@sfleetucker Hmm, you got a good point right there! I don't know why we hadn't thought about that. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

@sfleetucker Definitely. A significant challenge is that the class affected is incredibly vulnerable, especially financially, usually physically, and has trouble gathering the resources to spend many years of their lives on a draining legal fight. But, there is power in numbers, so I won't say it's impossible.

@sfleetucker We're in WA state. Friend is focused on the process right now, just trying to save his own life, but if & when he does get some relief he's looking at trying to do some sort of disability activism. That route is a great idea & I'll let him know.

She's done this again & again & again & there isn't any way to stop her. Friend filed a complaint, which SS kicked to the state offices because allegedly it "isn't in their jurisdiction" or some shit like that. State SS offices are indifferent. So she gets to keep saving them money. This is something our tax dollars go towards: paying SS evaluators to lie about potential benefit recipients so that the gov can hold on to SS tax money we've been paying into the system all our working lives.

@Wbtphdjd Yeah I think that's the idea, and that they're hoping you'll either give up or die. Fortunately the attorney seems to know what he's doing & understand the process, so it'll be worth it even if he has a big fee taken from back payments.

We've since learned that the psych evaluator who made up shit at the beginning is known for doing so. Said attorney sees her in court all the damn time. She's a total MAGA head who has quit her private practice; her career now consists of nothing but making up false documentation about ppl she evaluates so that SS won't have to pay anyone. She makes about $600 per person she evals, on the taxpayer dime.

After the 2nd denial, they asked the clerk at the SS office what the hell to do. Clerk was fortunately sympathetic, gave them a new form to complete, and pointed them to the SS attorney's office directly across the hall. They should've had an attorney from the start, but at least they have one now.

Friend is homeless now. I sometimes let them crash on my couch when they're in dire straits or need a shower or hot meal. They live in their car.

*All* of this is probably by design. I don't doubt that SS is understaffed like everywhere else, so I'm not going to fault them on that. The process is designed to be slow, humiliating, and as difficult as possible.

Friend appealed. Everything takes weeks, if not months. Replies are glacial, communication contradictory or unclear. Many months later they were denied again. SS didn't tell them, so they didn't find out until after the 90-day window to appeal had passed. This is probably by design.

First one was their 1st psych review. It seemed to go well, until friend was denied. They requested their records & discovered that the psych evaluator wrote 14 pages of complete bullshit. Hence the denial.

Been supporting a close friend as they work through the process of trying to get SSDI. It's been an ordeal, to say the least. They started their application in Nov. of 2021. It's been endless hurdles.

I already knew what the Overton Window is, but didn't know why it was called the *Overton* window - figured it was named after some guy, but didn't know anything about him. So I went a-Googling and larnt it.

TIL about Joseph Overton, former SVP of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and inventor of the Overton Window. https://www.mackinac.org/about/authors/12

@pr10n Hell yeah. Stake through the heart, burn the corpse, scatter it to the winds and let the heavens forget his name, as they speak the name of all who suffered & died because of him.

I have a hummingbird feeder hanging in the dogwood tree just outside my office window. There are female Anna's hummers sucking up sugar water like there's no tomorrow.

@LiberalLibrarian Better buff up your armor and make a solid Wisdom check. And take a bunch of clerics and paladins with you...

So... did anyone double check to make sure Kissinger isn't a demi-lich? We definitely don't want that fucker coming back.

@feloneouscat Yeah. I'm totally burned out, too. On partial LOA right now dealing with... stuff. I love my team & I love my work & I'm just about DONE with my employer.