- Sh*t is getting real in the West African nation of
Burkina Faso, where the military has seized control of the government and President
Blaise Compaore has resigned after 27 years in office. Building unrest came to
a head Thursday when the military rose up and flexed its armed muscle by
staging a coup and imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew in what one general described
as an effort to protect lives and restore order. This is all bad news for the
West, which has looked to Burkina Faso as a key African ally in the fight against
al Qaeda. Protests against the government spurred the coup, with the riots
reaching their apex when demonstrators bum-rushed the Parliament and set fire
to the building. Gen. Honore Nabere Traore claimed the military takeover was in
the best interest of the country's citizens and supported by "national and
international opinion.” "An interim authority will be set up in order to
prepare the conditions for the return to normal constitutional order within a
period of 12 months at the latest," Traore said. Compaore’s whereabouts
weren't immediately known, but within 24 hours he was stepping down after asking
in a government communiqué read on national radio for an end to the violence.
Before exiting stage left, he also withdrew a proposed constitutional amendment
that included a provision that would allow him to seek another term in office,
according to the communiqué. That was a solid move, as people generally don’t
enjoy someone they’re trying to oust from power inviting himself back for a few
more years at the helm. It was an ironic twist, given that Compaore took power
following a bloody coup in 1987. The rage extended to Bobo-Dioulasso, the
country's second largest city, where rioters reportedly tore down a statue of
Compaore. The invasion of parliament came as lawmakers were set to vote on a
motion to allow Compaore to extend his 27 years of rule and as trying to turn
the building into a pile of smoldering ash is typically a good way to delay any
legislative action, the vote never happened………..
- Arcade Fire are the sort of self-important indie rock
hipsters who adopt alternate personas and crank out Halloween horror movies about
the fictional death of their über-arrogant frontman, so why not unleash “Feisti”
on the world? The Canadian indie rock auteurs marked yesterday’s non-holiday by
releasing a
short horror film for Halloween featuring James Murphy, Fleet Foxes and The
National. The project was released under one of Arcade Fire’s many aliases, “Noreen
Bauble,” and this self-indulgent work of not-really-art is a special 21-minute
long film billed as "a look back at [Arcade Fire's] 2011 summer festival
tour.” All of its action is set at frontman Win Butler's 27th birthday, when
what should be a joyous occasion takes a spooky turn as Butler's fate is taken
for a cruel ride by the 27 Club. That’s when the band sees themselves woven
into a poorly spun and shallowly developed tale of murder, mystery, gore and
the ghost of late Doors frontman Jim Morrison. Murphy appears on screen as a
depressed DJ who probably forgot to take another pop of Ecstasy before his set,
while Fleet Foxes capably fill roles right in their acting wheelhouse as
bearded singers at the club. Andrew Garfield does a turn reprising his role as
Spiderman and to bring some quality ‘80s cheeseball-ness to the screen, Peter
Gabriel hits like a sledgehammer – hey oh – as a security guard, with members
of The National posing as creepy twins. All in all, it’s 21 minutes of your
life you’ll want to have back and yet another reason to believe no one is more
full of themselves at the moment than Butler and his bandmates………
- Many people hate their jobs. Not all of them resort to
physical violence on inanimate objects as a means of relieving their rage. At
least one soon-to-be-fired UPS driver in Westbury, N.Y. definitely does believe
in beating the holy hell out of non-living items incapable of fighting back and
he showed it after a delivery gone wrong. The driver attempted to make a
delivery to East Hills Instruments, but employee Ray Martel informed him that
the company could
not accept a package requiring cash on demand. At that point, it wasn’t as if
the driver had done anything wrong and had he merely returned the package to
his truck and continued with his route, his day would have scarcely been
affected. That was not the route he chose. No, this rage-aholic took out his
frustration on the package, flipping it over and booting it better than
Sebastian Janikowski ever could. Not satisfied, he went Pete Weber on it, doing
his best bowling motion to inflict additional damage. “He kind of one-hands it
and then the kick and then the Pelé-style soccer kick,” Martel said. The best
part of the entire scenario is that the package was clearly marked as fragile
and yet, it made no difference. The scene played out on a security camera and Martel
watched it from inside the building when his assistant alerted him to what was
going on. “He did it in plain sight,” Martel said. “He does it right in front
of the camera. I mean, who does that? We have a hand truck he could have used.
He has one. I know they all have one in their truck. But I guess laziness got
to him.” Laziness, rage issues, a lack of professionalism….or all of the above.
So what was in the box? Nothing much, just a $12,000 nitrogen calibration
system. Oh, and Martel warned the driver that the package was delicate. UPS
spokesman Andy McGowan addressed the matter. “UPS does not condone this
specific driver’s behavior,” McGowan said. “We are investigating the issue and
will take corrective action with this driver.” It’s unclear how firing this
driver immediately is going to correct anything that went wrong here, but it’s
worth a try……….
- New York Jets
receiver Eric Decker is a member of one of the worst teams in the NFL. He might
want to take that as a cue to keep his head down and avoid anything on social
media that might provoke or provide fans with a chance to tell him how much he
and the Jets suck. For example, one of the highest-paid players on a 1-7 squad
should not be tweeting out a message asking fans to let him know why they love
the Jets and hitting their response with the #diehardjetsfan hashtag. That
initial tweet might have been sent with the best of intentions by the $36
million wide receiver, but like the terrible Twitter campaign Florida State
staged a few weeks back allowing fans to ask questions to polarizing
quarterback Jameis Winston, this train went off the rails quickly and it ended
with Decker’s wife country music singer Jessie James Decker, trying to fight
back an angry Twitter mob with a virtual broom and some angry words. The drama
began Wednesday, when Decker sent out his initial tweet in the aftermath of a
six-turnover loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday. Toss in general manager
John Idzik’s bizarre news conference in which he rambled and stammered in an
effort to paint a rosy picture of the team’s future and things got really hot,
really fast. Decker’s message generated a slew of snarky, sarcastic tweets and
his lady was having none of it. "You think he really cares what y'all
think haters? He's laughing his ass alllll the way home ... Life is pretty good
here, can't complain," Jesse James Decker retorted. She deactivated her
account, which only emboldened her old man’s 382,000 followers. In the
aftermath, reality began to set in on Eric Decker, but he still seems to think
he didn’t do much wrong. "Obviously, everyone's entitled to their opinion.
I don't think it's against the law to try to unite or reach out to fans. When
you're in the position you are, people obviously enjoy winning a lot more than
losing -- I get that -- but they still love the team aspect,” he said. Whatever
makes you feel better, E………
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