varsha sabhnani
Even though Varsha and Mahender Sabhnani, a wealthy Muttontown couple, were convicted of enslaving two Indonesian women, they should receive mercy because of their charity and kindness to others, defense attorneys argue in a court brief.
Varsha Sabhnani (sahb-NAH'-nee) was convicted with her husband in December of forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens. Her husband will be sentenced tomorrow.
Protesters included a diverse mix from Domestic Workers United, Damayan Migrant Workers Association and Andolan, which represents South Asian workers.
The protest was held outside the courthouse where Varsha Sabhnani was to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for enslaving two Indonesian women in her Muttontown home.
The two women, Enung and Samirah, who use single names as is common in Indonesia, testified at the trial of Mahender and Varsha Sabhnani that they were forced to work 19-hour days, seven days a week, while being given so little food that they sometimes ate garbage. They also were forced to sleep on mats in a basement kitchen, they testified.
Federal prosecutors reached their figure by concluding the women deserved overtime pay for their work. Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt will decide the issue this week while sentencing the Sabhnanis.
Varsha Sabhnani's defense attorney, Jeffery Hoffman, declined to comment yesterday, as did Mahender Sabhnani's attorney, Stephen Scaring, and prosecutors.
The women said they were tortured and beaten for sleeping late or stealing food from trash bins because they were poorly fed. Both women also said they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen. The maids' relatives in Indonesia were paid about $100 a month for their work, but the maids themselves were not paid.
deven traboscia
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- A struggling single parent and real estate agent is trying to sell her house and find a husband.
A single mother of two girls ages 14 and 21, Deven Traboscia, 42, has been divorced for eight years.
The real estate agent, tired of struggling on her own, came up with the package deal to auction off her Palm Beach Gardens home and herself.
She goes on to say that her four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot home, that will be included in the deal, has "neutral colors, Berber carpet, and upgraded tile."
Her eBay auction asked for a starting bid of 99 cents and quoted a shipping cost of $500,000.
In the ad, Traboscia writes, "If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale, then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams! To sweep this European Loving Lady off her feet, send in your application right now."
sonny landham
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Sonny Landham carved out a tough-guy reputation in a series of big-screen roles, from roughing up Sylvester Stallone to getting tossed out a window by Carl Weathers. He pulls no punches in his newest role: Libertarian challenger to a man known for political toughness, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
On his official website, Landham has said that “I am running for governor of Kentucky as the people’s advocate. My mission statement is service to the citizens of Kentucky. Kentucky is your home as it is my home, and I want our home to be all that it can be. I am not the perfect candidate by any stretch of the imagination, but I promise all the people of Kentucky, that I will be the best governor the people of Kentucky ever had. To make these plans a reality, I need the prayers of each and every one of you and I also need your financial support”.
The actor known for his powerful physique, booming voice and his American Indian heritage says he's serious about his longshot bid, because too many politicians are indifferent to voters' problems.
Landham refers to McConnell, a four-term Republican, as "Boss Hogg" after the corrupt politician from "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV show. He bluntly called Democratic candidate and millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford an "elitist."
Back in 1987, nobody could have guessed that a bunch of meatheads in a movie about an invisible alien with laser-beam eyes would someday be great American leaders. But then the wonderful state of Minnesota elected Jesse Ventura its governor, and California followed suit with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, if Kentuckians play their cards right, they will replace their womanly senator Mitch McConnell with Sonny Landham, who played some dude called “Billy” in Predator. This Landham guy is a real trip! Come along with us on Sonny’s magical journey from porn stardom to the Libertarian party via five wives and a stretch in federal prison.
In a Wednesday, June 18, 2003 file photo, Sonny Landham speaks during a news conference in Frankfort, Ky. Now 67 and living in northeastern Kentucky, the man who played Billy Bear in "48 Hours" and was killed by an alien in "Predator" admits his action-movie days are behind him. He pulls no punches in his newest role: Libertarian challenger to a man known for political toughness, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. To qualify for the November ballot, Landham must collect at least 5,000 valid petition signatures by Aug. 12. State Libertarian Party Chairman Ken Moellman said the petition drive began recently and he believes Landham will make it. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke, File)
jessica bruinsma
Berchtesgaden police officer Lorenz Rasp said that he helped lift 24-year-old Jessica Bruinsma of Colorado state to safety by helicopter on Thursday after she attracted the attention of lumberjacks by attaching her sports bra to a cable used to move timber down the mountain.
Supple, Pouty Life Support
A hiker given up for dead by mountain rescuers was saved when she threw her bra into a cable car. Jessica Bruinsma had fallen off a ledge in the Alps and was stranded for 70 hours. But she spotted a cable car on its way up the mountain and flung her bra into a container carrying food as it passed her. Workers realized the undies must have been thrown in as a message and sent out a search party. Men searching for woman without a bra on. Yes, this is novel.
Rasp said his team followed the cable line up the cliffside in a helicopter and found Bruinsma standing on the ledge, waving with her good arm. After circling once, they lowered a winch to Bruinsma and lifted her aboard.
"She did so well because she is in very good shape," Rasp said. "She has been training for a marathon — her goal is to finish in 3 hours and 10 minutes."
An Alpine rescue team, including five helicopters and 80 emergency workers, had been searching for Bruinsma since she went missing June 16 after losing her way in bad weather while hiking with a friend near the Austrian border.
She fell 16.4 feet (five meters) to a rocky overhang, where she spent the next 70 hours on the narrow ledge, sustained by water that she found by breaking into a supply box on the ledge.
She badly bruised a leg and dislocated a shoulder in the fall, and the cliff was too isolated for her to climb free, Rasp said.
So this is how we do this. Each entry here corresponds with an item on the map up top. It's the world, in a quick trip. It's blanket coverage, so feel the warmth. And believe us when we say this: the next time we're trekking through the alps, if you think we're not loaded up after a supplu run to Victoria's Secret, then you know little of us, and less about survival.
Dody Goodman
NEW YORK (AP) — Dody Goodman, the delightfully daffy comedian known for her television appearances on Jack Paar's late-night talk show and as the mother on the soap-opera parody "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," has died at 93.
Goodman had an eclectic show-business career; she managed to make the transition from stage to television to movies very easy. One part that most will remember Dody for was playing the principal’s assistant, Blanche, in Grease and Grease 2. What gave Goodman the first of her attention was on The Tonight Show, hosted by Jack Paar. It was her quirky, off-kilter remarks which seemed to get some great laughs from the audience.
Goodman, with her pixyish appearance and Southern-tinged, quavery voice, had an eclectic show-business career. She moved easily from stage to television to movies, where she appeared in such popular films as "Grease" and "Grease 2," playing Blanche, the principal's assistant, and in "Splash."
Dody Goodman also had a number of TV appearances, such as Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Diff’rent Strokes, Murder, She Wrote and St. Elsewhere. Goodman never married; she is survived by seven nieces and nephews as well as 11 great nieces and nephews, and 15 great-great nieces and nephews.
Katy Tur
Katy Tur, live-in girlfriend of Keith Olbermann, may be starting a new position as a news anchor at CW11. However, many are concerned about nepotism, since she is officially, according to New York Post listed as a freelance cable producer and did not attend any journalism school.
Despite all of these allegations, no one would deny that nepotism is alive and well in the world today. For a powerhouse position like the one Katy Tur may have been offered, the stakes are much higher, so people get more upset, but many Americans find jobs through networking. Usually, networking means that people find jobs for which they are qualified via discussions with others in that same industry, or by knowing someone, or by knowing someone who knows someone (and on and on and on).
On the basis of that reference alone, because their qualifications certainly do not match the job description, your person gets the job. This person is hired, even though someone else much more qualified may have applied, because a company wants their people to be happy. Plus, they trust you. You have worked there for a number of years, and they figure that anybody you recommend must be just great.
What a lucky girl. Keith Olberman's current squeeze, Katy Tur, has seemingly landed a news anchor job on New York station CW11, according to Page Six.
Well what do we have here? Why it seems that Keith Olbermann's girlfriend has been uploading her video projects to CurrentTv.
What types of videos has she shot? Why there's coverage of the Circus Elephant Walk. She probably mistook the elephants for Olbermann's backside. Then there are political pieces, where she's obviously gained entrance into press events and the like for political candidates like McCain, Bloomberg, and Bill Richardson.
Recently, CW11 posted a clip on its Web site featuring Ms. Tur on one of her early assignments. It's called "Easter Fun in the City."
Therein, Ms. Tur traverses the city on Easter, interviewing churchgoers outside St. Patrick's Cathedral and kids at the children's hat parade on Fifth Avenue.
Once a recurring “Page Six” figure for his dating escapades, Olbermann recently moved in with his girlfriend, Katy Tur. Yes, she’s a 23-year-old 2005 graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, but the relationship marks his first attempt at cohabitation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)