I have just completed the powerpoint section of my current IT course (a mere 97% in the final test). Having been out for an afternoon walk.
In my account of my eight days away we have arrived at my first full day in Derbyshire on the morning of which I took the pictures of High Hazels that appeared in my last post, before moving my stuff across to the main house, as the other house was no longer required, and going on a trip to Haddon Hall, one of many grand buildings in the vicinity.
Haddon Hall was absolutely magnificent, helped by it being a belter of a day – even Hillington Square looks less ugly under a blue sky! After we returned we all sat down to lunch, the centrepiece of which was a superb oriental style salad. The afternoon was quietly spent reading and making use of one of the most successful cheap toys ever bought – a plastic cricket set which was near universally popular.
Bearing in mind that I took over 200 photos while at Haddon Hall any selection will be unrepresentative, but here they are…..
Author ThomasPosted on July 30, 2013 Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Course and High Hazels.
As I have three separate segments to this post, all of which have many photos associated with them, I will use the photos to mark the ends of each segment.
Yesterday was Norwich Pride, and it was by some way the largest we have yet had in that fine city. Normally our parade starts from Chapelfield Gardens and circles round the town to finish outside the forum, where various other events take place but this time there were so many of us that the police insisted that we start and finish in Chapelfield because we would not all fit in front of the forum. Before the parade I attended a Question Time type meeting in The Curve, two floors below the main body of the Forum (which was itself absolutely dominated by the event). Then it was over to Chapelfield Gardens (about 5 mins by the direct walking route) to get ready for the parade. As for the parade itself, pictures tell more than words….
The final day of Marxism is always a little stressful if you are from outside London because you have to pack, and have to put your heavy baggage in the baggage room when you get to the event, and retrieve it after the final rally. This was compounded when my early arrival was set at nought by the fact that the baggage room had not yet been unlocked.
After enjoying Talat Ahmed's meeting on Islamaphobia I had intended to go to Siobhan Brown's meeting on After the horsemeat scandal: Capitalism & food, but she was ill, so rather than going full circle in terms of meeting venues (starting and finsihing at Nunn Hall), I went down to the Jeffery Hall for Colin Barker on What could a socialist revolution look like?
Having picked up my stuff from the baggage room I walked down to St Pancras International, from where I was catching a train to Chesterfield, the nearest station to where the gathering of the clans was taking place, based at 6 High Hazels, one of a series of holiday cottages associated with Hardwick Hall.
I have had a successful week at work, and my course continues to go well. I have arranged with David James to discuss a possible increase of my hours on Thursday morning (he needs someone to do press releases and related work, the question being can I convince him that this justifies giving me four full days work per week). At 9:00 I will be setting of for Norwich Pride.
On the Sunday morning I set off early again (in this case my chief concern being the possible length of wait for a bus), and arrived at the event with lots of time to spare. Not even inadvertently heading to the wrong room for my first meeting caused much of a problem.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the meetings I attended on this day, which included three science based meetings. Paul McGarr was very good on Darwin, Engels & the evolution of modern humans. The chief point of disagreement between Darwin and Engels was on whether bipedalism or large brains came first (Engels thought bipedalism, Darwin large brains), on which matter Engels was ultimately proven correct. Jill Chanter's meeting on genetics saw me using my IT skills, but unfortunately when the computer went into hibernation during the talk, it turned out to be password protected and therefore I could not retrieve that situation.
My third and fourth meetings of the day were very much campaign-based, featuring Sinead Kennedy, Mary Phillips and Marianne Owens on abortion rights, and then Karen Reissman and Louise Irvine on the NHS. For the evening I reverted to science, in the form of Amy Gilligan on Is Science Neutral? The answer is no – who pays the piper calls the tune. For the first time we (Trevor and I) got to our accommodation before midnight, and neither of us stayed awake long. Trevor was setting of early for an appointment in Lincolnshire where he lives, while the rest of us were all also leaving that accommodation on Monday morning, although two of our number were staying another night at a community centre as they were going to the After Party.
I am making rapid progress through the Powerpoint module of my online IT course, with every hope of finishing it.
Saturday at Marxism is always the busiest day, and this year was no exception. After Friday mornings experience I set off at 8:20 AM, and arrived with lots of time to spare. Both of my morning meetings were in ULU in rooms 3A and 3B. I started with Emma Davis on The Bolsheviks & the Russian Revolution and then switching focus from the past to the future went to Stuart Curlett on What could a future socialist society look like? Both these meetings featured lively discussions.
At lunchtime I partook once again of the Norwich Picnic, and enjoyed an open-air performance of Shelley's classic poem "Mask of Anarchy", his response to the Peterloo massacre.
Immediately post-lunch I went to the meeting on Disabled people & the fight against austerity, which featured four speakers from the platform, and an inspiring set of contributions from the floor including one from me that was well received. This meeting was in Nunn Hall, and the room was well set up for the purpose.
My second meeting of the afternoon session was in the Jeffery Hall, three floors below the Nunn, and was on the subject of police cover ups, featuring speakers from the campaigns around Hillsborough and Orgreave, plus Gareth Peirce, a civil rights lawyer.
During the long break between 5 and 7 I was able to catch up on the first ashes test match, and saw some splendid batting from Ian Bell and Stuart Broad (this partnership, and some great bowling by Jimmy Anderson would put England one up in the series, and set the stage for the hammering dished out by England at Lords).
My final meeting of the day was on climate change, back at Nunn Hall. In the evening I spent time with the Norwich comrades before heading over to ULU where my room-mate was watching u-tube footage from Egypt. The last film was cut short because the licence only ran until 11PM, at which point Trevor and I got the bus home.
England are now 2-0 to the good in the Ashes contest and given the lack of appetite for the fight thus far displayed by Australia, Sir Ian Botham's 5-0, 5-0 forecast for these two back to back series is starting to look less outrageous than it initially did. Joe Root with 180 and two second innings wickets was a clear cut man of the match.
Day two of Marxism 2013 got off to a slightly dodgy start for me because three of us set off from our accommodation near Stoke Newington at 9:00, and discovered that we had under-estimated the effect of morning traffic on journey times. By the time our bus turned on to Euston Road the traffic was so heavy that would obviously be quicker to walk, so we got off opposite St Pancras station. A check on the time revealed that we were in severe danger of being late, but I did just about get to my meeting (John Molyneux on Trotsky & trotskyism today) before it started, making a mental note to myself to set off earlier on future days.
Trotskyism is NOT equal to treating every word Trotsky wrote as gospel. What Trotskyism is about is looking at the guiding fundamental principles of his life and applying them appropriately to the present day. As an example, Trotsky was the first theorist of the united front, which today is exemplified by Unite Against Fascism, whose continued success is one reason that this country does not have a major fascist organisation.
After this first meeting (at ULU room 3C/D) I headed to the Drama Studio (IE), for "Freedom now! The struggle for Civil Rights", which was billed to have Yuri Prasad as the main speaker, but in the event featured Ken Olende as Yuri was ill. This meeting featured footage from the civil rights era, projected on to a large screen, including excerpts from Martin Luther King's famous speech of 50 years ago "I have a dream". After partaking of the Norwich picnic (a sensible way to ensure that expenditure on food is not unmanageable) I next headed back to ULU 3C/D for Beth Greenhill's meeting on Mental Health. After this meeting I headed two floors down to The Venue (originally Manning Hall, then Room 101 – the name has changed more than the appearance of the room) for Mark L Thomas (Editor of Socialist Review, not to be confused with the increasingly unfunny comedian Mark Thomas) on "Can the Left Reclaim the Labour Party?" The short answer by the way is: No and we don't want to. Along the way a couple of good points were made – the myth of a Golden Age of the Labour Party is (like most such myths) almost as old as the Labour Party. Also the point was made in passing that socialist MPs should not take more than a worker's wage in payment, which self-restraint is practiced by Richard Boyd Barrett (A TD – the Irish equivalent of an MP).
After the long break for supper I made my third visit of the day to ULU 3C/D, for "After gay marriage are we all liberated now?" with Julie Bremner (a friend at whose house I often stay when attending meetings in Norwich). This meeting, Julie's first as a main speaker at this event, went exceedingly well, and the Norwich comrades went out for drinks afterwards. There was a minor mishap in communications between me and Trevor (who was one of those who had a key for our accommodation) but we managed to meet up at the bus stop outside Euston station and got back at about midnight, which is not late for Marxism.
As I write this post England are moving inexorably towards a 2-0 lead in the Ashes Series. Only once in all the history of Ashes contests has such a situation been overturned, in the 1936-37 series when England won the first two before a certain D G Bradman produced innings of 270, 169 and 212 in successive matches.
Having assembled everything I was going to need for Marxism (having prudently arranged for a few bits of stuff to be ferried to Derbyshire in advance by my parents whose car has a large storage capacity) I caught the 10:56 to London King's Cross, and then walked to the Institute of Education (IE), which along with the University of London Union (ULU) was hosting the event, deposited my baggage and made inquiries about my accommodation, which had still not been sorted.
My first meeting was at Nunn Hall, where Xanthe Whittaker was speaking on: "Is the Media All Powerful" – clearly not since thousands of us had signed up to an event of this nature. I proceeded straight from the end of this meeting to the Drama Studio for Jonny Jones' meeting on fracking. After a lively opening presentation from Jonny, there was an excellent set of contributions from the floor. A personal favourite came from Jonathan Neale who has been involved with the campaign on the Fylde coast when he dealt nicely the "NIMBY" (Not in my backyard) question: "We are not NIMBYs we are NOMPs (Not on My Planet)".
In the meantime, the accommodation team had done very well to rectify the situation for me, finding me a mattress on the floor of a shared room (with one other person) in a private house. I phoned the person with whom I was staying and we concluded arrangements.Thus I headed for the opening rally in a much more relaxed frame of mind than I had been in earlier in the day.
The opening rally was (as it usually is) a superb occasion. The opening speaker was a disability rights activist who set a very high standard for the others.
Having been advised as to buses and where to get off I was able to locate my accommodation without difficulty and got some sleep.
I have some photos below….


I am sort of addicted to Amazon for no other reason that I'm lazy and most of the time prefer to do my shopping online. Usually I get random knickknacks and grant it, that's sort of what this haul is but in any case I thought I'd share.
The original reason for me logging into Amazon today was dried herbs. A lot of the recipes I've been doing call for sage and rosemary which although I can find fresh at a good price it just never seems to last long enough. So, I thought I'd spend the money for Organic dried herbs and have peace of mind that I'll have them on hand when needed. Another item I decided to purchase in a bulk size is sesame seeds. Sesame seeds can be very expensive at the grocery store and I make a lot of Asian inspired meals that call for sesame seeds, including my go-to lunch of salad with vegetable dumplings. There's something about the taste of toasted sesame seeds that just can't be duplicated. Back in Puerto Rico I used to find small bags of Badia brand sesame seeds for under a dollar, here in CT I've only seen them at ShopRite and it's the small McCormick container for $2 something. As I write this I now realize that I didn't check the price for sesame seeds at Whole Foods. Oh well….also, who would've thought you could dedicate almost an entire paragraph to sesame seeds?
Organic White Sesame Seeds (16 oz. bag) – Like I said, I always seem to run out and I use sesame seeds 2-3 times a week in different recipes. Hopefully this lasts us around 2 months or more.
Hodgson Mill Pure Corn Starch – Now that I'm working outside the home and some days I don't get home until after 7:00pm, we're doing more crockpot meals, many of which call for corn starch to thicken sauces. I looked for corn starch at Target and Trader Joe's to no avail, I figured this will last us a long time.
Simply Organic Thyme, Basil and Rosemary – Like I said, a lot of recipes call for these spices and sometimes I just don't have the fresh ones on hand. Though I prefer fresh basil, it's good to have a back up to add to sauces and such.
Kitchen countertop shelf – For a small apartment, we have a decent amount of counterspace. However, for a few weeks I've been wishing we could have te toaster somewhere else in order to make better use of the cabinet space. Finally I caved and order this shelf in order to leave the toaster in the counter (hubby uses it daily) but also add space underneath. It's a very economic shelf, so I'm a little skeptical about the quality once it arrives (although it has great reviews) but this apartment is a rental so I'm also not about to go and spend money on great quality items that may not be needed in our next home.
Decorative small glass canisters – This is purely decorative. Our apartment is very modern which for me translates to bland. Adding life to the kitchen has been difficult so I'm thinking these jars will hold sugar, granola and tea while adding a bit of personality. All I need to get now are navy blue and white striped kitchen towels and a blue mat for the counter and the kitchen will de "done" for our time in Hartford.
Also, the labels/marker to write out what's inside each canister.
I'm very unapologetic about hating bras, so on days when I can get away with not wearing one, these are my go-to.
Essential Oil diffuser – Although we get pretty good ventilation in our apartment, I always want some sort of scent in my home. I remember my middle school best friend's house always smelled a certain way, I would go there 3-4 times a week and you could always feel the difference from being outside to going inside their house. I can't describe the smell but it smelled wonderfully. My husband and I are both pretty sensitive to strong smells and are prone to sinusitis (I was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis at three years old, not fun) so scented sprays and candles aren't really long term solutions. I figured 1-2 drops of essential oil will be enough to give our home a relaxing and signature scent without being overpowering. While we're on that, this is the blend that I got, I've never strayed away from doTerra oils.
Have you purchased anything online recently? Let me know below!
This is not a sponsored post. No affiliate links have been used. All opinions are my own.
Love all the things you got! I've been dying to try sesame seeds and incorporate them into our meals. That has been on my to-do list for a while but I still haven't gotten around to it.
I love, love Amazon but I don't know what's been happening to the shipping to PR lately but it has been so hit and miss. Sometimes items arrive very quickly, and most times they take more than a week to arrive (even with Prime). That's why I haven't been ordering as much from there lately.
Best trick with sesame seeds is to "brown" them in a non-stick pan, it realeases their oils and gives whatever dish an amazing flavor. I get it 100%, I was getting very irritated with Amazon when living in PR. Most things would ship on the 7th day of the time allotted and then would take up to two weeks to arrive. If I couldn't afford express shipping, I would wait. I hat that shipping to PR is so problematic and costly. I think my best experiences with shipping to PR was with Sephora, always shipped and arrived quickly. Also, I always prefer to shop online with Sephora since you can get many samples and use coupon codes (retailmenot.com) to get freebies.


text:
No. 8 softball wins two, drops two
Drew MacFarlane
Following a 4-1 start to the 2015 season, Florida State's softball team hosted their second weekend set of games, bringing in top-20 teams. Of the five games on JoAnne Graf Field, four were against ranked opponents, No. 20 Nebraska and No. 7 Michigan, who Florida State beat in a best of three series to advance to the College World Series last year.
Florida State opened the weekend off with a Friday night double header, starting with the Cornhuskers and ending with Western Kentucky. The 'Noles jumped out to an early lead against No. 20 Nebraska behind the smoking bat of redshirt sophomore Alex Powers, who had two home runs in FSU's previous game against FAMU and added a pair of RBIs against the Huskers. Following a rough start to the Florida A&M game, redshirt sophomore pitcher Jessica Burroughs stood strong in the circle, holding Nebraska to only a single run, four hits, and striking out six in the process, including three straight to end the game.
Soon after finishing Nebraska by a 4-1 score, Florida State had taken the field for their second of the night against Western Kentucky and the current player of the week, pitcher Miranda Kramer. Going against FSU's senior pitcher Lacey Waldrop, who took home the title of 2014 National Player of the Year, both showed why they're so highly regarded in the circle. Both Kramer and Waldrop helped keep the score at an even 0 through three innings before Western Kentucky finally broke through, opening the scoring in the fourth after Waldrop walked WKU's Carleigh Chaumont with the bases loaded. The 'Noles would answer right back, however, finding their way onto the scoreboard in the fifth inning after senior Bailey Schinella brought both sophomore Ellie Cooper and redshirt senior Maddie O'Brien, putting the 'Noles up 2-1, which would hold true for the final. Waldrop would finish her fourth win of the season with 11 strikeouts, allowing only four hits to WKU.
"Nebraska is a storied program and that was a great game," head coach Lonni Alameda said of Friday's opponents. She added, "Western Kentucky is a quality team as well and I'm really pleased to get two hard-fought wins.
"We're really just trying to figure ourselves out as it is such an early part of the season…I know our offense will come around, but it is always good to have pitchers like [Waldrop and Burroughs] in the circle," Alameda finished.
Saturday, however, wouldn't be so kind to the 'Noles. In a rematch of the 2014 Super Regional, Michigan came back to Tallahassee looking for revenge and they got it, earning both games by one-run deficits. After surrendering a 4-1 lead to Michigan in game one, Florida State fought back to take a 5-4 lead following a RBI bunt from Cooper, a RBI groundout by freshman Jessica Warren, and a two-run blast from O'Brien, two of her three RBIs. The lead wouldn't last, however, as Waldrop, who entered in relief for Burroughs, allowed the final two runs, handing her the first loss of her 2015 season in 6-5 heartbreak.
The following game saw another defensive battle in the circle as Michigan started pitcher Megan Betsa, who, after closing out the previous game, would hold the 'Noles hitless until the fifth inning. The Wolverines opened the scoring, putting two runs on the board in the third after two singles and an intentional walk loaded the bases, before catcher Lauren Sweet pushed a single through, despite the two-out circumstance. Florida State would cut that deficit in half in wake of junior outfielder Alex Kossof's lead off triple and Cooper's perfectly placed bunt. Florida State pressured the Blue in the seventh, placing two runners on with two-outs, but couldn't convert. Waldrop took her second loss in as many games, allowing seven hits, but only two runs, in addition to four strikeouts.
"Losing six seniors, we are still trying to find our identity and learn what we've got out there," said Alameda following FSU's long day against No. 7 Michigan.
"Michigan is a great program with many returners that have experience in games and situations like this. We're building that for ourselves and the fight that this team showed being one pitch away at the end in both games will only help us moving forward."
Closing out the weekend, Florida State had one last challenge in Nebraska in a noon game on Sunday. The Huskers started quick, leading off the game with a solo home run off of Burroughs, but the 'Noles would answer right back with a three-run shot of their own, coming off the bat of none other than Powers. The centerfield shot marked her third home run in a young season. Waldrop, who would come in to replace Burroughs, kept the game scoreless until the sixth inning when the Huskers cut FSU's lead to 3-2. Nebraska would add more pressure, loading the bases with only a single out, but Schinella would come in and close out both the inning and game, earning her first save of the season.
"Sunday games can often be difficult because of the physical and emotional toll of the tournament weekend, but I was glad with how we came through in big situations and got the win," Alameda said of the early game against Nebraska.
"It was great to see Bailey come in and show everyone what she's been working on all fall, and that's been a focus of this team – the next person, next pitch mentality where every player has each other's back and can come up and execute in pressure situations."
The 'Noles will follow up a challenging weekend with their first real road trip of the year, traveling out to Palm Springs, California, where they'll play in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. FSU's schedule in California will include No. 13 Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma State, No. 20 Cal and No. 12 UCLA.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
French Montana Talks Dating Iggy Azalea & Max B's Return
He spills the tea.
Written By: Sukii
Max B could be home in as little as two years, according to French Montana.
The Coke Boyz rapper hit up HOT 97 last night to talk to Funk Flex about the Wave God, then discussed his blossoming relationship with Iggy Azalea. French says though they've known each other for a long time, he never approached the blonde rapper because she already had a man. And as far as their relationship goes, French says he's just "out here having fun, enjoying life."
Here are a couple more interesting excerpts concerning Max B.
On how Max B got his time reduced:
"He took a plea deal, 'cause them numbers was crazy they gave him – that whole 75 years, 'cause he blew trial. So when he took the plea deal and they just knocked down the years from 75 to 20. But he already got almost 10 years in."
On when Max B will be home:
"He can come home as early as two years, but if he fucks it up in there (excuse my language), he could do up to six."
Listen to French's call in full below. Hopefully, it won't be long before we're welcoming Max B home.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
French Montana Talks Dating Iggy Azalea & Max B's Return was originally published on globalgrind.com
dating	, french montana	, Iggy Azalea	, jail	, max b


Today, Diageo publishes its Gender Pay Gap Report showing a median pay gap of +8.6% for Diageo employees across all legal entities in Great Britain, significantly lower than the ONS Great Britain median pay gap of +18.8%1 . The mean pay gap across these businesses is +0.6%. We are pleased with the progress made on diversity and inclusion at Diageo and are clear on our ambition to go further and close the gap.
We will deliver more opportunities for women working in Diageo's businesses and our goal is to make Diageo the company women want to join. Diageo ranked third in the 2017 'Hampton Alexander Review FTSE 100 for Women on Boards and in Leadership' and jointly held the top position for Companies with Female Executive Directors in the 2017 'Cranfield School of Management Female FTSE Report'. In April 2018, Diageo plc's Board of Directors will reach gender parity, when Ursula Burns starts her role as Non-Executive Director. 40% of our global Executive Committee are women and more than 30% of our global senior leadership team are women. Achieving gender equality and developing a strong, talented pipeline of future female leaders underpins our firm belief that a more diverse and inclusive workforce accelerates business growth.
Across England and Scotland, Diageo has two legal entities with more than 250 employees, Diageo Great Britain and Diageo Scotland. Across these businesses, we employ approximately 4,5002 people. Diageo Great Britain employs 1,300 people in functional roles, the packaging of beer and the distribution, marketing, import and sale of beer and spirits across England and Wales. Diageo Scotland employs 3,200 people, primarily in a 24/7 manufacturing business, which includes distilling, maturation and bottling of our Scotch whisky, gin and vodka brands.
In our Diageo Great Britain business, we have a median gender pay gap of -9.8%. This position reflects the good progress made to date on developing, promoting and recruiting female talent into more senior roles within the company. We invest in job design to support flexible working to retain female talent; in coaching pre, during and post maternity leave; and in ongoing training of our managers to remove any unconscious bias.
In our Diageo Scotland business, we have a median pay gap of +16.7%. This gap is driven by a large number of manufacturing roles, which struggle to attract women in part due to unsociable shift patterns. The other driver of our pay gap in Scotland is that currently, there are fewer women at senior levels. We are making progress in this area and are building a strong, diverse talent pipeline.
We are committed to closing the gap across these businesses. We already provide training and mentoring for women at all stages of their careers to support their development as leaders. Moving forward, we are also identifying opportunities in Scotland including creating scholarships for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and supporting leadership development through our Women and Leadership in Supply programme.
Mairéad Nayager, Human Resources Director, Diageo said, "I very much welcome the UK Government's initiative on gender pay gap reporting. Just last week, Diageo ranked third in the 2017 'Hampton Alexander Review FTSE 100 for Women on Boards and in Leadership'. I am proud of the progress we are making at Diageo with gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation and want us to go further. Creating a truly diverse and inclusive culture is not only the right thing to do, it supports the success of our company.
Ranked 3rd in the 2017 'Hampton Alexander Review FTSE 100 for Women on Boards and in Leadership'.
Joint top position in the 'Cranfield School of Management Female FTSE Report 2017 for Companies with Female Executive Directors'.
Named 11th World's Best Workplace for 2017, by Great Place to Work®.
Ranked 5th Most Diverse and Inclusive Workplace in the Thomson Reuters Diversity & Inclusion index 2017.
Ranked 10th out of more than 3,000 companies from around the world in Equileap's Gender Equality Global Report and Ranking 2017.
For the purpose of this reporting Diageo has two legal entities with more than 250 employees: Diageo Great Britain and Diageo Scotland.
* Diageo's combined gender pay data includes all employees across Diageo Great Britain legal entities.


1834 • The Baumes had already spent decades making watches when the company BAUME FRERES was founded in Bois (Suisse Romande), producing above all enamelled fob watches.
1844 • Joseph Célestin Baume established contacts in England. He sold watches signed WATERLOO, DIVIKO and SIRDAR in Australia and New Zealand.
1893 • Baume won the chronometry competition of the KEW TEDDINGTON Observatory with a score of 91.9 out of 100.
1912 • William Baume made the acquaintance of the jeweller Paul Mercier, at the HAAS atelier in Geneva.
1918 • BAUME & MERCIER founded in Geneva.
1937 • William Baume and Paul Mercier withdrew from the business, and the jeweller Constantin de Gorski joined the company.
After the Second World War, BAUME & MERCIER concentrated on classic men's watches, sports chronographs and ladies jewelled wristwatches.
1965 • PIAGET bought a majority shareholding in BAUME & MERCIER.
1968 • Production of one the slimmest calendar watches in the world with micro-rotor automatic rewind.
The same year, the landmarks for tuning electronics were established.
1970 • The brand bet everything on quartz.
1983 • BAUME & MERCIER temporarily stopped manufacture of mechanical watches.
1988 • Christian and Yves Piaget sold 60% of their stake in PIAGET HOLDING S.A. and BAUME & MERCIER to CARTIER MONDE S.A.
1993 • PIAGET and BAUME & MERCIER taken oven entirely by the CARTIER Group.
1997 • Introduction of CATWALK.
1999 • Launch of the HAMPTON MILLEIS.
2000 • Launch of the CAPELAND Line.
2002 • Launch of the HAMPTON SPIRIT.
2003 • In September, inauguration of the new Manufacture in Brenets. Launch of HAMPTON CITY.


Huge price reduction ! ! !5 Bedroom 3 Bath home in gated Windmill Park. 1 room & 1 bath downstairs. Big living room welcomes at the entrance. Open cozy kitchen with granite counter tops & window above sink looking towards rear patio. Rear open living-dining room combo open towards kitchen area. Stairs lead to upstairs family/Game room with plenty of natural lighting. Master bedroom with master bath & walk in closet built with privacy in mind. Bigger than average Park Like yard & patio ! This home generates solar energy ! Seller will pay off solar loan at Close of Escrow ! ! !


text:
package com.alibaba.cobar.manager.web.action;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
import org.springframework.validation.BindException;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.SimpleFormController;

import com.alibaba.cobar.manager.dataobject.xml.AppDO;
import com.alibaba.cobar.manager.dataobject.xml.ClusterDO;
import com.alibaba.cobar.manager.service.XmlAccesser;

/**
 * @author haiqing.zhuhq 2011-6-27
 */
public class AddApp extends SimpleFormController implements InitializingBean {

    private XmlAccesser xmlAccesser;

    public void setXmlAccesser(XmlAccesser xmlAccesser) {
        this.xmlAccesser = xmlAccesser;
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("unused")
    private static class AppForm {

        private String clusterId;
        private String appName;
        private String password;

        public String getClusterId() {
            return clusterId;
        }

        public void setClusterId(String clusterId) {
            this.clusterId = clusterId;
        }

        public String getAppName() {
            return appName;
        }

        public void setAppName(String appName) {
            this.appName = appName;
        }

        public String getPassword() {
            return password;
        }

        public void setPassword(String password) {
            this.password = password;
        }

    }

    @Override
    public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
        setCommandClass(AppForm.class);
        if (xmlAccesser == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("property 'xmlAccesser' is null!");
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected ModelAndView onSubmit(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Object command,
                                    BindException errors) throws Exception {
        AppForm form = (AppForm) command;
        AppDO app = new AppDO();
        app.setAppName(form.getAppName());
        app.setPassword(form.getPassword());

        long clusterId = -1;
        if (form.getClusterId() != null) {
            clusterId = Long.valueOf(form.getClusterId());
        }

        ClusterDO cluster = this.xmlAccesser.getClusterDAO().getClusterById(clusterId);

        if (cluster == null) {
            String reason = "cluster:" + form.getClusterId() + "不存在";
            return new ModelAndView("failure", "reason", reason);
        }

        app.setClusterId(cluster.getId());

        String error = this.xmlAccesser.getClusterDAO().addApp(app);

        if (error == null) {
            return new ModelAndView("m_success", "info", "App添加成功");
        } else {
            return new ModelAndView("failure", "reason", error);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Returning to Ballinskelligs
to rekindle memories from
over half a century ago
Tig an Rince in the small village of Dungeagan ... I am back after staying here over 50 years ago in 1966.
The Easter Vestry meetings are over, and I am taking a day or two off in Ballinskelligs (Baile 'n Sceilg) in south-west Kerry and in the small village of Dungeagan.
Over half a century ago, when I was in my teens in 1966, there was a real fear that I might fail Irish in the 'Inter Cert' the following year. Failing Irish at the time meant failing the full exam outright, and the consequences for families were dire: repeat the full year, which still provided no guarantee of success a second time; leave school and find an apprenticeship, which was never considered in a family such as mine; or being sent to England to a school such as Downside or Ampleforth.
Three of were packed off to Ballinskelligs for a month to learn Irish. It must have been a success: I still remember the England v Germany World Cup final that summer; I boarded with cousins from Co Cork and learned much from them too; and when I returned home and was asked whether I had learned much Irish I answered smartly, 'No, but I learned a lot about French, eh French kissing.'
During that month in Colaiste Mihichil, I also remember learning Irish dancing, boring evenings listening to the old seanachaí, reading Anne Frank's Diaries and Catcher in the Rye, having my first smoke, and being challenged to go 'skinny dipping.'
I was the butt of some slight humour – but all in good taste – because of what must have been a tinge of an English accent at the time. On the other hand, I remember feeling negative about the commemorations that year of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916. If Irish colleges were about shaping national identity then, despite my age, I realised already some people wanted to classify me as an outsider.
My parents never hinted that they heard any reports of my independent behaviour. And yes, I passed Irish in the 'Inter Cert' the following year – albeit a pass on a pass paper – and went on finish the 'Leaving Cert' in 1969 at Gormanston College, Co Meath.
Now I am back in Ballinskelligs (Baile 'n Sceilg), and back in the small village of Dungeagan, where I stayed over 50 years ago in 1966. I am staying overnight in Tig an Rince. a purpose-built Bed and Breakfast just 500 meters from the local pub and church, and within easy walking distance of the Blue Flag beach in Ballinskelligs.
Ballinskelligs is on the Wild Atlantic Way and on the Ring of Skellig, an extension of the famous Ring of Kerry. It claims it is the 'Diamond on the Ring, and the Ring of Skellig is a smaller 30 km route with all the beauty but none of the hassle of the Ring of Kerry.
The Ring of Skellig detours west off the N70 just north of Waterville, and hooks back up to the Ring of Kerry just south of Caherciveen.
Ballinskelligs has a Blue Flag Beach at the western edge of a sheltered bay. The area is home to five music venues and a haven for artists, with a world renowned artists' retreat at Cill Rialaig village, a gallery at Cill Rialaig Arts Centre and regular craft fairs.
The small village of Dungeagan was mainly centred on trade and shops in the late Victorian period. There were three shops here in 1886, and by the 1950s it had five shops.
The church was built here in the 19th century and for generations Dungeagan was the main centre of community life in Ballinskelligs, with two dance halls and that residential Irish College every summer.
I am looking forward to some long walks on the sandy beach, and the sites I hope to reacquaint myself with include the McCarthy Mór Tower, known as the 'castle on the beach,' and the 12th century abbey. What other memories are going to be stirred up in Ballinskelligs?
Tig Rosie, Sigerson's pub in Dungeagan, Ballinskelligs
Labels: Ballinskelligs, Beach Walks, Co Kerry, School Days
An unusual sculpture
carries its weight at
a Limerick junction
The John O'Grady Monument at the Fair Green in Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Limerick has an interesting collection of public sculptures and monuments commemorating its sporting life, including rugby players and hurlers, Olympic athletes, and, of course, that star of Sporting Life, Richard Harris.
But the most unusual sporting monument, in appearance as well as theme, must be the John O'Grady Monument at the Fair Green on the junction of the Pike or Ballysimon Road and the Blackboy Road or Old Cork Road. It is impossible not to notice the monument at the sharp angle of the junction of two roads forming the pike.
This monument in limestone and steel is symbolic and yet has a neoclassical character. It was erected in 1940 to commemorate the champion weight thrower John O'Grady (1892-1934), once the strongest man in Limerick.
The monument shows a weight at the top resting on four limestone balls, and these stand on a limestone plinth base with a canted podium and there is commemorative panelling on the sides of plinth base. The top part of the monument, representing the handle of the weight, was damaged and dislodged. When it was found recently by a local resident, the monument was recently restored to its former glory by Limerick Civic Trust.
John O'Grady was born on 17 February 1891 in Ballybricken, Co Limerick, the son of William and Catherine O'Grady, farmers.
He stood at over 6 ft tall and weighed more than 18 stone. A world record-breaking weight thrower, he represented Ireland in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and was the country's flag bearer. He took part in the shot put, which he threw a distance of 12.75 metres, which placing him 17th in the Olympics that year.
The monument records that in his career he created three world records for putting and also won seven national championships.
In his later years, he was the rates book inspector for the Limerick County Council. He died on 26 November 1934,at his home, in Saint Kevin's, Alphonsus Terrace, Limerick. His funeral took place in Saint Michael's Church, and he was buried in Kilmurry, Caherconlish. All who knew him recalled his jolly disposition.
The inscription on the monument reads:
Erected by his admirers in proud memory of John O'Grady World Champion Weight Thrower born at Ballybricken, Co. Limerick 17th Feb 1892. Died at Limerick 26th Nov 1934. He worthily upheld Ireland's Athletic prestige and endeared himself to all by his loveable character and simple bearing.
Labels: Limerick, Local History, Olympic Games, Sculpture, Sport
Returning to Ballinskelligs to rekindle memories f...
An unusual sculpture carries its weight at a Limer...


At a diner, two older men see Chuck Norris at the register and begin to share urban legends they've heard about the action star: the boogeyman checks for Norris under the bed; superheroes read comic books about Chuck Norris; and, instead of people saying they have cat-like reflexes, cats say they have "Chuck-like reflexes." Deciding the star's legendary status is something worth betting on, one man bets his friend that if he throws a salt shaker at Norris, he will catch it. Unluckily for the thrower, Norris does a martial arts move to kick the salt shaker back at the two men, hitting the older man who threw it right in the face. UnitedHealthcare says it is easy to find a local in-network doctor despite not always knowing what's coming, including flying salt shakers. When he goes to see a doctor about his bruised face, the man says that he had lunch with Chuck Norris.


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Orion brings them to New Genesis where Diana has learned she has been in a coma for three days.Angered by this, she goes to talk to Highfather but realizes that in doing so, he saved her life. He informs her Orion is meditating in order to control his anger. After a heart to heart talk among each other, Diana finds out that Highfather will allow them to escape, on the condition that they surrender the baby. Diana, disappointed tries to remind Orion what she's done for him. Orion apologizes to Highfather and follows them through the boomtube with Zeke in tow, although Highfather says that their is no need.
In 1972, just months after the groundbreaking US Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, science fiction author Samuel R. Delany had planned a story for Ms. that culminated in a plainsclothes Wonder Woman protecting an abortion clinic. However, Steinem disapproved of Wonder Woman being out of costume, and the controversial story line never happened.[222]
Nick Pumphrey stated that Wonder Woman stands as a non-violent beacon of hope and inspiration for women and men.[239][240] Grant Morrison stated "I sat down and I thought, 'I don't want to do this warrior woman thing.' I can understand why they're doing it, I get all that, but that's not what [Wonder Woman creator] William Marston wanted, that's not what he wanted at all! His original concept for Wonder Woman was an answer to comics that he thought were filled with images of blood-curdling masculinity, and you see the latest shots of Gal Gadot in the costume, and it's all sword and shield and her snarling at the camera. Marston's Diana was a doctor, a healer, a scientist."[241][242][243][244][245]
This superhero era led by Kanigher didn't last long though. The character was mired in the story lines from the golden age and especially her attachment to Steve Trevor. At the same time across the DC lineup characters were being revitalized with a new focus on science fiction. The silver age at DC is often attributed to having been started by the appearance of the re-imagined Flash in Showcase #4 in 1956. This led to a number of DC characters being reinvented such as Green Lantern and Hawkman. The difference with Wonder Woman though is that the character had managed to stay continually published since the golden age and did not get a science fiction retelling in the 1950s and 1960s. This left the character somewhat stilled mired in the past and eventually it was decided that something would be done to break her free of it. When the decision was made though it was decided that she would not have a science fiction background as it would break too much from her background as an Amazon, but that she would be slightly re-imagined as a martial arts based character, more along the lines of Batman. This would allow her to keep her somewhat unique background story, while also being more contemporary and popular. A much stronger emphasis was also placed on her appearance, as her somewhat drab civilian clothes and costume from the golden era were replaced with contemporary fashions of the time. In addition she opened a fashion boutique in trendy Greenwhich Village. This has led some to describe this era of the character as the "Mod Girl Wonder Woman." While this version of the character did not prove to be consistently popular over the course of her brief run, it did leave some lasting impact on the character once she returned to her usual appearance. Following this she sought out more ambitious careers, for instance as a translator for the United Nations, or as a NASA astronaut and eventually moved back to Army Intelligence where she eventually got promoted to major. Also this period provided the opportunity to sever her from a dependence on Steve Trevor for her stories and her stories for the first time in her publication history became much more in line with what is considered typical of the super hero medium. The introduction of the multiverse made it such that there became two Wonder Womans, the modern version on Earth 1, and the golden age version on Earth 2. For a short time her appearances in her own comic were those of Earth 2 until the contemporary Angle Man accidentally visited her and subsequently the series was returned to modern day. The stories continued much like this for the remainder of the silver age until the end of the first Wonder Woman series with the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. To provide closure to the character which was destined for a reboot, Steve Trevor returned and following the defense of Paradise Island from Shadow Demons, the two were finally married, though in continuity this lasted less than an issue.
Duing the Perez run on the character, there were not as many story arcs either, but they did become more defined. Her entrance into Man's World was to stop a global nuclear war created by Ares. She also had introduced a modern version of the Cheetah, Circe, Doctor Psycho and Silver Swan. One of the defining story arcs at this time was the Challenge of the Gods, where she discovers the truth about her own past as she journeys into the underworld. In this time as well she was a part of numerous company-wide crossovers including Millennium, Invasion and one focused on herself, the War of the Gods. The latter was Perez's swansong on the character and with Messner Loebs taking over afterwards the direction of the character changed again somewhat. Under his direction, Diana became involved in battle factions of organized crime in Boston, and faced off against Ares Buchanan and the White Magician. This resulted in Wonder Woman being marooned in space, and returning to uncover the plot. During the events of Zero Hour a slightly different version of her origin is told, and Artemis wins the right to be Wonder Woman in another contest. This ends eventually with Diana battling the White Magician after Artemis has been killed. The John Byrne run equally was without as many defined story arcs except specifically with how her death affected others. This was also incorporated into the company wide Genesis event. Once she returned she faced a new villain known as Devastation who she battled occasionally, and she also took responsibility for Cassandra Sandsmark (who would later become Wonder Girl.) As a prominent character within the DC universe she took part in company-wide crossovers like Our Worlds at War and the Joker's Last Laugh. When Rucka took over, some of the character's most memorable story arcs occurred, and most famously among them Stoned and the Superman story arc Sacrifice which ended in Wonder Woman #219 with her killing Maxwell Lord.
Steve Trevor's secretary who befriends Diana.[44] Describing her character, Davis said, "She's a woman in a man's world and so being heard and seen aren't the easiest things, but it kind of doesn't deter her", adding, "Etta is unapologetically herself and I think that that's the thing that has drawn me to her the most".[45] When asked if she was previously familiar with the character, Davis responded, "No. I wasn't. It took me a while to know that I was auditioning for Etta because even when I found out it was Wonder Woman, I still had no idea what the role was. It took a little while then I Googled the character".[46] On Etta Candy's relationship with Steve Trevor, Davis said, "One of the great things that Etta gets to work with Steve Trevor is because Steve is not your typical man, in that he does entrust her with things that in 1918 probably wouldn't have been entrusted to a secretary of somebody who is quite important", further explaining, "So I think that [Trevor] needs her just as much as she needs that because now she's been given responsibility that she wouldn't have normally be given before, and equally he has somebody who could probably fly under the radar a bit. So he can trust the person who no one's really looking at".[47]
Issue #600 introduced Wonder Woman to an alternate timeline created by the Gods in which Themyscira had been destroyed and the Amazons scattered around the world.[42] In this timeline, Diana is an orphan raised in New York who is learning to cope with her powers. The entire world has forgotten Wonder Woman's existence and the main story of this run was of Diana trying to restore reality even though she does not properly remember it herself.[126] Diana has no memories of her prior adventures as Wonder Woman, recollecting her memories in bits and pieces and receiving different abilities and resources (such as the power of flight and her lasso) during the progression of her adventure. A trio of Death Goddesses called The Morrigan acted as Wonder Woman's main enemies.[127] Diana ultimately defeats the evil goddesses and returns everything back to normal.[128]
Even though Superman: Sacrifice is technically not a Wonder Woman story, this comic book is in many ways more about her capabilities than Superman's. Any time heroes are pitted against one another, you can count on controversial opinions among fans, and Sacrifice is no different. Unlike The Hiketeia's Wonder Woman vs. Batman conflict, however, Wonder Woman vs. Superman doesn't last for as long as one would assume in the storyline.
An iron-fisted general of the German Army during World War I.[29] Huston described Ludendorff as a "pragmatist, realist, patriotic, fighting for his country", further explaining, "he lost his son on the German front lines and was just quite tortured, diabolical, stubborn and believes that what he's doing is for the betterment of mankind."[30] On his character, Huston said, "Ludendorff is a believer that war is a natural habitat for humans." Huston stated the film as an anti-war film and "somebody like Ludendorff would probably think that the idea that love conquers all is quite a naive concept. But finally it's true and sometimes the best way to examine mankind is from another perspective." On the genre of the film, Huston said, "It's Greek mythology. It's the origin of story and sometimes we need demigods to look at us to understand what our weaknesses are. It serves the mythological world."[31]
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The fact is that all of life is a contest of some kind. You are in competition with everyone else who wants a salary increase and promotion, whether you like it or not. A race is on and you are in it. Your job is to move yourself into the lead and then figure out how to move ahead faster than the other people around you.


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Articles Posted in Uncategorized
Investment Funds Authority Ildiko Duckor Demystifies Quant Funds and Their Risks
Pillsbury Investment Funds practice co-leader Ildiko Duckor recently spoke with The Hedge Fund Law Report about the strategies and risks inherent in investing in and managing quant funds, which utilize highly sophisticated computer-based models to automate trading activities and are increasingly popular in the "hyper-connected" trading and investment sector.
Tagged: High Frequency Traders and quant funds
New Leadership for Pillsbury's Investment Funds & Investment Management Team
Pillsbury's Investment Funds & Investment Management (IFIM) group is a vital and strategic part of our platform. We are pleased to announce new leadership and structure for the group.
Partners Kimberly Mann in Washington, DC and Ildiko Duckor in San Francisco will co-lead the IFIM group. The group now integrates all investment management and funds professionals across the firm's offices. Our interdisciplinary approach also draws on the experience of other practices that enhance the depth and scope of our services to clients. The IFIM group now comprises more than two-dozen business and litigation attorneys in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Washington, DC. Together, the group's experience extends across the following disciplines: manager and fund formation and compliance, private equity, hedge funds, registered funds, tax, ERISA, complex transactions, finance and derivatives, employment, bank regulation, real estate, estate planning, regulatory investigations, and civil and criminal litigation. Our London office provides U.K. legal capabilities and a window into the E.U. Our offices in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai provide access to the Asian markets.
Kim Mann has been with the firm for 18 years. She focuses her practice on private funds, including, formation and maintenance, and represents domestic and international fund sponsors, general partners and fund managers in structuring, organizing and negotiating the terms of private equity, venture capital, mezzanine debt and real estate funds. A significant aspect of her practice also involves representation of institutional investors in private fund investments, direct investments, co-investments and other matters involving alternative investments. She also advises private funds, investment advisers and broker-dealers in matters relating to registration under and regulatory compliance with federal and state securities laws. Her transactional practice includes, among other things, acquisitions and dispositions by entities regulated under the Investment Company Act, the Securities Exchange Act and the Investment Advisers Act.
Before joining Pillsbury, Kim practiced corporate and securities law at Miles and Stockbridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
She is a member of the ALI-CLE faculty and serves on the Regulation D Offerings and Private Placements panel. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Ildiko Duckor provides strategic and legal advice for clients in the investment management industry. She has represented hedge fund managers, other investment advisers, dually registered adviser-brokers, commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors with respect to the structuring, registration, operation and management of their firms, domestic and offshore private funds, and accounts. Ms. Duckor has extensive experience preparing and negotiating agreements for various managed account, funds-of-one and subadvisory arrangements. She regularly negotiates on managers' behalf investments by institutional investors (side letters) and seed capital arrangements. Ms. Duckor also counsels her clients on state and federal regulatory compliance matters and helps them develop compliance and internal control policies and procedures.
Ildi Duckor's prior experience in the investment management area includes both private practice (Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP in New York) and in-house (Barclays Global Investors, N.A., now BlackRock). Previous industry engagements include Chair of the policy committee of the California Hedge Fund Association and membership on the steering committee of the Association of Women in Alternative Investing.
Ailyn Cabico, the group's experienced legal assistant, continues to assist clients with their Form ADV, regulatory filings and other paralegal needs, including the updates to the Form ADV due on March 31, 2015. Should you need assistance with these filings, please contact Ailyn at ailyn.cabico@pillsburylaw.com and Ildi Duckor at ildiko.duckor@pillsburylaw.com.
Updated: October 29, 2020 5:47 pm
Client Alert: The Second Circuit Raises the Bar for Insider Trading Convictions
By William M. Sullivan, Jr. and Jay B. Gould
Under the Second Circuit's new ruling, prosecutors have two large hurdles they must clear to convict under securities laws. First, they must prove that a defendant knew that the source of inside information disclosed tips in exchange for a personal benefit. Second, the definition of "personal benefit" is tightened to something more akin to a quid pro quo exchange.
For years, insider trading cases have been slam dunks for federal prosecutors. The United States Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York had compiled a remarkable streak of more than eighty insider trading convictions over the past five years. But that record has evaporated thanks to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's ruling in United States v. Newman, in which the Second Circuit concluded that the district court's jury instructions were improper and that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction.
The Second Circuit relied upon a thirty year old Supreme Court opinion, Dirks v. SEC, 463 U.S. 646 (1983), and highlighted the "doctrinal novelty" of many of the government's recent successful insider trading prosecutions in failing to follow Dirks. Accordingly, the Court overturned insider trading convictions for Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson because the defendants did not know they were trading on confidential information received from insiders in violation of those insiders' fiduciary duties. More broadly, however, the Court laid down two new standards in tipping liability cases, both likely to frustrate prosecutors for years to come.
Tougher Disclosure Requirements
Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission rules 10b-5 and 10b5-1 generally prohibit trading on the basis of material nonpublic information, more conventionally known as insider trading. In addition, federal law also prohibits an individual (the "tipper") from disclosing private information to an outside person (the "tippee"), if the tippee then trades on the basis of this private information. This disclosure—a breach of one's fiduciary duty—is known as tipping liability. As with most crimes, tipping liability requires scienter, a mental state that demonstrates intent to deceive, manipulate, or defraud. In these cases, the government must show that the defendant acted willfully—i.e., with the realization that what he was doing was a wrongful act under the securities laws.
Until last week, willfulness had been fairly easy to show, and that was one of the principal reasons for the government's string of successes. Prosecutors only had to prove that the defendants traded on confidential information that they knew had been disclosed through a breach of confidentiality. In Newman, however, the Second Circuit rejected this position outright. The Court held that a tippee can only be convicted if the government can prove that he knew that the insider disclosed confidential information in exchange for a personal benefit, and one that is "consequential" and potentially pecuniary.
This distinction may seem minor, but its impact is enormous. The government now must prove—beyond a reasonable doubt, no less—that a defendant affirmatively knew about a personal benefit to the source of the confidential information. From the prosecution's perspective, this is a massively challenging prospect.
Tightened "Personal Benefit" Standards
The Second Circuit also clarified the definition of "personal benefit" in the tipping liability context. Previously, the Court had embraced a very broad definition of the term—so broad, in fact, that the government argued that a tip in exchange for "mere friendship" or "career advice" could expose a trader to tipping liability.
The Court retreated from this position and narrowed its standard. Now, to constitute a personal benefit, the prosecution must show an exchange "that is objective, consequential, and represents at least a potential gain of a pecuniary or similarly valuable nature" —in other words, something akin to a quid pro quo relationship. This, too, complicates a prosecution's case significantly.
Implications of the Ruling
What effect will this ruling have moving forward? Of course, one effect is obvious from the start: prosecutors are going to have a much more difficult time proving tipping liability. But as with many new appellate cases, it may take some time to see how this rule shakes out on the ground in the trial courts. Here are a few things to keep in mind over the next few months and years.
This ruling may cause some immediate fallout. For example, there are currently several similar cases in New York that are pending for trial or appeal, and these may now result in acquittals or vacated convictions. In fact, some defendants who previously took guilty pleas in cooperation with Newman and Chiasson's case are considering withdrawing their pleas in light of this decision. Moving forward, look to see the SEC and potential defendants adjusting their behavior and strategies in light of this ruling. In fact, just this week, a New York Federal Judge expressed strong reservations about whether guilty pleas entered by four defendants in an insider trader case related to a $1.2 billion IBM Corp. acquisition in 2009 should remain in light of Newman.
This is also welcome news for tippees who did not interact directly with the source of the inside information. Although the source of the leak may still be prosecuted as usual, this ruling may shield a more remote party from an indictment. As the Newman court noted, the government's recent insider trading wins have been "increasingly targeted at remote tippees many levels removed from corporate insiders." Now, without clear evidence that the insider received a quantifiable benefit and that the tippee was aware of such benefit for providing the information, cases against such "remote tippees" will be tremendously more difficult to prove.
But, caution should still reign where tippees deal more directly with tippers. The tippees in this case were as many as three or four steps removed from the tippers. It is not difficult to imagine the Court coming out the other way if Newman and Chiasson had been dealing with the tippers themselves.
One enormous question mark is to what extent the standards expressed in this case will affect the SEC's civil enforcement suits. We will have to wait and see, but traders should still use caution. Because civil suits require a substantially lower burden of proof and lesser standard of intent compared to criminal cases, it is possible that these new rules may offer little protection from a civil suit. Additionally, SEC attorneys will probably emphasize this distinction to courts in an attempt to distinguish their enforcement suits from Newman and Chiasson's criminal case, but whether this tactic is effective remains to be seen.
Although the Court refined the meaning of a personal benefit, the definition is still purposefully flexible. This case tells us that abstract psychic benefits—friendship, business advice, church relationships—are not enough, but what about anything just short of exchanging money, favors, or goods? We don't yet know, and for that reason clients should exercise care.
If you have any questions about the content of this alert, please contact the Pillsbury attorney with whom you regularly work, or the authors below.
Jay B. Gould (bio)San Francisco
jay.gould@pillsburylaw.com
William M. Sullivan (bio)Washington, DC
wsullivan@pillsburylaw.com
The authors wish to thank Robert Boyd for his valuable assistance with this client alert.
About Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Pillsbury is a full-service law firm with an industry focus on energy & natural resources, financial services including financial institutions, real estate & construction, and technology. Based in the world's major financial, technology and energy centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on global business, regulatory and litigation matters. We work in multidisciplinary teams that allow us to understand our clients' objectives, anticipate trends, and bring a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues—helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities, meet and exceed their objectives, and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results our clients seek.
Posted in: Advisory, Broker Dealers, Investment Advisers, Private Equity, Private Funds, Registered Investment Companies and Uncategorized
Tagged: Alert, Conviction, Enforcement, Insider Trading, Regulation, Risk Alert, Ruling, SEC, Securities, Securities Regulations, Trading and United States V Newman
"Stand Together, Fall Together"
By Ailyn Cabico
Ailyn Cabico
Written by: James Campbell and Sam Pearse
And so Greece paid the bond repayments due on Tuesday. Some claim that making such a payment was a no-brainer on the basis that the otherwise ensuing litigation and cross-defaults on other bonds was unthinkable. Other sources claim that the noise coming from Greece over last weekend was that the payment would be made and that it was never in doubt. Yet initial Reuters reports on Tuesday morning of the bond repayment remained unconfirmed for a number of hours, with the payment due to be made in the afternoon.
There remains a large amount of unstructured, foreign law governed bonds and the holders of those instruments will take the view that there is now a commercial precedent for not agreeing to restructure the debt. Those who agreed to a 70 percent haircut on their bonds will be understandably furious and considering their options. Either way, the decision to repay the bonds in full will have serious repercussions for any future debt restructuring and the sovereign bond market as a whole. The system only works if bondholders can trust sovereigns.
The repayment of the capital has done nothing to dispel the unease about an imminent Greek exit from the Eurozone. The arguments remain the same as before and can be captured under the heading of the cost of exit versus the cost of remaining propped up. However, it is the not the debt writedowns, the cost of introducing a new currency or the unpicking of contracts that is the major concern. We are seeing continued capital flight from the Eurozone as confidence continues to wane. It is clear that contagion is spreading.
Is Greece the sea anchor that is dragging down the rest of the Eurozone? The dumping of Italian and Spanish bonds and the selling of banking stocks in the Eurozone countries certainly evidences the contagion. Indeed, it is Spain that appears to be the next country with a serious problem. There are serious questions about the financial strength of the Spanish banks which have not yet be answered. The next bond sale is on Thursday May 17 and the expectation is that the cost of borrowing will markedly rise, especially as it was the Spanish banks that were the principal buyers of Spanish bonds last time around.
If Greece's troubles remain inadequately "firewalled" from the rest of the Eurozone then other vulnerable countries will continue to be dragged down. If Greece alone defaulted that may be manageable, especially as external exposure to Greece's well flagged troubles have been cut back over the past two years. But if Greece goes and takes some or all of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland with it then there is exponential damage that even the green shoots of recovery in the US may not withstand. The longer Greece remains part of the Eurozone, the greater the likelihood that there will be widespread collapse. For that reason, at the very least in the short term, funds should be reviewing their Spanish strategy and the terms of any Spanish paper they hold.
Tagged: Eurozone and Greece
GREECE'S FORK
Written by: Samuel Pearse and James Campbell
In the grand scheme of Greece's debt problems, the sum of approximately €450m may appear modest but tomorrow (15 May) the next repayment of principal is due on foreign law bonds issued by the Hellenic Republic. In a high stakes version of Morton's Fork, whether the fractured Greek government decides to pay or default there are potentially undesirable outcomes.
As the bonds due for repayment are governed by English law the Greek government will find it difficult to impose its own will upon the bondholders. Followers of the crisis will recall that Greece forced through the restructuring of Greek law governed bonds by enacting new legislation, with retrospective effect, that allowed the government to enforce collective action clauses. They have no such power with foreign law bonds. At the end of March, Greece put a restructuring proposal to the holders of the outstanding 36 foreign law bonds, and in 20 cases the proposal was not passed, including the bond due for repayment tomorrow.
Greece finds itself with a stark choice: default or pay up.
Default and Greece can expect the holders of the bonds to give their lawyers the green light to prepare lawsuits to be filed on the expiry of the 30 day cure period. Add to the mix the inevitable arguments concerning breaches of negative pledges within the foreign-law debt instruments, and also creditors seeking to attach other assets under the emanation principle, and Greece will find itself embroiled in far-reaching and long-running litigation, leaving aside the questions of continued membership of the Eurozone.
Should Greece pay then it would be seen as a victory for the hold-out strategy, emboldening the holders of the other 19 foreign law bonds which have not been restructured. We could also see protests from those bondholders who agreed to a debt restructuring on the basis that Greece said that there was no money available to doing anything else. Such "co-operative" bondholders may explore the possibility that such misrepresentations are actionable.
Either way, holders of Greek bonds should be considering their strategies and preparing for either outcome. As John Dizard eloquently comments in today's Financial Times ('Holdouts get paid, the rest can pray', Financial Times, Monday May 14 2012) "The under-lawyered should look for spiritual, not financial, comfort".
Tagged: Greece
Broker-Dealer Update: FINRA and the OCIE Release Guidance on Broker-Dealer Branch Inspections
Written by Peter J. Chess
On November 30, 2011, FINRA and the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a National Exam Risk Alert on effective procedures and policies for broker-dealer branch inspections. This follows other recent guidance for broker-dealers regarding the Market Access Rule and reasonable investigations in Regulation D Offerings, in addition to recent FINRA sanctions against broker-dealers related to Regulation D Offerings.
Under Sections 15(b)(4)(E) and 15(b)(6)(A) of the Exchange Act, the SEC can impose sanctions on any firm or any person that fails to reasonably supervise someone subject to supervision that violates the federal securities laws. A broker-dealer can defend such a charge with a showing of effective procedures and policies designed to prevent and detect potential violations.
The National Exam Risk Alert jointly released on November 30 by FINRA and the OCIE ("November 30 Alert") concerns broker-dealer branch inspections which are required by the Exchange Act and FINRA rules. Examination staff have observed that firms that execute these inspections well typically:
tailor the focus of branch exams to the business conducted in that branch and assess the risks specific to that business;
schedule the frequency and intensity of exams based on underlying risk;
engage in a significant percentage of unannounced exams selected based on both risk analysis and random selection;
deploy sufficiently senior branch office examiners to conduct the examinations; and
design procedures to avoid conflicts of interest with examiners.
The November 30 Alert also lists typical findings about firms with deficiencies in their inspection process, including the utilization of generic examination procedures for all branch offices; the use of novice or unseasoned branch office examiners; the performance of "check the box" inspections; and, the lack of adequate procedures and policies.
The November 30 Alert is the second such Alert released this quarter by the OCIE. On September 29, 2011, OCIE released a National Exam Risk Alert (September 29 Alert) regarding the master/sub-account structure and potential risks of noncompliance for broker-dealers with the recently adopted Rule 15c3-5 (the Market Access Rule).
The Market Access Rule requires broker-dealers to have a system of risk management control and supervisory procedures reasonably designed to manage the financial, regulatory and other risks of the business activity associated with providing a customer or other person with market access. Deficiencies in risk management control and supervisory procedures raise significant regulatory concerns with respect to money laundering, insider trading, market manipulation, account intrusions, information security, unregistered broker-dealer activity, and excessive leverage.
Recent FINRA Enforcement Actions Against Broker-Dealers
On September 29, 2011, FINRA also announced it had sanctioned another eight firms and ten individuals and ordered restitution totaling more than $3.2 million due to violations related to private placements. FINRA previously announced similar sanctions against broker-dealers in April 2011, and the most recent announcement brings the total to ten firms and seventeen individuals sanctioned by FINRA since April for involvement in problematic private placements.
The sanctions stem from a variety of issues uncovered by FINRA related to firms selling private placement offerings, including the lack of a reasonable basis for recommending the offering; failure to conduct a reasonable investigation of the offering; failure to have adequate supervisory systems in place; failure to conduct adequate due diligence of offerings; lack of reasonable grounds regarding the suitability of the offering for customers; and, lack of reasonable grounds to allow registered representatives of firms to continue selling the offerings, despite numerous "red flags."
These sanctions follow FINRA's release of a Regulatory Notice in April 2010 ("April 2010 Notice") regarding the obligation of broker-dealers to conduct reasonable investigations in Regulation D, or private placement, offerings. The April 2010 Notice provided guidance on many of the issues at the heart of the recent sanctions by FINRA related to private placements. The April 2010 Notice noted that broker-dealers had many requirements triggered by private placement offerings, including: a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation concerning the security and the issuer's representations about it; a duty to possess reasonable grounds to recommend transactions that are suitable for the customer; and, other specific responsibilities that could be triggered based on specific factors with each transaction.
Posted in: Broker Dealers and Uncategorized
Tagged: Broker Dealers 2, Compliance, Enforcement, FINRA, Rules Regulations and SEC
Investment Fund Law Blog Nominated as Top 25 Business Law Blog – We need your vote!
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Each year, LexisNexis honors a select group of blogs that set the online standard for a given industry. This year, we will once again seek your input in choosing the Top Blogs to our Corporate and Securities Law Community….
Posted in: Investment Advisers, Private Funds and Uncategorized
Tagged: California, Investment Advisers, Pay To Play, Private Funds and Rules Regulations
Updated: May 9, 2017 3:01 pm
European Regulators Extend Ban on Short Selling
Written by Michael Wu
Market regulators in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, in coordination with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), have decided to extend their current short selling ban that was enacted on August 11, 2011. A summary of the action taken by each regulator is summarized below.
France. The Autorité Des Marchés Financiers ("AMF") extended the ban until November 11, but will determine whether to lift the ban by the end of September. The AMF press release can be found here.
Italy. The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa ("Consob") extended the ban until September 30. The Consob press release can be found here.
Spain. The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores ("CNMV") also extended the ban until September 30. The CNMV press release can be found here.
Belgium. The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is continuing its indefinite ban on short selling.
In addition, Greece's Hellenic Capital Market Commission ("HCMC") will reassess before the end of September its current short selling ban that is in effect until October 7. The HCMC press release can be found here.
Other European countries have not implemented a short selling ban.
Tagged: European Union, Rules Regulations and Short Sale
Pillsbury Conducts Survey of Mid-Market Chinese Companies
Pillsbury recently conducted a survey of nearly 200 individuals involved in operating and investing in mid-sized Chinese companies. The results revealed that 55% expect to seek financing within the next 24 months and 43% expect to do so this year. The survey also confirmed that Chinese executives believe that the U.S. still offers the most opportunities for foreign expansion. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said the U.S. and Canada offer the most opportunities for foreign expansion, while 26% said that other parts of Asia, including Australia and New Zealand, offered the most opportunities, and 11% favored Latin America. In terms of capital market financing, Chinese executives felt by a wide margin (42%) that an IPO or other public offering was the most effective way to raise capital, followed by a PIPE transaction (24%) and bank financing (22%). Just 12% thought a convertible debt financing the most effective. Please click here to view our press release and here to view the full survey.
Tagged: China
The SEC and the CFTC Propose Joint Rules Defining Swap Participants
On December 7, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") proposed joint rules with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC") to define the types of swap traders that would be subject to the new derivatives regulations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act"). The proposed rules attempt to implement the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, which established a comprehensive framework for regulating the over-the-counter swaps market.
The Dodd-Frank Act creates new categories of market participants that are subject to registration, capital and margin, record keeping, reporting and other regulatory requirements. The proposed rules define the categories of market participants that would be deemed "Security-Based Swap Dealers" and "Major Security-Based Swap Participants."
Security-Based Swap Dealers. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, a Security-Based Swap Dealer is any person that holds itself out as a dealer in security-based swaps, makes a market in security-based swaps, enters into security-based swaps with counterparties in the ordinary course of its business, or is commonly known in the trade as a dealer or market maker in security-based swaps. The CFTC proposal would exempt a firm from registration as a Security-Based Swap Dealer if (i) its notional aggregate amount of security-based swaps in the prior 12 months did not exceed $100 million (of which only $25 million can be with "special entities" as defined in the Commodity Exchange Act), (ii) it did not enter into security-based swaps as a dealer with more than 15 counterparties (other than security-based swap dealers) in the prior 12 months, and (iii) it did not enter into more than 20 security-based swaps as a dealer in the prior 12 months.
Major Security-Based Swap Participants. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, a Major Security-Based Swap Participant is any person that is not a Security-Based Swap Dealer and has (i) a "substantial position" in any major security-based swap categories (held other than for hedging or mitigating risk), (ii) whose security-based swaps create "substantial counterparty exposure," which could have a serious adverse effect on the financial stability of the United States banking systems or financial markets, or (iii) is a "financial entity" that is "highly leveraged" and that has a substantial position in any of the major security-based swap categories.
The CFTC proposed that a firm has a "substantial position" in swaps if it (i) has a daily average or current uncollateralized exposure of at least $1 billion on a net basis for credit, equity or commodity swaps or $3 billion for rate swaps, or (ii) has a daily average of current uncollaterized exposure and future exposure of at least $2 billion for credit, equity or commodity swaps or $6 billion for rate swaps.
The CFTC proposed that a firm has "substantial counterparty exposure" if it has uncollateralized exposure of more than $5 billion or current and future exposure exceeding $8 billion.
The CFTC proposed that a "financial entity" be defined under Section 3C(g)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
The CFTC proposed two definitions of "highly leveraged"; the first is an 8 to 1 ratio of total liabilities to equity determined in accordance with US GAAP and the second is a 15 to 1 ratio of total liabilities to equity determined in accordance with US GAAP.
In addition, the proposed rules permit clearinghouses to provide portfolio margining of futures and securities in futures accounts. The proposed rules also require Security-Based Swap Dealers and Major Security-Based Swap Participants to keep daily trading records regarding the security-based swaps and all related records, which would be open to inspection by the CFTC. The CFTC and the SEC are expected to vote on the final rule in July of 2011.
Tagged: Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act and Swaps