The Monday Memo

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Welcome! Thanks for starting your week with The Western Word! Here are the topics for today’s column:

  • Trump & Putin Meeting
  • DOGE Accounting
  • Dial-Up Internet
  • One More Thing

TRUMP & PUTIN MEETING:

After the Friday meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, several people commented that the meeting was a “nothingburger.”

I was praying and hoping for a better outcome. I had hoped for a complete ceasefire while they ironed out the details, but that did not happen. I was a little irked that Trump clapped for Putin on the red carpet as Putin approached him. It has always seemed to me that Trump admires Putin. 

They did not take questions from the press after the meeting. That was disappointing. 

Putin stroked Trump’s ego by saying he agreed with Trump’s claim that the war in Ukraine would not have ever even begun if he had not lost the 2020 election and was serving as president when the carnage began, instead of former President Joe Biden. (Source) 

It’s important to remember that Putin is a war criminal, a master manipulator, and a former KGB agent. He should be in prison. 

It’s also important to remember that Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office on January 20. He lied (again).  

Some of the Trump officials were on the Sunday news shows trying to spin the outcome of the nothingburger. One thing I did hear from the Sunday news shows is that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said that the USA and its European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the war. 

They should allow Ukraine to be a full-fledged member of NATO, in my opinion. 

Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be visiting the White House on Monday, and I heard several European leaders will be there, too. (Source) The United States and our friends in Europe need to circle the wagons around Ukraine and end this war. 

The murdering of civilians in Ukraine is continuing. We must never forget that Russia started this war, and in no way should they be awarded any land they have obtained from this war.  

DOGE ACCOUNTING:

Just like Trump saying gas prices are under $2 per gallon and grocery prices are dropping, the savings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are not adding up, according to Politico. 

Last week, Politico reported:

The Trump administration’s claim that it is saving billions of dollars through DOGE-related cuts to federal contracts is drastically exaggerated, according to a new POLITICO analysis of public data and federal spending records.

Through July, DOGE said it has saved taxpayers $52.8 billion by canceling contracts, but of the $32.7 billion in actual claimed contract savings that POLITICO could verify, DOGE’s savings over that period were closer to $1.4 billion.

We can’t really be that surprised that Trump and his people are lying about the savings. I mean, Trump lies about his weight, height, health, golf game, and the Washington Post claims that Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as President in his first term. 

DIAL-UP INTERNET:

In case you missed it, the Associated Press (AP) reported that AOL’s dial-up internet is finally taking its last bow. Yes, while perhaps a dinosaur by today’s digital standards, dial-up is still around. But AOL says it’s officially pulling the plug on its service on Sept. 30.

The younger generation will never understand trying to connect to the internet and hearing those beeps and buzzes getting connected through your phone line. Just as you were getting settled in “cruising” the web, someone would pick up the phone in the house and disconnect you. Many people ordered an extra phone line to use just for the internet. 

I first had a Commodore 64 around 1983-84, and then graduated to an Apple IIGS in 1987 ( I still have it in case anyone is interested, and it works). After that, I went to a Gateway PC, and then to Dell computers. I now use a Minisforum mini-PC that fits in one hand. 

I remember getting the free CDs in the mail that gave you a free trial to AOL. Good times!   

ONE MORE THING:

I saw an advertisement for a coffin and thought, “That’s the last thing I need.”

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##

4 thoughts on “The Monday Memo”

  1. Putin isn’t trying to re-establish the USSR. He wants re-birth of the Russian Empire, with himself as Tsar Vladimir. He already has Belarus and Georgia as client states, and he makes no effort to deny his obsession with dominating Ukraine. If he gets European acknowledgment of Crimea as another Russian state, he will immediately take the next step – hacking off contiguous parts of Slovakia and Romania. His greedy expansionism is glaringly apparent to anyone with even a room-temp IQ, which certainly eliminates trumpsky. I think it’s odds-on that trumpsky will soon literally take a knee to the new Tsar, who will give him, in return, a pat on the head. That would ruffle up the dead weasel glued there and be the final breaking point for ‘Donnie’.

    Actually, I was somewhat surprised that Tsar Vladimir didn’t take back Alaska while he was there.

    • Thanks. Good points. It’s a shame that Trump sides with Putin. It’s also worrisome. -JmB

    • Trump is angling for the Nobel “Peace in our time!” award. It’s a little gold painted statue of Neville Chamberlain.

  2. You called it Friday:

    “I suspect Putin will handle Trump like the puppet he is, and Trump will sell out Ukraine to Russia.”

    From “serious consequences” to sellout. Good old TACO.

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