- Come to South Africa, hire a bodyguard and have a fun
trip. It sounds over the top - until you hear that South African authorities
are investigating whether any workers at Johannesburg's main international
airport have helped robbers who follow arriving travelers and mug them at their
final destination in the capital city. This probe comes on the heels of
multiple reports of people who were attacked after leaving O.R. Tambo
International Airport, a major regional hub, including a couple from Congo who
took a taxi from the airport earlier this month and were shot and wounded after
resisting a robbery attempt outside their hotel. Now, the airport is looking to
identify alleged "airport spotters" who provide information about
potential victims to waiting criminals, the airport's management said, warning
that it will take action against any corrupt insiders, whether they are
employed by the airport or its many service providers. This could take awhile,
as airport management noted that some 35,000 people are employed
"airport-wide," making it hard to figure out who might be involved in
the criminal process when thieves rob people who have driven from the airport.
Recent stories laid out nearly two dozen such incidents already this year in
which authorities believe cohorts in the airport who are working with thieves
on the outside identify potential targets by assessing travelers' clothes,
jewelry, luggage and where they came from. Oddly enough, it’s people arriving
from other African countries are often singled out because they are believed to
be carrying cash and electronics. Not exactly the way to boost tourism, South
Africa……..
- The latest OutKast album has teased fans for a while now,
so why not add another layer to the mystery? According to one half of Outkast,
Big Boi, he and bandmate Andre 3000 nearly teamed up with one of the most
iconic acts in hip-hop history for an album that would have moved a lot of
units and quite possibly produced some results that would have reverberated
across the rap world. According Big Boi, the album was a work in progress, but
hit a massive speed bump as the tragic loss of Tribe’s Phife Dawg changed the
plans. “Q-Tip flew to Atlanta with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, we all met at Dre’s
(Andre 3000) house,” he said. “We got to the point of picking out beats for the
album. Then, some kind of way, everybody started doing stuff, and then Phife…
you know. It definitely was happening, though.” It was definitely happening,
but then it all went to hell and there was no way to bring it back. that album
isn’t happening, but as a possible consolation prize, Big Boi did reveal that
there are some tracks he recorded with Phife in his recording studio, Stankonia,
which may be released at some time in the future. This is, after all, hip-hop,
where there is always long-lost music to be found and released at the most
opportune moment to make a lot of money and generate headlines for all
involved………
- Walking to work is a grind. Sometimes, a stranger takes
notice and helps out a person who is trudging several miles uphill, both ways
to work five days a week. Such was life for Rockwall, Texas resident Justin
korva, who was walking three miles to work every day to a low-paying job at the
local Taco Casa and was spotted by Andy Mitchell, who noticed Korva’s daily
trek and started raising money to buy a car for a man he hardly knew. He
offered Korva a ride one day and heard Korva’s story about how he was trying to
better himself and had been saving up for a car of his own. That tale spurred
Mithcell to action as he thought about how much he relied on his car and
realized how difficult it would be to save up for a decent car on the salary a person
working at a fast food restaurant, Mitchell and his friends teamed up to start
secretly collecting fund by setting up a donation box at a local restaurant. It
took them a while to save up enough money to meet their goal, but it all came
together late last week and with their pooled resources, Korva’s secret benefactors
were able to purchase a brand new Toyota Camry. With their plan complete,
Mitchell was able to present the new car to his new friend and Mitchell’s wife
recorded Korva’s reaction, which soon became a social media sensation. His
enthusiasm on getting the car is hard to see without smiling broadly and maybe
soon, his new ride will drive him to a bright future……….
- Man, that championship honeymoon has come to a crashing
halt for the Chicago Cubs. Less than eight months after winning their first
World Series title in more than a century, the Cubs are leaking oil, have blown
out three of their four tires and have smoke billowing from their radiator as
they near the halfway point of the season. Yes, they’re just a couple games out
of first place in the National League Central and have a great chance at making
the playoffs, but at this point they appear to be no threat to do any damage if
they do reach the postseason. The latest black eye came after the Washington
Nationals stole seven bases on the Cubs in the second of a three-game series,
winning 6-1 and leaving the Cubs just one game over .500. In the aftermath of
the Nats stealing seven basis in four innings, Chicago catcher Miguel Montero
did what any good teammate would do - he found a bus, threw pitcher Jake
Arrieta under it, backed that bus over his embattled hurler and ran him over
again. "That's the reason they were running left and right today, because
they [Arrieta] were slow to the plate," Montero said after the game.
"Simple as that. It's a shame it's my fault because I didn't throw anyone
out. "It really sucked, because the stolen bases go on me. But when you
really look at it, the pitcher doesn't give me any time, so yeah, 'Miggy can't
throw anyone out,' but my pitchers don't hold anyone on." Yes, Montero,
against whom opposing baserunners are 31 for 31 in steal attempts this season,
really cares about the guys who go to battle with him. The good news for the
rest of the Cubs is that they don’t have to worry about Montero’s act any
longer; the team designated him for assignment about 12 hours after his
blindside attack on Arrieta. Given that Montero also b*tched about a lack of
playing time in last year’s postseason despite getting the winning hit in the
deciding seventh game of the team’s World Series win, the Cubs clearly decided
his me-first approach to baseball wasn’t something they wanted to build their
team around……..
No comments:
Post a Comment