Tuesday, October 20, 2026

2026 Elections In Other Countries.

April 13, 2026


Trump's endorsement again turned out to be a predicator that the endorsed candidate would go down in well deserved flames as Péter Magyar defeated the illiberal democrat darling of the far right Viktor Orbán.

Also a figure of the Hungarian right, and in fact once an Orbán protege, he is a sign that even in a country that's be converted into the model of an illiberal democracy and hence adored by the Heritage Foundation set, a corrupt autocrat can come down.  He's also a sign that support by Trump means nothing in much of the world, and is becoming meaningless in the United States.

Orbán, who is not insane as Trump is much of the time, does deserve credit for conceding defeat.

April 14, 2026

Canadian liberals gained a majority in the Canadian parliament through by elections yesterday.

While less clear, the Donald Trump Effect, i.e., repulsion over his vile politics, is moving everything to the left that's associated with him.

June 22, 2026


Colombian Trump backed right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly won Colombia's presidential election, apparently.

August 31, 2026


Icelandic voters rejected a proposal to negotiate with the EU for admittance.

September 7, 2026


I frankly don't grasp how German elections work, but  Alternative für Deutschland, (AfD) won state elections in Saxony-Anhalt but fell short of a majority.  The party is a far right German party and about as close to the Nazi Party as a German political party legally can be.

It's rise can be seen as part of a rise of the far right throughout the Western world, although the first two countries with far right parity's who gained control of their governments, Hungary and Poland, have subsequently seen those party's fall out of power after governing for some time.  Presently, the only other European country to be governed by a far right party is Italy, which is presently governed by Fratelli d'Italia, which has its roots in the Fascist Party.

Fratelli d'Italia is interesting here as well, as while even its symbol shows it rising out of Fascism, it's very much moderated itself since achieving power, converting itself from a populist far right party into more of a right wing party.  Time will tell if the AfD is able to do that, although it already criticizes Trump, the head of a proto fascist party himself, on some things.

October 6, 2026


Quebec separatist Parti Québécois won the Quebec provincial election but fell short of obtaining a majority.  I guess it's proof you can't keep a bad idea down.

October 20, 2026


Alberta separatist, the Canadian equivalent to Maga, were told to take a hike in the referendum this week on separation with 75% of the provinces residents voting no.

The dumpster fire the US has become under Trump probably helped influence the result.

Last edition:

2025 Elections In Other Countries.

Sunday, October 20, 1946. Partido Independista Puertoriqueño.

The Partido Independista Puertoriqueño (Puerto Rican Independence Party) was founded in San Juan to seek the independence of Puerto Rico.

The party still exists.

Southern writer and humorist Lewis Grizzard was born.  He died at age 47 in 1994 due to complications from heart surgery.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 19, 1946. Spy agency musical chairs.

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 12, the Deflect and Deny edition.


October 2, 2026.

We are, of course, about one month away from the General Election and it's universally agreed that, at least as of right now, the economy is not doing well, which is to say that it's not doing well for average people.  Having said that, all the monkeying around Trump has done with the economy has not resulted in a general collapse, as some feared.  This tends to give credence to the assertion that some make that the American economy in general is so strong that it tends to keep on chugging along in spite of everything.  

Having said that, prices on many things have gone up, and are now at the paint point for average people.  Beef prices, for example, are up about 25%.  That can't really be blamed on Trump, as its due to a historically low cattle heard, but Trump's efforts to address it were pretty much non existent at first, and the ineffectual when they were tried.

Beef Imports Haven’t Lowered Prices As Hoped. ‘I Told You So,’ Says Wyo Rancher

Addressing the price can only really come through a recovery of the North American herd.  Trump's constant crazy hatred of Canada and Canadians isn't helping this at all, as Canada is part of the North American market.  Mexican cattle, which had been banned from coming into the US due to screwworm, which we're not hearing much about, which is concerning, have started to come back in. That is likely to  have some effect.

Petroleum prices have shot up enormously since Trump started an ill advised and poorly planned war on Iran for no real discernable critical objective.

Wars are inflationary by their very nature, but attacking a critical global petroleum supplier is definitely going to be inflationary, and this is set to really start hitting home.  Everything in the US, whether it moves by truck, by rail, or in the air, uses petroleum.  That impacts the price of 100% of American goods.  Gasoline, Diesel fuel and Aviation fuel is way up in price.  Heating oil is up 50% to 70% just as we're entering the season where it starts to be used on the East Coast. NOAA, which usus science, predicts a warm winter in the East, like last years, so that might not be as impactful as it could be.  The Old Farmers Almanac, which I put no stock in whatsoever, predicts a cold winter.

An interesting side impact of the cost of things is that even Wyomingites are looking at electric vehicles.  I overheard a conversation the other day in which two people were wishing to get them, and they're both highly conservative individuals.  A report on increasing EVs appeared in one of the local online journals today.

Is Wyoming Going Electric? EV Registrations Surge Tenfold In Two Years

There are still a lot of naysayers out there, but there were when automobiles started to become common for that matter.

Anyway, the Trump Administration has handed out its flood of excuses for all of this, starting at first with "it's Joe Biden's fault".  Everything is Biden's fault according to Trump, whom while he routinely falls asleep in public still calls Biden, on occasion, "Sleep Joe".

The it's all Biden's fault is no longer selling very well so the "it's not much to pay to keep Iran from getting a bomb" has been tried and is still being tried, but it's not selling that well . First of all, well informed people know that while Iran is a very secretive state, the evidence that it was about to make a nuke is thin.  And frankly Israel's major early role in the war made it pretty clear that this was a joint Israeli American adventure in which the Trumpites had been heavily influenced by Israel.  That's adding to an anti Israeli sentiment that's been building in the US for several years and you'll even now hear, in response to the suggestion that it's all worth it to keep Iran from getting a bomb, that maybe we don't really care if Iran has a bomb.

We didn't care enough about North Korea having one in order for the US to attack it, and Trump loves the communist leader of North Korea.

So that excuse isn't working either.

So time to distract.

The government just announced that children under 16 years of age are being automatically enrolled in "Trump" savings accounts. The Government, which has no money whatsoever as it's borrowing piles, will place $1,000 of the money it doesn't have into such accounts, but parents need to claim it.

Will this achieve something?

Well, it might, or might now.  Truth be known with inflation being what it is, $1,000 that can't be touched until a person is 18 years old isn't going to seem like that big of a deal right now  But it might turn out to be.

Trump also promised people $5,000 if the GOP retains both houses of Congress, but then that would require Congress to do it, and Trump earlier promised everyone a $2,000 tariff dividend.  The government handing out cash it doesn't have isn't a good idea and frankly I thought it was a horrible idea when President Biden started handing out cash during COVID.  I've heard the Trump proposal compared to that, and that was a bad idea.

The Administration also just sent out $500.00 checks as supposed refunds for Obamacare overcharges.  They seem rather strategically placed, however.  

Anyhow, stayed tuned for coming attractions. The trade war with Canada is just starting, the war is no where near over, and prices are really set to climb.  Trump has less than thirty days to address all of this, or even some of it, which won't be easy at all.  Voters who are inclined to vote their pocketbooks are likely pretty much set in their opinions by now.

October 6, 2026

Casper's Grant Street Grocery closed.

Grant Street Grocery, Casper Wyoming


Grant Street Grocery in Casper Wyoming is the only surviving small neighborhood grocery store in the town and even advertises the same.

Opened in 1921, the store was converted into a specialty grocery store and deli some years ago, and features meats and cheeses, as well as many other items, that are unlikely to appear on the counters of regular grocery stores.  It's featured here for its simple sign, as well as being a remnant of something that was once very common, a neighborhood store.

President Trump signed an order allowing for the temporary sale of red diesel, which you tend to only find easily in farm country, for regular diesels.  Effectively its a sort of kind of temporary suspension of the Federal tax on diesel.

I'd quite frankly question the Presidents ability to legally do this, but if I see red diesel for sale, I'm buying it.  

I probably won't find it for sale.

October 7, 2026

Something is definitely going on.

Bush-Wells Sporting Goods to close its doors at the end of the year

The store has literally been in business my entire life.

Paramount Skydance took over Warner Bros Discovery on Tuesday giving the company, now just called Skydance, CBS, CNN, Paramount+, and HBO Max

Tribal Data Center Study Had 'A Lot Of Options', But Community Said No Thanks

October 10, 2026


And also 

2026-009  Emergency Relief Permits for Transportation of Oversize and Overweight Loads of Agricultural Products 

2026-010  Executive Order Recognizing and Adopting the Federal Monitor Carrier Safety Administration Hours-of-Service Waiver for the Intrastate Transportation of Gasoline and Diesel Fu


On the red fuel order, some states, or at least Montana, have warned diesel users that they're not lifting their provisions. Also, red diesel stains filters and engine parts, so when the suspension ends, and you take your truck in to be serviced, you may have a lot of explaining to do.

And now this:


Trump is so desperate to put the economic destruction of the Iran War behind him that he's made a deal with Putin to import diesel fuel.  

First of all, this isn't enough diesel to make any sort of difference and I frankly do not think it will even occur. But more significantly he's made a deal with a country that is engaged in a completely immoral war against a neighbor and losing, and by doing this, helping them.  The US, it might be noted, has just acted to increase sanctions on Russia.

Totally inexcusable. 

October 14, 2026

Inflation jumped in September.

Now, it's not Trump's fault.  It's Joe Biden's.  He set the inflation meter on 10 and then hid the key with the Epstein files, so you can see the problem.

It's not like an illegal war we're losing or tariffs had anything to do with that.

Governor Gordon and Cynthia Lummis came out against the Trump Russian diesel plan.  Barrasso, who is now a toady, predictably supported it.  Hageman when asked about it cited regulations in the US as the problem, which is absolutely and completely absurd.  She'd earlier voted against aid to Ukraine and has been in the Trump camp consistently.

By the way, the price per barrel for crude oil has gone up, as have the price of diesel futures, since Trump announced his "deal" with the Russians.

October 17, 2026

October 18, 2026

Billionaire Ricketts Not Giving Up On Resort Near Bondurant After Rejection

October 20, 2026

State to grant $48M in ‘Energy Dominance’ funds, asks for public input

New Casper-Natrona County International Airport tower among Wyoming projects to receive USDA funding 

New Casper-Natrona County International Airport tower among Wyoming projects to receive USDA funding



Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 10, The Autarky Edition.

Monday, October 19, 2026

I really hate golf.

 

I have for years.

And, yes, I know how to golf.

Trump is making it worse.  Sure, somebody will accuse me of having Trump Derangement Syndrome, but golf has always sort of suffered from having an effete, upper middle class, wealthy class, atmosphere to it. The sort of game that people who are afraid of the real outdoors might take up.

My view is, I fully know, completely unfair.

And Trump's making my attitude worse.

Tuesday, October 19, 1976. Aishiyeh Massacre.

The Catholic village of Aishiyeh in Lebanon was attacked with Palestinian elements committing a massacre upon the population.

Cincinnati beat New York in Game 3 of the World Series.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 16, 1976. Disco Duck.

Saturday, October 19, 1946. Spy agency musical chairs.

The Strategic Services Unit was Dissolved and all its personnel and functions were moved to the Office of Special Operations (OSO), which itself was part of the Central Intelligence Group.

Last edition:

Friday, October 18, 1946. Disaster in Laramie.


Thursday, October 19, 1911. Zapatistas advance.

Zapatistas were advancing in Morelos.  

Long Beach, California.

Last edition:

Monday, October 16, 1911. Plot against Taft and Progressive Party meets for the first time.

Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 9. Operation Quiet Piggy.


You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom

Matthew, Chapter 24.

There is nothing they [Russian leaders] admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness.

Winston S. Churchill, The Sinews of Peace

October 13, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

The term is so good, it's time for a new edition.  Some wag has termed the Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian data farms "Operation Quiet Piggy".

And, in fact, some well known anti Trump pundits noted a big drop off on spam bots on Twitter right away.

Hmm. . . 

October 17, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

Shameful:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (22 U.S.C. 10802 et seq.) (Graham Act), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby determine and order:

Section 1.  Background.  On September 18, 2026, I signed the Graham Act into law.  The Graham Act provides for the imposition of certain sanctions with respect to foreign persons, restrictions with respect to persons, and duties with respect to goods imported into the United States from the Russian Federation and certain other countries.

Section 115 of the Graham Act authorizes the President to waive the application of any sanctions provision with respect to a foreign person, any restriction with respect to a person, and any duty under the Graham Act, subject to the submission to the Congress of a written certification that such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States and a report explaining the basis for the certification. 

As described further in section 4 of this order, I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act.  I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States.

Sec. 2.  Increases in Rate of Duty.  (a)  The rate of duty on goods from the Russian Federation shall be increased by 500 percent ad valorem, subject to the exceptions set forth in section 114 of the Graham Act and the waivers issued in section 4 of this order.

(b)  The rate of duty on goods from the largest 5 importers of crude oil and natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation shall be increased by 100 percent ad valorem if the country knowingly makes new purchases of crude oil or natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation on or after October 18, 2026, subject to the exceptions set forth in section 114 of the Graham Act and the waivers issued in section 4 of this order.  The United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative), in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, and any other senior executive branch official that the Trade Representative determines appropriate, shall monitor the circumstances related to the importation and purchases by countries of crude oil and natural gas of Russian Federation origin, regularly inform the President of any such activity, and provide recommendations for further action, as provided for in section 3 of this order.   

(c)  The rate of duty on goods from the top 5 facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion shall be increased by 100 percent ad valorem, subject to the exceptions set forth in section 114 of the Graham Act and the waivers issued in section 4 of this order.  The Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, and any other senior executive branch official that the Trade Representative determines appropriate, shall monitor the activities of countries that facilitate Russian oil sanctions evasion, as defined in section 113(i) of the Graham Act, and report to the President on which countries are among the top 5 such facilitators.

(d)  The increases in the rates of duty provided by this order shall apply in addition to any other duty, fee, tax, exaction, or charge applicable with respect to the good, including any duty imposed under title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.), sections 122, 201, or 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2132, 2251, and 2411), or section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862).

Sec. 3.  Monitoring.  The Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, and any other senior executive branch official that the Trade Representative determines appropriate, shall monitor the circumstances related to the importation and purchases by countries of crude oil and natural gas of Russian Federation origin, as well as the facilitation of Russian sanctions evasion by countries, and regularly report to the President on those circumstances.  The Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, and any other senior executive branch official that the Trade Representative determines appropriate, shall promptly inform the President of any circumstance that, in his opinion, might indicate the need for further action by the President, including with respect to the waivers.

Sec. 4.  Waiver.  (a)  Pursuant to section 115(a) of the Graham Act, I hereby waive the application of any duties provided for in sections 112 and 113 of the Graham Act or this order.  I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States and a report explaining the basis for the certification, consistent with section 115(b) of the Graham Act.

     (b)  Pursuant to section 115(a) of the Graham Act, I hereby waive the application of the sanctions provision provided for in section 102(d) of the Graham Act with respect to foreign persons and the restrictions provided for in section 102(d) of the Graham Act with respect to persons.  For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this order affects any sanctions or other measures provided for under any Executive Order issued to address the national emergency that I continued on March 24, 2026, with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation (91 Fed. Reg. 15515), as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the Graham Act, including with respect to all persons sanctioned under any such Executive Order.  I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States and a report explaining the basis for the certification, consistent with section 115(b) of the Graham Act.

(c)  Pursuant to section 115(a) of the Graham Act, I hereby waive the application of the following sanctions provisions with respect to foreign persons and restrictions with respect to persons:  sections 102(a), 102(e), 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, and 117 of the Graham Act.  I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States and a report explaining the basis for the certification, consistent with section 115(b) of the Graham Act.

(d)  The waivers described in subsections (a) through (c) of this section shall remain in effect until such time as the President or the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Trade Representative, as appropriate, determine that further action is appropriate. 

Sec. 5.  Delegation of Authorities.  (a)  I hereby delegate the functions and authorities vested in the President by the Graham Act as follows:

(i)     sections 102(a), 102(b), 102(c), 104(a), 108(b), 111(b), and 114(a)(2), to the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, and to the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State;

(ii)    section 115 to the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Trade Representative, as appropriate;

(iii)   sections 102(e)(1), 103(a), 103(b), 103(d), 104(b), 110(a), 110(c), and 116(a) to the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State;

(iv)    section 111(a) to the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of the Treasury;

(v)     section 112 to the Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury;

(vi)    section 113(a) to the Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Energy;

(vii)   section 117(a), with respect to the termination of the application of any sanction with respect to a foreign person or any restriction with respect to a person, to the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury; and to the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State; and

(viii)  section 117(a), with respect to the termination of any duty, to the Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, and the Secretary of the Treasury.

(b)  The delegations in this section shall apply to any provisions of any future public laws that are the same or substantially the same as the provisions referenced in this section. 

(c)  The Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Energy may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate within their respective departments any of the functions or authorities delegated to them by this order.  All executive departments and agencies shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.

(d)  Any reference in this section to the Graham Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the Graham Act as amended from time to time.

Sec. 6.  Severability.  If any provision of this order or the application of any provision of this order to any individual or circumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other individuals or circumstances shall not be affected.

Sec. 7.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d)  The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of State.

                               DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Absolutely shameful.  There's no excuse for it.

The GOP needs to answer for  this.  You can't stay silent.  Republicans are either in favor of Donald Trump's actions, or against them.  Silence is consent.

It's not sitting well with some in Congress.

Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸✈️🏍️⭐️🎖️

@RepDonBacon

Congress has a lame-duck session. The President has an agenda: supplemental, reconciliation, Ballroom, etc… I think the agenda is dead. Many of us won’t fund these things knowing he is propping up a dictator’s invasion and throwing an ally under the bus.

Ukraine launched one of the largest drone strikes of the war on St. Petersburg earlier today.  

October 19, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

Russia has proposed a summit with China and the US to end the Russo Ukrainian War.

He doesn't propose to invite Ukraine and China has no business in this matter at all.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 8. Donald Trump, China's (and Russia's) greatest ally edition.

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Friday, October 18, 1946. Disaster in Laramie.

The Rocky Mountain News reported on a terrible aviation accident in Laramie which occurred the day prior.




Pilot error was ultimately determined to be the cause of the accident.  The plane had diverted to Laramie from Cheyenne because of the weather, and the weather rapidly deteriorated as he was attempting to land.  He maneuvered the aircraft low to the ground, causing the wing to strike the ground and the plane to crash.

Last edition: