- Service is about to get real spotty in a hurry, Nigeria. Your
leading cell phone provider is desperate for diesel and if it
doesn’t get the fuel it needs, it says it will have to shut down services
across Africa's biggest oil producer. The months-long fuel shortage gripping
the country has already grounded many aircraft and vehicles and silenced some
radio stations and it shows no signs of letting up any time soon. Because of an erratic electricity supply, most businesses
depend on diesel generators to keep operations going and that is not a formula
for success in enterprise. MTN Nigeria posted a message on Twitter overnight
saying most of its base stations and switches are powered by generators and the
fact that their phone provider is tweeting out bad news to the masses cannot
make average Nigerians feel too good about their situation. The 50 million
subscribers in Nigeria who depend on the company to communicate are not in a
perilous position as MTN says it may be compelled to suspend service if it does
not receive significant amounts of fuel in the next 24 hours. The energy crisis
originated when oil suppliers claimed the government owes them as much as $1
billion. The situation took another turn for the worst when oil tanker drivers
unpaid by the suppliers went on strike along with other oil workers, exacerbating
the situation. Spotty cell phone service is a common headache shared by people
around the world, but having your provider tell you that it can't keep the data
service streaming because it’s out of power is a new twist………
- There are scumbags, there are major scumbags and then
there are people who steal funds raise by an indie rock band trying to raise
support for one of their members who happens to be battling a rare form of
cancer. The latter type of person resides somewhere in northern Illinois, where
indie rockers Surfer Blood made a stop on their current U.S. tour. Having announced last
month they would be raising funds to help guitarist Thomas Fekete, who has been
diagnosed with cancer, the band has been forced to appeal to the public for
information after their van was broken into and money raised for Fekete at
their recent live shows was taken. The band detailed the incident in a Facebook
post, saying that funds collected at their last eight shows plus some personal
items and other money were thieved by an unknown scumbag. "We deeply
regret having to inform you this, but our van was broken into today in
Schaumburg, Il just outside of Chicago," they wrote next to a picture of
the damaged vehicle. "Not only did we lose thousands of dollars in
personal items and show settlements, but we also lost all cash donations we
collected for Thomas over the last 8 shows at our merch table. This last detail
is perhaps the most heartbreaking of all in that so much positivity and amazing
generosity could be ruined by one bad person(s)." They asked fans to look
out for one-of-a kind guitar pedals that could lead authorities to those
responsible for the theft. Odds are that whoever stole the money doesn’t know
or care that they took cash intended for a guy who is currently undergoing
treatment for a rare form of cancer and had a large tumor removed from his abdomen
earlier this year only to have the cancer spread to his spine and lungs, but
that doesn’t make them any less of a piece of crap for their criminal
actions……….
- Kids need to learn life’s harsh lessons at some point.
Don’t fault the PS 120 elementary school in Flushing,
New York for delivering one of those tough lessons to children whose parents didn’t
pay up the money so their child could take part in the school’s year-ending
carnival. Like many schools around the United States, PS 120 has a special
event at the end of the year to celebrate reaching the end of a long schedule
that includes all sorts of tests, quizzes and challenges. The carnival includes
inflatable slides, a bounce room, a twirling teacup ride, popcorn,
flavored ices and DJs rocking the party with kid-friendly pop music. Students
from pre-K-to-fifth-grade classes took turns, each spending 45 minutes outside…except
those whose parents did not pay $10. That’s ride, gas, grass or juice boxes, b’otches,
because at this carnival no one rides for free. The district is either cheap or
poor and charged students to attend the event. Those who did not have the money
were forced to sit in the school auditorium while their classmates had fun
outside. Nearly 900 students attended the carnival while the other 100 students
were funneled into the darkened auditorium to just sit or watch an old Disney
movie while aides supervised. They could hear the joyful shouts and laughter
outside, adding to the ambiance of the auditorium for sure, and many of those
who could not participate in the carnival are the children of Chinese immigrant
families crammed into apartments struggling to survive financially. It’s
amazing that in the greater Manhattan area, no one thought to seek out a
wealthy local businessman to donate the money to make the carnival free for
all, but maybe next year………
- Is it too much to ask that the security guards at the
French Open actually, you know, provide security on the court? Right now, it
might be given that Roger Federer was approached by autograph seekers on the actual court
following his afternoon practice session Saturday and then on Sunday, a
17-year-old fan bum-rushed the court during his match to snap a selfie with one
of the greatest men’s tennis players of all-time. The fan rushed up to Federer on
center court, moving unimpeded onto Court Philippe Chatrier for a selfie after
Federer defeated Alejandro Falla. Seventeen Grand Slam wins should afford a man
a bit of respect on the court, but after handling the incident with class on
the court, Federer was fuming afterward. "I'm not happy about it,
obviously not one second I'm happy about it," Federer said. "It
happened yesterday in the practice, too. And, today on center court, where you
would think this is a place where nobody can come on, just wanders on and
nothing happens. So I definitely think this is [a change] that something needs
to happen quickly. But obviously [I] want this to happen immediately.” So do
the rest of us, Fed. He went on to say that he believes he speaks for all
players in saying that “where you do your job, that's where you want to feel
safe.” The idiot fan, who was sitting in box seats near the court, was later
detained by security and told he would not be allowed to attend the rest of the
tournament, which seems a bit lenient given that dude did trespass and could
have been prosecuted. It brought back memories of the horrific incident in 1993
in which Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a crazed Steffi Graf fan
during a Hamburg changeover. Given that massive, club bouncer-sized men in
black, two of them on the big courts, protect the players as they sit with
their backs to the crowd on changeover chairs, someone should be able to
restrain and possibly body slam some moronic teenager who tries to grab
Instagram fame with Fed. This all happened with what French Tennis Federation
director Gilbert Ysern described as heightened security surrounding the
tournament in the wake of recent incidents in Paris. Maybe not so heightened
after all……….
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