In his second term as president, Donald Trump has become unhinged and a total puppet of the war hawks.  His record as president in his first term was not great, but it was a lot better than now.  He had his share of war making in his first term, but at least he didn’t start any major new wars at that time.  That is a low standard to be sure, but it wasn’t true of several previous presidents before him.

Now the power has gone to his head in a bad way, and Trump responds to almost everything with threats and bluster.  Even when he was asked about the bond market, he responded that he always has the military as the ultimate intervention.

I knew Trump had his ego problems before 2025, but it has gotten to an absurd level.  He brags about kidnapping the president of Venezuela and stealing the oil there.  He has lost so badly to Iran that he seems to threaten to annihilate Iran almost every week now.

It scares me that it isn’t just bluster.  Trump, like many other politicians, can act like a wild animal when trapped in a corner.  He is completely unpredictable at this point.

In one breath, he says he doesn’t really care about the mid-term elections, or at least not enough to change anything with Iran.  In the next breath, he is offering a $5,000 bribe to every adult American to vote Republican.

If Trump won’t at least pretend to seek peace with Iran to calm oil and gas prices now, what is he going to be like post election?

The Worry for Iran

Iranian officials are likely worried about what Trump might do after the November elections.  They should be worried because he is nuts.  Trump is living up to the worst caricatures of himself as portrayed by the left.

Trump has already attacked Iran three times while Iran was in negotiations, or so they thought.  The first time was killing Soleimani in early January 2020.  The second time was the so-called 12-day war in June 2025.  The third time was February 2026 that started the fighting that is still ongoing.

Even if Iran gets Trump to make some kind of peace deal before the November elections, why should they trust it at all?  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me four times?

Either way, Trump doesn’t like that the U.S. is losing the war to Iran, if he is even aware enough to realize it.  It is a big hit to Trump’s ego that Iran won’t bow down to his commands.  Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has damaged or destroyed most of the U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

The only option Trump has left to fully defeat Iran is to try to obliterate the place.  This means using nuclear weapons or something close to it.

It’s ironic that Trump keeps repeating that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, and that is the supposed reason for the war.  Yet, it is Trump who shouldn’t have access to a nuclear weapon as he continually threatens to annihilate 90 million people.

I am not saying that this is going to happen, but I am genuinely worried about what Trump does after the election.  I think that is the reason that Iran has been so measured and proportional in its responses to Trump’s attacks on Iran.

Lame Duck

The Democrats are going to win the House.  They will probably win the Senate.  It is unfortunate that they will probably win a bunch of local seats too.  We may see a handful of red states elect Democratic governors.

The Republicans in Congress deserve to lose.  The American people don’t deserve either of the two major parties.

The term lame duck has typically been used when referring to the final months of a president’s term in office after the election.  Biden was a lame duck in November 2024 through January 20, 2025.

It’s easy to say that Trump will be a lame duck over the next 2 years.  He can’t legally run for president again, and he will be stuck with a Democrat-controlled Congress, which was his own doing.

The problem is that the president has so much power now.  The president does many things without Congressional approval, including making wars and setting arbitrary tariffs.  Yes, Congress could technically not approve the spending for wars, but that just doesn’t happen because most of the people in Congress are not working on behalf of their constituents.

Perhaps the best-case scenario for the American people over the next 2 years is that Trump is bogged down with the conflict in Iran (without too much escalation) and with the Democrats investigating him for every stupid thing.

Trump deserves to be investigated.  He should be impeached for starting wars and bombing at least 7 countries over the last 2 years.  He really should be in prison.  But the Democrats will focus on more minor things because they don’t want to set a standard of impeaching a president for starting wars.

Two More Years as the Empire Declines

Let’s hope that Trump doesn’t try to use nuclear weapons.  Let’s hope that he doesn’t try to invade Cuba or any other countries.  Let’s hope he doesn’t give us too much socialism if and when the economy gets worse.

He is a pathetic man.  He betrayed his own “America First” message.  He is a war criminal.  His approval ratings are at a dismal 30%.  Still, how can 3 in 10 people still say that they approve of the job he is doing?

Trump is destroying the reputation of the U.S. military and the U.S. dollar.  He might be doing Americans a favor in the long run.  He isn’t playing 5-D chess though.  You don’t get to murder a bunch of little Iranian girls and say it was all part of the plan.

In a way, Trump is overseeing the crumbling of the U.S. empire.  It is much the same way that a communist takes his ideology to an extreme that results in a revolt against communism.

If the response we have seen by Iran forces the U.S. military to abandon the Middle East, the American people will be better off for it.  The world will certainly be better off.

The most significant story of the U.S. economy in September is the surging yields.  I don’t think saying “surging” is an exaggeration here.

If you look at the Treasury data for September 2026, the 10-year yield was at 4.79% at the beginning of the month.  It ended the month at 5.29%.  That is a full 50 basis points higher in 30 days.

The 2-year yield surged from 4.39% to 4.88%.

Even for the shorter-term rates, the 3-month yield went from 3.92% to 4.20%.

To be sure, the shorter-term rates are correlated with the Federal Reserve hiking its target rate.  But the longer-term yields are more a consequence of risk, debt, and inflation.

As these yields rise, it means that new debt issued by the Treasury (including rolling over maturing debt) will be at a higher rate.  Even if the national debt weren’t growing (which it certainly is), the interest payments would be going up.

Gold Slump

The price of gold, meanwhile, has gone down.  It is below $4,200 per ounce.  It is interesting that it seems to go down on days when the price of oil is up.  This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

I know the rationale behind it.  If oil goes up, then the price of energy goes up.  This means that the Fed might have to be tighter with its monetary policy, which isn’t good for gold.

I think this reasoning lacks foresight.  Even the Fed’s “tighter” monetary policy is not so tight.  Even as the Fed raises its target federal funds rate, it is still mildly expanding its balance sheet.  The Fed can continue to create new money out of thin air even as it temporarily hikes its target rate.

There are many things that can impact the price of gold.  It is a supply and demand issue, but it is intertwined with money.  The U.S. dollar index can impact the gold price on a day-to-day basis, but it doesn’t make much difference in the long run if all of the major central banks are inflating in unison.

Ultimately, the biggest determination of the gold price in terms of U.S. dollars is how many new dollars are created out of thin air.  This is the long-term view.  Is there really any sign that the Fed is about to stop its monetary inflation for any significant period of time?

Higher Yields and More Digital Money Printing

If these surging yields stay at these levels or go even higher, it spells trouble for the Fed.  The national debt is rising at ridiculous levels.  If Congress is adding $2 trillion annually to the debt now, wait until there is some kind of financial crisis or severe recession where tax collections go down.

And again, the higher yields also mean higher interest payments as new debt is issued and old debt is rolled over.  This just adds even more to the debt.  It is one big bad cycle.

There are only a few ways to deal with this problem.  The government could attempt to raise taxes directly, but even here it is unclear how much more they could collect without stifling economic growth even more and causing lower tax collections.  The Laffer Curve is a real thing, even if I disagree with people sometimes using it as an excuse to spend more.

We are basically left with 2 options now.  One option is for Congress to cut spending.  Yes, don’t make me laugh.  If things get bad enough, their hand might be forced.  But as of right now, there is no sign of that happening.  Congress continues to spend more and more.

The other option is to print more money.  Most of this would not be actual money printing.  It would be accounting entries on a computer.  The Treasury sells more debt, and the Fed creates new money and buys this debt.

This is inflation.  The inflation of the money supply is what ultimately drives the price of gold higher in the long run.  When you have more money chasing the same goods, the price tends to move higher.

In conclusion, the rising yields are actually bullish for gold in the long run, unless you think Congress is going to turn into a bunch of true fiscal conservatives over the coming months.  The rising yields are likely to lead to more monetary inflation, which will ultimately drive the price of gold to new highs, at least in nominal terms.

It is almost all but certain that the Democrats are going to destroy the Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.  The Democrats are highly likely to take a majority in the House where the Republicans currently just barely hold power.  Even in the Senate, the Democrats are looking more and more likely to gain a majority there.

We should never underestimate the stupidity of the Democrats.  Trump and the Republicans are handing them a gift.  Democrats basically just need to shut up and not say anything too stupid or crazy.  But some people can’t help themselves.  They will find a way to defend wokeness to the extreme.  You can take the Democrat out of the room of woke people, but you still can’t take the wokeness out of the Democrat.

Still, the Trump and the Republicans have brought stupidity to a whole new level.  Trump is basically saying that he doesn’t care about the elections because Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.  Aside from the fact that Trump’s war against Iran makes it more likely for Iran to get a nuclear weapon, it is extremely bad politics on Trump’s part.

Then, in the next breath, Trump is offering a massive bribe in the form of a $5,000 check to every adult American if the Republicans maintain control of Congress.  They will be coming right after your DOGE check and you tariff rebate check.  This desperate move by Trump just made him look that much more pathetic.

The establishment Republicans are going to blame all of the people who don’t go to vote who previously voted for Trump.  Yet, it is them and Trump who have caused this.  They didn’t have to start new wars and bomb 7 countries in one year.  They didn’t have to keep growing spending.  They didn’t have to do the bidding of the Israeli state.  They didn’t have to continually raise and lower tariffs.  They didn’t have to work to destroy anyone who dared criticize Trump’s policies.  Let’s remember that Trump campaigned harder against Thomas Massie than he has or is doing against any Democrat.

Lame Excuses

There are no excuses any more.  Ask any Trump defender why spending and the debt is going higher and higher under Trump.  They will come up with some lame excuse that Trump can’t control Congress.

Yet, this is the exact opposite of what Trump would make you believe.  And up to this point, Trump has had great control over what members of Congress do.  Trump destroyed Massie and MTG.  If he put in half as much effort to enact spending cuts, then it would force the hand of the Republicans in Congress.

The problem is that Trump doesn’t want spending cuts.  He wants spending increases.  That’s why he doesn’t bring the issue up.  And when he does bring it up, it is to spend more.  He wants a military budget of $1.5 trillion.

Trump has spent most of his time defending his stupid decisions on tariffs and war.  Even on immigration, Trump has been mostly terrible.  The best you can say is that illegal immigration is way down.  But let’s remember that the Trump administration, in March 2025, was focused on arresting and deporting legal immigrants who said anything critical of Israel.

For every issue that Trump has focused on, he has taken the wrong position.  He has taken the anti liberty position.

On foreign policy, it is worse than that.  His administration murders a hundred and some little kids in Iran and then Trump lies about it.

How many times has Trump threatened to destroy the Iranian civilization?  The threat alone qualifies Trump as a war criminal who should be locked up for the rest of his life.

In front of the United Nations, Trump just bragged about the U.S. getting Venezuelan oil.  He said, “To the victor belong the spoils.”

Does anyone really want to live in a civilization where this is the rule?  If a 300-pound man rapes a 120-pound woman, would Trump just say that “might makes right”.  To the victors go the spoils?  This is sick and deranged.

The Republicans Deserve to Lose

Just as the Democrats deserved to lose in 2022 and 2024, the Republicans deserve to lose in 2026.  This isn’t to say that the Democrats deserve to win.

When we get talk of Democratic socialism and more wokeness, you can blame Trump and the Republicans who supported his nonsense.  That is the reason we are getting the Democrats.

It is especially frustrating that Trump has turned into the worst caricature that the anti-Trump left has warned about.  Trump is making the left into truth tellers, at least to a certain degree.

To be sure, the Democrats lied about many things, including Russia gate, saying that Trump told people to drink bleach, saying that Trump called white supremacists very fine people, etc.  But instead of discrediting them, Trump has done everything in his power to live up to the evilness that the left warned about with Trump.

It is also frustrating because Trump still gets a few things right, yet he just discredits the position more because he supports it.  For example, Trump gets some things right on repealing some really bad environmental regulations.  He also got it somewhat right in at least appointing RFK Jr. to head the DHHS.  But if Trump says something common sense like how we should space out vaccines for young children, then nobody takes him seriously except for his hardcore supporters.

Trump lies about almost everything, so it is almost unfortunate at this point when he actually says something that is true and valid.

Trump Fatigue

The one good thing that will come out of a huge Democratic victory is that Trump will lose a lot of influence.  A lot of Republicans will start to turn on Trump.  Trump still has a lot of influence within the Republican Party, but that will wane with the coming defeat of the Republicans in the general election.

We can’t get rid of Trump soon enough.  He came onto the scene and seemed to offer an alternative to the Bush/ Cheney/ Romney establishment.  Now Trump has given us the same policies, and sometimes worse, while still trying to act like he is anti establishment.

We would all be better off at this point if Trump exits the scene as soon as possible.  I don’t even care if the Democrats impeach him over something stupid.  They won’t impeach him over the Iran war because that would implicate too many past and future presidents of both parties.

J.D. Vance should never be forgiven for how awful he has been in trying to defend the awful things that Trump has done.  Still, if Vance became president, maybe we could get some sense of sanity back.  At least he probably wouldn’t be continually changing tariffs, threatening other countries, and threatening to end an entire civilization.

When the Democrats win in November, consider that to be a total repudiation of what Trump has done over the last year and a half.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released its latest statement on monetary policy.  By a unanimous vote, the committee decided to hike its target federal funds rate by 25 basis points (0.25%).

This means that Donald Trump’s recently appointed Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, was in agreement with the decision to raise its key interest rate.  This was widely expected going into the meeting, but it was still noteworthy.

Let’s remember that Trump would call that the previous Fed chair, Jerome Powell, all kinds of names, even though Trump was the one who originally appointed him.  Trump would call him “Too Late” Powell because, according to Trump, Powell was too late in lowering rates.

But hey, at least Powell was lowering rates at one point in the game.  All that Warsh has done during his short time as Fed chair is keep rates the same or hike them.  If Powell was too late, what does that make Warsh, who is moving in the opposite direction?

It seems too early for Trump to fully turn on Warsh, but then again, you never know with Trump.    He has already announced (demanded) that rates should be cut to 1% or less.  He doesn’t want to be “Too Late” Trump in criticizing anyone.  There are all sorts of nicknames we could hear.

Opposite Direction Warsh

Backwards Warsh

Too Tight Warsh

Wishy-Washy Warsh

Too Harsh Warsh

Maybe we’ll get something more straight out of first grade like Big Fat Loser Warsh.

Price Inflation and Monetary Policy

The main reason for the Fed hiking rates is because price inflation has remained stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% goal.  Of course, we shouldn’t want any price inflation.  Why would we want even 2%?  Most people would prefer it if their dollars could buy the same things next year in the same amount.

The CPI numbers had gotten closer to 2%, but then the war against Iran happened.  This has sent oil and gas prices much higher, which contributes to higher price inflation, at least in the short run.  It is notable though that this could ultimately lead to lower prices in other areas if consumers paying more for gasoline cut back in other areas.

It is understandable though to question the Fed’s rate hiking on the basis of higher gas prices caused by war.  This isn’t a monetary phenomenon.  It is a political problem.  It is a problem for consumers paying more for gas.  There is price inflation from previous monetary inflation, but that isn’t the main contributor of the spike in gas prices.

This is why it is ridiculous to have any central planners of the economy.  There are so many moving parts, and no one can come close to understanding them all.

If there are major shortages in gasoline, then we actually want to maintain higher gas prices.  Higher prices provide an incentive for consumers to consume less.  They also provide an incentive for producers to produce more so that they can make more profit.  The solution to high prices is high prices.  In this case, the solution also involves the U.S. leaving the Middle East.

The Economy and Politics

Even as the Fed lowers its target rate, it is still slightly inflating the money supply.  The Fed’s balance sheet is slowly expanding again.  In the past, there has typically been a strong correlation between a tighter money supply and tighter rates.  If the Fed were hiking rates, it was probably shrinking its balance sheet.  Since 2008, this is no longer true.  The Fed largely controls the federal funds rate by paying interest on bank reserves.

This means that even though the Fed hiked its target rate, it may still continue to expand its balance sheet (monetary inflation).

Either way, there is a lot of trouble hanging out there in the economy.  The 10-year yield just briefly hit the 5% mark.  There is great fear of a popping of the AI bubble.  Meanwhile, the average American continues to struggle because of incomes not keeping pace with prices, especially when it comes to necessities.

This war in Iran is deeply unpopular, as it should be.  And it is easily tied to the higher gas prices.  Americans are quite aware of the higher prices every time they have to stop at the gas station and fill their car.

The Republicans are going to pay dearly in the upcoming mid-term elections, as they should.  This isn’t an argument for Democrats.  It is simply recognizing that the Republicans have done a terrible job.  They have given us more spending, more war, and more broken promises.

Trump is already acting like a socialist with his promise of $5,000 checks, his tariffs, his public/ private profit sharing, and all of his other schemes.  Just imagine how socialist and dictatorial he will become if we sink into a major recession.

There could be some really rough times ahead, both politically and economically.  The good news is that a decent percentage of Americans are fed up with both major parties.

Donald Trump thinks so.  His desperation has reached an all-time high as his approval ratings reach all-time lows.

Trump thinks he is still popular because many of his preferred candidates won their primaries.  The problem is that these are Republican primaries.  He is still quite popular strictly within Republican circles.  But we are moving on to the general election.

The Republicans had some kind of convention for the mid-terms, as if anyone really cared other than a few die-hard Republicans.  Trump cared because he got to be in the spotlight yet another time.  But these Republican candidates are in a bad position.

If you are a Republican running in the general election, you don’t want Trump by your side at this point.  Trump’s overall approval rating is just above 30%.  It’s hard to believe it is even that high at this point.  But if a Republican candidate criticizes Trump or even says they don’t want his help campaigning, then they risk the wrath of Trump.  Ask MTG or Massie.

Peak Trump

I think we have passed peak Trump.  Trump has exerted an unbelievable amount of control over the Republican Party.  This is why there should be no excuse making for things like war or massive spending.  For example, Trump could easily make it a priority to get spending under control and force the hands of the Republicans in Congress.  But he doesn’t because he likes the big spending.

It is obvious that the Republicans are going to get destroyed in the mid-term elections.  The Democrats are heavily favored to gain a majority in the House.  There is a good chance they will also gain control of the Senate.

While giving the Democrats more power is a major problem, there will be something good that comes of it.  It will drastically reduce the influence of Trump.  It isn’t just because the Democrats may try to impeach Trump (probably over something stupid instead of starting an immoral and illegal war).

Trump will start to lose influence because there will be a realization, including among Republican politicians, that Trump just isn’t that popular any longer.

Shortly after Trump started his second term in January 2025, his approval rating was above 50%.  About 2 out of every 10 people who previously approved of Trump now disapprove of the job he is doing.  That is highly significant.

Buying Votes

At the lame Republican convention, Trump stated that if the Republicans maintain control over the House and Senate, then all adult Americans would receive a check for $5,000.  Of course, that check would not come from Donald Trump’s bank account.  It would come from the U.S. Treasury.  And the Treasury would only be able to get that money by issuing debt, which will be bought up by the Federal Reserve creating more money out of thin air.

This is a complete act of desperation from Trump.  It is more socialist that what we hear from many of the so-called democratic socialists.

There is also no reason to believe anything that Trump says these days.  I’m sure that $5,000 Trump check will come right after the tariff rebate check and the DOGE check.

It is unbelievable just how blatantly corrupt Trump has become.  It is typical in politics, but it is crazy just how open Trump is about it.

I remember even going back to when I was a teenager and young adult and seeing how politicians (Democrats in particular) would just openly try to buy votes.  I remember people like Dick Gephardt who would say that we need to tax the rich people more and use that money to give to poor people.  This was blatant enough for me.

It was Pedro:  “If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true.”

Now Trump is Pedro.  Vote for my side, and I will give you $5,000.

More Inflation

The government is already running an annual deficit in the neighborhood of $2 trillion.  This is especially absurd when you think that the stock market is near all-time highs and unemployment is relatively low.  We aren’t in any kind of official recession or financial crisis yet, but the deficits are still enormous.

If Trump actually kept this promise (bribe) and was able to get the Treasury to issue $5,000 checks to Americans, it would cost well in excess of $1 trillion.  It would be purely inflationary.

I mean, I would rather get a $5,000 check rather than have the government start another war or continue a war, but that isn’t the option being given.  Trump wants to continue all of his militarism and mass murder overseas while also going socialist at home.  Should I really be that scared of AOC at this point?

I don’t think anyone believes Trump at this point except for his devoted followers who consistently consume Fox News.

This is a desperate attempt by Trump, and it comes across as that.  It isn’t going to work on anyone, mostly because they don’t believe his empty promises.  Anyone who believes this promise would have voted Republican anyway.

Trump won’t have to break this promise because the Republicans are going to get destroyed in the mid-term elections, just as they deserve.

I recently took a trip with family and wanted to share my experience.  This is not a political piece, but I thought others might find my observations and experiences interesting.

We went to Iceland for one night.  We would have had a tight layover in Iceland, and Icelandair makes it easy to add a stay in Iceland with your flight.  We arrived in the morning (Iceland time) after not having much sleep on the plane.  Despite being tired, we rented a car and made the most of our time there.

We went into Reykjavik for lunch at Subway.  We were hungry and didn’t want to search for places to eat, so that is why we kept it safe for lunch.  After lunch we walked around for a few minutes.  Public restrooms are apparently not a common thing.  And restaurants typically won’t allow you to use their restrooms unless you are a customer.  We found this also to be common in Norway.

We drove the Golden Circle and saw a geyser, waterfalls, and a crater, among other things.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  We were fortunate to have a sunny day.

Gullfoss Falls was particularly impressive.  I have been to Niagara Falls before, and Gullfoss was at least comparable in size and beauty.  I had to look it up, and Niagara is bigger, but the falls in Iceland far exceeded my expectations.

Most people speak English in Iceland.  We talked to one man in Subway who spoke English to us.  He spoke Icelandic to the worker.  As if that wasn’t enough, he started speaking French to another group of people there.

My other comment about Iceland is that it is extremely expensive.  We found a place to stay for under $300 for the night.  It was tight, but it was clean and gave us a place to sleep.  It was more of a tiny apartment than a hotel, but it worked.  A typical hotel room will cost you in excess of $500 per night during the summer season.

The food is ridiculously expensive.  It didn’t get much better in Norway, but at least there were cheaper options in Norway.  We met or overheard several couples or families who were spending a week or more in Iceland.  I am not sure how I would feel about doing that.  It would be expensive, but the landscape is beautiful and it changes depending on the region.

Bergen, Norway

We spent six nights in Bergen, Norway, which is on the west coast of Norway.  It is the second biggest city in Norway.  While I haven’t seen Oslo, my guess is that Oslo has a bigger city feel.  Bergen can be busy when the cruise boats are docked, but it still has a quaint feel.

We were extremely lucky with the weather.  There was only one day where it rained most of the day.  We took a fjord cruise on that day, but the rain lightened up enough to get some good pictures.  The guide on the boat said that it rains 275 days out of the year in Bergen.  We had other days where it rained, but it was typically light and didn’t last long.  If you take a trip to Bergen, just know that you should expect rain.

We stayed in the heart of Bergen.  The fish market was only a few minutes walk.  We never needed a car there, which was nice.  There is a light rail train that goes from the airport into Bergen.  The last stop was walking distance to where we stayed.

We went to the top of Mount Floyen twice while we were there.  You can take a little train up the mountain, or you can hike.  We experienced both.

Our highlight day was taking a train into the mountains.  We took a two-hour train ride to Myrdal Station and then walked to a nearby zip line that we had booked.  It was about a mile walk.  We zip lined through the mountains, and it was absolutely gorgeous.  Then we rode bikes (provided as part of the zip line package) through the mountains.  It was mostly downhill.  We went about 18 kilometers until we arrived in the village of Flam.  The bike ride was wonderful because we could stop and take pictures and videos of the mountains and waterfalls.  We then took the Flam Railway back to Myrdal Station.

I would highly recommend doing this for anyone who is capable and up for an adventure.  If not, you can take the Flam Railway and see some of the great views.  But the benefit of biking is that you can stop and take your time.

The Culture

Most of the locals spoke some English.  I think they are used to a lot of tourists from Europe and North America.  You could typically find an English version of a menu.  Sometimes you have to click on the British flag on a kiosk.

Kiosks are quite common in the fast food restaurants.  We ate at both McDonald’s and Burger King because they were cheap (relatively speaking) and convenient options for lunch.  Both places offered an option of gluten-free buns.

We took the light rail one day to a mall where we had Burger King for lunch.  There was one worker back there getting all of the food ready.  He was quite fast and efficient.  I think there were only two people working there.  We ordered using a kiosk, so there was no cashier.

The workers at food places were generally young.  They all seemed to work hard.  They were helpful when asked.  The only business where the customer service wasn’t great on my trip was at the rental car place in Iceland.

The people in Norway are not generally overtly friendly.  We would pass by people hiking and most wouldn’t say a word when passing by.  There were several times I needed help like buying light rail tickets the first time and figuring out the dumpster for our garbage.  Whenever I asked someone for help, they were quite helpful when spoken to.  The workers in the restaurants and stores were typically quite friendly.  There was a juice/ smoothie place I went to multiple times.  One of the guys there remembered my name from two days before.

It is definitely a more homogenous society than what we know in the United States.  I am not saying that as good or bad, but you can see how things can function better with a centralized government.

They seemed to be very obsessed over not using plastic.  Instead of plastic utensils, you get these wooden utensils.  If you buy groceries, sometimes you have to pay extra for a plastic bag.  And when you get a bottle of water or some other drink, the cap stays attached at the top.  You can open it to take a drink, but the cap doesn’t completely come off.

In terms of food, fish is quite popular.  This makes sense since Bergen is on the water and they get fresh fish deliveries.  I also had a reindeer hot dog.  (It wasn’t Rudolph.  It was one of the reindeer that was picking on Rudolph.)  Aside from that, you can find American-type food like hamburgers and pizza.

Conclusion

I would recommend visiting Bergen, Norway.  Again, just expect some rain.  We had a good mix of activity while also enjoying some of the charm of the city.  Whatever you are planning to spend on food, double your budget.

I can’t say as much about Iceland because my time there was short.  It is quite expensive, but the scenery is unique and beautiful.

Six nights in Bergen was just the right amount of time for me.  We alternated our busy days with a more relaxing day.  I would recommend that strategy for most vacations.  You don’t have to constantly be on the go.

There has been a little turmoil in the bond market.  It isn’t just the U.S. bond market, as we have also seen trouble in Japan and even Europe.  But the U.S. bond market is the biggest player.

Yields have risen, although not dramatically.  There has definitely been some intervention on the part of the Treasury and the Fed, but we don’t fully know to what extent.  They are also admitting that there is intervention to come.

Maybe it’s not “admitting” so much as trying to build confidence in the system.  Just announcing  the future purchase of bonds helped to slightly lower interest rates, but it didn’t last long.

It reminds me of the oil market and Iran.  How many times did Trump announce that there was almost a deal or that the conflict would be over soon?  It would drive down the oil price until people realized that oil was still not getting through the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking of military conflict, Trump was asked by a reporter about the bond market.  Trump said: “We have many types of intervention.  That’s one.  The ultimate intervention is our military.  And if we have to use that, we will.”

WHAT?

I heard the commentators on CNBC just mocking Trump over the comment.  Someone said that the bond traders are dispersed, so you can’t just drop a bomb on a group of people.

Sure, leftist commentators on television often make fun of Trump.  But in this case, it was actually correct to mock him.

Is Trump saying that he is going to use the military against people who sell bonds?  I suppose anything is possible in this second term.

Trump can’t blame Iran for the bond market.  But even if he tried, he has already bombed Iran.

Is Trump talking about China?  He is going to start a war with China because the Chinese central bank is lowering their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities?

Trump has absolutely no idea what he is talking about, and the only thing he knows at this point is how to make threats.

The people around him are a bit more sophisticated, but don’t take that to mean that they will do the right thing.  The U.S. government just surpassed $40 trillion in debt, and there is no slowing down at this point.  The only ultimate solution these people have is to create even more money out of thin air.

Gold and Stocks

This is probably why the price of gold is going up again.  No matter how you interpret this turmoil in the bond market, it almost has to be good for gold.

If there is going to be more bond buybacks, as said by Bessent, how are they going to get the money to do that?  They can only create the money out of thin air.

Is this trouble in the bond market the straw that will break the camel’s back?  Trump and the Congress can only point to themselves in the mirror.  Maybe this wouldn’t be happening if they didn’t spend so much money and rack up so much debt.

The digital money printing may be good for stocks, but it also spells trouble for the overall economy.  A recession obviously wouldn’t be good for stocks in the short run.

I have said that the Fed won’t engage in massive monetary inflation to bail out the stock market, but it will do it for a crisis that threatens the major banks or the bond market.

Well, we already have trouble in the bond market, and we haven’t even hit a recession yet (that we know of).

I have zero confidence in this administration to do the right thing.  They like to speak against the “democratic socialists” when virtually everything this administration does involves some kind of socialism or economic fascism.

If we get a hard recession, we could see the deficit balloon even more than it already has.  This is not sustainable.

The U.S. national debt has surpassed the $40 trillion mark.  At this rate, we might hit $50 trillion by the end of Trump’s term in office.

Never mind that this comes out to about $300,000 per American household.  This national debt doesn’t even account for the massive unfunded liabilities of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.  Total estimates here range north of $100 trillion.

Meanwhile, interest rates are not near zero any more.  The 30-year yield is above 5%.  The 10-year yield is above 4.5%.  Those interest payments start to add up.

There is a race with federal spending between the military and the interest payments on the national debt.  Trump wants a $1.5 trillion annual military budget.  The ballooning interest payments on the national debt should catch up to that number in no time.

How Much Should a Burrito Cost?

There has been a great debate about the cost of a burrito over the last several weeks.  It originated when someone posted that a burrito shouldn’t cost $20.

We can play a technicality game here and say that a burrito should cost whatever the consumer is willing to pay.  Put another way, a burrito should cost what the market price is.

Of course, this misses the point.  In our world of massive monetary inflation and debt, a burrito should cost $20 because our money has been devalued.  The point of the original post about a $20 burrito is that prices are too high as compared to wages.  We have lost purchasing power because there is too much money in circulation.  The taxes, regulations, and other government interferences don’t help.

It was interesting seeing some of the pushback, which seemed to come from the politically conservative side.  It is really rich when it comes from the rabid war hawks.

They argue that burritos don’t have to cost $20.  Yes, we understand you can go to some places in the country and get a burrito for something like $12 (which is still a lot).  The person who posted about the $20 burrito was simply sharing their own experience.

Then we get the argument that these whiny kids shouldn’t be eating out.  They should be at home making rice and beans, ramen noodles, or whatever relatively cheap food you want to pick.  Aside from the bad health advice, this is a ridiculous argument.

More Freedom, Less War

We should be able to go out and buy a burrito, including younger people.  This is as much money as some people make in an hour (before taxes).

The problem for these “conservative” war hawks is that they need trillions of dollars of our money to fight their precious wars and to run an overseas empire.  Maybe if we weren’t bombing countries all over the planet, we would be paying significantly less for burritos and many other items.

It is interesting that some young people are looking to socialism for the answers.  The problem is that they think we live in a capitalist system.  We live in a very mixed economy.  We have market prices like a $20 burrito, but we don’t have a free market because the government is so involved in almost every aspect of our lives.

The so-called democratic socialists are correct that prices are too high and that something needs to change.  Unfortunately, their solutions are wrong.  Some of the more moderate socialists point to places like Sweden.  But Sweden is also a mixed economy like the U.S.  The difference is that Sweden has slightly more welfare spending while spending less on militarism.

While I would prefer far less government spending overall and for people to be able to keep more of their own money, I would take more at-home welfare spending in exchange for less military spending.

The people who always want more war and militarism shouldn’t be lecturing anyone on economic issues or fiscal conservatism.  If it were up to them, half or more of our money would go towards running an even bigger world empire.

Donald Trump never should have attacked Iran.  It has been by far the biggest mistake, politically speaking, of his presidency.  It is also the most evil thing he has done.

If you look at Trump’s first term, his biggest foreign policy mistakes also had to do with Iran.  He never should have abandoned the JCPOA.  He shouldn’t have assassinated Soleimani.

The Iranians never wanted conflict with the United States.  Trump did the bidding of Netanyahu and the Israeli government.  Previous presidents resisted this pressure, at least enough to not start a war with Iran.

Trump is a war criminal no matter what happens now.  Nothing can change that.  His actions have caused the death of thousands of innocent people in Iran.  He also threatened to destroy their civilization.  Even though he hasn’t yet followed through on that threat, it is still a great act of evil.  How would you feel if the president of China or the president of Russia said that a whole civilization would be destroyed in the coming days, and it happened to be where you live?

With that said, what is the best course that Trump can take from here to minimize any further loss of life?  Also, what can Trump do to get out of this politically?

The Ron Paul Idea

When Ron Paul ran for president and talked about being involved in overseas conflicts, he would say that we marched right in there, and we can march right out of there.  In other words, just bring the troops home.

Ron Paul still says these words to this day.  We can just leave right now.

This isn’t even a thought on Trump’s radar.  He is so stupid that he thinks he has to have some kind of a deal.  He just loves to negotiate.  Unfortunately, he has learned the hard way that you can’t negotiate by bullying if someone is able to fight back.

What Trump loves even more than making deals and negotiating is talking about making deals and negotiating.  This has become his thing.  He thinks it makes him look so smart and wonderful when he can announce a great deal and that we are winning because of his great deal.

But the best option for him at this point is to walk away without a deal.  Yes, the Strait of Hormuz is still fully controlled by Iran.  Let others figure this out.  If the U.S. government withdraws from the region and stops threatening Iran, then others will figure things out.  Iran will probably charge a toll to pass through.  They never did charge a toll before February 2026, but we can’t go back to those days now.  You have to cut your losses.

A Political Exit

If Trump just doesn’t have the intelligence or the humbleness to walk away without a “deal”, then he has other options.  He could return to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which is probably worse than just walking away.

We don’t know where $300 billion in reparations is going to come from, and Iran still maintains the right to charge a toll through the Strait of Hormuz.  But Trump can make his claim that we are making sure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, even though that was never really a valid issue in the first place.

As part of the MoU, Trump is supposed to stop making threats towards Iran.  It might literally be impossible for Trump to do this as long as he is alive.  Trump’s ego is getting in the way of success, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

Trump could return to the MoU, which is similar to the JCPOA except that Iran gets $300 billion or more in money, plus control over the Strait of Hormuz.  As absurd as this is, this is probably our best realistic chance for something of a lasting peace at this point.

So, let’s hope Trump makes his grand deal, declares victory, and stops bombing Iran.  Then he has to do the hard part and keep his mouth shut.  Either way, he will never have a 50% approval rating again.  He probably can’t even get back to 40% at this point.

It is possible to just walk away from this conflict that never should have been started.  Trump is probably not a good enough person or smart enough person to do such a thing.

• We are one and a half years into the second Donald Trump presidency.  His approval ratings are at 30%.  It’s amazing that 3 out of 10 Americans actually approve of the job he is doing.  Still, he was over 50% approval when he started out in early 2025.  That means that 2 out of every 10 people in this country have shifted from generally approving of Trump to disapproving of Trump.  He has lost the whole game.  All he has left is his authoritarianism and those who will listen to him.  He can still do a lot of damage without the consent of the people.

• Anthony Fauci is the face of COVID authoritarianism, but let’s remember that Trump kept him on the job throughout the end of his first term.

• Stephen A. Smith, the loudmouth sports (and political) commentator, recently issued an apology to Kyrie Irving for criticizing him for not taking the COVID jab.  I genuinely don’t know if this was a sincere apology or if he is just reading the room for a presidential run.  Maybe it’s both.

• What if Kevin Warsh and the Fed decide to hike interest rates at their next policy meeting?  Trump criticized Jerome Powell (to say the least) for being “too late” in lowering interest rates.  If Warsh votes to hike rates, shouldn’t this make him far worse in Trump’s book?  Of course, Trump just appointed Warsh, and most of what he says and does doesn’t make sense these days.

• Prior to the U.S./ Israel attack on Iran in February 2026, there was no reason to believe that Iranian officials wanted to get nuclear weapons.  They probably have more motivation now than ever before to get nuclear weapons.  Prior to the attack, the Strait of Hormuz was wide open without any tolls.  Now, the Iranians fully control the Strait and will probably charge tolls for a long time to come if it is open at all.  If this is winning, then I am tired of winning.

• The U.S. national debt will hit $40 trillion soon.  This seems to have no impact on the stock market.  If anything, investors like the fact that there will have to be more money creation out of thin air.

• The U.S. government is now spending over $7 trillion per year.  That is over $20,000 per year for every single person.  It is over $50,000 per household.  This doesn’t include state and local spending.  Are you getting $50,000 worth of benefits from the federal government every single year?

• The Republicans should get destroyed in the mid-term elections, just as they deserve.  They put war and special interests far ahead of the American people.  But don’t underestimate the stupidity and evil of the Democratic Party.  They still think Fauci is a hero.

• The establishment media likes to make a big deal that cases for measles have risen.  They want to blame this on RFK Jr., even though he hasn’t banned any vaccines.  Kennedy and others in the MAHA movement need to stop fighting in defensive mode.  What is the problem with getting the measles?  Death from the measles is very rare, and when it does happen, it is usually because of mistreatment or some other underlying issue.  We have seen massive increases in cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and so many other things over the last several decades, yet the media is going to dwell on something that is barely a threat to anyone.  What if getting the measles and other childhood illnesses help fight off the more serious diseases later in life?  Perhaps the biggest danger of some vaccines is that they are preventing the body from getting a minor disease that properly develops the body to fight more serious diseases.

• For the hardcore democratic socialists out there, how far are you willing to take your agenda?  In your perfect world, would someone be able to own their own toothbrush?

• Envy can be a very dangerous thing.  If you see someone successful (through honest means), you are in a bad place if you are simply trying to tear that person down for being successful.  If you listen to some of these so-called democratic socialists, the end goal often isn’t to make poor people wealthier.  The end goal is to actually tear down those with wealth.