Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Obama Pardons - 70 People Pardoned by Barack Obama

Obama Pardons - 70 People Pardoned by Barack Obama Here is an up-to-date list of  the  70 people pardoned by President Barack Obama and the offenses they were convicted of, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House. Khosrow Afghahi, who was indicted in 2015 for allegedly  facilitating the illegal export of high-tech microelectronics, uninterruptible power supplies and other commodities to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. William Ricardo Alvarez of  Marietta, Ga., who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and  conspiracy to import heroin. He was sentenced in 1997 to nine months of  imprisonment and  four years of  supervised release.Roy Norman Auvil of Illinois, who was convicted in 1964 with  possessing an unregistered distilling apparatus. James Bernard Banks  of  Liberty, Utah, who was convicted of  illegal possession of government property and sentenced in 1972 to  two years of probation. Robert Leroy Bebee  of  Rockville, Maryland, who was convicted of misprision of a felony and was sentenced to  two years probation.   Lesley Claywood Berry Jr.  of  Loretto, Kentucky, who was convicted of  conspiracy to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, and distribute marijuana and was sentenced to  three years in prison. James Anthony Bordinaro  of  Gloucester, Mass., who was convicted to  conspiracy to restrain, suppress, and eliminate competition in violation of the Sherman Act and  conspiracy to submit false statements and was sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment and  three years supervised release and a $55,000 fine.   Bernard Bryan Bulcourf, who was convicted in Florida in 1988 of counterfeiting money. Dennis George Bulin  of  Wesley Chapel, Fla., who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute in excess of 1,000 pounds of marijuana and was sentenced to  five years of probation and a $20,000 fine. Steve Charlie Calamars, who was convicted in Texas in 1989 of possession of phenyl-2-propanone with intent to manufacture a quantity of methamphetamine. Ricky Dale Collett  of  Annville, Kentucky, who was convicted of  aiding and abetting in the manufacture of 61 marijuana plants and sentenced in 2002 to  one year of probation conditioned on 60 days of home detention. Kelli Elisabeth Collins  of  Harrison, Arkansas, who was convicted of  aiding and abetting a wire fraud and sentenced to  five years probation. Charlie Lee Davis, Jr. of  Wetumpka, Ala., who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and  use of a minor to distribute cocaine base. He was sentenced in 1995 to  87 months of  imprisonment and  five years supervised release.Diane Mary DeBarri, who was convicted in in Pennsylvania in 1984 of distribution of methamphetamine. Russell James Dixon of Clayton, Ga., who was convicted of a felony liquor law violation and sentenced in 1960  to two years of probation. Laurens Dorsey  of  Syracuse, N.Y., who was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States by making false statements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She was sentenced to  five years of probation and $71,000 restitution. Randy Eugene Dyer, who was convicted of conspiracy to import marijuana (hashish), and  conspiracy to remove baggage from the custody and control of the U.S. Customs Service and convey false information concerning an attempt to damage a civil aircr aft.Donnie Keith Ellison, who was convicted in Kentucky in 1995 of manufacturing marijuana. Tooraj Faridi, who  was indicted in 2015 for allegedly facilitating the illegal export of high-tech microelectronics, uninterruptible power supplies and other commodities to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act Ronald Lee Foster  of  Beaver Falls, Pa., was convicted of mutilation of coins and sentenced to  one year of probation and $20 fine. John Marshall French, who was convicted in South Carolina in 1993 of conspiracy to transport a stolen motor vehicle in interstate commerce. Edwin Hardy Futch, Jr.  of  Pembroke, Georgia, who was convicted of  theft from an interstate shipment and  sentenced to five years probation and  $2,399.72 restitution. Timothy James Gallagher  of  Navasota, Texas, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to  three years of probation. Jon Dylan Girard, who was convicted of counterfeit in Ohio of 2002. Nima Golestaneh, who pleaded gui lty in Vermont in 2015 to  wire fraud and his involvement in the October 2012 hacking of a Vermont-based engineering consulting and software company.   Ronald Eugene Greenwood of  Crane, Mo., who was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act. He was sentenced in 1996 to three years probation, six months home confinement, 100 hours community service, $5,000 restitution and a  $1,000 fine. Cindy Marie Griffith  of  Moyock, North Carolina, who was convicted of distribution of satellite cable television decryption devices and sentenced to  two years probation with 100 hours of community service.   Roy Eugene Grimes, Sr.  of  Athens, Tenn., who was convicted of  falsely altering a United States postal money order and passing,  uttering, and publishing a forged and altered money order with intent to defraud. He was sentenced to 18 months probation. Joe Hatch of  Lake Placid, Fla., who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He was sentenced in 1990 to  60 months of  imprisonment and  four years of  supervised release. Martin Alan Hatcher of  Foley, Ala., who was convic ted of distribution and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He was sentenced in 1992 to five years of  probation. Roxane Kay Hettinger  of  Powder Springs, Ga., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and sentenced in 1986 to  30 days in jail followed by three years of probation.Melody Eileen Homa, who was convicted aiding and abetting bank fraud in Virginia in 1991. Martin Kaprelian  of  Park Ridge, Ill., who was convicted of  conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce; transporting stolen property in interstate commerce; and concealing stolen property that was transported in interstate commerce. He was sentenced in 1984 to  nine years in prison and  five years of probation. Jon Christopher Kozeliski of  Decatur, Ill., who was convicted of conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods and  sentenced to  one year of probation with six months of home confinement and a  $10,000 fine. Edgar Leopold Kranz Jr.  of  Minot, N.D., who was convicted of wrongful use of cocaine, adultery and writing three insufficient fund checks. He was  court-ma rtialed and discharged from the military for  bad conduct discharge (suspended), and sentenced to 24 months of confinement and reduction to pay grade E-1.      Ã‚   Derek James Laliberte of  Auburn, Maine, who was convicted to money laundering. He was sentenced in 1993 to  18 months in prison and 2 years of  supervised release. Floretta Leavy  of  Rockford, Ill., who was convicted of distribution of cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. She was sentenced in  1984 to  one year and one day in prison and three years of special parole. Thomas Paul Ledford  of  Jonesborough, Tenn., who was convicted of  conducting and directing an illegal gambling business.  He was sentenced in 1995 to  one year of probation conditioned on performance of 100 hours of community service. Danny Alonzo Levitz, who was convicted of conspiracy.Ricardo Marcial Lomedico Sr., who was convicted in Washington in in 1969 of misappropriation of bank funds. Alfred J. Mack of  Manassas, Va., who was convicted to unlawful distribution of heroin and sentenced in 1982 to  18 to 54 months of  imprisonment.   David Raymond Mannix, a U.S. Marine who was convicted in 1989 of conspiracy to commit larceny  and theft of military property. Jimmy Ray Mattison  of  Anderson, S.C., who was convicted of  conspiracy to transport and cause the transportation of altered securities in  interstate commerce, transporting and causing the transportation  of altered securities in interstate commerce. He was sentenced to  three years probation. Bahram Mechanic, who was indicted on charges of  violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for  allegedly shipping millions of dollars in technology to their company in Iran. David Neil Mercer, who was convicted in Utah in 1997 of violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act violation.  According to published reports, Mercer  damaged American Indian remnants on federal land. Scoey Lathaniel Morris  of  Crosby, Texas, who was convicted of  passing counterfeit obligations or securities and sentenced in 1999 to  th ree years of probation and $1,200 restitution, jointly and severally. Claire Holbrook Mulford, who was convicted in Texas in 1993 of using a residence to distribute methamphetamine.Michael Ray Neal, who was convicted of manufacture, assembly, modification and distribution of equipment for unauthorized decryption of satellite cable programming,Edwin Alan North, who was convicted of transfer of a firearm without payment of transfer tax. An Na Peng  of  Honolulu, Hawaii, who was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the Immigration and Naturalization Service and sentenced to two years probation and a  $2,000 fine.Allen Edward Peratt, Sr., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Michael John Petri  of  Montrose, South Dakota, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled  substance. He was sentenced to  five years imprisonment  and three years supervised release. Karen Alicia Ragee  of  Decatur, Ill., who was convicted of  conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goo ds and sentenced to one year of probation with six months of home confinement and a  $2,500 fine. Christine Marie Rossiter, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana. Jamari Salleh  of  Alexandria, Va., who was convicted of  false claims upon and against the United States and sentenced to four years probation, a $5,000 fine and  $5,900 restitution. Robert Andrew Schindler of  Goshen, Va., who was convicted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and sentenced in 1986 to three years of  probation, four months of  home confinement, and $10,000 restitution. Alfor Sharkey  of  Omaha, Nebraska, who was convicted of  unauthorized acquisition of food stamps and sentenced to three years probation with 100 hours of community service and  $2,750 restitution. Willie Shaw, Jr. of  Myrtle Beach, S.C., who was convicted to armed bank robbery and sentenced in 1974 to 15  years imprisonment. Donald Barrie Simon, Jr.  of  Chattanooga, Tenn., who was convicted of aiding and abetting in the theft of an interstate shipme nt and sentenced to two years imprisonment and  three years probation. Brian Edward Sledz, who was convicted of wire fraud in Illinois in 1993. Lynn Marie Stanek of  Tualatin, Oregon, who was convicted of  unlawful use of a communication facility to distribute cocaine and sentenced to six months in jail, five years probation conditioned on residence in a  community treatment center for a period not to exceed one year.Albert Byron Stork, who was convicted of filing a false tax return in Colorado in 1987. Kimberly Lynn Stout of  Bassett, Va., who was convicted to bank embezzlement and  false entries in the books of a lending institution. She was sentenced in 1993 to one day imprisonment, three years supervised release including five months home confinement. Bernard Anthony Sutton, Jr. of  Norfolk, Va., who was convicted of theft of personal property and sentenced in 1989 to three years probation,  $825 restitution and a  $500 fine. Chris Deann Switzer of  Omaha, Nebraska, who was convicted to conspiracy to violate narcotics laws and sent enced in 1996 to four years probation, six months home confinement, drug and alcohol treatment, and 200 hours community service. Larry Wayne Thornton  of  Forsyth, Georgia, who was convicted of  possession of an unregistered firearm and  possession of  a firearm without a serial number, and was sentenced to four years probation.Patricia Ann Weinzatl, who was convicted of structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements.Bobby Gerald Wilson, who was convicted of  Aiding and abetting the possession and sale of illegal American alligator hides. Miles Thomas Wilson of  Williamsburg, Ohio, who was convicted of mail fraud and sentenced in 1981 to three years supervised release. Donna Kaye Wright of  Friendship, Tenn., who was. convicted of  embezzlement and misapplication of bank funds, and sentenced to 54 days imprisonment, three years probation conditioned on performance of six hours of community service per week.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Death in Todays Society Essays

Death in Todays Society Essays Death in Todays Society Paper Death in Todays Society Paper Essay Topic: Everything Is Illuminated Introduction Death distances humans from life, is what death is thought of today. Death that is the strongest proof of humans being mortals is denied on its face value by the modern age people. People try to escape death and defeat its existence to live a fearless life that maximizes their pleasure for eternity. The phobia against death has made people avoid discussing death in public, and today it has become a taboo, like pornography was in the medieval ages. Sociologists and thinkers such as Gorer, Moller and Cline have studied the subject in great detail with solid research and a concerted effort they have recognized the changed behavior of people towards death. Instead of accepting its existence and getting on with the reality: that we have to leave this world one day, people deny death. This is reflected in their behavior towards death rituals and gatherings. Discussing death or the deceased is considered to be strange in todays society. People that speak of death or the dead people face prudery at the hands of their social environment. Thus, death has become a taboo, or something that should not be talked about. This situation was not always the case; in fact this is a modern day development. This transition in the reactions of people with respect to death, as noted, studied and explained by Gorer and his proponents is known as Taboo Thesis. In this paper a discussion will be made on the following thesis statement, â€Å"Death, today, is treated as a fearsome, alien phenomena and has become a taboo, with lesser and lesser people concerned about it. â€Å" Contribution from Gorer. Geoffrey Gorer, born in 1905, was a renowned English Anthropologist. He spent his life in understanding the nature of humans and how do they get along with different variation in their lives. One of his greatest contributions to the field of Sociology is his work and research on the notion of death, the transition that it has been through the ages and its prevalent status in the current world order, categorically the United Kingdom. Very interestingly Gorer compares the treatment of death in the modern society with that of the notion of pornography in the Victorian Era. This creative and analytical thinking ability of Gorer made him stand out from other thinkers and anthropologists and thus his work has become exceedingly significant for scholars in order to expand their horizons of study on death or other related areas (Gorer 1955). Gorer compares the treatment of the notion of pornography in the Victorian era with that of the treatment of death in the contemporary world. In the Victorian era pornography was considered to be a highly intimate affair and discussion in public was considered to be an â€Å"eye-brow† raising issue that would lead to prudery in the society if projected. Gorer does not approve of such reactions as he believes that copulation and sex are issues known to people in general, so veiling them does not make a lot of sense as people tend to speak about issues that they are aware of, so the same must hold true for pornography as well. This argument is aesthetically forwarded by Gorer regarding death and the reaction of people to it in the contemporary world. Gorer opines that death is as big a truth in life as life itself, but today people try to evade from its existence in a manner that is similar to the Victorian era where people avoided sex and obscenity related discussions in public. Gorer believes that the society is distancing itself from the acceptance of a universal fact, and truth, and perhaps this is something that one would agree with as well (Gorer 1955). A contemporary example Let’s consider the Somalian drought, termed as the â€Å"worst humanitarian crisis† by the UN. It is on the verge of engulfing the lives of more than 700,000 humans in the months to come. This drought has shown the real face of humans to themelves, but its such a pity that we still don’t seem to care. No matter how steep the death toll is, no matter how severe a disaster, people just continue living their own lives, for life has become as convenient as it has never been before. Joseph Stalin was absolutely spot on when he coined his famous quote â€Å"a death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic†. No better sentence in the world could depict how we act to events such as the Somalian drought. Humans are so indifferent to everything that is happening around them, and have become so self-centered that they simply don’t care who died outside their circle. This goes for the entire human race for the most part, and not a particular class or segment of the society. A prominent example of the hedonistic approach that has taken as the sole path of our lives is the Annual Tomatina Festival in Spain. More than 90,000 pounds of tomatoes, tantamount to several hundred thousand tomatoes, are wasted in this festival, for what is termed as â€Å"for fun†. The event has more than 20,000 tourists from around the world, spending Dollars and Euros to attend this futile activity, participating actively (One India Living 2011). That is exactly what Gorer depicted. We treat death to be something really personal and not worth mentioning or discussing in public. This transition has come about with the change in people’s attitudes towards death and their eloping from religion and scriptures. We have to die one day and that day could be any day, but we just don’t want to know which day it is because we simply don’t care. We want to maximize pleasures and avoid pain and we, today, have become more self-centered and rational; so as far as we are happy, the world is a good place to live in. This ideology was forwarded by Gorer in the post World War II era and one can claim that his thinking was influenced by the innumerable deaths that were incurred during that period. However Gorer is not alone with his conception of alienation of death and bereavements from the society, in fact Aries is pretty much a proponent of the same (Gorer 1955). Walter’s Perspective On the other hand Tony Walter, born in 1948, a freelance writer and a sociologist on the subject of Death and Society, has a different chain of thoughts. Walter has conducted a lot of research regarding the reaction of people towards death and he came up with sound observations and claims. He is not of the opinion that death in the modern age has become a taboo. In fact, he declares that the modern society is much more concerned with deaths, and as a ground to this argument he presents the mass media as the evidence. He says that today in newspapers and in electronic media we see that the news of deaths is overwhelmingly dominating. He says that deaths were not given more importance in the past. Today the leading newspapers of the world publish death reports and publications on the front page and there never was a time in history where deaths were subjected to more seriousness and significance. A recent example of this is the notorious events of Tottenham in 2011 where one death triggered the masses to cause riots and challenge the establishment of the law enforcing authorities in UK (Walter 1991). The work of Moller The argument here is not only about the discussion of death, bereavement practices and rituals exercised in pubic, but also the message taken by people from the deaths of their loved ones. Dr. David Wendell Moller sheds light on a beautiful concept entailing death. He expresses the significance of death to life and claims that death is not an end in itself, in fact it is the beginning of an eternal and illuminated journey of salvation. Dr Moller, also known as Dr. Death among his students and colleagues in the School of Medicine, IUPUI, has conducted research on the subject of Death and Dying and he has also noted a prominent transformation in the beliefs of people regarding death. Like Gorer, Moller maintains the view that in the early time before the 19th Century death was celebrated in a humble manner. People used to gather to talk about the life of the person who had just died. The family, friends and acquaintances used to share various incidents and experiences associated with the departed soul. This was a useful social exercise as it did not only give chance to the family members of the deceased person to mourn and share their sorrows with others but it also served as a platform where people could remind themselves of their ultimate faith and get prepared to face it. With the passage of time this concept has depleted and now instead of facing death as the sole truth of life people either tend to evade it, avoid it, deny it and sometimes even defeat it. This act of avoiding death has lead to curious psychological dilemmas among people. Now they see death as being horror, fearsome and ugly and that is why they don’t want to talk about it anymore (Moller 1996). Cline and the fear of death in women This elevating fear in the minds of people regarding death is also acknowledged by Dr. Sally Cline. In her book â€Å"Lifting the Taboo† she goes out an extra mile and brings the fear of death in women to limelight. With respect to her research she says that women are afraid of dying today. The fear is not of the fact that they have not done anything to please the Almighty, but the fear is astonishingly for materialistic reasons. People fear death because they perceive death to be something that will snatch their worldly pleasures from them. People evade the notion of dying because they don’t want to submit their wills and themselves to an eternal entity, God. People want to pursue their dreams till eternity and want to be the commanders of their destinies and fates. This is where we once again come to the view points of Gorer and Moller that today death has become a taboo. People don’t talk about it and thus they don’t know anything about it. Cline also discusses some of the most prominent and standout sources of fear for death in women and not surprisingly the fear was related to their household, love, relations, children and affection. With this entire discussion in hand and the views of different thinkers and sociologists taken into consideration we can sum up the discussion into the concluding phase (Cline 1995). Conclusion  Death, the greatest truth on earth after life is treated as a taboo in today’s world. People in the modern day life try to turn their backs when it comes to talking about death. Death is treated as something that is either a curse or lower cast argument not worth discussing in public. A lot of people also take the topic of death and dying as highly private, intimate and personal and it is not the place of friends, relatives and even parents to talk about it with them. This avoidance of the acceptance of the realm of death is forcing modern age into a state of denial. The dilemma is so severe that we have stopped the process of self talk as well, and we just want to deny and defy death. As mentioned earlier in this paper, Moller is of the opinion that death has been captured by mass media much more than it has been covered historically. Perhaps this is the reason that people avoid discussing death in public circles, because it is already been discussed everywhere. But the discussion of death in newspapers or electronic media is not for the sake of self evaluation, or for the spiritual good of humans, it is in fact covered like any other news item where statistics are mentioned and that’s it. The people, to whom media is aimed at, have now started looking at death in quantitative terms rather than its subjectivity. Death is not seen as the beginning of a new life by the people today. Under the current circumstances where we see consistent deaths recurring all over the globe in Haiti, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya and Turkey by means of natural disasters and human activities people have started treating death as a taboo. Deaths are occurring so frequently and so quickly that people have started fearing and they don’t want to let that fear overcome their lives and devastate their spirits and efforts. People want to live the moment and in the urge to do so they have distanced themselves from morality. People have become hedonistic. In the drive to avoid discussing death, people today have involuntarily forgotten about death. Those who talk about death are either looked down upon or are perceived to be puritanical in their approach towards life and that is exactly how death has become a taboo in today’s world. Denying death and eloping from its acceptance will do no good. The media, the family and the society needs to play a role, a role to revive the forgotten norms and values of death. The media is also obliged to edify the masses and bring them closer to humanity and nature. Talking about death, or those who are dead in a family gathering shall not be done with the aim of becoming puritanical or acquiring necrophilia, in fact the purpose should be to accept a reality and to get on with it without thinking about escaping it. This will bring us closer to the life, and will give us motivation and better reasons to become a better human being, and to play our role in the welfare of the society. References David Wendell Moller. â€Å"Dying and Historical Context. † Confronting Death. New York, Oxford University Press. 1996. Geoffrey Gorer. â€Å"Pornography of Death. † Death, Grief and Mourning. † Doubleday and Company. 1955. Sally Cline. â€Å"Earlier Times, Other Cultures and Religions. † Lifting the Taboo. New York University Press. 1995. Sally Cline. â€Å"Mortal Messages. † Lifting the Taboo. New York University Press. 1995. Tony Walter, â€Å"Modern death: taboo or not taboo. † Sociology, 1991, 25, pp. 293-310. One India Living. â€Å"History of the â€Å"Red† La Tomatina Festival. † Web. 2011

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Accredit Managed Care Organizations SL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accredit Managed Care Organizations SL - Essay Example Since the organizations want to acquire and maintain accreditation, they improve the standards of their services. In so doing, patients end up getting improved care, which is to their benefit. The process of accreditation by NCQA is in two parts. The basis for assessment of each plan is on standards and healthcare effectiveness data and information set (HEDIS). Standards involve the evaluation of the structure and process of a plan in the maintenance and improvement of quality. HEDIS involves evaluating the performance of a plan with regard to the process and outcomes in member experience of care as well as outcomes in clinical care (NSQA, 2008). The NCQA carries out its survey through onsite and offsite evaluations. In the offsite evaluation, the team of surveyors assesses the self-evaluation and other materials that concern the plan. The materials required for the process are accessible through the Interactive survey System, through which the institutions make submissions. The team reviews the plan’s documents, which the institution submits, against standards to ascertain compliance. When evaluating standards, NCQA focuses on quality management and improvement, u tilization management, credentialing, as well as member connections. The Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set on its part assesses areas of care (NCQA, 2008). It focuses on preventive services such as immunization, treatment of acute diseases, management of chronic ailments as well as patience experience. During the on-site review, NCQA assesses various areas of operation as well as documents and material that the institution may not be able to submit through the Interactive Survey System. That includes confidential documents such as minutes of meetings or actual case records. The team of managed care experts and physicians assess the documents against the specifications of the plan as the institution