red against a blue velvet sky. Sunshine is expected to lift us from our current temp of 53 degrees F to 86 degrees F.
Mom texted me several times yesterday but I couldn’t understand most of it. She didn’t respond to requests for clarification.
We seem to be on flat loop for political news. That’s not to dismiss or make light of all the news about murders, gun violence, fires, and death going on. I’m just keeping the focus narrow right now.
Trump keeps sending out texts, of course, and does some AI-generated photos of himself with truly famous and important people, trying to revitalize his tired image and poor record by leeching off of others.
Ironically, Trump once leeched off of Epstein’s popularity to boost himself. Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy”. Now he’s trying to hide his relationship with Epstein.
Like, no kidding. We the People call them ‘distractions’. I refer to the entire body of distractions as Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
Besides the texts and AI generated images, Trump torn down part of the White House to build a ballroom. Now it’s a mess.
Trump started a war with Iran. That was also to project how tough he was and how powerful the United States is. But Trump has the anti-Midas touch: all which he touches, organizes, or touts quickly diminishes in value. So the US military is now mired in another new Middle East war.
Way to go, Trump.
Besides starting that war, Trump did the Venezuela oil deal. Which…we won’t know what it means until all details are released and time has passed. Trump is talking about how great it is, but that’s what he always does.
Like this economy. Trump says it’s great. But the numbers aren’t great. Beyond rising prices, which are mostly fueled by Trump’s tariffs, his lingering war with Iran, and rising costs associated with climate change and extreme weather, personal bankruptcies are up. So are home foreclosures. Trump is killing the American dream. He’s not worried, though, because he’s enriched himself.
Overall, Trump’s second term legacy can be summed up as lies, delusions, and failures.
And now, a quote about Trump:
Today’s music comes out after thinking — again — about Trump’s many promises and delusions. I think too much about it, to be honest. I do so because he says these things, breaks his promises, and yet MAGAts and the GOP are all, it’s all gone.
Some of the MAGAts support Trump because he’s tearing everything down. That’s what they want: tear it down so we can rebuild. Unfortunately for us, ‘tearing it all down’ in this age will cause huge damage to the world. I guess they have Mad Max fantasies about leaving in a dystopian land…
Anyway, The Neurons ended up inserting a Simple Minds song in my morning mental music stream. “Promised You A Miracle” came out in 1982 and has that 80s techno rock vibe. The lyrics fit now:
Sample Lyrics:
I promised you a miracle Belief is a beauty thing Promises, promises As golden days break wondering
Seems to fit with Trump and the MAGAts, doesn’t it. ‘Belief is a beauty thing’.
May love, peace, and abundance be with you on this and every day.
Ashland, southern Oregon. Thursday, August 27, 2026.
Another cool morning — 62 F right now — which will see temperatures in the mid to upper 80s again. No clouds are in view, just blue sky over a brown and green landscape.
Had beers with friends last night. Talking about Dolly Parton dominated. All admired her talents and abilities, but we addressed her sense of humor and willingness to support others more than anything. She’s left a tremendous legacy of kindness, a beacon of light in this nasty Trump era.
Mom is sick this week. She’s complaining of being in pain everywhere and freezing. I’ve asked for updates but she’s not responding, and my sisters aren’t communicating with Mom. The assisted living facility won’t tell me about her because security; they don’t know me.
Our conversations last night about what’s going on in the United States often circled back to the same point: Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, it does.
Then I was reading about a rancher who is upset about Trump’s policies which were affecting her. She defended her vote for Trump, and it’s essentially because she worries about transgender children and her offspring being exposed to transgender children. Yes, oh my!
Which brings me to one of the most ludicrous things Trump ever said, and that’s a long list.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
It’s an absolutely batshit crazy claim. These weren’t off hand remarks. This was Trump campaigning to lead the nation, feeding their fears and petty anxieties. And they have been absolutely debunked.
Just like Trump’s claims of stolen elections.
Does Trump believe what he said that day in August?
Doesn’t matter to me if he believed it or not. He said it to fuel hatred and divide our nation. We are stronger as a nation if we’re all helping one another and pulling together and was — and keeps — deliberately undermining that critical premise.
A unifier does not deliberately use hatred to turn citizens against each other. Nor does a peacemaker. A peacemaker also doesn’t start an unnecessary war, as Trump did with Iran (now going into its sixth month). Nor does a peacemaker order the military to kill over two hundred people at sea without going through the legal system.
Yet MAGA seems to generally support this. They foster a “conditional unity”, which is, we will support your and your participation and existence, as long as you’re like or fit into our narrow definitions of genders, sexual orientation, skin color, place of birth, ethnicity.
We’ve learned these lessons before. Under Trump, they’re being dismantled.
Yet, there will come a time when we’ll need to learn and employ these lessons again.
Today’s morning mental music stream inhabitant is by FYC. FYC is Fine Young Cannibals, a Brit group. The song today is “She Drives Me Crazy”. The band released it in 1988 and it’s about love and relationships. Makes it apropos for today. The Neurons fed it to the MMMS after I was thinking about how Trump and his supporters drive me crazy.
Sample Lyrics
I can’t stop the way I feel Things you do don’t seem real Tell me what you’ve got in mind ‘Cause we’re running out of time Won’t you ever set me free? This waiting ’round’s killing me
Hope you’re rocking this day and making good time on your daily life goals. Be good to yourself and to each other.
Saturday, August 22, 2026. Ashland, southern Oregon.
Although the clouds have departed and sunshine spreads across a blue sky, today’s temperatures are cooler. 68 F now — feels like 70 something — 86 F will be our high.
Like many others, I’m reading about Trump, Natalie Harp, and Trump’s desperate efforts to win support. It’s unravelling for him.
2026 is becoming the year in which nothing goes right for Trump. Sure, he made a lot of money last year — $3B. But after bragging about how good the economy would be under him and proclaiming a golden age, Trump gets the honor of being the Oval Office resident as the national debt rockets past $40T and climbing.
Gas prices are up. Diesel prices are climbing. Beef prices are still up. Trump’s Iran war goes on. People still ask, what do the Epstein files reveal about Trump that Trump is dodging their release.
Trump also said, “This will last for at least 50 years and you’ll never have a leak. It’s very strong. You couldn’t — if you had a knife, I don’t want to give anybody ideas — if you had a knife you can’t even cut it.”
LOL.
“THE FACTS: Work is ongoing 15 weeks later. The pool was drained for a second time in mid-July to address returning algae blooms and issues with a new coating that was peeling. Trump’s estimates of the project’s cost have increased as work has progressed, to “less than $20 million.” Records show that more than $16 million worth of contracts have been awarded for the project so far.”
So why did Trump put his face on the pool, which many now call symbolic of his shambolic administration?
Maybe he didn’t.
It’s possible that Natalie Harp posted it on behalf of Trump, trying to coax a smile out of that dour old orange peel face. Because posting on social media on Trump’s behalf is part of Natalie Harp’s official duties.
Trump’s face on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool isn’t likely to improve his tanking poll numbers. Trump knows that. So he pulled another trick out of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
Anyone with half a brain would know that Trump’s move would irritate ranchers and beef producers. Tragically, there’s not half a brain within all of the Trump administration put together.
This is so catastrophically funny. Trump imposed the beef tariffs. That, with the actions he took to cut out trading partners and his war with Iran, has raised prices. Now, desperately trying to do anything to improve his numbers, he’s actually going against his own tariffs and war.
Trump is basically warring with himself. Of course, with all of it, it’s always someone else’s fault.
Doesn’t matter who Trump tries to blame. He’s made a mess of the United States, and now he’s unraveling.
And all of it was predictable way back when he began his presidential campaign back in 2015. We knew he was a fraud, liar, and inept, a con who cheated his way to apparent success.
But there’s a sucker born every minute. Trump managed to con them into voting for him.
Thinking about Trump unravelling caused The Neurons to bring up one of my favorite unravelling songs. Weezer came out with “Undone” back in 1994. The song quickly became known as “Undone – The Sweater Song”.
Sample Lyrics
If you want to destroy my sweater Hold this thread as I walk away (As I walk away!) Watch me unravel I’ll soon be naked Lying on the floor, lying on the floor, I’ve come undone
That would be Darline Graham, Trump’s choice to replace the GOP senator who died last month. No, not Mitch McConnel, the other one.
Darline Graham is a Trump supporter so it’s no wonder that he chose her; for him, her not being informed on national security is a benefit. He doesn’t know much about national security, either.
“Republican primary voters have now rejected 10 Trump-endorsed candidates for statewide office or Congress this primary season.”
Why are they being rejected? Evidence is still being collected.
I don’t know if the truth is coming out, TBH, the truth being that Trump is self-centered, aging, sick, and incompetent. I think this is more of a FAFO matter that people are voting against Trump: they’re hurting and the future isn’t the rosy scenario that Trump promised and they expected.
Many people seemed to vote for Trump by ignoring his actual record of achievement. They blindly accepted his promises in 2024:
No new wars
Prices will come down — fast
No golfing
Law and order
Building the military
Improving the economy
Lowering the national debt
Make America healthy again
Everything Trump’s done since he began his second term has resulted in the opposite of his promises.
Trump started a war with Iran which reduced military munitions and readiness
Prices keep going up, now setting new records for how high they’ve reached
Trump golfs over a quarter of the time he’s been in office
Political prosecutions and pardons have replaced law and order
While the unemployment rate remains roughly 4%, the number of employed Americans are declining
Trump is adding no new jobs
Measles cases are at a 30 year high
Trump claims we’re in a ‘golden age’ but personal bankruptcies are going up.
“Inside the White House, there’s broad confidence that the administration has a record to run on, one the president will likely be hammering from here to November. But other Republicans, including some people close to the president, are concerned that won’t be enough, especially for candidates running in competitive races. They want him to offer fresh economic plans, such as further tax cuts expanding on last year’s major law that’s central to the GOP economic pitch.”
And yet, with all that’s going bad, Trump thinks it’s going great:
Trump probably wants to be the next POTUS because he’s making so much money off of being in the Oval Office during this term. Besides increasing his wealth by over $3B in 2025, We the People are paying for all of his mistakes. We’re paying for his travel, and we’re paying for his golfing.
Yet, these are only the first manifestations of the many messes Trump has created. By rolling back environmental protections, the impact, via increased pollution, more extreme weather, and more natural disasters, are looming on the horizon.
Likewise, Education, which Trump has gutted, is a ticking timebomb. One of the foundations for US growth in the last century was its strong education system. It wasn’t perfect, and it was uneven, and yet, it offered promise and hope.
The GOP has been actively wrecking it, monetizing it more each year. Trump is accelerating this process, effectively dumbing down America at a time when the challenges we face require more thinking, more knowledge, more education, and more intelligence.
The evidence of Trump’s impact on our education system won’t immediately show. But like all the other mistakes which Trump has made, it’ll soon be as evident as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the White House lawn.
