What are the benefits of outsourcing recruitment?
Outsourcing your recruitment offers many benefits, including: scalability, flexibility, cost savings, improved access to the skills you need, optimised processes to reduce time to hire and increased retention. You can find even more details about the benefits in our handy guide.
How much does an RPO cost?
There are three main ways an RPO is priced, a fixed fee paid periodically, a transactional fee for each hire or performance based. For example linked to cost savings or key pre-agreed KPIs. For more information on the advantages of each option check out the pricing structure section of our how to decide which model is for you guide.
Can you integrate with our ATS?
We've worked with a number of applicant tracking systems over the years, and so we're experienced at optimising and delivering RPO services across a variety of different tools and systems. Part of the expertise we offer is supporting you in the development and management of your recruitment technology to make the sourcing, processing and management of your employees easy.
I only need seasonal or temporary recruiting assistance, will an RPO work for me?
One of the many benefits of RPO is the flexibility it provides you, as you have no headcount commitments. Also, we've developed a solution, RPO Essentials, which allows businesses of all sizes to enjoy the expertise and benefits of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) without the typical time or resource requirements, which is suitable for short-term requirements.
Don't worry we've got all your questions covered in our recruitment outsourcing made simple guide.


At Marriott Harbour Pointe there's cable television for your television viewing fun, and make your own food if you want with the in-room kitchenettes.
These are some other hotels near Marriott's Harbour Point And Sunset Pointe At Shelter Cove, Hilton Head Island.
These outdoors activities are available near Marriott Harbour Pointe.


Two cab drivers forbidden from picking up a fare off the street have been fined for breaking the law.
The private hire drivers, who must be pre-booked, were caught plying for hire in December.
On Friday, the pair pleaded guilty to the offence, as well as driving without insurance, and were fined hundreds of pounds by MK Magistrate's Court.
Gurdeep Singh of Passmore, Tinkers' Bridge, was fined a total of £600 and received six DVLA penalty points bringing his total to 12 points, resulting in him being banned from driving for six months.
Costs of £400 were awarded to Milton Keynes Council who has claimed it as a victory, as they continue to crackdown on "errant" cabbies.
The other driver, Qaisar Sultan of Buckthorn, Stacey Bushes, was fined a total of £600 plus six DVLA penalty points. Again, costs of £400 were awarded to Milton Keynes Council.
The court heard that both drivers were licensed in South Northamptonshire.
"We will continue to crack down on drivers who blatantly break the law, and potentially put passengers' lives at risk. "You can only climb into a Private Hire vehicle if it is pre-booked. Otherwise the cab is not insured in the event of an accident.


text:
Frank Salvato
Frank Salvato is the co-host of the Underground USA podcast and host of the National File podcast RightMinded. His writing has been recognized by the US House International Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention, and has been published by The American Enterprise Institute, The Washington Times, Accuracy in Media, and Breitbart. Mr. Salvato appeared on The O'Reilly Factor on FOX News Channel and is the author of six books examining internal and external threats facing our country. He can be heard twice weekly on "The Captain's America: Third Watch" radio program syndicated nationally on the Salem Broadcasting Network and Genesis Communications affiliate stations.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Housing is a Human Right »Housing Roundtable
The Baltimore Housing Roundtable
The Housing is a Human Right Roundtable is a space where homeowners, renters and the homeless have come together monthly since 2014 with non-profit developers, community associations, religious institutions, policy experts and university faculty to examine Baltimore's housing challenge, craft human-rights based solutions, and facilitate a campaign to forge new city policy.
Baltimore's Housing Challenge
Baltimore is seen by most as a city with affordable housing, but its poverty puts most of its residents on the edge of homelessness. Over the last year, 4,000 persons were without housing, another 4,380 faced this risk under threat of foreclosure and 150,000 tittered on its edge for non-payment of rent.[1] When these numbers are totaled and compared to census figures, it appears that almost 65% of households in Baltimore are homeless or at risk of homelessness annually.[2] The number of evictions and foreclosures annually filed equals 52% of the housing units in the City.[3] These figures square with those reflecting housing burden costs in the city. Fifty-three percent of renters and 40% of homeowners pay more one-third of their income for housing.[4] One-third is the proportion considered "affordable."
The prospect for an increase in incomes is not promising. Wages, adjusted for inflation, have flat-lined over the last 30 years. The exit of manufacturing jobs have left most city residents toiling in the low-wage, non-unionized service sector of retailing, food service, and care service. These sectors are plagued by ever-changing work schedules and legal arrangements that make jobs more temporary, part-time, and contingent. Those with criminal records face discrimination regularly, and are forced to engage in day labor or employment through temporary staffing agencies.
For those unable to work, needs-based public assistance and disability compensation rarely are indexed for inflation, and eligibility for aid is a bureaucratic obstacle course.
In short, those who walk our streets, sit in rent court, or face foreclosure are simply those whose incomes fail to keep pace with landlords, sellers, and developers trying to profit in the private housing market. In short, the market is always under "speculative" pressure, which pushes what look to be even relatively low rents of house prices higher.
Baltimore's Housing Solution
Clearly, the majority of our city residents need higher wages and higher incomes. But because of the nature of the speculative housing market, increased incomes paradoxically may also drive property values and housing costs higher, as will the development needed to increase job opportunities. This may keep residents struggling with housing costs, as well as involuntary displace others from longtime neighborhoods and the City.
One key solution is the creation of vibrant and ample "non-speculative" housing sector. This sector contains a range of permanently affordable housing options, from Public Housing to limited-equity co-operatives, and Community Land Trusts. Some non-speculative models allow a modest equity return for a seller of housing, but pre-determined affordability formulas limit sale prices, thereby keeping housing perpetually affordable.
The most non-speculative model, public housing, has declined dramatically and is being privatized. As the chart below indicates, by 2020 the number of public housing units in Baltimore City will be lower than Post WWII levels.
"Section 8" Housing vouchers, which allow holders to pay no more than 30% of their income for housing are helpful, but do little to combat speculative pressures in the housing market. Section 8 landlords can always evict their tenants and sell the housing when property values increase. Additionally, there is evidence that housing vouchers add to speculative pressure, actually giving landlords an incentive to increase rents.[5]
While non-speculative models, other than public housing, are usually touted in areas where property values are rapidly increasing, the Community Land Trust (CLT) is a non-speculative model that offers unique tools for neighborhoods in need of revitalization. CLTs become new community institutions—a non-profit corporation run by CLT residents, neighbors, and public officials—that own land and can influence development in the community. CLTs bring residents together, outperform other first-time, low-income homeowner programs, and retain housing-related public subsidies within the community rather than allowing them to be pocketed by someone exiting.[6] CLTs are in operation in Cleveland, Philadelphia, and other challenging real estate markets like Durham, N.C.
Baltimore's Opportunity
Baltimore's opportunity lies with what many consider its most glaring weakness—vacant housing. Estimates of vacant properties in Baltimore City range from 15,000 to 40,000.[7] Regardless of the actual number, vacant housing decrease equity for nearby or adjacent homeowners,[8] discourage landlords from keeping rental properties up to code,[9] and mystify homeless persons who wait interminably on subsidized housing waiting lists as they scramble for a declining number of shelter beds.
To date, Baltimore has looked primarily to the speculative housing market for help in solving the housing challenges the market created and the vacant housing. City policies attempt to incentivize housing profit, in an attempt to draw outside private capital into the city. The City forgoes $95.7 million annually via a host of property tax credits and exemptions designed to attract private investors, and regularly sells its "tax liens" in hopes that speculators will renovate vacant housing.[10] The Mayor hopes to attract 10,000 new city residents by 2020.[11]
But the profit motive has not been incentive enough to demolish vacants that are structurally unsound, nor lure many developers to renovate others. According to census figures, Baltimore's current vacant housing count is roughly equivalent to the 1980 figure.[12]
Rather than incentivizing outside investors to solve the problem of vacants, the City should look first to its own residents, incentivizing and empowering them to take control of vacant properties through CLTs. With city assistance in transferring property and providing seed money through municipal bond proceeds, the City can provide motivated neighborhood residents with concrete tools to be change agents. Vacant properties can be demolished, renovated, and converted to green spaces through a process that brings the community together, and builds community wealth. These CLTs can build a robust non-speculative housing sector in Baltimore, one that can co-exist with a speculative market, yet provide permanently affordable options for residents who face market challenges. Needless to say, demolition and renovation employment is ideal for those with criminal histories.
City policy could support CLT development of vacant properties by four means
Property Acquisition—the City's "Vacants to Value" program or the city-charter authorized (but never created) Land Bank Authority should assist and facilitate vacant property acquisition for communities.
Financing –the City's Capital Budget should include regular community development bond issues for community controlled vacant property demolition and renovation.
Governance –the City should incentivize CLT governance structures that are diverse and combine community, financial, and government expertise.
Planning – the City should work with CLTs to implement community master plans, develop such plans where absent, and provide assistance in community decisions on housing demolition, renovation, and the development of green space.
[1] 4,000 homeless, Balt Homeless Census; 148,189 rent court filings, Zafar Shar: 4,380 foreclosure filings, BNIA foreclosures 2013 http://foreclosures.bniajfi.org/filings-ratified-sales.php Total of 158,387,
[2] Balt Census Households 2009-2013 = 241,455. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/24510.html
[3] Evictions 148,189 + Foreclosures 4,380 = 152,569 vs. Census Housing Units, City = 295,737. Census facts.
[4] National Low Income Housing Coalition, Out of Reach, 2011; Baltimore Housing 2010-2015 Consolidated Plan p. 29.
[5] http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/baltimore-housing-policy-segregation/395039/
[6] Jacobus, Rick and Davis, John Emmeus, "The Asset Building Potential of Shared Equity Home Ownership," January 2010.
[7] Newman, Low End Rental Housing, pp.8-10, available from Abell Foundation.
[8] (stats in Philly indicate a decrease in value of roughly ___%)
[9] 32% of housing in Baltimore is considered substandard, Abell Study.
[10] Property Tax Expenditures, Summary of FY2015 Budget, ____.
[11] Baltimore Sun, December 6, 2011, Mayor's Goal: Bring 10,000 New Families To City In A Decade.
[12] Census 1980 – Census 2010


SOUTH BEND The first Stand Up and Speak Out program featuring youths' visual and performing arts will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 19 at Century Center. An art media contest for individuals ages 10 to 20 will promote the artists' ideas of nonviolence and anti-gang activity. For information, call Clara Ross at (574) 233-3625 or Anne Binder at (574) 288-0160.


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WikiLeaks to Publish New Documents Despite US Threats
WikiLeaks' Daniel Schmitt poses for a photo after an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010. An online whistle-blower's threat to release more classified Pentagon and State Department documents is raising hard questions of what the U.S. government can or would do, legally, technically or even militarily to stop it. (AP/Markus Schreiber)
BERLIN - The online whistle-blower WikiLeaks said it will continue to publish more secret files from governments around the world despite U.S. demands to cancel plans to release classified military documents.
"I can assure you that we will keep publishing documents - that's what we do," a WikiLeaks spokesman, who says he goes by the name Daniel Schmitt in order to protect his identity, told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday.
Schmitt said he could not comment on any specific documents but asserted that the publication of classified documents about the Afghanistan war directly contributed to the public's understanding of the conflict.
"Knowledge about ongoing issues like the war in Afghanistan is the only way to help create something like safety," Schmitt said. "Hopefully with this understanding, public scrutiny will then influence governments to develop better politics."
He rejected allegations that the group's publication of leaked U.S. government documents was a threat to America's national security or put lives at risk.
"We have tried our best and we are still working on minimizing the harm that has been caused," Schmitt said.
The Pentagon demanded on Thursday that WikiLeaks cancel any plan to publish more classified military documents and pull back tens of thousands of secret Afghan war logs already posted on the Internet.
The demand to stop publishing more classified documents, which the Pentagon has no independent power to enforce, is primarily aimed at preventing release of approximately 15,000 secret documents that the website WikiLeaks has said it is holding and possibly classified U.S. State Department cables.
The Pentagon also hopes to stop WikiLeaks from making public the contents of a mammoth encrypted file recently added to the site. Contents of that file remain a mystery and Schmitt did not want to comment specifically on the content of a file the group posted online with the label "Insurance" in recent days.
He only said that "we regularly distribute backups of documents that have not been published ... This one has just been placed on a very popular site right now to make sure that it has been distributed as widely as possible."
Schmitt said that the group is committed to the security concerns of the world's entire population - which may in some cases be opposed to the United States' national interests.
"WikiLeaks is a globally acting organization," he said. "In that respect we are responsible toward the people of the world and not the people or the specific interests of one particular nation."
WikiLeaks posted more than 76,900 classified military and other documents, mostly raw intelligence reports from Afghanistan, on its website July 25. The 15,000 additional documents are apparently related to that material.
The documents leaked so far illustrate the frustration of U.S. forces in fighting the protracted Afghan conflict and revived debate over the war's uncertain progress. The White House angrily denounced the leaks, saying they put the lives of Afghan informants and U.S. troops at risk.
An Army private, Bradley Manning, is jailed on suspicion of leaking classified material to WikiLeaks in a previous case. He is a "person of interest" in the latest release, the Pentagon has said.
Schmitt said that he, editor-in-chief Julian Assange and three more people work full-time for WikiLeaks, and between 800 and 1,000 volunteer with tasks like verifying documents, programming software or legal defense.
The group publishes their material out of "three to four dozen countries" and has had numerous attacks on its website, he said.
© 2010 Associated Press
After Assange's Espionage Act Indictment, Police Move Against More Journalists for Publishing Classified Material
Facing Serious Charges, Judge Sets 'Long Timetable' For Assange To Prepare Defense Against Extradition
The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange
Proposal to 'Pave Paradise' in Galapagos Islands for US Military Airstrip Met With Criticism in Ecuador and Beyond
Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, WikiLeaks


Unix Tutorial Digest is a section of the Unix Tutorial blog that regularly captures most notable professional news.
I hope to spend more time reviewing and commenting on these news in 2019.
This page will document the monthly Unix Tutorial Digests published to date. If you have any great ideas for similar experiments or projects – please let me know.
Unix Tutorial Digest – November 3rd, 2018- This monthly issue arrives a week later, but brings more news as the result: lots of OS releases in October!


Before you read this, let me make it clear that you may have read many Cruise Control Diet reviews some of which may have focused on one specific aspect of the program. This review represents an honest feedback on how the program helped me to overcome my obesity and dietary indiscipline. You could be reading it for a personal benefit or for a friend out there who is struggling with this problem; take it from me that this is not a fluke but rather a trusted programs developed by a professional in matters of diet.
Does the Cruise Control Diet Work?
Depending on the kind of Cruise Control Diet reviews that you read, you may have formed an opinion about whether this program works or not. From my personal experience, I can tell you for sure that this program developed by James Ward is the ultimate solution that will help you just like it did to me in living a healthy life.
I have had struggles with controlling of my diet and I rarely succeeded in maintaining a healthy diet. In fact by the time I was subscribing to this program, I was almost giving up because every program that I purchased gave me less than satisfactory results.
The Cruise Control Diet program comes with four main components that you will get the moment you make the one off payment. When I paid for the program, I got the following products in one package.
This is the main product of the program. It comes with detailed chapters that I really enjoyed reading because they were easy to read and explained in simple concepts. James Ward knows his target group therefore he included simpler terms and illustrations that me and you can easily understand and relate with.
Without knowing how to prepare meals, chances are that you will either lose all the nutrients or just retain few of them through unorthodox cooking methods. What I found particularly interesting with the cook book is that it included lots of recipes some of which can be done in less than 30 minutes while others take 1 to 2 hours to prepare. I also enjoyed the meals that I prepared with my family. Other products that I received include the Jumpstart Guide and an access to new recipes through email for a period two months following my subscription.
What Makes The Cruise Control Diet Unique?
If you read many of the Cruise Control Diet reviews written, you will discover that this program is a comprehensive approach to dealing with obesity issues through diet. I did not have to use pills or other medications while implementing the program. It is completely natural and I enjoyed the fact that side effects are associated with the program.
It also taught me about processed foods that I should avoid and the natural foods that I should incorporate in my diet so as to initiate the fat burning process.
This experience just like many Cruise Control Diet reviews out there should help you top make up your mind so that you can also benefit as I did.
It is usually quite overwhelming when you are trying to understand everything about losing weight. Regardless of the way you take, somebody is suggesting either some miracle pill, a brand new machine, some kind of stunt that assures speedy weight loss with minimal or almost no work on your side, besides having to pay them. There are actually countless numbers of weight loss programs claiming they are the most effective. However, you will often find, none of that is essential.
Losing weight is not as intricate as the "weight loss" industry always wants you to believe. Here are a few simple and most obvious way that should almost always work to get god results for you.
First of all you need to understand that calorie is energy and fat is nothing but stored energy. Therefore, should you intend to lose calorie, you will need to burn off more energy than consume. And there are usually 3 natural methods of achieving this.
The very first thing you need to make sure is to try taking in less calories. Our body requires a certain level of energy to operate in the course of the day. And when it isn't receiving sufficient energy from your food you eat, it sources the energy from the stored energy, that is fat. Some people would often, thinking it's going to be more effective, starve themselves. Unfortunately that is an exceedingly harmful decision. Our body demands a number of nutrients in the form of vitamins and minerals in order to function perfectly, and you can only get them when you eat foods that include those nutrients.
The second thing you need to do is to use up the energy you acquire – the more the better. The more physical exercise you do, the more the body and it's systems would require to make use of the stored energy.
Third is actually the combination of the above two methods – combine physical exercise and appropriate nutrition. This happens to be the most effective way for you to lose weight. By decreasing the level of energy you ingest, together with using up a greater portion of your stored energy by working out, you're going to get the greatest possible outcomes. On top of that, this approach to lose weight is easily the most reliable method to boost you overall health.
You will find a lot of weight loss tips on the internet but it's important you understand then basics first.
Men having problems with their weight try to figure out the most healthy means to lose excess weight. Women, on the other hand, would want to find out the way they could shed pounds and acquire a body like a celebrity. Parents, however, are upset watching their kids putting on weight are and would like to learn how they could motivate and assist their overweight teens in slimming down.
It's every person's dream to own a slim and fit physique – a body they could be proud of every time they look in the mirror. They would like to set and accomplish their own weight loss goals like looking great, feel more healthy and establish a feeling of pride as well as self-belief.
So what exactly happens to be the most healthy means of losing weight? Is it necessary to solely rely on fad diets to get rid of the fat?
Well, there are lot of authority health sites that would give you authentic information on some of the healthiest methods you could adopt to loose weight.
Once you intend on shedding fat, you might be confronted with several complications and losing weight might seem to be quite an unattainable task to you. But the truth is losing a few pounds is a lot easier than you would imagine. There are lots of steps you can take to control the diet you take and the workout you should be doing everyday in order to lose weight without causing even the slightest damage to your overall health.


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BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Says State Courts May Hear Securities Class Actions
In granting certiorari, the United States Supreme Court in CYAN, INC. v. BEAVER COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT FUND set the Question Presented as follows https://www.supremecourt.gov/qp/15-01439qp.pdf:
To curb abusive class-action litigation concerning nationally traded securities, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Reform Act") amended federal securities laws to impose new requirements, including fee limitations, selection criteria for lead plaintiffs, and an automatic stay of discovery pending any motion to dismiss. To prevent plaintiffs from filing class actions in state court and thereby sidestepping the Reform Act, the Securities Litigation Uniform. Standards Act of 1998 ("SLUSA") inter alia amended the Securities Act of 1933 (" '33 Act") to provide that concurrent state-court subject matter jurisdiction over '33 Act claims will continue "except as provided in [Section 16 of the '33 Act] with respect to covered class actions." Section 16, as amended by SLUSA, defines "covered class action" as any damages action on behalf of more than 50 people. This case is undisputedly a "covered class action."
Section 16, as amended by SLUSA, also precludes covered class actions alleging state-law securities claims and permits precluded actions to be removed to and dismissed in federal court. No state-law claims were alleged in this case.
The question presented - which has split federal district courts in removal cases and thus sidelined federal appeals courts - is:
Whether state courts lack subject matter jurisdiction over covered class actions that allege only '33 Act claims.
READ a copy of the November 28, 2017,Supreme Court Oral Argument
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2017/15-1439_4g15.pdf
Supreme Court Opinion
CYAN, INC. v. BEAVER COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT FUND (583 U.S. __ 2018; March 20, 2018; KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court)
http://brokeandbroker.com/PDF/CyanSCt.pdf
As set forth in the "Syllabus" of the Supreme Court's Opinion:
In the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, Congress enacted two laws, in successive years, to promote honest practices in the securities markets. The Securities Act of 1933 (1933 Act) creates private rights of action to aid the enforcement of obligations pertaining to securities offerings. The Act authorizes both federal and state courts to exercise jurisdiction over those private suits and, more unusually, bars the removal of such suits from state to federal court. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (1934 Act), which regulates not the original issuance of securities but all their subsequent trading, is also enforceable through private rights of action. But all suits brought under the 1934 Act fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts.
In 1995, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (Reform Act) amended both Acts, in order to stem perceived abuses of the classaction vehicle in securities litigation. The Reform Act included both substantive reforms, applicable in state and federal court alike, and procedural reforms, applicable only in federal court. Rather than face these new obstacles, plaintiffs began filing securities class actions under state law.
To prevent this end run around the Reform Act, Congress passed the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (SLUSA), whose amendments to the 1933 Act are at issue in this case. As relevant here, those amendments include two operative provisions, two associated definitions, and two "conforming amendments."
First, 15 U. S. C. §77p(b) completely disallows (in both state and federal courts) "covered class actions" alleging dishonest practices "in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security." According to SLUSA's definitions, the term "covered class action" means a class action in which "damages are sought on behalf of more than 50 persons." §77p(f)(2). And the term "covered security" refers to a security listed on a national stock exchange. §77p(f)(3). Next, §77p(c) provides for the removal of certain class actions to federal court, where they are subject to dismissal. Finally, SLUSA's "conforming amendments" add two new phrases to §77v(a), the 1933 Act's jurisdictional provision. The first creates an exception to §77v(a)'s general removal bar through the language "[e]xcept as provided in section 77p(c)." The other-the key provision in this case-expresses a caveat to the general rule that state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all claims to enforce the 1933 Act. With this conforming amendment, §77v(a) now provides that state and federal courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction, "except as provided in section 77p . . . with respect to covered class actions." The Court refers to this provision as the "except clause."
Respondents, three pension funds and an individual (Investors), purchased shares of stock in petitioner Cyan, Inc., in an initial public offering. After the stock declined in value, the Investors brought a damages class action against Cyan in state court, alleging 1933 Act violations. They did not assert any claims based on state law. Cyan moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that SLUSA's "except clause" stripped state courts of power to adjudicate 1933 Act claims in "covered class actions." The Investors maintained that SLUSA left intact state courts' jurisdiction over all suits- including "covered class actions"-alleging only 1933 Act claims. The state courts agreed with the Investors and denied Cyan's motion to dismiss. This Court granted certiorari to decide whether SLUSA deprived state courts of jurisdiction over "covered class actions" asserting only 1933 Act claims. The Court also addresses a related question raised by the federal Government as amicus curiae and addressed by the parties in briefing and argument: whether SLUSA enabled defendants to remove 1933 Act class actions from state to federal court for adjudication.
Held:
1. SLUSA did nothing to strip state courts of their longstanding jurisdiction to adjudicate class actions brought under the 1933 Act. Pp. 7-18.
(a) SLUSA's text, read most straightforwardly, leaves this jurisdiction intact. The background rule of §77v(a)-in place since the 1933 Act's passage-gives state courts concurrent jurisdiction over all suits "brought to enforce any liability or duty created by" that statute. And the except clause-"except as provided in section 77p of this title with respect to covered class actions"-ensures that in any case in which §77v(a) and §77p conflict, §77p will control. The critical Cite as: 583 U. S. ____ (2018) 3 Syllabus question for this case is therefore whether §77p limits state-court jurisdiction over class actions brought under the 1933 Act. It does not. Section 77p bars certain securities class actions based on state law but it says nothing, and so does nothing, to deprive state courts of jurisdiction over class actions based on federal law. That means §77v(a)'s background rule-under which a state court may hear the Investors' 1933 Act suit-continues to govern.
Cyan argues that the except clause's reference to "covered class actions" points the reader to §77p(f)(2), which defines that term to mean a suit seeking damages on behalf of more than fifty persons- without mentioning anything about whether the suit is based on state or federal law. But that view cannot be squared with the except clause's wording for two independent reasons. First, the except clause points to "section 77p" as a whole-not to paragraph 77p(f)(2). Had Congress intended to refer to §77p(f)(2)'s definition alone, it presumably would have done so. See NLRB v. SW General, Inc., 580 U. S. ___, ___. Second, a definition, like §77p(f)(2), does not "provide[]" an "except[ion]," but instead gives meaning to a term-and Congress well knows the difference between those two functions. Not one of the 30-plus provisions in the 1933 and 1934 Acts using the phrase "except as provided in . . ." cross-references a definition. Structure and context also support the Court's reading of the except clause. Because Cyan treats the broad definition of "covered class action" as altering §77v(a)'s jurisdictional grant, its construction would prevent state courts from deciding any 1933 Act class suits seeking damages for more than fifty plaintiffs, thus stripping state courts of jurisdiction over suits about securities raising no particular national interest. That result is out of line with SLUSA's overall scope. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that Congress upended the 65- year practice of state courts' adjudicating all manner of 1933 Act cases (including class actions) by way of a mere conforming amendment. See Director of Revenue of Mo. v. CoBank ACB, 531 U. S. 316, 324. Pp. 8-12.
(b) Cyan's reliance on legislative purpose and history is unavailing. Pp. 12-18.
(1) Cyan insists that the only way for SLUSA to serve the Reform Act's objectives was by divesting state courts of jurisdiction over all sizable 1933 Act class actions. Specifically, it claims that its reading is necessary to prevent plaintiffs from circumventing the Reform Act's procedural measures, which apply only in federal court, by bringing 1933 Act class actions in state court.
But Cyan ignores a different way in which SLUSA served the Reform Act's objectives-which the Court's view of the statute fully effects. The Reform Act included substantive sections protecting defendants in suits brought under the federal securities laws. Plaintiffs circumvented those provisions by bringing their complaints of securities misconduct under state law instead. Hence emerged SLUSA's bar on state-law class actions (and its removal provision to ensure their dismissal)-which guaranteed that the Reform Act's heightened substantive standards would govern all future securities class litigation. SLUSA's preamble states that the statute is designed "to limit the conduct of securities class actions under state law, and for other purposes," 112 Stat. 3227, and this Court has underscored, over and over, SLUSA's "purpose to preclude certain vexing state-law class actions." Kircher v. Putnam Funds Trust, 547 U. S. 633, 645, n. 12. That object-which SLUSA's text actually reflects-does not depend on stripping state courts of jurisdiction over 1933 Act class suits, as Cyan proposes. For wherever those suits go forward, the Reform Act's substantive protections necessarily apply. SLUSA also went a good distance toward ensuring that federal courts would play the principal role in adjudicating securities class actions by means of its revisions to the 1934 Act. Because federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over 1934 Act claims, forcing plaintiffs to bring class actions under the 1934 statute instead of state law also forced them to file in federal court. Pp. 12-15.
(2) Cyan finally argues that the except clause would serve no purpose at all unless it works as Cyan says. But Congress could have envisioned the except clause as the ultimate fail-safe device, designed to safeguard §77p's class-action bar come whatever might. Congress has been known to legislate in that hyper-vigilant way, to "remov[e] any doubt" as to things not particularly doubtful in the first instance. Marx v. General Revenue Corp., 568 U. S. 371, 383-384. If ever it had reason to legislate in that fashion, it was in SLUSA-whose very impetus lay in the success of class action attorneys in "bypass[ing] . . . the Reform Act." Kircher, 547 U. S., at 636. And regardless of any uncertainty surrounding Congress's reasons for drafting the except clause, there is no sound basis for giving that clause a broader reading than its language can bear, especially in light of the dramatic change such an interpretation would work in the 1933 Act's jurisdictional framework. Pp. 15-18.
2. SLUSA does not permit defendants to remove class actions alleging only 1933 Act claims from state to federal court. The Government argues that §77p(c) allows defendants to remove 1933 Act class actions to federal court as long as they allege the kinds of misconduct listed in §77p(b). But most naturally read, §77p(c) refutes, not supports, the Government's view. Section 77p(c) allows for removal of "[a]ny covered class action brought in any State court involving a covered security, as set forth in subsection (b)." The covered class actions "set forth" in §77p(b) are state-law class actions alleging securities misconduct. Federal-law suits are not "class action[s] . . . as set forth in subsection (b)." Thus, they remain subject to the 1933 Act's removal ban. This Court has held as much, concluding that §§77p(b) and 77p(c) apply to the exact same universe of class actions. Kircher, 547 U. S., at 643-644. The "straightforward reading" of those two provisions is that removal under §77p(c) is "limited to those [actions] precluded by the terms of subsection (b)." Id., at 643. Pp. 18-24.
For those of you tired of our
dashing and effervescent publisher Bill Singer, Esq.'s
pithy musings and brilliant insights in the BrokeAndBroker.com Blog,
The BrokeAndBroker.com Network
now offers the
http://www.rrbdlaw.com/blog.php
brief descriptions of legal, regulatory, and compliance matters with
direct links to the underlying full-text documents.
Securities Industry Commentator: A legal, regulatory, and compliance feed curated by veteran Wall Street lawyer Bill Singer
http://www.rrbdlaw.com/3879/securities-industry-commentator/
In today's Securities Industry Commentator feed:
In the Matter of Department of Enforcement, Complainant, vs. Kenneth J. Mathieson, Respondent (FINRA National Adjudicatory Counsel Decision, Complaint No. 2014040876001 / March 19, 2018) As set forth in the Syllabus of the NAC Decision [Ed: footnotes omitted]:
Respondent Kenneth J. Mathieson appeals the sanctions imposed on him in a December 16, 2016 Extended Hearing Panel decision. The Extended Hearing Panel suspended Mathieson for one year in all capacities and fined him $50,000 for participating in private securities transactions and engaging in outside business activities without prior written notice to, and permission from, his member firm, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC ("Morgan Stanley"). The Extended Hearing Panel also found that Mathieson submitted a false compliance questionnaire. On appeal, Mathieson admits his violations, but argues that the Extended Hearing Panel misapplied the relevant aggravating and mitigating factors and, consequently, the sanctions imposed are too severe.
After an independent review of the record, we affirm the Extended Hearing Panel's findings of violation and the $50,000 fine, but reduce Mathieson's suspension to six months.
Broker Charged With Repeatedly Putting Customer Assets At Risk (SEC Press Release 2018-45) The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that during 2015, registered broker-dealer Electronic Transaction Clearing (ETC) improperly transferred almost $8 million of fully paid securities belonging to cash customers to an account at another clearing firm to meet margin requirements on borrowed funds. The SEC further alleged that the firm had used over $17 million of securities of two customers to borrow funds without consent. Finally, the federal regulator alleged that ETC had improperly commingled customers' securities and allowed a customer's excess margin securities to be loaned out by the other clearing firm. Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, ETC agreed to the entry of an Order charging it with violation the Securities Exchange Act and Customer Protection Rule as well as other related rules, and the firm agreed to cease and desist from further violations. Also, ETC agreed to a censure and to pay an $80,000 penalty
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Americrude, et. al., (SEC Litigation Release 24068) In a Complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the SEC alleged that Shezad Akbar used his company, Americrude, Inc., and the firm's purportedly nominal President Daniel Waite used cold calls, high-pressure sales pitches, and false and misleading statements to lure investors into Americrude's fraudulent offerings. The defendants allegedly misrepresented Americrude's track record, the reserve potential of its oil-and-gas prospects, and its intended use of proceeds. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Waite consented to the entry of a final judgment that permanently restrains and enjoins him from violating the '33 and '34 Acts, and restrains and enjoins him from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer or sale of any oil-and-gas related securities (said injunction does not prevent Waite from purchasing or selling oil-and-gas related securities for his own personal account). Waite is ordered to disgorge $32,409.52, prejudgment interest of $1,763.30, and a civil penalty of $100,000. The SEC's litigation against Americrude and Akbar continues. READ the FULL TEXT SEC Compliant.
SEC Obtains Summary Judgment in Grand Central Post-It Notes Insider Trading Case (SEC Litigation Release No. 24070)
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Steven Metro, (United States District Court for the District of New Jersey,14-CV-05844)
The District Court granted the SEC's motion for summary judgment against former law firm employee Steven Metro, who had been permanently enjoined and ordered to pay a $25,000 civil penalty pursuant to his role charged as part of an insider trading scheme infamously involving the passing of information on paper napkins.
International Money Laundering Conspiracy / Seven individuals have pled guilty to participating in a multi-million dollar international money laundering conspiracy. (DOJ Press Release)
Geannis Gonzalez, Alfredo Tovar, Robinson Castillo, Jamie Vives Castillo, Quiana Velasco, Jose Daniel Estrella, and Pedro Reyes have all pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with having opened bank accounts in the names of shell corporations in order to receive the proceeds of various fraudulent schemes, including romance frauds, email hacking schemes, and inheritance and lottery scams, that victimized individuals and corporations across the United States. The cited bank accounts received illegal proceeds ranging from $3,381,110 to $7,177,442; and the overall laundered proceeds was about $94 million.
Founder And CEO Of Defunct Tampa Technology Company Sentenced To 80 Months In Prison For Investment Fraud (DOJ Press Release)
In 2010, Timothy Munro Roberts and Terrance Taylor founded Savtira Corporation, Inc., which purportedly offered a centralized cloud-based shopping cart platform for retailers. Roberts and Taylor fraudulently solicited investors for the company by claiming it was profitable and owned patents, that they had entered into executed agreements with nationally recognized technology firms, and that Savtira was valued between $450 million and $540 million. Roberts and Taylor misused and misappropriated investor funds for personal expenses and made cash withdrawals without the investors' consent. Further, the two never disclosed to investors that Roberts had previously been fined and banned from selling unregistered securities pursuant to his settlement with the SEC. Following his guilty plea in federal court, Roberts was sentenced to six years and eight months in federal prison for wire fraud and ordered to pay $5,874,912.52 in restitution.
SEC Announces Its Largest-Ever Whistleblower Awards (SEC Press Release 2018-44) The SEC announced its highest-ever Dodd-Frank whistleblower awards, with two whistleblowers sharing a nearly $50 million award and a third whistleblower receiving more than $33 million. As set forth in part in the SEC Press Release, the SEC has awarded more than $262 million to 53 whistleblowers since issuing its first award in 2012.
Beaver Country Employees Reitrement Fund
PSLRF
SLUSA
Covered Class Action


text:
#include "config.h"
#include "ExceptionHelpers.h"

#include "CodeBlock.h"
#include "CallFrame.h"
#include "ErrorInstance.h"
#include "JSGlobalObjectFunctions.h"
#include "JSObject.h"
#include "JSNotAnObject.h"
#include "Interpreter.h"
#include "Nodes.h"
#include "UStringConcatenate.h"

namespace JSC {

class InterruptedExecutionError : public JSNonFinalObject {
public:
    InterruptedExecutionError(JSGlobalData* globalData)
        : JSNonFinalObject(*globalData, globalData->interruptedExecutionErrorStructure.get())
    {
    }

    virtual ComplType exceptionType() const { return Interrupted; }

    virtual UString toString(ExecState*) const { return "JavaScript execution exceeded timeout."; }
};

JSObject* createInterruptedExecutionException(JSGlobalData* globalData)
{
    return new (globalData) InterruptedExecutionError(globalData);
}

class TerminatedExecutionError : public JSNonFinalObject {
public:
    TerminatedExecutionError(JSGlobalData* globalData)
        : JSNonFinalObject(*globalData, globalData->terminatedExecutionErrorStructure.get())
    {
    }

    virtual ComplType exceptionType() const { return Terminated; }

    virtual UString toString(ExecState*) const { return "JavaScript execution terminated."; }
};

JSObject* createTerminatedExecutionException(JSGlobalData* globalData)
{
    return new (globalData) TerminatedExecutionError(globalData);
}

JSObject* createStackOverflowError(ExecState* exec)
{
    return createRangeError(exec, "Maximum call stack size exceeded.");
}

JSObject* createStackOverflowError(JSGlobalObject* globalObject)
{
    return createRangeError(globalObject, "Maximum call stack size exceeded.");
}

JSObject* createUndefinedVariableError(ExecState* exec, const Identifier& ident)
{
    UString message(makeUString("Can't find variable: ", ident.ustring()));
    return createReferenceError(exec, message);
}

JSObject* createInvalidParamError(ExecState* exec, const char* op, JSValue value)
{
    UString errorMessage = makeUString("'", value.toString(exec), "' is not a valid argument for '", op, "'");
    JSObject* exception = createTypeError(exec, errorMessage);
    ASSERT(exception->isErrorInstance());
    static_cast<ErrorInstance*>(exception)->setAppendSourceToMessage();
    return exception;
}

JSObject* createNotAConstructorError(ExecState* exec, JSValue value)
{
    UString errorMessage = makeUString("'", value.toString(exec), "' is not a constructor");
    JSObject* exception = createTypeError(exec, errorMessage);
    ASSERT(exception->isErrorInstance());
    static_cast<ErrorInstance*>(exception)->setAppendSourceToMessage();
    return exception;
}

JSObject* createNotAFunctionError(ExecState* exec, JSValue value)
{
    UString errorMessage = makeUString("'", value.toString(exec), "' is not a function");
    JSObject* exception = createTypeError(exec, errorMessage);
    ASSERT(exception->isErrorInstance());
    static_cast<ErrorInstance*>(exception)->setAppendSourceToMessage();
    return exception;
}

JSObject* createNotAnObjectError(ExecState* exec, JSValue value)
{
    UString errorMessage = makeUString("'", value.toString(exec), "' is not an object");
    JSObject* exception = createTypeError(exec, errorMessage);
    ASSERT(exception->isErrorInstance());
    static_cast<ErrorInstance*>(exception)->setAppendSourceToMessage();
    return exception;
}

JSObject* createErrorForInvalidGlobalAssignment(ExecState* exec, const UString& propertyName)
{
    return createReferenceError(exec, makeUString("Strict mode forbids implicit creation of global property '", propertyName, "'"));
}

JSObject* createOutOfMemoryError(JSGlobalObject* globalObject)
{
    return createError(globalObject, "Out of memory");
}

JSObject* throwOutOfMemoryError(ExecState* exec)
{
    return throwError(exec, createOutOfMemoryError(exec->lexicalGlobalObject()));
}

JSObject* throwStackOverflowError(ExecState* exec)
{
    return throwError(exec, createStackOverflowError(exec));
}

} // namespace JSC

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The New York Times Is Lying About the Pope
Monday, March 29, 2010 \PM\.\Mon\.
On March 25, 2010, the New York Times claimed that then Cardinal Ratzinger acted to prevent the defrocking of Lawrence C. Murphy. Here is the crux of the story:
"In 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee's archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican's secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Father Murphy's dismissal.
But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church's own statute of limitations."
The New York Times is lying and they know they are lying.
Father Raymond J. de Souza at National Review Online explains how I can make the statement above about the New York Times.
The New York Times on March 25 accused Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, of intervening to prevent a priest, Fr. Lawrence Murphy, from facing penalties for cases of sexual abuse of minors.
The story is false. It is unsupported by its own documentation. Indeed, it gives every indication of being part of a coordinated campaign against Pope Benedict, rather than responsible journalism.
Before addressing the false substance of the story, the following circumstances are worthy of note:
• The New York Times story had two sources. First, lawyers who currently have a civil suit pending against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. One of the lawyers, Jeffrey Anderson, also has cases in the United States Supreme Court pending against the Holy See. He has a direct financial interest in the matter being reported.
• The second source was Archbishop Rembert Weakland, retired archbishop of Milwaukee. He is the most discredited and disgraced bishop in the United States, widely known for mishandling sexual-abuse cases during his tenure, and guilty of using $450,000 of archdiocesan funds to pay hush money to a former homosexual lover who was blackmailing him. Archbishop Weakland had responsibility for the Father Murphy case between 1977 and 1998, when Father Murphy died. He has long been embittered that his maladministration of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee earned him the disfavor of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, long before it was revealed that he had used parishioners' money to pay off his clandestine lover. He is prima facie not a reliable source.
• Laurie Goodstein, the author of the New York Times story, has a recent history with Archbishop Weakland. Last year, upon the release of the disgraced archbishop's autobiography, she wrote an unusually sympathetic story that buried all the most serious allegations against him (New York Times, May 14, 2009).
• A demonstration took place in Rome on Friday, coinciding with the publication of the New York Times story. One might ask how American activists would happen to be in Rome distributing the very documents referred to that day in the New York Times. The appearance here is one of a coordinated campaign, rather than disinterested reporting.
It's possible that bad sources could still provide the truth. But compromised sources scream out for greater scrutiny. Instead of greater scrutiny of the original story, however, news editors the world over simply parroted the New York Times piece. Which leads us the more fundamental problem: The story is not true, according to its own documentation.
The New York Times made available on its own website the supporting documentation for the story. In those documents, Cardinal Ratzinger himself does not take any of the decisions that allegedly frustrated the trial. Letters are addressed to him; responses come from his deputy. Even leaving that aside, though, the gravamen of the charge — that Cardinal Ratzinger's office impeded some investigation — is proven utterly false.
32 Comments	| Uncategorized	| Tagged: Father Daren J. Zehnle, Father Raymond J. de Souza, Father Thomas Brundage, Jeffrey Anderson, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Laurie Goodstein, Lawrence Murphy, Mainstream Media, Media Bias, New York Times, Pope Benedict XVI, Priest Homosexual Pedophile Abuse Scandal, Rembert Weakland, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, Yellow Journalism	| Permalink
Bart Stupak's Last Stand
Monday, March 29, 2010 \AM\.\Mon\.
Since his sell-out of the pro-life cause, Bart Stupak (Weasel, Michigan) has been attempting to justify his cave-in. My friend Paul Zummo, the Cranky Conservative, has given these efforts a fisking to remember:
Somewhere Doug Kmiec is breathing a sigh of relief, for he is no longer the biggest sell-out to the pro-life cause in modern American politics. As we begin Holy Week, it is appropriate to examine the apology of one Bart Stupak of Michigan.
When I saw that Kathleen Parker's March 24 op-ed, "Stupak's original sin," defined me as a "backstabber," it reminded me of a Bible verse. Matthew 7:3 asks, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Had Bart been making a jibe at the expense of an individual with a similarly dodgy track record in things cultural, that would have merited a high five. Unfortunately I doubt ole Bart is smart enough to be making such a well-researched dig. Rather, we witness here the first refuge of all left-wing betrayers of the unborn: citation of biblical passages that have absolutely nothing to do with the matter at hand. While the writer might feel some sort of sanctimonious justification, the rest of us are left just shrugging our shoulders and thinking, "Okay, you have a research assistant who reads the Bible, do you have anything meaningful to say in reply?"
The true motives of many blogs and organizations claiming to be pro-life have become clear in recent days: to politicize life issues as a means to defeat health care reform. One group even sent an e-mail to supporters saying they are "working feverishly to stop this legislation from going forward."
Oh burn. Pro-life opponents of this legislation vowed to stop this legislation from going forward. You have clearly caught us in a terrible web of deceit. How dare people who have openly declared their opposition, umm, openly declare their opposition. Next thing you know ole Bart will publicize an email from an AARP representative declaring that they are fighting for the elderly. You really showed us for our hypocrisy.
The pro-life groups rallied behind me — many without my knowledge or consent
It's good to know that we have reached the point in American politics that politicians must now assent to their support. Something tells me that ole Bart was less annoyed by pro-life support when the donations were rolling in a month ago. Surely now ole Bart will refund every cent of money given by someone whose support he had not consented to. Yeah, if you could just let us know the web address where the suckers could claim their refund, that would be a big help.
30 Comments	| Uncategorized	| Tagged: Bart Stupak, ObamaCare	| Permalink
Give The Devil Benefit Of Law
One of my favorite movies is A Man For All Seasons (1966). The film depicts the events that led up to the martyrdom for the Catholic faint of Saint Thomas More. The movie completely captures the look and sound of Tudor England, and evokes well Saint Thomas More, perhaps the most learned, and one of the most holy, men of his day. That such a man was an attorney, and I say this as an attorney, is shocking!
But Saint Thomas More was an attorney, and one of the ablest of his time. When he was a judge, he once called for the next case only to learn that he had cleared the docket of all cases pending before the court, something that had not occurred before More's time and has not occurred since. He even wrote a prayer, a copy of which I have hanging in my office, and which I believe should be said by attorneys as they go home from their offices: "Give me the Grace Good Lord, to set the world at naught; to set my mind fast upon Thee and not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths. To be content to be solitary. Not to long for worldly company but utterly to cast off the world and rid my mind of the business there of.
His secular life revolved around the law, and when the King sought his blood because he would not bend to the King's bigamous marriage to Anne Boleyn, he defended his life with such legal skill that the perjured evidence of Sir Richard Rich had to be used to allow the judicial murder of Saint Thomas.
At the beginning of this post we see the scene in the movie where the playwright Bolt has Saint Thomas defending the proposition that the Devil should be given the benefit of Man's law. I believe that is a perfectly accurate statement of the view of Saint Thomas. If a law is unjust, as laws not infrequently are, then the law should be changed. However, for laws to be ignored or to be actively disobeyed in order for some good to be achieved would have struck him as anathema. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments	| Uncategorized	| Tagged: A Man For All Seasons, Law, Saint Thomas More	| Permalink
Mr. Brooks Meets Mr. Blond
The passage of Obamacare has qualitatively transformed the political polarization of Americans. For the 1/5th of the American people that describe themselves as liberal or very liberal – and for people from other countries, that means leftist – Obamacare is a triumph. Of course it is not as glorious a triumph as some would have liked, since leftists with consistent principles are dismayed by what amounts to a massive handout to the private insurance cartel. These, however, became a voiceless minority when Dennis Kucinich kissed Obama's ring on Air Force One.
For the rest of America, identifying as centrist, conservative, or very conservative, the passage of Obamacare is a qualitative marker on what has been a long and often terrifying journey of government expansion. With the full acknowledgment that they could have been, and should have been, louder about these matters under Bush Jr. than they actually were, the rise of the tea party movement suggests that growing numbers of conservatives are no longer satisfied with the performance of the GOP. They will of course vote for GOP candidates come November – at the same time, many of those candidates my find themselves on the ballot because of this movement.
For our nation's "political class", a construct that shouldn't even exist in the self-governing republic envisioned by the Founding Fathers, these developments are viewed with some alarm. This is not surprising, given what recent polls have discovered about the gap between this class, and mainstream America:
By a 62% to 12% margin, Mainstream Americans say the Tea Party is closer to their views. By a 90% to one percent (1%) margin, the Political Class feels closer to Congress.
The left side of the punditry and political establishment view the populist movement as something dangerous and irrational, and do their best to make sure that the handful of racists who show up with inflammatory signs are portrayed as it's vanguard. Then they insinuate, with little to no evidence, that various figures such as Dick Armey or Sarah Palin are controlling the entire movement, though tea parties inspired by Ron Paul were taking place long before either of them arrived on the scene.
The right wing of the political class has viewed the tea party in two ways: with the same level of contempt as their liberal counterparts (isn't it nice when they can agree?), or, on different occasions, with put-on enthusiasm in the hopes of co-opting and controlling the movement. That is, until David Brooks' piece in the New York Times, titled "The Broken Society."
19 Comments	| Uncategorized	| Tagged: Amitai Etzioni, Civic State, Communitarianism, David Brooks, Inside Catholic, Libertarianism, New York Times, Phillip Blond, Red Toryism, Tea Party Movement	| Permalink
Posted by Bonchamps
Christianity and the Miraculous
Today, Palm Sunday, and throughout the rest of Holy Week, we devote ourselves to the central mysteries of our faith as Christians: Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The Last Supper, which instituted for us the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. The suffering and death of Christ on the cross. His resurrection on the third day.
These miracles are the very center of our faith. As Saint Paul said, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain. Or to paraphrase Flannery O'Connor's use of rather more modern parlance, "If it isn't true, to hell with it."
This central miracle, Christ's death and resurrection, is the miracle which gives our faith meaning and sets it radically apart from the "he was a good man killed by the authorities for standing up for the poor" substitute which some propose. For if Christ was not God, if He did not rise from the dead, if He did not offer to us eternal salvation, then "he was a good man" is no half-way-there substitute. The resurrection is a miracle so unlikely, so scandalous that we must either embrace it wholly or reject Christianity with scorn. The events of Holy Week are not something we can accept half-way, and by accepting them we accept something which goes utterly and completely beyond the natural and predictable world. A miracle.
5 Comments	| Uncategorized	| Tagged: Christianity, Exegesis, Hermeneutics, Holy Eucharist, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Last Supper, Palm Sunday, Sacred Scripture, Truth	| Permalink
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IB learners strive to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, reflective.
The IB Diploma Programme (DP) was established in 1968 to provide an international education that would enable young people to better understand and manage the complexities of our world, and to provide them with the skills and attitudes to take action to improve it. Such an education was grounded in the more progressive educational thinking of the time but also in the belief that the world could be made better through an education that focused on concepts, ideas and issues that crossed disciplinary, cultural, national and geographical boundaries.
Candidates studying for the diploma select six subjects from the subject groups. Normally three subjects are studied at higher level (courses representing 240 teaching hours), and the remaining three subjects are studied at standard level (courses representing 150 teaching hours). All three parts of the core—extended essay, theory of knowledge and creativity, activity, service—are compulsory and are central to the philosophy of the Diploma Programme.
o The extended essay has a prescribed limit of 4,000 words. It offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest, and acquaints students with the independent research and writing skills expected at university.
o The interdisciplinary theory of knowledge course is designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across disciplines, encouraging an appreciation of other perspectives.
o Participation in the CAS programme encourages candidates to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports, and community service work. The programme fosters students' awareness and appreciation of life beyond the academic arena.
The assessment system at Gimnazija Kranj is focused on the national assessment system and the IB assessment system. In both systems assessment policies represent uniqueness in the assessment philosophy and principles. Gimnazija Kranj follows the IB directions in the IB Diploma Programme in the formal assessment and implements good practices from the national programme and forms new assessment practices to fully satisfy the need of the assessment according to the IB assessment system and principles. The informal assessment simulates the formal assessment with a variety of teaching and assessment practices which enable students to prepare for the formal assessment and to meet the purpose of the IB education.
2. DP assessment must reflect the international-mindedness of the programme wherever possible, must avoid cultural bias, and must make appropriate allowance for students working in their second language.
3. DP assessment pays appropriate attention to the higher-order cognitive skills (synthesis, reflection, evaluation, critical thinking) as well as the more fundamental cognitive skills (knowledge, understanding and application).
4. Assessment for each subject includes a suitable range of tasks and instruments/components that ensure all objectives for the subject are assessed.
5. IB students at Gimnazija Kranj were introduced to the IB learner profile. Students are aware of the importance and opportunities that follow from identifying with the IB learner profile.
6. The desired personal characteristics of students, expressed in the IBO mission statement, fit very well with a constructivist theory of student learning, in which students actively engage in the learning process, take responsibility for their own learning, and enlarge their knowledge, understanding and skills through inquiry. Sympathy with cultural perspectives other than the students' own is expected in the assessment requirements of a number of subjects. The more affective qualities of caring and compassion are more difficult to include in formal assessment, but nevertheless must be represented within the overall assessment system. This is largely achieved through the creativity, action, service (CAS) requirement, though there are a number of references to ethical working practices elsewhere in the assessment system.
7. DP students at Gimnazija Kranj enter for examinations in a language that is not their best. Nearly all such cases relate to English. Sentences should be short, with simple wording and sentence structure used wherever possible. However, subject-specific terminology should not be avoided. Additionally, tolerance must be shown towards errors in spelling and grammar when marking is carried out, except in language examinations. As long as the meaning and communication are clear, no penalty should be applied and full marks should be available.
8. Diploma Programme assessment does include a limited element of cooperative group work. In all the science courses, students participate in an interdisciplinary project, which by its nature requires group work. One of the assessment criteria applied to practical work in the sciences relates to how well a student engages in team work, and the interdisciplinary project is a suitable context in which teachers can assess this.
The IB uses both external and internal assessment in the DP. External assessment (examinations) form the basis of the assessment for most courses. This is because of their high levels of objectivity and reliability. They include: essays, structured problems, short-response questions, data-response questions, text-response questions, case-study questions, multiple-choice questions. Internal assessment (teacher assessment) is also used for most courses. This includes: oral work in languages, fieldwork in geography, laboratory work in the sciences, essays in humanistics, investigations in mathematics and artistic performances. The maximum possible diploma points total is 45 (six courses each earning seven points, plus three points for the core subjects TOK and EE). The minimum total of points to pass the diploma is 24.
The grading system is criterion-related (results are determined by performance against set standards, and not in relation to the performance of other students); validity, reliability and fairness are principles of the Diploma Programme's assessment strategy. For each subject well-defined assessment criteria is published in subject guides and used to measure the student's performance. The subjects are graded on the scale from 1 to 7 (1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest).
The prevailing assessment practice follows the IB assessment guidelines and grade system. In special circumstances, when the national Slovenian grade system is applied the assessment practice follows the national assessment guidelines. This is the case when final grade reports are issued for the purpose of scholarships and when the academic success from students is brought to the attention of parents. Another circumstance occurs when teachers want to examine the knowledge of students in a particular area with psychometric testing.
The school's main examination session is the May examination session. Retakes are possible in both the November and May examination sessions.
Mock examination is conducted two months prior to the May examination session in order to prepare students for the May examination session.
At the beginning of their Diploma Programme students receive a schedule with deadlines over two years.
According to the IB language policy the IB Diploma Programme is delivered in two languages English and Slovene. The essential terminology has to be presented and understood in Slovene as well.
In order to assure the authenticity of submitted works of students, students have to hand in first or second drafts of their assignment. The teachers supervise, record and report about the student progress. Students are familiar with the IB Academic Honesty policy and are advised to be systematic and consistent when recording the bibliography and references.
Parents' meetings are organized three times a year. For each meeting a theme in relation to the IBDP is chosen. Regular school office hours for parents are orginazed once a month. First parent meeting is organized for IBDP candidates and their parents at the end of Year 2 before the enrolment in the IB Diploma Programme in Year 3 and Year 4. At this meeting students and parents sign Assessment and Academic Honesty Policy at Gimnazija Kranj (Interni pravilnik o preverjanju in ocenjevanju ter akademski poštenosti na programu mednarodna matura na Gimnaziji Kranj) for the following two years.
Every class has a class teacher (razrednik) who's role is to support students in their academic and personal development. The class teacher manages the eAsistent assessment, planning and reporting with the IBDP coordinator. The class teachers organizes regular weekly meetings with students (class hours, razredna ura). Class hours are scheduled every Wednesday after the lessons. During the class hours meetings with the IBDP coordinator, school counsellor and external visitors are organized.
Doing homework is an important activity which supports students to be independent and responsible. Students have to follow the IB assessment principles and guidelines in Academic Honesty. Supervision of homework that serves as an activity and assignment for assessment components in internal or external assessment is essential and is at the attention of teachers. Teachers understand their role as supervisors. Students have to hand in first and second drafts prior to the final draft being submitted. By following this procedure malpractice and plagiarism can be avoided.
Students have several meetings regarding the retake and enquiry upon results in Year 4. A document Retake and Enquiry Upon Results for students was written for this purpose.
o Students and parents have two meetings with the IBDP coordinator to be informed about the studying possibilities in Slovenia and abroad.
o The school counsellor has additional meetings with students to deliver information about the Slovene university programmes.
o Gimnazija Kranj organizes meetings and workshops with representatives from Slovene and foreign universities.
o Once a year students attend a workshop organized by the Public Institution for scholarship of Republic of Slovenia (Javni zavod za štipendiranje Republike Slovenije) at Gimnazija Kranj in order to obtain information about scholarship programmes for studying in Slovenia and abroad.
o Students have personal statement workshops to improve their writing skills organized by the IB Diploma Programme coordinator.
Appendix 1: Interni pravilnik o preverjanju in ocenjevanju ter akademski poštenosti (academic honesty) na programu mednarodne mature (IBDP) (2016).
Pravilnik je izdelan kot sestavni del Šolskih pravil Gimnazije Kranj in usmeritev International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).
S tem pravilnikom se ureja način preverjanja in ocenjevanja znanja ter napredovanja iz 3. v 4. letnik programa mednarodne mature na Gimnaziji Kranj, preračunavanje v slovensko lestvico ocen od 1 do 5 in vrednotenje učnega uspeha v 3. in 4. letniku ter na maturi za nagrajevanje.
Dijaku program mednarodne mature omogoča različne oblike preverjanja in ocenjevanja znanja pri pouku in na izpitih. Program mednarodne mature na Gimnaziji Kranj ima tri vrste ocenjevanja: ocenjevanje za maturo (notranje in zunanje ocenjevanje - internal in external assessment) ter šolsko ocenjevanje. Učitelj ocenjuje dijakove ustne odgovore, kontrolne naloge, lahko pa tudi projektna dela, vaje, eseje, seminarske naloge, praktične izdelke, nastope in domače naloge. Ocenjevanja so napovedana.
IB ocene so na lestvici od 1 do 7, pri čemer je 7 najvišja ocene. Kriteriji se določajo vsako leto in so zapisani v predmetnih poročilih (subject reports, grade boundaries).
Končna ocean pri predmetu je povprečna ocean vseh ocen.
o dijak mednarodne mature redno hodi k pouku in spoštuje hišni red Gimnazije Kranj.
O napredovanju dijaka v višji letnik ob koncu šolskega leta odloča učiteljski zbor programa mednarodne mature. Šola in dijak o svojem delu sproti obveščata starše.
Dijak, ki je ob koncu šolskega leta negativno ocenjen, lahko opravlja popravni izpit skladno s Pravilnikom o ocenjevanju znanja v srednjih šolah. Dijaku, ki ob koncu šolskega leta ni zadovoljen z oceno, se omogoči izboljševanje ocen v dogovoru z učiteljem.
Dijak, ki ne opravi predpisanih obveznosti in ne napreduje v višji letnik, ponavlja 3. letnik na nacionalnem programu (gimnazijski program). Dijak lahko ponavlja 3. letnik na programu mednarodne mature le, če sam plača šolnino.
Če dijak iz opravičljivih razlogov ni opravil vseh obveznosti, mu ravnatelj dovoli napredovanje v višji letnik in skupaj z učitelji določi roke za opravljanje obveznosti 3. letnika.
Po vseh opravljenih obveznostih ob koncu 3. letnika dijak prejme letno spričevalo 3. letnika.
Dijak, ki opravi vse obveznosti predpisane s strani IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization), je ob koncu 4. letnika nagrajen z IB diplomo (opravljeno maturo). Ocene pridobljene na maturi veljajo tudi za 4. letnik. Dijaku mednarodne mature ob zaključenem šolanju podelimo obvestilo o uspehu pri mednarodne maturi in letno spričevalo za 4. letnik.
Dijak mora obvezno na višji ravni vzeti slovenščino. Dijaku se v slovensko maturo obvezno pretvorijo slovenščina, matematika in angleščina ter še dva predmeta po izbiri. En predmet se ne upošteva, saj je na slovenski maturi le 5 predmetov. Med petimi predmeti morajo trije biti na višji ravni. Dijaku ni treba na višji ravni vzeti matematike ali angleščine. Poleg slovenščine, ki je obvezno na višji ravni, se dijaku z dodatnimi točkami štejeta še dva predmeta na višji ravni, katera dva predmeta, je odvisno od tega, kaj dijak potrebuje za vpis na slovensko ali tujo univerzo. Če dijak vzame slovenščino, angleščino in matematiko na višji ravni, se mu štejejo kot obvezni predmeti za slovensko maturo in se prištejejo točke (največ + 3) ne glede na to, katere druge predmete ima na višji ravni. Zlati maturant je dijak lahko le v primeru, če doseže najmanj 40 točk na mednarodni maturi. Pretvorba v slovensko maturo ne šteje. Če dijak ni opravil mature, je pretvorba brezpredmetna. Uspeh na maturi je edini relevanten za vpis na univerze.
o Priznanje za odličen uspeh po preračunu v slovensko maturitetno lestvico (30 do 34 točk) za vseh 6 maturitetnih predmetov.
Kaj je akademska poštenost (academic honesty)?
Dijake s pravili akademske poštenosti seznani ob vpisu na program mednarodne mature in na delavnicah skozi celotno trajanje šolanja. Koordinator mednarodne mature, knjižičarka in učitelji dijake seznanjajo s pomembnostjo akademske poštenosti.
Ta pravilnik začne veljati po obravnavi na pedagoški konferenci.
S svojim podpisom potrjujem, da sem seznanjen s pogoji preverjanja in ocenjevanja na programu mednarodne mature na Gimnaziji Kranj.
These policy regulates the ways and methods of the IB students' knowledge conditions for the students' progression from year 3 to year 4 of the IBDP at Gimnazija Kranj, conversation from IB grade scale (from 1 to 7) into the slovenian grade scale from (from 1 to 5) and the evaluation of the students' academic achievement in year 3, year 4 and at the examination for the reward purposes.
Students' performance is measured against different defined levels of achievements (assessment criteria) during the lessons and the examination session. IB Diploma Programme at Gimnazija Kranj offers students three possibilities to acquire knowledge: internal assessment, external assessment and school assessment. Teachers assess students' tests, oral examinations, essays, project work, practical work, group work, presentations, homework … Every assessment component is foretold.
For each subject well-defined assessment criteria is published in subject guides and used to measure the student's performance. The subjects are graded on the scale from 1 to 7 (1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest).
The final grade in a subject is the calculated as the average of all grades.
At the end of the school year the whole IB teaching assembly is authorized to evaluate academic achievements of students and decides whether an IB student meets all the necessary requirements to progress from year 3 to year 4. Mutual exchange about the students' academic progress between the school, students and parents is assured with regular meetings and reporting.
A student with an unsatisfactory final grade in a subject at the end of the academic year can retake a subject according to Pravilnik o ocenjevanju znanja v srednjih šolah. A student can improve a grade in every subject in agreement with the teacher.
The student who fails to meet the requirements to progress from year 3 to year 4. The student can re-enrol in the year 3 of the national programme (program gimnazija) or attend the IB year 3 again. In this case the Ib student covers the IB tuition fees.
If the reasons for a student's inability to meet the requirements are justifiable, the head of school may permit the student to progress from IB year 3 to IB year 4 and together with the teachers sets the deadlines by which the student has to meet the requirements from IB year 3.
In order for a student to receive the grade report for year 3 (letno spričevalo za 3. letnik), a student has to meet all the requirements.
In order for a student to obtain the IB diploma, a student has to meet all the requirements defined by the IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization). IB diploma grades are converted into the Slovenian grade scale from 1 to 5. Students get a grade report for year 4 and a grade report for the IB Diploma Programme at the end of their education at Gimnazija Kranj.
The maximum points at Slovenian matura (national examinations) is 34. Slovenian grades are on scale from 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest and 5 the highest). IB grades are converted according to the Slovenian grade scale in order to enable the IB student to be enrolled in the Slovenian universities.
o Plagiarism - the representation of the ideas or workof another person as your own.
o Collusion - supporting malpractice by another candidate, as in allowing your work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another candidate.
o Duplication of work - the presentation of the same work for different assessment components and/or IB diploma requirements.
o Misconduct during an examination, including the possession of unauthorized material.
o Disclosing information to another candidate, or receiving information from another candidate, about the content of an examination paper within 24 hours after the examination.
This policy takes effect after the proceedings at the IB teaching assembly meeting.
With this written consent I declare, that I am familiar with the assessment regulations on the IB diploma programme at Gimnazija Kranj.


How to Dry Sage | Grow This!
Sage is one of the easiest herbs to grow at home and does wonderful things to all kinds of culinary dishes, especially meats like duck and pork. Sage is one of the rare herbs whose flavor actually improves after drying. Here are some tips on how to dry sage.
While sage can be harvested throughout the growing season, the leaves have the most flavor just before the plant goes to flower. Harvest on a cool or overcast day when possible. This will help to limit wilting. Cut off entire stems or branches to be dried at once. Discard all yellow, dry or wilted leaves or anything that looks diseased, insect bitten or otherwise unhealthy.
Wash the stems thoroughly in cool water. Use a cloth or paper towel to pat dry the stems as much as possible before proceeding. If you have a salad spinner, this is an easy way to discard excess water.
Tie several bundles of stems together and hang to dry. For faster drying, include fewer branches per bundle. Sage tends to take longer than many herbs to dry due to its high oil content. Wrap a small paper bag around each bundle and poke holes and slits in it for ventilation. While the brown bag is not completely necessary it helps to ensure your sage dries safely and cleanly. Hang each bundle in a dry, dust free space. Avoid hanging them in the kitchen – the fragrance and smoke emitted from cooking can affect the flavor of the sage. Try a dry attic, garage or closet.
Let sage dry for about two weeks or as long as needed. It should easily crumble to the touch.
Place dried sage in an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place. Be sure to remove any moldy leaves before storing. You can store them whole or crush them down, discarding the stems.
You can also save time by using a food dehydrator to dry your sage. Spread the sage stems loosely on a drying rack and put it in the front or on top of the machine. Do not dry different herbs together in this method or they will corrupt the flavor of each other.
Another method is to dry sage in the oven on the lowest temperature. Place a piece of parchment on an oven tray or cookie sheet. Spread the sage leaves out and place in the oven. They should be dry within a couple hours, but best to check on them regularly to be sure they don't burn.
Don't want to dry your own? Frontier Rubbed Sage Leaf comes in a 16 oz foil bag. If you use a lot of sage in your cooking or for other purposes, this is a great price for the amount of sage you get.
These White Sage Smudge Sticks come in a set of two. They are 100% natural and gathered in an environmentally friendly way. Use for smudging, meditation, repelling mosquitos, and more.


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What's Next? – OWASP Top 10 2021
Gábor Pék (Avatao CTO)
Due to the urgent context changes in our work and life today, resilience and adoption were amongst our most essential attributes to utilize. One of the effects of these changes peaked in a never-seen digital transformation (e.g., zoom boom). This transformation is viable only if it stands on solid foundations. Security is one of the main building blocks that also requires adoption, reconsideration from our side.
Top 10 OWASP Vulnerabilities
A recent, non-official proposal from Ivan Wallarm for OWASP top 10 inspired us to take a look at this famous project once again which influences our tech industry so much. Adoption and resilience are impossible without honestly admitting that security is still considered a stepchild. This fact is also highlighted by a recent FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) survey concluding that contributors spend less than 3% of their time on security issues. The threat vectors of the OWASP list are coming from various sources including security vendor reports and bug bounties. We have to wait for the official candidates, though the dataset is already in place as Martin Knobloch, a member of the OWASP Global Board, shared it with us. Ivan's non-official proposal for OWASP top 10 2021 brings only a few changes and plays more with the priorities. Let's go deeper to reveal why.
Ivan Wallarm's non-official proposal for OWASP top 10 2021
A1 Injections
Interestingly, injections are still leading the list due to a large number of legacy systems we need to maintain as Martin highlighted. Modern software is typically armored by frameworks, libraries, and programming languages (e.g., ORMs, LINQ for C#) to protect against A1 to a certain extent. Still, even these aids may fail to provide a complete solution as emphasized in a Snyk post by Guy Podjarny.
A2 Broken Authentication
Broken authentication is not only about credential misuse (e.g., using stolen usernames and passwords) as one might interpret it, but also refers to attacks exploiting session management (e.g., session hijacking, fixation attacks) that entitles miscreants to act on behalf of an impersonated user. The exposure of our systems has saturated even more today with the increasing popularity of identity-as-a-service platforms such as Auth0 or Okta. This recognition is also reflected by the possible weaknesses of these platforms as proved by authentication bypass attacks such as improper JSON Web Token invalidation found in Auth0 earlier in 2018.
A3 Cross-site Scripting (XSS) /A7 in the 2017 list/
"XSS is dead. We just don't get it."
as highlighted by Mario Heiderich, security researcher and founder of Cure53, in his talk on Appsec EU 2018. Still, for various reasons XSS is amongst the most popular attack vectors today that affected even the biggest names in the industry (e.g. XSS on Google Search). A successfully executed XSS attack allows malicious actors to masquerade as legit users and use their privileges for lateral movement and/or sensitive data exposure. In 2020, companies paid 4,2M USD for XSS bounties via the HackerOne bug bounty platform exceeding last year's spendings by 26%.
A4 Sensitive Data exposure /A3 in the 2017 list/
Security breaches mostly end up in this category (e.g., 10.88 billion records from CAM4 in March 2020 ). Due to the lack of or weakly configured encryption algorithms, and misunderstood threat models, attackers can get access to private data in transit or at rest. There are various technical (e.g., use of strong encryption algorithms) and non-technical initiatives ( e.g., GDPR, CCPA) to alleviate this issue. Troy Hunt's "Have I been pwned" site is another approach as well as a great source of information that helps determine whether our email address was part of any security breach.
A5 Insecure Deserialization (merged with XXE) /A4 and A8 in the 2017 list/
Insecure Deserialization exploits the process of transforming structured data (e.g., typically JSON, XML) into objects (e.g. Java Objects). Conceptually, XML eXternal Entities (XXE) is very similar to that. That's why Ivan suggested merging them, though they are radically different from a defense point of view as Jim Manico, a secure coding instructor at Manicode Security, highlighted it. The exploitation of this category is not that wide compared to other vectors, still, the impact can be as serious as Remote Code Execution (e.g. CVE-2018-7489).
Try an OWASP Top 10 exercise!
A6 Broken Access Control /A5 in the 2017 list/
Broken Access Control as we explain it with a bit more details in our earlier post is a type of vulnerability that allows attackers to trick authorization mechanisms to gain access to limited resources. Authorization problems are more difficult to detect automatically so it is quite hard to tell the real exposure of this threat. One of the biggest problems is the lack of centralized authority checks (e.g., ad-hoc annotations and "if" conditions cause serious complications) which could provide a single entry to our resources. A great example of Broken Access Control was found recently by Rahul Kankarle in the Workplace app of Facebook.
A7 Insufficient Logging and Monitoring /A10 in the 2017 list/
Insufficient logging and monitoring are not vulnerabilities on their own, however, they amplify the damage attackers may cause. The notorious Solarwinds breach is just one of many examples of highly sophisticated APTs (i.e. Advanced Persistent Threats) where attackers could stay under the radar for months causing enormous damage meanwhile. For this reason, the better the monitoring system we implement and maintain (e.g. with low false hits), the more apt we are to act upon such breaches.
A8 Server-side Request Forgery (SSRF) /NEW candidate/
This threat vector is getting more and more popular today where attackers enforce HTTP requests on behalf of an application server to access internal or external resources. As the request itself is coming from a legitimate source, applications may not take care of it (e.g., visiting an internal admin site from localhost). To understand better why SSRF is a new candidate in Ivan's top 10, it is worth checking out this recent $10K bounty found on Facebook. Here, for example, malicious users could have sent requests to the Facebook corporate network, which doesn't sound uplifting from a defense point of view.
A9 Known Vulnerabilities /No change/
Most of our software depends on 3rd-party components. According to the earlier mentioned FOSS survey, "it has been estimated that FOSS constitutes 80-90% of any given piece of modern software." It doesn't matter what stronghold we build to protect our applications (e.g., proper containerization, perimeter security, and so on) if the core of the problem lies within the application itself. A successfully executed attack can access all the resources that the infected software can under normal circumstances. Known vulnerabilities are low-hanging fruits for script kiddies also, still, their impact can be devastating. See the Equifax breach from 2018 as a reference point.
A10 Security Misconfiguration /A6 in the 2017 list/
Security misconfiguration is not a novel idea, it has been with us since modern computer science exists. Still, the recent shift towards cloud-native operation bubbled up various security issues fading a little bit the unquestionable advantages of fast deployment cycles, scalability, and reliability. It turns out that leaky AWS S3 buckets are a commodity nowadays exposing massive amounts of data "for public use". On top of that, by the virtualization of hardware devices, we put more and more responsibility on our software and simultaneously opening the door to a wider range of attacks. Though, we automate almost every such configuration step with Infrastructure as Code tools (e.g. Terraform, Ansible), it seems that from a security point of view there is still a lot to do to avoid such mistakes.
Software security issues, like any other challenge in our lives, need to be handled at the right time to reduce the costs of remediation later on. An even wiser strategy is to think in advance by defining security KPIs using BSIMM, for example, to build a more robust software organization. Due to the popularity of OWASP top 10 though, many consider it as a checklist to fulfill so they can slip back to their ordinary convenience of ignorance. The value of the top 10 is indisputable, still, it won't bring any fundamental changes on its own.
What we need to do is to rinse and twist our processes a little bit to give a flourishing ground for developers to work at. We cannot blame them for not investing time into security until they lack the knowledge and opportunity to resolve problems in time. Most of our headache is rooted in a single term which is called afterthought. When a breach happens or a non-secure code is in the release pipeline already, it's too late. We missed the opportunity to deliver more secure software. It doesn't matter how we train, push, and squeeze our people from this point on, security will be an interrupt which naturally causes resistance. That's why DevSecOps is a great idea, however, we couldn't fit security training into this lifecycle yet.
At Avatao, we believe in proactive, context-aware (e.g. related to the tasks of active sprint) and custom-tailored (i.e. technology-wise) training that brings no interruption in production. The key here is timing: learn security when designing a specific functionality. Simply because this is the very moment when ideas spark, and this is the moment when developers are willing to learn something new, including security. Delivering context-relevant training in this phase gives developers time to envision and implement software with a security mindset which finally brings a more joyful journey and product experience.


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Philippine Branch Office
By : ndvlaw | Category : Philippine Legal Advice | Comments Off
A Branch office of a foreign company carries out the business activities of the foreign head office and derives income from the Philippines. It has NO separate legal personality since it is merely an extension of the foreign head office. The minimum inward remittance for a branch office is Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$200,000.00). However, if the branch uses advanced technology or employ a minimum of 50 direct employees, it may be allowed a minimum paid-up capital of One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$100,000.00). In addition, if it is an export market enterprise, the minimum paid-up capital is only Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00). An export market enterprise is an enterprise wherein a manufacturer, processor or service enterprise exports sixty percent (60%) or more of its output, or wherein a trader purchases products domestically and exports sixty per cent (60%) or more of such purchases.
You will need a Resident Agent for a Branch Office. Furthermore, for a Philippine branch office, the Corporation Code requires that within sixty (60) days after the issuance of the license to transact business in the Philippines, the branch office shall deposit with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the benefit of present and future creditors of the branch office in the Philippines, securities satisfactory to the Securities and Exchange Commission, consisting of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness of the Government of the Philippines, its political subdivisions and instrumentalities, or of government-owned or controlled corporations and entities, shares of stock in "registered enterprises", shares of stock in domestic corporations registered in the stock exchange, or shares of stock in domestic insurance companies and banks, or any combination of these kinds of securities, with an actual market value of at least One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00).
In addition, within six (6) months after each fiscal year of the branch office, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall require the branch office to deposit additional securities equivalent in actual market value to two percent (2%) of the amount by which the branch office's gross income for that fiscal year exceeds five million (P5,000,000.00) pesos.
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Kids Ink is an experience! Every day my children come home with a story of something new they did. Whether it's cooking, going to the library, a trip for pizza, or a Chinese New Year celebration everything is done with the desire to make my children's day the best! Kids Ink inspires my children's imagination and desire to learn. They look forward to their gym time, gymnastics, and rock climbing – no other school can touch the activities that are offered! The staff is kind, caring, and goes out of their way to make every day special, Kids Ink is not just a daycare it's a family!
Kids Ink is the best daycare and preschool in the area. They offer so many fun activities for the kids in their care. My kids love the gym best. Twice a day they get to run around, jump in the moon bounce, and play sports. They even have gymnastics and rock climbing right at the school. The teachers are all really great and concerned about each child's needs. They have a strong curriculum that focuses on preparing children for school, but is still based most on having a good time. My kids wish they could go to Kids Ink every day, which is just what you want from a daycare center!
My child has attended Kids Ink since he was 6 weeks old! We absolutely love the wonderful, kind staff and cozy classrooms. He is now 4 years old and has gone from Kids Ink to Kids Ink Too and has many memories of the time he has spent there. We wouldn't have chosen any other school. The large gymnasium at Kids Ink Too is awesome and offers many activities for all ages year round!!
If you like what we do, then please, take a few minutes to fill in the form below. Equally, if you are not totally satisfied, please call us, or use the form below to arrange and appointment.