How would you describe the general state of equity capital markets in your jurisdiction, including notable recent activity and deals?
Bulgarian equity capital markets are still relatively new and underdeveloped, and are yet to recover to match their peak performance before the 2007-2008 financial crisis. During 2018 there was one relatively sizeable initial public offering (IPO) in Bulgaria: the €25 million IPO of Gradus AD, a poultry and egg producer. Several listed companies made share capital increases on the stock exchange.
What recognised exchanges operate in your jurisdiction, and what are the pros and cons of listing in each?
Two regulated markets exist, operated by the Bulgarian Stock Exchange JSC (BSE): the BSE Main Market and the BaSE Alternative Market. The BSE Main Market is the main market in Bulgaria and is divided into several segments – the premium segment, the standard segment and several other special segments. Less liquid issues are traded on the BaSE Alternative Market. Their admission is made only ex officio by the BSE through relocation from the BSE Main Market if they no longer comply with the requirements of the main market. At the end of 2018, the BSE registered with the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) the SME Growth Market under the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II called BEAM (the Bulgarian Enterprise Accelerator Market). However, this is still not operational.
Are any regulatory reforms envisaged or underway with regard to equity capital markets? Has there been any recent case law affecting the markets?
MiFID II was transposed in Bulgaria in early 2018, with some aspects of the national regime yet to be adopted. The first draft of the outstanding legislation is expected to be published in Q1 of 2019.
Further amendments are expected to the Public Offering of Securities Act – transposing, among others, Directive 2003/71/EC – in order to reflect the new EU Prospectus Regulation (2017/1129), which is applicable as of 21 July 2019. The expected timeframe for these amendments is the end of Q2 of 2019.
Have there been any notable recent developments in financial technology (fintech) which affect equity capital markets in your jurisdiction?
In December 2018 the FSC launched an innovation hub aimed at facilitating the development of fintech projects targeted, among others, at the Bulgarian capital markets. This innovation hub is part of the FSC's Fintech Development Strategy, which was approved in July 2018.
What primary and secondary legislation governs the issue and trade of equity securities in your jurisdiction?
Bulgarian securities law is centred around the Public Offering of Securities Act, the main piece of legislation related to public offers of equities and public companies' regime. Among others, it transposes the EU Prospectus Directive (2003/71/EC), the EU Transparency Directive (2004/109/EC) and the EU Takeover Bids Directive (2004/25/EC). The Public Offering of Securities Act is supplemented by statutory instruments, such as Ordinance 2 of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), which introduces national rules for the public offers of securities and disclosure of information by public companies in addition to the requirements of EU Regulation 809/2004.
In respect of trading in equity securities, Bulgarian law complies with the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, implemented in the Markets in Financial Instruments Act and FSC Ordinance 58. In addition, there is a national regime, set out in FSC Ordinance 38 and in several other FSC acts.
The national legal regime is a combination of directly applicable EU regulations, acts of the Bulgarian Parliament, ordinances (mostly adopted by the FSC) and EU and local regulatory practices.
Which authorities regulate equity capital markets in your jurisdiction and what is the extent of their powers?
coercive measures for securities law violations.
What eligibility and disclosure requirements apply for primary listing of equity securities on recognised exchanges in your jurisdiction (eg, aggregate share value, free float requirements, trading record, working capital)?
information disclosure in both Bulgarian and English.
The listing requirements for the BSE standard segment are less strict (ie, a monthly average turnover for the last six months above Lev4,000 and a monthly average of at least five transactions).
Are there any exemptions from the listing requirements?
securities offered in respect of an exchange tender offer, a merger or division, bonus shares or offers directed solely to the managers and employees of the issuer.
What is the procedure and typical timeframe for listing?
In the absence of an exemption from the prospectus requirement, a listing prospectus must be drafted. The prospectus must conform with the requirements of the Public Offering of Securities Act and the EU Prospectus Regulation. As of 21 July 2019, the new Prospectus Regulation will apply and prospectuses will have to be aligned with it.
The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC)-led prospectus approval procedure typically takes two to three months. The listing on the BSE usually takes another two to three weeks. The equity securities must be registered with the Central Depository and with a FSC special register. When filing for listing, the issuer must attach to the application certain documents, including a copy of the prospectus, the FSC's approval resolution and the registration certificate from the Central Depository.
What fees apply for an application to list equity securities?
As a supporting measure for the development of the Bulgarian capital market, the initial public offering prospectus approval procedure before the FSC is free of charge until the beginning of 2021. After that the FSC will charge a fee based on the total issue price of the offered equity securities: Lev900 plus 0.1% of the total issue price in excess of Lev200,000.
The BSE charges a listing fee of Lev500, excluding value added tax.
Is there a distinction between listing and admission to trading in your jurisdiction?
In theory, equity securities may be listed on a multilateral trading facility organised in Bulgaria. However, multilateral trading facilities in Bulgaria are still underdeveloped. For this reason, standard practice is to list on the BSE regulated market.
Are there any differences in the rules, restrictions and procedures for secondary listings of equity securities?
A prospectus is unnecessary for secondary listing of securities if these have already been admitted to trading on another EEA regulated market for more than 18 months, provided that such admission was made based on a prospectus and that the ongoing obligations for trading on the respective regulated market have been complied with. Nonetheless, a prospectus summary in Bulgarian should be published, stating where the prospectus can be obtained and where the issuer's published financial information is available.
Bulgarian issuers wishing to make a secondary listing on a foreign stock exchange may choose to offer their securities either by way of a secondary listing on the selected stock exchange or through issuance of depository receipts (eg, global depositary receipts). If the selected stock exchange is EEA domiciled, a prospectus should be filed either with the FSC (in case of listing of equities, unless prospectus exemptions apply) or with the respective home member state of the depositary receipt issuer (in case of issuance of depositary receipts).
Where a Bulgarian issuer is considering a listing in a third country (eg, on NASDAQ), it should meet the applicable foreign listing requirements (eg, produce a prospectus approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission). It will also have to notify the FSC of its intentions and to provide copies of the draft prospectus and other listing particulars required by the third country`s laws (eg, the US Securities Act 1933), as well as a binding statement that it will present to the FSC copies of all documents made public or otherwise provided under the third county`s securities laws post-listing.
The secondary listing of a Bulgarian issuer abroad requires a careful legal analysis in view of any necessary amendments to the corporate status of the issuer and the unhindered exercise of shareholder rights under the equities, including when serving as underlying for depositary receipts. Ensuring a link between the central securities depositories involved is also important.
Are there any differences in the listing rules and procedures for foreign issuers?
Other EEA issuers can apply for admission to trading under the same terms as local issuers if they have undergone the prospectus passporting procedure under the EU Prospectus Directive. Once listed, ЕЕА domiciled issuers should submit to the BSE all relevant information, reports and other data subject to public or regulatory disclosure under their national law.
Issuers from third countries wishing to list their equities may choose to draft a prospectus in accordance with their national law, if the prospectus complies with the international standards determined by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions and the contents requirements under their national law are equivalent to these under Bulgarian law. If the issuer intends to publicly offer in Bulgaria equities which are not publicly offered or listed on a regulated market in the European Economic Area, the equities must comply with the requirements of Public Offering of Securities Act and the issuer must submit evidence that the offer will not breach its national law and that the exercise of rights of the domestic investors is ensured. Such issuers may apply for admission to trading under the same terms as local issuers. The prospectus must be submitted in Bulgarian.
Under what circumstances can a company be delisted? What rules and procedures apply?
the total value of the assets of the company was less than Lev200,000 according to the latest monthly balance sheet, as well as according to the two latest audited annual balance sheets.
The general meeting of shareholders at which all shareholders were present or represented has passed a unanimous resolution for delisting.
the general meeting of shareholders has passed a resolution on the delisting by a majority of half of the represented capital, where the tender offeror may vote only with any tendered shares acquired.
Certain other conditions are present (eg, the issuer is subject to insolvency proceedings or declared insolvent or the FSC has imposed coercive measures ).
In practice, delistings follow mandatory or voluntary tender offers. Tender offer memoranda should be drafted in accordance with FSC Ordinance 41 and are published following FSC approval. The FSC checks whether the calculation of the proposed price is fair according to the calculation methods used. The tender offer must be valid for a period of 28 to 70 calendar days, as the offeror has chosen. After the completion of the tender offer procedure, and provided the company meets one of the above-mentioned requirements, it may apply for delisting before the FSC and delist its shares from the BSE.
What are the most common structures used for IPOs in your jurisdiction, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Issuers use mostly the book-building method, albeit some initial public offerings (IPOs) have been carried out by way of an auction on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange JSC (BSE). The book-building method tends to be preferred by issuers as it offers the possibility of achieving relatively higher prices of the IPO shares. The book-building procedure still requires a careful design in order to ensure fair treatment of all participating investors in the allocation of the offered shares.
What is the procedure and typical timeframe for launching an IPO?
publication in electronic form on the website of the issuer and IPO managers.
After the IPO has been completed, the new securities must be registered with the Commercial Register and the Central Depository. Subsequently, the new securities must be registered with an FSC register and are eligible for admission to trading on the BSE. Typically, it takes six to seven months for completion of an IPO project.
What due diligence is required and advised in the IPO process?
Bulgarian law poses no explicit requirement for the carrying out of due diligence of the information included in the IPO prospectus. However, practice has gradually evolved towards due diligence processes by external advisers (eg, legal, tax or technical), acceptable to IPO managers. In the context of Bulgarian law, such checks will reduce any potential risks of claims by investors against the issuer or the IPO managers arising out of deficiencies in the prospectus.
What rules and standards govern share pricing and allocation in the context of an IPO?
The IPO managers must comply with the requirements for pricing and allocating offered securities pursuant to Articles 38 to 43 of EU Regulation 2017/565. Before taking the mandate, the managers must inform the issuer of the targeted investors to which they will offer the equities and introduce internal rules and procedures aiming to prevent or manage any potential conflict of interests (eg, to prevent any under-pricing or over-pricing to promote interests of the managers' other clients or their own interests and to prevent unlawful practices of allocating the offered securities, such as spinning or laddering). The IPO managers must provide the issuer with information about the pricing techniques that they intend to use. They must also adopt an allocation policy. This policy should be provided to the issuer before the managers receive the mandate. The managers must discuss with the issuer the placing process and obtain the issuer's consent for the proposed allocation per type of client in accordance with their allocation policy.
What types of follow-on offering are commonly used in your jurisdiction, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Follow-on offerings in Bulgaria are regulated under the Public Offering of Securities Act. Every existing shareholder has a pre-emption right to participate in follow-on offerings. This right cannot be waived and may not be overcome by a vote of the general meeting, except in limited cases such as the allotment of shares under share (option) plans for directors and employees of the issuer.
The pre-emption rights are materialised through the issuance of share capital increase rights in a proportion of one existing share to one right. The rights issues are admitted to trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange JSC (BSE) and are tradeable for a period of 14 to 30 days, as determined by the issuer. Within this term, existing shareholders and investors which purchased rights on the BSE can exercise the rights by subscribing to new shares in a proportion set out in the terms and conditions of the follow-on offering. On the fifth business day after expiry of the rights trading term, the unexercised rights are offered in a special auction organised by the BSE. Investors can acquire rights at this auction. The proceeds from the rights thus sold are distributed pro rata among rights holders who did not exercise their rights. Investors acquiring rights at the auction can exercise them within an additional subscription period (usually 10 business days).
certain offers directed solely to the managers and employees of the issuer (eg, under share (option) plans). In that case, existing shareholders have no pre-emption rights, provided that the public offer will not result in a capital increase of more than 1% within one year and any such subsequent capital increases will not result in an increase of more than 3%, if there was no standard capital increase procedure in the meantime under which the issuer's capital was increased with at least 10%. The shares issued as a result of a public offer directed solely to managers and employees may not exceed 5% of the capital of the issuer.
securities which are offered under the exemptions from the prospectus requirement, specified in the second, third and fourth cases above provided that, in the third and fourth cases above, the respective securities which are to be admitted to trading are from the same class as those already admitted.
information on the issuer's financial condition.
The securities note contains information on the terms and conditions of the public offer (including the subscription procedure) and the risk factors inherent to the offered securities. The summary must contain a brief resumé of the information provided in the other two documents.
According to EU Regulation 2016/301, the draft prospectus must be filed with the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) in a searchable electronic format via electronic means. The draft prospectus must be accompanied by an approval request form drafted in Bulgarian and signed by a qualified electronic signature, as well as other supporting documents (eg, a certified copy of the issuer's articles of association, the issuer's resolution for the public offer/admission of securities to trading on a regulated market and for adoption of the draft prospectus). The FSC should acknowledge via electronic means the receipt of the draft prospectus no later than the second business day thereof.
The FSC will review the draft prospectus within 10 business days, or 15 business days for first-time issuers. After an initial review, the FSC may request the prospectus to be amended to eliminate any deficiencies. The FSC must direct the applicant to any necessary revisions to be made. The revised version of the prospectus must be submitted to the FSC for review within one month. This version must be submitted via electronic means in a marked-up version and a clean version. The FSC should review this revised version and either approve the prospectus (within an additional 10 business days, or 15 business days for first-time issuers) or decline approval.
There is no express procedure for the preliminary review of draft prospectuses by the FSC, and this is not a supervisory practice.
The members of the management body of the issuer, its procurists and the offeror and the person asking for admission to trading are jointly liable for any damages arising out of untrue, misleading or omitted information in the prospectus. The officers responsible for the preparation of the financial statements of the issuer are jointly liable with the foregoing for any damages arising out of untrue, misleading and omitted data in the financial statements of the issuer. The issuer's auditors are liable for damages arising out of the audited financial statements of the issuer. This liability derives from statute and is regarded as a form of tort liability.
There are no special rules on the liability of experts, whose expert opinions may be referenced in a prospectus.
Before launching the initial public offering (IPO) project, the persons who would be jointly liable for damages arising out of untrue, misleading or omitted information in the prospectus may enter into agreements among themselves in order to stipulate how liability, if any, will be allocated among them.
In addition, pursuant to the Penal Code criminal liability is imposed on any person who, in relation to public offer of securities, knowingly uses untrue favourable information in a prospectus or does not disclose unfavourable data which is of material importance in the making of an investment decision to acquire such securities. The penalty is imprisonment for up to three years and a fine up to Lev500.
The persons liable for the content of the prospectus may mitigate the potential risks of claims by investors by introducing full and comprehensive information in the risk sections of the prospectus for the risks to which the issuer and its business activities are exposed. A key defence would also relate to a pre-IPO due diligence as well.
It is extremely rare that cases against persons responsible for the contents of prospectuses reach the Bulgarian courts. As a result, the practicalities of the legal regime of prospectus liability in Bulgaria are still underdeveloped.
What methods are commonly used to market equity security offerings in your jurisdiction?
Equity securities are commonly marketed through roadshows and investor presentations, distributed among institutional investors. If retail investors are targeted as well, there are marketing campaigns and interviews with the management of the issuer in the national press.
What rules and restrictions (if any) apply to the marketing of equity securities?
contain so-called 'alternative performance measures' concerning the issuer, unless they are contained in the prospectus.
Further, the issuer and the initial public offering (IPO) managers may not make any statements which are inconsistent with the information contained in the prospectus or which contain any material information which is unavailable in the prospectus.
To what extent is bookbuilding used in your jurisdiction, and how does the process customarily play out? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this process?
The book-building method is widely used in Bulgaria in relation to IPOs. Usually, according to the terms and conditions of the IPO, the price of the offered securities is proposed to potential investors either in a range or with a proposed floor, without a price cap. Potential investors are expected to submit their bids for the quantity and price of the securities they wish to subscribe for, and the final price of the offered securities is determined in accordance with the methods designated in the terms and conditions of the IPO, based on the bids submitted by investors (eg, as weighted average price of the investors' bids).
The main advantage of the book-building method is that the pricing is achieved taking into consideration the demand by the market participants and how they evaluate the opportunities for future growth of the company. However, the terms and conditions of the public offer should be carefully designed as to ensure fair treatment of all bidding investors.
According to market practices in Bulgaria, IPO managers are responsible for structuring the entire IPO process, including the type of offering, the pricing and allocation methods. They also take charge of the placement of the offered securities and the determination of marketing initiatives relating to the IPO. Within the subscription procedure, banks and investment firms act as bookrunners and registration agents. They are usually the listing agents in respect of the admission of the securities to trading.
Auditors review the financial information included in the prospectus in order to verify that it is compliant with the audited financial statements of the issuer. In the case of forecasts or profit estimation to be included in the prospectus, auditors issue letters confirming that these are consistent with the accounting policies of the issuer. Other than that, the auditors issue letters confirming that the financial information included in the prospectus is, to the best of their knowledge, true and complete and complies with the issuer's audited financial statements.
As per local practice, the issuer's lawyers draft the prospectus and review whether the information incorporated therein is complete and complies with the minimum content requirements. They also provide legal assistance during the entire IPO project, such as drafting all necessary documents and representation of the issuer before the Commercial Register, the Central Depository, the Financial Supervision Commission and the Bulgarian Stock Exchange JSC. Lawyers acting for the banks usually check and verify whether the information included in the prospectus is true and not misleading and will take part in the IPO due diligence process.
The role of external legal counsel tends to increase in IPOs due to their professional skill and regulatory expertise as regards the due diligence process and the application of liability mitigation techniques.
(d) Any other relevant advisers?
Unlike debt capital market projects where there is an explicit requirement under Bulgarian law for the fair market value of any collateral posted to be determined by an external licensed evaluator on the posting of such collateral and subsequently at least on an annual basis, there is no such rule in respect of equity offerings. However, it is good market practice to evaluate the issuer's most significant assets independently and to attach to or reference in the prospectus the respective expert reports.
What continuing obligations apply to issuers of equity securities? What are the penalties for non-compliance?
The continuing obligations under applicable law are set out in the Public Offering of Securities Act, which transposes the EU Transparency Directive, and in the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
Issuers of equity securities domiciled in Bulgaria are required to disclose regular financial (or regulated) information, as well as information on significant shareholdings.
a statement on the financial condition or a more granular quarterly financial report within 30 days (if applicable, also consolidated within 60 days) of the end of Q1, Q3 and Q4.
Annual and semi-annual reports must remain public for 10 years, and quarterly information for five years.
Further, public companies are required to publicly disclose notifications received from persons who directly or indirectly have acquired or transferred voting rights representing 5% or a multiple of 5% of all voting rights in the general meeting of the respective company. The disclosure should be made public efficiently throughout the European Economic Area within three business days of receipt of such notification.
up to twice the profit realised or the loss avoided following the breach.
Failure to publish quarterly regulated information is punishable with lower penalties than above.
Issuers of equity securities listed on a regulated market or a multilateral trading facility are required to disclose to the public any issuer-specific inside information (ie, price sensitive non-public information) of which they become aware as soon as possible after identifying such information, subject to limited exceptions providing for a delay of the disclosure.
In addition, issuers must make public any notifications of so-called 'manager's transactions' received. Such notifications should be sent by persons discharging managerial responsibilities within an issuer and persons closely associated thereto for every transaction in the issuer's equity or debt securities or related derivatives after reaching an individual threshold of €5,000 in gross transaction value per year. Issuers must disclose such information within three business days of the notifiable transaction.
All information disclosed should be made public efficiently throughout the European Economic Area. Issuers are also obliged to post and maintain on their websites any such information for five years.
For breaches of the ad hoc disclosure obligation, issuers face pecuniary penalties of up to Lev2.5 million. The breach may also constitute market manipulation, punishable with a pecuniary penalty of up to Lev15 million.
For breaches of the obligation to disclose manager's transactions, issuers face pecuniary penalties of up to Lev1 million.
In practice, most breaches of the Market Abuse Regulation are punished at the substantially lower statutory minimal thresholds.
Further to disclosure requirements, issuers of equities are required to report to the Financial Supervision Commission certain changes in their constitution and general corporate structure.
What rules and restrictions are in place to combat market abuse and insider trading? What are the penalties for breach of these rules?
The measures in place to combat market abuse are set out in the Market Abuse Regulation, the Implementation of Measures Against Market Abuse in Financial Instruments Act (the Market Abuse Act) and Articles 260a to 260c of the Penal Code.
engaging in or attempting to engage in market manipulation as defined in Article 12 and subject to the exceptions in Article 13 (eg, disseminating false information about an issuer or its securities in order to trade upon a change in the stock price).
In general, market abuse is an administrative offence punishable under the Market Abuse Act. Individuals are liable for negligence and wilful misconduct. Attempt and complicity (if not in themselves violating the Market Abuse Regulation) are not punishable by the law.
Responsible individuals are subject to a fine of up to Lev5 million. Legal entities are subject to a pecuniary penalty of up to Lev15 million.
Where the offence has caused or was aimed at causing significant harm, the individuals responsible can be subject to criminal penalties pursuant to the Penal Code. Individuals are liable only for wilful misconduct. Attempt and complicity are punishable.
Individuals who breach the prohibitions set out in the first, second and fourth points above can be punished with imprisonment of up to four years and a monetary fine, and can be deprived of the right to hold public office or the right to exercise a certain vocation or activity.
Individuals who breach the third point above can be punished with imprisonment of up to two years.
Legal entities which (would) have gained a financial or non-financial benefit from the criminal offense of an individual representing or working as an employee of such legal entity may be punished with a pecuniary penalty of up to Lev1 million. An additional administrative penalty as mentioned above is also possible.
requirements on the disclosure of conflict of interest for persons who produce or disseminate investment recommendations and public institutions disseminating statistics or forecasts.
For the breach of these requirements, the penalty is a fine of up to Lev1 million for individuals and up to Lev2.5 million for legal entities).
In practice, most breaches of the Market Abuse Regulation are punished by the FSC in the substantially lower statutory minimal amount.
In addition, the FSC may apply a variety of coercive measures (eg, an order ceasing the trade of a security, banning a person from dealing on their own account for a prescribed period or banning a person from holding a managerial position in an investment firm). The FSC has also established a whistleblowing function aimed at allowing individuals to report suspected market abuse, including through anonymous means.
What tax liabilities arise in relation to the issue and trade of equity securities in your jurisdiction?
Bulgaria applies a favourable tax regime for listed equity securities.
Pursuant to Bulgarian tax law, trading in equity securities which is made on the floor of a regulated market, whether in Bulgaria or elsewhere in the European Economic Area, is exempt from any taxes in respect of the capital gain received (for individuals) and is tax neutral for legal entities (for which tax losses are also offsettable). The tax exemptions apply to non-resident recipients of the capital gains alike. If the trading in equity securities is made over the counter, a 10% flat tax applies on the capital gain received (the tax is applied on the overall corporate profit of gainers which are business entities).
There are no stamp duties and transaction tax liabilities relating to the issuance and trading of equity securities.
Where a Bulgarian company carries out an initial public offering or lists on a foreign market by way of depositary receipts, this tax exemption will not apply to the capital gains on the sale of such receipts.
How can these tax liabilities be mitigated?
Bulgaria has an investor-friendly tax regime as regards equity securities and does not charge taxes on the capital gains received from the transactions in equity securities made on a regulated market. It also imposes no stamp duty or financial transaction taxes.
However, investors are strongly advised to seek the advice of tax counsel since the application of tax exemptions may require the preparation of relevant evidence, especially in the case of non-resident investors.


text:
Andy Marefos (July 16, 1917 – February 18, 1996) was an American football fullback and halfback. He played for the New York Giants from 1941 to 1942 and for the Los Angeles Dons in 1946.

He died on February 18, 1996, in Marysville, California at age 78.

References

1917 births
1996 deaths
American football fullbacks
American football halfbacks
Saint Mary's Gaels football players
New York Giants players
Los Angeles Dons players
Edmonton Elks players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When we hear about print media, we typically think about newspapers, magazines and the like, but print media really encompasses a broad range of things. Signage of any kind can appear on the front of a building, on billboards, or on public transportation. There's also political signage, direct mail, banners, business cards, brochures and even signs to sell your house or car. The list goes on and on.


text:
Booknotes: Stalin's Russia
14 Sunday Dec 2008
Posted by Anna Clutterbuck-Cook in book reviews
history, politics
Before the end of the semester, in a burst of rebellious leisure-reading energy (read: procrastination), I began two books on Russian communism: Travis Holland's 2007 novel The Archivist's Story and historian Orlando Figes' doorstop of a book, The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia. This was partly due to seeing, over the Thanksgiving weekend, a local production of Tom Stoppard's play Rock n'Roll at the Huntington Theater. As is the case with all of the Stoppard plays I have seen or read, Rock n'Roll explores the complicated relationship between ideas and the people whose lives are affected by them: in this case, communism and a cast of characters caught up in the realities of life in Prague during the 1970s and 80s.
The devastating affect of Cold War communism on the lives of human beings is the subject of both of these books, one a work of fiction and the other of nonfiction. I am still reading both of them, but thought I would post a couple of quotations to give you a flavor of the texts and hopefully encourage you to check them out yourself.
Holland's novel follows the story of Pavel, a widowed schoolteacher turned archivist, living in Moscow in 1939. In the opening pages, he is sent to interview the writer Isaac Babel, who has been arrested and taken to Lubyanka prison as an enemy of the people. During the course of their stiff conversation, Pavel tells Babel that his wife, Elena, has recently died in a train wreck caused by politically-motivated sabotage. "I can't imagine people intentionally doing that," Pavel says. "You've read my stories," Babel replies:
"Your colleagues, when they came to arrest me at my dacha, they dragged my wife along. Did you know that? They made her knock on the door. In case I resisted. Can you imagine how she must have felt, to have to do that?" An edge of bitterness has crept into Babel's voice. "You are not the only one who has lost his wife" (9-10).
In fact, as Figes tells us in The Whisperers virtually everyone in Russia during the Stalinist period lost at least one family member to violence perpetrated by the men whom the fictional Pavel is ordered to work for. For over six hundred and fifty pages he draws on diaries, oral histories, and other surviving primary sources in an attempt to piece together a picture of private life in a repressive regime. This picture is unquestionably grim. "For the mass of the population there were always two realities," Figes observes writes:
Party Truth and truth based on experience. But in the years of the Great Terror, when the Soviet press was full of the show trials and the nefarious deeds of 'spies' and 'enemies', few were able to see through the propaganda version of the world. It took extraordinary willpower, usually connected to a different values-system, for a person to discount the press reports and question the basic assumptions of the Terror (273).
The strategies used by individual people to keep themselves from being submerged in Party Truth are both interesting, from a psychological and political perspective, and heartbreaking: "My inner self has not gone away — whatever is inside a personality can never disappear — but it is deeply hidden, and I no longer feel its presence within me" wrote Yevgeniia, a student of Leningrad Institute of Technology, in 1938, after both her parents had vanished into the Gulag (257). However difficult these stories of personal trauma are to read, I am looking forward to finishing both books for the powerful stories they tell about the behavior of human beings living in inhuman situations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Eoparargyractis es un género de polillas de la familia Crambidae. Fue descrito por primera vez por Lange en 1956.

Especies

 Eoparargyractis floridalis Lange, 1956
 Eoparargyractis irroratalis (Dyar, 1917)
 Eoparargyractis plevie (Dyar, 1917)

Referencias

 , 1956: A generic revision of the aquatic moths of North America: (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Nymphulinae). Wasman Journal of Biology, San Francisco, 14 (1): 59-144. Artículo completo: .

Enlaces externos

 Buguide.net

Crambidae


text:
Q: using aws sdk for java in Jruby I have an app which uses the amazon web services.The app is installed with jruby on rails.I have to use java aws sdk for calling amazon web services.
Can u help me as in how to include aws sdk in my app and use it
Thanx in advance

A: You will want to put the jar files for the sdk inside your /lib/java folder, and make sure to include them in your classpath.  (See this example on including a JDBC driver, same concept.)
Then to use the objects in Ruby you just instantiate them like you normally would:
require 'java'

myAwsObj = com.amazon.aws.class.someMethod('some','params')

You can visit the JRuby Kenai site for examples of calling Java from inside Ruby.  Obviously the package name above I made up, but you should get the idea from there.  The Kenai page also has lots of other examples and gotchas.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Army man on leave shot dead by militants in Sopore
SRINAGAR: An off-duty Army man was shot dead by militants in north Kashmir's Sopore sub district on Saturday.
Posted: Apr 06, 2019 06:34 PM (IST)
Rafi was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Tribune photo: Amin War
amansharma@tribunemail.com
Srinagar, April 6
An off-duty Army man was shot dead by militants in north Kashmir's Sopore sub district on Saturday.
Muhammad Rafiq Yatoo, of the Territorial Army, who was on leave, was shot and critically injured at Warpora, Sopore, when he was returning home after offering prayers.
Rafi was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, a police officer said.
Senior police and paramilitary officers reached the spot immediately after the firing incident. Security forces have launched a manhunt to nab the attackers. — With agencies


You can access the General Category of the preferences by first going to Settings ‣ Configure Krita.
Select a cursor shape to use while the brush tools are used. This cursor will always be visible on the canvas. It is usually set to a type exactly where your pen nib is at. The available cursor types are shown below.
Shows the currently selected tool icon, even for the freehand brush.
Shows a small white dot with a black outline.
Show no cursor, useful for tablet-monitors.
Gives a small white triangle with a black border.
Same as above but mirrored.
Gives a single black pixel.
Gives a single white pixel.
Gives a circular outline approximating the brush size.
Gives an outline based on the actual shape of the brush.
Gives a circular outline with a tilt-indicator.
This option when selected will show the brush outline while a stroke is being made. If unchecked the brush outline will not appear during stroke making, it will show up only after the brush stroke is finished. This option works only when Brush Outline is selected as the Cursor Shape.
This makes sure that the outline size will always be the maximum possible brush diameter, and not the current one as affected by sensors such as pressure. This makes the cursor a little less noisy to use.
This can be either tabbed like GIMP or Painttool Sai, or subwindows, like Photoshop.
Allows you to set a picture background for subwindow mode.
Set the color of the subwindow canvas area.
This gives an outline when moving windows to work around ugly glitches with certain graphics-cards.
Whether or not you want to see the on-canvas pop-up messages that tell you whether you are in tabbed mode, rotating the canvas, or mirroring it.
Attempt to use the Hi-DPI support. It is an option because we are still experiencing bugs on windows.
An instance is a single entry in your system's task manager. Turning this option makes sure that Krita will check if there's an instance of Krita open already when you instruct it to open new documents, and then have your documents opened in that single instance. There's some obscure uses to allowing multiple instances, but if you can't think of any, just keep this option on.
Gives you the tool options in a docker.
Gives you the tool options in the toolbar, next to the brush settings. You can open it with \.
This switches the function of the Ctrl and Alt buttons when modifying selections. Useful for those used to Gimp instead of Photoshop, or Lefties without a right-Alt key on their keyboard.
This allows finger painting with capacitive screens. Some devices have both capacitive touch and a stylus, and then this can interfere. In that case, just toggle this.
This enables kinetic scrolling for scrollable areas.
Will activate if it can recognize a touch event. May not always work.
Will activate when it can recognize a click event, will always work.
How quickly the feature activates, this effective determines the length of the drag.
Whether to show scrollbars when doing this.
This opens the regular empty window with the last used workspace.
Load the last opened session. If you have Save session when Krita closes toggled, this becomes the last files you had open and the like.
Show the session manager directly so you can pick a session.
Save the current open windows, documents and the like into the current session when closing Krita so you can resume where you left off.
Here the user can specify how often Krita should autosave the file. You can tick the checkbox to turn it off. For Windows, these files are saved in the %TEMP% directory. If you are on Linux they are stored in /home/'username'.
This increases the zip compression on the saved Krita files, which makes them lighter on disk, but this takes longer to load.
Upon importing Images as Layers, convert to the image color space.
This makes sure that layers are the same color space as the image, necessary for saving to PSD.
This is the number of undo commands Krita remembers. You can set the value to 0 for unlimited undos.
This determines the amount of presets that can be used in the pop-up palette.
When selected Krita will try to save a backup file in case of a crash.
Hide splash screen on startup.
This'll hide the splash screen automatically once Krita is fully loaded.
This allows you to use the system file dialog. By default turned off because we cannot seem to get native file dialogues 100% bugfree.
This allows you to set the maximum brush size to a size of up to 10.000 pixels. Do be careful with using this, as a 10.000 pixel size can very quickly be a full gigabyte of data being manipulated, per dab. In other words, this might be slow.
Recalculate animation cache in background.
Krita will recalculate the cache when you're not doing anything.
Changed in version 4.1: This is now in the Performance Settings under Animation Cache.


Math-rock, post-rock, call it what you will… The 90s and 00s were a goldmine for this kind of music. Knotty guitars wrestling and dancing in weird shapes, time signatures playing hopscotch and for the most part no vocals. From Slint, Pan Am and Tortoise through to Isis and Pelican the range of sonic detail and emotional outpouring and impact ran the gamut of intensity.
Unwed Sailor, from Tulsa, OK have been at it for a long time, particularly main man Johnathon Ford, a one-time member of Pedro the Lion and Roadside Monument. It's been 11 years since their last album but they're back with Heavy Age and this first taste of it, 'Ovid', digs into some wonderful guitar lines. Part shoegaze, part post-rock, you can hear similarities with a bunch of English bands including Swervedriver and Ride yet the lack of vocals means the focus is even more tightly fixed on the landscape painted by the guitars and their effects pedals as well as the gloriously contorting rhythm section.
Heavy Age is set for release on May 3rd.


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James, Squadron To Face Each Other In Runoff For Public AdvocateThe race for New York City public advocate has headed to a runoff, with no candidate winning 40 percent of the vote.
No Vote For Bloomberg In Either Mayoral PrimaryThe mayoral candidates both Democratic and Republican have been casting their votes Tuesday, but you will not see Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a voting booth.
Police: Woman Dead In Harlem Shooting, 2 Days After Mayoral Candidate SleepoverA woman has died after gunfire rang out at the Lincoln Houses public housing development in East Harlem Tuesday – just two days after six Democratic mayoral candidates spent the night in the complex.
Bloomberg To Candidates: Retroactive Employee Raises Won't FlyMayor Michael Bloomberg has a message for mayoral hopefuls who are thinking about giving city workers retroactive raises when they take office: It's a terrible idea.
Gov. Christie Rallies Base For Next Week's ElectionChristie held a 20-minute conference call with candidates and party activists, urging them to work hard for state, county and local candidates in the final days of the campaign.
Yonkers Fire Department Targets Minority Candidates In Recruitment DriveApplicants must be 29-years-old or younger. They must take a written exam first, followed by a physical. They must have at least a high school diploma.
Judge Denies NYC Request To Delay Firefighter Entrance Exams The exam has been subject to judicial oversight since it was determined past exams had been unfair to minority candidates.
FDNY Outreach Leads To More Recruiting Among MinoritiesCommissioner Salvatore Cassano says nearly 17,000 people applied to take the test and 15 percent were black -- compared with only 8 percent for the last test, in 2007. The overall number of minority applicants stayed steady at 40 percent.
Report: $246 Million Raised In 2010 NY RacesThe New York Public Interest Research Group said individual contributors accounted for $83 million, or about one-third.
3rd Debate Today In Conn. Governor's RaceDemocrat Dan Malloy and Republican Tom Foley will square off Tuesday afternoon at Fairfield University.


text:
Q: How to use bootstrap-theme.css with bootstrap 3? After downloading a complete pack of bootstrap 3 from http://getbootstrap.com, I noticed that there is a separate css file for theme. How to make use of it? Please explain?
I included bootstrap-theme.css in my existing bootstrap project, but there is no difference in output.

A: For an example of the css styles have a look at: http://getbootstrap.com/examples/theme/
If you want to see how the example looks without the bootstrap-theme.css file open up your browser developer tools and delete the link from the <head> of the example and then you can compare it.
I know this is an old question but posted it just in case anyone is looking for an example of  how it looks like I was.
Update
bootstrap.css = main css framework (grids, basic styles, etc)
bootstrap-theme.css = extended styling (3D buttons, gradients etc). This file is optional and does not effect the functionality of bootstrap at all, it only enhances the appearance.
Update 2
With the release of v3.2.0 Bootstrap have added an option to view the theme css on the doc pages. If you go to one of the doc pages (css, components, javascript) you should see a "Preview theme" link at the bottom of the side nav which you can use to turn the theme css on and off.

A: First, bootstrap-theme.css is nothing else but equivalent of Bootstrap 2.x style in Bootstrap 3. If you really want to use it, just add it ALONG with bootstrap.css (minified version will work too).

A: Upon downloading Bootstrap 3.x, you'll get bootstrap.css and bootstrap-theme.css (not to mention the minified versions of these files that are also present).
bootstrap.css
bootstrap.css is completely styled and ready to use, if such is your desire. It is perhaps a bit plain but it is ready and it is there.

You do not need to use bootstrap-theme.css if you don't want to and things will be just fine.

bootstrap-theme.css
bootstrap-theme.css is just what the name of the file is trying to suggest: it is a theme for bootstrap that is creatively considered 'THE bootstrap theme'. The name of the file confuses things just a bit since the base bootstrap.css already has styling applied and I, for one, would consider those styles to be the default. But that conclusion is apparently incorrect in light of things said in the Bootstrap documentation's examples section in regard to this bootstrap-theme.css file:

"Load the optional Bootstrap theme for a visually enhanced experience."

The above quote is found here http://getbootstrap.com/getting-started/#examples on a thumbnail that links to this example page http://getbootstrap.com/examples/theme/. The idea is that bootstrap-theme.css is THE bootstrap theme AND it's optional.
Themes at BootSwatch.com
About the themes at BootSwatch.com: These themes are not implemented like bootstrap-theme.css. The BootSwatch themes are modified versions of the original bootstrap.css. So, you should definitely NOT use a theme from BootSwatch AND the bootstrap-theme.css file at the same time.
Custom Theme
About Your Own Custom Theme: You might choose to modify bootstrap-theme.css when creating your own theme. Doing so may make it easier to make styling changes without accidentally breaking any of that built-in Bootstrap goodness.

A: Bootstrap-theme.css is the additional CSS file, which is optional for you to use. It gives 3D effects on the buttons and some other elements.

A: I know this post is kinda old but...
  As 'witttness' pointed out.

About Your Own Custom Theme You might choose to modify bootstrap-theme.css when creating your own theme. Doing so may make it easier to make styling changes without accidentally breaking any of that built-in Bootstrap goodness.

  I see it as Bootstrap has seen over the years that everyone wants something a bit different than the core styles.  While you could modify bootstrap.css it might break things and it could make updating to a newer version a real pain and time consuming.  Downloading from a 'theme' site means you have to wait on if that creator updates that theme, big if sometimes, right?
  Some build their own 'custom.css' file and that's ok, but if you use 'bootstrap-theme.css' a lot of stuff is already built and this allows you to roll your own theme faster 'without' disrupting the core of bootstrap.css.  I for one don't like the 3D buttons and gradients most of the time, so change them using bootstrap-theme.css.  Add margins or padding, change the radius to your buttons, and so on...

A: As stated by others, the filename bootstrap-theme.css is very confusing.  I would have chosen something like bootstrap-3d.css or bootstrap-fancy.css which would be more descriptive of what it actually does.  What the world sees as a "Bootstrap Theme" is a thing you can get from BootSwatch which is a totally different beast.
With that said, the effects are quite nice - gradients and shadows and such.  Unfortunately this file will wreak havoc on BootSwatch Themes, so I decided to dig into what it would take to make it play nice with them.
LESS
Bootstrap-theme.css is generated from the theme.less file in the Bootstrap source.  The affected elements are (as of Bootstrap v3.2.0):

*

*List items

*Buttons

*Images

*Dropdowns

*Navbars

*Alerts

*Progress bars

*List Groups

*Panels

*Wells

The theme.less file depends on:
@import "variables.less";
@import "mixins.less";

The code uses colors defined in variables.less in several places, for example:
// Give the progress background some depth
.progress {
    #gradient > .vertical(@start-color: darken(@progress-bg, 4%); @end-color: @progress-bg)
}

This why bootstrap-theme.css totally messes up BootSwatch Themes.  The good news is that BootSwatch Themes are also created from variables.less files, so you can simply build a bootstrap-theme.css for your BootSwatch Theme.
Building bootstrap-theme.css
The right way to do it is to update the Theme build process, but here here is the quick and dirty way.  Replace the variables.less file in the Bootstrap source with the one from your Bootswatch Theme and build it and voila you have a bootstrap-theme.css file for your Bootswatch Theme.
Building Bootstrap itself
Building Bootstrap may sound daunting, but it is actually very simple:

*

*Download the Bootstrap source code

*Download and install NodeJS

*Open a command prompt and navigate to the bootstrap source folder.  Type "npm install".  This will add the "node_modules" folder to the project and download all the Node stuff you need.

*Install grunt globally (the -g option) by typing "npm install -g grunt-cli"

*Rename the "dist" folder to "dist-orig" then rebuild it by typing "grunt dist".  Now check that there is a new "dist" folder which contains all you need to use your custom Bootstrap build.

Done.  See, that was easy, wasn't it?


text:
Tuesday Was a Very Busy Day for Terry McAuliffe and His Education Plan
Rebecca Downs | October 13, 2021 7:10 PM
AP Photo/Steve Helber
Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA), who is running once more, had a particularly busy Tuesday.
It was announced during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that former President Barack Obama will campaign on behalf of McAuliffe. First Lady Jill Biden will come to Virginia on Friday. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams will be coming on Sunday.
A very cringey ending to Terry McAuliffe's interview on MSNBC this morning…?? pic.twitter.com/ljBNTuRvRx
— Virginia Rising Action (@VARisingAction) October 12, 2021
When asked later in the day by a reporter about President Joe Biden, McAuliffe said "he'll be coming back." The president campaigned with McAuliffe in July, but his approval ratings have since dropped. McAuliffe himself acknowledged Biden "is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia."
Terry McAuliffe: Joe Biden "is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia." pic.twitter.com/QOMAWRBi2A
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 5, 2021
McAuliffe then went to an education roundtable event in Alexandria with his wife, Dorothy McAuliffe. Anne Holton, who served as McAuliffe's Secretary of Education from 2014-2016, was also present. She's married to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
.@DSMcAuliffe and I enjoyed a great roundtable discussion with parents, educators, early childhood education leaders, and my good friend @AnneHolton in Alexandria this AM. Together, we'll build a world-class education system & keep kids safely in school. Let's go! pic.twitter.com/iiWmmteA8a
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) October 12, 2021
Panelists included two mothers from Loudoun County. One shared that she has a child who came out as trans a few years ago. Another acknowledged it is where the "heat" and "local politics" has been happening.
Loudoun County is indeed where "heat" has been happening, but it's not merely "local politics" anymore. Scott Smith, a 48-year-old father in the county who went viral for his arrest at a school board meeting on June 22, is now alleging, as exposed by Luke Rosiak with The Daily Wire, that a biological male wearing a skirt sexually assaulted his ninth-grade daughter in the bathroom.
Smith explained to Fox News' Laura Ingraham that he kept his "silence" about the issue until last week, when he claims that the same individual--a minor who has not been named--is reported to have allegedly assaulted another victim.
Smith also takes issue with Attorney General Merrick Garland's characterization of parents who are concerned about what their children are learning to be "domestic terrorists." The characterization was mentioned in a memo that Spencer covered.
And, as Madeline reported, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) on Tuesday said in a Fox News interview to file the Biden administration's response under "things that make no sense." She also covered a letter from over 60 Republican members of Congress who wrote to the DOJ.
This newsworthy bit of information did not come up during the panel.
The school district released a statement on Wednesday. According to the statement, the school system "is aware" and the "process was followed" when it comes to mandatory reporting requirements.
As reported by Neal Augenstein on Wednesday for WTOP News, "Teen charged in Loudoun Co. school groping was on electronic monitoring for earlier charges."
McAuliffe's campaign did not return Townhall's request for comment when asked about language from the National School Boards Association that "the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes."
The focus of the roundtable event included a focus of McAuliffe's concept to "build education." It included discussion of nonpartisan issues, such as mental health, fixing dilapidated schools, and free breakfast.
There were still many partisan campaign lines. McAuliffe claimed it is "disqualifying" that his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, doesn't think teachers should have to be vaccinated. He also later referred to Youngkin as an "anti-vaxxer." He would still later claim that Youngkin doesn't support requiring children to be vaccinated against measles, rubella, and mumps.
Youngkin told Townhall that "I was very clear. I believe that the measles vaccination, the rubella vaccination, should in fact be mandatory. But I do not believe that the COVID vaccination is one that we should mandate. I believe the COVID vaccination is something everyone should get. I've been very clear on this."
McAuliffe reminded that he himself has called on employers to issue vaccine mandates. And, as Madeline reported in August, McAuliffe has said "make life difficult" for those who don't get vaccinated.
Holton, during her remarks, claimed that "the other side" will "slash and burn revenues" and that there will be "cuts."
McAuliffe went to repeat a fact-checked line from the first debate, that "independent" studies have claimed that Youngkin's plans would take $10 billion out of education. Those organizations are liberal and favorable towards McAuliffe and were also basing their estimates on a position Youngkin had clarified, which is to say he is no longer calling for eliminating the state income tax.
A false claim from McAuliffe that has been fact-checked multiple times over many years from multiple sources also came up twice, which is that McAuliffe inherited a "$2.4 billion deficit" when he took office.
The hot button topic of Critical Race Theory (CRT) also came up. In a passionate tone, McAuliffe was adamant he finds it "highly offensive" and to be a "racist dog whistle" when CRT is addressed. McAuliffe also emphasized "I hate it" when the issue comes up.
Even the 2020 election results came up, as McAuliffe claimed that Youngkin does not accept the election results. As Youngkin told Guy on "The Guy Benson Show" in May, though, he recognizes that Biden is the legitimate president. McAuliffe meanwhile denied the results of the 2000 presidential election, which came up during a local TV interview last week, as well as on Sunday during CNN's "State of the Union."
As Collin Anderson and Thaleigha Rampersad reported for for the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday, McAuliffe himself said during a 2019 interview with HBO's Bill Maher that he was "very concerned" about hackable voting machines for 2020.
More hypocrisy from @TerryMcAuliffe. He said he was "very concerned" the 2020 election would be rigged! pic.twitter.com/2IB9F6NLLG
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 13, 2021
After the event, McAuliffe was asked by local NBC 4's Julie Caret how much he regretted his infamous line from the second debate that "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."
Terry McAuliffe: "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach." pic.twitter.com/7S15pTv1gY
McAuliffe mentioned that he and his wife were involved in their children's education, though not that they went to private school. He also noted that "the issue in this campaign is who's going to build the best education system" and went on to say "that's the issue we should be talking about" when it comes to "who is going to build the best education system here in the commonwealth."
Holton interjected that "this is a non-issue by a Trumpist candidate who is trying to distract from what he's going to do to undermine public education."
McAuliffe saw and then jumped on his opportunity to bring up abortion after Carey asked him to expand upon what he meant when he said "If I didn't win this, it would be, as I say, the return of Donald Trump" while on "Morning Joe" His answer for Carey in part claimed that "abortion will be gone here in Virginia" if Youngkin wins.
Youngkin has made no indication that he will "ban abortion," as McAuliffe has claimed, or that "abortion will be gone." McAuliffe has repeatedly tied Youngkin to a Texas abortion law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, at around six weeks. During the first debate, Youngkin said that while he is pro-life, he does not feel the Texas law is right for Virginia, and would not sign it if it came across his desk as governor.
A tracker from Virginia Rising Action also attempted to ask McAuliffe a question as he was leaving. McAuliffe admonished the tracker for not wearing a mask and inquired about his vaccination status, despite how the exchange took place outside.
????WATCH: Terry McAuliffe loses his temper on a Virginia Rising tracker saying "you're dangerous here" after getting asked about his stance on parents being involved in their child's education.https://t.co/Tzj2XDbiS4 pic.twitter.com/Hm674TGAkT
Before the event, a billboard truck showcasing that infamous line appeared in the parking lot of the event space.
*was later asked about
— Rebecca Downs (@RebeccaRoseGold) October 12, 2021
While speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Youngkin on Tuesday called education "the number one issue in this race."
Lisa Lerer with The New York Times also on Tuesday published "The Unlikely Issue Shaping the Virginia Governor's Race: Schools."
Recently, the Fairfax County Times featured two Democrats who are voting for Youngkin based on education. Rick Horner wrote about an ad featuring Saundra Davis. Briana Howard communicated her stance in a letter to the editor.
Youngkin has also been doing education events throughout the commonwealth and will continue to do so, with his "Parents Matter" rallies. On Thursday he will be holding a rally in Warrenton.
Tags: EDUCATION TERRY MCAULIFFE 2020 ELECTION CRITICAL RACE THEORY GLENN YOUNGKIN VIRGINIA 2021
O'Keefe Scoops and Shames the Mainstream Media...Again


text:
CBC weighs 'Fancy' comedy pilot
Monday October 19th 2009
TORONTO – The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) is weighing "Fancy," a half-hour comedy pilot about a complicated kids TV host from Vancouver-based indie producer Gang of Two and Crescent Entertainment, as a possible 2010 series pick-up.
James Genn directed the "Fancy" pilot for executive producer Jayme Pfahl and producers Wendy Hopkins and Ken Lawson.
The comedy pilot, written by Hopkins and starring Kate Hewlett, Pat McKenna and Jana Peck, follows the host of a kids TV show, Maureen Fancy (Hewlett), who is perky and happy on camera, and anything but off camera as she fends off endless complications in her personal life.
A CBC spokesman said the public broadcaster has just received the pilot, and will decide on an additional 12-episode order early in the new year.
The public broadcaster earlier this week ordered two seasons of the new computer-generated animation series "Pirates!" from Halifax-based indie producer Halifax Films for its morning preschool block, Kids' CBC.
Half-hour comedy centers on complicated kids TV host
Oct 15, 2009, 06:22 PM ET


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text:
Blog post published on 5 November 2017 by Andrew Carter
Six months ago this week the first ever metro mayor elections took place in six of England's biggest city regions. Since then, the new mayors have already changed the landscape of British politics, offering a voice for urban Britain which had previously been missing, and taking tangible steps to improve the lives of the people living and working in their city regions.
Their influence has been felt at both national and local level. Take, for example, the role played by Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram (mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool city region respectively) in this summer's row over investment in transport in the north. When the Government announced it was scrapping the electrification of the Manchester-Leeds train line while giving the green light to Crossrail II in London, it was Burnham and Rotheram who led the way in representing the frustrations of people living in northern cities. Their intervention was pivotal in making this issue a national political story, and a headache for the Government which is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
This encapsulates what the new mayors offer their city regions, and which other places yet to introduce a mayor lack: high-profile leadership and representation on the issues that matter most to their places. It also exemplifies why at Centre for Cities we have long called for the introduction of metro mayors as a crucial part of empowering UK cities to drive growth in their local economies.
Moreover, all of the new mayors have started to show the difference they can make for the people they represent in their city regions: from Andy Street's newly-launched 'Mayor's mentors scheme' to help young people in the West Midlands, to James Palmer's ambitious plans for improving transport in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and Ben Houchen's drive to repurpose the former SSI steelworks in Tees Valley. This impact and influence will only grow in the years to come, as the mayoral institutions become more embedded and developed in their city regions.
And when leadership has been sorely lacking at national level in recent months, the mayors have stepped into the breach in moments of crisis – most notably in the aftermath of the Manchester and Borough Market terrorist atrocities, and the Grenfell Tower disaster. In these cases, it was Burnham and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who provided leadership and accountability which was absent from national leaders.
Significantly, the six metro mayors have also shown a willingness to work beyond party political lines, in order to learn from each other and to get the best deal for their city regions. This was illustrated last week when the metro mayors came together with Sadiq Khan to call for more powers from central government, and in particular greater control and responsibilities over spending in their city regions. At a time when animosity between the major parties is growing in Westminster, the mayors have demonstrated a maturity and pragmatism in working together that national politicians could learn from.
To build on these foundations, next month Centre for Cities is holding the first ever UK-International Metro Mayors' Summit in London, bringing the UK mayors together with counterparts from US cities to discuss the challenges they face, how they might be overcome, and how they can make the most of the opportunities available to them.
Before that, from today onwards we will be publishing a series of blogs looking at the experiences of the UK metro mayors so far – the progress they've made, the challenges they've faced, and what their priorities should be for the coming months and beyond. We will also be showcasing views from experts and prominent commentators on the devolution agenda, and will be featuring views from some of the mayors themselves. Watch this space for more details in the coming days.
a.carter@centreforcities.org
Hugh Holden
Your upbeat assessment of metro Mayors emphatically doesn't apply to our local one . The vast majority of people in the Bristol , Bath , S. Glos area have no idea of his name ,his role ,or what ,if anything ,he's done since elected .
Vicky Seddon
Dear me! A lot of effort by Centre for Cities to try to show "success" of these mayoral schemes. "Leadership" shown by getting Mrs May to visit your city? Or by speaking at Conservative Party conference? Come on! Takes rather more than that!
Rather shallow analyses – and emphasis on the positive. Centre for Cities has not established itself as an impartial commentator; it wanted these mayors, despite little evidence that these city regions wanted or needed them and now seems determined to show that they work
Kenneth R. Curran Snr;
The article while it suggests that the elected Mayors are a success, The New Mayors have used the research provided by the local Authorities that have been demanding these changes for ages. The writer
of the article mentioned the reluctance of Central Government. The real truth is the fact that what we have
is not a properly planned devolution. We require a Constitutional Commission independent of Government
to bring forward proper inclusive proposals for electoral reforms, including consideration for a Federal
System for all of the UK which would help break the Centralist System which currently distorts efforts to
Regenerate the regions.
Mat Proctor
Why doesn't your Mayoral Summit include mayors from European cities? They are often very successful with higher rates of public transport patronage, smaller carbon footprints and less gun crime – why focus solely on non existent relationships with the USA?
More on these issues
Devolution Levelling up
Levelling up locally to bridge the divides
Paul Swinney for The MJ
External Article 17 Nov 2021
Future of cities Levelling up Mayors Productivity
Everything you need to know about levelling up
Jovana Lalic
Blog Post 16 Nov 2021
Air quality Future of cities Housing Mayors Net zero
Cities and Built Environment Day at COP26: what should it be about?
If levelling up is to be more than just a political slogan, it can't be achieved from Whitehall
Andrew Carter for The House
External Article 8 Nov 2021
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Greater Manchester Liverpool City Region Tees Valley West Midlands West of England
Mayors Devolution
Northerners and Midlanders are being failed at all levels of education – and are ill-prepared for the rise of the robots
Press Release 10 Oct 2018
Future of cities Levelling up The Future of Work
Can cities outsmart the robots?
Elena Magrini and Naomi Clayton
Report 10 Oct 2018


text:
A Maria Gancha é um ser maléfico do folclore português, ainda hoje referido com frequência no Minho. A Maria Gancha tem os braços em forma de gancho e vive no fundo dos poços. A Maria Gancha afoga os meninos que se aproximam do poço onde ela vive. Nas lendas de Maiorca ela chama-se Maria Enganxa. Enquadra-se num conjunto de criaturas chamado Medos ou Papões, por serem utilizados pelos pais e educadores para assustar as crianças, procurando limitar o seu raio de ação para prevenir que aquelas se aproximassem de locais perigosos. No caso da Maria Gancha, os poços eram os locais perigosos a evitar.

Ver também
Maria da manta
Maria da grade

Referências
Nuno Matos Valente. Bestiário Tradicional Português. Edições Escafandro, 2016
A Maria Gancha. Centro de Estudos Ataíde Oliveira.
Contos da Avó Coruja
Los personajes de ´rondalla´ del Estol del Rei en Jaume atraen la atención de cientos de jóvenes. DIARIO DE MALLORCA

Lendas de Portugal
Mitologia portuguesa
Criaturas fantásticas
Folclore de Portugal


As a startup company founder, there is extensive homework you need to do before you seek capital.
Whether you are an app developer or a bio-fuel manufacturer, you need to position your company just right to secure a successful round of funding and bring your business to the next level. CPAs are an essential resource throughout the process and can help with many decisions along the way.
Choosing the correct entity is critical and should be done after consulting with a competent attorney and/or CPA. There are many types of entities to choose from, such as a C corporation, an S corporation, a limited liability company (LLC) or a partnership. Each of these entities has a specific tax treatment associated with it. Many times, the choice of entity is made with the end game in mind. In other words, one should ask which entity would be the most beneficial tax-wise and how will the choice of entity impact the ability to obtain venture capital or other funding. For example, a C corporation is straightforward from a tax perspective and can be converted to an S corporation or an LLC. However, in certain circumstances, there are typically two levels of tax to pay (one at the corporate level and one at the shareholder level) when a C corporation is sold. Alternatively, an S corporation can avoid the corporate level tax and the tax would be paid at the shareholder level. An LLC is an alternative structure that has one level of tax at the LLC member level.
Entrepreneurs should also consider the form of entity that the venture capital firm may require in order to do a deal. Typically, venture capital firms favor C corporations, but sometimes the existing assets have to be dropped down into a new entity that allows them to be merged into a final entity. Business owners should carefully consider how they structure the entity, as there are many issues to consider. Choosing the incorrect entity may make the deal much more difficult or may kill it altogether.
Another critical component is the accounting record oversight of a competent CPA firm. Entrepreneurs should rely heavily on their CPA to make sure their books are in order before they even think about approaching a venture capitalist. When a venture capital firm looks at a potential target, the VCs typically understand that the firm is in a startup phase or working in a pre-revenue state. However, they will still want to perform their due diligence because some of the transaction terms are determined based on the type of accounting records available and their completeness. A startup company should retain the services of a CPA firm to review the accounting records and determine what issues may arise that need to be corrected before the entity is ready to meet with venture capital firms. This may take the form of having a CPA firm perform a review or an audit of the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). If venture capital firms know the accounting records have been "certified" by a competent CPA firm, it typically provides a certain level of comfort.
Venture capital firms want to understand how you recognize revenue and whether your revenue recognition procedures are proper for your industry and in accordance with the standards required. They also want to understand how the costs have been incurred during the startup phase and how much cash is required on an annual basis during the development stage to get the product to a sustainable, sellable state.
Additionally, in some cases certain credits may be used to offset taxes that result from the sale of the company. You should consult with a competent CPA firm in this area so that they can assist you in properly capturing the credits and incentives that are relevant to you and your company.
Knowing the market demands and forecasting accurate margins is also a critical step in getting your company ready to meet with a venture capital firm. One of the major considerations for VCs is whether the growth model is sustainable. Investors try to evaluate whether they will receive an acceptable rate of return on their investment. They typically have a timeline in mind, such as a three- to five-year period that it will take to earn their target rate of return. This rate of return is determined in part by reviewing and getting comfortable with the forecasting and growth projections that the company has developed. Again, a competent CPA is essential in order to help the company develop these forecasts and test them to make sure that they are reasonable, attainable and can be relied upon during the venture capital firm's due diligence process.
Once the I's are dotted and T's are crossed, your startup is in the game. However, there is still considerable work you need to do if you intend to play at a level that VCs will deem investment-worthy.
Showing that your company has developed a robust intellectual property and patent strategy is also a necessary step in this process. Your patent portfolio is extremely important to your future success. For VCs looking to invest in the next Apple or Microsoft, knowing that the company holds patents and proprietary intellectual property is critical. Entrepreneurs have to be able to show that they have the "secret sauce" that differentiates them from all the other companies in their space. They need to be able to provide a compelling argument that their patents and intellectual property are highly sought after, viable and would provide the venture capital firm with a strong platform for growth. Companies must master this major step because intellectual property is likely one of their most important assets.
In order for a startup company to do this, they must align themselves with competent counsel to ensure that they can and have developed a strategy for patenting their technology and protecting it. Founders should seek advice from a CPA firm and/or law firm in this area. Typically, a well-connected CPA can provide good advice in selecting the proper counsel.
A good marketing strategy is also critical to this process. Once the intellectual property and the product are developed, entrepreneurs must employ a detailed go to market strategy. Venture capital firms want to be sure that you have devoted the necessary time and effort into solidifying this strategy so you can turn your product research and development activities into sustainable revenues. One way to show this is for a company to cite specific clients and companies they have been in contact with about their product. Purchase orders from large companies are very valuable to the venture capitalist and help to show the viability and sustainability of a long-term revenue stream.
Public relations and strategic storytelling are important aspects as well. Not only does it help an entrepreneur to have a sizeable media presence and digital footprint when he or she is trying to woo investors, it is sometimes necessary to seek the help of professional writers who can effectively articulate why an opportunity poses so much value. This type of messaging is common for entities that are looking to unlock value by spinning off a particular asset group from the parent company. The more there is to explain, the harder it is to communicate it to potential investors.
Many times, the venture capital firm will want to "walk in the shoes" of company management once they have partial or complete ownership. They are hopeful that efficiencies have developed in how the entity is managed and run. Relationships have been forged, and VCs typically do not want to stand in the way. Many times, if their assessment of the infrastructure is positive, they may want to operate in more of an oversight role and keep current management in place. Because of this, it is imperative that you establish the proper management team, relationships with vendors, commercial lease agreement, IT infrastructure and other critical business components. It is a strong benefit when VCs are comfortable keeping the existing infrastructure in place when they invest in your company.
Another way a company can develop the proper infrastructure and obtain guidance is to be a part of a business incubator or accelerator. These organizations provide startup companies with many of the resources they need when first starting out. They provide them with physical space, conference rooms, telephone systems and laboratories as well as guidance to help the entrepreneur focus on developing and perfecting their technology or service. It typically is not easy to get into an incubator environment. The incubator will have its own vetting process that the startup must navigate to gain entry. Typically, these incubators are connected to CPA, law and communications firms as well as other professionals whom they can introduce you to along the way. Venture capital firms have been known to have deep relationships with incubators in order to be the first to evaluate new and upcoming companies.
Your CPA can be invaluable in helping you make these important connections. Aggressive networking leads to valuable business connections, and if managed properly these relationships can lead to the injection of capital your startup needs.
As with entrepreneurs, not all VCs are the same. Some look for immediate gains, while others are more comfortable waiting five or more years for return on their capital.
Wasting time on the wrong investors can be a critical misstep because as an entrepreneur time is your most valuable resource. If you can't turn a profit next year, don't pitch a firm that that specializes in quick returns.
The space you are in matters greatly as well. If you're a medical device startup, don't attempt to secure money from a private equity group that specializes in real estate. It's also important to have a plan for your exit strategy. Some investors might want you to relinquish control, while others are happy for you to continue running your company.
These tactics might seem obvious, but young business owners overlook them more than you might expect. You can research best practices online or with the help of your CPA. The more experienced your advisor is, the better he or she should be at pairing you with the proper source of funding and the appropriate resources to help you get there. With so many options for finding investors today, it's critical to have your plan set ahead of time.
Michael Silvio, CPA, is the Director of Tax Services at Hall & Company. He has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting and tax and has served a variety of businesses in the high-technology, consumer product, software, biotech, life science, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, professional service and not-for-profit industries. He is a nationally recognized leader in the federal credits and incentives tax specialty. He has conducted over 450 research credit studies for numerous companies in various industries, and has served as a representative before the IRS and state taxing authorities to support and defend numerous research credit claims for taxpayers. Mike has consulted on many other tax incentives related to domestic production, accounting methods, federal and state grant programs, and energy/"green" tax incentives including energy efficient building incentives. Mike has assisted clients in savings millions of tax dollars with the above incentives. He also has experience in financial accounting, reporting and management, auditing, and individual and business income tax. He can be reached at ms@hallcpas.com.
I really like how you emphasized that having a CPA firm work for you can really create good corporate structure and keep accounting records. Small business are growing constantly every year. They get to the point where bookkeeping gets time consuming and need an accounting firm. My business has currently grown to the point where I'm considering hiring an accounting firm. Thanks for posting this great article, it's helped me out to make up my mind on what I need to do.


November 1995 Bernadette McAllskey was due to speak at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester.
However, the meeting was called off after threats to disrupt the meeting by the National Front.
The only venue in the greater Manchester to host the meeting was Bolton Socialist Club.