Man Set For World Record For Longest Jump From Space.

Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartner will attempt to break the world record for the longest jump, plummeting more than 23 miles from the Earth's stratosphere.

He has been preparing with retired Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger, who set the current world record back in 1960 when he made a 102,000-foot jump. According to him, he's done a lot of test jumps, thereby rendering him good to go. He however added that he sill neds to make a little prayer.

To prepare for the 120,000 foot jump, he'll have to breathe pure oxygen for nearly an hour to remove nitrogen bubbles from his blood. He'll then stay at the peak of the elevation for three hours allowing his body to adjust. He'll then jump in a pressurized suit that will prevent his blood from boiling at extremely high elevation.

It is anticipated that if all goes well, Baumgartner will set another world record during his jump, thereby becoming the first human being to break the speed of sound in a free-fall jump.

One of Such Stale Jokes: How To Fly An Airplane.

One day, Sule - an aeroplane cleaner was cleaning the pilot's cockpit when he saw a book entitled, "HOW TO FLY AN AEROPLANE FOR BEGINNERS.. Volume 1
He opened the 1st page which said: "To start the engine, press the red button.." He did so and the airplane engine started..
He was happy and opened the next page, "To set airplane moving, press the blue button.." He did so and the plane started moving at an amazing speed...
He wanted to fly, so he opened the 3rd page which said: "To let airplane fly, please press the green button.." He did so and the plane started to fly... He was excited...!!
After 20 minutes of flying, he was satisfied and wanted to land so he decided to go to the 4th page..
He fainted after reading the instructions...

The 4th page said: To learn how to land a plane, please purchase Volume 2 at the nearest bookshop! 

Michael Jackson's Handwritten Letter Pulled From Auction.

A letter personally handwritten by late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, billed for auction scheduled for next week has been this week, removed from the auction table.

The letter which was regarded as an emotionally raw letter seems to have been written in the mid-'90s, was due to be sold off by Beverly Hills-based house Julien's Auctions as part of a "Music Icons" event. It was nevertheless apparently addressed to Jackson's ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley who on the other hand abruptly pulled same letter off the auction table this week.

The letter which is deeply personal in nature,  contained some revelations of the King of Pop's longtime battle with insomnia, which he eventually turned to the drug Propofol to fix; as well as provides insight into the unusual nature of his relationship with Presley.

The note reads, "Lisa I truly need this rest. I haven't slept litterally [sic] in 4 days now. I need to be away from phones and business people. I must take care of my health first."

Jackson signs off saying "I'm crazy for you," and refers to himself by the nickname "Turd."

In another strange twist, he drew a box at the top of the paper, with an arrow pointing to it and the command "Smell here."

It should be recalled that MJ and Lisa Marie Presley were married to each other from 1994-96 and that Jackson died in June 2009 as a result of a drug overdose which included Propofol. His attending physician Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in late 2011.

ICC Upholds Decision To Drop War Crimes Charges Against Rwandan Rebel Leader.

Mr. Callixte Mbarushimana, the head of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (known by their French acronym FDLR) was accused of murder, torture, rape, attacks against civilians, the destruction of property, inhuman treatment and persecution, was five months ago discharged of the charges by Prosecution against him by the Pre-Trial Chamber which ordered his release from ICC custody in The Hague.

However, it went up to the Appeal Chambers whose judges, today, confirmed the decision of the Pre-Trial Chambers while dismissing Prosecution's appeal against the decision of the lower Chambers to drop charges of war crimes against Mr. Mbarushimana.

FDLR forces (under Mbarushimana's leadership) it was alleged, fought against DRC Government forces, Rwandan Government forces and UN Peacekeepers in North Kivu and South Kivu throughout 2009. This, the ICC judges of chambers of first instance noted that there were substantial grounds to believe that FDLR soldiers committed several war crimes in various villages during that period but nevertheless, that there was not enough evidence to show that such acts were part of a course of conduct equalling "an attack directed against the civilian population," as defined under the law for crimes against humanity.

Mr. Callixte Mbarushimana was furthermore not found to have provided any contribution to the commission of the alleged crimes.

Charles Taylor To Spend Rest Of His Life In Prison.

The former Liberian President, Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone.

The court which was set up jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations passed the sentencing in The Hague in The Netherlands today wherein the court comprised of Justice Richard Lussick, Justice Teresa Doherty and Justice Julia Sebutinde.

He is therefore expected to serve his sentence in a high security prison in the United Kingdom for his role in the 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone, which claimed about 50,000 lives.

Zambian Government Arranges Burial of Stampede Victims.

The Zambian government has taken up arrangements for the burial of the nine persons that were crushed to death in a stampede involving job-seekers at Great Lakes Products (GLP) Limited in Mpulungu.

It was gathered via Freedom Sikazwe, the Northern Province Minister that Government would finance funeral arrangements of the nine victims who perished on Monday.

Imo Workers Embarks Upon Strike Today.

Following a threat contained in a statement by the State Public Service Negotiating Council, SPSNC, Trade Union Side, signed by the State Chairmen of Joint Negotiating Council, JNC, and Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Coleman Okwara and Dr. Reginald Anyadike respectively and four others, the Imo State Workers today embarked upon an indefinite industrial action over unresolved industrial dispute with the state government.

The circular read: "Labour has observed with dismay and consternation that government, in its usual disposition, has reneged by refusing to sign the agreement jointly reached with labour."

The labour leaders argued that "this singular act portends high level of distrust, deceit and neglect to the principle of collective bargaining."

They directed that "from the foregoing, workers under the Imo State Government employment are hereby called to sit at home from Wednesday, May 30, 2012".

It is gathered that the strike action will subsist "pending when government shows enough seriousness, commitment and respect for the collective bargaining process earlier reached with it."

Lesotho's PM Resigns In the Wake of Elections

 

Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili, the Prime Minister of Lesotho since May 29th, 1998 has finally resigned. The announcement was made in the capital city of Lesotho, Maseru, by the deputy leader of the former governing party, the Democratic Congress, Monyane Moleleki.

According to Moleleki, Mosisili's resignation has been accepted by Letsie III but that he would remain in office until a new PM is installed within the next 14days.

Well, if you ask me, I smell something fishy in this entire scenario of Mosisili's resignation. Perhaps, in due course, facts would unfold.

Occupy UniLag (Students' Protest): Day 2.

Students of the University of Lagos began a second day of protesting over the renaming their institution to Moshood Abiola University by President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday during his nationally televised speech marking his ruling party's Democracy Day.

Early today, students of the university have converged at the school gate to continue a peaceful protest against the move. Some of the students were seen blocking the The Third Mainland bridge early in the morning. The name change of the Institution has attracted widespread condemnation by Nigerians who regarded the move as a distraction by Mr. Jonathan.

Funke Akindele's Wedding Pictures.

Here are few of the white wedding pictures of Funke Akindele and Kehinde Oloye Almaroof on May 26th in Lagos.

The wedding took place at The Havens Event Centre and some Nigerian stars stormed the ceremony amidst tight security. They are Genevieve Nnaji, Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, Desmond Elliot, Grace Amah, Tiwa Salvage and Eldee.

Yours Sincerely, Staff and Students!!!

Zuckerberg and Chan: After a Low Key Backyard Wedding Comes a Low Key Honeymoon.

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionnaire CEO of Facebook has severally been spotted with his new bride, Priscillia Chan in some parts of Italy for their honeymoon, strolling, dining out, sightseeing and stealing romantic moments. And this time again, (like their wedding) appearing and engaging in activities considered most simple for their status.

Zuckerberg and Chan spotted having dinner

Most of the places and cities visited by the couple includes; The  Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. 

On Monday, the casually-dressed duo was photographed during a guided tour of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. At one point, Zuckerberg had his hand on Chan's back as they took in Michelangelo's famed work.

However, Zuckerberg, whose networth is estimated recently at $17 billion nevertheless splurged. The couple reportedly arrived in Italy by private jet and are said to be staying at a five-star hotel called Portrait Suites, where guest rooms start at $1000 a night.

Guitar Legend, Doc Watson Dies at 89.

Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson, the Grammy-award winning folk musician whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists around the world for more than half-century, died Tuesday (yesterday) at a hospital in Winston-Salem.

Sources did not disclose the cause of his death but mainly attributed it to his health (for he had had abdominal surgery quite recently which resulted in his hospitalisation).

Doc Watson, who became blind at age 1 began playing the banjo at age 5. He hailed from a family of musicians. His mastery of flatpicking aided in making the case for the guitar as a lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was often considered a backup for either of the mandolin, fiddle or banjo.

Seven of his albums won Grammy awards; his eighth Grammy was a lifetime achievement award in 2004. He also received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton in 1997.

It will be recalled that he got his nickname "Doc" at age 19 when someone couldn't pronounce his name and a girl in the audience shouted, "Call him Doc!"

Adieu Doc! The folk musical industry will greatly miss you.

Nine Die in Stampede in Zambia.

In a gathering of more than 5,000 people seeking for jobs in Great Lake Products in Mpulungu, Northern Province of Zambia, nine (9) persons including a seven-month old baby were reportedly crashed to death while six others were seriously injured. This happened when the crowd who gathered to jostle for position with the company on a tip-off that the firm would be engaging casual workers.

The crowd became impatient around 07:00 hours and stormed the premises after over-powering a security guard. It was only a few minutes later that some people in the crowd shouted for help upon realising that the episode had turned fatal.

The victims have been identified as Elizabeth Nakazwe of Musende Village, Doris Nalungwe of Mupata Village, Purity Chansa, 13, of Muzabwera Village and Ruth Nanyangwe, 40, also of Mupata Village.

Others are seven-month-old baby, Kapembwa Mwimanzi, its mother Lizzie, 37, of Mupata Village, Mary Namwinga, 56, of Makola Village and Luse Ngaona of Muzabwera Village.

Nigeria's Victor Olisa Appointed London Police Commander.

It's a joyous news as a Nigerian ticked the first black man to be appointed a London Police Commander with Bexley local council. He is Mr. Victor Olisa.

Olisa, 52, a Chief Superintendent with London Metropolitan Police was born in Warri, Delta State, Southern Nigeria. He started his career in Surrey Police in 1982 before transferring to the City of London in 1990 as a detective inspector in the fraud squad.

After a spell at the Home Office, he transferred to the Metropolitan Police in 2006 as a Superintendent in Southwark Council before his recent appointment.

UniLag baptised!!!

Yeah! It sounds strange, isn't it? Not only humans get baptised. Institutions do too. And the priest? Goodluck Jonathan!

In what he perceived as honouring, thereby immortalising great heroes and martyrs of our democracy who served as catalysts for the emergence of civilian government in 1999., President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan surprisingly announced in a broadcast this morning to mark his one year in office, the renaming of University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University.

This however, stirred the entire students of former UniLag into protests who viewed the act of the President as being unimpressive and dictatorial.

Some legal experts  be-that-as-it-may have lent their weight against the President's action.

Professor Itse Sagay, a constitutional lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who praised the President for remembering to immortalise late MKO Abiola noted that he made a wrong choice of using UniLag for that. He said, "The president should be praised for his effort to immortalise Abiola. It was done out of good intention but he chose the wrong institution.

"UNILAG is too well established and has its own individual personality which will be difficult to overshadow". He furthermore suggested naming one of the nine federal universities being constructed by the government such. "This would have been less contentious because they are yet to be given any names and have no identity of their own unlike UNILAG", Sagay added.

Another, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, a human rights activist maintained that there's nothing wrong in the President's gesture. He stressed that the President has powers to rename UniLag but with the consent of the University Governing Council. He noted, "The Federal Government has the power to change the name of any of its institution but it must be done with approval of the university's council.

"If the UNILAG Council did not approve the name to be changed, then there will be a problem because it means that due process has not been followed".

Mr Wale Ogunade, President, Voters Awareness Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, said the proper way to honour Abiola would have been to recognise June 12 as a national holiday.

"MKO Abiola is not known to be an educationist. The best way to have honoured him is for the Federal Government to recognise June 12 as a national public holiday", he said.

But whatever be the case, I wish to use this medium to formally announce and bring to the notice of the public, that, whether Moshood Abiola University survives as the ultimate name of UniLag, the acronym "MAU" stands finally as the official acronym for Madonna University. Lol

'MiB 3' Snatches No. 1 Off of 'Avengers'.

Sony's "Men in Black 3" took over the No. 1 spot from Disney's "The Avengers," which was the top flick for three straight weekends but slipped to second place with USD 46.9 million.

"The Avengers" raised its total to USD 523.6 million, making it the No. 4 movie on the all-time domestic revenue chart.

"The Avengers" could pass the No. 3 film, "The Dark Knight" at USD 533.3 million, leaving only "Avatar" at USD 760.5 million and "Titanic" at USD 658.5 million ahead of it.

Technology: Stolen iPhone Automatically Beams Pictures of Thief To Owner.

Katy McCaffrey who had her iPhone stolen while taking part in a Disney Cruise Line vacation sometime in April hasn't got her phone back yet but is a step closer after an alleged thief's pictures taken with the phone began uploading to her photo stream. The pictures being automatically uploaded from her iPhone appear to show a Disney Cruise employee named "Nelson" in various poses using the phone's camera.

Below are some of the pictures of "Nelson" flexing the phone so well:

Well, I do not own an iPhone, and so, is far from knowing whether it's an app or some kind of technology embedded in the iPhone series that aided this. But I sure raise thumb for this as I use this medium to implore RIM to enhance their BlackBerry Protect which is an app akin to this iFound You of iPhone.

Technology: Digital Avatars Mounted at New York Airports to Guide Travellers.

By July, digital projections of "virtual customer care representatives" will appear in JFK, La Guardia and Newark airports. Their functions? To guide flyers to their gates and provide other logistical information.

The Port Authority says this is the first experiment with virtual avatars in a North American airport. As Time’s Techland blog reports, this kind of thing has been tried before in Europe.

How does this projection work?  The technology which appears to be like a 2-D projection is a kinda hologram stuff and the avatar will be seen on a device that is a life-sized flat screen in the shape of a woman. She will dispense flight information and tips about services like shuttle bus and taxi pick-ups. It activates when a customer approaches.

The hologram technology will work by projecting the image on a pane of glass and may remind some people of the recent surprise hologram rendition of the deceased rap artist Tupac Shakur at this year’s Coachella music festival. Though it’s unlikely the Port Authority will license Tupac’s “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” as part of its marketing campaign.

One of Those Religious Issues: Is Paying of Tithe Mandatory?

 I've carefully avoided this topic with the mistaken belief that the vast majority of Christians have got sound awareness on this matter until today, in the staff room, when it dawned on me that I'm wrong.

Most Christians, especially of the Protestant extraction vehemently maintain the strict adherence to the Mosaic law on tithe. Malachi 3:9-11 often serves as more of a weapon wielded by most pastors in driving you to proceed to the altar with your tithe than a passage in the Bible laying on why the need to pay tithe and by whom.

Well, I'm not against tithe-paying. My mother strongly believes in it and it works for her pretty well. What I'm against is the notion that "if you don't pay your tithe, you've greatly sinned" which is easily employed by most pastors to enrich themselves on your little income.

To clarify this, there are laws of God which are universal (affecting every Christian) and those which pertain to the Jews alone. You could say, that the Ten Commandments is a universal law of God binding on every Christian and such others modified and established by Christ. Tithe-paying is among the laws which pertain to the Jews (but which, if incorporated by a Christian, it's still good). Among the 12 tribes of Israel are the Levites wherewhich priests are chosen from. They're excluded from working other than the duties of offering sacrifices to God on behalf of God's people and such other ministerial and pastoral functions. They do not partake in land ownership, hence has no farms nor private businesses. To be well catered for, God mandated the Israelites to bring forth one-tenth of their proceeds as tithe. It is God the tithe is paid to but physically utilised by the priests. (This is still practised till today in Israel  under Judaism).

But today, our Pastors, Reverends, Fathers and other clergymen do work. Yes! I'm aware that there are those that are into full-time but they nevertheless receive stipends. To preach that if you don't bring forth your tithe, you've greatly sinned is wrong and near misconception of the Scriptures. Yes again! Someone in the staff room brought up the idea that we're the Israelites of today by virtue of our belief in God and in Christ, therefore, we're nevertheless bound by the law on tithe. Well, that logical conclusion is quite fallacious. Observance of a Jewish law like tithe-paying is very good but inadherence to such laws doesn't label you a transgressor. If it were to be so, then, (and like one noted that we're today's Israelites stricto senso) we're guilty of so many contravention of Jewish laws ranging from consumption of animals rated unclean by God, circumcision, performance of ablutionary rites and so on. Picking on strict observance of tithe paying is a mechanism employed by most clergymen with pecuniary and dubious intent and interest...just like the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus' times.

Finally, I am not saying paying of tithe is wrong but I am saying that if you do not pay tithe, you're not wrong either but live up to Godly tenets especially as commanded by Christ. If you strongly believe in tithe -paying as my mother does, continue; it really works. I advise that if your faith is strong on it, don't stop paying tithe. But for those who are still confused, their beliefs about tithe still hazy and wavering, you commit no sin if you don't pay tithe, but you commit sin when you begin paying tithe and not prompt with it.

Man Arrested For Selling Own Baby.

After having nearly won the battle against kidnapping - I mean kidnapping in the strict sense, and not abduction - for money rituals, the ugly practice of child sale reered its head into our society and culture.

No other news is rolling in the Alagbado area of Lagos State other than the startling discovery that one of fellow residents of the area charted the unlawful path of selling own baby who's just a day-old at a paltry sum of =N=350,000.

Mr. Abraham Olaniyan, 26, bricklayer who out of financial inability to cater for the just-born baby and his siblings arranged with an Anambra businesswoman, Rachael to sell him off at birth at the price of 350k. He was however nabbed upon suspicion raised by his wife, Nkechi Olaniyan who alerted the police after she has made series of demands to see the corpse of her baby whom she was told had died during delivery as she was unconscious then.

The suspect has however confessed and admitted to this nefarious act and Rachael too arrested.

If you're financially incapacitated, why marry? If you married, why go for more than 5 children?

World's Largest Out-door Pool.

Chile accommodated the world's largest out-door pool. Situate at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, The Crystal Lagoon attained world's largest out-door pool stretching more than half of a mile and filled with 66million gallons of water.
This, indeed is world's largest out-door pool.

Los Angeles Designer Claims Facebook Wife Wore Her Dress.

I guess y'all are aware Facebook's married. I mean, Mark Zuckerberg - CEO of Facebook. Well, I'm also pretty sure y'all know he's married to his long time girlfriend, Priscillia Chan.

But the information as to Mark Zuckerberg's wedding isn't the nub of this post's discussion, but a claim made by a Los Angeles designer who vigorously asserted that the wedding gown Priscillia Chan wore on her wedding day - Saturday, May 19th was one of her best creation.

Claire Pettibone, who made this assertion via her blog  wrote that she didn't know Chan was wearing one of her most popular creations until she saw one of the photos released from Saturday's surprise ceremony.

It should be recalled that Mark Zuckerberg's status hs changed to "Married" .

Man Survives Plunge Over Niagara Falls.

Jeez!!! I was personally shocked when I came over this. In a bid to commit suicide, a man jumps off from 180-feet Niagara Falls yesterday. Although he survived it, he has however, being on record for being the 3rd person known to have lived after going over the falls without a safety device. Pheew!!!