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Transformers Generation 1
- Set in the present day, after decades of Transformers presence on Earth.
Preview Special Capsule: This contains the pretty bad G1 preview story that appeared online, a short Armada story (which focuses a bit too much on organics again, but not to the extent of the first preview), and a bunch of sketches. A bit pricey for what you get. Mildly recommended. $3.95
Volume 1 - Six issues written by Chris Sarracini and drawn by Pat Lee.
Issue 1
: Full review for just this one.
Issue 2 Capsule (no full review): Okay, there's more Transformers this issue, and I find myself cheering for Megatron. Some of the characterization seems a bit off (when it's not absent), but it's an improvement over the first issue. Mildly recommended (okay, it's not THAT much of an improvement, since I have #1 the same rating). $2.95
Issue 3 Capsule: Dreamwave - Wow, the writing takes a decided downward turn this issue. While not *every* character is a one-dimensional rhetoric-spouting automaton, way too many are. And the big EI/AD (Transfan jargon for Evil Invention/Alien Device...plot device, basically) comes out of nowhere and is a LOT of impact by being vague at the beginning. Artistically it's okay, but there's a few too many closeups that obscure the action. The reader should linger over a panel because it looks good, not because it's hard to tell what's happening. Finally, the pacing bites. The events of this issue should have taken place over two issues, and the events of the first two issues could probably have been done just as well in one. Neutral. $2.95
Issue 4 Capsule: Okay, the art does a good job of making the combiner teams really impressive. But that's about all the good I can say about this issue. I hate with hammers the "evil secretive goverment" cliche that gets continued here, and the rest of the issue was kinda disjointed. Very mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 5 Capsule: After a VERY slow start, a lot of things are coming together reasonably well, although there's still a strong plot element/cliche I dislike, and it's no longer a "maybe". The art continues to use certain confusing tricks, but since some of the specific tricks are being used a second time, I was able to follow them right off the bat this go-round. The philosophical angle is also a bit stronger, but not given as much time as I'd like. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 6 Capsule: You can tell by reading this issue and looking back over the previous five that Sarracini did indeed work out a lot of deep motivations for all the characters. Too bad so little of that actually SHOWS. At best, we get hints and "final conclusions" from most of the characters. And while I can see the possibility of good motivations for a lot of the characters having Acted Appropriately Stupid, this is not a complex enough story that I should have had to infer it. In short, Sarracini seems to have done a lot of work that just didn't make it onto the page, and that should have. Ah well, he's still fairly new, and we hear all the time that it takes a creative team around 6 issues to really get a feel for things. But in some ways it would have been better not to see the hints of greater depth this time out (better to be a good mindless story than a failed deep one). Mildly recommended. $2.95
Volume 2 - Another miniseries, written by Brad Mick and drawn by Pat Lee.
Issue 1: A very rocky start, with art that takes a bit of work to follow. However, by the end I was hooked by what's turning into an interesting reworking of a lot of the ideas brought up in the old continuity. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 2: The storytelling is confusing at times (i.e. who's shooting on the first page? Yes, I figured it out, but it took effort), the coloring clashes oddly with the speech bubbles, and everyone's so obvious about their motivations that you have to wonder how things held together long enough to reach the state seen in #1. Anyway, I think writer Brad Mick is trying to do too many things at once, and none of them works as well as it could. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 3: kay, I just had to go reread #1-2 to make sense of this one. The storytelling is fragmented and utterly ignores the fact that readers are getting it in pieces a month apart. I'm sure it'll work better in the inevitable TPB, but Mick needs to learn to write a monthly AS a monthly, not as part of a TPB. Well, maybe not so sure, it's a bit of a mess at times regardless. The visual storytelling on Pat Lee's part is also iffy in many places, especially when he tosses in easter eggs that don't LOOK like easter eggs (hint: a particular combat car seen just before the center staple is NOT the character it looks like, it's just a vehicle). Neutral. $2.95
Issue 4: A more coherent issue than last, with a few cute nods to the toy history (such as the rubsigns). Mostly running combat and therefore light on plot, but Mick's plotting has tended to be too over-complicated to date anyway, and trimming it back is a good thing. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 5: Mick plays around with story structure again, and while it doesn't blow up in his face like a few issues ago, I think he should really just stick to linear storytelling until he firms up his skills. Especially since the murky "it's dark so it should be hard to make anything out, except for lights, which should have lots of blur and flare" coloring hampers the visual storytelling. The basic story ideas are sound, although there's a scene where Mick pretty much says, "To heck with subtle foreshadowing, I'll just show the Big Surprise now in some small panels". Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 6: Between Mick's storytelling and the trademark murky coloring, it's not exactly easy to follow this issue, especially with huge chunks of exposition that aren't always laid out so that it's clear which bubbles come in what order. Still, it does all come out in the end, and a new G1 continuity is made manifest. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Volume 3 - Finally an ongoing series. Also written by Brad Mick at first, with Don Figueroa as the first regular penciller.
Issue 0: A "what has gone before" book, although a lot of it is explaining stuff that wasn't really presented clearly in the first place. There's several artists and colorists, so things run the gamut from murkfest to pretty clear, although there's a lot of "pinup" pieces and not much actual storytelling (not that the writing supports page to page storytelling continuity). It does do a good job of setting up the ongoing series, solving a few mysteries and bringing up others, and it's also a good demo of the range of Dreamwave art. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 1: Bawhuh? Mick decides to not only start in media res, but also on a fantasy sequence that gives a nod to Transformers: the Movie but otherwise has nothing to do with the actual story. And while, by the end, most of the pertinent plot points have come out, Mick's writing skills are NOT up to the way he chose to run things. And while there were plenty of easter eggs for the fans (like Bumper, or Brawn using a mask to have his toy-version face, or the not-really-Galaxy Shuttle), my repeated reaction was to want to grab Mick and inform him forcefully that he's not capable of pulling off this kind of structure yet, he should stick to linear plotting for a while yet. Figueroa's art is good, and the tag-team coloring isn't too bad for Dreamwave. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 2: Well, it doesn't suck as bad as #1 on the storytelling front. It's easier to tell what Mick's trying to get across now, and the outline is pretty good. Too bad the execution is so weak. Mick also seems to be trying to go Furman-Cosmic here, but it's not really working. The coloring is generally good, only really murky on the cover. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 3: Mick is a bit more successful in pulling off the time-jumping storytelling this time (timestamping captions help). On the other hand, Figueroa's visual storytelling has several places of serious muddle, and other places where it doesn't look like Brad and Don were talking to each other (like speech bubbles coming from off-panel with unclear speakers). On the other hand, the easter egg level was enjoyably high this issue, with stuff like the Raiden Trainbots or Bumblebee flying a shuttle patterned after his Cybertronian mode. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 4: Bounces between murky nighttime scenes and blazing yellow combat scenes, oversaturated in all of them. It's nice to see a big throwdown between powerful characters, not so nice to run into Adversarial Earth Governments again. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 5: Mick's storytelling is a bit steadier this issue, and he is doing one good thing plotwise: establishing an uncertainty between two possibilities that are both plausible (mysticism vs science) in this setting, and never completely coming down on one side. Granted, other sources have answered the question, but in-story it's a good balancing act. Figueroa's art does as good a job as possible in portraying Mick's somewhat fractured story. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 6: On the other hand, (compared to Ruffolo, whose Micromasters #1 came out this week) Figueroa is at least a competent visual storyteller, and does some good work with McD's story here. The colorists have gotten the hang of things as well, and the colors are only oversaturated in the scenes where it's appropriate (i.e. every scene with Sunstorm). McD and Patyk are juggling several plotlines here, but they do seem to be getting the hang of that too...there's some "huh?" stuff here and there, but it mostly seems to be intentional, for the sake of maintaining a mystery. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 7: Cute references in the first few pages, apparently one of the more controversial (at least in Transfandom) supporting characters from the cartoon got a new career some time in the past two decades. And yes, that's a Takotank on page 3. I was a bit thrown by Figueroa's depiction of the "new" major human character debuting on page 5, though. The story itself is pretty standard "bug hunt" SF/horror material, and it's pretty clear McDonough knows we know he's ripping off Aliens (among other sources). Recommended. $2.95
Issue 8: Bwah? Okay, this issue runs smack into another HUGE continuity disconnect, where they've decided on a new backstory for a bunch of characters and then just drop it in as if we all know it already. "Rules of Extinction" is something we're apparently supposed to have read before this, introducing the continuity implant and the villains of this issue. But I've never heard of it, and running "Transformers" and "Rules of Extinction" through a few search engines turns up squat. Maybe it's a convention exclusive I never saw, maybe it's not out yet, maybe it was *supposed* to be out already but isn't. Dreamwave's site isn't searchable, but in my manual searching I found nothing about Rules of Extinction either. Anyway, on top of that story hole, there's a problem with the speech bubble layout this issue...every so often, a bubble is almost completely transparent, making it hard to read the text against the art. At first I thought this was supposed to represent humans being quieter than Transformers, but it shows up without obvious pattern. Finally, while Figueroa does great Transformers, his humans are still kinda disturbing. This could have been a decent, creepy story, but it gets lost in storytelling and production problems. Neutral. $2.95
Issue 9: It would have helped if the scene following up from #8 had been first, not near the end. Especially with the tie-ins to War Within, the Summer Special and other stuff that may or may not have come out yet...I kept having to check the cover to make sure I was reading G1 and not some other title. Mind you, inter-title continuity is generally a Good Thing, but Mc and Patyk get in over their heads trying to tell a readable story with it. (Aside: the randomly transparent speech bubbles persist this issue, sigh.) Sometimes there's stories that are good enough to be worth the work required to follow all the twists and turns, but this isn't one of them. Very mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 10: Sheesh. Now that the news has broken that the writers on this series have been canned, of COURSE it starts to come together and get interesting. Lots of threads from previous issues weave together, and there's even some more tight continuity with The War Within. While it gets a bit expository for my tastes, I'm actually looking forward to how things turn out now...just as a new writer is about to come on and probably go a different direction. Sigh. Recommended. $2.95
Micromasters - A 4 issue miniseries set in the same continuity as the G1 comic (hence its being plopped here), with writing by James "Brad Mick" McDonough and art by Rob Ruffolo.
Issue 1: I have three main reactions to this issue. One: nice of the writer to credit himself as James "Brad Mick" McDonough. Two: cool to see Big Daddy and the Deluxe Insecticons in comic form. Three: Rob Ruffolo can't tell a story. Seriously...it took repeated references after the fact by various characters to the events of the opening scene for me to figure out what happened. I mean, at one point I was wondering if one of the Micromasters was unleashing the power of the Matrix! At the time, I also couldn't figure out which Micromaster it WAS. Sure, it was all revealed by the end of the issue, but it should have been clear at the BEGINNING. As for the writing, McD is clearly expecting a LOT more out of Ruffolo in terms of carrying the story, as it's written so minimally in places that one can only presume Ruffolo was supposed to make something patently obvious. I did appreciate that Dreamwave is one of the few "larger" publishers to still use footnotes (connecting events here to G1v3#5), but this comic was otherwise an excellent example of a really interesting concept turned to hash by bad storytelling. Very mildly recommended. $2.95 for any of the three regular covers, didn't look at the special ones.
Issue 2: Assuming that Ruffolo didn't just ignore the script and go his own way, McDonough and Patyk decided to get a bit tricky with the storytelling this issue, running four threads in horizontal panels across several pages in the middle of the issue. This would have been more effective if the first two pages of the sequence were next to each other, rather than separated by ads, though. Instead, it's more confusing that it needs to be. In fact, that characterizes the art in general (and the overly saturated coloring is back). Now...if this was an open-ended series, I wouldn't really have any complaints about the story itself. But since this is a 4 issue miniseries, it just seems too aimless right now, suggesting that either it will wrap up overly quickly in #4 or that it won't really wrap anything up, leaving things wide open for a sequel. Or both. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 3: The story was a bit hard to follow visually, especially at first, but does seem to be coming together. Unfortunately, it seems to be coming together to a rushed anticlimax. Ruffolo's staging and posing is rather...uncomplementary to storytelling. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 4: McDonough, Patyk and Ruffolo turn in a semi-coherent ending to the tale, even the garish coloring doesn't help much in keeping track of who's saying what. While there were a few fun moments, it felt like the story was only wrapping up because it had been solicited as a four issue series. Very mildly recommended. $2.95


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About Us: Our Stylists: Candace London
Candace London
Candace London is one of Hairacy's finest. She has been a Rock star hairdresser since 2005, graduating from the Academy of Hair Design. She is comfortable in all aspects of hairstyling and haircutting including; women, men and children. Candace has experience with vibrant fashion colour, wedding and up-styling. Transformation and creating is what she's all about.
In addition to her years behind a chair and managing a salon, Candace has been continually upgrading her skills. Having attended classes such as; Sexy Hair up-do, Matrix Color, Regis Men's cutting, and Regis highlighting and Ombre, she continues to dedicate her career to learning the newest hair fashion.
Candace believes communication with her clients is important in achieving amazing results and building long-lasting relationships with her clients.
When not behind the chair, Candace is Mom to 4 beautiful children, enjoys coffee, and the many adventures her children take her on. Having such a large family helps her understand how important time in a hairstylists chair.
Follow her on Instagram

subset: commoncrawl


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Three virtual events will give Northern leaders the chance to make connections and explore opportunities around doing business in Africa, the Middle East and USA as the world adapts to a new way of working.
Put on by BusinessLive in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT), the three events to be held over the next month will see Northern Powerhouse business leaders hear from representatives in export markets and discover the opportunities available to companies.
Delegates at the events, starting on November 17, will be part of an interactive panel session which will include information and advice on topics such as different routes to market and how to handle risk and security.
The importance of cultural differences including building relationships post Covid-19 will be widely covered, as will the impact of the pandemic and how this affects companies exporting into these markets.
Arshad Dadabhoy, international trade adviser at DIT North West, said: "Exporting not only enriches your business through exposure to new cultures, customs and languages but also introduces synergies in procurement, logistics, finance and distribution."
All three events will be hosted by BusinessLive's editor, Alistair Houghton.
Below are full details on the first two events:
Doing Business in Africa
Tuesday, 17 November. 10.30am-12pm. Sign up here.
Total exports from the UK to Africa accounted for 2.7% of total exports with all trading partners in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In the four quarters to the end of Q1, total goods exports from the UK to Africa increased by 3.8% compared to the previous year, while total services exports from the UK to Africa increased by 10.2% in the same period.
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Additionally, Africa hosts six of the world's top ten growing countries.
This event will provide information on opportunities for UK exporters in a wide variety of sectors including infrastructure, power and energy in this expanding powerhouse.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Alastair Long, HM deputy trade commissioner for Africa
- Raksha Mahraj, DIT Africa Sector director for infrastructure and mining
- Claude Pretorius, manager of Destination Marketing at KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) - a South African trade and inward investment promotion agency
- Andy Eaton, head of sales at hydropower firm Gilbert Gilkes
Doing Business in the Middle East
Tuesday, 24 November. Sign up here.
This second event will focus on opportunities for UK exporters in the Middle East with a focus on UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia for a wide variety of sectors including oil and gas, healthcare, education, food and drink.
UK exports to the Gulf Cooperation Council were in excess of £31bn in 2019 with UAE and Saudi Arabia leading the way.
With an economic growth of 0.8% and GDP per capita standing at $71,000, this is a region the DIT sees as having great potential.
Nick Cochrane-Dyet, chair of the Middle East Advisory Board of the Energy Industry Council, is a confirmed speaker.
An illustrious career, Mr Cochrane-Dyet is a founding member of the UAE-UK Business Council, and was awarded an MBE in the 2013 New Year's Honours.
He has been associated with the Emirates since childhood when his father served with the Trucial Oman Scouts in 1965, and recently published a book about his youth called 'Early Days in the Emirates'.
He is the Special Advisor to the UAE BP Country Head, as well as being chairman of the British Business Group, Abu Dhabi, and serving on the advisory board of Sightsavers in the Middle East.
Doing Business in the USA
Thursday, 3 December
More details on this event, which will be run in conjunction with the British-American Business Council, will be released in the coming weeks.


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Harry Potter Mania Grips Sonam Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Aditi Rao Hydari
It was a double treat for Harry Potter fans as the boy wizard celebrated his birthday and a new book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Childreleased on July 31.
The Harry Potter mania gripped Bollywood celebrities including, Sonam Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonali Bendre Behl and Farah Khan as they shared Potter posts on Instagram and Twitter.
Sonam, who can't wait to read the new book based on a play- imagining Harry Potter as an adult- Instagrammed a long note. She also wished author J K Rowling, who turned 51 on Sunday, Happy Birthday.


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A 'Restomod' is a combination of restoration and modification of vehicles, usually performed on classic or collector cars. It focuses primarily on the restoration of a vehicle, with non-stock modifications used to bring the vehicle up to safe and improved performance and functional standards.
Do I Need a Restomod?
Let's say your 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle doesn't have the same stopping ability that it did back in the 60s and 70s. What happens when one day on the highway, the modern car in front of you slams the breaks on? You might find yourself in a nasty accident. That's where Restomods come in. You could use a Restomod to restore the 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle, so it looks and feels like the original but is upgraded to perform safely on today's roads. It's the perfect answer for taking an old classic and making it perfect for everyday driving in the 21st century. Retaining its soul.
Restomods are often more affordable than hunting down every original part, which gives less performance.
Common Restomods in Long Island, NY
We've done many Restomods in Long Island, NY, ranging from spectacular drastic changes to critical components, including:
Overdrive Transmissions
Updated, newer transmissions shift through the gears far more smoothly than old types, but best of all, they have overdrive gears. Overdrive gears allow low engine speeds on the highway, improving fuel economy, noise and motor wear on older vehicles.
Disc Brakes
A new set of brakes offer improved stopping power, with fade-free, moisture-resistant disc brakes.
Minor suspension improvements can be made to keep the car going straight and safely at full throttle and around turns, including strong A-arms, Panhard bars and polyurethane bushing. Lift kits and leveling kits can also be installed on Jeeps and trucks.
Wheels and Tires
With bigger wheels, you can fit modern performance tires - improving grip, performance and lifespan.
Retaining the purity of classic cars is great, but many vehicle owners enjoy adding 21st-century features. Including charger ports, Bluetooth speakers, improved stereo and LEDs.


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Pieter Paul Pothoven
Artist Page
Artist Page — Sep 2, 2020
In the Presence of Absence, the bi-annual show of proposals for the museum collection, presents 23 artists (collectives). This artist page includes a text on the work and an artist contribution.
facade suspended (2018) and observatie contra observatie (2020) are part of a research project conducted by Pieter Paul Pothoven into the Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action (RARA), in collaboration with several activists who were involved in this anonymous collective, which fought in the 1980s and 90s against racism, oppression, and exploitation—the ongoing legacy of Dutch imperialist history. The targets of RARA's actions included companies such as Shell and Makro that were profiting financially from apartheid in South Africa. Pothoven is making a series of artworks that document and shed light on RARA. He is also creating a RARA archive for the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. The IISH offers information and insights on the origins, effects, and consequences of social inequality. In his efforts to mediate new relationships with the past, Pothoven draws on archive material and historical artifacts and events.
facade suspended is a full-size reproduction of the storefront of Overtoom 274 in Amsterdam. Suspects of multiple RARA actions, including the one on the Makro warehouse in Duivendrecht, allegedly lived in this squatted building and prepared actions here. The storefront on display is made from a typical Dutch colonial resource: teak wood—recycled from five large 17th and 18th-century shipping chests used by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). These cases once held the private belongings and illicit trade goods of high-ranking VOC officials. By cutting up these remnants of Dutch colonial history and building something new, Pieter Paul Pothoven has created a political framework that repurposes historical artifacts to commemorate and represent a different narrative on the past: one of anti-imperialist resistance.
Central to observatie contra observatie is a spoken monologue in Dutch: a dramatized account of events surrounding the first RARA attack, which took place on September 17, 1985, on a branch of the Makro in the town of Duivendrecht. This action, and the three others in the period from 1985 and 1987, forced the SHV, Makro's parent company, to pull out of South Africa. Pothoven wrote the script for the character—who speaks from the perspective of several of the activists involved—and based it on interviews and historical documents. The monologue is broadcast using a radio transmitter built by someone who was involved in RARA. The script is made available on take-away posters that also feature a photo of the wood-burning stove that RARA used not only for heating, but also for burning evidence.
The monologue is the result of a collaboration with activists from RARA, Khadija El Kharraz Alami (voice actor), Simon(e) van Saarloos (notes on script), Liet Lenshoek (dramaturge), Katrien de Klein (editor) and De Slapende Hond (sound studio).
Pieter Paul Pothoven (b. 1981) studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and at Parsons The New School of Design in New York. In 2014 and 2015 he attended Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht. Pothoven's work has been exhibited at The Kitchen in New York, Nest in The Hague, and TENT Rotterdam.
script in Dutch (observatie contra observatie): Pieter Paul Pothoven in collaboration with activists of the Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action – RARA translation: Vincent W.J. van Gerven-Oei
[humming: Ndodemnyama Verwoerd by Miriam Makeba]
Colonial history is not the past.
Every day I see it again.
That sense of white superiority.
Thinking that white is better than Black.
The ongoing justification of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
A blood-red line runs from then to now.
But apartheid is more than just a colonial remnant.
It is a system that's alive and kicking, offering the white minority – the law in hand – every possibility to exploit the Black majority.
They're making a fucking lot of money with it.
That's why I find it dangerous to condemn apartheid solely on moral grounds, such as: apartheid is racism. Racism is bad. So stop doing it.
Do you really think that Black and white can obtain equal rights within a capitalist society?
I don't consider apartheid to be some kind of civilization that's different from the society in which we live here. Nor is it a stain that you can just wipe off. I see apartheid as the raw, uncut version of the West. Raw, but transparent at the same time. Hold it in front of your eyes, like a lens. When you look through it, you'll see the core of that socalled Western civilization: an inhumane system.
And that system, which has huge economic interests in oppression and exploitation and sexism and racism and pollution, causing indescribable suffering around the world, that system I want to change.
Not simply by modifying it a little bit here and there.
Radical change.
And yes, it makes sense to start at biking distance.
I was asked to do something for the armed branch of the ANC in southern Africa.
I said no.
Don't feel like becoming a tool over there.
I have to define my aims and strategies based on my responsibility here, in this country with historical ties to South Africa.
I don't need permission for that.
From no one.
There is an international boycott of South Africa, but which company is actually forced to stop doing business?
What does the state do? Nothing. "We have to keep trade channels open to retain political leverage behind the scenes." What do companies do? They shrug their shoulders and continue to fill their pockets. No matter the social consequences.
And what is the answer of the anti-apartheid committees? Boycotts. Name and shame campaigns. Information evenings.
Would you like a sticker?
It's important. Really. I'm taking part in it, too. But all those actions amount to nothing more than polite requests.
Do you have any idea what's happening in the townships
I'm sorry, but the time of polite requests has long passed.
We're going to attack the Steenkolen Handels-Vereeniging. The S-H-V. A truly Dutch company owned by the Fentener van Vlissingen family, with I don't know how many subsidiaries here and in South Africa.
The ties between SHV and South Africa have been made public.
They're already under scrutiny.
How are we going to target SHV?
The Makro. It's an easy pick, actually. Wholesalers are publicly accessible. Located in remote areas. Everyone is engaged in actions against Shell, but Shell has hundreds of gas stations. Say you attack one or two, what's the actual result? How many Makro stores are there? About eight or ten? And those warehouses are huge. So yeah, every time you manage to hit one of them, they lose a substantial part of their revenue.
A travel agency covered in paint. A trashed wine store. I can still recall the sea of red and white wine on the floor.
The burned-down mansion of oil trader Deuss. It is easy to see the continuity from inside the activist scene. But from the outside it's more difficult to discern a line in the mishmash of targets.
Anti-apartheid Action. Amsterdammers against Racism.
Pyromaniacs against Apartheid. It's all too incidental.
Appearing from nothing then disappearing.
That's no way to build up pressure. That's why we choose for a campaign.
One name and one target. Whether it's one, two, or three Makro warehouses. Or all of them.
We will continue until SHV leaves South Africa.
So, the Makro.
Who wants to join the group that will write the claim letter?
Who's going to Waterlooplein to get a typewriter?
Text ready for consumption?
Fingerprints wiped from the keys?
Dump it in the canal.
Meanwhile you're already checking out the place. Observation.
During the day at first. Outside. What's happening around the building?
And then you go inside.
Who is getting the Makro loyalty cards?
You shave your legs.
Put on a suit.
Put on a wig.
High heels.
Hi! I'm looking for this and that.
Really interested, you know. Like, very lovely and cute.
What do the doors look like?
What do the windows look like?
Is there an alarm?
You see the paint aisle. Cans with solvents: flammable.
How many steps from the paint isle to that side door over there?
You want to burn it down.
How're you gonna do that?
Where're you gonna try?
We're biking on a dike next to the Ijsselmeer. In broad daylight.
There are two people on top of the dike. Is someone coming?
Down near the water you can do whatever you want.
Perfect place to rehearse a few things.
What's happening at night?
Are there guards?
Do they make their rounds according to the same daily schedule?
No. Weekly? No.
Monthly perhaps?
Too bad.
For weeks you're lying in the bushes with a walkie-talkie
Do you see something. Over.
No. You? Over.
Six nights a week. Only to discover that it there is no pattern at all.
How to get the stuff there?
How to get the stuff from the drop-off point to the right location on the site?
How long does that take you? How many people do you need?
When are you going to practice on site?
How do you set up the counter-surveillance around the object?
Where are the people on the lookout with walkie-talkies?
Who is scanning the police radio?
What do you do when two streets down the road there's a burglary but you already got all your shit there?
Let's just assume.
You don't want any surprises, of course.
Step by step you go through the script. In person. Not by telephone. Never meet at the same place twice.
We're gathering in the canteen of a university.
Coffee finished? Let's go. You can always find a room to share some knowledge.
Where's the point of departure?
Who's taking care of the detonators, gasoline, and time delays?
What's the gathering point?
Which route do you take?
You buy dark, comfortable, season-appropriate clothing that's not too tight. And a pair of sneakers. At the army dump you get a balaclava.
It's 10 pm. I get on my bike.
You have to make sure you get away clean. So without a tail.
That you're not followed.
A car brings the stuff. Or two or three cars. Whatever, I don't need to know everything.
The drop-off point is in a meadow. On the other side of the 5 ditch. It's all there, covered with a tarp.
No moon.
I pull the balaclava over my head and put on my gloves.
Are we finally fucking ready to go? Over.
They're leaving now. Let's get the party started. Over.
Through the meadow.
Along the wall to the first side door.
Watch your step!
Crouching. All clear? Over.
Yes. Over.
3 a.m.
I kneel down and press the point of the drill into the wood.
[3x sound of a hand drill. grating noise: GRRR–GRRRGRRR]
Turn slowly.
You're safe.
[2x sound of a hand drill. grating noise: GRRR–GRRR] My god, I feel good here.
Are the stools steady?
Jerrycans on top of the stools?
I push a PVC pipe with detonators taped to it and wires through the hole.
Connector Pipe.
Hose attached to jerrycan?
Time delay set?
Ten minutes.
No longer.
Taps open?
Gasoline flowing inside?
Tonight we have attacked a part of the Dutch business empire in South Africa. You can't effect change by endless sessions in Parliament. You have to fight for change by attacking all those economic, political, and military institutions here – in the heart of imperialism – that facilitate the oppression here and elsewhere. Therein lies the communality of our struggle, our only perspective and our unconditional solidarity with the militants in South Africa.
At home I light my wood stove.
I take off my clothes.
I throw everything in the fire.
Exciting, isn't it?
Summarized in three minutes it is. But it's also just boring.
End-less-ly boring. All those preparations. Night after night after night in those bushes.
Really more than is good for me.
Sleeping during the day.
Another meeting. And every time you need to find a new place to meet.
You know, not all of it is fun. Months of work for a few hours of action.
And here I am. Naked. Staring at the flames.
You get up around noon. Say hi to your roommates as if nothing has happened. Looks are exchanged. But you're not having a nice chat at the stairs. Not about this.
You just get the copy of the Volkskrant you buy every day. Not all other newspapers, because that's suspicious behavior.
Of course you hear the news. And you review it as well. You're not enemy of the state number one yet. But you're certainly top five.
And of course they'll call you a terrorist.
Terrorism is a tactic to sow fear. Splits society into two camps: either for or against. Removes all shades of grey.
We don't spread that kind of fear.
It's about goods. Not about people.
RARA sharpens the debate. Adds an element to the broad extraparliamentary anti-apartheid movement. But stays explicitly in that grey zone. At the far end of that spectrum.
Sure. In the dark grey area, so to say.
You hear it all the time.
They reject us, without having to deal with our message.
Impossible to talk to!
Whom or what are they serving actually? Why don't they judge our action based on content?
What we do makes sense. The flood of criticism only confirms this. At least, that's how I'm framing it.
I mean, there is really an incredible amount of fuss about SHV and its business in South Africa. And, more importantly: a considerable portion of its revenue has been affected.
You bet SHV is feeling this.
You know, we're not so naive to think: we have dealt capitalism a big blow.
Still I feel some sort of pride. That we did it. That we did it well.
And no one got hurt.
You choose a remote location. You choose an incendiary device that develops slowly. You know what's happening around the building. You know there's no one there. You stay on site until the thing detonates, so that you're able to intervene until the very last moment. But is it enough?
Wouldn't it be problematic if we didn't doubt ourselves? You're in shock. 48 million in damages. Serious business. But anyway. What is a shitty little fire compared to the blood that is shed in the townships?
What is the state going to do? Will the beast be unleashed? Public opinion has long made up its mind about apartheid. And we really do everything to avoid casualties. And the state is already under mounting pressure from society because of its failing boycott policy. Added together, this should make it 8 difficult for the police and secret services to cut corners.
But you can't be sure.
So for now it's just laying low.
Staying beneath the radar.
Awaiting the response.
Saturday you'll sing along with the anti-apartheid choir. Or you'll join a protest. Isn't there a house meeting this week?
But with every conversation you have with someone you put out your feelers.
You constantly have to watch what you're saying. And how you're saying it. And to whom you're saying it.
You are about to meet someone to prepare the next action.
You walk out of the door.
You feel eyes in your back.
You're almost there.
Did I get rid of them or not?
Probably better to return home.
Where and when?
You don't know.
And if you're not caught red-handed on the spot, then it's by political pressure.
They cannot let this slide.
Sooner or later they'll get you.
You do know that.
But it hasn't gotten that far yet
Bring it on.
Come and find us.
Artist Contribution
I recorded 18+ hours of interviews with several people, who, one way or another, were involved in the activist collective RARA (Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action). I used parts of these interviews for the script of observatie contra observatie.
I have donated all the source materials that I collected to the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. The RARA archive – ARCH0404547 – will be opened to the public on the morning of September 17, 2035, 50 years after the arson of the Makro in Duivendrecht, the first action that was claimed by activists under the name of RARA.
In addition to interviews, I also used multiple texts from the 1980s that were written either collectively and anonymously by RARA or individually by RARA suspects, as sources for the script. For example, these pleading notes of a RARA suspect, which were read aloud during the court case on August 24, 1988. Katrien de Klein, who was a journalist reporting on the case, made the notes on the document.
"Kommunikee" (claim of responsibility) delivered to news outlets on the early morning of September 17, 1985, hours after the RARA attack on the Makro in Duivendrecht. The letter was included in the BVD (Dutch Secret Service, currently named AIVD) report.
Source: https://www.inlichtingendiensten.nl/groepen/rara, also part of ARCH0404547, International Institute of Social History.
In 1985 the building at Overtoom 274 in Amsterdam, after it served as illegal brothel, was squatted by RARA suspects and named Huize Symptoom. The attack on the Makro in Duivendrecht was presumably prepared in this house, along with attacks on other targets in the ensuring years. In an attempt to stop RARA, the police raided 9 houses and arrested 8 suspects in the early morning of April 11, 1988. While the suspects were arrested elsewhere, the police seized multiple items from the Overtoom building. Partially based on this evidence, one suspect was convicted to five years in prison. Due to the unprecedented scale of the simultaneous raids, there were too few examining judges available for the number of houses. The defense claimed that the evidence taken from the Overtoom was inadmissible because the examining judge was only present for 13 minutes, and not for the full duration of the search – a total of 5 hours and 50 minutes – as required by Dutch law. Based on this procedural error, the judge reduced the sentence and the suspect was released immediately. In 1993, after all residents had left and the house had been boarded up for some time, it was renovated into a bike shop.
facade suspended is a life-size reproduction of Overtoom 274's building facade. It is made from a typical Dutch colonial resource: teak wood, recycled from five large 17th and 18th-century shipping chests of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). These colonial suitcases once held the private property and illicit trade goods of high-ranking VOC officials. These chests relate to the Dutch economic interest in Indonesia, for example the large-scale deforestation of Java provoked by the demand for teak as building material, as well as to the colonial maritime trade routes they traveled. By cutting up and melting down these luxury remnants of Dutch colonial history, I set up a political framework that repurposes historical artifacts to commemorate and represent a different narrative on the past, that of anti-imperialist resistance.
Work in progress for the installation facade suspended, melting brass mountings from five 17th and 18th century Dutch East India Company (VOC) shipping chests.


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Just like in humans, a cancer treatment plan for our pets takes into account the unique circumstances of the disease and the overall well-being of the pet being treated. Different cancers respond to different treatments.
Below is an explanation of common cancer treatments, the principles behind them, and their potential side effects.
Cancer that consists of a single tumor or it restricted to a small area of the body can often be removed surgically. The main drawback of surgery as a treatment for cancer is that you can't be certain it will remove every single cancer cell from the pet's body, so there's a possibility that the cancer could recur in the future.
Potential adverse side effects: Bleeding and anesthetic complications during surgery; postsurgical infection; postsurgical pain; possible loss of function of affected areas. Postsurgical pain can be treated safely and effectively and should not be considered a deterrent to surgery. The risk of the other complications is low with most surgeries and can be estimated more precisely for the individual pet.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill or damage rapidly dividing cells. It is used to treat blood-cell cancers, such as lymphoma and leukemia, and cancers that have metastasized or are highly aggressive and likely to metastasize. These drugs may be given orally or intravenously, or injected directly into the tumor. Cancer cells can develop resistance to individual chemotherapy drugs, so often several different drugs are used in rotation. Chemotherapy usually lasts 6 to 12 weeks. Intravenous chemotherapy drugs are given in the hospital anywhere from once every 3 weeks to twice a week, depending on the drug and the cancer being treated. Oral chemotherapy drugs are given at home once or twice a day.
Potential adverse side effects: Bone-marrow suppression leading to reduced numbers of white blood cells and a risk of infection, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea; severe chemical burns if chemotherapy drugs leak from the vein into surrounding tissues. (Individual chemotherapy agents may have other, specific side effects which your veterinarian will explain.) Bone Marrow suppression is monitored by running blood tests periodically while a dog is undergoing chemotherapy. If white blood cell levels drop low enough to create a risk of serious infection, chemotherapy is halted for a week or two to allow the bone marrow to catch up in cell production. Antibiotics also can be given to combat infection. Pets undergoing chemotherapy usually don't develop the severe nausea and vomiting that people sometimes do, but anti-nausea drugs and stomach protectants are given if needed. Dogs rarely lose their hair as a result of chemotherapy.
Radiation kills cancer cells by bombarding them with automatic particles. It is often used to shrink or destroy tumors that are too extensive or inaccessible for surgery, such as tumors of the mouth and throat, nasal passages, or brain, Radiation treatments are given two to five times a week for three to six weeks. Pets receive a short acting anesthetic before each treatment to ensure that they don't move once the radiation beam has been precisely aimed at the tumor.
Potential adverse side effects: Burn like injuries to normal tissues overlaying the tumor; temporary hair loss in the area radiated; mouth pain, drooling, difficulty eating, and loss of appetite when the mouth or throat are radiated. Radiation "burns" are cleaned and protected with a bandage or ointment and usually heal well within a couple of weeks. Mouth pain, drooling, and loss of appetite are treated with mouth rinses and pain relievers; a feeding tube can be placed in the stomach before radiation treatment begins if the pet is likely to have difficulty eating. Mouth irritation usually heals within a couple of weeks after radiation treatment is completed.
Cryotherapy and hyperthermia
Freezing (cryotherapy) or heating (hyperthermia) can sometimes be used to kill small (less than 1/3 inch in diameter) benign or malignant tumors on the surface of the body. Potential advantages of cryotherapy and hyperthermia over surgery are that they are fast and require only local anesthesia. The main drawback is they will not kill cancer cells that have spread beyond the small area frozen or heated. Chemotherapy or radiation is sometimes used afterward to kill stray cancer cells.
Potential adverse side effects: Cryotherapy and hyperthermia leave a wound about double the size of the original tumor that scabs and heals' with normal wound care (cleaning and ointment or bandage), within about two weeks. The hair in that area may grow back a different color or texture than it was originally.
Immune-system modulators
A pet's own white blood cells will attack and kill cancer cells if they find them and recognize them as a threat. Immune-system motors are substances given orally or by injection that rev up the immune system and help it to recognize and target cancer cells. The main drawback is that a dog's immune system is unlikely to be able to kill every tumor cell in a cancer that has already gotten a head start. Therefore, immune-system modulators are most often combined with other cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.
Potential adverse side effects: These vary with the specific modulator. Some have no adverse side effects.


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Reviews for The Stepway: Version One |
BreadyCheese chapter 32 . 1/15/2017 Hey, loved it Keep writing... Yous truly, reader |
BreadyCheese chapter 23 . 1/15/2017 I take that back about the uniquess, there was a typo in chapter 22' "I thought you was going to us out of this", missing the "get" I like the way you write, it's pretty damn cool Keep up the awesome work - Me |
BreadyCheese chapter 22 . 1/15/2017 Awesome author, cool story, but could use a touch more uniqueness? Keep up the amazing work though! - Reader |
Kamryn Schiller chapter 32 . 10/25/2014 okay wow so many alarm bells right there I just keep hearing "rape-y rape-y rape-y" over and over in my head. Still, Tayu didn't swoon or anything, and made it very clear that she does not approve of that behavior, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. |
Kamryn chapter 20 . 10/25/2014 Seriously, so impressed by the way you're handling her introduction to the spirit world, so that she isn't swooning into anyone's arms or being weirdly "no, screw all of you, I'm not getting married." Instead, she is perfectly aware that she is in a land full of spirits and she is effing terrified, as she should be. On that note, also impressed by how you're handling the swearing. Instead of using fake swear words like "Freaking" and "Gosh Darn" you're just omitting them. I really hate the fake swearing. I do, I hate it. However, real swear words tend to sound weird in a fantasy setting, and, of course, you're probably pretty awkward with using them-thirteen, right? :) Love your characters, too. I'll elaborate on that in maybe a later review. |
Guest chapter 19 . 10/25/2014 I was pretty impressed by the quality of this story, and then I saw you were thirteen and I am so incredibly impressed! Wow! I also remembered that I am fourteen and probably shouldn't be so impressed by that! Still, it's really great that you managed to finish a story-and an intriguing story at that! |
deets1 chapter 41 . 4/20/2014 Asdfghjkl such a nice story! I was not expecting anything that happened. Like wow. I really liked this story. I can't give you much good constructive crit because I couldn't really make anything better but eh. No matter. I loved it. Thanks for writing this. Deets |
CakeAndUnicorm chapter 14 . 2/27/2014 Damn, loved this chapter. Coincidently, while reading, haunting music was playing on TV. So yeah, it added to the epicness. |
Guest chapter 32 . 5/21/2013 a simple 'hey, loved it, keep writing'... Joking aside your story is well written and enjoyable to read. |
Wickedforlife chapter 33 . 1/19/2013 so sweet |
Wickedforlife chapter 32 . 1/19/2013 of course I loved it, what else could I possible do? |
Wickedforlife chapter 27 . 1/19/2013 lolol, best a/n ever |
Wickedforlife chapter 24 . 1/19/2013 omg holy crap, what kind of dog is that? |
Wickedforlife chapter 23 . 1/19/2013 yayayay flyiing monkeys! Elphie! They are so awesome, especially chisery. And his costume OMG. |
Wickedforlife chapter 20 . 1/19/2013 You're so pale and strong? That's not even gushy, it's just weird |


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Sunday Feb 25, 2024
Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
NDB Bank joined hands with the British Council to launch an initiative that will improve the teaching skills and knowledge of secondary English language teachers in Sri Lanka.
The official agreement was signed between Russell de Mel, CEO of NDB Bank and Tony Reilly, Country Director of British Council.
The project aims to support one of NDB Bank's strategic CSR initiatives in Education through a Secondary English Teaching Improvement.
Training and related services comprise of a teacher training course in the Secondary English language, consisting of 20 topic-based modules on key class room issues for select Secondary English language teachers teaching 11 to 18 year old students of Government Schools in the North Western Province. The teachers will be trained in up-to-date learner-centred, activity based methodology.
Each module will be assessed independently and upon the completion of all 20 modules the participants will be awarded a British Council Certificate in Secondary English Language Teaching at the end of the course.
English has become an essential component in a child's curriculum, and the foundation is set at an early age at school. The initiative hopes to provide every teacher and learner of English access to the skills, ideas and materials needed to raise the standards of English Language Teaching in Sri Lanka.
The British Council in Sri Lanka is the UK's international organisation for educational and cultural relations and equips students with the English language skills needed for future utilisation.
With the premise of "Changing Lives, Everyday", NDB Bank has been committed to contributing towards the development of society. NDB Bank's strategic CSR is focussed on building Education and Entrepreneurship in the country. The Bank provides opportunities to mould young children into becoming valuable and knowledgeable contributors in society. NDB believes that education is key for development of a society and children need to be encouraged and nourished in every possible way.


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MELBOURNE - China's Asian Cup campaign may have come to an abrupt end on Thursday night following a 2-0 loss to Australia, but Alain Perrin's side will undoubtedly leave the country better for the experience.
Having been drawn into a difficult group consisting of Asian's No.4-ranked side, Uzbekistan, and three-time champions Saudi Arabia, there was a feeling that a young Chinese squad would have their hands full in progressing through the first stage of the competition.
However, a revitalized team consisting entirely of domestic- based players made their intentions clear from the outset with a spirited and deserving victory over Saudi Arabia in their opening group match.
Wang Dalei saved a penalty, while Yu Hai struck a late winner as China got off to the perfect start.
Even still, a highly rated Uzbekistan team represented the biggest threat within Group B and was next on the agenda for China. But, they soon joined Saudi Arabia as China's newest victims.
Although Odil Ahmedov gave Uzbekistan the lead early in the first half, China fought back and scored twice in 14 second-half minutes through Wu Xi and Sun Ke to again triumph.
This, in particular, was a highlight of the tournament for China and a match that could prove a defining moment in the Perrin era.
Despite the squad having an average age of just 25.39 years and averaging just over 26 caps between them, the ability to recover from the first-half deficit against one of Asia's strongest sides will provide a benchmark for future years.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea would provide a stern defensive test in China's last outing throughout the group stages, but a first-half double from Sun had effectively sealed the result before their opposition could grind their way back into the match.
Against Australia in the quarter finals, only two moments of sheer quality from Tim Cahill was enough to separate the two sides.
Sun, in particular, was a standout in the tournament, notching three goals from four matches. He, along with 23-year-old Wu Lei, are the shining lights of Chinese football moving forward.
Together, they could become the fulcrum of Perrin's future vision, which he will certainly hope includes an appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
China has only qualified for one World Cup in the last 76 years, failing to win a point throughout their 2002 campaign.
Although the Chinese Super League is growing in size, stature and strength, the likes of Sun and Wu undoubtedly have the talent to test themselves at a higher level within Europe.
Playing in these competitions and joining established Asian players, such as Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund) and Son Heung-Min (Bayer Leverkusen) in Europe, could greatly benefit Chinese football and enhance the team's chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Only one of Perrin's last 50 call-ups is based overseas, that being Wolfsburg midfielder Zhang Xizhe, who has just 10 senior international caps.
Even so, Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande, which is home to eight players within China's 23-man Asian Cup squad, is consistently competing in the latter stages of the Asian Champions League, having made the quarter finals in 2014 and won the competition for the first time in 2013.
Therefore the quality is proven and the future is bright for Chinese football, which may again prove the surprising factor of a major international tournament in three years time.


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Emeritus Professor Ed Davis, formerly a Professor at MGSM then Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, is the National Vice-President of ABC Friends. He discussed why business should be concerned about the de-funding of the ABC and calls for its privatisation.
The ABC has long played a vital role as part of Australia's social framework, a trusted and enduring voice but now at risk. It is essential for Australian democracy and for the maintenance of a stable economic framework. The influential British economist Maynard Keynes stressed that business thrives where there is social and political stability. This provides the necessary assurance for investment, the motor of market economies.
In real terms, ABC funding has declined by 30% over the past thirty years. As a proportion of federal government expenditure, it has declined from around 0.6% in 1980 to 0.2% today. The ABC plays a major role in holding power to account. Investigative journalism across private sector media is reeling from the flight of advertising from established media to Facebook, Google and other new media. Papers are folding; news rooms are being closed. There is now a shocking concentration of media in Australia, with News Corp providing some 70% of Australian newspapers.
We thank all our attendees and our moderator for this event, Randal Tame.
To watch the video please click here.


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Edward W. Foor, 69, of Rochester passed away at 12:08 AM on Monday, September 27, 2021 at Lutheran Hospital of Fort Wayne.
On June 16, 1952, Edward Wayne Foor was born in Rochester to Amos E. and Wanita K. Stoelting Foor. In 1970 he graduated from Akron High School. Ed served in the National Guard US Army for 8 years and was honorably discharged.
Ed and Roberta Kay. Michel were married on October 28, 1972 in the 1st Brethren Church of North Manchester. They shared nearly 49 years of life's adventures. From their union came three beautiful daughters. The family tree continued to grow with the added blessings of two more generations.
With a strong work ethic, Ed worked as a sales rep for The Andersons of North Manchester. He officially retired from the company in the fall 2017, but returned to work part time. He was also a member of the Moose Family Lodge and the Elk's Lodge both of Rochester.
With a passion for agriculture, Ed and Roberta owned and operated a farm where they oversaw a fine herd of Suffolk Sheep. He was an accomplished equestrian, riding the Quarter Horses. Each spring brought on the planting of a truck patch garden. In addition Ed annually planted corn and soybeans.
Left to cherish Ed's memory are his wife, Roberta, three daughters, Aimee Ruggieri and husband Lou of Denver, NC, Heather McGriff and husband Keith of Rochester, Haley McCreery and husband Derek of Columbia City; 8 grandchildren, Gavin Galloway, Aiden Galloway, Rylyn Galloway, Lillian Bowers, Grady McGriff, Asher McGriff, Izabella Coffing, Abbagail Coffing; two great-grandchildren, Malachi Jay Ries, Raelynn Kay Smith; sister, Jenean Rager, and husband Eldon of North Manchester.
Preceding Ed in death are his parents.
A celebration of the life of Mr. Edward W. Foor will be at 10:00 AM, on Saturday, October 2, 2021 in the Good Family Funeral Home of Rochester. Pastor Ed Haines will officiate.
Friends may visit with the family from 4-7 PM on Friday, October 1, 2021 and one hour prior to the service in the funeral home.
Military honors will be conducted by the Fulton County Veterans Honor Guard and the US Army Honors Team.
Interment will be in the Rochester IOOF Cemetery. Electronic expressions of sympathy may be made to his family at www.goodfamilyfh.com


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"This is what it looks like
the moment someone falls in love
with aviation."
My friend Jeff sent me the most beautiful photo and message yesterday:
"This was on a flight MDW-BWI last night, and at just shy of three and a half, Catherine is officially now at the point where she really appreciates looking out the plane window. She was so fascinated with the clouds and the movements of the plane that she barely even wanted to look at her iPad! She thought the plane was getting ready to do a barrel roll at one point, but (not being familiar with the 737's limitations yet) the idea didn't bother her."
Have a wonderful Weekend
and remember when you
fell in love with Aviation!
Enjoy the Journey!
XOX Karlene


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Keith Redpath
Keith Redpath became chair of NHS National Services Scotland on 1 August 2019.
Prior to his retirement in 2017, Keith spent a total of 42 years working in both local government and the NHS in Scotland. Since retiring he has been appointed to non-executive positions with the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Social Services Council.
Keith was the chief officer of the West Dunbartonshire Integrated Joint Board and, between 2015 and 2017, he was the Chair of the National Chief Officers Group representing the views of his fellow chief officers across the health and care system in Scotland. He spent 20 years promoting and advocating for the integration of health and social care
services, which is one of the government's key priorities in its Health and Social Care Delivery plan.
Keith gained extensive experience in the development of change programmes and partnership working, in the continuous delivery of organisational and financial objectives, all with a focus on delivering improved outcomes for the users of the services that the organisations that he led had a responsibility to.
Associated with the following committees:
- Finance, procurement and performance committee
- Renumeration and succession planning committee
- Clinical governance committee
- Staff governance committee
Term of Office:
1 August 2023 to 31 July 2027
1 August 2019 to 31 July 2023


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The Sharp SMD3070ASY Microwave Drawer Oven has been designed to complement the widest range of kitchen styles and appliances. The sleek, low-profile design and a stainless-steel finish beautifully complement any kitchen.
Easy Touch Automatic Drawer System Smoothly Opens and Enables Hands-Free Close
Convenient Kitchen Placement Allows for Easier Cooking, Saves Prep and Clean up Time
Concealed Control Panel Opens to an Easy-to-Read and Operate 45° Angle
Cooking Space Large Enough for a 4 qt Casserole Dish or a 20 oz Beverage
Cooking Performance from One of the Most Trusted Brands in Microwaves
Hidden Control Panel
The SMD3070ASY Microwave Drawer Oven boasts an easy-to-read display that disappears until you need it. The concealed control panel opens at a 45-degree angle, so it's easy to read and operate.
Convenient Placement Options
The SMD3070ASY 30-inch Microwave Drawer Oven offers flexible placement options below an island, peninsula or standard cabinetry, or can be installed below your wall oven.
Easier Cooking and Cleanup
The Sharp Stainless Steel Microwave Drawer Oven makes cooking and cleaning easier by putting the microwave at an accessible height. Easily lift hot foods from the Drawer. Stir dishes without removing them. And low sides and a virtual Carousel make cleaning a breeze.
Room to Spare
The 30-inch Microwave Drawer Oven offers plenty of cooking space, with room enough for a 4-quart casserole dish or a 20-oz. beverage from your favorite coffee shop.
Easy Touch Automatic Drawer System
Sharp's exclusive Easy Touch Automatic Drawer system eases open with a gentle pull or the touch of a button. Give the Microwave Drawer Oven a small nudge and it smoothly shuts for you. The even, gliding action and solid construction prevents liquids from spilling during opening and closing.
Finish - Stainless Steel
Drawer Opening - Easy Touch Automatic
Capacity - 1.2 Cu. Ft. (holds 9" x 13" dish)
Output Power - 950 watts
Sensor Cook, Reheat and Popcorn - Yes, 12 settings
Reheat Auto Settings - 2 settings
Defrost Auto Settings - 6 settings
Microwave Keep Warm Setting - Yes, up to 30 minutes
Clock - Yes
Minute Plus™ - Yes
Interior Oven Light - Yes
Kitchen Timer - Yes
Control Lock - Yes
Demonstration Mode - Yes
Built-In Ready for Easy Installation - Yes
Control Panel
Control Panel Location - Center/Top
Control Panel Type - Touchpad, Drop-down 45° Angle
Display Type - LCD
Display Color - White on Black Background
Additional Specifications
Power Connection - 3-Prong Grounding Plug (included)
Power Ratings - 120V, 60Hz / 1.67kW, 14.5 Amps
Safety Compliance - FCC, DHHS, UL listed
Dimensions & Weight (in./lbs.) (W x H x D)
Cutout Dimensions - 28 7/16" x 15 9/16" x 23 1/2"
Product Dimensions - 30" x 15 7/8" x 23 1/64"
Shipping Weight - 91 LBs
Product Weight - 79 LBs


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This economic stuff is a bit confusing. President Bush says his $674 billion stimulus package–which boils down to huge tax cuts that mainly benefit the rich–will spur economic growth. In California, the nation's most populous state, Democratic Governor Gray Davis says he needs to raise taxes to close a staggering $35 billion deficit in addition to massive cuts to services. Republicans in Congress support Bush's tax cuts saying it doesn't just benefit the wealthy, while Republicans in California oppose Davis' move to increase taxes for the state's wealthiest citizens by as much as two percent to stimulate the economy in California. Bush says his plan will create jobs. Davis' plan will likely result in job cuts. Who's right? Or is this just politics as usual?
Has anyone seen or heard from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan? Surely, Greenspan, the economy's psychic, can settle this nonsense by peeking into his crystal ball and tell us what the future holds under Bush's plan and throw in his two cents about Davis' package. California is, after all, the largest contributor to the nation's economy. But it seems that Greenspan is in a pickle. On the one hand, if he comes out in support of Bush's tax plan Democrats in the Senate said they would call for his resignation. On the other hand, if he opposes it he'll face the wrath of the Bush administration. So now Greenspan is in hiding (probably tidying up his resume).
It's easy to distrust Bush. Just look at his track record. But it's even easier to distrust Davis, who single-handedly turned a $12 billion surplus into a $35 billion deficit, which is larger than the entire budget of most U.S. states. Davis said the Internet bust in Silicon Valley and a downturn in the stock market, both of which contributed heavily to state coffers, were largely to blame. But since Davis became governor four years ago, government spending nearly doubled and his mishandling of the state's energy crisis in 2000 and 2001 cost the state tens of billions of dollars.
The one thing these two diametrically opposed economic plans have in common, judging by news reports, is that they are both largely opposed by millions of citizens and both are mired in politics. Yet President Bush and Governor Davis had the same message.
"We have one overriding task before us. We must come together to create new jobs and get our economy back on track. This task will not be easy. But it is essential if we're going to continue moving forward," Davis said last week.
"We've got some obstacles to overcome And one of those obstacles is to make sure people can find work, make sure this economy is strong and vibrant and hopeful, that the future is optimistic for every single citizen," Bush said last week.
So who's got the better stimulus package?
Robert Reich, the former labor secretary under President Clinton, explained Bush's economic plan in the simplest of terms in a column last week: "It's not a plan for 'growth and jobs'; it's a plan for rewarding the rich when what the economy needs is more spending by people of modest means. And it further concentrates wealth and power at a time when wealth and power are already in fewer and fewer hands."
In California, the exact opposite would happen under Davis' plan. The governor's announcement of tax increases and massive cuts to help erase red-ink sets the stage for a political battle. The tax proposals have support from Democrats, who want more money to protect programs, while Republicans call higher taxes damaging to the economy and vow to block any budget that includes them.
Nearly every state in the nation is facing a fiscal crises that forces cuts in education, law enforcement and health care. How does this impact Bush's economic plan, which provides a paltry $3.6 billion to help out the states?
"It is setting up an unwitting collision over fiscal policy between Washington and the states that will help determine the future of the economy and the fortunes of Main Street," according to the Christian Science Monitor.
By accelerating the income-tax cut and ending the dividend tax, Bush hopes Americans will spend more and invest more. The stock market fueled the surpluses of the 1990s, as investors cashed in and paid huge capital-gains taxes. Now, their disappearance is the single greatest factor in the state budget crises and could lead to an economic disaster, the Monitor reported
To many, though, the Bush plan is full of dangers. For one, they say the centerpiece of the proposal – the repeal of the dividend tax – could work against states trying to dig out from deep deficits. Thirty-seven states depend on federal data to collect roughly $4 billion in dividend taxes. Without Washington's help, states would have to drop the tax or come up with a complicated formula of their own., the Monitor reported.
"Every dollar you give to states is a dollar that will go into the economy," says Iris Lav of the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities in Washington, in an interview with the paper. "It is the most direct stimulus." Instead, she adds, the states and the federal government continue to work largely at cross-purposes: "It very likely could be close to a wash."
Sounds like politics as usual.
JASON LEOPOLD can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
As you're making your summer travel plans, you might want to consider the Republic of Molossia.
This 11.3 acre "nation" was established in 1977. It includes part of Dayton, Nevada, and two other enclaves in California.
It claims to have its own navy and space program and adds that it has been at war with East Germany (a country that no longer exists) since 1983. Molossians even have their own time zone and currency and are happy to stamp your passport.
According to Travel Trivia, this is just one of several "micronations" you probably haven't visited.
Another is the Grand Duchy of Westarctica, a micronation formed in Western Antarctica to advance conservation. They claimed a large swath of land that was unclaimed by any country and used it to form a non-profit organization dedicated to "advocacy through occupation" and preservation of their territory.
Nearby stands the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis, a micronation claiming five small islands in Western Antarctica. It was founded in 2008 to raise awareness about the perils of climate change. Citizens hail from over sixty countries worldwide.
If you're looking for someplace with a more hospitable climate, consider the Principality of Seborga.
This micronation is comprised of a pleasant hilltop village in northern Italy. Residents say the land was unclaimed because a sixteenth-century land sale contract was never properly signed and notarized. Its citizens believe that Seborga is not part of Italy but is its own state, beholden only to their monarch, Prince Marcello I.
Here's one trait Molossians, Westarcticans, Flandrensians, and Seborgians share: they each claim autonomy from the rest of the world. Their residents create their own laws and culture. They see themselves as members of their uniquely independent nation.
In a sense, we are all attempting to do the same.
The peril of autonomy and the power of humility
John Claypool was one of my favorite preachers and pastors. In his classic work The Preaching Event, he makes this very honest disclosure about himself: "At an exceedingly early age . . . the overwhelming drive of my life became 'to make it,' 'to get ahead,' 'to out-achieve all others' so as to do something about that awful emptiness I sensed at the bottom of my being. This way of living affected me at every level. . . .
"People used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I was shrewd enough to fashion my answer according to what I thought they wanted to hear. . . . However, in my own heart of hearts, I had my own private fantasy that I never dared to share with anyone. Do you know what it was? I am telling you the gospel truth: I wanted to be president of the world!
"I envisioned the whole human race as a giant pyramid with one place of preeminence at the top. I dreamed of climbing over everybody's back until at last I got there. Then I knew exactly what I would do. I would look down and say, 'Now! Now, do I amount to something? Have I at last become a somebody out of my nobodiness?'" (his emphasis).
The path to becoming "a somebody out of my nobodiness" is actually just the opposite.
Jesus taught us: "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11). Peter added: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you" (1 Peter 5:6).
Martin Luther was right: "God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him."
Every day of his adult life, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones prayed the same prayer: "Lord, keep me from pride."
Will you make his prayer yours today?


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"What I will say is that it seems wonderfully appropriate that we are thinking through the legal implications of this practice during Open Access Week. This annual event is in its eighth year and we have seen progress made. If you're not quite sure what open access means, the best two-minute explanation was written by Peter Suber and he explains it well, if not in as much depth as in his book about it. A lot of scholars now buy into the idea that it makes sense for their research to be available to all who have an internet connection, not just to those who are lucky enough to work at a research institution or have the resources to purchase all the books and articles they might want to look at. There's a persistent misperception among many scholars that all open access publishing operations charge authors (most don't), that they are not peer reviewed (most are), and that they're run by scammers (yes, some scammers have set up faux publishing sites, but they're pretty obviously bogus. Rejecting all open access publications as a result is kind of like saying you will only accept messages that come on paper in an envelope with a stamp because email is a scam run by Spanish Prisoner crooks.) One argument against open access that has never made sense to me is that the system we have works perfectly well and anyone who needs access to research already has it. Publishers have said this to members of the US Congress with a straight face. To me, this is a startlingly anti-intellectual stance."
Issues and developments related to Intellectual Property (e.g. Copyright, Fair Use, Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets) and Open Movements (e.g. Open Access, Open Data, Open Educational Resources (OER)), examined in the "Intellectual Property and Open Movements" and "Ethics of Data, Information, and Emerging Technologies" graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. -- Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Open Minds, Open Access; Inside Higher Ed, 10/22/14
Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Ed; Open Minds, Open Access:
Research Is Just the Beginning: A Free People Must Have Open Access to the Law; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 10/23/14
Corynne McSherry, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Research Is Just the Beginning: A Free People Must Have Open Access to the Law:
"The bad news: the specter of copyright has raised its ugly head. A group of standards-development organizations (SDOs) have banded together to sue Public.Resource.Org, accusing the site of infringing copyright by reproducing and publishing a host of safety codes that those organizations drafted and then lobbied heavily to have incorporated into law. These include crucial national standards like the national electrical codes and fire safety codes. Public access to such codes—meaning not just the ability to read them, but to publish and re-use them—can be crucial when there is an industrial accident; when there is a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina; or when a home-buyer wants to know whether her house is code-compliant. Publishing the codes online, in a readily accessible format, makes it possible for reporters and other interested citizens to not only view them easily, but also to search, excerpt, and generate new insights. The SDOs argue that they hold a copyright on those laws because the standards began their existence in the private sector and were only later "incorporated by reference" into the law. That claim conflicts with the public interest, common sense, and the rule of law. With help from EFF and others, Public.Resource.Org is fighting back, and the outcome of this battle will have a major impact on the public interest. If any single entity owns a copyright in the law, it can sell or ration the law, as well as make all sort of rules about when, where, and how we share it."
Downloading Music Is Quickly Going Out Of Fashion; HuffingtonPost.com, 10/24/14
Kerry Flynn, HuffingtonPost.com; Downloading Music Is Quickly Going Out Of Fashion:
"First records died, then cassette tapes, then CDs and now, downloads. That's right, we're all but officially in the age of streaming services. Apple might operate the largest online music store in the world, but the Apple Store's iTunes digital music sales have fallen about 13 percent this year, a source familiar with the matter tells the Wall Street Journal. The writing is on the wall."
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Why We Need Bright Lines; Inside Higher Ed, 10/20/14
Joseph Storch, Inside Higher Ed; Why We Need Bright Lines:
"Frankly, the dueling decisions in these cases, and the numerous articles and statements by serious copyright scholars on both sides of this analysis, show that even those who steep themselves in the details of fair use can disagree on whether a certain use is fair or violative. When intellectual property law experts cannot agree, we should not expect our history and math faculty to do justice to the fair use analysis each time. Instead, faculty will divide into two camps. One group will "throw caution to the wind" and use whatever content they wish in whatever form they desire, hoping never to raise the ire of the publishing companies. The other, out of an abundance of caution, will self-censor, and fail to make fair use of content for fear that they might step over a line they cannot possibly identify, and can never be certain of until a judge rules one way or the other. Either way, our students and the publishers lose out.""
Crooner in Rights Spat: Are copyright laws too strict?; New Yorker, 10/20/14
Louis Menand, New Yorker; Crooner in Rights Spat: Are copyright laws too strict? :
"This almost instinctive distinction between what is proper in the analog realm and what is proper in the digital realm is at the center of a global debate about the state of copyright law. Statutes protecting copyright have never been stricter; at the same time, every minute of every day, millions of people are making or using copies of material—texts, sounds, and images—that they didn't create. According to an organization called Tru Optik, as many as ten billion files, including movies, television shows, and games, were downloaded in the second quarter of this year. Tru Optik estimates that approximately ninety-four per cent of those downloads were illegal. The law seems to be completely out of whack with the technology."
Cloud Computing Is Forcing a Reconsideration of Intellectual Property; New York Times, 10/11/14
Quentin Hardy, New York Times; Cloud Computing Is Forcing a Reconsideration of Intellectual Property:
"Almost overnight, our technology revolution is shaking up entire industries and remaking society. Don't get caught up in the small stuff, though: Tech really is changing how we think about our ideas. We've used ideas to sculpt the globe since the Industrial Revolution, thanks largely to the way we handle intellectual property. When machines, and machines to make identical machines, mass-produced reliably identical goods, it was because people understood the same set of instructions. Mass-produced books, music and movies were possible, too. Like machine-making instructions, these items were made reliable and protected with laws of copyright, patent and trademark. Now, according to people involved in the business of protecting ideas, all of that is set to change. Software, lashing together thousands of computer servers into fast and flexible cloud-computing systems, is the reason. Clouds, wirelessly connected to more software in just about everything, make it possible to shift, remix and borrow from once separate industrial categories."
Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame; New York Times, 10/14/14
Deb Amlen, New York Times; Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame:
"The artist formerly known as Prince and who is apparently very sensitive about copyright has prevented any videos of "RASPBERRY BERET" from being played on YouTube."
Teenage Mutant Ninja Journal! Celebrating an Open Access Birthday; Scientific American, 10/20/14
Hilda Bastian, Scientific American; Teenage Mutant Ninja Journal! Celebrating an Open Access Birthday:
"The world of medical journals needs a fresh infusion of idealism." And with those words from PLOS founders, Mike Eisen, Pat Brown, and Harold Varmus, the first issue of PLOS Medicine launched 10 years ago today. Its "mutant" superpower was being open access. Then – as now – it was bold, idealistic, and an active advocate for open science. The year before, when PLOS had just arrived, Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet, wrote: "An historic realignment of power is beginning to take place in scientific and medical journal publishing. Nobody is certain about the final outcome.""
OPEN ACCESS WEEK @ Pitt, 2014
OPEN ACCESS WEEK @ Pitt, 2014
"Open Access Week, a global event now entering its seventh year, is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they've learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research."
Celebrating Open Access Week: Research Should Be Free, Available, and Open; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 10/20/14
Electronic Frontier Foundation; Celebrating Open Access Week: Research Should Be Free, Available, and Open:
"Welcome to the eighth annual Open Access Week! We're joining an international community—researchers and students, doctors and patients, librarians and activists—to celebrate free and open access to knowledge. This is also a time to discuss the barriers and costs of keeping research and information locked up with restrictive licenses and publisher paywalls. This week, we'll be blogging daily about various aspects of open access, as well as ways to get involved in the movement. Visit this page throughout the week to find a list of all our blog posts. If you have further questions, be sure to tune in on Thursday at 10 a.m. PT for a reddit AmA, where we'll be joined by fellow advocates and researchers."
Thursday, October 16, 2014
"Copy Me" episode 3: "Early Copyright History"; BoingBoing.net, 10/13/14
Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net; "Copy Me" episode 3: "Early Copyright History" :
"Alex writes, "It features censorship, hangings, dissent and criticism, a whole bunch of state and church control, angry queens, sad Stationers, and, of course, our terrible culprit: the printing press.""
early copyright history,
printing press,
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Conservatives' copyright law changes could backfire; CBC, 10/14/14
Kady O'Malley, CBC News; Conservatives' copyright law changes could backfire:
"It's not hard to imagine the Conservative advertising department working overtime to come up with a new ad centred on a clip of Trudeau's now infamous comments. If done right — and until Trudeau came along, that ad department had an excellent track record, at least as far as demolishing the credibility of Liberal leaders — a campaign focusing on Trudeau's most ungainly on-camera moments of late could at least start to make up for the time and money wasted in trying to depict him as Canada's new Prince of Pot. But last spring, representatives from Canada's major broadcasters — CBC, Radio Canada, CTV, Rogers and Shaw, owner of Global — served notice to all political parties that they were seriously considering imposing a collective blackout on ads making use of their proprietary footage without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Under that policy, if the Conservative Party can't strike a deal with one of the networks that happened to be filming Trudeau at the time, they would likely find the ad blocked from the airwaves."
copyright law changes,
Justin Trudeau
YouTube Has Paid $1 Billion to Copyright Holders Since 2007; NBCNews.com, 10/14/14
NBCNews.com; YouTube Has Paid $1 Billion to Copyright Holders Since 2007:
"YouTube has paid out a cool $1 billion to copyright holders since 2007, the company confirmed to NBC News. It's all part of YouTube's Content ID program, which, according to a Google spokesperson, scans 400 years' worth of content every single day for potential copyright issues... The majority of Content ID's 500-plus partners decide to monetize instead of ban those videos, according to Google, which could explain why the entertainment industry shifted from complaining about YouTube to awarding it a Primetime Engineering Emmy Award in 2013."
Monday, October 6, 2014
Readers Debate Online Piracy and the Future of Digital Entertainment; New York Times, 9/29/14
Jenna Wortham, New York Times; Readers Debate Online Piracy and the Future of Digital Entertainment:
"On Sunday, The New York Times published the story of a popular — and illegal — website that let people stream and download movies and television shows at their leisure. The site was taken offline in 2010 by the federal government, and the administrators behind the site were charged with conspiracy and copyright infringement. Nearly all served time in prison. The article touched a nerve among Times readers, eliciting hundreds of reactions about copyright infringement and intellectual property, and how the digital world complicates both. Here is a sampling of their comments..."
Supreme Court won't intervene in Shuster-DC fight over Superman; ComicBookResources.com, 10/6/14
Kevin Melrose, ComicBookResources.com; Supreme Court won't intervene in Shuster-DC fight over Superman:
"The U.S. Supreme Court this morning declined to intervene in the copyright dispute between the Joe Shuster Estate and DC Comics, effectively ending the long, and frequently bitter, battle over who owns Superman. By denying the estate's petition, the justices let stand a November 2013 ruling by the Ninth Circuit that Shuster's nephew is prevented by a 1992 agreement with DC from reclaiming the artist's stake in the first Superman story under a clause of the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act. At issue was a now 22-year-old deal in which the Shuster estate relinquished all claims to the property in exchange for "more than $600,000 and other benefits," which included paying Shuster's debts following his death earlier that year and providing his sister Jean Peavy and brother Frank Shuster with a $25,000 annual pension."
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Kirby vs. Marvel settlement: The King's goal fulfilled; ComicBookResources.com, 10/1/14
Corey Blake, ComicBookResources.com; Kirby vs. Marvel settlement: The King's goal fulfilled:
"Nearly one month after what would've been Jack Kirby's 97th birthday, the announcement was made: Concluding a five-year copyright battle, and decades of contention about credit and compensation, Marvel and the Kirby family revealed Friday that they had reached a settlement, just ahead of a conference to decide whether the U.S. Supreme Court would take up the case. "Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have amicably resolved their legal disputes," they said in a joint statement, "and are looking forward to advancing their shared goal of honoring Mr. Kirby's significant role in Marvel's history." This is, without question, excellent news, and cause for celebration. As is typical with settlements, the terms of their agreement aren't made public, and the one-sentence statement gives no indication of how Kirby's significant role in Marvel's history will be honored."
Grooveshark employees are guilty of copyright infringement, judge rules; Guardian, 9/30/14
Samuel Gibbs, Guardian; Grooveshark employees are guilty of copyright infringement, judge rules:
"Griesa pointed to an internal memo sent in 2007 where Greenberg asked employees to "please share as much music as possible from outside the office" to help the service get off the ground. "By overtly instructing its employees to upload as many files as possible to Grooveshark as a condition of their employment, Escape engaged in purposeful conduct with a manifest intent to foster copyright infringement via the Grooveshark service," Griesa wrote. Griesa gave the parties 21 days to reach agreement to stop further infringement. "Escape respectfully disagrees with the court's decision, and is currently assessing its next steps, including the possibility of an appeal," John Rosenberg, a partner at Rosenberg & Giger representing the defendants told Reuters. The ruling opens the door to a multimillion-pound damages suit from the record labels, who are keen to see the service shut down, calling it a "linear descendant" of file sharing services Grokster, LimeWire and Napster all of whom have been shutdown over copyright infringement."
Thursday, October 2, 2014
For Bill on Disabled Access to Online Teaching Materials, the Devil's in the Details; Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/30/14
Rebecca Koenig, Chronicle of Higher Education; For Bill on Disabled Access to Online Teaching Materials, the Devil's in the Details:
"As smart classrooms become the norm on more campuses and online courses proliferate, some observers worry that the digital revolution will leave students with disabilities behind. But a bill under consideration in the U.S. Congress, the Technology, Equality, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act (HR 3505), would deal with that concern by creating accessibility guidelines for electronic materials used or assigned by college professors and administrators. While the bill, known as the Teach Act, has bipartisan support in Congress, several higher-education organizations have raised concerns about what they consider the legislation's broad language, inflexibility, and misplaced oversight."
Kurt Busiek Breaks Down the Marvel/Jack Kirby Legal Battle; ComicBookResources.com, 10/1/14
Steve Sunu, ComicBookResources.com; Kurt Busiek Breaks Down the Marvel/Jack Kirby Legal Battle:
"Additionally, Busiek posits a theory as to why Marvel decided to settle -- and it has to do with various organizations, including the Writer's Guild, the Director's Guild, the Screen Actor's Guild and more, filing amicus briefs that argued Marvel's current definition of employee is "not workable." "[I]f the Supreme Court upholds it, it'll create chaos for other industries, where things that used to be classed as rights sales suddenly got redefined as work for hire. So they wanted the Supreme Court to hear the case and decide that no, the rules of work for hire don't work that way. "And that's where things sat until Friday, when Marvel and the Kirbys settled, on the last possible business day before the Supreme Court started discussing whether to take the case. "Based on that, it sure doesn't look like Marvel's throwing the Kirbys a few bucks to go away. If that's what they wanted to do, they could have done that any time within the last few years. Whoever blinked, it was the side that had the most to lose if the case went to the Supreme Court and risked a ruling they didn't like."
New UK Copyright Exception Allows Mashups -- But Only If Judges Think They Are Funny; TechDirt.com, 10/1/14
Glyn Moody, TechDirt.com; New UK Copyright Exception Allows Mashups -- But Only If Judges Think They Are Funny:
"Leaving aside the fact that judges tend to be somewhat advanced in years, and are therefore likely to have a very different idea from young creative artists of what "funny" means, there is also the point that this narrow definition excludes a huge class of mashups that aren't even intended to be funny, just creative."
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Residents living near a construction site on the corner of Blaauwberg Road and Grey Avenue, Table View, say the block of flats being built there is too close to their homes and they are at risk of being hit by falling debris.
The occupants of three houses on a single neighbouring plot in Blaauwberg Road say the four-storey block is too close their boundary walls and its balconies invade their privacy. Recently a piece of scaffolding from the site fell through the roof one of the homes.
The developers, however, say they are permitted to build up against the boundary walls, according to plans approved by the City of Cape Town.
Patricia Bond, 57, said bulldozers had started demolishing the three houses on the plot next to hers in January last year without consulting her. Construction had paused when lockdown started in March but had started up again four months later and the developer had demolished the boundary wall for her and her neighbour. She had complained to the developers and they had agreed to rebuild her wall in two days but had only done so a month later, leaving it unpainted and unplastered.
"We were without a wall for a month and the property next door was open with no temporary fencing around it," said Ms Bond.
Her neighbour, Dawn Jorgenson, said she had paid private builders R10 000 to rebuild the wall because her dogs had been confined to a small space in the house.
Ms Jorgensen said her garden had been damaged and four trees had been chopped down and left among the rubble.
Ms Bond's daughter, Monique Stockigt, who rents the third property on the plot, complained that a balcony from the block had a "good view" of her backyard.
On January 21 this year a scaffolding board crashed through Ms Bond's roof. Ms Bond said the developers had fixed it but the roof now leaked when it rained.
Ms Bond said she had invited the developers to have a look at the balconies encroaching onto her property and shoddy workmanship but they had turned her request into a joke.
"I called them about the balconies and they said it's a great way to keep conversation or jump over for a braai."
Cars and carports were damaged by falling debris and construction vehicles were parked on her property, she said.
"This is my investment. I have worked all my life towards this property and it was damaged in the space of months," she said, choked with emotion.
Ms Jorgensten wants the developers to refund her R10 000 and check that debris from the construction site doesn't fall onto her property.
Ms Bond demanded that developers move the black back from her boundary wall, fix her leaking roof and move the balconies to face in another direction.
She accused the developers of not being transparent about their plans or following a public participation process.
"I would not have objected to the development; I would have laid down simple demands, but they have no regard and went along with the building," she said.
The four-storey block of flats on the 1327m² plot comprises 22 two-bedroom units of 60m² with 12m² balconies. Each unit will have one open parking bay, including six closed garages. The block's gate faces Grey Avenue. The development is due to be completed by the end of June this year.
According to CIJ Property Developments website, there are only 16 units left, for purchase or to rent.
The developer, Johnny Khella, said the City of Cape Town had approved the building plans on June 1 last year and a demolition permit had been issued.
He denied that the buildings were encroaching onto any neighbouring properties.
"Plans will not be approved unless the bulk and coverage are within the use zone and development rules of the City of Cape Town. By approving the building plans they confirmed that the building being erected does not contravene use zone and development rules," he said.
Mr Khella called the damage to Ms Bond's roof and "unfortunate incident" and said it had been repaired and waterproofed.
"A barrier has since been erected on the roof to prevent future possible damage and the barrier will be removed once construction is complete."
A vibracrete boundary wall had been on the development's property, and, after consultation with the affected neighbours, it had been removed and a new wall built on the boundary, he said.
He had told the neighbours that the plastering and painting of the wall would be attended to during the final phase of the development.
Mr Khella said all efforts were taken to stop debris falling into other properties but "unfortunately will take place from time to time," because of windy weather conditions.
"Arrangements have been made with neighbours who have been affected by debris, and clean up of the affected areas is being attended to from time to time. As a sign of good faith a neighbour's car has also been washed," he said.
Marian Nieuwoudt, mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, confirmed that the City had approved the building plans on June 1 2020 and the City had done its first building inspection on October 23 of that year.
Ms Nieuwoudt said a public participation process had not been needed because the property had a history of General Residential 3 zoning, which allows for the development of flats, just like many other properties on Blaauwberg Road.
"The owner submitted a building plan which was zoning compliant and the property will be developed in accordance with the applicable rules," she said.
Table View Ratepayers' Association did not respond by deadline.