Day: April 4, 2008

Laughing out Loud over Food Stamp fraud comments

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I know the Food Stamp fraud going on in the US is no laughing matter, but comments by a spokesperson for the Michigan Attorney Generals Office are just too funny to believe.    We have written a few times on Food Stamp fraud always with the disclaimer that as far as we know it doesn’t involve refugees, but since it’s allegedly occuring in Hagerstown, MD, it’s of interest to us.

I’ve also told you before that we can see what people are searching for that brings them to RRW and lately there have been a spate of searches for the Food Stamp fraud issue.    I decided then to see what all the interest is and came upon this article from The Arab American News in mid-March.   They are referring to this case that Debbie Schlussel posted on in February.

Read this amazingly hilarious demonstration of political correctness:

DEARBORN — Twenty seven people arrested by state police in February for alleged food card fraud all seem to be of Arab descent, judging by their names—all recognizable Arab family names.

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But a spokesperson for Attorney General Mike Cox’s office said that doesn’t necessarily mean there is a problem specific to the Arab American community.

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“Folks who commit crimes together usually have a common link,” said spokesman Matt Frendewey.

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Sometimes that link, he said, is a common ethnicity. He compared it to biker gangs, often made up entirely of white males, who might commit crimes together.

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“It would be very inaccurate to say that it speaks to the Arab American community.”

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Frendewey said it was never even apparent to the attorney general’s office that that all those involved were Arab Americans until pointed out by The Arab American News.

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The 27 suspects — owners and employees of eight Detroit party stores and gas stations — are accused of engaging in more than $1.5 million worth of illegal dealing in food card benefits

To the person who asked me last night why our government is so obtuse to the Muslim problem, this demonstrates one reason.

I will say it isn’t all Arab names, in some cases the names are Pakistani.  Now, going back to the biker gang analogy, what would Arabs and Pakistanis have in common?

Last day to sign up to lobby for more Iraqi refugees to come to the US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Advocacy groups are gearing up for a big push to pressure Congress and the Administration to bring more Iraqi refugees to the US.    Another bigwig pow-wow (see first bigwig pow-wow here) is set for April 14th in Washington where speakers will be priming the audience to hit Congress with a two day lobbying campaign. 

It’s spring in Washington, DC, the cherry blossoms are in bloom and IRAQ ACTION DAYS are fast approaching. It’s the perfect time to plan a trip to our Nation’s Capitol. Already, more than sixty EPIC supporters and friends from around the country have signed up to join us this April 14-16.

I’ll tell you more about this effort when I get some time over the weekend, but I wanted to be sure to get this information to you since today is the last day to register if you would like to attend.

Just a little personal note:  Rep. John Dingell is a keynote speaker.  I had an occasion many years ago (30 years ago) to meet  him over a political issue in Washington and I found him to be a blowhard and a tyrant.  Now, I guess he must be a pro-Muslim immigration cranky old blowhard and tyrant.

Iraqi refugees arriving fast and furious now

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Barbara Day, domestic resettlement section chief at the State Department, speaking at a refugee conference in Phoenix, Arizona this week gave the audience some interesting information.   She said that the US had resettled over 12,000 Iraqi refugees already in the first half of the fiscal year which began on October 1, 2007.    The goal for the entire fiscal year is 12,000.

In the first half of the federal fiscal year, 12,850 Iraqis arrived in the U.S.

That is very strange since Matthew Lee reported only a month ago that we had admitted only 1,876 as of March 1. 

The State Department said Saturday that 444 Iraqi refugees entered the country in February. That puts total admissions for the current budget year, which began Oct. 1, at 1,876 and leaves the administration seven months to admit 10,124 to reach its goal.

The State Department and the volags must have been busy little beavers this past month.   I guess that would also explain why Lee (the Associated press reporter) had nothing bad to say about the Bush Administration on April first. 

How many of the Iraqis admitted so far are Christian and how many are Muslim, that is what I would like to know.