Zhi Zhu 🕸️ (@ZhiZhu@newsie.social)

105d

"Why do this? The alleged justification is to combat fraud. But... fraudulent benefit claims are not, in fact, a serious problem.

So what the #Musk is going on here? This plan would save some money, not by eliminating #fraud, but by effectively cutting off aid to #Americans who are legally entitled to that aid, & specifically those who need it most. But I don’t think the savings are the point."
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security

#Cruelty #ElonMusk #Doge #Trump #GOP #USPol #SocialSecurity #News #US #USA

Text from article(edited for length):
...On March 12 the Washington Post reported that the Social Security Administration was considering ending phone service for Americans filing retirement or disability claims. The SSA quickly backed off that idea — sort of... the agency circulated an internal memo... laying out a plan that would be almost equally destructive.

Under this plan, beneficiaries would still be able to call the SSA. But they would have to verify their identity either over the internet or through in-person visits to field offices.

Bear in mind that we’re talking about older and/or disabled Americans, many of whom are unable to access the internet and physically unable to visit SSA offices — which would in any case be overwhelmed by the increased traffic, given that the agency is already facing large staffing cuts. So this would be a move of almost cartoonish cruelty, and a nightmare for millions of Americans.

Why do this? The alleged justification is to combat fraud. But ProPublica has acquired audio of a closed meeting held with Leland Dudek, the Social Security Administration’s acting administrator, in which he acknowledged that fraudulent benefit claims are not, in fact, a serious problem.

So what the Musk is going on here? This plan would save some money, not by eliminating fraud, but by effectively cutting off aid to Americans who are legally entitled to that aid, and specifically those who need it most. But I don’t think the savings are the point.

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105d

"does the plan have to be this #cruel to the most vulnerable #Americans? As I see it, the cruelty is a feature, not a bug.

After all, gratuitous, seemingly gleeful #cruelty has been a hallmark of DOGE’s operations...

We’re mostly talking about poorly socialized young #men suddenly given the power to ruin other people’s lives, taking their cues from a leader who has declared that “the fundamental weakness of Western society is #empathy.”
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security

#ElonMusk #Doge #News #US #USA

Text from article:
Still, does the plan have to be this cruel to the most vulnerable Americans? As I see it, the cruelty is a feature, not a bug.

After all, gratuitous, seemingly gleeful cruelty has been a hallmark of DOGE’s operations. Even if you think DOGE’s mass layoffs — some quickly reversed when it turned out that critical workers were fired — make sense, think of the way they are being carried out. In general, workers are being fired with no warning, no chance to make plans for the future, and often face insulting (and false) claims that they were poor performers.

It's hard to escape the sense that DOGE staffers are actually enjoying this. And why not? We’re mostly talking about poorly socialized young men suddenly given the power to ruin other people’s lives, taking their cues from a leader who has declared that “the fundamental weakness of Western society is empathy.” So why should we be surprised that the DOGE kids’ rampage through the government looks more and more like a remake of Lord of the Flies?

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105d

Casual White House Starlink Use Is A #Cybersecurity Nightmare, A Transparency Problem, And A Weird Marketing Stunt
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/19/casual-white-house-starlink-use-is-a-cybersecurity-nightmare-a-transparency-problem-and-a-weird-marketing-stunt/

" #Musk is casually integrating #Starlink systems into the #WhiteHouse telecom network...

to have a #communications backchannel for stuff you don’t want tracked by any sort of White House network logging technologies... there are suggestions the Starlink traffic isn’t encrypted, creating a huge security risk"

#ElonMusk #Doge #Coup #USPol #Tech #News #USA

Headline and text(edited for length):
Casual White House Starlink Use Is A Cybersecurity Nightmare, A Transparency Problem, And A Weird Marketing Stunt

Wed, Mar 19th 2025 05:26am - Karl Bode

It’s best to view Elon Musk’s DOGE as an attack... its real purpose: the dismantling of corporate oversight, environmental guard rails, consumer protection, civil rights, and the social safety net...

There were already widespread concerns about Musk’s tween 4chan brats having widespread access to sensitive public information with no real oversight. But the randos that make up Trump and Musk’s rotating orbit... also appear to be accessing this data using all manner of unsecured personal devices...

Musk is casually integrating Starlink systems into the White House telecom network for no coherent reason...

“Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installation of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser.”

The New York Times falsely calls this a “Wi-Fi” network, when Starlink is Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network. And in a complex as wired as the White House, there’s really no coherent reason to install it. The White House network is rife with gigabit capable fiber and gigabit-capable Wi-Fi that can far exceed anything Starlink delivers. Starlink would be a clearly inferior, slower, connectivity option.

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105d

"Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure."
https://bsky.app/profile/waldo.net/post/3lkmo3w3pvk2n

#ElonMusk #Musk #Doge #Starlink #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #US #USA

Screen shot of a social media post (Bluesky) by Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net‬ with text and link to news article.

Text:
Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure.

Link to news article:
Elon Musk’s Starlink Expands Across White House Complex

Trump administration officials said the company donated the internet service, saying the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/elon-musk-starlink-white-house.html?smid=url-share

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