Third-Party Sender Registration: Are You Compliant?
As the payments industry continues to evolve and risks become more present, regulators wanting to see proof that financial institutions understand their roles at executive levels. The best way to provide this is through documented board approvals and periodic reporting. By attending this session, you will gain a better understanding of board reporting; what to include, areas to highlight and how to justify the risks. We will also cover the basics of a board strategy document, used to inform executive management of the "why" you perform ACH Services and "why" you offer Remote Deposit Capture, whether only receiving or as an Originating institution.
ACH Exception Item Processing can be confusing and it is important to understand the various processes surrounding ACH Rules. Non-compliance with the rules may lead to rules violations and customer dissatisfaction. This session will cover issues such as Reclamations, Return items and NOCs. We will share tips and ideas other members have used to limit their liability and make their Operations more successful. Let us help increase your knowledge by attending this webcast.
The ACH Operating Rules series is a two-part webcast designed to provide attendees with an in-depth look at the ACH rules, section by section. This program is targeted for those not familiar with the rule book, or those who need to have a better understanding of how to use the rule book as a reference.
In today's environment of rapidly evolving financial regulations, keeping current with ACH-related requirements can be a challenge. Regulators at both state and federal levels require Board-approved policies to define the scope, strategy, and risk tolerance of an organization's ACH service. Good procedures can reduce your exposure to Operating Risk. This two-part ACH Policies & Procedures webcast series will put you on the path to developing your own policies and procedures documents.
Being an ODFI can be risky if you do not have the right tools. Financial institutions of all sizes need to manage risk to minimize potential losses. Rapid growth, new and evolving products and consumer transfer applications are prevalent ACH trends representing increased risk for ODFIs. The ACH Rules require every financial institution to perform an ACH Risk Assessment. This webcast will cover risks associated with being an ODFI, as well as steps to mitigate these risks.
RDFIs of all sizes need to be aware of their ACH risk factors. The ACH Rules require every financial institution to perform a Risk Assessment related to their activities within the ACH Network. Proper processing of return items, timely posting of ACH transactions and the exceptions related to Federal Government transactions are just a few of the risks faced by RDFIs. This webcast will cover risks associated with processing transactions from the RDFI side as well as how to mitigate these risks.
In 2013 NACHA implemented the ACH Security Framework designed to protect the security and integrity of certain ACH data throughout its lifecycle. It establishes minimum data security obligations for ACH, all Network participants and requires each participating Depository Financial Institution, Third Party Sender, and Third Party Provider to verify they are compliant in their annual ACH Rules Audit. This session discusses sound practices to consider in helping your institution comply.
Is your financial institution new to originating ACH transactions? Or, are you considering implementing ACH Origination in the near future? If either of these apply, this session is for you. This webinar provides an overview of the many factors you must consider when implementing ACH Origination processes within your organization. We will discuss the warranties and liabilities of becoming an ODFI and risk mitigation tools to protect your from fraud and loss.
This two-part series is designed to give you the technical understanding needed to confidently review ACH files. Covered in this class will be such topics as file layouts, field definitions and requirements, data acceptance specifications and more. This seminar is essential for anyone supporting ACH services or wanting greater ACH expertise.
Offering treasury management services can help meet the needs of your commercial clients, attract new business opportunities and create non-interest income for your institution. What treasury management solutions do your customers' demand? And, how can you stay abreast of changing expectations and the fast-moving payments industry to continually service your business portfolio? Learn how to build a treasury management offering that will meet the needs of your client base.
Complying with the ACH Rules involves more than just studying the ACH Rulebook. This session discusses the related rules and regulations for a comprehensive ACH compliance program, including handling international ACH transactions, reclamations, required disclosures, and the differences between the ACH Rules and Reg. E.
This webcast is a comprehensive overview of the ACH rules governing check conversion. We will discuss each participant's rights, responsibilities and obligations. We will also discuss operational procedures, return options and how you can explain these items to consumers. In addition, we will discuss the ODFI/Originator requirements specific to the various check conversion options and check conversions' distinguishing characteristics from Remote Deposit Capture.
This webcast focuses on the essentials of ACH, including a brief history of the Network and defining the parties of ACH transactions. We will also discuss the transaction flow and settlement process. In addition, we will cover many aspects of exception item processing, including stop payments vs. authorization revoked and unauthorized debits. This is a basic overview of ACH and is intended for individuals new to ACH operations, front line staff and individuals wanting to learn more about ACH.
Federal Regulation E sets forth the requirements of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA). This webcast will discuss the impact of the regulation for the financial industry as it relates to consumer rights. We will cover your financial institution's obligation to investigate consumer disputes and other topics to help you comply with Federal Regulation E.
As the U.S. forges into a new era of Payments, SFE will be there to help guide you along the way.
This session discusses the processing of Federal Government ACH payments. Understanding the fundamental differences of Federal Government Payments will impact a financial institution's ACH operations and assist in preventing unnecessary losses. This session will cover important topics such as automated enrollment (ENR), paper and paperless enrollments, notifications of change (NOC), death notification entries (DNE), return items and most importantly, reclamations.
The Federal Government uses Reclamations to recover benefit payments made via ACH to an account of a recipient who died or who has become legally incapacitated. Timing and accuracy are crucial when dealing with this sensitive process. Under 31 CFR 210, your Fed accounts may be debited the full amount of Reclamations if proper procedures are not followed, but a few simple procedures can dramatically reduce your financial institution's liability.
The FIS Faster Payments Success Guide is our answer to industry partners who are evaluating the acceleration of payment communication, settlement, processing and reconcilement. These partners will be pleased to learn how this initiative impacts, and determines which use cases best align with, their unique strategies.
Listen to this complimentary webinar recording to learn more about these faster payments - examine how various solutions can equip you with the infrastructure and support to confidently enter into the faster payments ecosystem.
Please note: SFE is not the host of this webinar. All questions regarding content and recording access should be sent to James Whittaker at FIS.
How Can "Request for Pay" Unlock the Value for Real Time Payments?
ACI Worldwide, Vocalink, and The Clearing House discuss how "Request for Pay" can benefit banks in the U.S. and globally.
Please note: SFE is not the host of this webinar. All questions regarding content and recording access should be sent to Zhenya Winter at ACI.
Recent data reveals cash continues to play a meaningful role in the U.S. payments landscape. This contradicts the assumption that the importance of cash would significantly diminish as new payment options emerged.
Join this webinar to learn the numerous reasons why consumers might need instant card-free cash access – lost, stolen or forgotten cards or simply for convenience, card-free ATM access is a must-have for your organization.
Please note: SFE is not the host of this webinar. All questions regarding content and recording access should be sent to Linda Hall at Fiserv.
The Department of Health and Human Services issued the interim final rule on Healthcare EFT & ERA Operating Rules. Be aware of this recent legislation impacting the healthcare industry. Hear how to best prepare your staff to provide answers to customers. Learn how to leverage the emerging client market. Take advantage of this educational event as knowledge experts review the impact of the Healthcare EFT & ERA Operating Rules.
This 90-minute session will provide an introduction to International Payments with special emphasis on the ACH standard entry class code IAT (International ACH Transaction), which went into effect on September 18, 2010. IAT is the single biggest Rules change in the history of NACHA. Participants in this class will get a high level overview of IAT with discussion about how it has impacted every financial institution in the United States.
This session will examine components of an ODFI risk assessment while highlighting some less-than-obvious considerations. Have you really thought of everything from the ODFI perspective? Have you considered every area-from systems to vendors, compliance to legal, and operations to credit? Reviewed third-party processors and senders? This session enables you to answer such questions as: Did I consider that in our risk assessment? Should I revisit our existing assessment? Am I really prepared to share this with our audit group? What about the regulators?
ACH Origination is a key tool for business. Payroll, vendor payments and collections are just a few of the benefits of using this low-cost network. As a financial institution, how are you marketing this to your clients? This session is designed to give Sales staff the knowledge and tools to sell ACH services, in a way that keeps both sides educated and helps further build the relationships between financial institutions and your business clients.
Both NACHA Rules and Regulation E detail procedures for resolving situations involving "unauthorized" consumer transactions, but the procedures, time frames, and financial institution obligations are significantly different. This session explains the key differences and suggests operational procedures and best practices.
NACHA recently passed two Rules amendments. The first lowers existing return rate thresholds, establishes return rate levels for "administrative returns" and an overall return rate level. The second creates an Unauthorized Entry Fee which establishes fees paid by the ODFI to the RDFI. These rules will impact every participate in the ACH network.
This session provides a basic high-level overview of 13 Rules and Regulations that govern the ACH Network to help reduce operational risk and financial loss resulting from noncompliance. Ideal for anyone new to the ACH Network or those preparing for the AAP Exam, attendees will identify the Network's governing Rules and Regulations, determine how they impact ACH transactions and be able to apply them to real-life situations.
Electronic payments continue to thrive, and as a result, more legal issues have arisen. We are all working on better ways to manage risk but how are we communicating that to our origination customers? If you do not put your expectations in writing, they will not hold up in a court of law. You must take the necessary steps to cover yourself from liability. This session helps you understand what must be in your agreements and helps you apply sound practices with your customers.
This session evaluates RDFI processing options particularly related to non-post ACH entries. Evaluate RDFI rights as defined by the ACH Rules for handling non-post ACH entries, determine how to appropriately respond to ACH exceptions in a timely manner to limit liability, and potential for loss and define the proper use of 2-day ACH return reason codes.
Do you understand the difference between a Reversal and a Recall? How about the difference between a Return and a Reject? When can a Recall be done as opposed to a Reversal? Does your operations staff know the answers to these questions? Join us for this webcast and let us clarify the differences between Recalls, Returns, Reversals and Rejects, as well as the rules and risk around how each exception should be handled.
This three-part webcast series will highlight the rules and regulations that govern the electronic payments. These regulations provide the legal framework for all financial institutions, and provide protection for consumers from erroneous entries as well as establishing specific requirements for the financial industry. Join us for this three-part series of regulatory instruction and walk away with the knowledge you need to ensure you're in compliance.
This session reviews the history and purpose behind the enactment of Regulation GG which implemented the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. Identify the types of transactions governed by Regulation GG and review fundamental financial institution obligations and responsibilities, including policies and procedures that will reasonably identify and block restricted gambling transactions.
Do you keep sending NOCs without getting any results? Are you fed up and want to do something about it? We all want to play nice in the network, but sometimes we have to get NACHA involved. Appendix 10 in the NACHA Operating Rules addresses rules violations and enforcement. This webcast will define the criteria under which a rules enforcement proceeding may be initiated and how to file a report. The NACHA Arbitration Rules and Compensation requirements will also be discussed.
There is always confusion as to when we use a stop payment or authorization revoked. Are you aware of the rules related to authorization revoked? This webcast will go into detail around the differences between stop payments and revoked authorizations, and when they are to be used. We will also take a look at unauthorized returns, when to use them, what the rules say, and how they differ between consumers and our corporate customers.
With so many tax returns posting to consumer accounts in the next few months, you can expect an increase in exception items. Several factors need to be considered before posting a transaction that has been rejected. The safest course of action is to return the item. However, this is not necessarily the level of service many consumers have come to expect. This webcast will cover the essential issues you need to know, including the RDFIs rights and responsibilities for these exceptions.
This session provides a high-level overview of the Green Book, explains its purpose, how it differs from the ACH Rules and how it affects ACH payments processing.
Face it, there are some things we just can't do alone. Whether it is managing expenses or finding the right talent, there are times when we; need to bring in vendors to support various platforms in business. This raises the question: How do I choose the right vendor to provide the solutions I need? In this series, we will; delve into the vendor management selection process, discuss the importance of scope documents, cover the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, examine vendor due-diligence and need for ongoing monitoring - all to ensure you have the tools needed as you enter the vendor selection process.


Hello Puddin', today I am going to talk about the new Suicide Squad movie. I went to see it in XD Atos 3D, meaning great sound and great image. This movie is based on the DC Comic, the government gives a team of supervillains a chance at redemption. The catch: their mission will probably kill them all. It feels good to be bad…Assemble a team of the world's most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government's disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren't picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it's every man for himself?
Do you want to know what I think? Turn up this lovely song from Queen. And start reading!
Following his titanic struggle against General Zod, Metropolis has been razed to the ground and Superman is the most controversial figure in the world. While for many he is still an emblem of hope, a growing number of people consider him a threat to humanity, seeking justice for the chaos he has brought to Earth. As far as Bruce Wayne is concerned, Superman is clearly a danger to society. He fears for the future of the world with such a reckless power left ungoverned, and so he dons his mask and cape to right Superman's wrongs. The rivalry between them is furious, fueled by bitterness and vengeance, and nothing can dissuade them from waging this war. However, a dark new threat arises in the form of a third man: one who has a power greater than either of them to endanger the world and cause total destruction. But that is just the movie synopsis. I watched this movie and let me tell you what I think.


text:
Tag: bailouts
Bailout time
Boeing has applied to the Federal government for a $60 billion bailout. The troubled aircraft manufacturer is in need of rescuing but has indulged in $54.9 billion of stock buybacks in support of its stock price.
Former UN ambassador and ex-South Carolina governor, Nikki Halley resigned from Boeing's board, saying that she opposes federal support for Boeing. Smart political move. Public anger is growing.
Many corporations used stock buybacks to boost earnings per share after earnings growth slowed in 2014/15. Boeing was no exception.
The company had a reputation for engineering fine aircraft but in recent years that focus has shifted to financial engineering and cost-cutting to boost earnings per share. Free cash flow was squandered on stock buybacks, dividends and executive bonuses. No reserves were accumulated for a rainy day.
Well, a rainy day finally arrived in 2018. The Boeing 737 MAX airliner, which began service in 2017, was involved in two fatal accidents, Lion Air on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines on March 10, 2019, caused by a malfunction of the aircraft's new MCAS automated control system. The aircraft was grounded by airline authorities around the world and Boeing suspended production in December 2019. After a software bug was discovered in January, the return to service was delayed. Despite an outstanding issue over non-compliant wiring bundles the FAA has indicated that they expect the 737 Max to return to service in the second half of 2020.
The company had to raise almost $10 billion in bonds to help it weather the setback. CEO Dennis Muilenburg was ousted in late 2019 but still walked away with a golden parachute of up to $50 million.
A hit from the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak has put the company into difficulties, with the stock getting pounded. Boeing has been forced to apply for a government bailout.
The company is a strategic asset of the United States and should be protected.
But rewarding bad behavior would promote moral hazard on a wide scale. To give management and stockholders a free ride would encourage risk-taking by other companies — with the expectation that they will be bailed out if something goes wrong.
Support the company but hurt the stockholders
Management and existing stockholders need to feel the pain.
Offer support in the form of $60 billion of convertible bonds or preference shares, ranking behind creditors but ahead of stockholders. Conversion into ordinary shares should be in 10 years time but at the current stock price of $100. Stockholders and management awards will take a huge hit, while taxpayers can look forward to a sizeable gain when the company recovers.
Support should be non-voting (bonds or prefs) to keep political interference to a minimum.
Preventing future buybacks is a completely separate issue that should be addressed on a national basis and not by placing restrictions on individual companies. For the record, we are against buybacks because they can be used to artificially support stock prices. Companies that need to return capital to stockholders should declare a special dividend.
Avoid a Domino-effect
There are a string of companies lining up with bailout requests. It is important to put emotions aside and save those that are still viable businesses and not just strategic assets like Boeing. Millions of jobs are at stake. And disruption to credit markets could have a Lehman-like domino effect.
Just ensure that it is on terms that favor the taxpayer, so that stockholders will think twice about future profligacy.
New Bailouts Prove 'Too Big to Fail' Is Alive and Well | WSJ
By Neel Kashkari:
Three strikeouts in four at bats would be barely acceptable in baseball. For a policy designed to prevent taxpayer bailouts, it's an undeniable defeat. In the past few weeks, four European bank failures have demonstrated that a signature feature of the postcrisis regulatory regime simply cannot protect the public. There's no need for more evidence: "bail-in debt" doesn't prevent bailouts. It's time to admit this and move to a simpler solution that will work: more common equity.
Bail-in debt was envisioned as an elegant solution to the "too big to fail" problem. When a bank ran into trouble, regulators could trigger a conversion of debt to equity. Bondholders would take the losses. The firm would be recapitalized. Taxpayers would be spared……
The problem is that it rarely works this way in real life. On June 1, the Italian government and European Union agreed to bail out Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena with a €6.6 billion infusion, while protecting some bondholders who should have taken losses. Then on June 24, Italy decided to use public funds to protect bondholders of two more banks, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, with up to €17 billion of capital and guarantees. The one recent case in which taxpayers were spared was in Spain, when Banco Popular failed on June 6……
The Minneapolis Fed President has hit the nail on the head. Conversion of bondholders to equity may be legally plausible but psychologically damaging. Similar to money market funds "breaking the buck', conversion of bondholders to equity in a troubled bank would traumatize markets. Causing widespread panic and damage far in excess of the initial loss. Actions of Italian authorities show how impractical conversion is. Especially when one considers that the affected banks were less than one-tenth the size of behemoths like JPMorgan [JPM].
Banks need to raise more equity capital.
Source: New Bailouts Prove 'Too Big to Fail' Is Alive and Well – WSJ
Bloated business of banking | The Australian
Adam Creighton discusses the likelihood of taxpayers being asked to bail out too-big-to-fail banks.
In Australia that probability is now 100 per cent. Standard & Poor's, a ratings agency, gives Australia's biggest four banks a AA rating explicitly because taxpayers will provide "extraordinary support" to their creditors in any crisis, an implicit guarantee worth more than one-quarter of the four's annual profits.
Since 1995, the big four Australian banks' assets, reflecting a global trend, have ballooned from 94 per cent of Australia's national income to $2.86 trillion, or 190 per cent.
Read more at Bloated business of banking | The Australian.
The Dijsselbloem Principle | Felix Salmon
Felix Salmon makes this succinct observation:
If a gaffe is what happens when a politician accidentally tells the truth, what's the word for when a politician deliberately tells the truth? Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the current head of the Eurogroup, held a formal, on-the-record joint interview with Reuters and the FT today, saying that the messy and chaotic Cyprus solution is a model for future bailouts.
Those comments are now being walked back, because it's generally not a good idea for high-ranking policymakers to say the kind of things which could precipitate bank runs across much of the Eurozone. But that doesn't mean Dijsselbloem's initial comments weren't true; indeed, it's notable that no one's denying them outright…..
Read more at The Dijsselbloem Principle | Felix Salmon.
Five steps to fix Wall Street
Some more thoughts on the five steps former FDIC chair Sheila Bair suggested to reform the financial system.
Break up the "too big to fail" banks
My take is that breaking up may be difficult to achieve politically, but raising capital ratios for banks above a certain threshold would discourage further growth and encourage splintering over time.
Publicly commit to end bailouts
Just because the bailouts were profitable isn't a good reason to give Wall Street an indefinite option to "put" its losses to the Treasury and to taxpayers.
As Joseph Stiglitz points out: the UK did a far better job of making shareholders and management suffer the consequences of their actions. Sweden in the early 1990s, similarly demanded large equity stakes in return for rescuing banks from the financial, leading some to raise capital through the markets rather than accept onerous bailout conditions.
Cap leverage at large financial institutions
I support Barry Ritholz' call for a maximum leverage ratio of 10. That should include off-balance sheet and derivative exposure. Currently the Fed only requires a leverage ratio of 20 (5%) for well-capitalized banks — and that excludes off-balance-sheet assets.
End speculation in the credit derivatives market
Bair pointed out that we don't get to buy fire insurance on someone else's house, for a very good reason. How is speculating using credit derivatives any different?
Again Ritholz makes a good suggestion: regulate credit default swaps (CDS) as insurance products, where buyers are required to demonstrate an insurable interest.
End the revolving door between regulators and banks
When regulators are conscious that, with one push of the door, they could end up working for the organizations they are today regulating – or vice versa – "it corrupts the mindset"
A similar revolving door corrupts the relationship between politicians and lobbyists. Enforcing lengthy "restraint of trade" periods between the two roles would restrict this.
via 5 Steps Obama or Romney Must Take to Fix Wall Street.
5 Steps Obama or Romney Must Take to Fix Wall Street
By SUZANNE MCGEE
In [Sheila Bair's] view ….. we haven't yet come to grips with many of the problems that produced the crisis.
Too many regulators fall victim to one of several fatal flaws, Bair suggested in a speech to the National Association for Business Economics yesterday. Some of them over or under-regulate (usually at the wrong point in the cycle); they devise impossibly complex rules; they are "closet free-marketeers" proposing convoluted rules to prove it's impossible to regulate financial institutions, or they are "captive" regulators who, without any corruption or malfeasance involved, have simply subordinated their judgment to those of the organizations they are charged with overseeing.
The former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation suggests five steps that presidential candidates should take to fix Wall Street………
A lack of money isn't the problem: it's time to shrink – The Drum – ABC News
Alan Kohler: Debt was built up through 30 years of current account imbalances after currencies were finally unshackled from the gold standard in 1971, and the depression of the 70s came to an end in 1982.
Central banks, principally the Federal Reserve, complied in the process of debt build-up by holding down interest rates and allowing asset prices to rise, keeping balance sheets in the black.
The credit crisis of 2007-08 brought asset prices down rapidly and rendered banks suddenly insolvent, so they had to be recapitalised by governments. Now the governments of Europe, the US and Japan are insolvent, and the only question is when the central banks will monetise their debt – that is, print more money and buy their debts…..
via A lack of money isn't the problem: it's time to shrink – The Drum – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
Too-big-to-fail is here to stay
Lehman Brothers' collapse in 2008 was intended to intended to teach financial markets that they could not rely on an implicit government guarantee for too-big-to-fail (TBTF) banks. What bondholders learned was the opposite: never again would an institution of that size be allowed to collapse because of the de-stabilizing effect on the entire financial system.
Rescue of Dexia by French, Belgium and Luxembourg governments is the latest example. Bond-holders received 100 cents in the dollar/euro. Markets are just too fragile to consider giving bondholders a haircut. Denmark earlier had to back down from forcing haircuts on bondholders when Danish banks found themselves shut out of funding markets. [WSJ]
Frequent calls for TBTF institutions to be broken up have proved ineffective. Instead the problem has grown even larger with post 2008 rescue/take-overs of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch (BofA), Bear Stearns and WaMu (JPM), Lehman (Barclays), and Wachovia (Wells Fargo) reinforcing Willem Buiters' survival of the fattest observation.
Proposals to reduce systemic risk through adoption of the Volcker Rule, which would prevent banks form trading for their own account, are proving difficult to implement. The 298-page first draft offers few clear definitions of restricted activities, instead calling for suggestions or feedback.[Bloomberg] Drafters should consider turning the rule around, offering a list of approved activities that banks can pursue, rather than attempting to define what they cannot. I have great respect for banks' ability to find loopholes in any restrictive list.
The Rule on its own, however, cannot protect taxpayers from future bailouts. It does not prevent banks from over-lending if there is another bubble. There is only one solution: increase capital ratios — and apply similar ratios to securitized assets. Increases would have to be gradual, as some banks could respond by shrinking assets rather than raising capital — which would have a deflationary effect on the economy. Changes would also have to be sensitive to the economic cycle. The easiest way may be to set a long-term target (e.g. 20% Tier 1 + 2 capital by 2030) and leave implementation to the central bank as part of its monetary policy.
Together with the Volcker Rule, increased capital ratios are our best defense against a recurrence of the GFC.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Currently, when looking up a resource in response to a class loading request coming from a node, the JPPF client only uses a single class loader that was associated with the corresponding job right after it was submitted. This can cause problems if some of the tasks in the job were loaded with different class loaders, or in edge cases such as when a job is submitted from a task executing in a node, and a task in this job requires one or more classes that are not in the node's classpath, but are in the initial client's classpath.
This enhancement is about adding the ability, via a specific API, to add/get/remove other class loaders for the job. There should be an API available in JPPFClient or its super classes, and another in the JobConfiugration to use with a JPPFExecutorService.


Buffalo native and life-long resident, Larry Brooks is a UB graduate with a degree in Philosophy. Most of his career was spent in industrial construction as a draftsman, designer, and project manager but then he transitioned into contractor and staff for the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, from which he recently retired. Since retirement, Brooks has been a free-lance writer with his work appearing in local publications such as the Buffalo News, Buffalo Spree, and others. His book Buffalo Niagara: Diagnosis & Prescription for Change was published in 2015. Larry is currently the president of the boards of the Pollinator Conservation Association, Western New York Land Conservancy, and the Central Council of Buffalo's St. Vincent de Paul Society.
David O'Donnell is a a highly regarded naturalist with a passion for conserving and protecting nature and natural landscapes. In 1999 he founded the Eastern Monarch Butterfly Farm in Clarence NY. This project has brought joy and education to thousands of people in our region including children, government representatives, and educators.
Through education and awareness he is hoping to begin changing the way we view landscaping, " view your landscaping through the eyes of a pollinator" he often states. David has had the opportunity to network with many experts in the fields of entomology, horticulture, wildlife and environmental conservation. In addition to the PCA Board, David sits on the board for the( FINWR) Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and is a long standing member of the (IBBA) International Butterfly Breeders Association, and the AFB( Association for Butterflies). Releasing over 1500 monarchs each year in Western New York and dispersing indigenous native plants, such as milkweed , EMBF through great organizations like the PCA, he advocates for individuals , local and state municipalities and others to reconnect with nature and the environment . The depletion of this iconic Monarch butterfly brings with it the message we all need to urgently become better stewards of our natural environment.
My teaching and research center on reconciling species habitat and behavioral requirements with human activities in places where people live, work, and play. I focus my research on rare or threatened insects in recreation and urban areas. Specifically, I look at both the impact of outdoor recreation on tiger beetles as well as the efficacy of urban insect habitat conservation, including pollinators. As an interdisciplinary scholar, I am interested in how people's knowledge and attitudes affects their behavior in recreation and urban protected areas as well as their relationship with insects and their attitude towards their conservation. After receiving my PhD, for which I investigated the social and ecological conservation of the endangered Ohlone tiger beetle, I was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College and a postdoctoral scholar in science education with the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History. I joined the PCA when I was assistant Professor Canisius College Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation Department.
Deputy Executive Director of the Western New York Land Conservancy, a not-for-profit land trust, and has been with the Land Conservancy since 2013. Projects there include the Stella Niagara Restoration project in Lewiston, the Niagara Gorge Restoration project, and the DL&W trail project in urban Buffalo. Jajean was born and raised in Western New York. He has a bachelor's degree in environmental design and a master's degree in urban planning, both from the University at Buffalo (UB). After graduating in 2007, he worked at the Urban Design Project, a research center at UB, on several local planning efforts, environmental coalition building, and non-profit development. As a graduate student, Jajean studied in the Sustainable Futures program in Costa Rica, and taught in the same program while working for the Urban Design Project. From 2010 to 2012 he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer stationed with Mexico's federal environmental agency in Puebla, a large city in southern Mexico, along with his wife Ana. There, he helped protect a large wetland from rapid and unplanned urban development, a project that led to an international Ramsar Site designation for the wetland and a new state park. This project won the 2013 International Planning Award from the American Planning Association (APA). Jajean has written numerous articles and books on environmental topics, leads bird and nature tours, and has worked with several environmental organizations.
Professor Emerita from the UB School of Architecture and Planning, has connected activism, design/planning practice, applied research, teaching, scholarship, and academic service with deep theoretical work on the fundamental dynamics of professional and citizen engagement in the practice of "placemaking." Schneekloth is currently working with the Climate Justice Coalition of WNY, is past Chair of the Sierra Club Niagara Group and on the board of the Pollinator Conservation Association. She is also Advocacy Chair of the Western New York Environmental Alliance, a coalition of 100 groups that have become an active voice for regional environmental issues. Her legacies includes being a founding member of the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper where she serves as Board Emerita. Schneekloth is author or editor of six books and many articles on topics including Placemaking: The Art and Practice of Building Community with R. Shibley, Ordering Space with Karen Franck, and three books on regional history.
Michelle Vanstrom is a New York State Master Naturalist. She is passionate about the use of native plants and the ecological restoration of the Niagara Gorge Rim, and much of her volunteer time is focused on these topics. For example, she designs, creates, and manages pollinator habitats in Niagara County, specifically in Niagara Falls and at her home in Youngstown. Her yard is certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, and as a Monarch Way Station by Monarch Watch. As Beautification Chair for the Main Street Business and Professional Associationin Niagara Falls, she planted and maintained 16 annual pollinator container gardens, and won numerous awards for her work. Michelle also created and maintains a Niagara County Native Plant website at www.mdvnaturalist.com.
She has spent time monitoring and controlling invasive species (hemlock wooly adelgid, knotweed, garlic mustard, buckthorn), and participates in various citizen science monitoring programs including Project Bud Burst and Project Bud Break, Celebrate Urban Birds, pollinator monitoring for the Xerces Society, and the Museum of Science's FireFly Watch.
Michelle also fulfilled Cornell Plantation' Natural Areas Academy requirements to receive NAA certification and be conferred the title of Natural Areas Mentor. She's a former National Director Board Member of Wild Ones Native Plants Natural Landscapes, (Madison, Wisconsin), a non profit organization that promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities.
She was the Founder and President ofthe Wild Ones Niagara Falls and River Region Chapter, committed to implementing projects and programs that created a sense of place through regional native plants, ecological restoration, conservation biodiversity, and open space preservation. While president, she created two Niagara River Greenway Projects: Regional Economic Growth Through Ecological Restoration of the Niagara Gorge Rim, a study to show the economic, educational, social, and environmental benefits of restoring the Niagara River Gorge Rim with non motorized (active) transportation trails and what the space would look like with the old growth forests and native flora fully restored in the space currently occupied by the Robert Moses Gorge Parkway, and the Pollinator Pathway Niagara Falls - Vacant Lot Restoration for Pollinators and Birds, a pollinator habitat trail on eight vacant lots on 10th Street, Niagara Falls using indigenous native plants. In addition, she completed the Niagara Falls Hampton Inn Habitat Plan where she revised the owners' landscape plan to native plants indigenous to Niagara County.
Honors and Awards include the 2011 Women of Distinction award given by the Niagara Gazette for work done to preserve the Niagara River Gorge Rim, and in 2008, the Green Cape Award from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers.
Writer, photographer, educator, naturalist, project and business developer and manager with over 40 years of experience in media, ecology, habitat, community engagement, and education.
He is the founder and chair of the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve, the Habitat Chair of the Western New York Environmental Alliance, one of the founders of the Our Outer Harbor Campaign. Mr. Burney participated in and lead Xerces Society Butterfly Counts in WNY. As vice-president of Buffalo Audubon he chaired the Niagara River Globally Significant Important Bird Area coalition which founded the NRIBA. He has served as a member of the Erie County Environmental Management Council with a focus on community engagement, conservation and biodiversity, and climate change. As the media director of the New York sustainable Agricultural Working Group Mr. Burney worked on pollinator conservation projects including conferences and educational projects. At his farm in Chaffee, New York he created one of the regions first pollinator conservation areas. As the executive director of the Buffalo Institute of Urban Ecology, Inc. Mr Burney was the director of the Learning Sustainability Conference held in association with SUNY-UB. Guests included Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, and David Suzuki. He also managed the Earth Day is Every Day program for Buffalo schools. He served for 8 years as the chair of the Lasalle Park Steering Committee, and 8 years as the chair of the City of Buffalo Cable Television Board. He created and directed the Western New York Environmental Roundtable which hosted meetings, discussions and events from 1994-2010. He co-founded with Paul MacClennan, Greenwatch, a media project covering environmental issues. He has been a media coordinator for a number of local and larger projects including the Global Justice Ecology Project. He has written and published numerous articles and created muti-media products on environment, ecology, and nature -including local pollinators and birds, and a guide to WNY Butterflies. In 2014 he was awarded the Bruce Kirshner "Conservationist of the Year" award by the Sierra Niagara Group of the Sierra Club.In July of 2018, Gerry Rising, long time nature columnist for the Buffalo News, and current columnist for Buffalo Spree called him "our regions most important strategic conservationist." He is co-chair of the Niagara Greenway Pollinator Partnership.


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Pancake Rocks and Mangarakau Wetland Swamp
We spent the morning driving along some pretty spectacular New Zealand cliffs. Saw steam lifting off the Tasman Sea oceanfront, which I haven't seen before. Tried to get it on video, but failed miserably. Stopped off at the Pancake Rocks and Blowhole in Paparoa National Park. Interesting enough geological feature, but another anti-climactic blowhole.
Touranga Bay Seals
Saw signs for the Touranga Bay Seal Colony and decided to stop. Hiked out to see some fur seals basking in the sun… during pup-growing season! The New Zealand fur seals are super small; full-grown females only grow ~66-110 pounds. And the babies were to die for. Just adorable. And lots of them.
Coastal cliffs turned into some pretty fantastic river views in mountain territory, followed by wine and orchard country. This, in turn, took us towards Kahurangi National Park, Abel Tasman National Park, Golden Bay, and, finally, Mangarakau Swamp. All on the far north end of the South island of New Zealand.
Mangarakau Swamp
Per TripAdvisor, we were prepared for a long drive down a dirt road. What we weren't prepared for was 33 kilometers of curvy, steep gravel roads through wetland inlets. We arrived safe and sound to our little chalet, however. Expert driving on my husband's part required no prescription medication on my part. And Sally and Giff were wonderful hosts.
Supposedly, they lived in the Golden Bay area and owned a dairy farm prior to moving to Christchurch for seven years. No idea how they met or if they had children; they had different last names, but pictures of young children on their home fridge (grandkids?).
Giff went to university in Christchurch and they owned a motel for some time before moving back to the area. Giff wanted to move even further out in the swamp, but Sally forbade it. They now owned the two chalets, fifty beehives, and leased acreage to the neighbors for cattle grazing.
Giff took us out on to a grotto right on the property to view glowworms and protected crayfish. A little scary hiking in the swamp at night with a stranger and a flashlight, but a very cool excursion as it turned out. In the meantime, Sally made us a wonderful three-course dinner. At the end of it all, they turned the house lights off so we could see the New Zealand stars from our chalet porch. …Just awesome.
Nelson Lakes and X-Men 3D
We slept in later than we had most mornings, but got an early start on that long, windy dirt road. A somewhat uneventful day, unfortunately, since we were taking mostly the same route back we had taken in the day before. We were going to stop outside Nelson to see New Zealand's oldest church, but were informed, much to our dismay, that it had collapsed during the earthquake.
We did stop off at Nelson Lakes National Park, however; one we hadn't seen on the way in. Serene, picturesque lakes with black swans happily skimming around in the distance.
A Movie With the Locals
Came back to the Greymouth Global Village hostel and decided a theatre movie was in order—the new X-Men in 3D. They had a small bar attached to the theatre and we chatted with a couple locals.
One was a nice enough young girl with a diamond-studded tooth, the other an older gentleman with what seemed to be a stroke injury in one hand or arm. He told us his wife had died of cancer recently and how, right after, their dog was poisoned by 1080 on a trail. (We'd seen protest signs and stickers speaking out against 1080, but had no idea what it was until then. A poison set out on trails for possums and stoats, I guess.)
It was a really sad story to hear from someone you just met, but he seemed accepting and just happy to meet someone new. He told us he'd adopted a new puppy and how he had to pepper his shoes because the little guy was so rambunctious.
The theatre was great. The hostel was great (again). I wouldn't recommend the movie, but Magneto's pretty hot.
Christchurch Via Arthur's Pass
Tackled Arthur's Pass first thing in the a.m.. A pretty drive, good weather, slight change in geology as you moved west to east. When we stopped off at the information office, it looked like there were some amazing hikes for more experienced hikers. Makes me pine to get back into backcountry hiking, or at least build the stamina to do some serious trails.
There was a warning for Keas in the area in our New Zealand book. Thanks for the late notice, a-holes. I think it said they were "inquisitive." Not my personal word choice, but whatever you need to tell your readers so they're not downright terrified of angry flocks of giant parrots with huge claws attacking your vehicle and stripping it of all its parts. Yep… "inquisitive."
New Zealand's Christchurch Earthquake
Made it to Christchurch midday. As we made our way downtown, we started to realize something that we truly weren't expecting. Three years after the devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake that shook New Zealand, Christchurch is almost completely leveled. Two extraordinarily shocking revelations: #1. The sheer amount of that devastation; and #2. The fact that none of it has been rebuilt.
We booked a stay at a Novotel across the street from the Christchurch Cathedral and were told to park "at our own risk" in the hotel parking lot. When we got a better look around, we understood why—the only building in an otherwise rubble parking lot was on the brink of collapse, boarded up. We decided to drop our stuff off and do a walking tour of the city recommended in our book, make the most of it.
Aside from the fact that most of the suggested walking paths were blocked by construction or barricades, almost everything was collapsed or closed down. The whole back half of the city's main cathedral had fallen in and what remained was supported by steel beams and overtaken by pigeons. You could tell the steeples and domes of a number of buildings had been removed and placed in front of or next to them at ground level, probably to prevent further damage.
The once picturesque Avon River was lined with scaffolding and chain-linked fences. Peeking into the few in-tact shop windows we came across, we could see stuff was strewn everywhere, obviously left in haste, never to be collected. New Regent Street seemed to be the one glimmer of hope left in the whole of downtown, a single colorful block of shops, struggling to pull in whatever business could be found.
Rebuilding Christchurch
We learned that our hotel was new construction, not repaired, and noted the efficiency of corporations to claim prime, post-devastation real estate and build at the speed of light versus the inefficiency and lack of speed with which a government rebuilds. Not much changes in that way from country to country, I suppose.
A 6.0 earthquake is a pretty nice shake-up anywhere you go, but I didn't think it would have the power to bring a city like Christchurch to its knees. I guess I'd expected, with the exception of older buildings like the cathedral, that a modern city on a major fault line would have been built with the necessary architectural materials to withstand a heavy-duty earthquake. Seattle had a 6.8(?) soon after I'd moved to New York and I don't recall alarming damage as a result, let alone pure devastation; nothing like this. Or maybe I'd just moved away and was 19, detached and uninformed.
Jeff and I estimate 60% of Christchurch, New Zealand is now dilapidated rubble. Overall, a sobering experience.
The Route Back Begins
Not much to report today, unfortunately. Flew Christchurch to Auckland in the morning. Bussed downtown and checked into our hotel. Jeff experienced Dim Sum for the first time. Decided to take the day off from touring and got spa treatments at the hotel. A little bored after so we stopped at a random Irish bar around the corner for a few drinks. Fell asleep watching rugby again, which appears to be my new favorite sport (if I had a favorite sport to watch on TV). Only in New Zealand…
Downtown Nadi and a Hindu Temple
We flew Auckland to Nadi first thing in the morning. We basically have an entire day of hanging out before we catch an overnight flight back to LA. Thought it would be a great idea to check out downtown Nadi. There's a Hindu temple Jeff is really excited to check out, and we've never been to a Hindu temple before, so why not?
We checked our packs into the airport security storage, which is really just a closet at one end of the airport packed with a bunch of other people's stuff. No tickets. Just drop your stuff off and leave it there. Ask to be let back in to grab whatever. Caught a cab downtown and started walking around.
Downtown Adventuretime
Nadi is really just your average third-world-type city. Lots of rundown, random, small shops. Shop owners spotted us a mile away and every. single. shop. wanted us to come in. Every. single, restaurant. We found the market our Lonely Planet book wrote about and began a stroll through. There weren't many stands, but lots of handicrafts.
We didn't stay very long since we were a little turned off by some of the stall owners who followed our every step and wouldn't leave us alone despite politely telling them we weren't interested several times. Unfortunately, hawking also makes me a little paranoid and I start subtly checking for my passport every five minutes.
Our First Hindu Temple
We walked to the Hindu temple, where we paid a small fee. I was given a couple sarongs to cover my heathen self since I was wearing a tank top. We took a tour with a Hindu monk and I was advised that women must always stay to the left side of the men. This, of course, gave Jeff deep satisfaction, and he made it a point to shift his direction constantly, causing me to shuffle to the correct side of him repeatedly.
The temple was super brightly colored and every individual surface was painted with a religious story. …We learned one of the Hindu gods rode a mouse? (This is actually Ganesha, "remover of obstacles, though traditionally he also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked.")
At the end of the tour, the monk asked if we would like to donate to a program they ran for the homeless. Two things came to mind, here. One is that we already paid an entrance fee and a fee for the sarongs, so… we didn't feel obligated to donate additional funds. The second was that we had just enough Fijian dollars to get us back to the airport. Despite feeling a little guilty, we also felt a little duped. Would we have received a tour if they opened with this? I'd like to think so, but you just never know.
Sketchiest Cab Ride Ever
We stood on the main road waiting no less than fifteen minutes for a cab to pass by. There were a thousand on our way in, and we didn't think it would be a problem to find one back. It was also blazing hot out. Finally, what looked like a hotel shuttle pulled over and offered us a ride. We accepted after negotiating a fair fee, though as soon as we started to get into the van, we began wondering if this was such a good idea.
Surely, this guy was not supposed to be shuttling random people around. The interior of this van was shabby at best and the seats were covered in plastic. (This is where I begin having visions of getting kidnapped and hacked to pieces.) That never happened, of course, but the driver did stop at a gas station where he left the van running while filling the fuel tank, washed his windshield, and put air in the tires. We just sat awkwardly and waited. What can you do?
The Postcard Never Received
When we got back to the airport, we had quite a bit of time to kill. Just hung out. Found a wooden mailbox and sent a postcard to my nephew that I'm not sure has ever arrived to this day. Spent eleven and a half hours in a center seat on the airplane, next to a woman with a lot of hair that kept getting in my mouth, holding the biggest baby I've ever seen in my life. As apprehensive as I was about sitting next to that baby on this flight, it did not make a single sound the entire time. I'm impressed. What an end to our New Zealand Road Trip and Fiji Stopover, eh?
The End of Our New Zealand Trip
Landed in LA. Just checked into our hotel, got some dinner, and lounged around. Exhausted, but sad as yet another great adventure comes to an end. But New Zealand definitely tops our list. Tomorrow we'll be back home and returning to work shortly after. Guess I should start planning the next one!
Road-Tripping Nebraska & The Dakotas: Exploring America's Great Plains
Tomar, Obidos & A Tour of Belem: A Week In Portugal V.3
Flashpacking Yellowstone v.4: Hiking In the Grand Tetons


Daisuke Yuge (Takayuki Yamada) works as a tour guide in Oahu, Hawaii and also studies astronomy. He meets Rui Fujishima (Masami Nagasawa) at a cafe and falls in love with her at first sight, but Rui Fujishima suffers from memory loss due to a past accident.
Remake of 2004 U.S. film "50 First Dates."
Filming took place in Hawaii and took about a month to finish.
The Persistence Of Memory Sep 29 2018 2:30 pm Heartwarming drama. The corniness and predictability feel, if not quite fresh, then not so groaningly stale. Fukuda Yuichi, though, does lend this earnest formula flick a core of conviction. Thanks mainly to Yamada Takayuki's considerable presence, 50 First Kisses works more effectively than expected. Both an inspirational love movie and an unexpected multi-level urban drama that plays by its own clock. Unfortunately, the accompanying story threads tend to bog down the romance rather than provide the comedy of the situation.
Hotelier Nov 07 2017 8:07 am I like 50 first date :D Looking forward to this.
momo Nov 06 2017 9:58 pm Wow! it seems Director Yuichi Fukuda had fun filming with them thru Gintama that he decided to work with Masami and Takayuki again <3 Excited!!


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Bring a taste of New England to the Midwest with these lobster rolls
Susan Selasky
A co-worker who recently spent two weeks on the East Coast raved about the lobster rolls served at Spindler's in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
It's no wonder the lobster roll was good. The restaurant's menu development was overseen by James Beard award-winning chef Barbara Lynch, who is the chef-owner of Boston-based Barbara Lynch Grupp, according to www.spindlersptown.com. Lynch was also named to 2017's edition of the TIME 100, the magazine's annual list of the world's most powerful people.
According to Spindler's online menu, the lobster roll is served with pommes frites, coleslaw and house-made pickles. My co-worker praised its generous size and big chunks of lobster meat.
Maker Faire brings STEM exploration to Henry Ford
Midsummer appetizers your guests will love
Mudgie's Deli and Wine Shop in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood has been hosting its annual Lobster Roll Week, which was scheduled to end Saturday. Owner Greg Mudge has lobster meat shipped in from a source he won't divulge, and he expected to go through 2,000 pounds of it this year.
If you didn't make it to Mudgie's last week and don't have plans to head to the East Coast this summer, you can easily make your own lobster rolls at home.
What is a lobster roll?
It's basically chunks of cooked lobster meat mixed with a good-quality mayonnaise and some seasoning and then loosely packed into a split-top hot dog roll. It's important that you go easy on the mayonnaise. The meat shouldn't be drenched in mayo. Sometimes the top of the roll is drizzled with melted butter and garnished with celery leaves. It's the sum of all these parts that make lobster rolls so tasty.
Why is the roll important?
You can use any roll. But authentic lobster rolls are made with a New England-style hot dog bun. Think of them as a hot dog bun with the sides cut off. The sides of the buns are brushed with butter and grilled in a pan or on a grill to lightly toast. You can sometimes find the rolls in stores, so ask around.
How do you prepare the lobster?
If you're cooking a whole lobster, it's best to plan on cooking it the day you buy it. Refrigerate lobsters as soon as you get them home and do not remove them until you are ready to cook them.
One lobster doesn't yield a lot of meat. A lobster is only about 25 percent meat.
Here's how to boil lobster
Fill a large deep stockpot with water, allowing about 3 quarts of water per 1½ to 2 pounds of lobster.
Add a generous amount of sea or kosher salt to the water (at least 2 tablespoons per 3 quarts) and bring the water to a rolling boil.
Add the live lobsters, head first, one at a time, and start timing immediately. Do not cover. Stir the lobsters halfway through cooking.
Set a timer. A 1¼-pound lobster will take about 9-10 minutes. Add 2 minutes for each ¼ pound.
Here's how to steam lobster
Add a couple of inches of salted water to a large pot.
Fit the pot with a steamer basket or vegetable steamer insert. Another option is to place a small metal colander upside down in the pot so the lobster can rest on it.
Bring the water to a boil. Add the live lobsters and cover the pot. If your pot is big enough to cook several lobsters, halfway through steaming, remove the lid, being mindful of the hot steam, shift the lobsters around so they cook evenly. Return to a boil and start timing.
A 1¼-pound lobster will take about 10 minutes. Add 2 minutes for each ¼ pound.
How do you break down a cooked lobster?
Take apart the claws, knuckles and tail from the body to get every morsel of meat.
Use a nutcracker to crack the claws and knuckles. For the tail, bend it to break it away from the body.
To prepare the lobster meat: Cut it into decent size chunks, not small pieces. You want see the chunks in the roll.
I prefer buying and grilling only lobster tails because it's easier. To grill the tails, stick a skewer under the shell and through the meat on the top side. This prevents the tail from curling during grilling. Brush the flesh side with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the tails, flesh side down, on a grill preheated to medium for about 3 minutes. Turn them over and brush again with oil. Continue grilling another 5 to 6 minutes or until the meat is opaque and the shell is bright red.
Here's one of my favorite lobster roll recipes. It's a basic version, but you can tweak and season as you like. The recipe also includes an option for making your own mayonnaise.
Serves: 4 / Prep time: 50 minutes
3 to 4 (1¼- to 1½-pound) live lobsters
2 ribs celery, diced small
½ cup celery leaves from the inner ribs, chopped (reserve some whole leaves for garnish if you like)
½ cup good-quality mayonnaise or more if you like (homemade preferred, see recipe)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for drizzling
4 split-top hot dog rolls
Bibb lettuce leaves
¾ teaspoon celery seed
Pickles for serving, optional
Potato chips for serving, optional
Put lobsters in freezer while you bring the salted water to a boil. Prepare a pot of water with a steamer basket and add a couple of inches of salted water, or bring a large, deep stockpot of water to a boil and add a heaping ¼ cup of kosher salt. Working in batches if need be, steam the lobsters 12 to 14 minutes or boil them 10 to 12 minutes or until bright red. Use tongs to remove from the pot and let cool completely. You can cook and refrigerate lobsters 1 day in advance.
Shell and roughly chop lobster meat.
In a large bowl, combine the lobster meat, celery, celery leaves and mayonnaise and season with salt to taste.
Melt butter in a skillet on medium-high heat. Place the rolls, cut side down, in the skillet to toast. Turn over and toast the other side. Remove the rolls and line with Bibb lettuce. Fill with the lobster salad, drizzle with more melted butter if desired and sprinkle with celery seed. Serve with pickles and chips.
Cook's note: Here's how to make your own mayonnaise. If you're squeamish about using raw egg yolk, be sure to use pasteurized eggs.
Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature; doing so makes it easier for the mixture to emulsify. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Dijon and ¼ teaspoon sea salt. While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in ½ to ¾ cup canola oil until completely incorporated. Whisk in lemon zest. Taste and adjust, adding more lemon juice and salt if needed. The mayonnaise should have at least a hint of lemon.
Adapted from several recipes and tested by Susan Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen. Nutrition information not available.


The blocks of any business are definitely the key to the eventual accomplishment. It is usually essential that you just solidify these before organization launching. These can and will probably change over time to adjust to your demand; however this is simpler to cope in the event you start away which has a strong bottom. Decide on the proper execution your organization will take; lone trader, joint venture, limited company and so forth Also, choose the key tasks and task descriptions within the business planning and who will do them. Once you launch your business these are actually the tasks that your company can rely on. Here are suggestions about starting a company.
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This is one of the biggest assets you will want to produce. If you have devoted staff, it is actually conveyed on your customers who all are after that better with the services. Acquiring and holding onto top quality persons is the most challenging aspects of running a business. On the other hand it is crucial to the achievement. Any time you no longer have quality staff, how could you grow? You will encounteer areas that you will be weaker in than others. The right persons will boost the skill set featuring a passport to revenue. There is usually just thus much you person can perform on the own.
Unless you will be found in HUMAN RESOURCES, you will perhaps need help with shareholder or perhaps partnership legal agreements, occupation legal guidelines and maybe support in relation to Perceptive Premises protection under the law. The best information is vital.
Preparing the get out technique may appear peculiar when you are starting a small business, yet it is an important part of your future. This doesn't only mean providing your business, although also includes your company providing a passive income or perhaps a type of pension for you. Sequence preparing is vital to ensure you obtain whole worth designed for your work.
Read more right here www.old.nomadlife.kz .


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Home Entertainment Breaking the 4th Wall STORIES FOR GROWNUPS!
STORIES FOR GROWNUPS!
By Dee Jae Cox
Once upon a time, back in 2011, three writers met at the Body Builders Gym in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. It was a very fortunate meeting because the daughters of Greek Gods Zeus and Mnemosyne, known as the Muses, who preside over the arts and sciences, also happened to be visiting this Silver Lake location. Zeus, threw a thunder bolt and great inspiration was granted by the Muses. These writers came together, called upon other writers, performers, musicians and artists and created, "STRONG WORDS, Voices of the City." Strong Words, is self-described as a community of artists and aficionados who congregate for the world's second oldest form of entertainment: the story.
Novelist Margaret Atwood once said; "You're never going to kill storytelling because it's built into the human plan. We come with it." And no group epitomizes this revelation better than Strong Words, crafting monologues that tell stories about families and traditions, singing original songs, giving insight to the human condition through laughter and poignancy. This group of talented artists will remind you of the Bards of old, the poets, singers and storytellers who traveled from town to town reciting epic tales in an oral tradition.
Strong Words, produces a monthly show at its outdoor courtyard venue located at 3621 Brunswick Ave. in the Atwater Village, area of Los Angeles, but on December 19th, Coachella Valley Repertory presented a magical holiday themed performance of this LA based troupe, Stories for Grownups! An afternoon of performance art and storytelling.
Stories included a nativity pageant where costumes became the highlight of the show, the story of a non-traditional Jewish hippy family that is "one toke over the line," and a day in the life of a Macy's store Santa. Who knew being the holly-jolly St. Nick could be so much work? Original songs that put 'dreidels' in a whole new light and memories of poignant family gatherings, are a few of the stories told in this delightful holiday show.
Founder/Artistic Director, Larry Dean Harris, is a playwright and storyteller and is a member of the National Council for the Dramatists Guild of America. Along with author and performer, Sandra Tsing Loh, actor, singer Kevin Chamberlin, actor, musician, writer Molly Kirschenbaum, actress, comedian, writer and spoken-word artist, Vicki Juditz, Emmy-nominated comedian, director, actress and author, Johanna Stein, and actor, visual artist Roy Cruz, this group of multi-talented performers brought Zeus' daughters to the desert on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and made magic right before our eyes.
Palm Springs, residents, Financial Advisor Sean Heslin and his husband Stephen Heslin, Founder of Heslin Cinematic, sponsored this one-time CV Rep event.
For more information on STRONG WORDS Voices of the City – visit their website: strongwordslive.com
Coachella Valley Repertory, 68510 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City.
For Information on upcoming shows: call 760-296-2966, or visit www.cvrep.org
Dee Jae Cox, is a playwright, director and producer. She is the Cofounder and Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Project
www.losangeleswomenstheatreproject.org
And Co-Creator of the Palm Springs Theatre Go-To-Guide,
www.palmspringstheatre.com
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NPR Arts & Life
Don't Like Hamlet? Now's Your Chance To Rewrite It
By Matthew Weddig
Published August 7, 2013 at 9:34 AM EDT
To be or not to be? You decide.
Shakespeare's most famous question appears in Hamlet, but now readers will get to answer it themselves with Ryan North's To Be Or Not To Be: That Is The Adventure, a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style rewrite of Shakespeare's classic play.
"It occurred to me that [Hamlet's] favorite speech, 'To Be Or Not To Be', is structured like a choice, almost like those old Choose Your Own Adventure books, and I thought, 'Oh my God, I have to write this.'" North says. So he wrote his version of Hamlet in the style of the classic children's book series, in which the reader would be prompted to make the main character's decisions — turn to page 3 for this, turn to page 5 for that — and take the story in many different directions.
"I would follow the original plot and then look for places where it could have gone differently, and there's tons of choices because Hamlet has all these decisions to make," North says. "And so there's all these possibilities where you could make him a bit more decisive or have him decide to do something else and go off in different directions."
Adaptations of Shakespeare's plays are fairly common, and are made for many reasons. Modernizations, like the BBC's 2005 series ShakespeaRe-Told, put the plays in the present day. Other adaptations are used to make political or social commentary, such as Aime Cesaire's 1969 Une Tempête, which used The Tempest to speak on modern issues of race and decolonization.
"Adaptation keeps canonical works alive." Ellen MacKay, Indiana University English professor, told NPR by e-mail. "In the last century, a lot of important political critique has been articulated via appropriations of Shakespeare."
North's adaptation is more silly than serious, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have anything to say. "This is still a comedy book, but it's not a spoof so much as it is approaching the work with a modern eye," North explains. "One of the things I did with Ophelia is making her this really smart, competent woman." In the original, Ophelia receives criticism from her father and brother for her relationship — and certain implied activities — with Hamlet in her first scene. In North's version, the reader now has an option where Ophelia stands up for herself.
"It's true that to contemporary audiences, Ophelia looks like a lamb to the slaughter." MacKay writes. "It's satisfying to imagine her seizing control of her story and refusing the madness and suicide that have been written for her."
One new ending the book offers where Ophelia seizes control of her story, in fact, sees her taking down an international criminal organization. MacKay also thinks the rewrite offers the opportunity to explore what limits Ophelia's choices, and why Shakespeare may have chosen a different adventure than the modern reader.
Randy North / Courtesy Ryan North
Ryan North writes the webcomic Dinosaur Comics and the Adventure Time graphic novels. He is an editor of the Machine of Death series of short story collections.
"It's not really fair to say, 'Look at this guy who died 400 years before I was born. He certainly had different opinions than me about the value of women.'" North says. "There's stuff that doesn't age as well, and what you do is you either adapt it so it works better now, or you ignore it."
For the purists, the original storyline remains in To Be Or Not To Be. A Yorick skull, one of the most iconic elements of the play, appears next to each choice that takes the reader through the original plot — the choices that Shakespeare made (as North jokes, "when he plagiarized my book").
"I honestly thought there'd be people saying, 'Oh my God, who are you to rewrite Shakespeare?' and that hasn't really happened." North explains. "I think people realize that the original story is still there."
The best-known monologues appear in Shakespeare's original language too — if you so choose. You can instead have characters rap their famous speeches. "I surprised myself with some raps that I wrote." North says.
Of course, seeing the characters make different choices is all part of the fun, and also makes for a unique new way to understand Hamlet.
"If Ryan's version gets us to ask why the characters in Hamlet make certain choices — and maybe don't even see that they are making choices, but think that they have no choice — that can help us rethink things that Hamlet (the play) takes for granted." William N. West, Northwestern University Professor of English, Classics, and Comparative Literary Studies, wrote to us. "It might also help us see what we take for granted."
And what better way to study these choices in one of the most studied stories written in the English language than with a Choose Your Own Adventure book?
"The story, I think, is timeless in that not many of us are plotting to kill our stepdad, but a lot of us face choices we don't really want to have to deal with," North says. "The idea of taking command of your life and doing something that you're not sure if you can do and you're not really sure if you should do it, I think is pretty timeless. We all face those doubts often, if not constantly."
Ryan North's To Be Or Not To Be is available from the publisher's website, where some of the proceeds will go towards the Canadian Cancer Society.
Matthew Weddig


text:
Subjective and Objective Indicators of…
Subjective and Objective Indicators of Racial Progress
Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers
Issue Date March 2013
Progress in closing differences in many objective outcomes for blacks relative to whites has slowed, and even worsened, over the past three decades. However, over this period the racial gap in well-being has shrunk. In the early 1970s data revealed much lower levels of subjective well-being among blacks relative to whites. Investigating various measures of well-being, we find that the well-being of blacks has increased both absolutely and relative to that of whites. While a racial gap in well-being remains, two-fifths of the gap has closed and these gains have occurred despite little progress in closing other racial gaps such as those in income, employment, and education. Much of the current racial gap in well-being can be explained by differences in the objective conditions of the lives of black and white Americans. Thus making further progress will likely require progress in closing racial gaps in objective circumstances.
The authors would like to thank seminar participants at Wharton and participants at the University of Chicago Law and Economics of Race conference, as well as Jonathon Masur for useful discussions. Betsey Stevenson would like to thank Sloan for support through a Work-Family Early Career Development Grant and the National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Aging (grant P30 AG12836), the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Security at the University of Pennsylvania, and National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Population Research Infrastructure Program (grant R24 HD-044964) at the University of Pennsylvania for funding. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Betsey Stevenson
Betsey Stevenson receives additional income from occasionally writing op-eds for Bloomberg.
Justin Wolfers receives additional income from Gallup as a Senior scientist, from The Brookings Institution (as a journal editor), and from Bloomberg (as a columnist).
Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2012. "Subjective and Objective Indicators of Racial Progress," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 459 - 493. citation courtesy of
Welfare and Collective Choice
Poverty and Wellbeing
Demography and Aging
Labor Discrimination
Labor and Health History


Co-editor of Newsroom Mark Jennings was previously head of news at TV3, so we should take notice of his view when he writes that, "RadioLive has been a problem child of MediaWorks' highly successful radio operation".
"The hybrid of music and talk looks to be a way of easing the pain on the news department before Magic moves back to being a station aimed at male baby boomers with a penchant for easy listening formats," says Jennings.
But what does that mean for advertisers? Marketers will be reluctant to part with money on a format that does not appear to have succeeded anywhere else in New Zealand, Australasia or indeed anywhere in the Western world.
Nowhere are there examples of a successful hybrid of music and talk. As one of the many 'male baby boomers with a penchant for easy listening formats' and a penchant for talk radio, I certainly want to know which one I'm going to get when I tune in. I'll make the decision when to listen to music and when to listen to talk. I don't want my talk radio interrupted with music, it's annoying enough already to have the conversation interrupted with advertising.
In today's world, it is all too easy to flick between stations and you won't hold the attention of male baby boomers by throwing in an Eagles rendition of Hotel California in the middle of a talkback discussion about the MGTOW (men going their own way) movement in the age of #metoo. I like steak and I like ice cream but don't serve them up on the same plate. It doesn't work.
So, who is responsible for this madness? MediaWorks chief executive Michael Anderson appeared to be the conveyor of the bad news. Now Michael spent seven years as CEO of one of Australia's largest commercial radio groups Austereo, a period during which he led the company to improved revenues and audience share, so he certainly knows radio and is not one of the "television people who don't know anything about radio," that Mitch Harris was referring to.
In July 2011, Southern Cross Media and Austereo were merged to form Southern Cross Austereo. Neither its Hit Network nor its Triple M Network appear to have a station with a hybrid of music and talk format, so one can only believe that the announcement of Magic Talk is some smoke and mirrors while something else is going on.
Now rumours that, "The sale of MediaWorks, or at least some part of it, appears to be getting closer" as reported by Newsroom (Jennings should know) may be the reason for the drastic action being taken with the RadioLive problem child and could just be a cost saving exercise while preparing part or all of MediaWorks for sale.
In the meantime, advertisers will be thinking pretty hard about placing ads on a talk station that will be "run by the music radio side of our business".
While writing about MediaWorks' attempt to satisfy the male baby boomer market, I got to thinking how this increasingly important market sector is consistently ignored by many marketers and advertisers (retirement village advertising aside).
This is not just a blind spot for New Zealand marketers. In an article from New Media and Marketing, the US-based website admits: "Marketers continue to prioritize youth despite Baby Boomers having a median income that's more than twice as high as Millennials, a median net worth that's more than 15 times higher, and an average monthly spend per household that's more than 50 percent higher." In fact, "people over 50 are responsible for over 50 percent of consumer spending in the US".
There are many examples of this lack of interest in the Boomer market in New Zealand. It is far more appealing for the liquor industry for example to show young people lubricating their lives with some of the good stuff. But as Nielsen reveals in one of its insights, NZ boomers and Millennials think different, drink different. Collectively the two groups account for 58 percent of the drinking population.
Boomers account for 30.76 percent of the New Zealand population as opposed to Millennials at 25.68 percent. In a NZ Herald article in 2016 Chris Schultz, managing director of Senioragency, an advertising and marketing agency that specialises in reaching consumers aged 50-plus, revealed that boomers hold considerable buying power.
I was fascinated this week to read that Advertising execs rank below politicians as Britain's least-trusted profession. The Ipsos MORI Veracity Index is the longest-running poll on trust in professions in Britain, having been asked consistently since 1983.
The question is, who do you trust more? Simon Bridges or Simon Lendrum? Greg O'Connor or Greg Partington? Paul Goldsmith or Paul Catmur?
Agency folk spend their lives trying to build trust in the brands they have been given responsibility for by their trusting clients. New Zealand's most trusted brands are proof of success in this regard but how successful are these brand-builders in building trust in themselves.
How do you think New Zealand advertising execs would rank against our politicians in terms of trust?
Do you ever get the feeling that some retailers and some brands are always on sale or on promotion? I would never buy anything at Briscoes that the lovely Briscoes lady hadn't told me was discounted between 40 and 60 percent. I only buy at Farmers on a Thursday – that's sale day every week.
The percentage of grocery products sold on promotion in New Zealand, at a staggering 59 percent, is more than twice that of the UK. And, "it's estimated that the retail sales value of the discounts applied for promotions that generate little or no incremental sales is over $470 million".
Who are the idiots? Those that buy when goods are not on sale or those that sell at a discount when they could get full price. Any marketers like to comment?


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Birth 1887 Reginald Harry Wilson was born in 1887 at EnglandG.
Believed to be the two daughters of Jack & Germaine Wilson with their grandfather Joseph Henry Wilson, taken at Jack's house in Paris.
Photograph provided by Robert Wilson.
Please contact Robert Wilson if you think you have any information about Jack's descendants.
Death between 1914 and 1919 Jack Wilson died between 1914 and 1919.
Name Variation Jack Wilson was also known as John.
Birth 1884 Norah Isobel Wilson was born in 1884 at EnglandG.
Marriage Louisa Jessie was married to John Alexander Simpson at EnglandG.
Death 1919 Louisa Jessie Smith died in 1919 at EnglandG.
Marriage Robert Bowen was married to Elizabeth Anne Sturt at EnglandG.
Death 1912 Robert Bowen Smith died in 1912.
Birth Harrison Lamond was born at AustraliaG.
Birth Marjorie Lamond was born at AustraliaG.
[S902] Janine Lamond, "Gerard Harrison Lamond," e-mail to Robert Mote, February 2011.
[S915] G H Lamond, Tales of the Overland.


text:
//
//  CompareHack.h
//  Jabber
//
//  Created by David Chisnall on 17/12/2006.
//  Copyright 2006 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved.

/**
 * A hack required to avoid a bug in NSMutableArray's -sortUsingSelector: method
 * on OS X 10.4 on Intel.  This may be caused by an as-yet-undetermined bug in
 * the XMPP code, and so the continued need for it should be tested
 * periodically.
 */
NSComparisonResult compareTest(id a, id  b, void* none);
NSComparisonResult compareByPriority(id a, id  b, void* none);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Features: 100% brand new and superb quality. Simple, modern and gorgeous design, not only be practical as a light but also a decoration with its attractive starry visual lighting effect for your home. 168pcs high bright SMD2835 LEDs, it illuminates your home with 2400lm, providing you good illumination, practical and safe. Flexible remote control, color changing, brightness adjustable, timing function all are controlled as you like. Ensure no flash and long lifespan(up to 20,000 hours), eye-protected, cost-efficient and money saving. No radiation and noise, low power consumption, environmental friendly. The driver and other wires have been installed already, just linking the cable, powering it on directly, no more complicated operation, so it's suitable for indoor places such as corridor, aisle, stair, hallway, balcony, living room, etc.


'Slow read' webserver DoS attack; just 1 PC suffices according to new developed PoC.
Discussion in 'other security issues & news' started by Baserk, Jan 7, 2012.
Sergey Shekyan from Qualsys Security Labs has developed a PoC showing that one PC can suffice to perform a DoS attack against a webserver while the chance of detection is relatively low.
"While developing the slowhttptest tool, I thought about this burger scenario, and became curious about how HTTP servers react to slow consumption of their responses. There are so many conversations about slowing down requests, but none of them cover slow responses. After spending a couple of evenings implementing proof-of-concept code, I pointed it to my so-many-times-tortured Apache server and, surprisingly, got a denial of service as easily as I got it with slowloris and slow POST.
The idea of the attack I implemented is pretty simple: Bypass policies that filter slow-deciding customers, send a legitimate HTTP request and read the response slowly, aiming to keep as many connections as possible active. Sounds too easy to be true, right?"