Zoé

- views expressed are my own - SFASU Alumni #axeemjacks

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

Yellowstone watch thread:

[Carina C. C @CCC75167010]

Let me break this down without sugar-coating a damn thing:
America is one medical event away from financially euthanizing its own elders.

Everybody loves to chant “support our seniors” right up until the moment they need actual hands-on care — then suddenly it’s Congratulations, you’re broke now.

Because here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud:

Taking care of an elderly parent in this country doesn’t cost “a little money.”
No.
It costs a house.
It costs a retirement account.
It costs your sanity.
It costs your life savings and then the government sends you a thank-you note by putting a Medicaid lien on the family home after your parent dies, just to clean out the leftovers.

You want the numbers?
Let’s go.

Home care? $33 an hour.
That’s $8,000 a month just to keep someone safe in their own damn home.

Assisted living? $5,900 a month — $71,000 a year.
More than college. Less useful.

Memory care? Hope you’ve got two kidneys to sell.

Nursing home? $111,000 to $128,000 a year.
That’s not a bill — that’s a ransom note.

And while families are drowning, caregivers — the people keeping our loved ones alive — are paid $16 an hour, while agencies bill $34+ and pocket the difference like it’s a clearance sale on human suffering.

Meanwhile Medicare — the thing Americans THINK pays for their parents’ care — doesn’t pay for ANY long-term custodial help.
Not at home.
Not in assisted living.
Not even in a nursing home beyond a short rehab stay.
They kick you to the curb the second you’re stable enough to blink — “good luck, hope your kids aren’t broke yet.”

So who pays?

Medicaid.
But only if you’re poor enough to practically vanish.
Only if you sell down, spend down, or die down to qualify.
And even THEN, there’s a 3-year, 4-year, 5-year waitlist for home care in some states.
Imagine being 87, needing help with bathing and eating, and the government basically says,
“Sure, sweetie — get on the list, we’ll call you by 2029.”

Families step in — unpaid, exhausted, wrecked.
America survives on the backs of daughters, daughters-in-law, and burned-out adult children quietly doing $600 billion worth of unpaid care every single year while the insurance industry gets fat selling policies with premiums that jump 30% overnight.

And nursing homes?
Corporate chains.
Private equity.
Debt stacked on debt.
They make their money not from love, not from care — but from Medicare rehab margins and private-pay seniors who bleed out their savings to subsidize everyone else.
Your grandma’s Social Security check is not keeping the lights on.
Your grandma’s house is.

This isn’t a system.
This is a machine — designed to take every last dollar a family has before they’re allowed to get help.
A machine that punishes aging, punishes disability, punishes the poor, and punishes anyone who dares to live long enough to need care.

So when politicians talk about “cutting healthcare,”
When they casually vote to slash ACA subsidies, gut Medicaid, or privatize Medicare with a grin like it’s a fun little math problem,
Let me translate what they’re actually saying:

“If your parents get sick… you’re on your own.
If your husband gets dementia… sell the house.
If YOU get disabled… pray you die quickly.”

Because without coverage?
Without Medicaid?
Without ACA?
Without guardrails?

Elder care in America becomes a luxury product.
Only the rich age with dignity.
Everyone else ages with debt.

This isn’t politics.
This is survival.
This is the bill every American family eventually gets — and the bill our leaders pretend doesn’t exist.

We’re not fighting for healthcare.
We’re fighting for our future ability to not abandon the people who raised us.

Because one day, if this system isn’t fixed, it won’t be your parents you’re terrified for.

It’ll be you.

[Rcc @RockcandyCater1]

@RpsAgainstTrump

[LFML @GraceGrace007]

@spidermannwh And it’s the first time they are posting anything relating to a recent current event

[Nick Sortor @nicksortor]

🚨 BREAKING: Multiple videos have surfaced showing what appears to be an individual running and ducking on the roof of a University building moments after Charlie Kirk was shot

Officials said Charlie was shot from around 200 yards.

The shooter is still at large, and it’s unknown if these videos shows them.

[Chase Oliver @ChaseForLiberty]

This is Dean Withers
He is probably 100% opposed to Charlie Kirk's politics, and he is rightfully upset and showing empathy to Kirk's wife and kids.

Those who want to paint this horror onto everyone on "the left" need to think for a moment and realize that most people don't celebrate murders.

This isn't left vs. right. It's right vs. wrong, and the human decency most of us have vs. the actions of a violent sociopath.

Don't let the murderer win

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

@emilyjo_1 Everyday

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

Idk what I or this “palm?” Is doing.

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

Exactly.

[Just Jack @7Veritas4]

The Supreme Court made it clear today that states cannot disenfranchise voters. Only women.

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

@BrightspaceHelp hello I graduated college in 2020. My D2L account is no longer active and I want to stop receiving text. Can anyone help me?

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

@kerryfrantino11 Because real GIRL dads get it.

[Joy Beth @JBsTwoCents]

Here’s what I haven’t really seen in the wake of the Alabama ruling.

From those who agree with the reasoning, I haven’t seen an immediate, responsive desire to adopt what will inevitably be an overwhelming number of embryos that have chromosomal abnormalities. Because now in Alabama, embryos that would carry terminal genetic conditions, like Mia’s, that guarantee miscarriage, significant pain and suffering, or global developmental delays, will remain viable for implantation.

And if you truly believe, as supporters of this ruling say they do, that these embryos are already children, how is there not an overwhelming demand to care for the least of these, to adopt and implant and carry each embryo?

Who among these supporters will knowingly choose to take on this mantle of birthing and caring for a medically fragile child, to modify their homes and lives, to quit their jobs so they can travel to therapies and specialist appointments, learn how to vent feeding tubes and clean CPAP machines, and risk bankruptcy and max out their insurance plans to ensure that these children have the lives they are entitled to? Because that is the immediate implication of this ruling.

[Mueller, She Wrote @MuellerSheWrote]

If helping students with debt is “buying votes”, then surely giving tax cuts to the wealthy is also “buying votes”. Right?

[Alex Cole @acnewsitics]

I'm using the carpool lane today.

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

@kerryfrantino11 This is trying to CLOG YOU.

[Zoé @smiley_zo]

@tedcruz Can you do your damn job???

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

The entire world: Putin murdered Navalny.

The Russian government: Navalny died from “Sudden death syndrome"

Trump this morning: “The sudden death of Alexi Navalny.”

Donald Trump is a Russian asset.

[Luke Beasley @lukepbeasley]

If we can have a federal holiday to celebrate presidents, we can have one to elect them too.

[Alex Cole @acnewsitics]

13 Presidents were one-termers

5 Presidents lost the popular vote.

4 Presidents have been impeached or resigned.

1 President has been criminally indicted, found to be a rapist, liar and fraudster by a court of law.

And only one has done ALL FOUR.

#PresidentsDay