- Zimbabwe, it’s been too long. You’re usually good for a
consistent flow of drama and ridiculous headlines centered on 90-year-old
despot Bob Mugabe and his reign of terror that continues because he rigs
elections and refuses to leave office. In recent weeks, though, the Zimbabwean
hijinks have slowed to a crawl. That’s all about to change thanks to an alleged
coup attempt involved an alleged plot to assassinate the 90-year-old
leader. That’s the story being sold by state media, with Zimbabwe's vice
president, once seen as a possible successor to Mugabe tied to the plot. An
ally of Vice President Joice Mujuru, who was recently ousted from his post as
ruling party spokesman, rejected those claims, but does anyone really believe Rugare
Gumbo? Gumbo, not to be confused with Gumby, takes issue with Mujuru being
pegged as a plotter against Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in
1980. Mujuru’s accusers claim to have a voice recording and other comments from
the VP as evidence of the alleged plot, but the origins of those pieces of
evidence have yet to be pinned down. This is all highly suspect because various
political factions are maneuvering for influence ahead of the annual ruling
party congress next month. Mujuru is an obvious target for a setup because he
has launched a war of words with the president's wife, Grace. Grace Mugabe has
usurped some of her husband’s power despite having next to no leadership
credentials in a country struggling with high unemployment and other social
problems. According to Gumbo, Mugabe lit him up during a meeting of senior
leaders of the ruling ZANU-PF party on Thursday night. "We were accused of
attempting to overthrow the president and it was the president himself who led
the charges," Gumbo said. The alleged plot involves attempts to hire
hitmen in both Africa and Israel, so take that for what it’s worth……..
- It must be the season. Not the holiday season, mind you,
but the blatant cash grab season in which anyone with even a reasonable hope of
squeezing extra Christmas cash out of the masses schemes up their best idea to
part dolts and their disposable dollars. The NBA is in on this one big time, as
it has always been, and it’s cash grab is both obvious and shameless. What is
the Association up to this time? Oh nothing, just releasing the style of the 10 team uniforms that
will be worn Christmas Day and dangling them in front of the public with that
absurd $110 price tag on them. What makes these jerseys so special? Nothing,
that’s what. They look different than ones the 10 teams balling on the holiday usually
wear, with the players’ names on the back but below the jersey number instead
of above them. Also, the jerseys will feature players’ first names instead of
their last names. The league has tried variations on this theme before,
allowing players to use their preferred nickname on their gamers, but this is
the first time using first names to identify individuals. The Christmas Day
slate includes the Wizards at Knicks, Thunder at Spurs, Cavaliers at Heat,
Lakers at Bulls and Warriors at Clippers and with so many of the league’s stars
conveniently playing on Christmas – what are the odds! – these sartorial gems
will undoubtedly do good business and pad the NBA’s coffers even further at a
time when the salary cap will soon go up on account of the sh*t load of cash
about to come in from new television rights deals. Someone find Adam Silver and
all 30 NBA owners a pool to fill with their piles of money so they can go for a
swim………
- It’s a hard knock life for Sue Ann Hamm, the former wife of
oil billionaire Harold Hamm. She’s limping through life without the former love
of her life after spending nearly 26 years with him and worse still, a damn
judge expects her to live with a $1 billion divorce settlement that she’s
somehow supposed to subsist on for the rest of her miserable life. According to
her attorney, Hamm plans on appealing the court ruling that awarded her nearly
$1 billion in the couple's divorce because it’s simply not fair to her. That
claim is based on the fact that a) the couple have two children and had no
prenuptial agreement and b) as of August, Mr. Hamm was worth over $20 billion,
according to Wealth-X. "Sue Ann is disappointed in the outcome of this
case," lawyer Ron Barber said. "She dedicated 25 years as Harold's
faithful partner in family and business." The settlement calls for Mrs.
Hamm to be paid a third of the $995.5 million by the end of the year, after
which – and this is awesome for a man worth $20 billion – her ex-husband is on
a payment plan for the remaining $650 million, which he will pay in
installments of at least $7 million per month. Yes, a payment plan for a man
who can afford to outright buy pretty much any company that offers actual payment
plans for its customers. Sue Ann Hamm isn't just some trophy wife either; she
is a lawyer and economist who held executive positions at Mr. Hamm's oil
company, Continental Resources. Harold Hamm is a quasi-icon in the oil
businesses, having pioneered the use of fracking and led the development of
North Dakota's Bakken oil field. He founded and built his company from scratch
and during the trial, lawyers for Mrs. Hamm argued that his success was the
result of his skill and hard work, and that as his partner she helped make that
possible and should be entitled to a sizable share of his wealth. His
attorneys, ironically enough for a dude renowned for his business prowess and
savvy, contended that his wealth was mostly out of his control, dictated more
by the rise in oil prices and, as such, is largely not subject to sharing in a
divorce. "The company was Mr. Hamm's for over 20 years prior to the
marriage," Harold Hamm’s attorney, Craig Box, argued. Most experts pegged
the potential payout around $5 billion or so, in which case it would have been the
most expensive divorce in history. Someone dodged a fiscal scud on that one, eh
Harry………..
- Harry and Lloyd rule once more. “Dumb and Dumber To”
debuted in first place at the box office, reuniting fans with the two
dim-witted dolts played by Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. The comedy banked $38.1
million in its first weekend, edging out reigning champion “Big Hero 6.” “Hero”
added $36 million to its coffers and through two weeks, has banked $111.7
million domestically. It was another less-than-impressive weekend for “Interstellar,”
which slid to third place with $29.2 million and has banked $97.8 million
through two weeks against its $165 million budget. Fourth place went to newcomer
“Beyond the Lights,” owner of a $6.5 million debut as it opened in a relatively
small number of theaters. “Gone Girl” kept on chugging, landing in fifth place
with $4.7 million in its seventh straight top-10 weekend. That gives Ben
Affleck’s latest $152.7 million and counting against a $61 million budget. Save
sixth place for “St. Vincent,” which amassed $4 million in its sixth weekend
and has scored $33.2 million through six weeks of mostly limited release. That
left seventh place for “Fury,” which tanked its way to $3.8 million and has
surpassed the break-even mark at $75.9 million versus its original $68 million
budget. Next on the list was “Nightcrawler,” which snared $3.1 million in its
third weekend to finish eighth and up its cumulative domestic total to $8.5
million. That allowed it to edge out “Ouija,” which plummeted five spots to
ninth place with $3 million, which boosted its running tally to $48.1 million. The
last spot in the top 10 went to limited-release film “Birdman,” which rode
critical raves to $2.5 million in its fifth weekend and has brought in $11.6
million and counting thus far. “John Wick” (No.11), “Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” (No. 12) and “The Book of Life” (No. 16) all
dropped out of the top 10 from last weekend, while “Rosewater,” the directorial
debut of Jon Stewart, landed in 13th place in very limited release, appearing
in just 371 theaters………
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