South African Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa sentenced Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. If you believe this is a fair sentence, you probably believed, "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan."
The defense team said the law under which Mr. Pistorius was sentenced called for him to serve only one-sixth of the prison term — 10 months — before he can be placed under house arrest. He was also given a suspended three-year term on separate firearms charges.
Some South African legal experts said the conversion of prison time to house arrest was not automatic and required negotiations with the correctional authorities. After serving half the sentence, Mr. Pistorius can also apply for parole.
Nancy Goodman Brinker founded The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982, a group that has since become the largest and most well known breast cancer organization in the United States: Brinker fulfilled a promise to her sister that she would do everything she could to help eradicate the disease — a disease that Brinker also was diagnosed with and successfully fought.
In 2012, Komen founder and CEO Nancy Brinker became the focus of controversy when she announced Komen would be pulling the grants the organization had been providing to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings, then quickly reversed that decision. Several months later Brinker announced she would be stepping down as Komen's CEO.
Ten months later, Brinker still held her position and tax documents reveal that she received a 64 percent raise and now makes $684,000 a year, according to the charity’s latest available tax filing. Komen says the raise came in November 2010, prior to last year's controversy. Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, which evaluates and rates charities, called Brinker's salary "extremely high."
Berger went on to say, "This pay package is way outside the norm. It's about a quarter of a million dollars more than what we see for charities of this size. This is more than the head of the Red Cross is making, for an organization that is one-tenth the size of the Red Cross."
The American Red Cross had revenue of about $3.4 billion, while Komen’s was about $340 million last year. Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern makes $500,000, according to the most recent financial documents available for the charity. Charity Navigator's most recent compensation figure for Nancy Brinker is $560,896 per year.
Accompanying the text is a picture of two young children holding up "Don't Shoot" signs. The August shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is recounted inside the mailer, which has already drawn backlash from some conservatives.
The mailer goes on to say,"What are we going to do about it? If we want a better, safer future for our children, it's up to us to vote for change." The mailer touts early voting as "an easier, more convenient option" and lists nearby polling places.
Those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court. "The city’s subpoena of sermons and other pastoral communications is both needless and unprecedented."
Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christina Holcomb said in a statement. "The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions." ADF, a nationally-known law firm specializing in religious liberty cases, is representing five Houston pastors. They filed a motion in Harris County court to stop the subpoenas arguing they are “overbroad, unduly burdensome, harassing, and vexatious.”
If there is anything that should unify Americans, it should be an assault on Christian ministers. It is absolutely amazing that the Obama administration sends a personal congratulatory note to the Islamic center in Oklahoma that spawned Alton Nolen who beheaded a 54-year-old American grandmother and we have this openly lesbian progressive socialist tyrant allowing a subpoena against Christian pastors.
The News As I See It: Start-up New York ostensibly helps you start, expand or relocate your qualified business to a tax-free zone in New York State with zero taxes for 10 years. What it fails to mention is that Governor Cuomo started the organization because New York is one of the highest taxed states in the nation. Residents and businesses are moving out in droves and the state needs new blood to feed on.
Starbucks will allow their employees to display tattoos and ear gauges. Those are the round plugs that some people put in their ear lobe to let the world know their dads never played catch with them.
Obama told Americans not to panic about Ebola. When asked about the Democrats' chances in the upcoming midterm elections, Obama said, "Ebola needs to be stopped."
It looks like they're working out the Ebola Problem. The CDC has released new guidelines about what healthcare workers should wear to protect themselves when treating Ebola patients. For starters, this Halloween they've outlawed the slutty hazmat suit.
The NFL has created a sportsmanship award that will be presented to the winner on the eve of the Super Bowl. The winner will be whichever NFL player's not in jail on the eve of the Super Bowl.
Actor Matthew McConaughey says he doesn't want the Washington Redskins to change their name. When asked for a comment, a spokesman for all Native-American tribes said, "I guess that settles it. Just waiting for word from Matthew McConaughey. Now we can move on."
This Date In History: 1797; Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute jump from a balloon. 1836; Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first president of the Republic of Texas. 1954; West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
1962; President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island. 1973; Spanish cellist, conductor, and composer Pablo Casals died in Puerto Rico, at age 96.
1979; Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi, the deposed Shah of Iran, was allowed in the United States for medical treatment. This action led to the Iran hostage crisis.
Picture Of The Day: How desperate can the Georgia Democratic Party be? Hey, we're running behind. Let's play the race card.....
Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) All my passwords are protected by amnesia. 2) When I call out the wrong name during sex, I just segue into singing Mambo No. 5. 3) How do you know when it's time to tune your bagpipes? 4) Some people have things called wrinkles which are similar to my character lines. 5) I hope I'm the last guy on earth. I want to see if all those women were lying to me.....and that's five !
Today's Horoscope: Libra - October 22nd: This week will be good for you but the fact that you take out the garbage does not mean you have cleaned the house. If you don't believe me, ask your spouse. Chance of romance is 42.68 percent. Also, did you know that 42.68 percent of statistics are made up on the spot?
Birthdays: My friend Michael - Happy Birthday 19XX, Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer and pianist 1811, Collis Potter Huntington, railroad builder 1821, Sarah Bernhardt, actress 1844, John Reed, journalist and radical 1887, Doris Lessing, novelist 1919, Christopher Lloyd, actor 1938, Annette Funicello, actress 1942, Catherine Deneuve, actress 1943, Jeff Goldblum, actor 1952.
The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: A young reporter went to a retirement home to interview an aged but legendary explorer. The reporter asked the old man to tell him the most frightening experience he had ever had.
The old explorer said, "Once I was hunting Bengal tigers in the jungles of India. I was on a narrow path and my faithful native gun bearer was behind me. Suddenly the largest tiger I have ever seen leaped onto the path in front of us."
The old explorer continued, " I turned to get my weapon only to find the native had fled. The tiger leaped toward me with a mighty ROAR!.......I just shit my pants."
The reporter said, "Wow! Under those circumstances anyone would have done the same." The old explorer said, "No, not back then - just now when I went 'ROAR!'"
A hooded robber burst into a Texas bank and forced the tellers to load a sack full of cash. On his way out the door, a brave Texas customer grabbed the hood and pulled it off revealing the robber’s face. The robber shot the customer in the leg without a moment’s hesitation.
He then looked around the bank to see if anyone else was looking. Everyone else, by now very scared, looked intently down at the floor in silence. The robber yelled, "Well, did anyone else see my face?"
There are a few moments of utter silence in which everyone was plainly afraid to speak. Then, an old cowboy tentatively raised his hand, and while keeping his head down said, "I think my wife got a pretty good look at you."
The Hits Just Keep On Coming: A mother took her daughter to the doctor and asked him to give her an examination to determine the cause of the daughter's swollen abdomen. It only took the doctor about 2 seconds to say, "Your daughter is pregnant!"
The mother turn red with fury, and she argued with the doctor that her daughter was a good girl and would never compromise her reputation by having sex with a boy.
The doctor faced the window and silently watched the horizon. The mother became enraged and screamed, "Quit looking out the window! Aren't you paying attention to me?"
The doctor replied, "Yes, of course I am paying attention, ma'am. It's just that the last time this happened, a star appeared in the east and three wise men came. I was hoping they'd show up again, and help me figure out who got your daughter pregnant!"
Toward the end of the golf course, Dave somehow managed to hit his ball into the woods finding it in a patch of pretty yellow buttercups. Trying to get his ball back in play, he ended up thrashing just about every buttercup in the patch. All of a sudden . . . Poof!
In a flash and puff of smoke, a little old woman appeared. She said, "I'm Mother Nature! Do you know how long it took me to make those buttercups? Just for that, you won't have any butter for your popcorn the rest of your life."
Mother Nature went on, "Better still, you won't have any butter for your toast for the rest of your life ... as a matter of fact, you won't have any butter for anything the rest of your life!" Then Poof!.....she was gone.
After Dave got a hold of himself, he hollered to his friend, "Fred, where are you?" Fred yells back, "I'm over here, in the pussywillows." Dave yells back, "Don't swing Fred, don't swing!!"
That's it for today, my little grasshoppers. Remember, be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors and miss. I'm off to AREA 51 for happy hour.
More on Friday.
Stay Tuned
Very good read. There are times when a miscarriage of justice happens, but not normally in the face of the entire world.
ReplyDeleteYou know I was probably 50-60 years old before I found out that the CEO's of charities were paid. I thought they were old rich dudes volunteering for the good of the cause. Learning hurts sometimes.
Thanks for the opinions and education.
Best not knock them Pussywillows over!!!
Nite...