Trouble in Mind

Yesterday, I had another of my days where I had no interest in going anywhere and I did not. Not to the grocery store or to Vespers. It carried over a bit to today, and I did not make make Matins.

The 10 Most Controversial Books of All Time, Ranked - agree with a couple and disagree with #1, but I also think the headline does not completely match the list. Any thoughts?

What I did accomplish was submissions: 

Short Story | Palisatrium | Substack,  The Temz Review, Press Pause Press,  - “The First Day of Feeling Free.”

Bourbon Penn, Short Story, Long, and APRICITY Magazine got a slightly edited version of “The First Day of Feeling Free.”

 I intend to do more this morning. I need to justify my existence somehow.

And a rejection: 

Thank you for trusting the novel/novella reading team at Split/Lip Press with your book! We have received your submission and look forward to reviewing it over the next few months. We intend to reply to all manuscripts no later than December 15, 2026—if you have not received a response by 12/15/26, please check your spam filters before querying on the status of your manuscript since Submittable responses are sometimes mistakenly flagged as spam (and we don't want that!).

Sincerely,

jonah wu

Novel/Novella Editor, Split/Lip Press

Oh, I did read this great short story:  “Dipshits” by Kirsti MacKenzie - Short Story, Long.

 I had a doctor's appointment and then time running CC around. Right now, very dissatisfied with my choices for breakfast, so off to Payless. Protein is needed.

 

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Mired and Tired Of It

Up and down, down and up, getting nothing accomplished except my dishes and a lunch. 

 Trump Goes Crazy Online After Judge Hammers Him on Golf Course  (The New Republic)

Trump’s posting may have already landed him in trouble. At a hearing Monday, the preservation group mounting the legal challenge against Trump’s federal takeover of the course introduced the president’s own Truth Social post as evidence that the government plans to proceed with renovations “IMMEDIATELY!”

 

Trump tried to throw a ‘lunatic’ judge off his DC golf course case. Here’s what happened next (The Independent).

  Reyes hauled government officials back to her courtroom Monday to keep pressing them for information about who, exactly, was responsible for greenlighting the tree removal and other plans for the park.

“There is no universe in which all of this just coincidentally happened at the same time,” she said Monday. “There just isn’t.”

The judge said she didn’t know who to believe: the Justice Department and top parks officials, or the president of the United States.

“Do I believe the president of the United States, or do I believe you?” she said. “What do I do if I believe President Trump that there is an imminent closure?”

Reyes also wanted to know if any government lawyers wanted to come forward to say they agreed with Woodward’s attempts to knock her off the case. She later withdrew her request, saying that “we all have better things to spend our time on.”

Woodward told her the initial request was “inappropriate” and instructed Justice Department attorneys to ignore it.

“I’m the one who’s going to say how we move today,” Reyes fired back. “Not you.”

At the end of Monday’s seven-hour hearing, the judge said her family members have texted her “freaking out” over reporting that her office has received death threats because of the case.

“A federal judge is getting death threats over a golf course,” she said. “I really don’t think that’s what the founders envisioned.”

Trump Warns America Will Burn if Republicans Lose This Election  (The New Republic)

Trump is only in Kansas because the Republican Party is polling historically low, putting normally safe candidates in jeopardy thanks to his own bad economic policies and an ill-advised war he started. Republican Senator Roger Marshall was expected to coast to victory in the state, but is now polling neck and neck with Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.

Trump’s fearmongering over the invented specter of riots is a desperate effort that isn’t likely to sway any voters on the fence, who can plainly see skyrocketing fuel prices and inflation with their own eyes. Besides, if Republicans lose big, which side of the American political divide, based on recent history, is more likely to violently protest?

An Encouraging Direction (Sheila Kennedy)

But even assuming that those Democrats succeed at the polls, even recognizing that most of them are both competent and well-intentioned, there are systemic barriers that will prevent them from making the sorts of changes that most Americans want to see. I have frequently posted about those systemic flaws: gerrymandering, the filibuster, the Electoral College, the incredibly damaging Citizens United decision that has allowed people with money to dominate the voices of the electorate in general…There are others.

Even assuming an election result that a majority of us will applaud, the challenge facing newly-elected lawmakers will be to resist a return to a very flawed status quo. So I was gratified to come across a Vox article describing a “radical” Democratic plan to “change America” by addressing those systemic flaws.

Is ferment in Indiana’s 5th District a harbinger of a Democratic midterm wave?

No surprise, then, that when I started paying attention to the race, the 5th District contest continued to languish in the leading handicappers’ Safe Republican categories. In recent days, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Inside Elections have moved the seat to Likely Republican; Sabato’s Crystal Ball still has it at Safe Republican. None of the three has it in a genuinely competitive category.

They may be right that there’s nothing to see here. Still, there have been signs of greater-than-expected ferment.

In the May 2026 primary, Spartz’s opponent, veteran Scott A. King, took 40% of the vote in a two-way race; King narrowly won the votes from Delaware County (Muncie) outright. That’s after a campaign when King was essentially an unknown and had few resources to work with.

In the general election, an internal poll from Democratic challenger, former state Sen. J.D. Ford, found Spartz with just a two-point lead. Spartz’s recent email communications have taken a more aggressive tone than one might expect from someone running a shoo-in race, including complaints about allegedly stolen yard signs and AI-generated attack ads against her. She’s even asked Ford for a debate, so far unsuccessfully — an unusual dynamic for a safe incumbent.

As a Devout Christian, I Believe Everyone Should Be Free to Practice My Religion (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

Trump only knows how to buy, not persuade: Farmers to get one-time payments from $8 billion program, Trump says: What to know 

 What I meant to do this morning I did not do. I am running down to the convenience store and then try to accomplish something before I meet CC tonight.

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Just for The Fun of It: Eva Marie Saint, Napoleon, Disraeli Without Gears, Oscar & Andy Jackson

Some reading from last week until today as I try cleaning out my email and tabs. 

 Not an actress I paid much attention to for all of having watched On The Waterfront and North by Northwest multiple times: Eva Marie Saint’s stolen glances (Engelsberg ideas). R.I.P.

I have trouble keeping the names in my head but The EI Podcast / Napoleon’s nest of vipers was time well spent in understanding Napoleon's Marshal's.

Amy Winehouse is someone I noticed but did not fall over while she was alive. I saw her on Jool Holland's show and was amazed by her voice and her hair (as in was it all hers?) Since her death, she seems another talent who could not take the attention and judgment of the more malicious. Amy Winehouse: the lost interview — ‘If I die tomorrow then cool’  from The Sunday Times brought back all those feelings and opinions.

 The EI Podcast / Reinventing Disraeli  may be for specific interests, but give it a shot. Disraeli was an interesting character in his time and the podcast gets to that.

A book review, one that disappoints me since I have read a little of John Boyne and found him readable, but this review seems like he had a good diea and lost the thread: The Weight of Angels by John Boyne review – what if Oscar Wilde had lived? (The Guardian). I can imagine several paths Wilde might have taken if he had lived, but anondyne is not what comes to mind.

It is unpopular to like Andrew Jackson. That Trump adores him only adds to the problem. Yet, there is something admirable in such a madman who does not deny his madness. That he threatened to hang John Calhoun balances many of his sins for me. He stood for a Western egalitarianism. Yes, that excluded anyone who was not white. He was and is not alone in this thinking. But remove the bigotry and there is a democratic spirit that broadened America. Dispense with the man; keep what was good for our use. Searching for Andrew Jackson (Fall 2026, Volume 71, Issue 4) n:134246 

Sense and Sensibility review: 2026 adaptation is as cozy as a sleepover

7 Ways the World Transforms Leftover Bread Into Delicious Dishes and Drinks - Gastro Obscura  

Capital Letter: The Most Dystopian Restaurant in London 

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What Happens When Your Story's 16 Year-Old Manuscript is Terrible?

I made it through the remaining notebooks for “Stew.” Pure crap. Furthermore, I only have 9 chapters here. Maybe I wrote more. I hope not.

 

I am left wondering what I was thinking and also knowing what I was thinking. Muncie, old girlfriends, music, Faust. It does not resemble my memory of the original idea and it does not resemble my memory of what I wrote in 2010. The only interesting idea is a multi-dimensional bar. 

 

Having spent Sunday, parts of Saturday and Friday, and a bit of Thursday working through Chapter 8 with mostly new ideas, I have left myself on my own. I remain on hiatus for the next few days.

The good news is that I might be able to use some of the material (exclduing visits to a crossroads) for “Chasing Ashes” when I get to Muncie. Perhaps shrink it down to a chapter to follow “Passerby”. 

 

I have been a mess since Friday. No church yesterday because when I was about to leave the digestive tract decided to rebel. Saturday, it was my back and stomach. I meant to go to No Kings only when I arrived I felt too tired to be in a crowd or even to stand in the crowd. I called CC, and we went to dinner at the new Yummy Mongolian Barbeque. The place is rather posh in its ambience, was packed, and the food was good until my stomach turned on the spices I chose.

 

Insomnia has been a problem. Even tonight I had to crash after taking care of some business. It was the back again.

 

I managed a few blog posts this morning, and I got my dishes done and vacuumed! I spent an hour talking to J. I left her laughing, something she needs.

 

It is going on 11 PM. Too much caffeine too late and sleep will probably be unsuccessful. I will put off submissions until tomorrow. Unless insomnia strikes again.

 

 

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Trump Rot

From the end of last week up to today, enough to see the rot. 

 Ken Paxton faces Republican blame as he trails in Texas Senate race

“Trump ought to be encouraging turnout in Texas instead of laying blame on an outgoing senator,” said Chad Wilbanks, a Texas-based lobbyist and former executive director of the state’s Republican Party.

“It’s the name calling, it’s the bashing,” he continued, saying it’s coming from populist Republicans in Paxton’s coalition of supporters. “It really turns a lot of voters off, quite candidly.”

“They’re tired of the name-calling. They’re tired of the blaming,” he said.

Katie Zacharia's farewell photo 'inadvertently provided evidence' against Trump in court - Raw Story

Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), said he knew the spot. “It’s Hains Point and East Potomac Park,” he wrote. He said that if you turn the photo to Trump’s view, “you can see Buckeye Drive running straight across.”

East Potomac Golf Links, a public course that’s about a century old, is at the center of a federal lawsuit over Trump’s plan to rebuild it. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes temporarily blocked the National Park Service from cutting down more trees there. Crews had already taken out about 430. The administration has argued in court that the cutting carries out a 2019 landscape report and has nothing to do with Trump’s redesign.

‘Happy Birthday, Vlad. Yours, Always.’ - DJT. (The Bulwark)

It’s amazing how many of Trump’s psychological pathologies are here on display at once. There is, of course, his bewildering personal adulation of Putin himself, which makes it all too easy for the Russian dictator to feed him out-and-out lies about the state of the conflict and who is responsible. There’s his alpha-dog approach to geopolitics, which he believes shows great strength and in reality shows great weakness: The United States, Trump apparently believes, ought not lift a finger or offer a word of protest if the world’s other great powers decide to invade their neighbors. Instead, those great powers must be cherished and coddled, lest we “drive them away from the bargaining table” and they decide to intervene in our own imperial adventures.

Note how different this argument is from the old MAGA ones about how the whole conflict is an expensive boondoggle halfway around the world that we shouldn’t be involved with at all. Trump, fully in his own imperial era, has jettisoned such provincial “Donroe Doctrine” thinking. He just argues, openly and explicitly, that it’s better for the United States to be allied with Russia. All this is music to Putin’s ears: The Russian dictator, the Wall Street Journal reports, is now proposing a tripartite summit between the United States, Russia, and China to hash out the ultimate fate of Ukraine.

 Trump’s two-front war: a deal with Putin, a citizenship fight with Omar (Steve Schmidt)

The energy crisis surrounding the Iran war becomes the justification for opening a revenue stream to Moscow. Meanwhile, reporting has described Russian intelligence and technical assistance to Iran during that war. The administration is fighting Iran while economically accommodating a government helping Iran fight back.

Functionally, Trump has entangled American policy with both sides of the conflict. American service members bear the risks. Putin gets an opportunity. Trump claims a deal.

We once possessed leaders capable of explaining why freedom abroad concerned us— and why American strength carried responsibilities beyond extracting an immediate advantage.

 

Nothing needs to be added. Staying with Trump means our ruin.

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Selling Out America

Trump is not just selling out Ukraine and Europe, but also this country.

Once more Trump means to sell us a dumb stunt for a real deal.  His usual con. Behind his bluster is the same old squeak. He thinks we are a bunch of suckers.

Russia is our enemy but Trump signs order to lift Russia sanctions.

He makes us look stupid and weak because he is stupid and weak. This country is a joke because he is a buffoon. 

Putin’s American Asset (Sheila Kennedy) 

The anger of the American public and its widespread disapproval of Trump and his administration has largely centered on the immense damage being done domestically. Typically, voters are less likely to base their political decisions on foreign policy issues. But typically, Americans have not had a President who is waging simultaneous wars on our Constitution and our global allies. To the best of my knowledge, we have never before had an outright traitor in the Oval Office.

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The Downtown Farm Stand: Pizza!!!

 A great place with the best pizza in Muncie; maybe the best pizza from here to Indianapolis.

The Downtown Farm Stand: Your Crispy Dough-main (DWNTWN Muncie, Indiana | Muncie Downtown Development Partnership)

Hoosier Crispy Pizza is patterned after East Coast styles out of New Haven, Connecticut, and Trenton, New Jersey. They are thin, crispy, and built on a sourdough base rather than a quick-rise dough. And despite the name, don't expect a tangy bite. The 72-hour cold ferment does double duty. It gives the crust that light, airy texture customers describe as “filling but never heavy,” and it's gentle enough on the system that several customers with dietary restrictions now count Hoosier Crispy as a pizza they can enjoy. A small choice in the kitchen, and a big deal for the people finally getting to order a slice again.  

The pizzas are served Wednesday through Saturday, with the full 14" menu available all day and a 10" option added at lunch, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most of the pizzas carry a name with a Muncie wink built in. The Letterman, a three-cheese classic, nods to Muncie's own David Letterman. Garfield's Pie, a tomato-forward pizza light on the mozzarella, is a tip of the hat to Jim Davis, the Garfield creator who also studied at Ball State. Close Encounters, a mushroom pie built on organic cremini mushrooms and sweet onions, references the film that name-dropped Muncie as its setting. Ordering pizza now carries its own little piece of local trivia. 

Downtown Farm Stand

The Downtown Farm Stand Hours: 

Wednesday through  Saturday

• Grocery Store: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
• Lunch Pizza: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Dinner Pizza: 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
  (Kitchen closed for prep 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

Sunday – Tuesday - Closed (Prepping & Stocking)

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Also: We’re officially on the One Bite pizza app! Please leave us a review! This is the most important place to review us! People who travel for great pizza use this app, plus it’s great for you when you travel!

https://onebite.app/.../the-downtown-farm-stand-muncie...See les

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