Riverhead Couple Accused of Stealing Half a Million Dollars Worth of Food Stamps

Ravinder Parkash Being Led Out of His Convenience Store Next to the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center,

An article in the Riverhead News Review reveals that a couple, Ravinder Parkash and his wife, Prabha Rani pleaded guilty to felony misuse of New York Food Stamps and grand larceny.  Mr. Parkash also pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Apparently, here's how the dirty dealings went down, Between the months of April 2010 and May 2013 Parkash and Rani conspired with dozens of food stamp cardholders to process fake SNAP Benefits transactions at their gas station and convenience store.

The couple then paid the New York Food Stamp recipients half the value of their transaction in cash. Then, the couple turned around and charged the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the full value of the transaction.

Afterwards, Ravinder Parkash laundered the fruit of his ill-gotten gains through a bank account he set up for New York State Lottery sales - this dude and his wife are in hella trouble, read the full article below:

 Riverhead Couple Pleads Guilty to Food Stamp Fraud

Wisconsin FoodShare Worker Convicted of Food Stamp Fraud

According to WCCO, CBS Local in Minnesota, a Wisconsin woman, Cassandra Williams, a 49 year old office clerk who worked in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin FoodShare office (Wisconsin Food Stamps), has been convicted of Food Stamp Fraud, and has been sentenced to 10 years. 

Williams will spend 5 years in prison and the other 5 under supervision.  The article did not say exactly how Williams benefited from the fraudulently obtained food stamps, but you can read the full article below:

Court Upholds Sentence for Woman Accused of Food Stamp Fraud

Glen Falls, NY Man Charged With Felony Misuse of Food Stamps - A Big Joke!

According to the Post-Star, 26 year old Michael Dean has been charged with a felony for misuse of NY Food Stamps. Basically, Dean failed to report his income, address, and household composition size when he was receiving NY SNAP Benefits...

Apparently, the horrible criminal got away with all of $1,896 in fraudulent benefits, police said. The two Super Heroes who handled the horrific case are Sheriff’s Investigator Kevin W. Conine and Department of Social Services Investigator Barbara Meade... Is this kind of petty B.S. all these people have to do?

It probably cost them more money to investigate the case, then bring this "criminal" to justice through the court system.  Good Job! 

Read the original article below:
Man Charged with Felony for Alleged Misuse of Food Stamps

How to Apply for Tennessee Food Stamps (2015)

Wow! It appears the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) is still far behind the times. In order to apply for Tennessee Food Stamps in 2015, you have to visit your local DHS office.  Those backwards idiots need to be ashamed of themselves for being one of the only states to not allow the struggling people of its state to be able to apply for food stamps online.

Now, before some half-brained Republican reads this post and thinks I'm whining about the luxury of online applications for Tennessee SNAP Benefits, I'm not...online applications are simply more efficient and economical for both the states and the applicants... The process would be quicker, and it would require less employees to initiate paperwork.

Anyway, I digress. If you need to apply for food stamps in Tennessee, visit your local DHS office - they will, at least, allow you to print off an application to fill it out ahead of time. 

Check out the two links below:

Tennessee Department of Human Services Family Assistance Application (click to print)

Tennessee Department of Human Services Local Office List and Map (click to print)

How to Apply for Louisianna Food Stamps (2015)

If you need to apply for Louisiana Food Stamps in 2015, you can now do so online. Louisiana SNAP Benefits can be applied for via the LA Cafe Customer Portal.  Through the portal, you can apply for all of Louisiana welfare benefits:  SNAP (formerly Food Stamps), Child Care (CCAP), Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP), or Kinship Care Subsidy Program (KCSP), or Child Support Enforcement Services.

You can also check the status of your applications, renew your benefits, complete change reports, and/or enroll or re-enroll in LaCAP.  Follow the link below in order to apply for Louisiana SNAP Benefits:

LaCafe Customer Portal

7 States With The Most People on Food Stamps

According to an article on wallstcheatsheet.com Personal Finance page, these are the 7 states with the most people receiving food stamps:

7. Louisiana

• Number of food stamp recipients: 868,192
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 18.67%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $107.4 million
• Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $23.10

6. Tennessee

• Number of food stamp recipients: Just over 1.28 million
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 19.58%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $158.7 million
• Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $24.23

5. Oregon

• Number of food stamp recipients: 791,222
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 19.93%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $98 million
• Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $24.66 per person

4. West Virginia

• Number of food stamp recipients: 369,249
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 19.96%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $45.7 million
• Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $24.69 per person

3. New Mexico

• Number of food stamp recipients: 448,328
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 21.5%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $55.5 million
• Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $26.60 per person

2. Mississippi

• Number of food stamp recipients: 650,911
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 21.74%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $80.5 million
• Estimated cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $26.90 per person

1. District of Columbia

• Number of food stamp recipients: 144,768
• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 21.97%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $18 million
• Estimated cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $27.19 per person

Read more:
7 States with the Most People on Food Stamps

A Heartbreaking Story About A Lifetime Oregon Food Stamp Recipeint

More than a decade ago, Oregon Public Broadcasting featured a story on Portland resident Tara Lynn, at the time, she and her family were struggling to feed their children, even with the help of the Oregon Food Stamp program. 

Life was hard for Tara, she was 27years old, her husband had just lost her job and she was trying to raise 3 children while living from paycheck to paycheck.

Today, exactly 13 years later, Jefferson Public Radio has gotten back in touch with Tara Lynn, see how well she's faring today - read the original story here:

Paycheck to Paycheck, Food Stamps to Food Stamps, The Cycle Continues

The Holidays are Over, CalFresh Cuts are a Reality, and the Santa Barbara Food Bank Feels the Impact.

The people who run the state of California have been smart enough to avoid cruel and harsh food stamp cuts for the impoverished in their state. However, Bonnie Campbell, the director of community impact at the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County, told  KEYT, News Channel 3 that she can already feel the impact of the comparatively minute CalFresh cuts.  People generally only think about giving to food banks during the holiday season, and the season has come to an end. If you  have a mind, the means and a heart to give, please do so by visiting www.foodbanksbc.org

If you would like to read the original story for this article, you can do so here:
Food Banks Oppose Food Stamp Changes.

The Case of Colin Chisolm, III: Welfare Fraud in the Making

So, according to the Sun Sentinel, a dude by the name of Colin Chisolm III, a self-described Scottish aristocrat and his wife Andrea, have been charged with welfare fraud.  The couple originally obtained Minnesota Food Stamps and public aid 7 years ago, then they went down to the sunny shores and applied for Florida Food Stamps a while later, and they were deemed eligible.

They Insisted on Being Called Lord and Lady Chisolm...LMAO!
I Wonder What They're Gonna Call Him in Prision?

The couple told workers at the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Florida Department of Childen and Families they were penniless, and hungry.  Shockingly enough, both states gave the couple food assistance and cash assistance , for years on end.

This seems rather odd for sure, because usually childless couples ae not granted any sort of public assistance or welfare for years on end...it may have something to do with states loosening eligibility rules due to the economic recession...but I still can't see them getting government assistance for years, it's hard enough for fully eligible people to get assistance for years...

I digress...the shocker of the story, is that Colin and Andrea Chislom are millionaires. In fact, they were living on a $1.2 million dollar yacht when they were getting their EBT Cards refilled each month. Colin Chisolm, III has been charged, convicted and
sentenced, and so has his wife, read the full story below:

Scottish Aristocrat Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for Welfare Fraud

Food Stamp Cuts to Hurt the Countries Poorest People

CBS news says states are tightening food stamp eligibility requirements, and the poorest Americans will be affected.  Many states are going back to requiring childless adults to either work, or find job trainig in order to be eligible for SNAP Benefits.  The problem is, there are no jobs, and most states job training programs are absolutely inadequate.  They gotta come up with something better than this, because this is NOT how to solve the issue of poverty.  Read the full story below:

Food Stamp Cuts May Force 1 Million Into Hardship

Unemployment Rate Falls, Food Stamp Recipient Rate to Follow

According to an article in the Huffington Post, the amount of people receiving food stamps is expected to drop by 1 million by 2016, due to a falling unemployment rate.  Hmmm, I wonder if this drop in the amount of people carrying EBT Cards is due to people getting real, family sustaining jobs, or stupid, harsh rules that kick people off of assistance because they've gone out and gotten dead-end, $9 an hour jobs, and now they don't qualify for food stamps any longer...The only way to find out is to read the original article below:

Food Stamp Enrollment Expected to Drop by 1 Million Next Year

This "falling unemployment rate" jazz probably has a lot to do with the following article printed in the USA Today:

Unemployment Rates Fall for Least Educated

USDA Commands Massachusettes fo Fix Silly Photo on EBT Card Rule

So, if you read the story I posted about how Costco wouldn't allow a woman to use her food stamp card, because the EBT Card bears her husband's photo, you know that the administrators of the Massachusettes SNAP Benefits program has imposed this stupid requirement for their food stamp recipeints.

The good news is that the USDA has ordered the state of Massachusettes to disban this nonsense, read the full story below:

USDA Orders Mass to Fix Food Stamps Procedures

Costco Wouldn't Allow Food Stamp Recipeint to Buy Food For Her Children

In a short little post, I wanted to say Shame! Shame! Shame! This shameful finger shake goes into the face of Costco for not allowing a woman to buy food with her Massachusettes SNAP Benefits card, because the card shows her husband's photo instead of hers.

In the state of Massachusettes, EBT cards are embossed with recipeints photos.  This is a costly nonsense that serves no real purpose  - it's just stupid and they need to fix it.  Still, all in all, Costco denied the woman access to food for her children because the photo on the card was that of her husband... That's jacked up Costco...

Read a related article below:

I am Mortified Every Time I Have to Present the Food Stamp Card 

Wisconsin Legislation Assembly Republicans Say: No Using Food Stamps to Buy Junk Food, That Won't Sell

According to the Racine Journal Times, there are too many obstacles to to disallowing food stamp recipeints from buying junk food with their SNAP Benefits.  I'm all behind such a move, because taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for unhealthy crap that some food stamp recipeints (just like everyone else, but the focus here is no them) place in their shopping carts.

Here's my take on the issue: The food we choose to put into our bodies has a direct effect on our health and well-being.  The fact of the matter is this, we truly are what we eat, and most of us in this country eat too many high fat, high sugar, high sodium, zero calorie, non-nutritious junk.   All of this crap that we consume leads to diseases likek diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and a host of other illnesses.  These illnesses are expensive to maintain, and most food stamp recipeints do not have the funds to pay for the medical care they will need when these diseases have been contracted, so the cost of care will end up right back on the taxpayers, it's a vicious cycle.

So, whatever "obstacles" the Wisconsin Legislation Assmbley Republicans are encountering, they need to blast right through them so that people will not be allowed to purchase junk food with Wisconsin FoodShare Benefits.  Hopefully, if Wisconsin is the first to successfully allow such a measure to pass, the rest of the country will follow.  That is, of course, unless the Republicans would rather keep allowing poor people to make themselves sick, in order to keep them going to their traditional Western Mediine practitioners, so they can prescribe them more and more chemicals (...yes, medicines are chemicals), which in turn, makes the whole of the medical and pharmaceutical industry richer - the medical and pharmaceutical industries being largely rich, white people who vote republican.

Read the entire article by clicking the link below:

No Food Stamps for Junk Food

More Michigan Food Stamp Recipeints than Public School Students

According to an article on Fox Nation (so...one has to be wary of how truthful this information may be, coming from the Nazi Network), there are more Michigan Food Stamp Recipients than public school students.

In true fashion of Republican idiots everywhere, in the comments section of the article, most readers place the blame solely on President Obama, as if this country wasn't in serious trouble when he took office...what with a lying scumbag of a President who led us into the incredibly expensive war that made the whole of the world hate us and will ultimately prove to be the catalyst for our financial downfall - their good, white Republican President, might I remind you....

There is no factual evidence to place the Michigan SNAP Benefits issue 100% on President Obama's head, and everyone knows....everyone knows, that the major reason they don't like the man is because they are disgusting racists, and racists do what racists always have done, blame black people for just about everything they can think of.

But, I digress, and I sincerely apologize.  You can read the full story by clicking the link below:

Michigan has More Food Stamp Recipients than Students

Why Pennsylvania Food Stamps Matter A Great Deal in North Philadelphia

Pennsylvania food stamps are a lifeline for many who live in North Philadelphia, it is one of America's poorest neighborhoods, and once again, those nasty Republicans are trying to kill these people by cutting off their lifeline.

The New Yorker did a piece called Why Food Stamps Matter, and it covers the facts I referenced in the paragraph above. Read the full story below, and be sure to pay special notice to Vicenta Delgado's story, as hers is just one of thousands just like it:

Why Food Stamps Matter

New Yorker contributor, Sasha Abramsky met Vicenta in 2011, I hope she's doing better today...however, thanks to idiots like those disgustingly dirty republicans, she's probably not...

Kicking People Off Food Stamps Does Not Help: A Big Fat Wow!

According to the Bangor Daily News, on January 1, 2015, nearly 7,000 residents of Maine became ineligible for Food Stamps. Childless Food Stamp recipents in the state of Maine must work, volunteer, or be placed in job training in order to continue to be eligible for their SNAP benefits. Generally speaking, there's absolutely nothing wrong with these requirements, but it's more complicated that how it seems, keep reading before you judge...

When recipeints do not comply with the rules, they are kicked off the program. The governor of Main, Paul LePage choose not to seek an extension in benefits for those 7,000 recipeints, so they will be kicked off the program, but here's the problem: 

Jobs are still scarce in Maine, and those "job training" programs are few and far between, and inadequate. Helping people to escape poverty takes adequate child care, stable housing, and real help with training and employment, Maine (just like almost everywhere else, really...) is falling short in these areas, and kicking people off assistance does not solve the problem - it never has and it never will... Most of us already know this; hopefully, someone with some real power will get it and start instituting changes that can really help the issue of poverty. 

Read the full story below:

Kicking People off Food Stamps Doesn't Make Them Less Impoverished or Employed