 Welcome to figments the power of imagination on Dan fig leaf. Hey, did you notice that intro where they had the arrows in the middle of the target. That's because that's where I was on December 6 2021 when I said on a crown mark, the end of the pandemic. And guess what people, the government in particular, finally catching up with that. I won't go too long because I have a lot to talk about today and first let me give for those who are tuning in for the first time. I hope there are some people who are tuning in for the first time. A little bit about myself. My name is Dan leaf I go by fig because I was an Air Force fighter pilot for 33 years. I then worked in the defense industry as an executive, and then came back to government to be the director of the Daniel Key in way. Asia Pacific Center for security studies here in Honolulu where I currently live and will live forever. Well I won't live forever but I'll be here as long as I live. And now I'm a retired sort of guy consultant author commentator and if Lord willing I'll turn 70 this year how did that. Hey, hang on. Hello. Car warranty. I don't think I have a car warranty so couldn't have expired so please don't call me again. Thank you. Yeah, I'm sure you get those all the time I do and especially as I get older I worry more about scams against the elderly, and they're out there. Social Security account frozen your this your that. I'm not scared I love to engage the people who call and give them a hard time if I can get profanity out of one of the scan colors I feel like it's a good day, but they're out there. Scams make me mad. And the one that makes me the maddest is the massive coven scam being perpetrated by the United States government. I mean, and I'll explain that in a minute so let's talk about what today shows can have have we're going to talk about coven. The Canadian trucker protest and Russia Ukraine we have to talk about Russia Ukraine because as I record this on President's Day we usually don't allude to the day of recording but I'm looking my TV with cable news on and it is not a good day for world peace or national sovereignty or anything else really so let's talk a bit about scams and why I say that, and I use that word advisable impact my wife all 100 and I had a long discussion about using that word and can you really say this is a scam, and there are two elements of scams one is in dishonesty, and the other is defraud, and yes I think you can. And I'm going to share some personal experiences with that and it's all related to the closure of government offices unnecessarily, and really indefinitely. Supposedly because of COVID now pandemic commentaries covered everything mass mandates add in tonight and the vaccines the boosters the boosters to the boosters. Social distancing the various variants and the economic impacts probably should have gotten more discussion but they're talked about. I haven't talked about how the government has denied or delayed services to its citizens under the guise of COVID-19. And it's having a real effect on people and if you do an internet search. Let me suggest one social security office closure. And you'll see that it's affected a lot of people, including your host. And I'll talk about that. Now, right now we're in the point of hand wringing about the I'm a crown variant be a to dot to. And yet the pandemic is effectively over and it's become a common endemic disease. The common COVID and even Disneyland and Disney World are opening up with pure even no restrictions, but the government. The US government not so much here's a quote from opm.gov opm an organization I've had some dealings with. Here's the quote, federal offices nationwide continue to perform mission critical. I'm trying not to choke on that mission critical functions and operations as determined by agency heads. By the way, we didn't elect the agency heads. They were appointed. They're not accountable. But they control our access to services. So here we are on March in March or in February. And we've been in two full blown years of the COVID pandemic. And for example, social security offices remain closed. You can't go to your local social security office. Here's the quote from. And this is all because they closed them a long time ago. Here's the quote from the social security website. We are open to receive your calls. On Tuesday, March 17 2020, we suspended face to face service to the public in our field offices and hearing off hearings offices nationwide until further notice that notice has not yet been received by the way. However, we are still able to provide critical services via phone facts and online. I'd like to make two main points. One is why are they closed. Why are they closed. Everything else is open you can go to the gym go to a bar go to a restaurant, get in an airplane. Go to a baseball game go to a football game with tens of thousands of people some with masks some not. You can't go get government services that you pay for if you're a taxpayer if you're not a taxpayer please don't watch this episode because it doesn't apply to you and you don't get to be angry. Why are they closed. And it is specious to say they're closed for safety because first of all it's very even in normal times such as they were. It's a very controlled environment. They have a door they can lock they are usually in a building with a metal detector and everything else they control complete access and government employees are required to be vaccinated. And they're at like a 90 plus percent vaccination rate. There's no danger to the government employees they're just electing to telework. And point to the notion that they provide the same services online or by telephone. I personally know to be baloney. I said that properly there are other terms I'd use but it's a lot. It's dishonest to say they provide those services. I will give you two examples. The Office of Personal Management I deal with because I was a federal government employee for five years after my 33 years in the Air Force and I had a change I needed to make that involved some thousands of dollars of my money that the government was taking and shouldn't have been taking money especially if you're Elon Musk or Bill Gates but kind of my money so I wanted it. I tried to do that online and by telephone. It should have taken a week. Reasonably I submit a phone form so so here's the situation why you should stop taking money out of my account. They go yeah you've provided the appropriate documentation and we're doing that. Instead, it took six months and a phone call. A normal phone call to talk to somebody took 25 attempts. Usually I had to be up at four to five in the morning. Why time because they're not on my time schedule. But 25 attempts and often when I dial their phone call their number. I'd go through the process you know the menu of press one to be annoyed press to be really annoyed, etc. And eventually I'd be put on hold and hear music that I don't have on my playlist when I work out. And enter 15 minutes into the hold I'd get a message that really you know guess what they can't take your call 25 attempts to get through to be told they couldn't do something. Okay, that's dishonest. Here's what's fraudulent. I'm taking my money because if I had that money I could deposit in an account and get interested might be pennies for me but if you put all the means together that are trying to get their work done with the government. That's a lot of money that we're not getting in the federal government is. I get put on hold I finally get through I actually talked to somebody who I assume is a human being they could be an alien but let me let's assume the best they're actually human being, maybe even an American. And they say well you know we have your request but we've sent a request for further information by the US Postal Service, not a government company I don't think anymore but the US Postal Service. You know what that was, that was a lie. And I had that with opm and and social security, where they both alleged to have sent correspondence, either informing me of my status or requesting further information. Thank you. Now, the US Postal Service is not a high performing organization, but generally I get my mail. You know, if I've got to pay my mortgage, or a credit card bill or order parts for my Mustang, I'll get that mail. Why is it somebody a representative of the Office of Personal Management, and later and Social Security Administration would told me, oh we mail the two, and it never came never. How does that happen happens because it's a lie. And I'm convinced of that because, as I went through the six month process that should have taken a few days with opm. Eventually, I pushed them enough that I'm talking about maybe 50 hours of trying to call them and calling them. Eventually, I convinced them to resend their request for information. And in that weird, right, Colorado, as they say in Spanish, very weird that when I was angry enough, what I get this letter, by the way, it still took three weeks because it has to go through the bureaucracy. They are defrauding people. And in terms of opm this was kind of an annoyance it got straightened out eventually after six months as I said. Social Security, they're impacting people's lives. And if you look at it online as I suggested you'll find that there are a lot of people who are being denied money that allows them to pay their mortgage, get their health care, get care for disabilities. Life changing costs through this fraudulent effort from the government to not work. And that's what they're doing. They're not doing their job. Now, let me go back and say that the Social Security is saga isn't quite done yet so I'm pretty probably putting myself at risk right now I'm not getting my Social Security benefits but I'll hope for the best. The people I've dealt with are very nice and kind and frustrated with their situation they're not trying to screw us to defraud us to scam us but they're stuck with where they are. And, and they acknowledge when I talked to them they acknowledge two things. One, either that they can't do their job as described online and through the telephone, or two that some of the online information they're providing is wrong. And in Social Security's case, the processing time still says on the website two to four weeks for a standard claim for retirement for an old geezer like me, two to four weeks. All of them will say, and that's really all of the representatives I've talked to will say it's might be 45 days but really it's at least 90 and don't call back until then and we're sorry and we will say we have asked our leadership to update the website but they won't. That's a scam period plain simple. So, why are they doing this. It isn't for health it cannot be for health because everything is else is open. Are they doing it to get that interest that the government gets and we don't. Are they doing it because they know they've given their workers a benefit, they get to work from home, less supervision, less scrutiny, frankly, it would be unreasonable to think that we're getting a full eight hour day from telework. Why are they doing the unions are a big part of that. Take a look at what's available online and that's all I'll say about that. I had the same experience here in Hawaii and it's a little more personal because it's here where I live. And it was simply to get an alpastile not not money no money was involved in this. And it's, it's already a ridiculous cover process because I had to get a notarization of a notary of a notary to prove that I had no criminal record for a nonprofit. I had to do with another country. Good thing, try to make the world a better more peaceful place. And that should have taken two days maximum, had to get a certification, a record and a certification another certification and another certification but all within walking business. And here's what it says about the Hawaii state capital by order of the state control or the Hawaii state capital is currently closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No date on this, but they do do their operations online and the email Maloney, the online instructions are ridiculous if you call them or email them you'll get garbled data back and you'll do what I did. You'll go back and forth, many times trying to figure out what you need and get it done, and don't even suggest that you drop a document often purpose, no, or in person know it must be delivered by the US Postal Services, which apparently isn't reliable for from OPM or USPS but for the state it's okay. Why am I bringing this up because it is an even more striking illustration of the fraudulent nature of these claims by government organizations that they need to be closed. Not only is everything else open and opening further reopening, but the Hawaii state employees at the capital got priority over people like me, an old guy with risk factors, not horrible but they got priority over us when the vaccine came up. So they could telework safely. I'm pretty sure that these state employees are out in the community like I am. They can be at their work at their office at the capital. What reason is there to not do it. This one is probably not as finite financial but maybe it's more convenient and they don't have to struggle in our somewhat legendary traffic to get to work but dude, why aren't they at work. Well, if you close the capital you have less oversight. And as we've seen with a couple of very disturbing corruption cases, maybe less oversight is good for the government. It's not good for the citizen, and they should stop immediately. So that is my get off my lawn statement. I'm mad about this because it doesn't really hurt me. I'm not missing mortgage payments because I haven't received my social security benefits yet. I'm not homeless or hungry because of that, but I'm absolutely certain that some people are. And that's wrong. And it shouldn't be the case. Let me take a break and a breath here now I shoot up some time with that but I feel very strong about this. This is a scam. It shouldn't happen. All right, next week, next week, next week on signals star imagination I may have a guest I hope I have to call him, send a text, but I'm going to talk about North Korea because by then, whatever chocolate mess. North Korea in Korea in the Ukraine will have revealed itself, and we'll be able to talk more about North Korea's recent activities missile tests, etc. And why they do it. I think that's a very important discussion why is North Korea doing that. So, in the meantime, or the rest of today's episode let's talk about two more cases and I'll go into less detail. One of the other kind of head scratchers for me. One is the Canadian truckers protest, and I am very much intrigued by this because it's, it's kind of different. Right. You've got workers protesting against a liberal government, a significantly less left wing government this is odd. It's not the norm. I'm not an expert on Canadian law and I'm not a Canadian Max our engineer today shout out to Max is in fact a Canadian citizen. But why is this why, first of all, it has this protest gotten such an aggressive response from the Trudeau government. Why are they doing it. And what in heaven's name would compel use of the Emergencies Act because the Emergencies Act is a big deal. The Canadian Emergencies Act and I know that Canadian law is different. They don't have all of the protections that we do. But the Emergencies Act is a big deal and it's been used. Or as I know, never wasn't used on September 11, by the way, when we diverted hundreds, maybe even thousands of airplanes into Canada. The other thing is it's seriously in danger seriously in danger. Canada. Okay, those are the words of matter seriously in danger Canada, not annoying citizens of Ottawa, not disrupt commerce but seriously use several times in there. The sovereignty the security and territorial integrity of Canada. I've watched these truckers on TV and doesn't look like that to me. Again, I'm not an expert, but this concerns me why does it concern me the use of the Emergencies Act. And why does it concern me as an American who is pretty far away in Hawaii. It concerns me because of what they've done financially, what the Canadian government has done financially. As part of this they've taken financial measures to do two things, freeze or sanction protesters. That doesn't sound right to me. And actually, either divert or deter donations to support the protesters who whose primary crime as far as I can tell is disagreeing with the government. Isn't quite that simple but they disagree with government so they're going to sanction them they're going to freeze their bank accounts. Take their assets, repossess their truck or whatever doesn't sound right sounds extreme for a not so extreme situation, not violent. And this could happen here. Because there's likely to be a trucker protest in March, maybe a drive to the to Washington DC. So watch this space, because if a similar overreaction occurs. We're on the precipice of a transition to a far more authoritarian government. That's not a political statement. It's not. It's about how do you respond to difficult situations. And what seems to be an extreme overreaction from the Trudeau government is a lesson for the American citizen. I'm concerned speaking about being concerned. I'm really concerned about Ukraine but the heck isn't. And today's news again we shouldn't tie this to date but it's President's Day. And today, President Putin of Russia has said he's going to recognize as independent to regions in Eastern Ukraine. Holy crap. I've got a bunch of outcomes here. None. Let me tell you which one isn't going to happen. Nothing happens isn't going to happen. And Russia could relent right here they could stop right here but, but they've already gained some sort of a concession because nothing bad has happened yet. For them, they, they've done this, despite the threat of sanctions, despite tough talk. And they've been put in and said that he will send forces as peacekeepers to these now independent states. This could lead to a major incursion, a minor incursion, a real war, and it could have global effects. Global sequel sex problem there so how does China look at this gambit by Putin which seems like it's going to be successful, and then adjust their own activities their own pretty aggressive activities in with regard to Taiwan. Yeah, and elsewhere in Asia. Nothing good is going to come of this and nothing good is going to come of this because we seeded the initiative we NATO in the United States not fought a war for NATO so I think I can speak for, you know, I'm not, I'm not a spokesman, but we gave up the initiative. So, boy, it sure seems like he's going to attack it might be a minor incursion and what we're going to be mad as heck but we're not mad yet, but we're going to be. Clearly that did not deter President Putin. It's unlikely to deter President G. These are dangerous times that will have an effect because even the sanctions could affect your average American citizen. Be ready for some shock and all the next time, maybe not the next time, but two or three tanks of gas. When you take your car with its expired warranty to fill it up. Be ready for some shock and all because this will affect us. And it doesn't make a rat's hind end to Vladimir Putin. And I suspect it means precious little to jeez and pain, giving those autocrats freedom of operation is a very dangerous thing. And that later, I'm worried I have nothing. I don't have a nice presence days about all I can say but these are dangerous times so we always close with what would fig do. Number one, regarding the office closure scans contact your elected representatives and tell them to give us what we're paying for, we're paying for government service. I can go to a stadium with 70,000 people or get in an airplane or go have a my tie on the beach, or let's say indoors. I ought to be able to go to my local government office and get things done to vote. Three, think about secure, because security is now global and I don't care what part of the country you live in, but things like Ukraine affect your life. So think about security, you don't have to be an expert, but you should at least know what matters. Ukraine matters. Taiwan matters, and we should be concerned. I'll see you in a couple weeks on pigments the power of imagination. I'd like to thank think tech. I think that Hawaii is a great organization that gives citizen vote journalists like me the chance to speak our mind, and I'm glad I got to speak my mind today I feel better already. Aloha, and Mahalo.