NEEDLES! playing music and singing songs on the far side works best for me-after B's sermons twice a week is all the medicine I need to cure those walking blues-and always brings a happy laugh! Laughter is the medicine for the soul -thank you
Can I get a hallelujah? And don't forget your liederhosen, Brother Michael! Speaking of The Cure, that sounds like just the soundtrack I need right now...
That key to the vault of freedom is to end military adventures to keep US Dollar as reserve currency. Medicare-it feeds the MIC more than any other program. I can pay 14oo a year
for med insurance and receive 100, 000. worth unnecessary medical opinions and other witchcraftry practices! What a racket-the criminals need their "expert" grift expertise. They need 100% occupency in the resort called a hospital-waiting for them charge(tax) u for the air breathe in that resort.
That about sums it up. If you think health care is too expensive, wait till the trough runs dry and all those specialists and hanger-on have to compete in an open market. We'll be back to neighborhood docs and house calls in no time flat.
Great article and all too true. Here are the Social Security rules for when you die:
"What to do when someone dies
Learn when and how to report a death, and what benefits we offer to eligible family members.
How to report a death
Funeral homes generally tell us when someone dies. So, you don’t typically need to report a death to us.
If a funeral home isn’t involved or doesn't report the death for some reason, you should call us and provide the name, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death for the person who died.
Call +1 800-772-1213
Call TTY +1 800-325-0778 if you're deaf or hard of hearing.
Available in most U.S. time zones Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., in English, Spanish, and other languages.
Outside the United States
If you live outside the United States, contact a Federal Benefits Unit. If the person who died was a U.S. citizen, you should also report the death to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate."
Rufus, you could contact the Federal Benefits Unit and say you're dead I suppose.
All the more reason to buy a nice piece of land and start a family plot out back. Get the local doc to sign the family bible and dig a hole. You'll find owning a tractor with a back-hoe a real blessing at times like there.
Have you mentioned this to Elon and Vivek yet? I think your plan is the best I've ever heard. I wonder if they would agree? Better send this out to them on X. It'll get a lot of comments and attention.
I've posted some of it to wake people up to seeing the Albatross,......but Elon gets really pissed if you pick on his favorite H-1B Visas! He said he'd make us suffer if we posted against it. So I did it, just to see if he'd ban me from X. I think in many ways, X makes me miserable. So, I'll POKE the Doge!
I'm having lunch with them next week. I'll certainly bring it up.
Several folks on TwiX did forward a link to them, though I haven't received any invites to discuss my vision yet. I expect they are busy and will get back to me soon.
....yet another person who wants to call my Social Security a "Freebie". Amazing. I don't recall any of it being "free" as I was FORCED to work my ass off and pay into it. I do recall being incensed as a 16 year old, who had been cutting grass, baby-sitting and busting my ass as a Caddie since the age of ten...that as I took my new job at McDonald's....I was FORCED to enroll in the SS System. I remember it like it was yesterday. When I asked about opting out of the further theft of my wages...I will never forget being told that I was not "allowed" to keep my own money, and was FORCED to join SS. From 16 to the age of 49....I worked, worked, worked and worked some more. I left McDonald's at the age of 17 to work on a tow boat running The Mississippi River from St. Louis to The Gulf of Mexico. I went back to McDonald's and became an Assistant Manager at McDonald's at the age of 18....and was a Facility Manager of a multi-million dollar McDonald's by the age of 22. I worked 18-24 hours a day...learning all that I could about excelling at Management. By the age of 24...I was traveling the country developing management for McDonald's. I left McDonald's in my late 20's and went to work for US DoD. I worked and lived all over the world, I deployed to war zones, climbed Mt. Fuji, jumped out of planes and excelled at my work. I was a Federally Protected Whistle Blower by the age of 29, as I refused to particpate in the criminal conduct of our government. I was abused for two decades in my role as a Whistle Blower....and I made sure that I excelled in my work all across the globe. During the 35 years I worked...I was FORCED to pay into SS. At the age of 49, I was dignosed as having been epileptic throughout my life, and enduring "unobserved seizures". I was told that I have a condition called Post Seizure Fugue State, where once I have a seizure, I can perform remarkable tasks for about an hour, and have no awareness of doing anything, or memory of having done anything. This culminated in me unknowingly driving....and going off a 200 foot cliff at 70 mph. I was ripped from the twisting car, sucked out the back window...and tossed 200 feet down the cliff. I was rescued by a helicoptor lift basket, and endured a multiple broken back, multiple broken neck, crushed tailbone, 6 broken ribs, a 93 stitch gash across my face, and a 19 staple gouge to my brain....damaging my cognitive skills and memory. In spite of the obvious condition of my epilepsy and my injuries, it took two years for SS to approve my disability...and during that time I went broke. After decades of hard work....paying into the system...a system from which I would have been entitled to benefits even if I'd never worked a day of my disabled life...I ended up spending my considerable savings and standing in food lines to survive. But now that I have to take advantage of the SS System....that I paid into for 35 years....I am somehow getting "freebies" from a system I paid into, and which promised me a return on my investment. Your logic, and your description of my earned benefits is highly flawed.
Actually, your remarkable story proves my point...everything you paid in went to someone else, either a recipient of "freebies" or given to foreign countries as "aid". Since you mentioned "considerable savings," you are obviously wise with your money. Suppose you had been allowed to keep all of it and invest it as you saw fit? Would you possibly be better off now, especially when you were living and working overseas and not receiving any benefit at all from the government?
As someone who lost my eyesight to MS 16 years ago, I can understand your predicament. And as someone who has lived and worked overseas for a significant amount of my life, paying into a system from which I have gotten nothing, certainly not from the embassies and consulates whose primary function is to aid citizens abroad, I can certainly commiserate with your anger and frustration. If t he system was so great, the CONgresscritters wouldn't have created their own privileged system.
Back to the original point, the system needs to be abolished. That doesn't help folks like you now, though a lump-sum buy out might be some consolation. I am not writing from some theoretical or special perspective. I was robbed, like you, and I want to return to personal responsibility, where you and I aren't paying for folks who game the system to their advantage.
The salaries and perks are nothing in comparison to what they rake in with their insider trading. None of them would blink an eye if it was suddenly removed altogether. It's simply an insult to the general population.
Politics is a social class unto itself, wherein all members are obliged to surrender to the moral morass as a rite of passage into the club. Idealists are viewed with deep suspicion and aren't allowed to join in reindeer games.
My contention is that SS is a political tar baby. It is the foundation of and perpetuates the federal income tax, and is the means by which the system forces citizens to adhere to the status quo. No one will want to fundamentally rewire the system for fear that it will destroy the social safety nets.
By comparison, Indonesia has a system where the employee and employer contribute equal amounts from every paycheck, and if you leave the employer or retire, you can elect a lump-sum payout or monthly payments. I took my lump sum. Each taxpayer has an individual account that earns a (tiny) amount of interest, and functions independently of the general budget.
Your point is well taken......in an ideal situation - but if Karl's premise is real, Trump is about to face a national financial challenge which will overwhelm every other of his presidency - and interestingly, no one is talking about it, including the alternative media - it just doesn't seem to be very interesting to anyone. If the rate of deficits of the first two months of this year's fiscal year continue - we're screwed! Can you imagine a 15+% inflation rate later this year? Weimar anyone?
My experience - especially lately - is that what the authorities talk about is just a distraction from the real world.
You are most kind, thank you! I have to wonder how tenable my ideas are, though. They require a fundamental rethinking of what government is and what we should expect from it. What we have now was a fundamental overhaul of 17th and 18th century notions, and while not impossible, we are far more reliant on gov't now than we were then. In any case, big ideas have humble beginnings. We can always hope.
Rufus, I just finished watching "Sully" the great Clint Eastwood movie about the airliner landing on the Hudson. As an aircraft mechanic, I can tell you the odds of that successful landing with no lives lost was about 1% or less.
Eastwood also made a movie about the bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta, where the media and the government went after the hero of the tale. It's an all too common story. The bad guys win, and the good guys are castigated.
Unfortunately, although "all governments everywhere and at all times are completely worthless and utterly untenable," they are very popular with those who derive much of their income from the MICIMATT complex.
Have to agree almost 100% with your what needs to happen next Mr. Farside. Hopefully the list of alphabet agencies needing elimination was only a start--probably dozens more., As for the congress critters, I may be a little more generous on the term limits (but not much), and obviously lobbying needs to be called what it really is (bribery) and treated as crime. Maybe the elimination of the 17th amendment would also be a good thing, ensuring that the senate does indeed represent the interests of the state governments as intended in the constitution.
having paid into the social security system for probably 50 years--much of which were "self employed" meaning both sides of the social security tax --I do look forward to that monthly 1200 +change deposit Helps keep the farm critters fed. But a lump some buy out would be worth considering. Anyway, great column, happy new year all, and I've got to get a couple of round bales out before the deep freeze sets in on the old hunkerdown.
I would have included more agencies, but I ran out of alphabet. As for lobbyists, ugh! And don't forget the whole revolving door thing with the bureautrogs leaving their posts after ramming through regulations, then selling their back-door knowledge to the highest bidders. But the largest budget item in Worthlesston is bennies. I remember learning in civics class that the fed were only supposed to regulate relations between the States and handle international affairs. Somehow the bastids found their way into our light bulbs and toilet flushes. As for term limits, I would rather have zero terms, but I'll concede to 6-year stretches for all of them, so that us little guys have a chance to get in on the double secret goodies, too.
Ponzi schemes, by their nature, rely on voluntary participation and typically lack any genuine profit-generating investment, with funds from new participants simply paying earlier ones. In contrast, Social Security is a mandatory program, with contributions from workers directed into U.S. Treasury Bonds, a form of government-backed investment. I'm not saying Social Security is a good thing, but it isn't as bad as a Ponzi scheme.
Technically, SS is "voluntary". Of course, without an SSN, there ain't no bank accounts, water delivery, internet access, job, and pappy can't deduct you because you are a non-person. Most people "choose" the path of least resistance. That's not technically "mandatory".
One way some people minimize their Social Security 'contribution' while holding a regular job is by structuring their pay cleverly—setting their nominal salary at minimum wage and receiving a hefty 'per diem allowance' to cover the rest. The IRS permits tax-free per diem rates of up to $318 per day in high-cost areas and $214 in low-cost areas for legitimate business expenses. While this tactic leans toward the questionable side of tax strategy, a relative of mine, who worked as an itinerant aircraft mechanic, managed to pull it off for nearly two decades. Now retired, he grumbles about receiving just $1,200 a month in Social Security benefits, compared to his brother, a truck driver, who pulls in $2,600. It seems the savings back then have come with a cost today.
House calls? They say the house never loses in the world of casinos. I'd rather roll the dice on of those magic shots of the thirsty needle giving me the fountasin of youth, as Fauci always seeks the truth! And Biden acting like a clown in charge of his affairs-George Soros gettin g that medal of honor for destroying the Great USSA!
As boffo an article as you may find
Now there's an adjective that needs to be revived! Cheers!
NEEDLES! playing music and singing songs on the far side works best for me-after B's sermons twice a week is all the medicine I need to cure those walking blues-and always brings a happy laugh! Laughter is the medicine for the soul -thank you
Can I get a hallelujah? And don't forget your liederhosen, Brother Michael! Speaking of The Cure, that sounds like just the soundtrack I need right now...
That key to the vault of freedom is to end military adventures to keep US Dollar as reserve currency. Medicare-it feeds the MIC more than any other program. I can pay 14oo a year
for med insurance and receive 100, 000. worth unnecessary medical opinions and other witchcraftry practices! What a racket-the criminals need their "expert" grift expertise. They need 100% occupency in the resort called a hospital-waiting for them charge(tax) u for the air breathe in that resort.
That about sums it up. If you think health care is too expensive, wait till the trough runs dry and all those specialists and hanger-on have to compete in an open market. We'll be back to neighborhood docs and house calls in no time flat.
Great article and all too true. Here are the Social Security rules for when you die:
"What to do when someone dies
Learn when and how to report a death, and what benefits we offer to eligible family members.
How to report a death
Funeral homes generally tell us when someone dies. So, you don’t typically need to report a death to us.
If a funeral home isn’t involved or doesn't report the death for some reason, you should call us and provide the name, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death for the person who died.
Call +1 800-772-1213
Call TTY +1 800-325-0778 if you're deaf or hard of hearing.
Available in most U.S. time zones Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., in English, Spanish, and other languages.
Outside the United States
If you live outside the United States, contact a Federal Benefits Unit. If the person who died was a U.S. citizen, you should also report the death to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate."
Rufus, you could contact the Federal Benefits Unit and say you're dead I suppose.
All the more reason to buy a nice piece of land and start a family plot out back. Get the local doc to sign the family bible and dig a hole. You'll find owning a tractor with a back-hoe a real blessing at times like there.
Have you mentioned this to Elon and Vivek yet? I think your plan is the best I've ever heard. I wonder if they would agree? Better send this out to them on X. It'll get a lot of comments and attention.
I've posted some of it to wake people up to seeing the Albatross,......but Elon gets really pissed if you pick on his favorite H-1B Visas! He said he'd make us suffer if we posted against it. So I did it, just to see if he'd ban me from X. I think in many ways, X makes me miserable. So, I'll POKE the Doge!
I'm having lunch with them next week. I'll certainly bring it up.
Several folks on TwiX did forward a link to them, though I haven't received any invites to discuss my vision yet. I expect they are busy and will get back to me soon.
....yet another person who wants to call my Social Security a "Freebie". Amazing. I don't recall any of it being "free" as I was FORCED to work my ass off and pay into it. I do recall being incensed as a 16 year old, who had been cutting grass, baby-sitting and busting my ass as a Caddie since the age of ten...that as I took my new job at McDonald's....I was FORCED to enroll in the SS System. I remember it like it was yesterday. When I asked about opting out of the further theft of my wages...I will never forget being told that I was not "allowed" to keep my own money, and was FORCED to join SS. From 16 to the age of 49....I worked, worked, worked and worked some more. I left McDonald's at the age of 17 to work on a tow boat running The Mississippi River from St. Louis to The Gulf of Mexico. I went back to McDonald's and became an Assistant Manager at McDonald's at the age of 18....and was a Facility Manager of a multi-million dollar McDonald's by the age of 22. I worked 18-24 hours a day...learning all that I could about excelling at Management. By the age of 24...I was traveling the country developing management for McDonald's. I left McDonald's in my late 20's and went to work for US DoD. I worked and lived all over the world, I deployed to war zones, climbed Mt. Fuji, jumped out of planes and excelled at my work. I was a Federally Protected Whistle Blower by the age of 29, as I refused to particpate in the criminal conduct of our government. I was abused for two decades in my role as a Whistle Blower....and I made sure that I excelled in my work all across the globe. During the 35 years I worked...I was FORCED to pay into SS. At the age of 49, I was dignosed as having been epileptic throughout my life, and enduring "unobserved seizures". I was told that I have a condition called Post Seizure Fugue State, where once I have a seizure, I can perform remarkable tasks for about an hour, and have no awareness of doing anything, or memory of having done anything. This culminated in me unknowingly driving....and going off a 200 foot cliff at 70 mph. I was ripped from the twisting car, sucked out the back window...and tossed 200 feet down the cliff. I was rescued by a helicoptor lift basket, and endured a multiple broken back, multiple broken neck, crushed tailbone, 6 broken ribs, a 93 stitch gash across my face, and a 19 staple gouge to my brain....damaging my cognitive skills and memory. In spite of the obvious condition of my epilepsy and my injuries, it took two years for SS to approve my disability...and during that time I went broke. After decades of hard work....paying into the system...a system from which I would have been entitled to benefits even if I'd never worked a day of my disabled life...I ended up spending my considerable savings and standing in food lines to survive. But now that I have to take advantage of the SS System....that I paid into for 35 years....I am somehow getting "freebies" from a system I paid into, and which promised me a return on my investment. Your logic, and your description of my earned benefits is highly flawed.
Actually, your remarkable story proves my point...everything you paid in went to someone else, either a recipient of "freebies" or given to foreign countries as "aid". Since you mentioned "considerable savings," you are obviously wise with your money. Suppose you had been allowed to keep all of it and invest it as you saw fit? Would you possibly be better off now, especially when you were living and working overseas and not receiving any benefit at all from the government?
As someone who lost my eyesight to MS 16 years ago, I can understand your predicament. And as someone who has lived and worked overseas for a significant amount of my life, paying into a system from which I have gotten nothing, certainly not from the embassies and consulates whose primary function is to aid citizens abroad, I can certainly commiserate with your anger and frustration. If t he system was so great, the CONgresscritters wouldn't have created their own privileged system.
Back to the original point, the system needs to be abolished. That doesn't help folks like you now, though a lump-sum buy out might be some consolation. I am not writing from some theoretical or special perspective. I was robbed, like you, and I want to return to personal responsibility, where you and I aren't paying for folks who game the system to their advantage.
The salaries and perks are nothing in comparison to what they rake in with their insider trading. None of them would blink an eye if it was suddenly removed altogether. It's simply an insult to the general population.
Politics is a social class unto itself, wherein all members are obliged to surrender to the moral morass as a rite of passage into the club. Idealists are viewed with deep suspicion and aren't allowed to join in reindeer games.
Me thinks you're going to have an argument from Karl Denninger about Social Security -
https://crushlimbraw.blogspot.com/search?q=Social+security&updated-max=2024-08-14T15:37:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=0&by-date=true&m=1 - if you read the first 3 articles of these headnotes from DaLimbraw Library - arranged by date - latest first.
Complaining about SS is like straining at gnats and swallowing camels.
Unless I've misinterpreted your take, our problem is everything else but SS. Just yesterday - https://crushlimbraw.blogspot.com/2025/01/decision-time-for-america-which-will-it.html?m=0 - bottom line.....we're being robbed in so many different ways we can't even keep track.
Will certainly dive in, thanks!
My contention is that SS is a political tar baby. It is the foundation of and perpetuates the federal income tax, and is the means by which the system forces citizens to adhere to the status quo. No one will want to fundamentally rewire the system for fear that it will destroy the social safety nets.
By comparison, Indonesia has a system where the employee and employer contribute equal amounts from every paycheck, and if you leave the employer or retire, you can elect a lump-sum payout or monthly payments. I took my lump sum. Each taxpayer has an individual account that earns a (tiny) amount of interest, and functions independently of the general budget.
Your point is well taken......in an ideal situation - but if Karl's premise is real, Trump is about to face a national financial challenge which will overwhelm every other of his presidency - and interestingly, no one is talking about it, including the alternative media - it just doesn't seem to be very interesting to anyone. If the rate of deficits of the first two months of this year's fiscal year continue - we're screwed! Can you imagine a 15+% inflation rate later this year? Weimar anyone?
My experience - especially lately - is that what the authorities talk about is just a distraction from the real world.
Brilliant.
Cheers!
Outstanding. Sharing to the Highwire...you have some great ideas.
You are most kind, thank you! I have to wonder how tenable my ideas are, though. They require a fundamental rethinking of what government is and what we should expect from it. What we have now was a fundamental overhaul of 17th and 18th century notions, and while not impossible, we are far more reliant on gov't now than we were then. In any case, big ideas have humble beginnings. We can always hope.
2025 Predictions:
Will US troops overseas come home? No.
Will the Income Tax end? No.
Will the Fed end? No.
Will property taxes end? No.
Will masks be required again? Yes.
Will injections be required again? Yes.
Will monetary inflation get worse? Yes.
Will your utility bills go up? Yes.
Will 2025 be a good year for me? No.
Will I be the least bit surprised by any of it or submit to the tyranny? No.
Rufus, I just finished watching "Sully" the great Clint Eastwood movie about the airliner landing on the Hudson. As an aircraft mechanic, I can tell you the odds of that successful landing with no lives lost was about 1% or less.
Eastwood also made a movie about the bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta, where the media and the government went after the hero of the tale. It's an all too common story. The bad guys win, and the good guys are castigated.
Unfortunately, although "all governments everywhere and at all times are completely worthless and utterly untenable," they are very popular with those who derive much of their income from the MICIMATT complex.
All the more reason to pull the rug.
Have to agree almost 100% with your what needs to happen next Mr. Farside. Hopefully the list of alphabet agencies needing elimination was only a start--probably dozens more., As for the congress critters, I may be a little more generous on the term limits (but not much), and obviously lobbying needs to be called what it really is (bribery) and treated as crime. Maybe the elimination of the 17th amendment would also be a good thing, ensuring that the senate does indeed represent the interests of the state governments as intended in the constitution.
having paid into the social security system for probably 50 years--much of which were "self employed" meaning both sides of the social security tax --I do look forward to that monthly 1200 +change deposit Helps keep the farm critters fed. But a lump some buy out would be worth considering. Anyway, great column, happy new year all, and I've got to get a couple of round bales out before the deep freeze sets in on the old hunkerdown.
I would have included more agencies, but I ran out of alphabet. As for lobbyists, ugh! And don't forget the whole revolving door thing with the bureautrogs leaving their posts after ramming through regulations, then selling their back-door knowledge to the highest bidders. But the largest budget item in Worthlesston is bennies. I remember learning in civics class that the fed were only supposed to regulate relations between the States and handle international affairs. Somehow the bastids found their way into our light bulbs and toilet flushes. As for term limits, I would rather have zero terms, but I'll concede to 6-year stretches for all of them, so that us little guys have a chance to get in on the double secret goodies, too.
Ponzi schemes, by their nature, rely on voluntary participation and typically lack any genuine profit-generating investment, with funds from new participants simply paying earlier ones. In contrast, Social Security is a mandatory program, with contributions from workers directed into U.S. Treasury Bonds, a form of government-backed investment. I'm not saying Social Security is a good thing, but it isn't as bad as a Ponzi scheme.
Technically, SS is "voluntary". Of course, without an SSN, there ain't no bank accounts, water delivery, internet access, job, and pappy can't deduct you because you are a non-person. Most people "choose" the path of least resistance. That's not technically "mandatory".
One way some people minimize their Social Security 'contribution' while holding a regular job is by structuring their pay cleverly—setting their nominal salary at minimum wage and receiving a hefty 'per diem allowance' to cover the rest. The IRS permits tax-free per diem rates of up to $318 per day in high-cost areas and $214 in low-cost areas for legitimate business expenses. While this tactic leans toward the questionable side of tax strategy, a relative of mine, who worked as an itinerant aircraft mechanic, managed to pull it off for nearly two decades. Now retired, he grumbles about receiving just $1,200 a month in Social Security benefits, compared to his brother, a truck driver, who pulls in $2,600. It seems the savings back then have come with a cost today.
Rufus, But it says right on my Social Security card, "Not to be used for identification."
Almost makes me want mass immigration. H-1Bs for everyone! I want my bennies!
Like I always say, if you're not part of the problem, then you're doing it wrong.
House calls? They say the house never loses in the world of casinos. I'd rather roll the dice on of those magic shots of the thirsty needle giving me the fountasin of youth, as Fauci always seeks the truth! And Biden acting like a clown in charge of his affairs-George Soros gettin g that medal of honor for destroying the Great USSA!
Most normal people would hope for the complete eradication of the USSA.
I wouldn't shed a tear. I certainly worked long and hard to rip Texas out of the pit of ultimate despair.
Speaking of thirsty needles, have you tried acupuncture? Works wonders for me.
There are very few competent practitioners in the US.
Given the ones I have known, any jack with a copy of Gray's Anatomy and the PDR could do a damn sight better.
Gray's Anatomy shows acupuncture sites?