Signal Chat vs. VA Hotline vs. Social Security Phones

By now we have all heard (endlessly) about the snafu with the Signal Group Chat over Yemen.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Causa83, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

AIM-120 AMRAAM air to air missile

For those who have mercifully been in a coma these past weeks, it went as such: Americans decided to kill more impoverished villagers, GovBros had a good yuk-yuk about it, some Controlled Opposition (probably Mockingbird) "journalist” was "accidentally” (or intentionally) included, and everyone in Washington promptly wet their panties over the ordeal.

Also, given about 50 individuals (including a not insubstantial amount of totally innocent children) were also massacred there may or may not have been tears amongst the indigents…depending on whether one considers them to be human beings.

What Is Signal? (Asked at least half the country)

Don't feel badly. There is absolutely no reason a layperson, let alone one over 25 years old, should be innately familiar with the Signal Chat, so allow Your Humble Correspondent to elucidate:

We'll begin with the premise you either own a cellular phone or have used one. The Signal Chat is more or less (with slight variations) no different than a Text Message you get on Apple or Android.

It is similar (in most regards) to WhatsApp, Telegram or iMessage; all of which have their own constituencies — in the case of Signal Chat, those users being primarily business and government.

How Did It Happen? (Asked approximately no one)

From what this intrepid correspondent has been able to be told off the proverbial record, one of the members (presumably Waltz) had in his Contact List another person with the same initials as Jeffery Goldberg who was thus inadvertently added to the Chat.

OR…

That is the "off the record” story, but you are a fool if you do not realize there is always an Official "Off The Record” Story, in addition to the Official Story, either of which MAY be true, but equally plausible is the Authentic "What Really Happened” Story.

In this case, another variation may be that Goldberg was intentionally added to promote an anodyne "scandal” which basically is of no importance at the same time as there is a MASSIVE United States military presence being built up at Diego Garcia, about 2500 miles from Iran and the primary staging area for American military antics in the Middle East.

Currently, we have 3 confirmed, 4 probable, and as many as 6 of our B-2 Stealth Bombers in theatre along with a large assortment of refueling and support infrastructure; which may not sound like a lot, unless you are aware we only have 20 in total B-2 Stealth Bombers in the entire fleet…so as many as a third are now primed to carry out a serious action in the region.

Moreover, the last time we had that many at Diego Garcia was…can you guess?…one try?…ahhh, you got me! — You are EXACTLY correct, Sportsfans, right before we did the Iraq and Afghan Wars!

AND…

Do not discount that Goldberg could very well be in on the whole shebang and playing along.

Never trust anything in Washington, kiddies

Speaking of Veterans Affairs

Whatever happens in Iran…will happen in Iran. There really is not much to be done about it, to be honest. We all tried before the last merry-go-round and there was a SLIGHT chance we may have averted that disaster…except Hillary Clinton and other "Liberals” stabbed us in the back but good.

(Remember what I just said about never trusting anyone in Washington…about ten seconds ago?)

So given we are at a minimum preparing for an imminent attack maybe we should consider what all those disabled veterans will get for their trouble?

Well, one of the things they will not be getting is Telephone Support from Veterans Affairs.

Under the watchful eye of Stout Lonnie and the DogeBoys all, as in ALL, of the Telephone Support Staff at the VA is slated to be furloughed or laid-off or, in Real World Speak, to be fired.

This will be done in order to "automate” the services of scheduling appointments and addressing veteran needs…because as we all know, the most Tech Savvy of Americans are those over 65 years with declining mental faculties in desperate urgency of health care.

*sigh*

On To Social Security

Here is where full disclosure is in order — your author does not (thankfully) require that benefit.

At the same time, there are about half our retirees in the country who do survive on this safety net.

Think about that for just one moment. If you are reading this piece, likely you are erudite and of means…but 20 Million of our fellow Americans live solely on that check…with 44 Million relying on it for the majority of their sustenance.

What does that mean? It means every single dollar counts…a lot. And a hundred dollars is the difference between eating or not — that is, eating AT ALL, not merely what you might prefer.

So, having a personality defect which makes me care about others, this matters very much to me despite my reputation as The Most Evil Man Alive.

Right now, the DogeBoys are in the process of ridding governance of "excess” employees in the Social Security Administration, and they are beginning with agents dealing primarily with the public.

In the past month "hold times” (from when you place a call to when you speak to a representative) have reached between 120 Minutes, or 2 Hours, to 180 Minutes, or 3 Hours and according to The Washington Post, only 3 of 12 times have sample callers been given a "call back” provision.

Can you even begin to envision what a three hour wait is for someone afraid they won't eat that month? Do you realize these are the poor and the elderly, who do not have the option of picking up parttime work? That for them that phone line is truly the end of the line in terms of practical help?

You can lecture me all day long about "government waste” and most of the time I will agree with you — except my fellow Americans, rich or poor, smart or stupid, are not the "waste” you're looking for, Stout Lonnie.

All the while, no one — PARTICULARLY the "Serious Journalists” — are talking about this widely.

Kudos to the Post and a few others, but for the most part it has been Signal Chat hysteria for weeks.

That is not serious reportage and it sure as Hell is not responsible journalism.

Back Going Back, Back, Back…To The Houthis

Incidentally, let me put it to you quick, Sportsfans: How many Houthis are there?

Yeah, you don't know. Not without looking it up. But don't you think before we kill ANY of them we ought to know exactly what it is we're murdering?

Well, since I am apparently the only person in America with an intellect (yeah, Most Evil Man Alive, as I mentioned) I did your homework for you — there are approximately 200,000 Houthis in existence.

Now, I should NOT have to even ask the next inquiry as a smart person would see it coming, but here it is for the dullards in the back: How much do the weapons we used against them cost?

Hmmm, excellent question!

According to various sources Americans used the F-18 Super Hornet equipped with AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapons as well as AGM-84H Extended Land Attack Missiles. Additionally, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMS, were likewise deployed. At the same time, Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser the USS Gettysburg assisted with Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles.

Breaking that down:

• JSAW Missile — estimated $250,000 to $500,00 per unit
• AGM-84 Missile — estimated $1.4 Million per unit
• JDAM Missile Kit — estimated $25,000 to $84,000 per unit
• Tomahawk Missile — estimated $2 Million to $4 Million per unit

Oh, But There's More!

Now we have to put all this in perspective with a nice little bow on top…

Disability Compensation From VA — about $25,000 a year on average

Social Security Benefits — about $24,000 a year on average

Houthi Net Worth — about…well, it's impossible to say…about 80% of people in Yemen live in poverty with the most recent figures from 2022 stating they live on around $995…a year.

The Sign

So the dilemma now is thus: How much money have we spent firing off missiles? Trump said in a Press Conference last week we are doing "not only the one you heard about, but also night and day”.

Let's be conservative and say 100 missiles have been fired…at minimum cost of $100 Million dollars.

That does not count the costs of everything from fuel, to logistics, to training, to personnel, thus likely at least double that figure…so maybe $200 Million total.

If we gave out cash to the 200,000 Houthis it would be $1,000 each…or MORE than they earn a year.

Obviously there are reasons that would not be efficacious; but at the same time, would it be WORSE than what we're doing?

We have been bombing the Houthis for years. The Saudis and others bombed them for years before then. Is it reasonable to expect more bombing to be the solution to this issue?

Or maybe the whole thing is a distraction from the REAL war right about to kick off.

Consider this your Signal.

Details

class="PIA-flag" style="display: none; visibility: hidden;" title="This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict."> 
The Houthis, also known as the Houthi movement and officially the Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe. The group has been a central player in Yemen's civil war, drawing widespread international condemnation for its human rights abuses, including targeting civilians and using child soldiers. The movement is designated as a terrorist organization by some countries. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and they are widely considered part of the Iranian-led "Axis of Resistance".