2.0

Ending pennies, “Gulf of America Day”, and Bringing Back Plastic Straws.

SO MUCH ACCOMPLISHED in just 3 long, exhausting weeks!

Oh, and Tesla and Star Link CEO, Lonnie Skum, ‘scuse me, Elon Musk, South African White man, weaseled and sleazed his way into the Oval Office at The White House, holding court while fat, orange dotard Donald Jessica Trump sat behind the resolute desk looking incredibly bored and Lonnie muttered on.

 

This current poll, according to Reuters, shows Trump's approval/disapproval ratings at their lowest point in over 70 years and continuing to tank. Wow!

 And then there's this, from the Official White House Twitter/X account:

He/They posted that in response to ending, finishing, or whatever, New York City's "Congestion Parking" thing, because again, you know, King!  BIGLY!

Social Skills of Teens and 20-somethings

They have no social skills. Period.  Why? Simple when the first started going to school or started going away to daycare, Mommy and Daddy were feeling separation anxiety.

It’s a very real thing, but the problem is that little Johnny and Janie were feeling the same thing and at some point they started feeding off of each other.

Then when they finally got into school, as young as 3^rd grade, Mommy and/or Daddy insisted that Johnny or Janie (or both) had phones so that any time they felt afraid, or nervous or ANY other slightly uncomfortable feeling, the kid could pick up his phone and call Mommy or Daddy.  Perfectly normal behavior, right ? 

NO. NOT IN THE LEAST. Let me explain. The child is supposed to be focused and present, (not just physically) but mentally present in class. If he’s dealing with Mommy, the teacher cannot help him/her. So, yes, that’s a problem.

The other thing about phones, it allows kids/teens/adults to disconnect with other people and just, well, not have to deal with them. Hmm.  Let’s let that simmer for a few minutes.

So, if Mommy or Daddy allows their little prince, or princess, to NEVER have to talk to another person, what will the outcome be?  Hmm.

A touch of sarcasm in there, but no, not really. That’s reality we’re in now where young people, frightened, scared and confused, don’t know how to deal with other people, mostly other adults of ANY age.  Are those feelings valid? No.  Not when the other person simply wants to ask simple questions like directions, time of day, basic stuff.

Finger pointing ==>> Mommy and Daddy allowing that behavior by giving the kid a phone, with NO restrictions and NEVER monitoring what they’re doing.

So, basically, YES, very socially awkward, low functioning adults.  Sometimes of course you can call your parent(s) and ask for advice, but other times, MOST OF THE TIME you DO need to deal with things on your own, by yourself, because you’re an adult.

The decision making gets easier, but you have to take that first step and TRY.

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Oh, and while we’re at it, when someone takes the time to say, “Thank you,” the correct and appropriate response, and there is ONLY one correct and appropriate response, you say in return, “You’re welcome,”  NOT “No problem.”  (I know, I know… that’s not gonna happen.)

Breaking News. This Just In. From Lonnie Skum.

 

 

Please don't ask. I had no idea, even with modern medicine and science, that people were living to be almost 4 centuries old. 

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Where is the evidence?

There was no response to a request for more information from the Social Security Administration to explain what Musk is referring to or where the chart he shared comes from.

Until they provide some evidence that there are tens of millions of fraudulent claims going to dead people, let’s look at the large amount of evidence that there are not tens of millions of such claims.

Less than 1% in improper payments. Still too much

Which is not to say there is no fraud in Social Security. There is. And when an agency pays out more than $1 trillion in benefits each year to more than 70 million Americans, a rounding error is real money. Social Security acknowledges paying less than 1% of benefits improperly, most of it in overpayments. That’s according to a 2024 report by the Social Security inspector general. Trump fired IGs at multiple agencies when he took office, including the person who at that time was the acting inspector general of the Social Security Administration.

In January, just before Trump took office, the Treasury Department announced it had recovered $31 million in payments to deceased individuals over a five-month period, by using data from Social Security’s master file of hundreds of millions of deceased individuals, which is distinct from its payment information.

“These results are just the tip of the iceberg,” said then-Treasury official Assistant Secretary David Lebryk, who later resigned after his own run-in with DOGE officials over access to the Treasury Department payment system.

How many 100-year-olds are getting Social Security? Fewer than 100,000

So there’s more to do here, clearly. Over the course of the past 10 years there have been multiple reports looking at the millions of Social Security numbers associated with birthdays that occurred more than 100 years ago. But there’s no evidence of tens of millions of people over the age of 100 being paid benefits.

In fact, the Social Security Administration does keep up to date on who it is paying, and according to the most recent data, the number of beneficiaries 99 or older was less than 90,000 in this country of more than 330 million. But that’s in line with the 101,000 Americans who are 100 or older, according to Pew.

“There is not like a zombie apocalypse of people, you know, cadavers running around with social security checks coming out of their pockets,” the former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley told CNN. More frequently, he said, the agency has to restart payments after they are erroneously shut off.

 

Kinda reminds me of this:

... and this is somehow "a thing" now. Just, you know, because.

 

Donald apparently isn't aware, or more likely, just doesn't care that there's a global entity that names bodies of water like this, NOT one person.