If you are a longtime reader, you know that following food stamp fraud cases is a side interest of mine. Go here to my large archive on past cases. I haven’t written much lately on the topic because reporting on the refugee program is about all I can handle.
There is so much that could be done to stop the fraud including disallowing these ‘mom and pop’ convenience stores from accepting EBT cards.
I continue to urge one of you to write a blog solely on the topic of immigrant fraud such as food stamp fraud and other welfare fraud—a topic that could keep you busy every day and do our country a great service.
And, besides, your blog could be hopping (and fun to write!) because I suspect we will see more crackdowns now that the Justice Department is run by Jeff Sessions.
The type of fraud mentionedhere in the Breitbart story (called trafficking) works like this: Customer with SNAP benefits comes in to store wanting cash (for drugs?). Manager or owner pays customer 50 cents on the dollar in cash and then seeks reimbursement from the government (you!) for the full $1 dollar supposedly spent on food.
Twelve Floridians have been charged with running an alleged $20 million food stamp fraud scheme in one of the “largest” food stamp fraud crackdowns in history, according to the Justice Department.
Federal prosecutors told the Miami Herald that the 12 defendants who reportedly defrauded the federal government of $20 million were charged with food stamp fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The list of those charged include Mohammed Alobaisi, 37; Mohammad Alteen, 33; Joe Ann Baker, 56; Reynold Francois, 38; Omar Hajje, 43; Jalal Hajyousef, 42; Andy Javier Herrera, 24, and his father, Javier Herrera, 49; Ihab Hassouna, 44; Maria Jerdana, 36; Hasan Saleh, 59; and Yousef “Joe” Homedan Zahran, 60.
“In this instance, eight small convenience stores in South Florida committed a staggering amount of fraud in a relatively short amount of time,”said Karen Citizen-Wilcox, special agent in charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of the Inspector General, in a press release.
[….]
Store owners and employees who commit food stamp fraud face steep consequences.
No, I would not call a few months in jail “steep consequences.” And, how does someone pay restitution when they have sent your tax dollars out of the country (which is often the case)?
“We know that Canada’s strength comes from our diversity!”
(Prime Minister Trudeau)
Lost in the horrific news from Nevada, is this story from Canada where another Somali refugee (a known wolf!) uses a car and a knife to ‘thank’ the country that ‘welcomed’ him and gave him shelter.
Abdulahi Hasan Sharif tells Canadians what he thinks about their generous “welcome!”
I’ve reported previously that there are breakthroughs coming in the media—CNN actually used the word REFUGEE in a crawler this morning regarding this case. I know you are probably thinking, so what is the big deal? Ten years ago the word would be Somali “man” or Somali “immigrant” as the R-word was rarely, if ever, mentioned.
Police and politicians urged Canadians to be vigilant, but called for calm and unity in the wake of a terrorist attack in Edmonton that injured five and led to the arrest of a 30-year-old suspect who had previously been investigated for espousing extremist views.
It is the second major terrorist attack in Canada this year, following January’s shooting at a mosque in Quebec City that killed six and injured 19.
CBC News identified the Edmonton suspect on Sunday as Abdulahi Hasan Sharif. Police and federal officials would only confirm that the man in custody is a 30-year-old refugee from Somaliaand had been interviewed by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in 2015. But RCMP Assistant Commissioner Marlin Degrand said there had been insufficient evidence to charge him or issue a peace bond at the time and he was not considered a national security threat.
Justin Trudeau:
“We cannot — and will not — let violent extremism take root in our communities. We know that Canada’s strength comes from our diversity, and we will not be cowed by those who seek to divide us or promote fear,” he said.
See my complete Canada category byclicking here. If you don’t know, Canada has a huge Somali population.
Immigration reporter Caitlin Dickerson writing at theNew York Times magazine pretends to write the definitive story on what is happening to Twin Falls, Idaho.
“How Fake News turned a small town upside down”
Her story is huge, but missed a lot, either on purpose, or possibly her editors skewed the story she submitted.
I have no intention of taking her on point by point (it would take all day). But, I wanted you to know this is out there and to say just a couple of things….
First, Chobani Yogurt lawyers attempted to silence many media outlets, not just Breitbartand Infowars. (Although most will never admit it.)
Ms. Dickerson says of Mayor Barigar: “His even keel and the air of sophistication he picked up while living in a comparatively big city have made him popular politically.”
Secondly, she spends an inordinate amount of time on Lee Stranahan, a former Breitbart reporter impugning his character and motives, but she only touches on the mayor (in glowing terms) who played an instrumental role in luring Chobani Yogurt (which brags about its huge refugee workforce) to Twin Falls in the first place in his leadership role at the Chamber of Commerce. (Not mentioned by Dickerson).
And, finally, she sees nothing wrong with the local newspaper editor’s role in driving his Leftist view of the world by attempting to coerce elected city officials to write opinion pieces supporting refugee resettlement.
Part of the reason a fear of Islam has persisted in Twin Falls is because the local leadership refused to defuse it, according to Matt Christensen, 36, the editor of The Times-News. While Brown wrote articles that sorted out the truth about the Fawnbrook case, Christensen was publishing commentary that castigated the people who were spreading falsehoods. He told me that he had closed-door meetings with city officials, in which he asked them to write guest editorials doing the same, but none of them did. Christensen suspected that they were afraid of one of the most reliable political dangers in the region, the same force that leads would-be Democrats there to register as Republicans: being outflanked on the right is the quickest way to lose your job.
Matt Christensen is the only newspaper editor who ever attempted to silence me through legal intimidation.
“Behind closed doors, they would all tell you they were pro-refugee, and we [Who is we? —ed] wanted them to step forward and make that declaration in a public arena, and it just never really happened,” he told me. “That was frustrating to us especially at the beginning because it really felt like the newspaper was out there all alone.” He continued: “There were days where we felt like, Godammit, what are we doing here? We write a story and it’s going to reach 50,000 people. Breitbart writes a story and it’s going to reach 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 million people. What kind of a voice do we have in this debate?” [Obviously Matt has the NY Times now!—ed]
This isn’t the first time we have written about Christensen and his blatant and shameful effort to use his position as editor of a small town paper to push his world view.
In ten years, he is the only newspaper editor who ever legally threatened me, a small time blogger (in 2015, long before the rape ever happened), see here.
And, he played the controlling role as moderator in that dog and pony show sponsored by his paper that brought the US State Department/ORR to Twin Falls, see here.
I contend that the number one purveyor of fake news in all of this is The Times-News!
As much as the New York Times would like to put this story to rest, they haven’t and they won’t. Someone should write a book about Twin Falls as a microcosm of how American cities are being changed forever to satisfy the cheap labor desires of huge global corporations. Twin Falls has it all!
(And, if it is true that Breitbart pulled back reporter Stranahan, they made a huge error in judgement!). Again, Twin Falls has it all!
See my archive on Twin Falls going back several years, here.
The dramatic change in demographic makeup and the escalation of tensions in St. Cloud came to my attention in the earliest days of writing this blog when my then blog partner, Judy, wrote in 2008 about how Somali students were harassing a service dog to such a degree that it caused the disabled student to leave the school.
It is a good thing that we captured some of that story because it seems to no longer be available at the St. Cloud Times, which surprise, surprise, seems to be the case for many of the articles we have reported on from St. Cloud in the ensuing 9 years.
Recommendation! I can’t do it here, but when I look at RRW’s archives on St. Cloud (that began with the dog abuse story) what immediately comes to mind is that what has happened to the city, now the third highest for the direct resettlement of Somalis in the state (Minneapolis and St. Paul, are numbers one and two), is that someone should do a documentary film or write a book about the transformation of a small American city that began with a meatpacking plant’s desire for cheap labor.
And what got me thinking about it this morning is this snarky editorial in the St. Cloud Times blaming the Christian haters for the tension there.
Before I get to that, take a look at my St. Cloud archive by clicking here.
A sampling of stories that you should look at include:
On this last post, I checked data atWrapsnet and St. Cloud was getting Somalis directly, immediately after 9/11, but I believe Lutheran Social Services MN (the resettlement contractor there) didn’t open an office in the city until 2010.
But, direct resettlement doesn’t tell the whole story because Minnesota leads the nation in secondary migration (Somali refugees placed in other states move to MN to be with their own kind of people.)
Here is some of the editorial from the St. Cloud Times showing its disdain for its Christian readers:
If Central Minnesota is going to look back on one year since the Crossroads Center attacks and ask about community relations and people getting along, we at least need to be honest.
Photo used by the St. Cloud Times to illustrate its editorial. What! no photo of the Somali who stabbed ten at the local mall last year (a bit more hateful than words!).
When it comes to publicly exuding religious extremism in Central Minnesota and a lack of tolerance for others, it’s not from new immigrants nor Muslims. It’s from long-time residents. And Christians.
[….]
But there also is no denying a small, fervently vocal group of residents is working very hard to degrade new immigrants and Muslims — to the point this group wants to ignore the First Amendmentand move from an American democracy to a Christian theocracy. [WTH! These citizens with concerns are using the First Amendment as you chronicle below. It is the SC Times attempting to silence speech with this editorial!—-ed]
Witness the continued march of anti-Islam guest speakers making stops across Central Minnesota, typically as invited guests of certain Christian pastors.
The latest came Sept. 12-14 when Christian pastor and former Muslim Shahram Hadian spoke in St. Cloud, Browerville and Freeport. His topics: “Trojan Horse of Interfaith Dialogue,” “Islam’s Assault on the Constitution” and “Islam’s March Toward Supremacy.”
Witness the handful of local folks who have shown up regularly at recent St. Cloud City Council meetings to use the public input period to demand City Council members stop the influx of immigrants.
Never mind that this is a free country, and people can live where they choose. These speakers also want city leaders to go into public schools and other places, programs and organizations over which the city has no control.
So how many Christians in St. Cloud have attempted to murder Muslims?
(Don’t miss Leo Hohmann here on the feckless FBI on Somali refugee Adan who attempted to murder Americans one year ago in St. Cloud.)
But, somehow, to the editors at the St. Cloud Times, it’s the Christians (exercising their First Amendment rights!) who are the haters?
The editors continue…
To be clear, Dahir Adan stabbing 10 people at Crossroads a year ago was among the most horrific crimes experienced in Central Minnesota. And, yes, it certainly met the definition of terrorism.
It is unsettling that even a year later the FBI is not providing more details, especially clarity as to whether Adan was acting alone.
I’m frustrated! The story of St. Cloud needs to reach all Americans, so someone in the larger media needs to do a full investigation, or better still write a whole book or produce a documentary film so that all of America can be warned!
I saw the virtue-signaling by Vice President Pence on Fox News yesterday and wanted to throw something at the TV. The Fox reporter had swallowed the Leftwing media meme (built over the last decade) hook, line and sinker that the Rohingya are victims (just peaceful Muslims minding their own business).
Pence finds Muslims to love (those bad ol’ violent Buddhists, not so much).
Here is my recommendation to him and to Trump on the decades-old conflict in Burma between the Buddhists who run the country and the increasing numbers of devout Rohingya Muslims who the Buddhists say are really illegal migrants from Bangladesh….
Shut up!
I didn’t see the Burmese government chastising you, Mr. President, when you (fearing for the safety of Americans) initiated your ‘travel ban’ aimed at migrants from Muslim countries. Aren’t the Buddhists allowed to protect their people?
Until you have put someone to work studying the complex problem, someone who can fully brief you, simply don’t say a word!
***Update*** Journalists who know the facts call for balanced reporting (instead of constant pro-Muslim biased stories from AP, Reuters, BBC, etc), see here(hat tip:Joanne).
Here is Aljazeera thrilled to report what Pence (and Trump) said out of ignorance this week:
US President Donald Trump wants the UN Security Council to take “strong and swift action” to end violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting on peacekeeping reform, Vice President Mike Pence accused the Myanmar military of responding to attacks on government outposts “with terrible savagery, burning villages, driving the Rohingya from their homes”. [Those attacks came from armed Rohingya militants!—ed]
Pence repeated a US call for the Myanmar military to end the violenceand support diplomatic efforts for a long-term solution for the majority-Muslim Rohingya, who are denied citizenship in a country where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants. [Did he call for the Rohingya to stop their violence?—ed]
[….]
It was the strongest US government response yet to the violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that has forced more than 420,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, fleeing a military offensive the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing.
I bet Trump and Pence don’t even know that we have admitted almost 20,000 Rohingya to live in your towns and cities in the last ten years, including this upstanding future American citizen in New Hampshire.
Or how about this one agitating in Arizona (once their population gets high enough, the political agitation begins).
Just checked Wrapsnet and found that Donald Trump admitted 715 Rohingya (likely picked up in Malaysia or Thailand) since inauguration day. They couldn’t have been screened any more easily than the Syrians!
See my Rohingya Reports categoryhere—-it includes over 200 posts going back ten years—if anyone seriously wants to try to understand some of the facts buried by the mainstream media!
