I’m sure all of you have heard about the disaster Elmo is causing over at Treasury, having gained access for himself and his boy toys to the payments system.
Before anything else: if you have a Social Security number, then you have an account with Social Security. Link here. If you are not yet collecting Social Security, go to the site and log in. If you’ve never done this before, or haven’t done it in a while, you will need to have either a login.gov or ID.me account. Find your statement, and then scroll down to the history section which displays how much money you earned each year. The final year will either be 2023 or 2024. If it is 2023, come back in a couple weeks and you’ll be able to see your 2024 income, which may impact the projected benefit1.
Download your full statement. Keep a paper copy, along with any copy you might keep on your computer, or especially, in the cloud2. If you are collecting Social Security, download the history of your benefit payouts. Again, print and save.
Make sure that what you print has a date on it. If your computer doesn’t do that automatically, write the date on the paper.
Back to Elmo.
I have questions.
First, where does Elmo get his information? I’m pretty sure that the answer is Twitter. He absorbs the same nonsense that others fall prey to3. That means his world view is more skewed than anyone would like to see in someone with the keys to the kingdom.
Second, why does he want to promote China over the United States? I wonder if this is because he’s not an American, but rather a South African, and he thinks he can make more money on China controlling Africa than if the US has influence on that continent. Also, his supply chain is China-dependent. Benjamins, baby.
Then, why did he choose numbskulls to be his eyes and ears at DOGE? Wired has the deets.
Next, how did he convince Scott Bessent to give him access? It’s an impeachable offense, although it’s unlikely the House and Senate have the collective balls to take action against Scott. If you need more info, it’s here.
I wonder.
What I do NOT wonder about is the criminal intent that Elmo has: he wants to raid the US Treasury because being the world’s richest sociopath isn’t enough for him.
I am thrilled and excited that elected officials were out protesting on Monday. Also thrilled and excited about the protests planned throughout the week. Remember: BE CAREFUL. If you are going to attend any public action, be certain you know who is sponsoring, what the plan is, and that you understand the appropriate laws. For example, in some places, you can be on a sidewalk, but you cannot be in the street.
Protests are just gearing up. They are going to grow. I’ll have a post out soon about what to bring, how to act, things like that.
THIS IS THE START OF THE RESISTANCE! Remember, we only need 3.5% of the population for things to change.
On a personal note, yesterday I saw the specialist about my leg. Thanks to everyone who sent good thoughts. I’m a big fan of my legs. Both of them. I especially appreciate them on the days that they can take me where I want to go without needing the assistance of a wheelchair, crutches, ankle-to-thigh brace, or other support.
I thought a lot about my legs during the waiting time. Part of it related to the fact that this doctor is a throwback. The office still uses paper files. When you call the office, humans answer the phone, no screens. And mostly, there was a giant fish tank in the waiting room. A fish tank with giant, healthy fish. When I was a kid, my grandmother’s doctor told me that one of the ways to evaluate how competent a doctor was involved checking out the fish: were they healthy? Was the tank clean? A doctor who made sure fish were well cared for, he told my 8-year-old self, would take good care of YOU.
I flashed back to when I needed knee surgery and due to the schedule of the surgeon, and the schedule of my client, I spent a week in Cambridge, MA giving technical training to 400 people with a really bad knee. Because I was in that ankle-to-thigh brace and on crutches, it was impossible to dress “corporate” as the situation required. The client knew in advance, and said they didn’t care. So there I was, amoungst the suits and designer dresses in sneakers, leggings, brace, and short cotton dresses. This was before people generally had those sealed containers for coffee. The ONE THING you cannot carry around on crutches is a hot beverage in a paper cup or coffee mug. These people were so terrific, and actually, respectful of the work I did, that they assigned one of their interns whose job it was to make sure that I had my favorite Starbucks “coffee-flavored-beverage” at all times.
I was thinking about that while waiting because it reminded me of the world we used to have. Where people made allowances for other people’s limitations. When people were kind. When meritocracy ruled. I cling tenaciously to the idea that we CAN get back to that.
Here’s what you want to know: the thing in my leg is not cancer. For sure and absolutely. NOT CANCER. My cancer is still in remission. What is the thing in my left gastrocnemius? We still don’t know. The next step is physical therapy. If that doesn’t work, there’s a plan in place for other options, but cross your fingers for the PT. As I told the doctor, I need to be able to be mobile because I have to help save democracy and America. He and his office staff will all be voting in the upcoming primary, along with the general, and have requested information for their different counties regarding for whom to vote in the primary. (They’re all set for the general.) As I always tell you, integrate politics into your daily life4.
They’re supposed to have the 2024 numbers “in early February” but it’s dependent on receiving W-4 information from employers.
Many people ONLY store things in the cloud. This is bad, and I’ve written before about the imperative of having important documents, photos, etc., stored either on your computer or an external hard drive.
People claim that Elmo is smart. I have my doubts. I really do.
No, I cannot help myself.
So happy to hear you are cancer-free.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. We need you on the frontline of the Resistance to Der Fuehrer Trompf's Road to Perdition.