Liverpool sack Rafa Benitez

This hasn't officially been confirmed yet but hearing that the board may have leaked the details...

(Thanx Ana!)

I was just on MSNBC talking about Israel, the Gaza blockade and the flotilla attack with Eliot Spitzer, who was guest-hosting for Dylan Ratigan. It was a rather contentious discussion, though quite illustrative of how Israel is (and is not) typically discussed on American television, so I'm posting the whole 8-minute segment. Two points: (1) before I was on, Spitzer had on an Israel-defending law professor, followed by Netanyahu's former Chief of Staff, and both of them (along with Spitzer) were spewing pure Israeli propaganda in uninterrupted and unchallenged fashion; at the end of Spitzer's discussions with them, he asked them to "stick around just in case," and once I was left, he brought at least one of them back on to respond to what I said without challenge; (2) literally 90 seconds before my segment was about to begin, the new cam and sound system I just acquired stopped working, forcing me to unplug everything and use only my laptop cam and mic, which caused the technical aspects to be less than ideal (though still perfectly workable); to watch in full screen, click play, then click in the lower right hand corner of the picture and select "option":

UPDATE: Just to give the context, this was the five-minute, propaganda-suffused segment with former Netanyhau Chief of Staff George Birnbaum to which I listened before my segment began.

UPDATE II: A few worthwhile related items: (1) for an excellent discussion of the illegality of the Israeli raid, see this analysis from former British Ambassador and maritime law expert Craig Murray, and this one from International Law Professor Kevin Jon Heller (the Post has a decent article on this topic today as well); (2) Amos Oz, the Israeli writer who supported the Israeli attacks on both Lebanon and Gaza (though he changed his mind about the former), has a very good Op-Ed in the NYT today on what Israel has become; and (3) the Post's Ann Telnaes has an incisive cartoon about this situation (and note the towels).

UPDATE III: Barney Frank -- unlike Anthony Weiner, Jerry Nadler, Spitzer, and a whole slew of other Jewish progressives vehemently defending Israel -- demanded an independent inquiry and had some rather harsh words for Israel today: "as a Jew, Israeli treatment of Arabs around some of the West Bank settlements makes me ashamed that there would be Jews that would engage in that kind of victimization of a minority."

Glenn Greenwald @'Salon'

HA!

For Rodda and Jo

XXX

How would you like someone pumping music of their choice into your room, with no ability to change the volume, skip songs, or change the CD?

paul__lewis

Local radio say #cumbriashootings victims included well-known rugby league player

Wyeth, Exported Waste And Infertile Pigs

Here’s a tale that may make you squeal. The drugmaker has pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of illegally exporting waste water from its plant in Newbridge, Ireland, where contraceptive pills were made (see here), to Holland, where the water wound up in animal feed and Dutch farmers had to destroy some 50,000 pigs.

Wyeth, which is now owned by Pfizer, actually confessed to four of 18 charges. These related to the illegal “trans-frontier” shipment of waste; illegal mixing of waste; and two breaches of the drugmaker’s EPA waste licence requiring approval for contractors, RTE Business reports. There was no comment from the Wyeth Medica unit. Sentencing is scheduled for next month.

At issue is the extent to which Wyeth supervised the disposal of its waste water, if at all. The case originated in 2002 when some Dutch pig farmers noticed their sows were infertile, RTE writes, adding that many farms were subsequently closed after infertile pigs on one farm were fed a syrup containing the hormone MPA, which is used as a human contraceptive. A probe later found Wyeth produced hormone-laced waste water in the process of sugar-coating its pills.

From there, the water was sent an environmental company in Dublin for disposal, and it was sold to a Belgian that passed it on as treacle to Dutch feed companies. The Dutch Feed Industry trade group claimed in 2003 that the disaster was ‘one of the worst in memory’ and cost the industry about $145 million (at today’s rates). Cara Environmental Technology, which processed the waste for Wyeth, is due in criminal court next week, but not admitting anything.

Ed Silverman @'Pharmalot'

UPDATE: Cumbria shooting: 13 DEAD 25 INJURED

Whitehaven shooting - live updates

Keith Richards teams up with Nick Kent for forthcoming autobiography

Former NME journalist Nick Kent has been helping Keith Richards pen his autobiography.
Kent, speaking at the recent Hay Festival, revealed that he helped The Rolling Stones guitarist "fill in" the gaps in his memory of the '70s.
Richards revealed last month that he is currently waiting to read the proofs of the book, which he hopes to release in October.
"I've helped Keith Richards write his upcoming book on the years of the early '70s. I helped fill in the early '70s, when things got really, really bad. I can understand why he forgot all about it. It just wasn't pleasant," Kent explained.
He added: "His memories are incredibly gloomy. A lot of resentment, bitterness, Keith broke down in tears several times when he talked about it and turned into a blubbering wreck. It was a bad time for him. When you look back on your life you tend to suppress bad memories and that's what he's done, apart from the fact that he was taking more drugs than all Motley Crue put together."

Elsewhere in his talk, Kent laid into the recent British music scene, signalling out Oasis in particular.
"There's a lack of talent at the moment," he said. "There aren't that many great performers at the moment. Noel Gallagher and Oasis would have only had a couple of hit records if they'd have been around in the '60s and '70s."

@'NME'

Going back to articles that Kent wrote about the Stones in the 70's perhaps the most unpleasant I remember was when there was a sex show put on by two women for Jagger and Richards and their entourage (including Kent) and the rug they were cavorting around on got set on fire and of course nobody helped the girls as the two Stones didn't (couldn't?) move....

Lawrence Lessig - Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy (PDF)

Remix
Making art and commerce thrive
in the hybrid economy

Lawrence Lessig

Publication: October 2008
Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-1408113479
Dimensions:
23.4 x 15.3 x 2.6 cm
Price: £12.99

Download book PDF

'Lessig's proposals for revising copyright are compelling, because they rethink intellectual property rights without abandoning them.'
Briefly Noted The New Yorker

'Lessig... has written a splendid combative manifesto – pungent, witty and persuasive.'
Financial Times

'... Lessig is surely right that digital culture requires governance that is more subtle and ecological, judging a balance of forces between commerce and community, than precise and draconian.'
Books of the Week, The Independent

'Prof Lessig is formidably qualified...his latest book, REMIX will enhance his cult status on the web.' The Guardian

To hear Lawrence Lessig talk about his book Remix you can listen now to the NPR interview (37 min 51 sec)
e-book version available – please click here to purchase £9.99

You can buy the book from A&C Black a Bloomsbury company

Gunman kills at least five in Cumbria rampage UPDATE: 12 DEAD

At least five people have been killed and 25 injured after a gunman opened fire in west Cumbria.

A body, thought to be that of the suspect - taxi driver Derrick Bird - has been found in the Boot area of the Lake District.

The first fatality was in Whitehaven before the gunman drove south, apparently shooting people at random.

Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons at least five people had been killed.

He said the country's thoughts were with those families who had lost loved ones.

Witnesses said the suspect drove through the town with a gun hanging out of his car window, before heading south through Gosforth and Seascale before turning inland.

A GP in the town of Seascale said he and a colleague had later certified two other people dead.

Dr Barrie Walker said: "The surgery was called and I went out. I've certified one of them dead. My colleague saw another," he said.

"At present there are two people dead and one seriously injured in Seascale. I know one of the victims. She was in the street.

Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said he believed Derrick Bird's body had been found

"The second person was on a bicycle and was shot on the bike."

BBC Look North Chief Reporter Chris Stewart said a farmer is also believed to have been killed in the Gosforth area.

After the shootings, detectives said 52-year-old Mr Bird drove to the central Lakes in a Citroen Picasso, then abandoned it in the Boot area.

Before the body was discovered people living nearby were urged to stay indoors for their own protection.

Helicopters and armed officers from other police forces were brought in to help apprehend the gunman.

Soon afterwards, Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said: "I can confirm that we've found a body in a wooded area near Boot which we believe to be Mr Bird, together with a firearm.

"A formal identification will be made later."

Nuclear plant shut Mr Hyde added: "Our focus now is to try and work out what has caused this and where Mr Bird has been over the last 24 hours and in particular the last few hours.

"I would plead to anyone who has seen him or has seen any of the incidents, please come forward, speak to us and help us piece together exactly was has happened in this very, very tragic set of circumstances.

"We have a number of crime scenes across the county, which are being staffed by police officers, and I would ask people to show a little bit of restraint and respect in regard to those scenes as we try and piece together exactly what has gone on."

.A major incident has been declared at West Cumberland Hospital, in Whitehaven, where the NHS said all routine operations had been cancelled.

The Accident and Emergency department at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle is also on full incident stand-by, the hospital trust said.

The Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in west Cumbria closed its gates as a safety precaution and afternoon shift workers were being told to stay away, though the site has since reopened.

The Whitehaven victim, believed to be a colleague of 52-year-old Mr Bird, was killed at 1035 BST.

A local taxi firm boss, Glenda Pears, said: "We just don't know what's happened.

"The lad that's been killed was friends with him. They used to stand together having a craic on the rank.

"He was friends with everybody and used to stand and joke on Duke Street."

Sue Matthews, a telephonist at A2B Taxis in Whitehaven, said the Mr Bird was self-employed and lived alone. She described him as a "quiet fellow".

At the start of Prime Minister's Questions David Cameron expressed his shock at the events which had unfolded.

He said: "The government will do everything it possibly can to help the local community and those affected.

"When lives and communities are suddenly shattered in this way, our thoughts should be with all those caught up with these tragic events."

An emergency helpline has been opened for people concerned about the incident. Cumbria Police Casualty Bureau Line on 0800 096 009

@'BBC'

Lawrence Lessig: Re-examining the remix

Plus +

from Thingiverse: via Bruce Sterling (@bruces)

This is the next step in my attempt to make a Sarrus linkage based 3D printer. The idea is to have a cartesian mechanism without those long rods and bearings.

I built three of the Mark III and mounted them in a x-y arrangement as shown. They can move over a square about 105 mm wide, and someday may carry an extruder. They are driven by DC motors taken from inkjet printers. These motors are driven in a servo arrangement using quadrature optical encoders and optical strips removed from the same printers.

EOT 3D Printing archive

@'Edge of Tomorrow'