By Hugh Schofield BBC News, Paris

“France is gearing up for a report on one of the country’s biggest medical scandals of recent years. French health experts now believe that the drug known as Mediator, developed for treating overweight diabetics, could have killed between 500 and 2,000 people before it was finally banned.”

And this is why we should be cautious from being so gung-ho universal health care.  yea, it’d be great and wonderful, ideally….but this is the perfect example of how it can go wrong…when things aren’t regulated very well due to the pharmeceutical companies having so much influence over politicians and the “complexity of the French regulatory system, with no clear boundaries between a number of competing agencies.”  

“Photos snapped up for $45 may be the lost — and extremely lucrative — work of Ansel Adams”

interesting article

“It looks like the time has come! We’ve received a report from MuggleNet reader Kevin, who was at Kings Cross when crews were filming the epilogue scene for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2:

‘Just returned home, after a big surprise I ran into at Kings Cross Station. Apparently, there was some shooting for a Harry Potter film, and although we haven’t been able to see the actual filming, I will give you as much information as possible. The entire platform was fenced off, and there was a lot of security to keep the people out. There were dozens of people standing on the nearest bridge, trying to find out what was happening. First I didn’t realize what was going on, until Tom Felton and Dan Radcliffe arrived at the scene, surrounded by security. From that moment everyone realized it was Harry Potter shooting, and all the cell phones appeared.

There was obviously no time to sign people’s books, because they were gone by that. They looked amazing, because … they’d been turned into adults!! They wore cool costumes that seemed to be a combination between a modern business suit and wizarding robes. Dan’s hairdo looked especially cool: the sides were combed backwards, and the front had this ‘old skool’ wave, on one side. He was a little bit wrinkled, and had facial stubble. Tom looked somewhat older, because his hairline was kinda receding, and it was quite colorless. They both had extremely realistic adult faces. There were also some child actors on the scene, so I guess those are their children. They weren’t dressed wizard-ish, for the record. But I haven’t been able to have a good look. For about twenty minutes we’ve been waiting there, but the actors had obviously taken another exit. Oh, and of course, we saw the Hogwarts Express and its thick, white smoke, and there were a lot of extras on the scene, based on what we’ve seen.’

We’ve long heard that the Deathly Hallows epilogue scene would be the last one they shoot. It looks like filming for the franchise may be coming to a close very soon!”

fuckyeahbway:

The New York Times reports that Michael Lang, one of the producers of the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, is currently at work on a Broadway musical that will utilize elements of his memoir, “The Road to Woodstock,” which was co-written with Holly George-Warren.

Lang, who is also featured in the new film “Taking Woodstock” — he is portrayed by Spring Awakening’s Jonathan Groff — told the Times, “We’ve been thinking about a Broadway version of the experience for years, but writing the memoir really brought it into focus for me.”

The untitled musical is aiming for a bow during the 2010-2011 Broadway season. Samuel G. Nappi, the chief executive of Alliance Energy in New York, will co-produce the work with Lang.

Lang told the New York paper that the musical will focus on how Woodstock affected the people who attended the legendary event. “So many people have always expressed how Woodstock changed their lives, and I thought there’s really something about that experience that was life-changing,” Lang explained.”The music is still wonderful and the era is fascinating — so much happened that summer — that I thought it was great material.”

Lang expects the musical will feature the work of many of those who performed at Woodstock. He has also reached out to some of the surviving artists to pen original material for the production.

Director and other creative team members have yet to be announced.