Thursday, 18 February 2010
Liverpool FC deny latest takeover rumours but billionaire ‘is seriously considering bid’
Despite denials from Liverpool FC that Indian businessmen Mukesh Ambani and Subrata Roy are amongst the potential investors in negotiations with the club, sources in India insist that Roy is seriously considering a bid for the Anfield giants, which could emerge within the next ten days.
Roy, chairman of the Sahara Group conglomerate, has consistently supported Indian cricket and distanced himself from a move to buy a Premier League soccer club, but rumours linking him with a move to Liverpool have not gone away, and an increasing number of sources close to Sahara claim that Roy is seriously considering the move.
'It is believed Roy is examining the viability of buying a stake, which would dilute the shareholding of Liverpool's co-owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks,' notes the Daily Telegraph newspaper. 'Liverpool remain confident of completing an equity infusion, a stated "requirement" of their banks, RBS and Wachovia, if Hicks and Gillett are to refinance their £237 million loan this summer before the end of the season.'
- Liverpool FC: Rafa Benitez calls for new ownership of club
- Banks won't loan Liverpool cash for stadium without new ownership
Earlier this week Rafa Benitez, Liverpool's manager, added his voice to those calling for Hicks and Gillett, to sell a stake in the club to fresh investors.
"Everyone knows we need a new stadium and investors if we want to go forward so it would be good for the club," Benitez told ESPN. "Over the last two years everyone is talking about new investors and the new stadium and so all the fans are waiting for this good news - and me too."
Ruby Hunter RIP
Aboriginal singer and songwriter Ruby Hunter has died.
The partner of singer Archie Roach reportedly died of a heart attack at her home in Victoria's western district, sources have confirmed.
A Ngarrindjeri woman from South Australia, Hunter met her lifelong partner Archie Roach when she was 16 when they both were homeless teenagers.
Hunter received two ARIA Award nominations - one in 1995 and one in 2000.
She has won Deadlys in 2000 for Female Artist of the Year, 2003 for Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music and 2004 for Excellence in Film and Theatrical Score.
She made her acting debut in One Night the Moon.
With Archie Roach and Paul Grabowsky she wrote and performed the concert Ruby's Story, which told the story of her life through song and spoken word.
With Archie Roach and Paul Grabowsky she wrote and performed the concert Ruby's Story, which told the story of her life through song and spoken word.
Peaches stopped from performing Jesus Christ Superstar
Judas! ... Peaches prevented from going electro with Jesus Christ Superstar. Photograph: Getty
Peaches' "stripped-down" performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar has been "crucified before opening night", the electro-rapper declared yesterday. The concert, which was to take place at Berlin's Hebbel theatre, was cancelled after German rights-holders allegedly refused to license the songs.
"To perform Jesus Christ Superstar as a one-woman-song is a crazy enterprise," Peaches admitted in her initial press release. Citing her teenage affection for the musical, the singer announced plans to sing the entire show, "from entering Jerusalem until the crucifixion", in performances from 25-27 March. Accompanied by pianist Chilly Gonzales, "Peaches will sing all roles including: Jesus, Maria Magdalena, the disciples and the pharisees," organisers said.
Unfortunately, Sir Andrew's German colleagues were not enthusiastic. In a flurry of posts to Twitter, Peaches revealed that the musical's rights-holders had refused to grant her permission to use the material. "[They] claim that this project is of no interest to them due to its unconventional form," she wrote. "It's a shame that the authorities feel threatened by this fresh approach. I know a lot of people who really love the music and would appreciate this stripped-down solo performance. I have so much respect for the music and lyrics from the original score and this was my way of honouring that."
Earlier, Peaches framed the Jesus Christ Superstar production in the same terms as her previous concert performances, many of which were provocative or sexually explicit. "I'm a performer," she said, "my concerts are extravagant and play with exaggerations. This project allows me to do without all this. I want to confront this task totally exposed, because it is a possibility. It's a question of stamina." There's still time for rights-holders to turn the other cheek.
Israel says no proof it carried out Hamas Dubai killing
Dubai believes 11 "agents with European passports" killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Seven foreign-born Israelis named as suspects say their identities were stolen and they were not involved. UK passports used were said to be fake.
France, Germany and the Irish Republic also said they believed the passports from their countries used by the alleged killers were false.
'Israel never confirms'
Hamas has accused Israeli agents of murdering their operative - a view shared by many commentators because Mossad has in the past used forged foreign passports in its operations.
But in Israel's first official comments on the affair, Mr Lieberman said there was no reason to blame Israel and Mossad.
 | ANALYSIS  Katya Adler, BBC Middle East correspondent Israel is alive with rumour as to whether Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, murdered Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Mossad has used fraudulent foreign passports and stolen identities to carry out its missions in the past, provoking diplomatic rows with a number of friendly countries. Former Israeli secret service officer, Gad Shimron, says agents steal identities to escape tougher security checks. But would Mossad want to point the finger at innocent Israeli citizens? At least five of the names listed by Dubai match those of Israeli dual nationals. Maybe Mossad thought this was a clear way, without making a public declaration, of letting the world know it organised the murder - thereby sending a warning to Israel's enemies abroad. It is possible another country masterminded the attack, designing it to look like a clumsy Mossad operation. Or maybe Israel co-operated with others. |
"There is no reason to think that it was the Israeli Mossad, and not some other intelligence service or country up to some mischief."
He did not outright deny Israeli involvement.
"Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies," he said. "There is no reason for Israel to change this policy."
Mr Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on 20 January.
Reports have suggested he was in Dubai to buy weapons for the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas.
Two Palestinian suspects were being questioned about the murder. Police said they had "fled to Jordan" after the killing, without releasing their names.
Officials in Dubai, who have issued arrest warrants, said the team appeared to be a professional hit squad, probably sponsored by a foreign power.
They released CCTV footage which they said showed some of the suspects in disguises, including wigs and false beards, in the hotel near Dubai's international airport.
The suspects allegedly trailed Mr Mabhouh when he arrived in Dubai from Syria, paid for everything in cash and used various mobile phones.
Some of the British-born Israelis whose names were on the passports used by the suspects have said they are shocked by the discovery.
"I don't know how they got my details, who took them," said Stephen Daniel Hodes, 37.
"I haven't left the country, I think, for two years and I've never been to Dubai ever. I don't know who's behind this. I am just scared, these are major forces," he said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a "full investigation" into what happened.
Does gay sex cause earthquakes?
According to the Talmud, it does. About which Tzvee, from Tzvee's Talmudic Blog, writes, "That must be some awesome gay sex."
He goes on to explain:
According to the Talmud text, earthquakes are caused by any one of a number of acts: yes by gay sex, but also by disputes, and also by not taking heave offering and tithes from your produce, and also because God is just upset that the Temple is in ruins and there are theaters and circuses in Israel. Rabbis ought to know better than to cherry pick among the reasons for earthquakes.
This rather absurd discussion has been prompted by reports that a group of fundamentalist rabbis has blamed the Haiti earthquake on the end of "don't ask, don't tell." Seriously. This is from one of those rabbis:
Thirteen months before 9/11, on the day New York City passed homosexual domestic partnership regulations, I joined a group of Rabbis at a City Hall prayer service, pleading with G-d not to visit disaster on the city of N.Y. We have seen the underground earthquake, tsunami, Katrina, and now Haiti. All this is in sync with a two thousand year old teaching in the Talmud that the practice of homosexuality is a spiritual cause of earthquakes. Once a disaster is unleashed, innocents are also victims just like in Chernobyl. We plead with saner heads in Congress and the Pentagon to stop sodomization of our military and our society. Enough is enough."
My Jewish God, on the other hand, loves all people, who are created in His image. Even gays. And even Haitians. And certainly gay Haitians. And most definitely gay Haitians who live near Chernobyl.
Guilty plea in UK Chinese herbal 'cancer' case
A practitioner of Chinese medicine has pleaded guilty to selling a banned substance to a woman who went on to develop kidney failure and cancer.
Ying "Susan" Wu, 48, of Holland-on-Sea in Essex, has been on trial at the Old Bailey for selling pills containing aristolochic acid to a civil servant.
The judge said the case had highlighted an "unfortunate" lack of regulation for traditional Chinese medicine in the UK.
Ms Wu has now been given a conditional discharge.
Patricia Booth, 58, took the pills, bought at Chelmsford's Chinese Herbal Medical Centre, for over five years. She was in her mid-40s when she first sought help from the centre in 1997 for stubborn patches of spots on her face.
The Old Bailey heard the products had been advertised as "safe and natural".
But they contained a substance - aristolochic acid - which when she was first sold them, should only have been given under prescription, and which was later banned...
Television Chef In A Stew Over Cat Casserole
Cat meat is illegal in Italy
An Italian television chef has been suspended after he horrified animal lovers and TV station managers by praising the delights of cat meat during a show.
Bigazzi: suspended after cat comments (Pic: La Prova del Cuoco / Rai Uno)
Beppe Bigazzi enraged animal rights experts around the country when he gave advice on preparing ''tender, white cat meat'' in a portion of the programme usually reserved for advice about nutrition.
The 77-year-old is a co-presenter on Italy's version of Ready Steady Cook called La Prova del Cuoco (The Cooks' Challenge).
Previous guests have also included I'm A Celebrity... winner Italian-born chef Gino D'Campo.
During the show Mr Bigazzi said he had often eaten cat meat and found it ''tastier than other animals'', adding: ''I can assure you it's a delicacy, now I am going to get lots of letters.''
His remarks resulted in a deluge of calls to the switchboard of RAI TV's HQ in Rome, with thousands also complaining on websites and in letters.
Comments described him as ''completely mad'' and some demanded that he be fired for saying ''such a stupid thing'' on the popular lunchtime show.
Animal campaigners as well as politicians also reacted angrily.
"I was just trying to explain a saying from where I come from about the eating of cats. In the 30s and 40s they were very popular."Beppe Bigazzi
Italy's health under-secretary and vocal animal rights activist Francesca Martini slammed Mr Bigazzi's comments as ''offensive to the growing number of people who care about the way we treat animals".
She added that it was ''shameful'' for a state television employee to recommend a notion as ''despicable'' as eating cats on national TV and that killing and cooking cats was illegal under a 1991 law and punishable by up to 18 months in jail.
RAI TV deputy director Gianvito Lomaglio said he was suspending Mr Bigazzi until further notice and that he had also launched an investigation into the episode.
Mr Bigazzi, who has been on the show for more than ten years, said it had all been a ''misunderstanding'' and that he would be more than happy to explain to TV bosses what had happened.
He said: ''It's all a big mix-up. Once they see the video they will see that there is nothing untoward, it's just a misunderstanding and I don't really want to say anything else.''
Mr Bigazzi, who is from Tuscany and who has written several cook books, said: ''I was just trying to explain a saying from where I come from about the eating of cats. In the 30s and 40s they were very popular.''
According to a recent report, there are an estimated 44 million pets living in Italy, 7.5 million of them cats.
Despite their popularity, however, around 150,000 animals are abandoned each year by their owners and there are at least 73,000 annual reports of mistreatment or abuse.
Italy's Cats Protection League welcomed the fact that Mr Bigazzi was suspended ahead of today's World Cat Day.
Is a cup of tea really the answer to everything – even anthrax?
English Breakfast, must be black...
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Basic Channel man launches new reggae reissue label
This week sees the first release on Dug Out, a new reggae reissue label founded by Mark Ernestus and Mark Ainley.
Ernestus is founder of Berlin’s Hardwax record store and, along with Moritz Von Oswald, the man behind Basic Channel, Main Street, Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound. A renowned reggae enthusiast, he co-managed the recent Wackies reissue program, and the excellent Basic Replay series, and through Rhythm & Sound has collaborated with reggae legends like Sugar Minott, Paul St Hilaire and Cornel Campbell.
Ainley is co-owner of Honest Jon’s and another expert in the JA music field. He curated the majority of Soul Jazz’s Studio One series, as well Blood And Fire’s Darker Than Blue compilation. In addition to operating Honest Jon’s eponymous label, he has managed the fantastic PK and (with Ernestus) Basic Replay imprints.
Dug Out will be dedicated to high-quality vinyl reissues, with special focus on the digital era (though they will touch on roots and other reggae genres, and release CDs and downloads). Restoration will be done at Abbey Road Studio; mastering at Dubplates, by co-owner CGB; the records will be manufactured at Pallas.
The first Dug Out 12″ is King Kong’s ‘He Was A Friend’. “Originally released in 1988 as a tribute to Tenor Saw,” say the label, “This is the dancehall singer [pictured above] at his most powerful. His grieving, heartfelt vocal is woven through with the haunted quotation of his friend’s finest moments. The rhythm is driving, hard and sombre, with nervous, grubbing synths and ringing claps, and a lethal bass-line. Both vocals come with dubs…a stone classic.”
Un - fugn - believable!!!
By posting this video (which won a Polk Award a couple of days ago) here at this blog, I could face an $11,000 fine!!!
WHY?
"...Because this video was submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) who requested a determination from the Classification Board.
Based on the Board's decision, ACMA declared the video to be "prohibited content" under clause 20(1)(b) of Schedule 7 to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.' This means that all known links to the video will find their way onto the Internet Filter blacklist...
...This is a crucially important piece of video which will be seen and recognised as such throughout the world, but (officially) not in Australia. Perhaps we should go out on a limb and praise this instead. After-all, soon it will be the toughest material we'll be permitted to see.
Our Federal Government must be made to understand the foolishness of their Internet Filter proposal...
"All censorships exist to prevent any one from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorships." - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself." - Potter Stewart (1915 - 1985)
"We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship." - E. M. Forster (1879 - 1970)"
Addiction researcher hired actors to falsely clear name
BUFFALO, NY (February 16, 2010)
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced criminal charges against a former University at Buffalo researcher who allegedly hired professional actors to portray real people who were familiar with his projects to testify on his behalf during a formal misconduct hearing. The researcher, who was exonerated of the misconduct because of the false testimonies, then attempted to seek $4 million from the state for monetary damages.
“The charges in this case allege a pattern of lies and deceit that a public employee used to attempt to defraud New York’s taxpayers of millions of dollars,” said Attorney General Cuomo. ‘The brazen crimes allegedly committed by this individual outline a series of frauds that could have damaged our outstanding SUNY system. New Yorkers demand and deserve integrity from State employees and with this prosecution we will work to restore that trust in public service.”
In September 2004, William Fals-Stewart, 48, of Eden, was accused of scientific misconduct for allegedly fabricating data in federally funded studies he was undertaking as an employee at the University at Buffalo and Research Institute on Addictions. According to court papers, the allegations were based upon discrepancies between the number of volunteers he reported to the National Institute for Drug Addiction relating to grants for which Fals-Stewart was the Principal Investigator, and the actual number of volunteers who participated in his studies.
According to the felony complaint, during a subsequent formal investigation launched by the University, three witnesses testified by telephone because Fals-Stewart claimed they were out of town. In reality, they were actors who thought they were taking part in a mock-trial. Fals-Stewart paid the actors to testify. He also provided them with scripts to use during the proceedings that were riddled with inaccuracies regarding his research. Fals-Stewart told the three actors, who he had hired before for legitimate training videos, that they would be performing in a mock trial training exercise. They were not aware that they were testifying at a real administrative hearing, nor did they know they were impersonating real people. Because of these false testimonies, Fals-Stewart was exonerated at the administrative hearing.
Claiming that the misconduct allegations tarnished his reputation, Fals-Stewart sued the University, seeking $4 million from the state in damages. The Office of the Attorney General, in its role of defending the University and the state in the court action, conducted a thorough investigation of the claims against the University. It was during this investigation that Cuomo’s office discovered the alleged fraud, forced Fals-Stewart to withdraw his lawsuit and initiated a criminal investigation.
Fals-Stewart was arrested today and charged in Buffalo City Court with Attempted Grand Larceny in the First Degree (class C felony); three counts of Perjury in the First Degree (class D felony); three counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree (class D felony); two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (class E felony); and three counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (class E felony). The maximum permissible sentence for a class C felony is 15 years in prison.
Attorney General Cuomo thanked Dr. Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor of the State University of New York and her staff for assisting in the investigation.
The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General-in-Charge of the Buffalo Regional Office Russell T. Ippolito, Jr. under the supervision of Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs J. David Sampson and Deputy Bureau Chief of the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau Richard Ernst. The investigation was handled by Investigator Paul R. Scherf under the supervision of Deputy Chief Investigator James Domres.
The charges against Fals-Stewart are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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