DID TIGERS INFIDELITY HURT HIS GAMES...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

DID TIGERS INFIDELITY HURT IS GAMES...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Tiger Woods: Lee Westwood's No. 1 Ranking Jeopardized If Woods Rocks China

Lee Westwood has taken over the top spot in golf's world rankings from Tiger Woods, but the Englishman's reign at the top of the golf world could be short-lived.

Tiger Woods had ‘121 affairs’ during five years of marriage

2010

After his past marital infidelities came to light, Woods announced an indefinite break from competitive golf at the end of 2009. In March 2010, he announced that he would be playing in the 2010 Masters Missing the start of the 2010 season, Woods returned to competition for the 2010 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, starting on April 8, 2010, after a break lasting 20 weeks. He finished the tournament tied for fourth. Woods next competed at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship at the end of April, but missed the cut for just the sixth time of his career. He shot his second-worst round as a professional on April 30, a 7-over 79 during the second round to miss the 36-hole cut by eight strokes.[Woods withdrew from The Players Championship during the fourth round, on May 9, later citing a neck injury. He had scored 70-71-71 in the first three rounds, and was two over par for the round, while playing the seventh hole, when he withdrew. Woods returned to competitive golf four weeks later to defend his title at The Memorial Tournament. He made the cut and went on to finish T19, his worst finish in that tournament since 2002. His next competitive tournament began June 17, 2010 at the U.S. Open held at Pebble Beach, the site of his 2000 win by a record 15 shots. After a relatively unspectacular performance through the first two rounds, Woods showed signs of his pre-2010 form, as he managed a back nine 31 in route to shooting a five-under-par 66 on Saturday, which would tie for the low round of the tournament and put him back into contention. However, he was unable to mount a charge on Sunday, despite the collapse of 54 hole leader Dustin Johnson, and went on to finish the tournament at three-over-par and in a tie for fourth place, repeating his top-5 result at the 2010 Masters Tournament.

Woods then played in the AT&T National in late June, which he used to host. He was the favorite among many coming into his former tournament, but he struggled all four days of the tournament and failed to post a round under par tying for 46th place.

Woods then flew to Ireland to play in a 2-day charity event – the JP McManus Pro-Am – and then flew home to Florida to "see his kids" before preparing for The Open Championship just over a week later. He changed his putter for the Open Championship at St Andrews, saying he always struggled on slow greens and needed this new Nike Method 001 putter to "get the ball rolling faster and better". It was the first time Woods had used any other putter than his Titleist Scotty Cameron since 1999. Woods putted well the first day of the tournament, shooting a 5-under, but wind gusts of over 40 mph suspended play for 66 minutes the next day at St Andrews, and Woods was never able to get anything going. It was the same story Saturday. He missed short putts over and over again. He changed his putter back to his old Scotty Cameron for the final round, but did not putt any better. Woods finished 3-under overall, 13 shots behind winner Louis Oosthuizen (tied for 23rd place). Woods finished in 18-over par tying for 78th place (second-to-last place) in the Bridgestone Invitational on August 8, 2010. He posted his worst four-round result as a professional golfer.

London, April 29 : Tiger Woods had a total of 121 affairs during five years of marriage with Elin Nordegren, it has emerged.

The golfer apparently confessed it to his wife during his stay in the sex rehab.

Woods shared his guilt on a "disclosure day", as part of the rehab programme.

"When Tiger was in rehab for sex addiction, he filled out four pages, listing the amount of women he'd had affairs with - there were 121 in all," the Mirror quoted legal sources, as telling the US paper National Enquirer.

During the disclosure, Woods had failed to name his alleged youngest mistress, 22-year-old Racychel Coudriet, who is also his neighbours' daughter.

The source added: "Raychel Coudriet was not on the list. After Elin found out about her she told Tiger their marriage is definitely over. There is no room for reconciliation any more."

Meanwhile, Woods' legal team is desperately trying to secure an out of court settlement. (ANI)

MONKEY WONDER..SECURITY COVERED IN DELHI! TRUE OR FALSE

Delhi deploys 'super monkey' security guards at games

Delhi authorities are to deploy a contingent of langurs - a large type of monkey - at Commonwealth Games venues to help chase away smaller simians from the sporting extravaganza.

AP

Delhi officials are using langurs to keep Commonwealth Games venues monkey-free

From Wednesday 10 langurs will be put on duty outside several Games venues in the Indian capital, with the swimming complex seen as particularly vulnerable to monkey misbehaviour, an official said.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has a regular team of 28 langurs which are used to scare away their weaker brethren in VIP areas of the city.

"From tomorrow onwards we will increase the number of langurs from 28 to 38. The additional langurs will take care of the Games venues and other important areas," an NDMC official told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Animals have so far posed major headaches for the under-fire organisers, with stray dogs found in venues and a snake captured at the tennis complex.

Monkeys are a common sight in the verdant Indian capital, where they routinely scamper through government offices, courts and even police stations and hospitals.

In 2007, the deputy mayor of New Delhi died from a fatal fall after being attacked by a group on the terrace of his home.

is MCHammer coming back....is the battle line drawn with Jayz watch this space

Is Mc Hammer really coming back and can he really get JayZ’s attention…..?

This all comes from the song that Jay-Z and Kanye West released recently called Appalled, a track that also features Pusha T and Wu-Tang Clan‘s RZA.
In the track Jay-Z, raps: “Hammer went broke so you know I’m all focused / I lost 30 mill so I spent another 30 / ‘Cause unlike Hammer / 30 million can’t hurt me”
These hit a nerve with 48-year-old U Cant Touch This rapper, who took to Twitter to write a series of insults back at Jay-Z.
Hammer said he would answer hellboy's slight with a new song on 31 October, Devil's Night.
"You wanted my attention #HellBoy (Jigga), you got it," MC Hammer wrote
Six things I love about MC Hammer ...
197

As impossible as it is to imagine considering my recent body of work, I was once a hard news reporter. I spent eight years covering courtrooms, including five years in Los Angeles -- mostly writing stories about celebrity-related lawsuits, arrests and other proceedings.

media.defsounds.com
Stop. Hammer time.
After watching hundreds of famous people dealing with their legal problems -- often displaying greed, narcissism and/or stupidity along the way -- there were only three who I ended up liking more after their time in the courts was done: Tom Waits, Snoop Dogg and MC Hammer.
It was the mid-1990s, and Hammer was dealing with his financial troubles. He had a bankruptcy proceeding, and I covered an additional lawsuit against some of his former attorneys. Short of an accused murderer, I've never seen someone going through the court system face more ridicule from the media and the public. And yet, after digging deeper into the files, it was clear Hammer's problem was -- if anything -- excessive benevolence. The guy had half of Oakland on his payroll, and gave people close to him too much access to the money. He was, in money management terms, Too Legit to Quit.
So when I saw that MC Hammer was on the bill for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this weekend -- he's on the Star Stage at 11:30 a.m. -- I said the same thing I do every time I see the rapper having success on a TV show, with his online endeavors and now with his MMA clothing company. "Good for him." And when I see someone like Jay-Z making jokes at Hammer's expense (see below), I get kind of pissed.
Whatever else he is -- a poor financial planner, a little egotistical, a performer of musically questionable movie soundtrack songs -- I think Hammer has proven himself to be a good guy who works hard and tries to do right by people. And from his days as an Oakland A's bat boy, he's been an asset to his community.
Below are six things I love about MC Hammer ...

6. He's freaking everywhere This guy grinds harder than anyone. Being on the stage at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass only seems odd if you ignore Hammer's body of work over the past 10 years. I've seen Hammer with shows on at least three different TV channels -- including preaching on the Trinity Broadcast Network. He has concerts all the time, seems to have hooked up with every other social networking company and posts something on Twitter approximately every 37 seconds. I drove by what appeared to be an old bingo parlor in Berkeley a couple of years ago and saw "Coming Friday: MC Hammer!" painted on the window. Of course he is. Hammer is everywhere.

5. He lives in Tracy Unless he's moved in the last year or so, Hammer lives in rural Tracy, Calif., with his wife of 25 years and kids -- just like every other sleepy-looking commuter who sits next to me on the Dublin/Pleasanton BART line. You can criticize the guy for losing all of his money the first time, but he's clearly taking the right steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

4. He's the happiest guy on Twitter A few months ago I surveyed Hammer's Twitter feed and found that the rapper averaged 2.9 exclamation points per Tweet over 20 posts, compared to Lindsay Lohan with 2.2. Excessive punctuation? I just say he's a really positive guy. And until the Jay-Z thing, he never had a mean thing to say about anybody.

3. He put Chris Mullin in one of his videos I'm pretty sure the "Too Legit To Quit" video was the model for Christopher Nolan's "Inception." It's just as mind-bending, and I'm guessing it cost about the same. Mullin appears at the 4:05 mark, spinning a basketball. Which leads us to ...

Too legit ...
2. He always represented Oakland One of my favorite 21st Century Hammer moments came a couple of years ago, when I bought the hyphy album "World Premiere" by the Oakland group The Team. These are guys in their 20s who came up the hard way -- I bought their first album in a Walgreens parking lot on High Street in Oakland -- and they reserved the last guest spot on the "It's Getting Hot" remix for Hammer. The lyrics speak for themselves: "You've got to respect/I opened the doors/And brought over half the town on my tour."
In everything from the lyrics to "Too Legit to Quit" ("I'll hit with a dose of Oaktown power/ and charge you by the hour/I'm shakin like a quake/and funks get devoured") to the name of his original production company (Oaktown Records), Hammer never turned his back on Oakland.

1. He stood up to Jay-Z Stipulating that Jay-Z is one of the greatest musical artists of his generation, his recent insult against MC Hammer in a free Kanye West track was really stupid. Making a joke in 2010 about MC Hammer losing his money is like making fun of Dan Quayle because he can't spell, or writing a dis rap against Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. You're about 20 years late, it was too easy of a target to begin with and Hammer has worked hard to overcome the problems Jay-Z is attacking him about. It's the rap equivalent of kicking a puppy. It makes me think that Jay-Z either didn't think this one out, or he's a bully.
Hammer has been responding on Twitter (!!!!), and will answer Jay-Z in his own rap at the end of the month. Oaktown has your back, Hammer. God knows you always had ours ...
PETER HARTLAUB is the pop culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and founder of this parenting blog, which admittedly sometimes has nothing to do with parenting. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/peterhartlaub.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?entry_id=73290#ixzz10vRCfcOr

whats your thought..do you think NE-YO IS GAY OR NOT

While out promoting his upcoming album, Libra Scale, R&B singer Ne-Yo decided to address the gay rumors and speculation that continue to follow him. During an interview with the FOX All Access radio show, the singer went in on how bothered he is by the gay rumors and why he believes they won’t go away.

Here’s what Ne-Yo had to say:

There’s one rumor that just, for whatever reason, will not die and I’m convinced that it’s just because they really can’t figure out anything else to say about me, which kind of doesn’t make any sense because if you really just wanted to talk bad about me you could. But there’s this whole gay thing that keeps following me around. Apparently, I’m gay. Pretty much anybody that sings and has a penis is gay. So, I’m part of that elite squad according to multiple blog sites. I guess it’s because I never shot a person or talked about shooting a person or had a desire to shoot a person that I’m gay.

Frankly, I’m really tired of Ne-Yo’s constant whining about rumors he’s gay. This is not the first time he’s done a radio interview promoting a new project and he brings up how confused and bothered he is by the rumors. Get over it already!! All the complaining doesn’t make the rumors go away; it just makes him look waaaay too concerned. *side eye* With all he has to talk about – the new album, becoming a first-time father – he chooses to revisit these gay rumors. And it’s not like the interviewer asked him about it. The interviewer reacted as if it was the first time he ever heard these rumors. smdh. Ne-Yo, you know what they say about one who protests too much?

CAN THE PRESIDENT HELP NIGERIA MOVE FORWARD LIKE HE IS PROMSING

Facebook | SPEECH BY PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN DECLARING HIS CANDIDACY FOR THE PDP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

Community Property: A marriage property legal term; Should Marriage be In Community of property and Do Women really Benefit?

Community Property: A marriage property legal term; property acquired or owned during a marriage or, where recognized, a marriage-like relationship, and which belongs, notwithstanding title, as in a partnership and as tenants in common (“hence “community”), to each spouse equally and subject to division on that basis in the event of separation or divorce. Related Terms: Matrimonial Asset, Separate Property In the event of a permanent separation or divorce, the law provides for the fair division of property or assets acquired by the spouses during their period of marriage or cohabitation. Traditionally, a wife had few property rights. In the eyes of the law, historically, she was absorbed within the legal person of her husband and thus, upon divorce, had no entitlement to jointly-enjoyed family property. This common law injustice required adjustment to accommodate the inequity of the common law towards childbearing, child-rearing and homemaking mothers who, during those years, were unable to contribute financially towards the acquisition of income, pensions or other assets. Statute law eventually gave women the right to hold separate income or property. This being still insufficient to address the realities of long-term marriages, common law jurisdictions have since adopted one or the other, or permutations of each or both, two basic but distinct marriage property regimes. In a nutshell, community property regimes create a legal presumption that all income or every asset acquired by either spouse during the marriage belongs equally to both. This regime is also called “community of property” or “marital property”. Although subject to statutory distinctions in most jurisdictions, the general rule in community property jurisdictions is that each spouse has an equal entitlement to a half interest as tenant-in-common to any asset or income acquired during the marriage.

In community property regimes, for the purposes of property, marriage is taken to be a partnership and unless there is a contract to the contrary, the partners are presumed to contribute equally to the acquisition of property and entitled to an equal division.

The alternate regime, a separate property regime, the legal presumption is that individual assets or incomes belong to which ever spouse paid for it, earned it, is on title or to whom the asset was gifted.Many community property jurisdictions allow for separate property exemptions especially for assets owned before the marriage or assets acquired during the marriage by gift or using inheritance monies, but never used for family purposes. This allows for adjustments to inequities that may arise from the strict application of a community property regime.

For example, the Louisiana Civil Code, at §2341, states:

“The separate property of a spouse is his exclusively.  It comprises: property acquired by a spouse prior to the establishment of a community property regime; property acquired by a spouse with separate things or with separate and community things when the value of the community things is inconsequential in comparison with the value of the separate things used; property acquired by a spouse by inheritance or donation to him individually; damages awarded to a spouse in an action for breach of contract against the other spouse or for the loss sustained as a result of fraud or bad faith in the management of community property by the other spouse; damages or other indemnity awarded to a spouse in connection with the management of his separate property; and things acquired by a spouse as a result of a voluntary partition of the community during the existence of a community property regime.”

Another variation of the community property regime is the ability of spouses to opt-out by way of a marriage contract or agreement in which they opt-out of the community property regime and institute their own system and process for determining and dividing mixed assets in the event of a separation or divorce or even after separation, by way of a separation agreement.

In law, many jurisdictions recognize a spouse's right to manage separate property during the marriage but once a separation occurs, all property owned by either spouse becomes subject to judicial determination and division based on whether or not each asset is exempt from the "acquired during the marriage" or "used for family purposes" definitions of community property.

TELL US YOUR VIEW

PUBLIC OFFICE A CALL TO NATIONAL STEALING… LOOTING NIGERIA IN THE FULL VIEW OF ALL.

PUBLIC OFFICE A CALL TO NATIONAL STEALING… LOOTING NIGERIA IN THE FULL VIEW OF ALL.

A NIGERIAN SENETOR -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix to Press Release: a Nigerian senator earns more in Salary than Barack Obama and David Cameron

Effective from January 1, 2001, the annual salary of the president of the United States was doubled to $400,000 (N60m) per year, including a $50,000 expense allowance making the president the highest paid public servant. The $400,000 includes everything and $350,000 out of it is taxable. Below is a table of the earnings of some politicians in the US:Public Officers Earning per year  ($)Earning per year Naira (million)

President     400000.00    60.0

V. President 227300.00    34.1

Speaker of the House       223500.00    33.5

Majority Leader (Senate) $193,400      29.1

Minority Leader (Senate) $193,400      29.1

Other Senators      174000.00    26.1

Majority Leader (Representative)        $193,400      29.1

Minority Leader (Representative)        $193,400      29.1

Cabinet Secretary  $193,400      29.1

 * Exchange rate is set at  $1.00 = N150.00*Please note that US Vice President is also the Senate president. Below is a table showing some of the items in the new (reduced) package for the members of the Nigeria National Assembly:  

Items Senator (N)  Representative(N)

Basic salary/Regular allowances 11,145,200   9,926,062

Furniture     3,039,600     2,744,454

Motor Vehicle Loan        5,066,000     4,963,031

Duty Tour Allowance per day    23,000         21,000

Severance Gratuity          6,079,200     5,955,637

Estacodes     $600  $550

Other allowances expressed as percentages of basic salaries are:

Hardship Allowance  @ 50%   

Constituency allowance @ 200%     

Newspaper allowance @  50%    

Wardrobe allowance @ 25%     

Recess Allowance @ 10%   

Accommodation @ 200%    

Utilities @ 30%    

Domestic Staff @ 75%    

Entertainment @ 30%      

Personal Assistance @ 25%      

Vehicle Maintenance Allowance @ 75%   

Leave Allowance @10%

Analysis This analyses translate to the fact that in addition to the regular and legitimate salaries and allowances of N17 million ($113,333) and N14.99 million ($99,933) which senators and reps were collecting yearly and the irregular allowance of estacodes, duty tours etc, they were also collecting N192m ($1.28m)   and N140m ($0.93m) respectively in illicit quarterly allocation which is not provided for by RMAFC. Effectively, a Nigerian senator was taking home at least $1.40m ($1.28m quarterly allocations + $0.113m regular salaries and allowances) as against the $0.174m an American senator takes home hence a Nigeria senator earns at least 8 times as much as an American senator and more than 3 times the American president.

Whereas a Senator in the U.S earns N21, 146,000, the same as a member of the House of Representatives; a UK Member of Parliament earn £64,766 (N14, 896,180)

In other words, a Federal Legislator in Nigeria is paid more than double what a Member of British Parliament earns per annum.

Senate President David Mark alone takes N250 million quarterly or N83.33 million per month. Senate Deputy President Ike Ekweremadu gets N150 million per quarter or N50 million a month. Mark and Ekweremadu earns in 4 months, six times what the UK Prime Minister earns in a year. David Cameron goes home with £190,000 per anum (N43, 700,000) In a Next newspaper news article entitled ‘An Assembly for looting’ written by Musikilu Mojeed with Elor Nkereuwem, the authors rightly claimed that each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives were getting  N35 million in cash money in quarterly allocation while each of the 109 Senators pockets N48 million each.  These allocations have however been slashed by 20% 

to N27 million ($180,000) and N38 million ($253,333) respectively due to the 20% reduction requested by the late president. The cut has been a source of a major controversy in the House of Representatives in the past few days where members are agitating to jerk up the sum to N42m quarterly at a time when the government is lamenting being broke and when the already signed 2010 budget is being cut by as 

much as 40%. What a bunch of greedy inhuman lots! The discordance has caused members of the House to force the speaker, Dimeji Bankole to reduce his quarterly allowance from N140m ($933,333) to N100m ($666,667) or from an annual allowance of N560m ($3.73m) to N400m ($2.67m). According to data obtained from CIA World Factbook, Nigeria has an estimated per capital income (purchasing power parity) of $2,400 in 2009 as against USA’s $46,400. This means that the average earning in the US is 19.33 times as much as in Nigerian. With the reduced salary package, a Nigeria senator still get paid N11 million ($73,333) in regular salaries and allowances annually and N152m ($1.03m)  in four (quarterly) allocation making a total of $1.11m plus irregular allowances like estacodes and duty tour allowances. 

The Senate has allocated N1, 024,000,000 as quarterly allowance to its 10 principal officers, known collectively as the Senate leadership - Each of the eight other principal officers take home N78 million every three months or N26 million per month. Besides, for this year, the Senate has voted N2.6 billion for local travel, N2.45 billion (foreign travel), N1.25 million (security), N2.28 billion (contingency), N750 million (guest houses for Mark and Ekweremadu), and N500 million (establishment of radio and television stations).The Executive Branch of government A Nigerian Minister is paid N31,915,800 (32 million) per year, comprising salary (2,026,400), 

and benefits plus allowances (N29,889,400)...American secretary (N23,488,000); British Secretary (N29,736,000) German Minister (N30,287,667.20)." A Nigeria Minister of State gets N30, 538,248 (salary N1, 957,580; allowances N28, 580,666) 

higher than those of a South African Minister (N7, 704,558);Compare again to American secretary (N23, 488,000); British Secretary (N29, 736,000) German 

Minister (N30, 287,667.20) A local government councillor in Nigeria earn over N1 million per month while a university professor, or a director in a ministry is paid peanuts as take home. The salary review of political office holders till date revealed that 17,474 officials earned N1.12 trillion yearly of the N1.12 trillion about N94, 959,545,401.20 billion is spent on salaries and N1, 031,654,689,033.18 trillion goes to allowances annually. While 16,540 out of the political officeholders, as revealed from the document emanating from the Presidency to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) are expected to undergo a pay cut in line with former President Yar’adua’s proposal earlier in the year, this is yet to take effect. The officers are: Federal Executive (472); Federal Legislature (1,152); Local Government Executive (3,096) and local government legislature (8,692).According to the document, officers taken this large lump sum evidently, approximately 17,500 

officials only constitute 0.014 per cent (less than a quarter of a percent) of Nigeria’s 

estimated 140 million people. Again, it is common knowledge that the salaries of these officers amount to nothing compared to the juicy fringe benefits that accrue to them. It could be recalled that ministers, advisers, legislators salaries were all jerked up in 2007 and 2008. While the members of National Assembly got 100% pay rise which would cost Nigerian tax payers N52.4 billion every year, and an additional N15.02 billion as multi-purpose allowances given to the lawmakers on quarterly basis, the package accruing to the federal executives had jumped by over 1,000 percent to N98 billion due to their allowances as compared N65.5 billion paid the federal executives during the last regime. The last time Nigerian workers ever had an enhanced salary package was in 2000 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo announced the N5, 500 and N7, 500 minimum wages both for state and federal workers respectively. Comparison of the Salaries of Politicians vis-a-vis other professions in USA and Nigeria The politicians’ salaries listed above might look big to you but if you look at what is obtainable in the society, you’ll surely get the drift. I’d like to compare the earning of these top political positions with those of surgeons in America. According to ehow.com, several factors such as experience, employer, location, gender and degrees may affect the earnings of a heart surgeon. Salaries discussed here are median earnings from 2009. • Degree: A cardiac surgeon with a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree will earn an average yearly salary of $292,774. If he has completed a Ph.D., however, the annual salary may rise to $400,000 on average. It can be inferred from this that a surgeon earn as much as the president or even more. And in nearly all cases a surgeon earns more than the VP and other public office holders. In the US, top attorneys in a top legal firm earn as much as $500,000 annually, a top journalist (like Christiane Amanpour) earns over a $1m, Wall street guys and top business executives earn $ millions in salaries, benefit, stock options etc. Top Sportsmen and Entertainers earn tens of $ million in salaries, endorsements, advertisements, profit sharing etc. Top CEOs also earn tens and in exceptional cases, hundreds of $ million in salaries, benefit, stock options and profit sharing.

If you consider the fact that many top politicians were also top earners before joining 

politics, you’d be able to understand the sacrifice intended. The annual salary of the Surgeon General is about $190,000. It’s a known fact Michelle Obama, the US first lady was earning much more as a hospital administrator in Chicago than her husband, President Barack Obama was earning as a US senator. According to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, her salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals as Vice President for Community and External Affairs, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate. In Nigeria, political offices are often seen as a get-rich-quick avenue because the legitimate salaries and benefits are enormous and are probably unobtainable elsewhere in the system. Another reason is that politicians can also meddle with the public funds with impunity. Candidly, public officers do not differentiate between public and private funds and this is probably the main cause of the do-or-die politics. All arms of government collaborate in the looting causing no checks and balances. After the late former president Umaru Yar’Adua complained about the nation's dwindling revenues and that politicians were being overpaid and causing his government a financial stress, there was an approved reduced remunerative package for the politicians. Based on the this, each of the 107 senators (excluding the Senate President and his deputy) would be collecting N11

million ($73,333) in basic salaries and regular allowances every year while a member of the House of Representatives would get N9.9 million ($66,000). Previously, a senator was getting N17 million ($113,333) while a House member was collecting N14.99 million ($99,933). The regular allowances are accommodation, car maintenance, domestic staff, personal assistant, entertainment, leave, utilities, newspaper/periodicals and constituency. These figures do not include non-regular allowances-- vehicle loan, furniture allowance, estacodes, and duty tour allowance and severance gratuity--which are paid separately to each legislator as they become 

due. From a previous salary of about N10,000, a police constable now earns between N22,000 and N27,000 depending on his length of service and accommodation plan, while a sergeant’s pay has gone up from N15,000 to about N30,000. And from a pay slip of about N22,000, a Police inspector now earns at least N50,000 monthly. Let me give an insight of the monthly salary of Nigerian police officers:

Constable = N22, 000 (£98) - N27, 000 (£120.27)

Corporal = N27, 000 (£120.27) - N28, 000 (£124.73)

Sergeant = N31, 000 (£138.09)

Inspector = N50, 000 (£222.72) - N52, 000 (£231.63)

Assistant Superintendent of Police = N80, 000 (£ 356.36) - N83, 000(£369.72) depending on whether he is a one-star ASP or two-star ASP.

A deputy Superintendent of Police = N90, 000 (£400.90)

A full superintendent = N100, 000 (£445.45) 

In some states, while the state government claims not to have money to pay workers, it finds it convenient to pay politicians hundreds of thousands as monthly salary for doing practically nothing than looting the state blind. How can a state government justify the over N300, 000 salary paid to a ward councilor (and over N60, 000 to a councilor’s wife) while the highest paid teachers collects less than 30 percent and the least paid teacher collects less than 4 percent of a councilor’s pay. The total annual salaries of councilors in a state like Osun State (running to over N1.4 billion) are enough to employ 2240 workers on N50, 000 monthly salaries. This is pure robbery! 

Yet, they reject the payment of N52, 200 minimum wages that the national leadership of NLC and TUC are fighting for.

Other Illegalities Of all these allowances, the most intriguing is the constituency allowance. What is constituency allowance? You may ask. It is an allowance approved by Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). The constituency allowance as approved by RMAFC is supposed to be 200% of the basic salary for politician but in reality, they are paid far more than that. The major flaw of this allowance is that the law does not require the politicians to file reports of how the money is spent. The executives are not left behind, infact, the legislative plunder is like a child’s play compared to what the executives are illegally taking away from the system. In addition to their constituency allowances, It is no longer a news that governors collect billions of naira as security votes which are unaccounted for and which makes everyone wonder which security are they providing with the money. According to Davidson Iriekpen in an article titled, Security Vote - for Whose Security? “Every year, billions of naira is allegedly squandered under the guise of security votes. The funds suspected to be illegal, are purportedly being used to provide security for the president, governors and their domains, whereas they are being transferred into personal bank accounts. In spite of these huge sums of money, killings, kidnappings, cultism and other security threats are on the increase across the states. At the federal level, funds are allocated to the Ministry of Defence for the upkeep and welfare of the armed forces and the police, yet billions are still voted for the President as security votes whose impact is unknown.” Many of the governors appropriate the sum ranging from several hundreds of millions of naira to billions monthly as security vote.  And also according to human rights lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, security vote is an illegality and irresponsibility on the part of the country's leaders. He condemned the governors for appropriating security votes to them even when they know that it is unconstitutional. He also argued that the governors who indulge in security votes rob the society of essential resources.

In a report by RMAFC chairman, Hamman Tukur to the presidency, "He said the Federal, State and Local Governments flout the remuneration provisions made by the commission through frivolous foreign trips, arbitrary appointment of aides and use of excessively large motorcades. He further said “based on the constitution, RMAFC has the final say on the remuneration package of National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly members, while a law need to be enacted based on the commission's proposals regarding the pay packages of executive and judicial office holders.”

Notwithstanding this warning, this illegality thrives from the presidency to the council. As the president takes billions of naira in monthly security vote, he also take several millions in constituency allowance.

Conclusion

Past surveys of salaries and benefits of public office holders from the Baltic to the Bahamas, the Americas and the Far East and everywhere else, has showed that Ministers and Federal Legislators in Nigeria are the highest paid in the world, despite the country being among the poorest in terms of per capita income, security, social provision and living standards. On the other hand, Nigerian workers are one of the lowest paid in the world. The Nigerian Minister earns more than his American, British or German counterpart, and of course enjoys pecks of office those ones cannot even dare dream of - for doing next to NOTHING!!! Likewise a Senator and his House of Representatives counterpart in Nigeria receive much more than their contemporaries elsewhere. Do you know even any local government Chairman in Nigeria who does not own houses and fleet of cars? Nigeria is a relatively poor country and there is no justification for a Nigerian politician earning much more than his American counterpart while others in other callings earn a fraction of what is obtainable in the US.I think it’s about time we work out a ceiling system for the remunerations of public servants and tie them to what is obtainable in certain professions. And until we get this right, our Politics will continue to be a do-or-die affair with the greedy lots dominating the air as their only attractions are the perks of the offices

WHERE DOES OUR PRIORITY LIE? Nigeria Buys Presidential Jets At $150 million, Borrows To Fund Polls

Nigeria Buys Presidential Jets At $150 million, Borrows To Fund Polls, Written By Felix Onuah

11 AUGUST 2010 WRITTEN BY REPUBLIC REPORT NEW YORK 4 VIEWS VIEW COMMENTS

New York [RR] ABUJA— Nigeria’s cabinet approved the purchase of three new presidential jets on Wednesday, a day after Africa’s most populous nation said it would have to raise debt to fund elections in less than six months. President Goodluck Jonathan has not yet said whether he will contest the polls, but most Nigerians expect him to do so, particularly given recent announcements from his administration — ranging from pledges to boost power supply to building more roads — that suggest he has plans beyond next January.

He named two northern politicians from the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) as junior cabinet ministers on Wednesday, in what some analysts said looked like a move to undermine the cohesion of the rival party. The cabinet approved the purchase of two Falcon 7X aircraft from France’s Dassault Aviation and one Gulfstream G550 from the U.S. planemaker for the presidential fleet at a cost of $150 

million. “After consideration, council approved the purchase,” Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters after a cabinet meeting in the capital Abuja.The first Falcon would be delivered towards the end of the year, with the second Falcon and the Gulfstream due to arrive by the second quarter of next year, after the elections.

The amount was already provided for in the 2010 budget but the timing of the announcement raised questions about the country’s spending priorities.

The announcement comes a day after lawmakers approved plans to raise 88 billion naira via a bond issue to pay for the electoral commission to overhaul voter lists and buy additional ballot boxes for the elections. The timing of the polls has broadly been known since the end of military rule a decade ago, and it was not immediately clear why enough funds had not been earmarked for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2010 budget. The Business Day newspaper said the supplementary INEC budget made Nigeria’s voter registration process the most costly in the world. The daily Next newspaper questioned why 3 billion naira was earmarked for new vehicles: “Does INEC not already have vehicles,” it pondered. RISING GOVERNMENT SPENDING ..Government spending was already due to rise sharply this year. Parliament last month approved 445 billion naira in extra spending including pay rises for civil servants, doctors and professors.

That supplementary spending plan comes on top of the main 4.4 trillion naira 2010 budget, meaning Nigeria’s fiscal deficit is expected to increase beyond 5.4 percent of GDP, well above a 3 percent target set just three years ago. The Finance Ministry has warned that government revenues, mostly from oil sales, would not be enough to fund the budget and that the OPEC member would likely have to use up its windfall oil 

savings or borrow more. Parliament last month passed a constitutional amendment bringing elections forward to January, leaving little time for reforms to avoid a repeat of chaotic 2007 polls. An electoral roll riddled with fictitious names and omitting legitimate voters was one of the main problems at the 2007 polls, which were so marred by ballot stuffing and intimidation that observers deemed them not to have been credible. INEC has said its spending plan is largely for the purchase of 120,000 electronic voter registration machines, including laptop computers, finger print scanners, cameras and printers to issue voter cards. TELL US YOUR VIEW

TO THE LEFT, TO THE LEFT... CAN NE-YO BRING THE MAGIC TO BEYONCE AGAIN

Beyonce and Ne-yo

         

Aceshowbiz :    It seems that Beyonce Knowles is ready to get back to work after taking a break for a while following the completion of her lengthy I Am...Tour. The wife of Hip-Hop Cash King Jay-Z will be hitting the studio with Ne-Yo. 

It was Ne-Yo himself who broke the news. On Twitter, the R&B singer/songwriter wrote that beside having a session with Beyonce, he has also worked with Mary J. Blige. He posted on August 29, "Mornin' NY!!! Studio with Mary J Blige last night, Beyonce tonight. I LOVE MY JOB!!!Shout out Jerry Wonder!!" Other info about the follow-up to 2008 "I Am...Sasha Fierce" remains under wraps. One thing for sure, Beyonce will ditch her alter ego Sasha Fierce in the not-yet-titled album. "Sasha Fierce is done. I killed her," she told Allure magazine earlier this year. "I don't need Sasha Fierce anymore, because I've grown and now I'm able to merge the two." 

In another news, Beyonce Knowles made a surprise performance at the 7th Annual Rock the Bells Festival on Governors Island in New York. She joined Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Chris Rock, John Legend and Lauryn Hill for a rendition of "To Zion" at the August 28 gig. TELL US YOUR VIEW

SHOULD DIVORCE BE CELEBRATED AND WOULD YOU HAVE A DIVORCE PARTY OR CEREMONY TO CELEBRATE THE ENDING OF YOUR MAREAIAGE. KINDLY TELL US YOUR VIEW.

Happy divorce!

Some couples are choosing to celebrate the end of an unhappy marriage by saying "I do" for a final time at a divorce ceremony before friends and family.

Article: Reuters

The divorce fair

 Divorce ceremonies were pioneered about a year ago by a former salesman, Hiroki Terai, who set

up a "divorce mansion" in a small undercover space in Tokyo. Since then about 25 couples have each paid 55,000 yen ($606) to hold a ceremony with all the pomp and grandeur of a wedding that publicly ends their relationship before they officially file for divorce. Terai said he had received more than 900 inquiries. The latest couple, who called themselves Mr. and Mrs. Fujii, met near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's traditional Asakusa area on Sunday and rode in separate rickshaws to the "divorce mansion.""By putting an end to our marriage, we wanted to give ourselves fresh starts and give our lives

a sense of renewal," Mr. Fujii, a 33-year-old businessman, told Reuters Television. He said he felt responsible for the failure of his marriage as he spent too much time away from home and too much money on his various interests including cars - despite numerous warnings from his wife. Friends and family of the Fujii couple followed closely behind the rickshaws on foot, arriving at the "divorce mansion" for a ceremony where they smashed their wedding ring with a gavel, a gesture signifying the end of their partnership. The gavel has a frog's head as frogs symbolize change in Japanese culture. "When we smashed the ring together, I felt like "oh, this is the end of it, really" and my heart and soul felt renewed. Now I feel I can have a new life and start all over again," said Mr. Fujii. His wife of eight years also expressed her relief. "The moment I saw the smashed ring, I said to myself, "Yes! That feels so good,"" Mrs. Fujii  said. Terai, who is believed to be Japan's first "divorce ceremony planner," came up with the idea of divorce ceremonies to help couples celebrate their decision to separate after one of his friends was going through a bitter divorce. Divorce is on the rise in Japan where it was once taboo with about 251,000 divorces taking place in 2008, partly blamed on the poor economy taking its toll on romance. Next month Terai heads off on his first business venture abroad to Korea to officially divorce a couple in Seoul. "I started this ceremony in April last year thinking that there should be a positive way to end a marriage and move on by making a vow to restart their lives in front of loved ones," Terai said. SHOULD DIVORCE BE CELEBRATED AND WOULD YOU HAVE A DIVORCE PARTY OR CEREMONY TO CELEBRATE THE ENDING OF YOUR MAREAIAGE. KINDLY TELL US YOUR VIEW.

OUR POLITICIANS EARN BIG BUCKS AND RIDED FANCY CARS BUT THEY CANT PAY THE WAGES OF THE AVARAGE TEACHER... ITS ALL OVER AFRICA

OUR POLITICIANS EARN BIG BUCKS AND RIDED FANCY CARS BUT THEY CANT PAY THE WAGES OF THE AVARAGE TEACH... ITS ALL OVER AFRICA

Vavi takes dig at Zuma's salary
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has taken a potshot at President Jacob Zuma's salary as striking civil servants protested outside the gates of Parliament.


Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi took a potshot at President Jacob Zuma's salary as striking civil servants protested outside the gates of Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

"I asked the President a while ago what he is earning," said Vavi, who was speaking to a crowd of thousands through a microphone on the back of a truck.

"If my memory serves me right he is earning more than R2.2 million," he said to a howl of disapproval from the crowd.

"He has blood like we have blood. He has a big family like we do. He has children to feed like we do. Our needs are the same. We want geld [money]. Ons soek geld [we want money]."

DO YOU SUPPORT THE CIVIL SERVICE STRICK IN SOUTH AFRICA

WHICH PAYS MORE, HOLLYWOOD OR PORNY WOOD.. LAWRENCE FISHBORNES BABY GIRL GOING ON THE DOWN LOW "ACTS PORN"

LAWRENCE FISHBORNES BABY GIRL GOING ON THE DOWN LOW ACTS PORN

The daughter of Hollywood star Laurence Fishburne has moved out of his spacious home as she tries to make a name for herself as a porn star - and insists she doesn't want to hurt to her dad.

Montana Fishburne, 19, is said to have infuriated her famous father when she broke the news of her unconventional career path, and has since packed her bags and left the LA home she was sharing with 49-year-old Laurence, his second wife Gina Torres and her half-sister, baby Delilah.

It’s understood the teenager has put pen to paper on a deal with Vivid Entertainment, who will release the steamy film – titled Montana Fishburne: An A-List Daughter Makes her XXX Debut – later this month.

“I wanted to do my own thing,” she tells TMZ. “I didn’t feel living in my father’s house with his new baby was the best thing.”

Montana, whose porn name is Chippy D, will star alongside the aptly named Brian Pumper in the film – a seasoned porn star who also directs as well as performs.

And despite facing her father’s wrath, Montana is determined to make a name for herself in the controversial industry.

“I can’t help that he’s my dad,” she told the New York Post. “I can’t help that I’m his daughter. I’m just trying to start my own career. This is my goal. When I have my mind set on something, I’m gonna do it.

“(Our) relationship has nothing to do with why I got into porn. I got into porn because I wanted to f**k on camera. I knew it was going to affect him. But I’m not doing this to slander his name. There was no ‘I want to hurt my dad.’ That’s bull. That’s selfish to do that. I’m not going to try to hurt my dad that publicly. That’s ridiculous. I love my dad to death.

"This is not about him. It’s about me.”

And its really about her because as it is.. she is sold out.... Montana Fishburne's porn film has disappeared from shelves across the country.

Porn purveyors, Vivid Entertainment, who produced the DVD, have now offered her a multi-film deal that could keep her productively engaged employed for many more days.

Vivid head honcho Steve Hirsch tells TMZ that the initial lot of 25,000 copies of the DVD have sold out and backorders are now piling up.

According to TMZ, friends of Montana's father, Laurence Fishburne, had pooled in $1 million and offered to purchase the DVD rights from Vivid, but by then copies had already shipped.

In a recent interview with E! Online, Montana said that she is still open to an alternative career choice. We are wondering if the new multiple film offer from Vivid will make her forget the alternative career option.

WHY ARE THE LADIES GOING AFTER MARRIED MEN, ALICIA KEYS AND FANTASIA BARRINO...DO WE HAVE SCACITY OF SINGLE MEN OR SINGLE GOOD MEN?

Fantasia Barrino tried reportedly to commit suicide last night. According to her manager, the American Idol champion overdosed after taking Aspirin pills and a sleeping aid.

Here’s what a rep of Fantasia had to say:

“Overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention surrounding her relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Antwaun Cook…Last night, Fantasia was hospitalized. She took an overdose of a aspirin and a sleep aid. Her injuries are not life threatening. She was dehydrated and exhausted at the time. Fantasia is stable now. She will be released from the hospital soon. Fantasia believed Antwaun Cook when he told her he was not happy in his marriage to Paula Cook and his heart was not in it.”

Fantasia’s cry for help may be stemming from her messing with a married man. Apparently, that married man, Antwaun Cook, lied to Fantasia when he told her that he was separated from his wife, Paula. That’s when Fantasia had the nerve to make a call to Antwaun’s wife, Paula, and told her your “I got your man”…Ouch!!!

Fantasia Barrino was “heartbroken” and “overwhelmed” by Paula Cook’s accusations that the former American Idol winner had an affair with her husband Antwaun Cook, before her hospitalization on Monday night.

Fantasia’s manager Brian Dickens says: “Fantasia read Mrs. Cook’s complaint against Mr. Cook for the first time yesterday,” reports ET Online.

FANTASIA HOSPITALIZED AFTER OVERDOSE

“She knows some of the allegations in Mrs. Cook’s complaint are totally false. There are others she strongly doubts. There is plenty she does not know.

“Fantasia is heartbroken and is sorry for any pain she may have caused. Yesterday, she was totally overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention.

Women tell me do we have scacity of single men or of good single men...