Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Oprah's Academy for Excellence and Higher Learning takes yet another hit...
The paper reported that the girls allegedly tried to force pupils into relationships with each other, and to touch each other intimately.The Times spoke to Masechaba Hinne, a mother and grandmother of two of the expelled girls. She said that she received a letter from the school saying that [the girls] “have been found guilty of physical contact of a sexual nature with another pupil on campus … bullying other girls and … not telling investigators the whole truth”. [She continued,] "How does a girl sexually molest the other? There are no boys in that school," she said.Yesterday, Winfrey’s spokeswoman in South Africa, Lisa Halliday, said: “We consider this to be a confidential school matter.”
It’s so sad that all Oprah was trying to do is help children … and she gets caught in this mess…
One person had this to say about the incident:
"Rape has been used as a psychological weapon over there A LOT, and I bet a LOT of those girls/women are psychologically a mess.Rather than ostracize the girls for it, they need to get to the root of the problems. There is an entire generation of women who will be mentally and sexually messed up for generations after what has been done to them. Our leaders need to confront the problem head on. Women and very young girls have been all but abandoned over there."
Atlanta Falcons and Michael Vick settle fiancial dispute
The settlement should pave the way for Vick's imminent release from the team. He has remained under contract with the team while serving a 21-month prison term for his 2007 conviction for bankrolling a dogfighting operation.
"We were able to resolve our claim in a way that was acceptable to Michael and acceptable to us," team president Rich McKay said. "It was just a good, old-fashioned negotiation."
The Falcons were awarded a $20 million claim by the NFL's special master in a grievance filed against Vick, alleging he breached his contract when he was criminally convicted. However, Doty overturned the special master's ruling, saying that Vick was only responsible for $3.75 million, a pro-rated amount of his signing bonus.
In the settlement, Vick agreed to let the appeals court make a ruling but would only pay a maximum of $7.5 million and a minimum of $6.5 million. The appeals court is expected to rule no later than June.
The settlement was reached ahead of Vick's bankruptcy hearing Thursday in Norfolk, Va. He arrived in Virginia Monday afternoon from his holding cell in Leavenworth, Kan., and is being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, Va. Vick was being held in a general population block but had limited contact with other inmates, said Lt. Tanya Scott, the facility's spokeswoman. She said one of Vick's attorneys met with him Tuesday, but he'd had no other visitors.
A bankruptcy judge in Newport News ordered Vick to testify in person at his hearing. He was required to pay the costs of his transfer from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., where he's been serving a 23-month sentence for his role in the dogfighting operation.
Vick has been approved for transfer to home confinement no sooner than May 21, about two months before his scheduled release from federal custody. After that, he hopes to resume his NFL career.
It won't be in Atlanta.
By Chris MortensenESPN.com