Ain't Social Security Grand after DOGE and Government Shutdowns?
Another day of craziness on the Homefront. No, not the Trump war zone in whatever state he’s stationed the National Guard to help with the battle against illegal aliens who should have been sent out of the country long ago by previous administrations since they ARE “illegal.” But the battle on my home front—this time with health insurance and retirement benefits taking up the day.
Not a personal health crisis but a personal government crisis as we learn from Social Security that our retirement benefits would not begin at the end of this month as we had scheduled. Neither would our Medicare benefits. Yet, my wife already retired last week, and her work is the one that provided our healthcare. Never mind that she and I applied four months in advance of the end of her work for Social Security and our full-retirement date. Never mind that she applied a month in advance of the normal timeframe for Medicare Part B, and I applied just (supposedly) in the nick of time.
After spending FIVE HOURS waiting on hold with SSA yesterday afternoon—having been promised a wait of, at least, two hours (they like to overdeliver on their promises, I guess.)—the call ended without ever talking to a human being when their national office closed and said “Please call again when we are open. Good-bye.” So, we tried to schedule a meeting at the local office to get things straightened out. The local office’s site said scheduling an appointment was nearly essential to getting in. Naturally, the only phone number provided for scheduling a local appointment was the same national 800 number that had kept her on hold for a five-hour wait during which time she did other things but had to listen to the ear-grinding, endless, so-called music loop.
My wife asked me if I supposed Elon would just cut us a check to cover our medical expenses. Suspecting the Elon route would work, she spent time with SSA today at their local office by just walking in without an appointment, and I drove into town to join her. They assured, “Everything will turn out fine,” even though their website communications with us say otherwise. “Don’t worry about it. Your retirement benefits and Medicare will both be approved the day before your work benefits end.” (Our insurance broker’s own computer had also told her that no plan could be approved because SSA had not given the initial approval for that step.) So, until then, we get no hint of status, but wait with fingers crossed.
So, no article again today, but here are the headlines I pulled together before trekking off to town to join my wife for an afternoon of “fun with the SSA.” I’ll try to pull together a DEEPER DIVE this weekend based on whatever headlines I find most interesting from the past week and then hope next week normalizes.
Economania (national & global economic collapse plus market news)
S&P 500 closes little changed Friday, posts weekly loss amid raft of Trump comments
Trump government stakes give Midas touch to companies he picks
Biggest offshore wind project in U.S. to resume construction after judge lifts Trump suspension
Money Matters (monetary policy, metals, cryptos, currency wars & going cashless)
Is This Billionaire a Financial Genius or a Ponzi Fraudster?
Wars & Rumors of War (including cyberwar, civil unrest and revolts)
Middle East allies urge Trump to hold off on Iran strikes
Netanyahu to Trump: Israel Not Ready for a Short War with Iran
—
Canadian, British and German troops in Greenland, but Trump and White House stay defiant
‘Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard’: Republicans amp up their resistance to Trump’s Greenland push
—
Venezuela Opposition Leader, Machado, Hands Over Nobel to Trump
Machado presents her Nobel award to Trump, prompting incredulity in Norway
—
Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act to quell anti-ICE protests in Minnesota
Digital Dominance (AI threats, transhumanism, hacks & cyberattacks, etc.)
Great Replacement: Trump Boasts Robots Will Replace Jobs Gaps At Ford Auto Plant.
Reports Of ‘AI Psychosis’ Are On The Rise. A Psychiatrist Explains What To Look Out For
Trump Trade Wars & Turf Wars
Canada turns to China as Trump’s tariffs and threats bring foes together
Political Pandemonium & Social Senescence (socio-political issues & events)
WATCH: ‘Can men get pregnant?’ U.S. senator lights into doctor who can’t answer simple question
ICE Officer Shoots Illegal Alien after Being Ambushed by Accomplices with a Shovel
Trump is sending $500 Million from Venezuela oil to offshore bank in Qatar
Trump team talking immigration strategies after ICE blowback
CNN poll finds majority of Americans say Trump is focused on the wrong priorities
Trump to pardon ex-Puerto Rico governor Vázquez in campaign finance case
Trump unveils big beautiful health-care plan outline as Congress wrestles over Obamacare subsidies
Just a shout out for unity, David. Happy friday to all from sea to shining sea!
"The person down the street who votes differently than you is not your enemy. They are your neighbor. They worry about the same things you worry about. They want their kids to be safe and their bills to be paid and their country to be a place worth living in. They have been manipulated just like you have been manipulated, fed a different flavor of the same poison, sorted into a different tribe by the same algorithm, pointed at you as the enemy by the same people who point you at them.
The working class Republican and the working class Democrat have more in common with each other than either of them has with the billionaire class that funds both parties.
You share the same struggles. You face the same rigged systems. You are being crushed by the same economic forces that have transferred more wealth upward in the last fifty years than at any point in human history. And instead of uniting against the people doing this to you, you are screaming at each other on the internet about pronouns and flags and whatever fresh outrage the algorithm served up this morning.
This is exactly what they want. A nation at war with itself cannot resist a takeover. A people consumed by mutual hatred will accept any authority that promises to protect them from the manufactured enemy. Every empire that fell was divided before it was conquered. Every free people who lost their freedom were set against each other first.
The red versus blue war is not real. It is a show put on by people who own both teams. It is professional wrestling and you think it is a real fight. The wrestlers go backstage after the match and laugh together while you are still screaming at the guy in the other section who was rooting for the wrong character.
This Is Our Country Not Theirs
This nation belongs to the people who live here and work here and raise families here and will be buried here. It does not belong to billionaires who hold citizenship in three countries and will flee to their bunkers the moment things get bad. It does not belong to tech oligarchs who view democracy as an obstacle to efficiency. It does not belong to foreign interests who have purchased so much influence that they might as well be writing our laws themselves.
We have to stop letting them divide us. We have to start seeing each other as fellow Americans again instead of enemy combatants in a culture war that was manufactured to keep us weak. We have to remember that the person screaming at us online is also a victim of the same manipulation, and maybe if we stopped screaming back and started talking, we might realize we have been fighting the wrong enemy this entire time.
Turn off the television. It is not informing you. It is programming you. Question everything, including the sources you trust, especially the sources you trust. Talk to people who disagree with you and do it without trying to win. Listen to why they believe what they believe. You might discover that the monster you have been told to hate is actually just another person trying to make sense of a confusing world with imperfect information, exactly like you.
Remember who you are. You are an American. Your ancestors came to this land or were brought to this land or were already on this land, and regardless of how they got here, they built something together that was supposed to be different from the old world’s tyrannies and aristocracies. That project is not finished. Every generation has to fight to keep it alive against the forces that want to drag us back to a world where a handful of rulers own everything and everyone else serves at their pleasure.
The billionaires are building robot armies because they know what is coming. They know that eventually the population will wake up and realize what has been done to them. They are preparing for that day. The question is whether we wake up before they finish building, or after.
Stop letting them divide you. Your enemies are not your neighbors. Your enemies are the people who profit from your division and are building machines to replace you the moment you are no longer useful.
Start acting like it before it is too late". —The Wise Wolf