Category: Money

Categories
Government Medicare Money

Georgia Social Security offices on DOGE chopping list

Musk domineering Trump's first cabinet meeting...and not wearing a suit.
Respectful suit there, Elon

Recent updates to the DOGE.gov ‘savings’ page now list Social Security Administration (SSA) office closures in the following Georgia cities:

  • Columbus
  • Gainesville
  • Vidalia
  • Brunswick
  • Thomasville

There is no rhyme or reason for these closures, other than it’s a simple checkbox on a computer screen and a complete lack of concern about the consequences.

SSA offices provide opportunities for people to get help about Social Security, disability, survivor benefits, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicare. Not everyone has a computer or the skills to do everything online. In particular, if you’re a victim of identity theft, it’s likely you’ll have to visit your nearest SSA office at some point.

Most offices have so many customers, SSA initiated a pilot program for advance reservations in Florida and Georgia. Closing down this many offices is going to have a significant impact on Georgia residents. If the office closures are paired with a 50% reduction in SSA workers, the agency will not be able to meet the needs of our nation’s most vulnerable people.

And the savings? When you’re talking about 4 trillion in tax cuts, primarily for corporations and the wealthy that Trump and the Republicans want to pass, the office closure savings don’t even rate a blip on the same chart.

  • Columbus – $51,023
  • Gainesville – $506,527
  • Vidalia – $228,757
  • Brunswick – $215,383
  • Thomasville – $289,139

Today, Speaker Mike Johnson went on Meet the Press and stated that he and Musk don’t want to cut Social Security and Medicare, but want to eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Yet SSA’s Inspector General found that only about 1% of Social Security payments were improper. And even then, SSA was able to recover 60% of that amount.

Also today, Elon Musk on Jeff Rogan’s podcast claimed that Social Security is nothing more than a Ponzi scheme, and the real problem is not enough babies and we’re just living too long. What wasn’t said was an acknowledgement of the positive contributions immigrants make to Social Security.

So for there’s no indication that Savannah’s Social Security office is among those to be marked for closure. Yet. I will keep checking for DOGE cuts impacting on the Savannah area.

Categories
Money People Technology

An Appleless future

It is time to buy new computers.

My desktop Windows computer is a 4+ year old Dell laptop with a burnt out LCD that I hook up to an external monitor. It’s running Windows XP, and could potentially be upgraded to Windows 7, but only with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

My laptop is the last of the PowerPC PowerBooks running Leopard, since Snow Leopard only runs on the Intel machines. I’ve had to replace the Airport card, and the hard drive, but both were covered under warranty. The keyboard is starting to get mushy, but still works. The real problem is the growing lack of support for the old PowerPC architecture.

If July royalties go well, then I’ll look at replacing at least one, possibly both. When I do, though, I won’t be replacing either with an Apple computer.

Why an Apple-free future? One reason is cost: I can replace both my desktop and laptop with good, relatively powerful Windows machines for the cost of one 13 inch Macbook Pro. The days of having money to burn for “sexy” machines are over—now I want solid machines with good software support that are competitively priced.

Another reason to move from Mac back to Windows is I don’t need a Mac. All of the applications I use have a Windows-based version. I stopped using MacPorts a while back when I got tired of the continuous round of upgrades. I don’t run a web server on my home machines anymore, doing all my development out at my web site. Besides, you can run a web server on a Windows machine as easily as a Mac.

Ease of use isn’t an issue for me, as I’m comfortable with both environments. I haven’t tried Windows 7 but whatever quirks it has, I’ll learn and adapt. I used to be able to work with DOS and the old VAX/VMS—I can handle a new operating system.

Security used to be a big reason to stay with the Mac, but nowadays Apple is as much of a target as Windows. Besides, most security problems arise because of applications, and cross OS boundaries. Relying on using a lesser used OS to protect you from problems isn’t an effective approach: a secure system is 95% common sense, 5% other. So, save some money and use common sense.

My Photoshop installation is CS3 on the Mac, but supposedly I can cross-grade my license, and swap it for a Windows license. If I have spare change from buying a new machine (i.e., you all buy more of my books) I’ll upgrade to CS5, and cross-grade the license to Windows. If Adobe doesn’t let me port my license to Windows, well, then it’s time to move all of my graphics work to GIMP. Besides, I primarily like Photoshop because I like Adobe Bridge for editing metadata and viewing my images. There are alternatives.

A last reason for not staying with Apple is I’m tired of the company. I’m tired of hearing about it. I’m tired of seeing people in line, waiting for a phone. I’m weary of the Apple cult, Apple lawsuits, Apple prototypes, Apple mystic, and stark black and white.

I am no longer enamored of devices where form takes precedence over function. What other manufacturer could get away with providing devices where you can’t replace the batteries?

Worse is the lock-in. If you want to develop for the iPhone or iPad, you have to own a new Macbook Pro just to use the relevant SDK, and then you have to purchase the SDK. It also peeves me to see people buying into what is nothing more than a horrifically closed, obsessively controlled environment. You have to use the Apple code, develop to the Apple model, think the Apple mindset, which embraces puritanical censorship and nowadays lacks both perspective, and sense of humor.

The Steve Jobs of yesteryear was arrogant, but innovative. The Steve Jobs of today is just plain arrogant. I don’t want to give him my money.

Categories
Legal, Laws, and Regs Money

The arbitration death march

If you’ve been following my ramblings for any length of time, you know that I love cephalopods, and hate mandatory arbitration agreements. Well, the Humboldt squid have got the divers on the run in the waters off the California coast, and the consumer protection advocates now have the major arbitration firms on the run in the rest of the country.

I missed the story about the Minnesota Attorney General filing a lawsuit against NAF, the National Arbitration Forum, the worst of the mandatory arbitration firms. As part of the settlement, NAF had to pull completely out of arbitrating any consumer arbitrations. Luckily, I caught up with the news when the C & P weblog announced that the AAA is following the NAF, and this before Congress has ruled on the Fair Arbitration Act.

Sometimes, we win one.

update If you’re curious as to why I’m so down on mandatory arbitration, read this story at NPR.

Categories
Money

You get what you pay for

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Fake Steve Jobs

We all know that there’s no fucking way in the world we should have microwave ovens and refrigerators and TV sets and everything else at the prices we’re paying for them. […] You want to “fix things in China,” well, it’s gonna cost you. Because everything you own, it’s all done on the backs of millions of poor people whose lives are so awful you can’t even begin to imagine them, people who will do anything to get a life that is a tiny bit better than the shitty one they were born into, people who get exploited and treated like shit and, in the worst of all cases, pay with their lives.

(quote via Simon Willison)

We’re still hearing more details about a young man killing himself in China because of a missing iPhone prototype, and the subsequent accusations against him. Fake Steve Jobs hit the issue right on the head with biting satire, as he writes about our willingness, or lack of willingness, to pay a little more for something in order to ensure good working conditions for the workers.

There will be lots of condemnation among the social media: blog posts, and Twitter trends, and shaking of virtual heads. Avatars will get colored, icons posted, hash marks used. Solidarity!

The same folks making the most noise, though, will most likely be the first in line at Apple to buy that iPhone when it comes out. Stand in line, and blog, Twit, Book, Space their experience. Because, let’s face it, and I’m sure Fake Steve would agree: it’s a lot easier to dye your avatar green, than to make a lifestyle change that will make a real difference.

I find it ironic that as this story is being discussed, a report comes out about Apple’s record profits, primarily due to the iPhone.

Categories
Media Money

Frugal music

This week, I realized that my older first generation, fifth generation video ipod only has about enough room for a few hundred songs. In the years since I bought the device, I’ve managed to add an additional 15 GB of music to the already extensive collection of music from previously purchased CDs. And I’ve increased the repertoire of music I own, and can pick from any number of genres to listen to on a given day: from rock and roll, to new age, classical, jazz, folk, reggae, blues, swing, instrumental, show tunes, and even opera. And I don’t like opera.

Best of all, I didn’t have to go broke getting the music, nor do I have stacks of plastic CD cases littering the hallway. As I discuss in The Frugal Algorithm, there are many musical options for the frugal now available.