Saturday’s Theme Music — Honesty
Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, July 18, 2026.
It’s a sunny 68 F under blue skies in our valley. Hot again but not as, hitting only 86 F today.
The cooling effect comes from smoke. The East Evans Creek fire, north-northwest of Ashland, began on July 10, 2026 when a car hit a utility pole. It’s now 14,000 acres and about 8% contained. The air quality is unhealthy right now, better than yesterday, when we went purple. Smoke obscures the view to the west. Today’s wind forecast warns that we’re going to have a weekend of unhealthy air.
I read an interesting article this morning about an ICE traffic stop in Pennsylvania earlier this month. The article elaborates on 1) how poorly the ICE agents executed the stop and 2) how video evidence contradicts ICE’s public statements and claims.
ICE is always claiming vast criminal records for the people they stop. But ICE agents drive unmarked vehicles. They act aggressive, issue orders and make demands without properly identifying themselves, and are generally violently threatening. Reasonable people fearing for their lives try to get away. From the videos I’ve seen, I don’t blame the people. I blame ICE. They have a continuing pattern; without being punished or reprimanded for it, without accountability, they’ll just continue their ways. Now, after DHS said to suspend the traffic stops, Trump overruled them. So the continuing unreasonable violence against We the People will continue.
DHS is ordering that at least one agent on every stop will now wear a body cam. What good is to come of that? I believe that we’ll have a lot of incidents where agents ‘forgot’ to turn them on or the camera ‘failed to work properly’.
Let’s face a fact here: Trump lies. That’s well-documented.
And through his smirking ‘leadership’, so does his administration, and his spokespeople. I, along with most Americans, do not trust him or his administration to tell the truth. Thanks to Trump’s time on the world stage, it’s a global opinion that Trump is dishonest. Worse, Trump is dragging other nations’ opinion of the United States down with him.
Of course, here in ‘Merica, he’s broken marriage vows more than once, has multiple bankruptcies and failed businesses, and broken campaign promises. From lowering inflation to no new wars to attacking Iran — again and again — to releasing the Epstein files to a new healthcare program to the claim that the Epstein ballroom will be paid for by We the People, Trump lies and breaks promises.
No wonder Americans don’t trust ICE, a trend that is growing.
Today’s song is “Honesty” by Billy Joel.
I hope you have a safe and healthy Saturday and have good things to look back at when you call it a day.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music — God
Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, July 17, 2026.
Hot today, but not overly so, with 90 F as the top end. It’s wildfire smoke knocking us down today. Smoke limits the view out the front; we can barely see the valley past the trees across the street, a sight I normally contemplate as I make breafast.
The East Evans Creek has been going on and growing for several days. Started when a car hit a power line, people have been evacuated from several of the surrounding areas.
‘Back east’ as the expression goes, in Pittsburgh, PA, my sisters are complaining about the Canadian wildfire smoke saturating their region. Can’t breathe, they note; gives you an instant headache. One brother-in-law stayed out there yesterday and lost his voice. Surprised that he was out there, as he was stented several years ago and then went through open-heart surgery. On the other hand, he is a MAGAt.
Get ready for more Trump-inspired price increases! Ha, ha, just kidding!
Trump is imposing more tariffs on Brazil.
Coffee is already trading at historically high prices. Last time Trump put a tariff on products from Brazil in 2025, the fallout from high coffee prices politically hurt him. So he exempted food, coffee, and oil this time. It’s only things used in construction, like steel and wood. So housing costs will go up. No problem, right?
Home Listing Prices Post Sharpest Drop in 9 Years as Sellers Face Reality Check
Today’s song in the morning mental music stream is “American Jesus”. Came out over a few handfuls of years ago. By Bad Religion, it’s an anti-war song inspired when President George Dubya Bush said during the Gulf War, “‘We’ll win, because God is on our side!”
As many historians have said since, we may have won that war, but we lost the peace.
Fortunately, we have Trump, a genius among geniuses, in the Oval House and he’s learn all the lessons from that war because he’s the smartest man in the universe’s entire existence. Sorry, I gagged and puked writing that bit of snark.
May your day go well, your health be strong, and your food be tasty.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music – Brianstorming
Ashland, southern Oregon — July 16, 2026.
Cooler today as we move toward summer’s zenith in the valley, just mid to upper 80s F.
Today is my wife’s birthday, so happy birthday to her!
News came through late yesterday that the closing on Mom’s house has been moved out a week. Details are vague but seemed related to the buyer’s loan. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, it all goes through.
The rest of the world is pushing back against Trump and the US under him:
Europe and the Gulf just drew a legal red line on Hormuz — no permits, no tolls, no exceptions, for Iran or America
Trump will keep stewing about this. It’ll reinforce Trump’s ‘we’ll do it alone’ mantra, no matter how much it costs the US.
I laughed over this headline today:
White House teleprompter operator accused of making $100k off Trump speech bets
This is a classic Trump scam. Trump wasn’t the one doing it, though, so the teleprompter operator has been fired. If it was Trump, MAGAts would be whispering, “What a genius.” It’s classic Trump Double Standards (TDS).
Making another attempt at using Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to distract and terrify Americans, Trump is making a prime-time address. I’ll be sure to avoid seeing it. Can’t stand his face, voice, smirk, ignorance, or lies. This one promises to have some of all of that.
Meanwhile, Trump is trying the old Red Scare stratagem. Hey, it worked for McCarthy in the fifties… That’s where many MAGAts still mentally reside.
What will Trump try next? “The red coats are coming! The red coats are coming!” Oh, I know — the old pre-war Domino Theory. Instead of countries, Trump will name blue states as falling under communism and scream, “They’re taking over everywhere!”
Or maybe he’ll just press harder on “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” Worked on weak minds when Trump invoked immigrants and ‘woke’.
I am more angry than afraid, contemptuous, even. MAGAts and even mainstream Republicans might quake from the Red Scare and other fear tactics, but the rest of us have learned.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
The poorly educated put Trump into office, and they keep helping him up when he topples over.
Today’s morning mental music stream offering is “Brianstorm”. I watch a lot of Brit television — along with Scandinavian, Australian, Irish, Welsh, and German — and encountered “Brianstorm” by Arctic Monkeys on one of those a few years ago.
I laugh whenever I think of the title. So Trumpian: I can see him on a stage, talking about having a brianstorm…
But the lyrics are also delicously mocking:
(Brian) Calm, collected and commanding
(Top marks for not trying) You leave the other story standing
With your renditions and jokes, bet there’s hundreds of blokes
That have wept ’cause you’ve stolen their
Thunder
Are you putting us under?
‘Cause we can’t take our eyes off the t-shirt and ties combination
Well, see you later, innovator
See what I mean? Or is it just me? *smile*
Hope yours is a grand day, no matter your season or age. May peace grace you with joy and happiness.
Cheers
Wednesday’s Theme Music — Blind
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Gonna be 95 F here again. 79 right now. Will drop tomorrow to 85, they say. We’ll see.
Happy birthday to my younger sister. A mother of two, grandmother of two, she just retired from a long and very successful career in banking, and continues to have a happy marriage after 48 years.
To the news.
Heather Cox Richardson’s letter for yesterday — July 14, 2026 — relates how the United States slowly created and built its national parks and monuments. Presidents from both parties embraced the idea of saving natural lands for people to enjoy.
Armed with Project 2025 ideas and declaring a national energy emergency, Trump has rolled back protections. Even though people love the parks and the parks bring income into the nation’s coffers and create jobs, Trump is more interested in what it can do for the timber, mining, and energy industries. Under him, the parks will be smaller and trashier than they’ve been since the 1890s.
Shaking my head.
This article made me laugh this morning:
Fox News viewers savage Donald Trump for ‘redneck garbage dump’ White House decorations
The best comments for me:
“White House every day is looking more like a red neck garbage dump,” someone else blasted, with a fourth viewer weighing in, “Just because it’s gold doesn’t make it elegant. At some point, it starts looking less like a palace and more like a casino lobby.”
An article from TNR asked a question which many of us wonder:
Can We Lose the Same War Twice? With Trump, Anything’s Possible
Nice summation of the current mess in Trump’s war with Iran right here:
“The two New Jersey property managers Trump sent to negotiate his surrender produced a poorly written memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that captured the new power relations—Iran got nearly everything it demanded, including a $300 billion reconstruction fund, while the United States got vague promises of talks on all the issues Trump had started the war to resolve.”
Now Trump is back at it, launching attacks, still after the same objectives that he claimed to have achieved before, fighting the way he claimed to have won before.
Feels like just more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to me.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Classic Trump word weave. Little meaning, less truth, far less connection with reality.
I’m not an expert but based on experts’ opinions and history, I believe this policy will dramatically increase the costs of goods in the US, thereby increasing inflation, straining affordability and healthcare for many Americans.
Today, in honor of MAGA and Republicans, Les Neurons served up a song called “Love is Blindness”. U2 came out with it first. It was too mellow and chill for me. I prefer Jack White’s harder, more challenging edge.
Sample Lyrics:
A little death
Without mourning
No call
And no warning
Baby, a dangerous idea
That almost makes sense
Love is drowning
In a deep well
All the secrets
And no one to tell
Take the money
Honey
Blindness
h/t to Bing.
May this day come with peace, grace, and joy for you, and gently carry you forward to the best times possible.
Cheers
Randy & the General Dream
I was back in the military. One of my people, Randy, a friend, was chosen for a special honor. He was very nervous.
I told him, “Relax, there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll do great.” I then promised to circle back around but I had dozens of things to attend so I kept moving.
Somebody caught me and asked me if it was true that Randy had been selected for the honor. Yes, I confirmed. Did I have anything to do with it, I was asked. Yes, I answered, I nominated him and wrote up the nomination.
Leaving them, I checked on another task. A young officer was selected for a risky mission. I went by to see him and ask if I needed anything. He thanked me for my part in getting him the assignment because he knew I had something to do with it. Laughing, I joked, “Oh, no, don’t try to pin this on me,” and moved on.
After going by some other places, I returned to Randy. More details were emerging. He’d been sitting in a stadium full of people. A spotlight and camera would be on him.
I again assured him that he’d be fine. He then put on a black sports jacket. He told me, “I hate wearing things like this.”
I answered, “You’ll be fine. It’s just for a short time. Besides, it makes you look skinnier.”
He laughed and swore at me.
Time for me to leave. I headed for the exit, still with many things to do. A one star – brigadier general – tall, white, skinny – stopped me. I didn’t know him.
He explained that he’d heard that I’d supported the officer’s request for the assignment.
“Yes,” I replied. “I talked to him and he wanted it.”
The general said, “But it’s risky.”
“I know,” I said.
The general went on, “It took a lot of courage for you to agree with him going.”
“It did,” I agreed.
Thinking the conversation over, I went to move past him.
The general apparently thought I wanted a hug. When I realized that, I reciprocated the hug but I found it very strange. We ended up in an awkward half embrace that was made worse because he was much taller than him. When I looked up at his face, I was surprised that he was teary eye.
We broke the hug. I began moving on.
Dream end.
