Wednesday, 6 October 2010

Noam Chomsky's recorded address to the United National Peace Conference 07/24/2010

A 'T' falls...

@'Sebastian Waters'

A Map Of Books Banned and Challenged In The US

Liverpool's board split over two new bids to buy club

Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks (right) and George Gillett are under pressure to sell

Gillett (left) and Hicks have come under pressure to sell from Liverpool fans

Liverpool have confirmed that two new bids that would wipe out the club's debts have been made, but a huge split has divided the Anfield boardroom.

A source close to the negotiations said: "Both bids would significantly reduce the debt and give the current owners their original investment back."

But American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have opposed the offers.

A club statement added that the pair tried to remove two members of the board prior to Tuesday's meeting.

Hicks and Gillett wanted managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre replaced by Mack Hicks - son of Tom - and Lori Kay McCutheon, who is vice president at Hicks Holdings.

A Liverpool statement read: "This matter is now subject to legal review and a further announcement will be made in due course.

"Meanwhile [chairman] Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre continue to explore every possible route to achieving a sale of the club at the earliest opportunity."

The two bids, which the club statement described as "excellent financial offers", are thought to be from Asia and America.

BBC Sport understands the US bid is from Boston Red Sox owner John Henry's New England Sports Ventures.

The three independent members of the board - Purslow, Broughton and Ayre - favour a sale to one of the two new bidders and are weighing up whether to accept.

But it is thought Hicks and Gillett are against accepting as neither bid would see the duo walk away with a profit.

Liverpool were put up for sale by Hicks and Gillett in April with debts of £351.4m.

They initially sought an asking price of around £800m, a figure they subsequently dropped to £600m.

In August there were abortive bids from Hong Kong businessman Kenny Huang while a consortium fronted by Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi had also expressed an interest.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kirdi was quoted as saying the group he represents were dropping out of contention, adding: "Once everyone is united and there's logic in the price and the overall deal, me and my group will be prepared to return to the table."

The owners paid £174.1m to buy the club in 2007, while also agreeing to take on the club's debt of £44.8m.

It was said to be a new dawn for the Anfield outfit, with outgoing chairman David Moores describing it as "a great step forward for its shareholders and its fans".
But little has gone right for either the club or its owners since then.

The club slipped into the Premier League relegation zone after losing at home to Blackpool at the weekend and were earlier knocked out of the League Cup by League Two side Northampton.

Many of the club's fans have become increasingly outraged at the pair's mismanagement of the club, which is said to be currently £237.4m in debt, and their failure to carry through promises to build a new stadium.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has set a deadline of 15 October for that debt to be repaid or a penalty fee of £60m will be due.

If not the bank has the option of extending the deadline once again, or deciding enough is enough and either selling the club to the highest bidder or putting it in administration.

Many fans of the Merseyside club are keen to see RBS call in the debt, even if it means them going into administration and receiving a nine-point penalty from the Premier League as a result.

Whether these bids signal the beginning of the end of a saga that has blighted the club in recent years remains to be seen.

Dan Roan @'BBC'

The Hipster Hitler's Mum & Dad?

WTF???

Gillett and Hicks attempting Liverpool FC board overhaul

Mike Jefferies' anti-Tom Hicks and George Gillett film

Interestingly enough, this statement was issued by Liverpool FC yesterday:

'A Board meeting was called today to review these (new?) bids and approve a sale. Shortly prior to the meeting, the owners - Tom Hicks and George Gillett - sought to remove Managing Director Christian Purslow and Commercial Director Ian Ayre from the Board, seeking to replace them with Mack Hicks and Lori Kay McCutcheon.'

???

Jingle Bell Boobs

HA!

Grinderman deny plagiarism

Nick Cave responded to claims by an unknown Dundee-based musician that he plagiarised a song on the new Grinderman album at the band's Hammersmith Apollo gig last Friday.

The accusation was made by Frankie Duffy, who says that 'Palaces Of Montezuma' from the 'Grinderman 2' LP is actually 'Grey Man', a song he wrote for his former band Rising Signs in around 2005.

Duffy told Scottish newspaper The Courier in an interview published last Friday morning: "I couldn't believe it when I heard that track. It stood out a mile, it's exactly the same chords and the same hook as the intro to 'Grey Man'. I was never really a Nick Cave fan, but I really like Grinderman, that's a different kettle of fish. But when you hear that track you can totally spot the similarities".

He continued: "I sat down with my guitar and played along with it and it's exactly the same A, E and B chords, which to be fair anybody could use to write a song at any time. But it's the chord progression and when the vocal hook comes in with some ooohs, it's exactly the same, you can just hear it's the same thing".

As for how Cave came to hear and steal the song, Duffy postulated: "It's been up on our MySpace even after Rising Signs split, and I don't know, I can't help thinking that Nick Cave was sitting in his house one night and decided to surf some unsigned bands and saw our site, saw we were split up and thought, 'I'll have that track, nobody will ever know'".

He conceded that it could actually be "a really huge, amazing coincidence", though added: "It's really obvious they sound the same and on the Grinderman album you can hear the band talking and you can hear the words 'grey man' being said, so maybe it's not as much of a coincidence after all".

Duffy went on to say that he was going to get in touch with Cave's management "to see what they've got to say", adding that he wasn't quite sure how to proceed after that, but thought he "might have to sue [Cave] in court".

Certainly by Friday evening Cave had got the impression things were heading down the legal route. On stage at the Hammersmith Apollo, the singer introduced 'Palaces Of Montezuma' by saying: "You may have read that some seventeen year old kid in Dundee is trying to sue me and is claiming to have written this song. That's funny, because I wrote it for my wife".

In fact, Duffy is 29, but I'm not sure you can sue someone for accusing you of being a teenager. Whether the plagiarism case will go any further remains to be seen. With the utmost respect for both musicians, that guitar riff has been used at least twice by 78% of all bands that have ever written more than three songs. And as for where Grinderman can be heard whispering "grey man" on their track, I have no idea.

@'CMU'