Keeping slaves is a value: approximately the same cost as a low end BMW

A wealthy New York woman has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for keeping two Indonesian women as slaves. Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 46, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, kept them as slaves and abused them physically and psychologically.

In addition to prison, his Indian-born wife was fined $25,000.

"I was brought to this earth to help people who are in need," said Mrs. Sabhnani.

The wealthy couple, who run a perfume business and have four children, had brought the women to their large house to work as housekeepers, and forced them to work up to 18 hours a day. The couple were arrested after one of the women was found wandering the streets dressed in only trousers and a towel.

The two Indonesian women had been punished for misbehavior such as sleeping late and stealing food from the dustbin to supplement their meager meals. The women said they had been beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives, made to take freezing showers and climb stairs repeatedly. One said she had been forced to eat several hot chillies and then her own vomit.

Lawyers for the accused had argued that the housekeepers practised witchcraft and may have abused themselves. The pair were described as "model citizens" who wanted only to clear their names.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7476927.stm

Suppose it was a Fallkniven?

"[A] driver of a semi honked at the driver of a Mercedes because the car had blown through a red light in front of him and other traffic while the luxury car was getting onto 15th Avenue Northwest. But the guy in the Mercedes is apparently very sensitive about criticism, something that became obvious when both the car and the semi had to stop because the Ballard Bridge was up. That's when the man in the semi spotted the other fellow swearing at him in the mirror and allegedly waving a huge knife over his head.

[...] The trucker pulled over in the 1100 block of Elliott Ave. W. following instructions he got from police after calling 911 about the maniac in the Mercedes. But the guy in the car was still on his tail, stopped in traffic next to the truck, started swearing, waved the knife around again, and threatened to cut the trucker, according to the police report. The guy in the car also tried to circle back two more times in an effort to get at the trucker, but police had showed by the last attempt and pulled the road-rager over [...]. The man [was] booked for unlawful use of a weapon, and a container of eight chef's knives of various sizes was placed into evidence."

From: http://www.pacificpublishingcompany.com/site/tab2.cfm?newsid=19803902&BRD=855&PAG=461&dept_id=524064&rfi=6

Your turn is coming

"An estimated 0.15% of the world's population are millionaires. The number of people worth more than US$1m rose to 10.1 million in 2007, a wealth survey suggests. Despite the growing credit crisis, there were 600,000 more members of the global millionaires' club than there were a year earlier.

Their combined wealth also rose, by 9.4% to $40.7 trillion, according to Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini. The number worth more than $30m increased by 8.8%, while their total wealth grew by 14.5%."


From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7472436.stm

He's an example to the rest of us

"Last week, Lehman Brothers‘ embattled chief executive Richard S. Fuld Jr. made a peace offering to the investment bank’s managing directors. He and the firm’s new president, Bart McDade, said they would forgo bonuses this year.

Not that they’ll go hungry. Mr. Fuld was paid more than $40 million in 2007 alone (and was awarded huge amounts of restricted stock)."




From: http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/lehmans-chief-folds-on-his-2008-bonus/

Pissing in front of the proles

"Three guys hanging out at Kerry Park ran into a painful problem around 1 a.m. June 8 when nine other guys in tuxedos from a party bus allegedly attacked them. The whole thing started when one of the tuxedo dudes walked up to the trio and started relieving himself in front of them at the Queen Anne park.

'One of the victims confronted the guy about it and what can only be described by everyone as a brawl started,' according to the report, which notes the fight also spilled into several yards. The formally dressed brawlers were still in the party bus when police arrived, and a lot of them had bloodstained and ripped tuxedos. They were also all pretty hammered.

Nobody was seriously hurt and nobody got busted. But police did give the three victims a business card with the case number written on it."

From:
http://www.pacificpublishingcompany.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19784291&BRD=855&PAG=461&dept_id=517907&rfi=8