Squatters in Atlanta‚ Georgia‚ have taken over more than 1‚200 vacant rental homes‚ according to an estimate from the National Rental Home Council‚ Bloomberg recently reported. The trade group found that squatting appears to be much more prevalent in Atlanta than in other metro area cities in the United States.Many are concerned that the squatting crisis in the city is completely out of control‚ with some homeowners offering the freeloaders money to leave their property. Landlords are being forced to wait six months or more to remove illegal tenants due to overwhelmed sheriff's offices and backlogged court systems‚ according to Bloomberg. Local police currently have their hands tied‚ unable to help homeowners because it is considered a civil matter.Simon Frost‚ the chief executive for Tiber Capital Group‚ which manages homes for a rental business‚ wrote a letter to local authorities urging them to help combat the ongoing illegal tenant crisis‚ the news outlet reported."Unlawful occupants often brandish weapons and threaten neighbors‚ including children‚" Frost wrote. "This problem is rapidly growing. We are concerned about the impact that this is having on safety and livability of our local neighborhoods."In October‚ a home in a South Fulton neighborhood was converted into an illegal strip club. The illegal occupants took over the residence‚ held parties‚ and kept horses on the property. A SWAT team was eventually deployed to remove the freeloaders. During the raid‚ law enforcement recovered several stolen items‚ including two vehicles‚ a weapon‚ and credit cards. Online rental listings make it easy for squatters to identify vacant homes. WSB-TV reported that some crooks are using the squatting crisis to turn a profit by advertising on social media that they can help freeloading tenants find homes to take over. An Instagram account that Meta has since removed featured a story post explaining how to illegally take up residence in someone's property‚ the news outlet claimed."The company's owners will come out‚ so will the police. The police will tell you there's nothing they can do about it -- squatters rights‚" the story reportedly stated.The social media account advertised a New Year's special‚ including a one-time $1‚400 payment for keys and a bogus lease agreement so squatters could "stack money and turn ya life around."Homeowner Michael Holmes‚ who is a victim of squatting‚ told WSB that the intruder problem in Atlanta has been "a nightmare.""It's like I gave away $200‚000‚ I feel‚" he stated. "If I can't bring this to some type of resolution‚ I'll be in jeopardy of filing bankruptcy.""It makes you feel like‚ 'Why do you play by the rules if everyone doesn't have to?'" Holmes added.State lawmakers recently introduced new legislation‚ House Bill 1017‚ which would empower local police officers to remove trespassers‚ WSB reported. The Georgia Squatter Reform Act would "make it criminal trespassing so the police can come and take them out of the house‚" state Republican Representative Devan Seabaugh stated."House Bill 1017 says to squatters‚ 'No more freeloading‚ no more free rides‚'" said state Republican Representative Matt Reeves. "No more fraud on the paperwork. If you falsify documents and you get caught‚ you're going to serve jail time on that. That's wrong.""These squatters are stealing the American dream‚" he added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The U.S. Supreme Court heard roughly two hours of arguments Thursday concerning the effort by six Colorado voters to deny their fellow countrymen the opportunity to vote for the Republican front-runner in the 2024 election. Jason Murray‚ a Denver lawyer representing the six voters‚ struggled to make a case for former President Donald Trump's disqualification‚ ostensibly tripping over simple questions and facts. While conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh predictably exposed the various faults in Murray's arguments‚ even left-leaning Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson seemed unimpressed‚ casting doubt over whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies and over whether the Centennial State should determine the fate of the nation. Quick background Six voters backed by a Democrat-aligned group‚ which is helmed by a former Biden official‚ sued in September 2023 to have Trump removed from Colorado ballots in the 2024 election‚ claiming both that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment concerning insurrection applies to Trump and that the former president's actions on Jan. 6‚ 2021‚ qualified. The case was kicked up to the Democratic appointees on the Colorado Supreme Court‚ who ruled in a 4-3 December decision that Trump engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6‚ is ineligible to be president‚ and cannot therefore appear on the ballot. Trump's legal team appealed the verdict‚ maintaining that the former president did not engage in an insurrection; Section 3 does not apply to the president; the Colorado Supreme Court violated the Electors Clause; and Congress is the proper body to resolve such matters. Murray swings and misses — repeatedly Murray‚ who previously convinced Democratic appointees on the Colorado Supreme Court to declare Trump ineligible to appear on ballots in the state‚ attempted to repeat his success Thursday but soon discovered the road forward had not similarly been ideologically greased. Justice Kagan‚ for instance‚ said to Murray‚ "The question you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States. In other words‚ you know‚ this question of whether a former president is disqualified for insurrection to be president again is — just say it — it sounds awfully national to me." "So whatever means there are to enforce it would suggest that they have to be federal‚ national means‚" continued Kagan. "If you weren't from Colorado and you were from Wisconsin or you were from Michigan and ... what the Michigan secretary of state did is going to make the difference between‚ you know‚ whether candidate A is elected or candidate B is elected. That seems quite extraordinary‚ doesn't it?" "Why should a single state have the ability to make this determination‚ not only for their own citizens‚ but for the rest of the nation?" added Kagan. — (@) Chief Justice John Roberts echoed Kagan's concern‚ suggesting states would likely weaponize such a precedent and proceed to knock other candidates off the ballot‚ reported CNN. "It'll come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election‚" said Roberts. "That's a pretty daunting consequence." Justice Thomas was even less forgiving when questioning Murray. Thomas pressed Murray to cite examples of national candidates who have similarly been disqualified — possibly Confederates running for high office "after Reconstruction and after the compromise of 1877 and during the period of Redeemers." "There were certainly national candidates who were disqualified by Congress refusing to seat them‚" replied Murray. "I understand that‚ but that's not this case‚" Thomas fired back. "States disqualified them; that's what we're talking about here. I understand Congress would not seat them." "Again‚ your honor‚ [the absence of examples] is not surprising because there wouldn't have been — states certainly wouldn't have the authority to remove a sitting—‚" Murray said before being cut off by Thomas. "So what was the purpose of the Section 3? States were sending people. The concern was that the former Confederate states would continue being bad actors‚ and the effort was to prevent them from doing this‚" said Thomas. "And you're saying that ... this also authorized states to disqualify candidates. So what I'm asking you for‚ if you are right‚ [is] what are the examples?" Murray alluded to examples of states excluding candidates from holding state offices‚ but was cut off again by Thomas‚ who said‚ "I understand the states controlling state elections and state positions. What we are talking about are national candidates. ... Do you have any examples of this?" Murray apparently did not. — (@) Justice Kavanaugh indicated there were already mechanisms in place to prevent insurrectionists from holding office‚ intimating Colorado was overreaching. "Some of the rhetoric of your position — I don't think it is your position — but some of the rhetoric of your position seems to suggest unless the states can do this‚ no one can prevent insurrectionists from holding federal office‚" said Kavanaugh. "But obviously Congress has enacted statutes‚ including one still in effect‚ Section 2383 of Title 18 prohibits insurrection; it's a federal criminal statute. And if you're convicted of that‚ you are‚ it says 'shall be disqualified from holding any office.' And so there is a federal statute on the books‚ but President Trump has not been charged with that. So what are we to make of that?" — (@) Kavanaugh also suggested that the effort to remove Trump from the ballot "has the effect of disenfranchising voters to a significant degree." Justice Brown cast doubt on whether the Framers intended Section 3 to be used as Murray argued it should be. "I'm wondering really whether presidential elections were such a circumstance‚ that the Framers actually envisioned states enforcing Section 3 with respect to presidential elections as opposed to senatorial elections‚ representatives‚ the sort of more local concerns‚" said Brown. "The more broad point I want to make is that what is very clear from the history is that the Framers were concerned about charismatic rebels who might rise through the ranks up to and including the presidency of the United States‚" said Murray. "But then why didn't they put the word 'president' in the very enumerated list in Section 3?" asked Brown. "The thing that really is troubling to me is — I totally understand your argument — but they were listing people that were barred‚ and president is not there. So I guess that just makes me worried that maybe they weren't focusing on the president." Brown added‚ "The fact that electors of vice president and president are there suggests that really what [the Framers] thought was‚ 'If we're worried about the charismatic person‚ we're going to bar insurrectionist electors and therefore that person is never going to rise." — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. 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My health fell apart in 2020. It was a challenging year for all the familiar reasons; it was also the year I had my first baby. Certainly the shrill political climate‚ state-mandated isolation‚ and media-fueled race riots didn’t make pregnancy any easier. Add to that a difficult birth and the prolonged sleeplessness of having a colicky kid‚ and I was in for a grim postpartum fall. Where had my spark of life gone? How could I recapture it? It struck me that if I was going to thrive in this new vocation‚ I needed to view motherhood‚ in some part‚ as a skill set. I was so overwhelmed and exhausted that I felt as if I were drowning‚ swept away by a current I had no will to fight. Or better yet‚ I was like that cartoon dog in the popular meme‚ sipping coffee in a haze as the flames rose around me: “This is fine.” This was also motherhood‚ apparently. I knew some women found it grueling enough to stop at one or two‚ but I had more ambitious plans for my fertility‚ plans that clearly required more mential and physical resources than I currently possessed. So to the mirror I slouched for that proverbial long look. There I saw a troublingly complacent mediocrity. My days lacked structure. My choices lacked discipline. Less than a decade before‚ I had been an elite athlete‚ taking pride in my abiility to perform at a consistently high level. How had I let myself get so soft? I loved my child and my family‚ but I’d forgotten what it meant to be excellent. Where had my spark of life gone? How could I recapture it? It struck me that if I was going to thrive in this new vocation‚ I needed to view motherhood‚ in some part‚ as a skill set. It is of course more than that‚ but on the practical level‚ home economics comes down to habit. I realized that I needed to cultivate the same level of discipline and dedication that I once did for the sake of athletic pursuit. So I racked my brain to remember the principles that had served me so well in the past. Retraining my brain to operate like an athlete’s made me a better mom. Here’s what worked for me.Begin at your level The first principle of learning a new skill is to accept failing at it. Practice means doing something badly‚ then less badly‚ then less badly still‚ over and over again. Having the humility to suffer through these first repetitions is what leads to competence and‚ ultimately‚ mastery. Like many of us‚ I'd learned disdain for homemaking‚ seeing it as a collection of mindless chores. In reality‚ running a household requires scrupulous time management and organization‚ among other acquirable skills. Understanding this allowed me to take responsibility for — and satisfaction from — learning to do it well. Find a coach There would be no Mikhail Baryshnikov without Alexander Pushkin. Every true master of a craft is the product of tradition. As a mom‚ this means seeking wisdom from friends‚ elders‚ and yes‚ the occasional YouTube mommy vlogger. Leila Lawler‚ mother and grandmother of many‚ took years to compile a series of advice on keeping an orderly and spiritually well-centered home in her "Summa Domestica." I also recommend Fly Lady Method for cleaning and Ina Garten for cooking and entertaining. Accept sacrifice Athletes have to train. This means missing out on the some of the fun enjoyed by your non-athlete peers. Did skipping all of those pool parties give me FOMO? Sure‚ but it also taught me to accept early on that a life lived in pursuit of a particular excellence will necessarily set you apart. I also discovered how rewarding friendships with travelers on the same narrow path can be. Too often our culture trains us to think of motherhood as deprivation — of freedom‚ of identity‚ of time. Far better to understand it as a vocation‚ requiring sacrifice but also offering rich rewards. We shouldn't confuse healthy skepticism with resentment of excellence. Some moms may indeed have leveled up. Cross-train It isn’t uncommon for wide receivers to practice ballet in order to perfect their jumping skills. Implementing the right kind of exercise can complement an athlete’s main focus‚ as well as prevent injury and increase neuroplasticity. As a mom‚ I believe it is important 1) to get regular exercise and 2) to maintain outside hobbies or interests. These may seem unwelcome additions to an already overstuffed life‚ but time and energy tend to compound when you invest a little in yourself. Find something that strengthens your body and feeds your spirit. For me it's lifting weights and reading Jane Austen. Strive for continuous improvement Something I've noticed in every high-level athlete I’ve ever known: They never rest on their laurels. The best people in the room always believe they could be a little bit better. Should we think of motherhood as a competition? No‚ not if that means obsessively comparing ourselves to every well-staffed‚ trust-funded homesteading influencer. But we shouldn't confuse healthy skepticism with resentment of excellence. Some moms may indeed have leveled up. While the reflex to dismiss their posts as showing off is understandable‚ we shouldn't be too quick to throw out the baby with the bathwater (we can all agree that would be lackluster parenting). There could be something worth attaining amidst all the performative unattainability. Perfection is a moving goalpost‚ but that’s a good thing. Stay the course. Trust the plan. Motherhood‚ like anything else worth doing‚ will never stop surprising you with how much more there is to know.

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