After 8 plus years of Republicans in Congress wishing and wanting to repeal the Affordable Care Act because it was not their idea and besides, they wanted huge tax breaks for the wealthy  on the backs of this nations poor, are apparently on the verge of getting their wish.

I was crazy to think that the millions that were spent on implementing this act would some how save it but, I was stupid. I forget that Congress is like a quote from the movie Forrest Grump; “stupid is as stupid does.” Nothing that Washington does is for the betterment of the citizens or this country. “Make America Great” is the biggest load of crap that has ever been served up to the people of the USA. This is not and never will be about making this country great. Its all about getting “your people” in power to rape and plunder this country to grow their own wealth and continue to get reelected year after year. If you think that this current administration of idiots and billionaires are going to make your life better, than you are just as crazy as they are. But, keep believing all the lies and false news coming out of Congress, the administration, and Fox News and let me know when your personal life has improved.

I know that all Republicans believe in “trickle down economics” and the millionaires and billionaires that you keep providing tax breaks for are laughing their way to the bank every time  Congress and the President enact a bill that makes them richer or provides more tax breaks. The middle class is shrinking due to this form of economics and it is not the “upper class” that is swallowing them up. But, you voted for someone to look out for you that does not care a crap for you. He would rather going golfing every weekend in Florida at a national cost of  $ 10 million each and every week. But keep the faith because it is all about winning and absolutely nothing about making you or me great again.

But, let’s see all the things that this great narcissistic talking head  has achieved in the short time that he has declared himself, :the one and only.”

a wall on out Mexican border…not built…not paid for by Mexico, …cost could easily run over $ 25 Billion. If a company owned by Trump builds it… it could easily triple in price.

has jumped in bed with the Russians to open up the Arctic to oil exploration and accumulate more wealth for himself.

attacked the news media (except those that are far right) just like most dictators and a former disgraced President.

uses smoke and mirrors and slight of hand to keep everyone off balance and guessing.

But, take heart all you lonely people, because you have created a god made of gold to worship above all else, and he looked down on those that worshipped him and smiled because he thought that he was the one and only true prophet, because he was all-knowing and never makes a mistake.

I am back because our beloved country is under direct attack from within. A person who lives in his own reality has taken over the leadership of this country and his continual lies have replaced the facts. He complains of so called “fake news” that is supposedly being put out by the media, whom he has labeled as the enemy of the people. When, in fact, it is him and his minions that lie and exaggerate and “explain” about anyone or anything that is the truth.

His narcissistic, grandiose  personality just makes it worse. In his eyes, he is the best in everything he does and he needs that constant affirmation from others to boaster his ego. Why else does he need to hold political rallies after he is already elected other than for affirmation. His whole life has been one in which he has made himself to be the center of attention and his entire family supports his inflated ego. He is a compulsive liar and uses falsehood  and made-up reality to inflate that ego.

Just a few examples… his inauguration crowd could not be smaller than Obama’s so he inflated the numbers and claimed that the media somehow doctored the pictures of the crowd taken from the top of the Washington Monument. Throughout his campaign, every time that he has misspoke about something, his minions have stepped forward on television to tell the American people what he “really” meant. As if, to cover-up his mistakes. He inflates the number of votes that he got, the margins of victories, and claims that there was wide spread voter fraud with no proof. If there was any voter fraud, perhaps it was on his side, since he was the victor..

It is a concerted effort to cloud the public with smoke and mirrors. To boaster his claim of issues with illegal terrorists coming into this country, he claimed yesterday that something happened in Sweden the day before. The only thing that happened was the sun came up that morning after. There was no terrorist attacks or “massacres” occurring like his minions continue to report. Put aside your political beliefs, quit watching Fox news exclusively, and start thinking critically about what is being said. Do not take for gospel what the talking heads are saying on TV or on far right-wing radio as the truth. Get both sides of the story and than make an informed decision on what is true and what is not.

Also, why is it, that, only the far right threaten their opposition on the left with threats of violence, when we chose to not agree with them. We on the left or in the middle do not make threats of violence, but this administration’s foundation is based on fear and intimidation. They claim that they are strong believers in the Constitution, but only when it applies to them. They want to take away people’s right to choose, but God forbid you take mine. Example, abortion and the resulting loss of life of innocent babies is wrong, but do not touch my right to my Second Amendment rights that allow nut-jobs and fanatics to go around killing hundreds of men, women, and children. Oh, that is right, you do not believe that anyone died at Sandy Hook Elementary and it was a plot by the left to stop the sale of assault type weapons.

So, if you like what you read here, stay tuned for more. Like my father always said, your word is your bond, the truth will set you free, and a liar is hiding more than just the truth.

I am back because our beloved country is under direct attack from within. A person who lives in his own reality has taken over the leadership of this country and his continual lies have replaced the facts. He complains of so called “fake news” that is supposedly being put out by the media, whom he has labeled as the enemy of the people. When, in fact, it is him and his minions that lie and exaggerate and “explain” about anyone or anything that is the truth.

His narcissistic, grandiose  personality just makes it worse. In his eyes, he is the best in everything he does and he needs that constant affirmation from others to boaster his ego. Why else does he need to hold political rallies after he is already elected other than for affirmation. His whole life has been one in which he has made himself to be the center of attention and his entire family supports his inflated ego. He is a compulsive liar and uses falsehood  and made-up reality to inflate that ego.

Just a few examples… his inauguration crowd could not be smaller than Obama’s so he inflated the numbers and claimed that the media somehow doctored the pictures of the crowd taken from the top of the Washington Monument. Throughout his campaign, every time that he has misspoke about something, his minions have stepped forward on television to tell the American people what he “really” meant. As if, to cover-up his mistakes. He inflates the number of votes that he got, the margins of victories, and claims that there was wide spread voter fraud with no proof. If there was any voter fraud, perhaps it was on his side, since he was the victor..

It is a concerted effort to cloud the public with smoke and mirrors. To boaster his claim of issues with illegal terrorists coming into this country, he claimed yesterday that something happened in Sweden the day before. The only thing that happened was the sun came up that morning after. There was no terrorist attacks or “massacres” occurring like his minions continue to report. Put aside your political beliefs, quit watching Fox news exclusively, and start thinking critically about what is being said. Do not take for gospel what the talking heads are saying on TV or on far right-wing radio as the truth. Get both sides of the story and than make an informed decision on what is true and what is not.

Also, why is it, that, only the far right threaten their opposition on the left with threats of violence, when we chose to not agree with them. We on the left or in the middle do not make threats of violence, but this administration’s foundation is based on fear and intimidation. They claim that they are strong believers in the Constitution, but only when it applies to them. They want to take away people’s right to choose, but God forbid you take mine. Example, abortion and the resulting loss of life of innocent babies is wrong, but do not touch my right to my Second Amendment rights that allow nut-jobs and fanatics to go around killing hundreds of men, women, and children. Oh, that is right, you do not believe that anyone died at Sandy Hook Elementary and it was a plot by the left to stop the sale of assault type weapons.

So, if you like what you read here, stay tuned for more. Like my father always said, your word is your bond, the truth will set you free, and a liar is hiding more than just the truth.

I am sure that many of you out there are just as sick of listening to the different news sources as I am.  The problem is not that it is not the news as much as it is a theatrical performance of talking heads that spew out this continued rhetoric of gloom and doom with punctuation remarks about what separates us and continues to divide us.

We were a strong and proud nation at one time, but we have allowed our country to be torn apart by the very people supposedly elected to look out for our best interests.   The only interests involved in today’s society is all about the individual and how can I make more money, so that I can continue to buy cheap, but inferior products from foreign countries.  We as a nation have been sold down the river by our politicians and we have become a nation divided.

You turn on the television or read the newspaper, or even hear it from your own siblings.  If you do not agree with me, than you are wrong, stupid, and you are the enemy.  There are many issues and beliefs that divide us and the politicians in the states and in Congress continue to point these differences out and the hate-filled dialogue that goes with it serves no purpose, but to keep the flames of hatred fanned.

So, instead of focusing on what can we do collectively to unite and improve this country, it is all about presenting and strengthening my own personal agenda.   We hear that the middle class is disappearing and we have become a nation that cares more about me, rather than the “other” guy.  In the past, people looked out for each other and I remember that while I had one set of biological parents; I also had 15 other sets of parents looking out for me and every other kid in the neighborhood when I was growing up.

So, you need to stop and rather than dwell on those issues that divide us as a nation, we should be receptive about our differences and try to work to get past them.  If we do not demand a change in our way of thinking and agree to work together, we will remain divided and we will follow the course of every country that put their personal wants in front of the collective needs of the country.

The history books are full of examples.  The famous Roman Empire at one time covered most of the known world as they knew it, at that time.  But while its collapse occurred over the course of time, many experts will tell you that the main reason for its downfall was the disintegration of political, economic, military, and other social institutions.  Sounds pretty similar to what we are seeing today.

Authorities say they have identified 23 victims of a Washburn, North Dakota man who will spend the rest of his life in prison for sexually abusing children.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland on Monday sentenced Travis Guenthner 39, to a life term on two counts of coercion or enticement. Guenthner will serve concurrent 30-year sentences on five counts of sexual exploitation of minors. Judge Hovland also ordered Guenthner to pay a $700 special assessment and $1,865.18 in restitution for one victim’s counseling.

Guenthner pleaded guilty in November to the charges as part of a plea agreement in which counts of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors and possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minor were dismissed.

U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon said the case sends a message to parents to talk to their children about who they talk to online and how to react if someone asks for inappropriate photographs or contact. Parents long have been concerned about what could happen when their children leave their homes, but there may be more risk in what happens behind their bedroom doors. “Every predator in the world now has access to that kid (through the Internet),” he said.

After the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme explained Guenthner’s various means of contacting young girls online. He would pose as a teenage boy in some cases and request photographs from girls. In others, he would pose as a female modeling agent and offer to send a male photographer — himself — to take photographs of girls. Sometimes, he used a pseudonym to ask for the images.

Guenthner told Judge Hovland he would go on http://www.tagged.com and start combing through profiles of 13- to 14-year-old girls and work his way through age ranges, sending out messages in his various manners.

One of the recent disclosures led to the recovery of a Minnesota girl whose mother is alleged to have taken sexually explicit photographs of the girl under Guenthner’s direction. Delorme said Guenthner has not been indicted yet in the case, though the mother was arrested.

Of the known 23 victims, Guenthner had coerced 12 into providing him with nude or sexually explicit images of themselves, six had produced such images and also were sexually assaulted by Guenthner, and five were sexually assaulted by Guenther.

After viewing some of the files on Guenthner’s computer and also understanding how sexual predators operate, it is impossible to believe that Guenthner had only 23 victims.

Prosecutors in the case decided to stick to the plea agreement, which called for him to recommend no more than a 50-year sentence for Guenthner, despite his feeling that it was the “worst possible case, as far as child sexual exploitation, this court has ever seen.

The case came to light through two investigations in 2013 — one on behalf of Homeland Security Investigations and one by Bismarck Police Detectives.

After a Mandan girl reported a man had been soliciting her for nude or sexually explicit photographs through a website, Bismarck detectives created an undercover persona, a 14-year-old girl, and went on the same website. Guenthner began soliciting their false persona and arranged to meet the girl in Bismarck. Local police arrested him at the meeting place.

In the Homeland Security Investigations case, a Wilton woman reported that a woman had been soliciting her 17-year-old daughter for sexually explicit or nude photographs with a man whom the woman would line up.

Investigators in the cases found images of child pornography on several electronic devices belonging to Guenthner and began investigating the files. Some were of downloaded pornography. However, others appeared to have Guenthner’s hand, as identified by a tattoo, and some contained women’s hands.

Guenthner identified one woman as Michelle Laducer, also known as Michelle Griffin. Laducer told investigators she complied with Guenthner’s requests to take photographs of a Rolla girl. Guenthner told her he would give her $200,000 to arrange for him to take sexually explicit photographs of the girl, though she never received money. Guenthner sexually abused the girl in the summer of 2012 at the “Desert” south of Bismarck.Laducer of Rolla, was later sentenced to 30 years in prison for her role in the case.

Investigators also identified another girl in the photographs as a Devils Lake girl with mental disabilities. In addition to a federal charge referring to the girl, Guenthner also faces a Class B felony charge of gross sexual imposition in Ramsey County related to the same girl. A warrant has been issued for his arrest in that case, and he has not made any court appearances in the matter. Additional charges are pending on outstanding cases and more cases are expected to come to light.

What is so unbelievable was that this guy was able to convince some parents and other adults to become active participates in his sexual exploits either through the promise of money or fame and fortune through promised modeling photo shoots and careers as models. So, if he was able to convince adults over the internet, just how many underage girls were also convinced to send explicit photos or to even meet with him? I would guess that this is not his first rodeo and that there are probably hundreds of victims or potential victims out there that we are not aware of. And truth be told, if his memory is sketchy…it is because he is only remembering those case that the authorities know about or that there are so many victims, that he cannot remember them all. We have no idea just how long he has been prowling the internet.

Some people should just not have children. I often read stories of brutality of one person against another and it is often times shocking, but when crimes are against children it becomes doubly unbelievable. When your treatment of your own children comes in to place and that treatment or lack of results in a child’s death, it is an unspeakable horror.

A North Dakota woman, whose 13-year-old son died weighing just 21 pounds, sometimes locked the boy in a dirty bedroom filled with trash, a detective testified Thursday during a hearing where a judge determined she would stand trial on murder and other charges.

Judge Gary Lee heard testimony and arguments from attorneys in Minot before deciding the state had more than met the burden of proof necessary to try the 35-year-old Jessica Jensen, of Kenmare, for one count of murder, one count of neglect or abuse of a child and one count of failure to report the death of a child. Jensen has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

State Medical Examiner William Massello said in his autopsy that Jensen’s son died from chronic starvation due to untreated juvenile appetite disorder. He listed the manner of death as homicide.

Jensen’s attorney, Bob Martin, argued that she neglected her son’s untreated medical condition but did not deliberately starve him and should not be charged with murder.

For more than an hour, prosecutor Kelly Dillon interviewed Detective Laura Forbes, an investigator whose answers painted a detailed picture of the living conditions in some areas of Jensen’s house and the alleged mistreatment of her middle child. Forbes said Jensen told the detective that she had at times locked her son in a bedroom on the second floor of her home.

Forbes testified that both windows in the bedroom were covered in black plastic and were boarded up with plywood. She said the room was filled with trash, that the room smelled of feces and urine and that food was splattered across the walls.

Court documents show Jensen had homeschooled her children since 2009. Detective Forbes said investigators found few educational materials in the home; everything they found fit in one paper grocery bag full of books.

Detective Forbes said they also found a Kindle reading device that had several books about child abuse on it. Detective Forbes said that when she saw the body in the hospital on the night the boy died, she didn’t realize at first that he was in the bed. He was “very thin, only bones with skin on them.”.

Jensen’s mother told detectives that she believed Jensen did not want her son. She also said that after Jensen’s son had died, Jensen allegedly told her mother that “she was at ease.”

Jensen is charged with failing to report the death because authorities contend she waited more than two hours to call police. By the time police arrived, the boy’s body was stiff. Jensen told investigators her son had a hormonal growth problem and that his pituitary gland did not function properly. She said her son would eat and then throw up. But upon investigation, medical records showed that he had not seen a doctor for several years. There was plenty of food in the house and it didn’t appear the family was tight on money.

Jensen didn’t testify Thursday, but sat silent, often looking down at her attorney’s notes. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for September.

To give you some perspective, the average weight of a thirteen old boy is 85 to 100 pounds and an average boy of 1 year weights as much as this child did at the time of his death. And as far as the mother’s contention that he had an eating disorder, I could understand him being somewhat underweight for his age, but that idea does not explain the abuse and neglect. All so, where was family and friends and neighbors, while this was occurring. There were supposedly other children, what about them and why did they not say anything to anybody else. Obviously, that is why they were home schooled.

My wife accuses me of always watch shows on television that she calls M & M shows.  The M & M stands for Murder & Mayhem.  It is true that I like to watch cop or crime shows and it is probably due to my background in law enforcement and corrections.  So, with that in mind, this article caught my attention.

Forensic DNA sleuths may be close to finding the truth behind one of the oldest unsolved missing person’s cases in U.S. history.

The breakthrough will be too late for Marvin A. Clark, who vanished during a trip to Portland on Halloween weekend 1926 and would be more than 160 years old were he alive today, according to a report Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The case has been cold for 90 years but investigators have used modern DNA technology and several online databases to find three great-great-grandchildren on Clark’s paternal side.

They are now working to locate someone on his mother’s side to shore up the results.

Clark was a “well-known” Tigard, Ore., resident who went missing while traveling by bus to visit his daughter in Portland on Oct. 30, 1926, according to The Oregoniannewspaper at the time. He was reportedly between 60 and 75 years old.

A frantic search and a $100 reward — more than $1,300 in today’s money — returned no results, despite police across the Northwest being told to look out for Clark, who was partially paralyzed and had a “hanging gait.”

Then 60 years later, on May 10, 1986 loggers in Portland discovered a skeleton alongside some unusual belongings: a 1888 V nickel, a 1919 penny, a pocket watch, leather shoes, wire-rimmed glasses, a Fraternal Order of Eagles pocket knife, and four tokens with the inscription “D&P,” believed to be tavern tokens awarded in card games and used to buy alcohol.

Police also found a corroded revolver, and an expended .32-caliber bullet. A single shot had entered the skull at the temple. Medical examiners, who said at the time said it was the oldest case they ever had, ruled the unknown man’s death a suicide.

The case went cold again. That was until Dr. Nici Vance, of the Oregon state medical examiner’s office, made the recent breakthrough when she entered Clark’s name into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a free system used by officials to try to put names to unidentified corpses.

Note:  Follow-up:  On a recent post, I told about Mr. Byron Smith 65 of Little Falls, Minnesota.  He was the man on trial for killing two teenagers who broke into his house with the intent to rob him.  He waited in his basement and when they came down stairs he shot them.  He was portrayed as a man that, in fact, executed these two thieves.  Well, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder after just 3 hours of deliberation.  Mr. Smith’s mistake was shooting them close up and being too honest with the police and telling them that his intent was to kill the two invaders.  It is a sorry state when the police cannot protect you and neither can you.  Remember, this guy’s house had been broken into more than a dozen times and the police never arrested anybody.

What is Distracted Driving?

Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving.  All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety. These types of distractions include:

• Texting
• Using a cell phone or smartphone
• Eating and drinking
• Talking to passengers
• Grooming
• Reading, including maps
• Using a navigation system
• Watching a video
• Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player
• But, because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction.
• The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses.  On this page, you’ll find facts and statistics that are powerfully persuasive.  If you don’t already think distracted driving is a safety problem, please take a moment to learn more.  Together, we can help save lives.

  Key Facts and Statistics

• The number of people killed in distraction-affected crashes decreased slightly from 3,360 in 2011 to 3,328 in 2012.  An estimated 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver; this was a nine percent increase from the estimated 387,000 people injured in 2011.
• As of December 2012, 171.3 billion text messages were sent in the US (includes PR, the Territories, and Guam) every month.
• 10% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash.  This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.
• Drivers in their 20s make up 27 percent of the distracted drivers in fatal crashes.
• At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010.
• Engaging in visual-manual subtasks (such as reaching for a phone, dialing and texting) associated with the use of hand-held phones and other portable devices increased the risk of getting into a crash by three times.
• Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting.  When traveling at 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded.
• Headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held use.
• A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive. 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving.

GPS poses risks

Text messaging isn’t the only distraction for drivers.  Navigation and GPS devices and other technology also present opportunities for a driver to take attention off the road.

Put the cell phone in the trunk

For some drivers, creating a plan to reduce driving distractions can be an effective way to hold them accountable.  Some experts recommend turning off the device or putting it on vibrate before driving.  If the impulse to reach for the phone is still hard to overcome, some experts say to put the device in the trunk of the vehicle while driving.

Socially unacceptable

While driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol carries a level of social taboo, several experts said that texting or operating handheld devices while driving doesn’t carry the same stigma.  They want that to change.

Call them back

In addition to refraining from talking on the phone or texting while driving, if people learn they’re talking to someone who is driving while on the phone, tell them to call back when they have stopped.

Polite intervention

If a passenger sees a driver operating a car while being distracted using a handheld device, some experts advocate that they speak up and ask them to stop.

Siri and her friends

Don’t assume that voice recognition systems on smart phones or vehicles offer more safety than manual texting.  Some studies have shown that those systems, even when working effectively, still distract drivers.

Like many families that are in need of a financial boost, many gather their property and leave hometown America because there is nothing there to help them be financially solvent.   So, they pack up their meager belongs and travel to areas where there is supposed employment opportunities.  Many of these families are attracted by the lure of jobs and when they arrive they are confronted often times with either a lack of housing or a lack of affordable housing.  Most areas of the country that have experienced a boom in the job market are the direct result of an earlier economic boom.  In central California, in Silicon Valley, it was the initial software technology boom, in western North Dakota, it was the discovery of a huge oil formation and in Central Florida, it was the development of numerous theme parks designed to attract the tourists of the world.  If you are one of the early arrivals, you may get in on the ground floor before you experience the rapid rise of housing costs, groceries, and other essential needs.

An example of this is played out in the following story that is occurring in central Florida, but it could just as well be San Jose, California or Williston, North Dakota.  These stories are all similar, in which, large numbers of people arrive in an area looking to make their fortune, only to find out that the economic boom has made it almost impossible to live there because of ever increasing demand that drives prices higher and higher.

When they moved from Georgia to the theme park playground of central Florida four years ago, Anthony and Candice Johnson found work at a barbecue restaurant and a 7-Eleven.  Their combined salaries nevertheless fell short of what they needed to rent an apartment, so the couple and their two children have instead been hopping among cheap motel rooms along U.S. 192.

“What’s hard for us isn’t paying the bills,” Candice Johnson, 24, said. “It’s just trying to get our feet in the door” with the combined expense of application fees, security deposits and first month’s rent needed for a place of their own.

The Johnsons are among a growing number of families living in hotels in this Florida tourist corridor because they can’t afford anything else and because their county has no shelters for the estimated 1,216 homeless households with children.

The problem has created a backlash among the mostly mom-and-pop businesses, with some owners suing the county sheriff to force his deputies to evict guests who haven’t paid or who have turned their rooms into semi-permanent residences.  It also shines a light on the gap among those who work and live in this county that sits in the shadow of Walt Disney World, and the big-spending tourists who flock here.

On any given day, tourists pay nearly $100 per person to get into Orlando’s theme parks.  There, they may be waited on by homeless parents.  From their hotels, they jog past bus stops where homeless children wait to head to school. They buy coffee at Starbucks next to the motels that have become families’ homes.

Starting minimum pay at Walt Disney World — the area’s largest employer, just a few miles from the motels — is $8.03 an hour, though that could increase to $10 under a contract being negotiated with the resort’s largest union group.

“Tourists that come here … I don’t think they have a clue,” said James Ortiz, 31, a fast-food worker who recently moved out of a motel room and into an RV park with his parents and 5-year-old son.

Homeless advocates blame the housing problem on the low-paying wages of the service economy and the rents in Osceola County, with 300,000 people.  While inexpensive compared with larger cities, Osceola rents often exceed what a worker earning near minimum wage can afford.  Median earnings for workers in Osceola County are $24,128 a year, according to U.S. Census figures, and median rent is $800 a month. Motel rooms can go for just $39 a night.

“The fact that we’re the happiest place on Earth and No. 1 travel destination is good news, but this service-based economy is actually creating a dynamic of homelessness,” Jackson said.  Many of the county’s homeless moved here to find jobs in the tourism industry, so they lack the social networks of family or churches, Jackson said.

“Paying weekly is all we can do to survive,” Ortiz, 31, said. “I can’t find a house that is suitable in a decent neighborhood for me and my child to be able to pay rent, pay the utilities, pay car insurance, pay gas and buy food.”

For two years, Theresa Muller has lived in motel room after motel room with her three young children, her father and her boyfriend. The owner of Home Suite Home has wanted her out for months.  Dianna Chane says Muller’s family is violating the hotel’s policy of only four people per room, and clothes, furniture, toys, garbage and boxes are piled chest-high.  Chane is among those suing Osceola County Sheriff Bob Hansell to force his deputies to evict such guests.  Under Florida’s lodging law, it’s a second-degree misdemeanor to stay in a room after being asked to leave. Yet each time Chane has asked the sheriff’s office to intervene, she says deputies have refused even though they follow the law for brand-name hotels.   Chane says the office calls the issue a landlord-tenant dispute that should be handled in civil court.  “I can’t afford it,” said Chane, who figures she has swallowed more than $200,000 in unpaid rooms since 2012.

A sheriff’s spokeswoman and an attorney for the sheriff said they wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.   In court papers, an attorney for the sheriff said there is a presumption that occupants are not transient if they say the hotel room is their sole residence.  “Hotel owners simply cannot engage long-term guests … then turn on a dime when they stop paying and pretend they are tourists,” the sheriff’s attorney said in a court filing.

Muller said she’s unemployed but hopeful about a dollar-store retail job.  Until then, her father’s disability payments help the family try to get by.  She said she found a house she can afford in a neighboring county and was in the process of moving out of Chane’s motel.  “It’s not a place for kids,” Muller said.

So, before you hop on a bus with your six children, make sure that their you can qualify for all those high paying jobs that the state officials brag about and that you can afford the cost of living.  Here in North Dakota, Job Service was advertising that there were 25,000 jobs in North Dakota, but what they did not tell you was that the vast majority (70%) were either temporary or minimum wage jobs,

The world as we know it is full of stupid people who then in turn come up with even stupider ideas and this includes the current administration. The Justice Department moved Wednesday to significantly expand the number of people eligible for clemency, issuing new guidelines allowing certain prisoners who already have served at least 10 years behind bars to apply for release.

The initiative is part of a broader Obama administration effort to ease sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Deputy Attorney General James Cole outlined the changes, which include six separate criteria inmates must meet to be eligible, on Wednesday morning.  Among the requirements is that inmates must have served at least 10 years of their federal sentence and not have a “significant criminal history.” They must be “non-violent, low-level offenders” with no significant ties to major gangs, have a record of good conduct in prison and have no history of violence.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole outlined the changes, which include six separate criteria inmates must meet to be eligible, on Wednesday morning. Among th i

Finally, the process will be open to those who likely would have gotten a lesser sentence if convicted of the same offense today.

“Older, stringent punishments that are out of line with sentences imposed under today’s laws erode people’s confidence in our criminal justice system. I am confident that this initiative will go far to promote the most fundamental of American ideals — equal justice under the law,” Cole said.

He said the department plans to launch the initiative “quickly and effectively.”

Cole suggested attorneys in the Justice Department are on board, though separate efforts to curb mandatory minimum sentencing have drawn complaints from the rank and file.

The National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder in January arguing that the current sentencing system is “worth preserving” — and that mandatory minimums give prosecutors “leverage to secure cooperation from defendants.”

DOJ leaders, though, argue that the new clemency changes are meant to address inconsistencies in sentences over time. The announcement is aimed primarily at drug prisoners, especially those sentenced under old guidelines that resulted in significantly harsher penalties for people caught with crack cocaine than for those who possessed the powder form of the drug. But it also applies to federal inmates imprisoned for other crimes, provided they meet the same criteria for clemency.

Cole outlined a detailed process that apparently will kick into gear starting next week. He said the Bureau of Prisons will circulate the new criteria to inmates across the country, and allow those who think they meet the standards to fill out an electronic form.

DOJ lawyers will screen those forms and forward select cases to pro bono attorneys to help in preparing clemency applications. Cole said lawyers from the Justice Department and elsewhere are being assigned to the pardon office to help in reviewing the “numerous petitions” expected to be submitted.

He said applications will undergo “rigorous scrutiny.”

Cole also announced that current Pardon Attorney Ron Rodgers will be resigning; he will be replaced by Deborah Leff, acting senior counselor for access to justice.

One source told The Associated Press the Justice Department has identified more than 23,000 people who are serving sentences of at least 10 years. But it was not clear how many of those people would be viable clemency candidates.

The Obama administration says it’s working to correct the legacy of an old sentencing structure that, historically, subjected black convicts to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient sentences to those caught with powder, who were more likely to be white. The Fair Sentencing Act reduced that disparity and eliminated a five-year mandatory minimum for first-time possession of crack, and officials are now turning their attention to identifying inmates who received sentences under the old guidelines that now appear unduly harsh.

President Obama, who granted only one commutation in his first term, cut short in December the sentences of eight prisoners he said had been locked up too long for drug crimes. The White House has said it’s seeking additional good candidates to consider for clemency, though spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that the number of commutations “will depend entirely on the number of worthy candidates.”

Regardless how they paint this proposal, it is not about creating an equal playing field when it comes to drug sentences. It is purely a move to grant clemency to a large number of black inmates currently doing time in federal prisons. This is just another example of a black president that is only concerned about helping the black community.