Trial for alleged Covid fraud ramps up in Minnesota

February 4th, 2025

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SGT
February 04, 2025

Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

February 4th, 2025

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CURRENT EVENTS

Trial for alleged Covid fraud ramps up in Minnesota

Our take: When the Covid pandemic broke out, many government programs popped up to try and compensate for all the damage that government regulations caused. “Free money” was literally sent out to every person in America since the government locked millions of people out of their jobs.

In addition, the government funded many programs to get “aid” out to people. One such program in Minnesota, home of feckless Governor Tim Walz, took advantage of one such program to line their own pockets.

The program was designed to get food assistance to children. Several non-profits involved in the program grossly inflated the number of meals they were actually serving to children and pocketed the money from the fake billings - to the tune of over $200 million. It is alleged that these smaller organizations kicked money back up to the main organization administering the program so they could continue the grift.

Over 30 people accused of participating in the scheme have already pled guilty. This trial is the second attempt to prosecute these defendants. The first was ended when a group of defendants tried to bribe a juror, who promptly reported the bribe to the judge overseeing the case.

The lead defendant, Aimee Bock, has maintained her innocence, stating she had no knowledge of the scheme and did not participate.

We have no clue if Ms. Bock is a the victim of terrible circumstance or a willing participant. We do know that anytime there is “free money” - which is actually tax dollars you and I pay - the scammers will target those programs for their benefit. It is wild that over $200 million funneled through this program before someone put a stop to it.

This is one more example of a well intentioned government program not delivering what it was intended to deliver. We need people to learn to look at the actual results of government programs rather than judge them on their intentions. If they look at the actual results, they will see what an inefficient delivery system the government is for local aid.

COURTESY: MSN

Fox caught practicing journalism, runs list of items that could go up in price due to Trump tariffs

Our take: In a shocking twist, last Sunday Fox News took off their MAGA hats and practiced actual journalism for a few minutes.

Fox has long been a pseudo-propaganda arm for the Republican party. While it was smart for Fox to fill the void of right leaning media outlets, they lost the plot long ago, eschewing fact based reporting and filling their airwaves with right leaning talking points, much like their counterparts at CNN and MSNBC shill for the left.

On Sunday while interviewing professional victim and Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Fox ran a graphic showing all the items that could potentially see price increases due to the tariffs Trump is threatening to apply to goods from Canada and Mexico among other nations.

We don’t take much seriously from any of these obviously biased networks, but do think it is important to recognize when they actually show nonpartisan coverage in the rare events it happens.

COURTESY: MSN

Police data shows that when police are allowed to act like police, crime goes down

Our take: Against all logic and common sense, several years ago a movement calling for the defunding of police departments gained traction. The argument went police target minorities and those with mental health issues at a disproportionate rate, and we should divert those funds to mental health and rehabilitation efforts, going lenient on crimes and not prosecuting low level offenses like graffiti, shoplifting, and recreational drug use.

Anyone with common sense predicted what actually happened when these policies were implemented. Crime skyrocketed, many businesses closed up shop due to the lack of profit shoplifting led to, and neighborhoods became unlivable. Check out San Francisco or Portland if you want to see real world examples.

Since the trend started, some cities have said there has to be a solution. Dallas was one such city.

Interim Chief of Police Michael Igo told Fox News Digital that its violent crime reduction efforts resulted in both fewer incidents and fewer victims throughout 2024.

"In 2021, we employed criminologists from the University of Texas San Antonio, and we implemented a crime plan that was based really on three different phases or three different strategies," he said. "One was hot spot policing. The next strategy was Place Network Investigations, commonly known as PNIs. And the third piece of that was focus on deterrence."

Imagine that. When police are active in neighborhoods to prevent crime before it happens, it happens less. And when police target low level offenses, it prevents more serious crimes from creeping into the neighborhood.

Any parent could have told you how this works. With out rules, and consequences for those rules, some percentage of society will always break the law. When they know there will be consequences to their actions, they will not do it as much. Revolutionary!

COURTESY: FOX NEWS

TIP OF THE DAY

Focus on your approach, not the outcome. If you chase the outcome, you may achieve it, but once you do, you will not feel fulfilled, and you will stop doing the things that got you there in the first place. If you focus on the approach, you will build the habits that will last long after you achieve the result, and you will be much better off in the long run.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” - James Clear

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