Well, now. I said I would pay more attention to what is happening in America because attention must be paid, but this is a bit much. I am, after all, retired and a woman of leisure, but every day the shitshow gets worse, and I can’t in good conscience look away. Somehow, we’ve got to unravel the truth.
What I’ve learned this week is the truth hides in plain sight. I believe it was David in the comments section of my last post who said, “Pay attention to your news source.”
Case in point. I’ve been reading independent news reports that say on Jan. 28 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to nearly all full-time federal employees offering them an alleged eight month’s severance package to resign by Feb. 6. That’s about 2 million people.
I went into panic mode, wondering how I’m going to get my Social Security if everyone is gone, and my husband said he read about the email, but the buyout was for people who are working from home and refuse to go back to the office.
Oh, only that, well, it’s about time.
Dale’s information source was a Bloomberg article with the headline, “Trump Offers Buyouts to Federal Employees Resisting In-Person Work.”
Kinda sorta. While the email includes a return-to-office requirement, the “deferred resignation” offer is much broader in scope. Some say it’s a simple workforce reduction strategy, and others say the goal is to rid ourselves of a nonpartisan civil service and replace it with party loyalists. The Trump administration seems to have rigged up some sort of con to address pesky legal concerns, but thankfully, there is truth and resistance from all corners.
I had to re-check all my sources to prove to Dale I wasn’t making this up. Even the OPM confirmed the email wasn’t only for those who don’t show up at the office.
Deferred resignation is available to all full-time federal employees except for military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency.
Everyone chooses how they tell a story, me included. No matter who you hear it from, attention must be paid. Sometimes you have to pull back the curtain to figure out what’s really happening. Whether intentional or not, trusted news sources aren’t always trustworthy.
Interestingly, the email’s subject line featured the same wording Elon Musk used when he took over Twitter and tried to fire just about everybody. A Fork in the Road.
Or as I like to call it, A Fork in the Throat.
I’m reading lots of intelligent commentary on America’s turn to the right but still not seeing any clear direction on what average citizens can do to stop it. I’m working on my little handout that might direct people to topic-specific independent news sources and non-profit organizations, so at least we can read about it and maybe give some money to others who are working hard to save our country.
Dinner
And at last we turn to talk of dinner! We’re headed for a cold and rainy spell, so Dale and I are prioritizing the list of delicious “winter” meals to ease our suffering. I’ve been getting my sourdough starter ready so I can bake a boule this weekend. Probably miso seafood chowder to go with.
Dale plans to make a batch of chili. His recipe uses pork and beef but no beans and is from a handout we got at a liquor store 40 years ago – a promotional piece by Marlboro!
Also on the docket is a dish we make called Transylvanian Layered Cabbage. It’s a casserole with layers of sauerkraut, rice, sour cream, ground pork, smoked sausage and bacon. It sounds weird, but it’s oddly fabulous. One of us will make rye bread to go with that.
Slather some butter on that bread and fill up a tankard of beer, and you remember that in spite of it all, life is good!
That layered dish sounds like it has Polish origins! Yum.
I am of Eastsern European descent …
All that comfort food sounds great. Here in SoCal, we are getting the cold but, sadly, little of the rain.
I worked for a large company that tried to reduce their ranks with buyouts. Interesting thing happened, the best employees who were dedicated, smart, and did their jobs well, tended to leave; they were very employable elsewhere. Those who weren’t, clung to their jobs, knowing that either they wouldn’t find other work easily, or would actually have to work hard in a new job.
Interesting that you brought up social security, my intention has always been to put off collecting as long as I can (70) to get the most benefit. Now, I’m wondering if it isn’t smarter to start taking it now just in case things really go south.
It’s really hard to predict what’s going to happen. I started getting SS at 66 and two months, which was my full retirement age. I remember going back and forth as to when I should start collecting. Not an easy decision. When I looked at the SS site and figured out my likely payment at various stages, I thought the number at full retirement age looked pretty good, considering I had other income. I didn’t feel the need to hang in there longer. But if SS is a big percentage of your retirement income, that’s different.
It’s not a very big percentage at all. In fact, one reason for putting it off was that we really didn’t need it so why not wait? I guess I’ll just revisit my decision based on what the a-hole and his bros might – or might not – do. This is not the way to run a country.
I thought you’d get a kick out of something a local commissioner said. He claimed the information was “Accurate with some errors”. Not only are we getting untruths defined as facts, things we saw with our own eyes gaslighted, but now, redefining the term accurate! Which according to the dictionary should mean “correct in all details”.
Oh, my. That’s a new low. Thank you for sharing it. It’s good to keep our eyes on the lies!
My nephew works for the Department of the Interior and he received a letter. IMHO the reason people in the Dept of Interior would receive such a letter is to reduce the staff substantially, removing some of the expected obstacles when the new administration begins to frack in national parks. I have not one stitch of proof of this, but I will be watching to see how this unfolds. Fracking is a big deal here in PA, with a few people making tons of money and itching to expand their access to state and federal lands so they can make more. (so I might be a bit biased from already having watched this play out).
Thanks for sharing this. It’s all rather surreal. The newspaper here today had an article about seasonal staff at the national parks being told their offers for the 2025 season have been rescinded. No further explanation. Not that they want to shut down the parks and frack, right?
I’ve struggled with the finding of reliable news sources here in the UK too. As you say, all you can do is to check multiple sources and pick out the bones to ensure that there’s no bias in the reporting, be that conscious or unconscious (the latter being a hard thing to avoid doing in truth).
The winter comfort food menu sounds absolutely delish!
Once you get off the mainstream press, there is a lot of good indpendent content out there. But it does take time and effort.