Two weeks ago the Gallagher family got word the power company would be digging in their backyard. This was particularly unsettling because Aunt Ginger's bones were buried there. When she died, Frank (William H. Macy) buried her and has been collecting her social security checks. I thought the episode was sad, funny, and now, very timely.
In response to suspicions by the Social Security Office of the Inspector General, sheriff's deputies dug up the backyard of a modest ranch home in Lake Worth, Fla., and found the bones of a woman who would have been 102 had she been alive. Then they alerted the Marietta, Ohio, police, who arrested the woman's daughter and charged her with defrauding Social Security out of $141,962 by collecting her mom's checks for 14 years.
Frank Gallagher is fictitious. What kind of a person could actually plant a loved one and collected their checks every month? Defrauding the government is stealing from its people. I feel guilty when I forget to put the toilet seat back down. The Florida woman cashed her mother's checks 168 times over the 14 years. I wonder if she has a conscience? I wonder if she has two brain neurons to rub together?
Theft of government funds by citizens...politicians have different rules... carries a possible punishment of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a period of supervised release of up to three years and the payment...I love this one...of a $100 special assessment. Damn it, that hundred bucks is going to break me! The Social Security Administration uncovers about 1,500 of these cases a year.
How do cheaters get caught? Some are turned in, others let it go too long. A 65-year-old may not go to a doctor but someone 100 raises the Medicare red flag. The woman in Florida, her mother would have been 102. Every day I read about Medicare and Social Security and budget issues. Putting a stop to this theft would be a step in the right direction. Just how bad is it?
A 2010 report compiled from government audits and reports by the Government Accountability Office, inspectors general and Congress found that more than $1 billion was sent to more than 250,000 dead people over 10 years.....god, that's a lot of dead people. Maybe the kid from that movie could help find them?
Say it isn't so, Charlie Brown. The actor who voiced the "Peanuts" character was recently arrested when crossing the U.S.-Mexican boarder. He's charged with making a threat to cause great bodily harm or death and stalking. He is accused of threatening his girlfriend and the physician who performed her breast enhancement surgery. Kind of an odd combination, the girlfriend and the doctor. Her boobs were too small, or too big?
Wanda and I have been composting for years. I was surprised to read the following statistics; about 40% of all the food in the U.S. goes to waste, the average American wastes about $28 to $43 in food each month, roughly 20 pounds. So, I'm reading a 'how to keep' food items longer and most of the tips are common sense. Store herbs in airtight containers, bread in the fridge, remove bad apples from the bin.
Have you ever heard of storing onions in pantyhose? And I thought wearing them either on your legs or head was about it. I suppose in a pinch you could use them to ward off vampires...oops, that's garlic, never mind.
The city I was born and raised in takes the top spot. A person who asked to remain anonymous said, "2011 was a disappointing year as we finished third but now, we're where we belong, first place."
With it's violent crimes, high unemployment, dwindling population and financial crises, Detroit was named the most miserable city in the United States.
Detroit beat out Miami, which held the title last year, and passed Flint, Michigan, Rockford and Chicago in Illinois and Modesto, California, which rounded out the five most unhappy urban areas.
"Detroit's problems are hardly news. It has been a four-decade decline paralleling the slide in the U.S. auto industry," according to Forbes.com, which compiles the yearly ranking.
To compile the list, Forbes looked at 200 of the country's largest urban areas and ranked them on factors including, crime rates, foreclosures, taxes, home prices, commute times, weather and decreasing populations.
When asked about the ranking, longtime resident of Detroit Mr. Herbert McFarland said. "Well, the Lions have been disappointing us for fifty years. The Tigers were swept in the World Series but this is OK, now we can finally say, WE'RE NUMBER ONE.".......well actually, WE'RE NUMBER TWO would be more accurate.
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