The Fix - MAGA Dystopia Book

The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government by Barbara  McQuade, 2026. I just finished reading this book earlier today. Another Trump MAGA Dystopia book. I liked that after going through the many anti-democracy corruption activities of the current fascist administration the author details some incredible activities for implementing solutions for the problems of the grift and mob behavior detailed throughout the book. 

It's like she read my mind to come up with some of the fixes like... getting rid of the electoral college, representatives based on popular vote and not winner takes all, term limits and age limits for congress and the courts... especially the supreme court, ban gerrymandering and no district changes allowed by politicians, enforcing govt corruption laws, protecting the free press, etc., etc.

I read this book in a little over a week. I'd like to read her book Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America from 2024. 

Ultra Chilled 03 - Kitchen Listening

More Ultra Chilled Kitchen Music on the stereo today. Volume 3. Another 2 cd set running a little over two hours. Sounds laid back and cool. Nice background too.

Trump Friends - MAGA Dystopia

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Ultra Chilled 02 - Kitchen Listening

Played more of that Ultra Chilled compilation sets today. Volume 2. Another two hour collection of relaxing ambient groove trance electronica. Features remixes of Radiohead, Coldplay, Thievery Corporation, Bebel Gilberto, Royksopp, Zero 7 and more. 

Book Arts, Downtown & Cafe 59

Becky and I went last night to an art opening downtown at Book Arts. It was a Friday evening and we thought we would go have some dinner down the street from the gallery at Streetlight Brassier then go to the gallery. The traffic was a little crazy heading downtown... very busy. We got a parking spot down the street at the square across from the library. This was about 5:30. We walked down to the restaurant and saw that it was closed for a special event. That explains why there were no reservations when I checked it a couple of days ago. We had also seen that Mohawk Place was closed for an upcoming Octoberfest Party. That was where we usually park down there. So we walked further down the street and saw there was a street party and band playing on the sidewalk in front of Tappo Restaurant. We were heading a little past there to get something to eat at the Big Ditch Brew Pub but unbelievably we saw that the place was jammed. No tables in the restaurant but a couple outside. Now it was also windy and cool downtown. Becky had a jacket but I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and thinking I should have brought something more.

We then saw that there was actually the Curtains Up street party happening that night and it was going to get much more crowded soon. We saw some other restaurants all full of people and lots of tents and stages set up throughout the area. We decided to head back over to the gallery and check out the art show which was a friend... Kathy Sherin. We got over there around 6 and had a great time talking with lots of friends. It was very busy there too. 

After a while we decided to get in the car and leave downtown for another restaurant. We thought we would go up Franklin street to Allen and check out Cafe 59. We parked nearby and got a nice table. There were people there but it was after the main dinner time and not crowded.  We had a couple of our usual sandwiches... I had the Harvest Wrap and Becky had a chicken finger sandwich. I ordered a side of potato wedges that we split. We loved our dinner. Then we went home.

Trump & the News Media

Donald Trump has announced in a fit of rage that he's banning CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House entirely, over what he called their constant fake reporting.

Trump posted the announcement himself, declaring that effective immediately, three major news organizations are banned from the White House.

So the President of the United States, using the powers of his office to decide which journalists are allowed to cover him based on whether their reporting flatters him. 

He also mocked MSNBC's recent name change as proof of failure. He then posted that he will soon ban other so called fake news media outlets.

A sitting president is openly threatening to keep expanding a media blacklist, one outlet at a time, based entirely on whether their coverage of him is favorable.

This isn't how a free press is supposed to work in America. Journalists exist to hold power accountable, not to serve as approved messengers for whoever happens to occupy the Oval Office. The moment a president gets to personally decide which news organizations are allowed in the building depending on how nice their coverage is, that's not journalism anymore. That's state propaganda.

And Trump isn't hiding it. He's saying it outright, in writing, with more bans promised to come.

The CNN news network responded to Trump’s announcement that he’s “banned” CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO from the White House with a statement of defiance, vowing to stand strong against Trump’s authoritarian urges and delivering an implicit threat of legal reprisal.

The press release reads, “CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.”

Reading between the lines is a clear and obvious threat to bring immediate legal action against the White House if this “ban,” which Trump has tried and FAILED to implement in the past, ends up being more real than just a Truth Social post.

We hope to see similar statements from MS Now and POLITICO post-haste. Trump cannot be allowed to get away with this flagrantly illegal attack on the free press and violation of the Constitution that he swore to uphold.

A Neighborhood Walk & Molly's Video

We were out for our usual walk around the neighborhood and we went passed our neighbor and old friend Molly's house which we often do. Occasionally she is out front and we stop and talk. This time she was out taking pictures of her house and I wanted to let her know about Tom's recent passing. She was part of that group of young families that hung out together back in the 80's and 90's. 

She was happy to see us and wanted to bring us into her home to show us something. We hadn't been there in many years. She wanted to show us her new few months old cute little puppy named Lola.

After a bit I told her about Tom. She did know a lot about his recent problems and we were not sure where she was getting the information but she wasn't surprised by the news. I showed her some photos on my phone which we had come across this week and one with her and her son along with us, Dave & Donna and Tom & Diane. She was thrilled to see it. 

She told us that she had found an old video recently that included our kids playing with her kids. She had it uploaded into a online video site. She gave me the link on the phone. I also sent her the picture to her phone.

The link to Molly's Video.

Ultra Chilled 01 - Kitchen Listening

Ultra Chilled Kitchen Listening. 

Yesterday I put this various artists compilation on the stereo around dinnertime. It's an album I that I hadn't listened to in many years. Ultra Chilled 01 from Ultra Records. This 2 CD set is the first of several of their compilation albums in my collection. This one is from 2001. I got four volumes from this series in 2004 but there are many more.

It's a nice collection that runs a little over two hours of what I guess you would call downbeat, electronica, house, trip-hop, techno, trance, downtempo and various alternative indie/pop/rock. The series all have sleezy covers too.

Well, I enjoyed listening to this and I'm sure I'm going to play a few more of these albums over the next few days. I've used a lot of songs from this album on my various Night Chill series of mixes.

Birthday Dinner

Becky and I had a wonderful birthday dinner tonight at Trattoria Aroma on Bryant which is one of our favorite restaurants and nice that it is close by. We had reservations at 6:15 and we spent almost two hours there. The service was wonderful as usual but a little slow because they were a little short staffed tonight and they were busy. It was a beautiful evening and the patio in front was full. We were close to the patio but inside.

We had their incredible Pappardelle Bolognese which we split along with a delicious Spicy Pepperoni Pizza with red sauce, fontina, pickled hot peppers, cup & char pepperoni, fresh herbs, pecorino romano. So good. Becky had an NA beer and I had a couple of glasses of chianti. For dessert we had a couple of their freshly made cannoli. 

Overall a very good night. Some nice leftovers too.

Tom's Body and Soul Mix

Tom's jazz mix. I put this four hour mix together at the request by Dave after he had a request from Tom's wife to have some jazz music playing during his funeral wake visitations and memorial service. Dave doesn't have any jazz in his collection so he asked me. Tom and I listened to jazz a lot over the years and I know what he likes and I also have a sense of what to play in the background during a wake.

The music here is mostly very quiet and there are lots of familiar tunes including jazz standards, covers and some film soundtracks... all instrumentals.

There are 40 pieces of music running about 4 hours. I put created a playlist file and copied it to a flash drive along with some photos of Tom I found. I also put the playlist on YouTube Music and put a link to it below.

Tom's Body and Soul - A Jazz Mix

1. Body and Soul - Lee Konitz
2. All Blues - Miles Davis
3. I Remember Wes - George Benson
4. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat - Charles Mingus
5. Misty - Grant Green & Brother Jack McDuff
6. Greensleeves - John Coltrane
7. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Thelonious Monk
8. Night Train - Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery
9. Song For My Father - Horace Silver
10. The Madison Time (Pt.2) - Ray Bryant
11. Willow Weep For Me - Dexter Gordon
12. On A Clear Day You Can See Forever - Shirley Scott & Stanley Turrentine
13. My Favorite Things - John Coltrane
14. Blue In Green - Bill Evans
15. Summertime - Miles Davis
16. God Bless The Child - Sonny Rollins
17. A Day In The Life - Wes Montgomery
18. Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) - Gato Barbieri
19. Amarcord - Nino Rota
20. You Go To My Head - Bud Powell
21. My One and Only Love - Pepper Adams
22. There Will Never Be Another You - Jimmy Smith
23. Take Five - George Benson
24. On Green Dolphin Street - Ahmad Jamal
25. Stella By Starlight - Jim Hall
26. So What - Miles Davis
27. Waltz For Debby - Bill Evans
28. Autumn Leaves - Cannonball Adderley
29. My Little Brown Book - John Coltrane
30. Blue Monk - Thelonious Monk
31. Exodus (Main Theme) - Eddie Harris
32. Promise Of The Morning - Jon Mark
33. A Lotus On Irish Streams - Mahavishnu Orchestra
34. Love Theme From Blade Runner - Vangelis
35. Midnight Rendezvous - Suzanne Ciani
36. Red's Good Groove - Red Garland
37. Satin Doll - McCoy Tyner
38. Ruby, My Dear - John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk
39. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
40. Willow Weep For Me - Grant Green

YouTube Music - Tom's Body and Soul Mix