The Malabar Quad exercise will take place in September of this year. For the second consecutive year all four Quad countries will participate.
An Indian task force of 4 ships from the Eastern Naval Fleet are already on a two-month voyage through the South China Sea (SCS) and Western Pacific where the Malabar will take place. The group comprises guided-missile destroyer Ranvijay, guided-missile frigate Shivalik, anti-submarine corvette Kadmatt and guided-missile corvette Korea.
Besides Malabar, they will carry out bilateral exercises with the navies of Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore (SIMBEX), Indonesia (Samudra Shakti) and Australia (AUS-INDEX). They visited Brunei before proceeding to Guam for the Malabar21.
All the Quad countries have recently (2-6 August) participated in the EAS, ASEAN+1 Ministerial meetings as well as the meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the main forum for regional security architecture.
The Quad recognise that in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the SCS, it cannot afford to be facing a hostile China and neutral ASEAN member states. Their buffer has to be more responsive than hitherto. The revitalization of US policy towards the ASEAN could be seen in this context.
The SCS and the Indo-Pacific is seeing an increasing level of activity from the Quad. They are engaging the ASEAN member states more. This has to take into account that China is certain of its control over the SCS and is focusing on Taiwan. China regularly breaches Taiwan’s ADIZ and has deployed both its aircraft carriers with full battle groups around Taiwan. The Chinese are using their occupied island territories in SCS with increased capacity of missiles and now aircrafts. At present, China has the capacity to deploy as many aircrafts as on an aircraft carrier on these Island bases at one time.
Therefore, the US and its partners realise that a single carrier battle group (CBG) would be inadequate to deal with the Chinese strength based off these Islands. At least two CBGs would be required in the Indo-Pacific. The USS Reagan led CBG, from Yokosuka, was deployed to help in the evacuation from Afghanistan and could return soon. It supported the 5th Fleet’s USS Dwight D Eisenhower and its CBG , which have been in the area since April 2021. The CBG led by USS Theodore Roosevelt has also returned to the SCS. If the Indo-Pacific Command is to be more effective it needs to constantly deploy 2 CBGs. The visit of the UK CBG may be partly seen in this context.
Another notable point is that the US scrambled out of Afghanistan and may reduce its involvement in West Asia. The exit from Afghanistan could allow more leeway for releasing periodic CBG deployment under CENTCOM to the SCS and Indo-Pacific.
The US is aware that ASEAN as a whole has been slow in re-engaging them for a joint exercise. The first ASEAN-US maritime exercise was held at the Sattahip naval base in Thailand in September 2019. It passed through Singapore and concluded in Brunei. About 1000 people representing all 10 ASEAN member states and the US promoted a shared commitment to maritime security and stability in Southeast Asia. This included all ASEAN countries including Chinese allies like Cambodia and Laos. Though this was the result of a proposal at the ADMM-US meeting in 2017 and 2018, it has not recurred because of sensitivities towards China and lack of unanimity among ASEAN members. A China-ASEAN exercise of 2018 has also not recurred.
The three ASEAN countries which US Defense Secretary Austin visited recently, undoubtedly have strategic importance. Singapore, for example, is a key port for the US 7th Fleet, playing a significant role in providing logistic support for military aircraft and ships. Vietnam and the Philippines directly confront China over their respective territorial issues in the South China Sea.
Through such efforts, the US has enhanced its engagement with individual ASEAN countries. In April 2021, the Philippines and the US conducted the 36th Balikatan exercise held since 1991. It now has an Indo-Pacific dimension. It was held despite the pandemic with reduced participation, tabletop exchanges, training, real time security training, and similar activities.
A significant result of Secretary Austin’s visit to Philippines was the decision to hold off on the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, the basis of the US Philippines arrangement for military bases
The US-Indonesia Garuda Shield exercise is another annual exercise for more than a decade. Held in August, it covered the large outlying islands of Indonesia, including Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra. Over a fortnight it involved amphibious, special forces and airborne units. In June 2021, Indonesian and US Marines conducted joint exercises focusing on conflicts in urban locations and are scheduled to do another exercise in the US later this year. US and Indonesia are constructing a joint maritime Training Centre in Batam, a small city on an island near the Malacca straits and close to Singapore. The US tries to solidify the US-Indonesia Major Défense Partnership and cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) region.
Thailand manifests the American dilemma in dealing with ASEAN. For several decades, Thailand and the US had a mutuality of interests as Thailand saw the US as a support against Chinese and Vietnamese influence in the region. Thailand, now having abandoned its democratic credentials, its military regime is more inclined towards engaging China and sees it as an uncritical partner. Due to their domestic issues and accommodation with China, Thailand does not have a strategic interest with the US; its main challenge is democracy, not China. The US has reduced financing for Thailand’s arms purchases following the coup in 2014.
This dilemma over democratic rights, economic assistance and proximity makes the US rethink its ASEAN engagement. Thus, traditional allies like Thailand and Philippines become ambivalent whereas old enemy Vietnam is a strategic partner.
During July 2021, Australia and Japan with eight other countries held joint exercises around Australia. This was preceded by the Australia-US, Talisman Sabre exercise. It was later joined by Japan, UK, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand. India, Indonesia, Germany and France sent observers. This combined exercise would further strengthen the FOIP.
The traditional ASEAN policy of outsourcing its security requirements mainly to the US was challenged when China became more aggressive and the US pivot to Asia did not happen under the Obama administration. During the Trump period, ASEAN was not a priority for the US. Under the Biden administration, the Indo Pacific and the Quad have a much higher priority.
Thus, the three-pronged policy recognises that China is the main factor and ASEAN has accommodated it, particularly in the economic sphere. The US wants to reengage with ASEAN and select member states. For this it prefers the regional architecture, to provide space, and a buffer between China and its rivals.
Increasingly the ASEAN buffer was inclining towards China. Now, efforts are made to restore the balance within that space particularly on the security and functional side. Undoubtedly for this to happen ASEAN member states also have to play a role.
ASEAN unanimity is now passe. When Cambodia takes over the chair for 2022 it is likely to play its pro-China role that it did in 2012. Hence, engaging ASEAN, praising its centrality and not giving up on it, is part of the policy.
A third prong of the policy of the US and other Quad members is clearly to engage with willing ASEAN member states who have greater strategic value. In this, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines are the main partners. Thailand, Malaysia, as well as Myanmar, due to their internal situations are not forthcoming. Such ‘ASEAN Plus’ policies from individual member states are small steps.
In my view this effort to deal with specific member states have increased their security and functional support for instance in fighting the pandemic. This could be viewed more vigorously by the US and its Quad partners. With this objective in mind, the significance of defence engagement of the US, the EU countries and the UK, with ASEAN countries certainly have greater significance as well.

Author

Written by Mr. Gurjit Singh

Ambassador Gurjit Singh is an advisory leader at IIRIS Pvt. Ltd.
​
Quad-ASEAN Defence Exchanges On The Rise
For More Info.
https://iirisconsulting.com/

The payments industry is a fast-paced market that is constantly changing due to the introduction of new payment systems and new technologies.
We're seeing payment technology companies play a bigger role in the payments industry, particularly as technology advances—and many of them are even integrating with traditional financial institutions to appeal to the new consumer and merchant preferences. Unlike in the past, when payment processing was simply about facilitating the flow of money, the latest payment processing players are completely redefining the customer experience and enabling business owners to operate their businesses with remarkable ease.
On the surface, the payment processing industry appears to be easy, but there are many parties involved in what appears to be a simple procedure. When a customer swipes their credit or debit card at a payment terminal, the transaction usually takes just a few seconds—but the procedure itself requires several steps and several players that communicate with one another. So, first and foremost, we must understand how it functions.
Let us begin with the individuals involved.

1. The cardholder is the person who possesses the credit card used to make a purchase.
   
2. The business that offers products or services to cardholders is known as the retailer.
   
3. The acquirer is the merchant bank that manages credit card transactions on the merchant's behalf, accompanied by the credit card brand or networks, such as Visa and MasterCard.
   
4. Finally, the financial institution that issued the credit/debit card is known as the issuing bank.
   

Now, using this example, let's see how these participants conduct a credit/debit card transaction.
Fatima, a cardholder, buys an apple from Mohammed, a brick-and-mortar dealer, for 1.00 QR. Fatima inserts her credit card into a chip reader and dials out to obtain an authorization code at the POS (point-of-sale) terminal. What happens next is as follows.
The Authorization Process
Ø The information collected on the POS terminal is first sent to the acquirer by the payment processor.
Ø The acquirer sends the information to the issuing bank through the credit card network, says Visa, and requests payment authorization for a one QR transaction from the issuing bank.
Ø The issuing bank checks to see if Fatima has enough money if the expiry date is correct, and several other items, such as matching Mohammed's business address and the cardholder's billing address.
Ø When the issuing bank confirms that all is right, it issues an approved authorization code and returns it in the same manner that it received an authorization request from Visa and the acquirer.
Ø On his POS terminal, Mohammed sees the accepted message.
Ø The issuing bank places a one QR hold on Fatima's credit card account in order for Mohammed to collect the proceeds from the transaction.
The Settlement Process
Ø At the end of the day, all these authorizations are stored in a batch in the POS terminal.
Ø When Mohammed close the batch, the payment processor sent it back to the respective issuing bank for final clearance, using the same channels as before.
Ø They are sent to the acquirer first, and then to the issuers via credit card networks.
Ø Following the acquirer's funding of the merchant's bank account, each issuing bank eliminates the hold and withdraws actual funds from the cardholder's account.
Now you understand the whole payment cycle. So it's time to dive in and grasp the most puzzling words that merchants encounter while searching for online payment services: a merchant account, a payment processor, or a payment gateway.
What is a Merchant Account?
In layman's terms, a merchant account is similar to a holding account where all payments are routed before being deposited into a traditional bank account. This account is dedicated to accepting payments from online merchants. So all the online payments received for your sales are stored in this account. A merchant account is the same whether you sell physical things, subscriptions, or digital products.
After successfully applying for a merchant account, each merchant is granted a unique Merchant ID. A merchant ID is a one-of-a-kind code provided to merchants by a payment processor. This code, which is frequently abbreviated as MID, is provided to parties involved in transaction reconciliation along with cardholder information. When communicating with their processor and other parties, a merchant can use the MID to help them identify themselves.
Your merchant account might be classified as either high risk or low risk based on criteria defined by merchant service providers.
The following are the most common criteria, considered to classify high-risk and low-risk merchant account:
ü Average monthly sales volume
ü Average credit card transaction
ü Different currency accepted
ü Offer recurring or subscription package
ü History of excessive chargeback
ü Main product offering
ü Sell to a high-risk country
These criteria differ considerably depending on the payment processor's guidelines.
Many times, small business owners have never heard the phrase "high-risk merchant account" unless their company is recognized as such. At first, it appears to be a bit mysterious. In some situations, it may appear to be an unjust judgment against your company, the service you give, the items you offer, or you personally. However, this should not be cause for concern. You would be able to obtain better payment options if you have a thorough understanding of this term.
At first falling into the high-risk merchant account category seem like a disaster, but it isn't. It really has a lot of advantages.

1. Economic expansion is a possibility: In contrast to conventional merchant accounts, which are limited to transactions only within the parent country, high-risk merchant accounts have no restrictions and can transact money in any currency, giving them a real possibility of globalizing their market.
   
2. There are no volume controls: High-risk merchants do not have to worry about a monthly volume target, which means they can transact as much as they want.
   
3. Account termination is less likely: If a typical merchant receives a large number of chargebacks (more than 1%), their account will be terminated; this is not the case for high-risk merchant accounts because the providers are aware that it is possible, so they are secure, and their account will not be terminated due to high chargebacks.
   

Understanding these phrases and determining which group your firm belongs to is preferable.
What is a Payment Processor?
A payment processor is a financial organization that provides payment processing services to online retailers. For merchant acquiring banks, they manage transactions from different sources such as credit cards and debit cards. It may form alliances with other businesses that interact with merchants or consumers. They are usually divided into two types: front-end and back-end.
o Front-end processors have links to different card organizations and provide merchant banks with authorization and settlement services.
o Back-end processors approve settlements from front-end processors and, for example, transfer funds from the issuing bank to the merchant bank through the Central Bank.
To offer their services directly to an online merchant, a payment processor gets into a reseller relationship with a payment gateway or a merchant account provider.
Payment processor example: PayPal is the first online payment processing company, founded in 1998.
What is a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway allows you to be paid online when your clients make an online purchase. You can accept card payments directly from your website with the authorization granted by a payment gateway. As a result, it serves as a link between the transactions on your website and the payment processor. Transaction data cannot be disclosed due to security issues.
Before submitting the authorization request to the processor, several payment gateways offer tools for automatically screening orders for fraud and calculating tax in real-time. The tools for detecting fraud include geolocation, velocity pattern analysis, 'blacklist' lookups, delivery address authentication, identity morphing detection, and basic AVS tests.
There are many other factors to be considered when selecting a payment gateway. Check out here for more detailed information about payment gateway https://sadad.qa/en/best-payment-gateway-qata
Payment gateway vs Payment processor vs Merchant account
The most crucial parts of online commerce are payment processors, payment gateways, and merchant accounts. Any company that accepts online payments must understand the key differences and similarities between these three.
​
https://preview.redd.it/5p2lsnkn0n3b1.png?width=729&format=png&auto=webp&s=4dc12a9e2f1d96f057a97cc8cbcfad7475fd797b
Account approval:
Certain compliance and formalities must be followed if a retailer wishes to open some sort of account.
In order to obtain a merchant account, you must have extensive paperwork showing that what you offer is legal and does not violate any foreign laws or internal bank regulations.
Following the initial compliance audit, an additional bank compliance verification, such as:
· Do your company and website meet the compliance criteria of major card providers such as Visa, MasterCard, or American Express?
· Your chargeback History – have you kept a fair number of chargebacks?
This phase could take up to a week or month in total.
As you can see, obtaining a separate merchant account is a difficult task, but it is well worth the effort.
There is even less documentation to fill out in order to receive processor approval, and you will have access to your account in a matter of hours. As a result, this is one of the fastest strategies in terms of approval time. But it comes at a price.
For payment gateway, you need not wait for your account to be accepted, you will have immediate access to it.
Implementation:
For merchant account setup, you will be given either a snippet of code to implement on your website or full API and testing sandbox access. Custom integration with your website or app will be needed. You may need to perform custom integration with your website or app. Payment processors have regular solutions. There is no space for customization. Payment gateway implementation varies depending on the service provider and the technologies used to create the API or website.
Account stability
Account stability refers to the assurance that your account will not be shut down or placed on hold unexpectedly.
For an individual merchant account, you have complete control over the stability and efficiency of your account. In the event of a problem, your account manager will contact you. In the case of a payment processor, Merchants are not reviewed for Visa/MasterCard compliance and, instead of assisting them in complying with the regulations, the chances of account termination are increased without much clarification. While using a payment gateway, account stability varies depending on whether you're connecting with a payment processor or a merchant account.
Pricing
Expect a flat-rate pricing model when working with a payment processor. In contrast, depending on the merchant's business model and transaction volume, pricing in a merchant account is typically versatile and completely negotiable. If you use a third-party payment gateway solution, you can incur costs for integration and usage.
Risk Management
You can build your own anti-fraud rules and exceptions with a merchant account and a payment gateway to allow legitimate customers in. In a payment processor, this type of freedom is not available. As a result, the rate of payment acceptance is poor.
Terms & conditions
Terms and conditions for merchant accounts can be negotiated depending on the business model and processing volume. However, this is not the case for payment processors.
Support
There are several crucial circumstances that could have an effect on your online payment infrastructure. When selecting either of these, you should keep support in mind as a critical factor. You will be assigned a dedicated merchant account manager when you open a dedicated merchant account. In the case of a payment processor, you must meet standard protocol to get the problem resolved. Support for payment gateways varies depending on whether you're integrating with a payment processor or a merchant account.
You don't have to be concerned with payment gateways, payment processors, or merchant accounts. Since, Sadad will provide you with anything you need to sell effectively anywhere in the world, including a payment gateway, merchant account, and plenty of other advanced processing features. The All-in-One Payment Platform from Sadad is easy to use and adaptable. When you have concerns or want to expand your sales territory, you can count on us for customized advice and help.
If you have any payment problems, please let us know https://sadad.qa/en/ so that we can assist you.

Source: https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/second-commission-statement-relating-certain-administrative-adjudications

• Exhibit 1 – Case-Specific Memoranda Accessed by Enforcement Staff Relating to C…
• Exhibit 2 – Case-Specific Memoranda Accessed by Enforcement Staff Relating to A…
• Exhibit 3 – Omnibus Memoranda
• Exhibit 4 – Application of Omnibus Memoranda to Cochran, Jarkesy, and Affected …
• Exhibit 5 – Other Pending Matters Encompassed by Omnibus Memoranda

On April 5, 2022, the Commission issued a Statement Relating to Certain Administrative Adjudications (the “April 5 Statement”) describing a control deficiency related to the separation of enforcement and adjudicatory functions within the agency’s system for administrative adjudication. As the April 5 Statement explained, for a period of time, certain databases maintained by our Office of the Secretary (“OS”) were not configured to restrict access by staff from our Division of Enforcement (“Enforcement”) to memoranda drafted by staff from the Adjudication Group (“Adjudication”) in our Office of the General Counsel (“OGC”). As a result, in a number of adjudicatory matters, administrative support staff from Enforcement responsible for maintaining Enforcement’s case files accessed Adjudication memoranda via OS’s databases. In many instances, those administrative staff also emailed Adjudication memoranda to other administrative staff for potential upload to Enforcement databases; once uploaded, the memoranda became accessible more broadly to Enforcement staff.
When it was discovered that Enforcement staff had access to Adjudication memoranda, the Commissioners were notified, as was the Commission’s Office of Inspector General. As the April 5 Statement explained, the Chair immediately directed the implementation of remedial measures, including enhanced access controls, to ensure that Enforcement staff would no longer be able to access these memoranda in the OS databases or through the Enforcement databases to which they may have been uploaded. The Chair also initiated a comprehensive internal review to assess the scope and potential impact of the control deficiency. This review has been conducted by experienced investigative staff from the Division of Examinations under the supervision of the Commission’s General Counsel (the “review team”). As noted in the April 5 Statement, the review team has been supported by Berkeley Research Group, LLC, a consulting firm retained by OGC that includes a team of experienced investigators and forensic analysts.
The April 5 Statement disclosed the review team’s findings regarding two matters arising from administrative adjudicatory proceedings as to which challenges were pending in the federal courts. In the April 5 Statement, the Commission also committed to releasing information about additional affected matters. We are now releasing the below statement from the review team, which provides additional information about the two matters discussed in the April 5 Statement, as well as findings regarding additional adjudicatory matters that are currently pending before us. Those matters include 28 matters as to which one or more Adjudication memoranda specific to a particular matter were accessed by Enforcement administrative staff, as well as 61 additional matters in which one or more Adjudication memoranda broadly applicable to numerous pending matters were accessed by Enforcement administrative staff.
We deeply regret that the agency’s internal systems lacked sufficient safeguards surrounding access to Adjudication memoranda, and we are continuing our work to ensure that, going forward, work product from the Adjudication staff is appropriately safeguarded. We take this lapse in controls very seriously and are committed to both informing the public about the scope of this issue and preventing any similar lapses in the future.
The information presented below is based on the work of the review team. We will release additional findings from the review team as appropriate.

Review Team Findings

Summary of Review and Findings

The review team has interviewed more than 250 current and former staff members, including individuals from Enforcement, OS, and OGC. The review team has collected and considered documents from Enforcement, OS, and OGC, including over 500,000 pages of emails and attachments. The team has also reviewed hundreds of case files in Enforcement’s case management database (the “Enforcement Centralized Database”), including the electronic case files of each of the matters discussed below. Working with Berkeley Research Group, the review team has analyzed over 25 million rows of data from access logs for various systems.
Part A and Exhibit 1 provide additional information regarding Cochran and Jarkesy,the two matters addressed in the Commission’s April 5 Statement.
In addition to those two matters, the review team identified additional matters that are currently pending before the Commission in which Enforcement administrative staff accessed one or more Adjudication memoranda that either: (1) pertained specifically to that matter (or in some instances to another matter but were maintained in the same Enforcement case file); or (2) were not specific to any individual adjudicatory matter but rather described procedural actions that Adjudication staff recommended that the Commission take in many (or all) pending adjudicatory proceedings. For ease of reference, the first set of memoranda is referred to as “case-specific memoranda,” and the matters they address are referred to as the “Affected Matters.” As discussed below, the review team identified 28 Affected Matters. The second set of memoranda—those addressing more generally applicable procedural actions—is referred to as “Omnibus Memoranda.” The review team determined that Enforcement administrative staff accessed eight Omnibus Memoranda and that there are 61 additional currently pending matters encompassed by one or more of those memoranda.
Part B and Exhibit 2 provide the review team’s findings about the 28 Affected Matters, identifying the case-specific memoranda accessed by Enforcement staff that relate to each of those matters. Part B also notes the instances in which an Omnibus Memorandum was uploaded to one of the Enforcement case files for the Affected Matters.
Part C and Exhibit 3 provide additional information about the eight Omnibus Memoranda that were accessed, including the scope of the adjudicatory matters encompassed by each. Exhibit 4 identifies—as to Cochran, Jarkesy, and all of the Affected Matters—the Omnibus Memoranda that encompass each matter. Exhibit 5, in turn, identifies the 61 additional pending adjudicatory matters in which only an Omnibus Memorandum encompassing that matter was accessed by Enforcement staff—that is, those currently pending matters encompassed by an Omnibus Memorandum as to which the review team found no evidence that a case-specific Adjudication memorandum was also accessed by Enforcement staff.
In all instances, the review team found that the Enforcement administrative staff accessed the Adjudication memoranda as part of an effort to track and upload to the Enforcement Centralized Database all Enforcement memoranda recommending Commission action in enforcement proceedings. Consistent with this effort, the overwhelming majority of the memoranda accessed by the Enforcement administrative staff were memoranda to the Commission submitted by Enforcement staff. But because the OS databases were not configured to prevent Enforcement staff from accessing Adjudication memoranda—and the Enforcement administrative staff did not distinguish between Enforcement and Adjudication memoranda—those administrative staff included some Adjudication memoranda in their effort to continually upload relevant materials into the Enforcement Centralized Database.
As indicated in Part B and Exhibit 2, in each of the 28 Affected Matters, an Enforcement administrative staff member accessed one or more case-specific Adjudication memoranda and emailed many of those memoranda to other Enforcement administrative staff. The administrative staff member who initially accessed the memoranda generally did not distribute the documents to other administrative staff members until after the Commission had voted on the action recommended by the memoranda. The administrative staff members who received these memoranda via email then typically uploaded the memoranda into the Enforcement Centralized Database. As a result, some case-specific Adjudication memoranda became accessible in the Enforcement Centralized Database to all Enforcement staff, including individuals investigating and prosecuting the matters referenced in those memoranda. None of the administrative staff members had a practice of contacting Enforcement staff directly responsible for investigating and prosecuting the relevant matters. And the review team found no evidence that any Enforcement staff assigned to investigate and prosecute any of the Affected Matters accessed any case-specific Adjudication memoranda before the Commission approved the action recommended in those memoranda.
As indicated in Part C and Exhibit 3, one of the eight Omnibus Memoranda accessed by Enforcement administrative staff was uploaded to the Enforcement Centralized Database in the Enforcement case files for Cochran and four of the Affected Matters and thus became accessible to all Enforcement staff. The remaining Omnibus Memoranda were accessed by Enforcement administrative staff via the OS databases but were not uploaded to the Enforcement Centralized Database, emailed to, or otherwise accessed by, any other Enforcement staff.

Access to Adjudication Memoranda by Enforcement Staff in the New York Regional Office

Enforcement administrative staff in the Commission’s New York Regional Office (“NYRO”) maintained a practice of uploading Enforcement memoranda relating to matters handled by NYRO staff to a separate database created and maintained by NYRO Enforcement staff (the “NYRO database”). The NYRO database was intended to serve as a supplemental reference resource for Enforcement memoranda and ultimately contained over 250 Enforcement memoranda. When the NYRO Enforcement administrative staff received Adjudication memoranda via the process described above, they too did not distinguish between memoranda drafted by Enforcement staff and those drafted by Adjudication staff.
Between February 2019 and August 2020, NYRO administrative staff emailed several Adjudication memoranda to an Enforcement supervisor in NYRO (“Enforcement Supervisor”), an attorney responsible for overseeing the work of other Enforcement attorneys in NYRO. The administrative staff’s emails sought instruction whether the Adjudication memoranda should be uploaded to the NYRO database. This occurred with respect to Jarkesy, as well as three of the Affected Matters; where it occurred with respect to those matters, it is noted below and in Exhibit 1 or 2, as appropriate. In two such instances, the NYRO Enforcement staff uploaded the memoranda to the NYRO database at the direction of the Enforcement Supervisor.
The review team found no evidence that either NYRO administrative staff or the Enforcement Supervisor circulated any Adjudication memoranda to anyone else, including anyone directly involved in investigating and prosecuting the relevant matters. The review team also determined that, for each of the Adjudication memoranda sent to the Enforcement Supervisor, transmission occurred after the Commission had already approved the action recommended in the Adjudication memorandum. For the Adjudication memoranda uploaded to the NYRO database, the review team determined that no one other than administrative staff accessed those memoranda in the NYRO database.

Outstanding Seriatim Reports

From at least 2015 through 2021, OS generally sent a weekly report to senior staff in Enforcement (including, at times, the Director, Deputy Director, and Chief Counsel) that provided the status of certain outstanding recommendations from Enforcement to the Commission. Referred to as the “Outstanding Seriatim Report,” this report listed all outstanding recommendations from Enforcement as to which the Commissioners intended to vote sequentially (in seriatim) without convening a meeting. The report briefly described the Enforcement staff’s recommendation and the status of the Commissioners’ votes on each recommendation. OS staff members generated the reports from one of the OS databases that did not adequately segregate Adjudication memoranda. While OS staff typically excluded information about Adjudication matters from the Outstanding Seriatim Reports, in some instances, limited information briefly describing Adjudication staff’s recommendations was inadvertently included in the reports.
Thirteen weekly Outstanding Seriatim Reports—one sent in February 2016 and twelve sent between June 2019 and July 2020—included Adjudication-specific information regarding one of the matters discussed below. Where this occurred, it is noted below and in Exhibit 1 or 2, as appropriate. The review team found that none of these Outstanding Seriatim Reports attached an Adjudication memorandum, nor did the review team find any evidence that the Outstanding Seriatim Reports were forwarded to any staff assigned to investigate and prosecute any of the matters.

A. Cochran and Jarkesy

As explained in the April 5 Statement, in both Cochran and Jarkesy, Enforcement administrative staff accessed one or more Adjudication memoranda and emailed those documents to other administrative staff who, in a number of instances, uploaded the memoranda to the Enforcement Centralized Database. As a result, certain Adjudication memoranda were accessible to all Enforcement staff, including attorneys investigating and prosecuting Cochran and Jarkesy.

1. David S. Hall, P.C. d/b/a The Hall Group CPAs, David S. Hall, CPA, Michelle L. Helterbran Cochran, CPA, and Susan A. Cisneros, Admin. Proc. 3-17228

The Commission issued an Order Instituting Proceedings (“OIP”) in this matter on April 26, 2016.[8] In March 2017, an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) issued an initial decision finding that respondents, auditors Michelle Helterbran Cochran and Susan Cisneros, had engaged in improper professional conduct in connection with their audits of publicly traded companies.[9] In June 2017, the Commission issued an order providing that the ALJ’s decision had become the final decision of the Commission.[10] Cochran sought Commission review of that decision, but while that review was pending, the matter was remanded and assigned to a new ALJ in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia v. SEC.[11] While the proceeding was pending before the new ALJ, Cochran filed a lawsuit in federal district court, seeking to enjoin the administrative proceeding.[12] The district court dismissed her complaint for lack of jurisdiction, and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed.[13] In December 2021, the en banc Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision and remanded the case to the district court.[14] The Supreme Court subsequently granted the government’s petition for certiorari and, on April 14, 2023, affirmed the en banc court’s decision, holding that the district court has jurisdiction to hear Cochran’s complaint.[15] All deadlines in the administrative proceeding are postponed pending resolution of the litigation in federal court.[16]
As described in the Commission’s April 5 Statement (and further detailed in Exhibit 3), administrative staff in Enforcement accessed—and uploaded to the Cochran case file in the Enforcement Centralized Database—one Omnibus Memorandum, dated November 29, 2017, encompassing the Cochran matter. Enforcement administrative staff initially accessed the memorandum the day after the Commission issued its order on the issues presented in the Adjudication memorandum (hereinafter referred to as a “corresponding order”). The staff emailed the memorandum to other Enforcement administrative staff, who uploaded the document to the Cochran case file (as well as to several other case files, as indicated in Exhibit 3).
As described in the Commission’s April 5 Statement—and in submissions to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas[17] and the U.S. Supreme Court[18] by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”)—the review team found no evidence that Enforcement staff accessed any case-specific Adjudication memoranda relating to the Cochran matter, that any of the individuals assigned to investigate and prosecute the Cochran matter ever accessed or took any action influenced by the November 29, 2017 (or any other) Omnibus Memorandum, or that any of these individuals contacted or communicated with the Adjudication staff advising the Commission in its decision-making in this matter.[19]
2. John Thomas Capital Mgmt. Grp. LLC d/b/a Patriot28 LLC, and George R. Jarkesy Jr., Admin. Proc. 3-15255
The Commission issued an OIP in this matter on March 22, 2013.[20] In October 2014, an ALJ issued an initial decision finding that respondents George R. Jarkesy Jr. and John Thomas Capital Management Group LLC, d/b/a Patriot28 LLC (“JTMG”), had violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.[21] Respondents appealed that decision to the Commission, and Enforcement cross-appealed the ALJ’s determination on sanctions. While the appeal was pending, the proceeding was remanded and reassigned to a different ALJ in light of Lucia, though respondents moved to vacate the remand order and proceed with their previously filed appeal on the existing record.[22] The Commission granted that request and, in September 2020, issued an opinion finding that respondents had violated the antifraud provisions and an order imposing a penalty, disgorgement on JTMG, and an industry and penny stock bar on Jarkesy.[23] Jarkesy filed a petition for review with the Fifth Circuit, which, in May 2022 vacated the Commission’s decision.[24] The Fifth Circuit denied the government’s petition for rehearing en banc. On March 8, 2023, the government filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, seeking the Supreme Court’s review of the Fifth Circuit’s decision.[25]
As described in the Commission’s April 5 Statement—and as DOJ notified the Fifth Circuit[26]—and as further detailed in Exhibit 1, an administrative staff member in Enforcement accessed nine case-specific Adjudication memoranda relating to the Jarkesy matter and emailed them to other administrative staff in Enforcement, who uploaded seven of them to the Jarkesy case file in the Enforcement Centralized Database. The review team found that administrative staff also emailed one of these Jarkesy-specific memoranda to the NYRO Enforcement Supervisor but that the memorandum was never uploaded to the NYRO database. In addition, in one instance, an Outstanding Seriatim Report circulated to senior Enforcement staff included a reference to one of the case-specific Adjudication memoranda relating to the Jarkesy matter.
The review team found no evidence that any of the individuals assigned to investigate and prosecute the Jarkesy matter ever accessed these Adjudication memoranda. The review team found no evidence that either the NYRO Enforcement Supervisor or any of the individuals assigned to investigate and prosecute the Jarkesy matter ever took any action influenced by these memoranda.[27] The review team also found no evidence that any of these individuals contacted or communicated with the Adjudication staff advising the Commission in its decision-making in this matter.[28]

B. Affected Matters

As noted above, there are 28 Affected Matters. In 20 of those matters, Enforcement administrative staff uploaded one or more case-specific Adjudication memoranda to a case file in the Enforcement Centralized Database.
As to all of the Affected Matters, the review team found no evidence—including through interviews with Enforcement staff—that access to Adjudication memoranda impacted any Enforcement filings or decision-making in those matters. In 23 of the Affected Matters, Enforcement made no filings between the date an Adjudication memorandum was initially accessed by a member of Enforcement’s administrative staff and the date the Commission voted to take action on the recommendation presented in the memorandum. In all of the remaining five Affected Matters—those in which an Enforcement filing was made during the time period between initial access and Commission approval—the Enforcement filing was unrelated to the subject matter of the recommendation in the Adjudication memorandum.[29]

C. Omnibus Memoranda

As noted above, and described in greater detail in Exhibit 3, Enforcement administrative staff accessed a total of eight Omnibus Memoranda recommending that the Commission take certain procedural actions in then-pending administrative adjudicatory proceedings.[135] Six of the memoranda involved recommendations following legal developments in litigation challenging the constitutionality of the Commission’s ALJs.[136] The remaining two involved recommendations by Adjudication staff related to the 2018-2019 federal government shutdown.
As indicated in Exhibit 3, one of the eight Omnibus Memoranda—the November 29, 2017 memorandum—was uploaded to the Enforcement Centralized Database. It was not uploaded to the NYRO database. The remaining seven were never emailed to, or otherwise accessed by, other Enforcement administrative staff; nor were they uploaded to either the Enforcement Centralized Database or the NYRO database. The review team found no evidence that the administrative staff member who accessed the Omnibus Memoranda contacted any Enforcement staff responsible for investigating and prosecuting the relevant matters about any of these memoranda.
Exhibit 4 identifies the particular Omnibus Memoranda that encompassed each matter described in Parts A and B (and listed in Exhibits 1 and 2). Exhibit 5 lists the additional currently pending adjudicatory matters in which the review team found that only an Omnibus Memorandum encompassing that matter was accessed (i.e., the review team found no evidence that a case-specific Adjudication memorandum was accessed relating to those matters). For each such matter, Exhibit 5 also indicates the particular Omnibus Memoranda that encompassed that matter.
https://preview.redd.it/ujmdeu5b0n3b1.png?width=610&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd8bb1742ca6de7e3d5510c832a147b11748a623

I know it is a hot topic on this sub to talk (more complain) about how awful the post-pandemic CTA buses and trains have been. I am happy they are listening and making changes. I really hope this will improve the CTA.

download the riff app, its free and every $1000 theyll donate $1 to her. 8pm central 9pm eastern.

​
Nvidia

Our experts tell us how the record rise in Nvidia stocks and hype around AI affected prices of cryptoassets

Nvidia has become the first graphics processor manufacturer whose market capitalization has approached $1 trillion. Its devices have recently been used by cryptocurrency miners. But now the growth of the company’s shares is due to the growth of artificial intelligence technology.
On Tuesday, May 30, price of Nvidia stocks skyrocketed to a historic high. In its quarterly report, the company said that the proliferation of artificial intelligence technology is translating into record sales. And its net income for the quarter was markedly higher than what analysts had predicted.
Nvidia’s developments have spread in the video game industry, the field of professional visualization. As well as in the field of high-performance computing and the automotive industry. In this case, Nvidia’s onboard computers are used as the basis for unmanned cars. The company supplies technology to major market players such as Apple, Microsoft, Alibaba and Amazon.
In late 2006, Nvidia allowed third-party developers to use the processing power of its graphics processing units (GPUs) not only for graphics optimization but also for other purposes. Nvidia processors are good at a lot of simultaneous calculations. And in this they noticeably lose to central processors, the leading manufacturer of which is Intel.

Notable success of Nvidia outside of the video game industry has brought the company mining cryptocurrencies. And where the GPU has also proven its effectiveness. In 2020, amid rising prices for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Nvidia surpassed Intel in market value. And its quotes continued to rise, reaching a record high of almost $330 per stock at the end of 2021.

Demand for Nvidia graphics cards was supported by miners. Who assembled cryptocurrency mining farms based on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm from the devices. The most profitable of these has always been Ethereum (ETH). But last September, developers planned to move it to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). After that, the need for mining to issue new coins disappeared. And miners were forced to switch to much less profitable coins or refused to mine cryptocurrencies using GPUs in principle.
The fall in excitement around video card mining, as well as the collapse of the crypto market last year, brought down Nvidia’s stocks. But now the wave of AI has reawakened investor enthusiasm. Since the beginning of the year, the company has increased its market share by $220 billion. By comparison, Ethereum has a market capitalization of $228.3 billion. Nvidia stock is up 165% in 2023 alone. Nvidia’s capitalization now stands at $939.3 billion, which brings it closer to the $1 trillion mark.

AI and cryptocurrencies

On May 28, Nvidia unveiled several technologies related to artificial intelligence at Computex 2023. Among them is the Avatar Cloud Engine service. Which allows you to give the intelligence of side characters in video games. As well as the DGX GH200 supercomputer for generative AI, the Spectrum-X platform for cloud providers. And the MGX architecture for creating metaverse and a few others.
The flow of news around Nvidia has also affected the cryptocurrency market. Project tokens, which aggregators categorize as “artificial intelligence,” rose in value in less than a week. And some of them showed up to 60% growth. An example of such an asset was the AKT token of the Akash Network project. The developers position it as an open network for trading computing power.
The most capitalized assets in the category also benefited from positive news from Nvidia. The token of the SingularityNET project (AGIX), “the first decentralized artificial intelligence marketplace.” Which runs on the Cardano blockchain, rose in value by 10%. Fetch.ai (FET), a coin platform with machine learning algorithms, gained more than 6% in less than a week. And the OCEAN token used by the Ocean Protocol data economy project rose nearly 9%.
Similar trends took place in the market at the beginning of the year amid the mass spread of chatbots with artificial intelligence ChatGPT. Which still enjoys notable popularity, including in the cryptocurrency community.

Largest crypto asset in AI category

The largest crypto-asset in the AI category is the Render token (RNDR) of the Render Network project from OTOY. Its capitalization exceeds $900 million and it is traded on leading cryptocurrency exchanges. And its price has risen almost seven-fold since the beginning of the year.
OTOY provides cloud-based graphics rendering solutions. These are used by visual effects creators, artists, animators, designers, architects and engineers, according to the company’s website. Its products, which also involve AI. The company Meta also uses them.
As part of the Render Network project, OTOY developers have modified the code of their cloud computing platform for GPU rendering. And they did it so that RNDR tokens could be used to pay for the service, thus creating demand for the asset.
In 2021, OTOY released the Octane X Classic rendering app on the App Store. And which also uses Render Network technology. Also getting the project into Apple’s app store was a successful marketing move for RNDR. The token has risen more than 60 percent since May 13. This happened when The Wall Street Journal’s sources reported. That Apple would unveil a mixed reality headset at the WWDC 2023 event in early June. This was largely contributed to by a number of speculations that. That the device could, in theory, also use some of the Render Network’s developments.
Our experts note that in general, the coins of blockchain projects, which in one way or another involve artificial intelligence. Since the beginning of the year proved to be the group of the most successful in terms of crypto-assets investment. Along with tokens of the management of liquid stacking services.
​
/

Writing a response paper is an important task for students. It allows them to critically analyze a text, express their thoughts and opinions, and improve their writing skills. In this comprehensive guide, our ‘write my essay’ experts will explore the basics of how to write a response paper, pre-writing steps, and crafting a winning introduction, body, and conclusion. So, let's dive in and discover a flawless response paper at the end!
Defining What is a Response Paper
A response paper is a written assignment that requires the student to read a text and respond to it by expressing their views on the topic. It can be a stand-alone assignment or part of a larger project. When writing a response paper, it is important to remember the audience you are writing for. Are you writing for your professor, classmates, or a broader audience? This will help you tailor your writing style and tone accordingly.
Moreover, this kind of academic assignment should not only summarize the text but also provide a critical analysis of its main arguments and ideas. It should demonstrate your understanding of the text and your ability to engage with it in a thoughtful and meaningful way.
Purpose of Crafting a Response Paper
Writing response papers aims to demonstrate your understanding of the text, give your opinions and thoughts, and provide evidence to support your claims. In addition, this type of paper can help you develop critical reading skills and formulate coherent arguments. By engaging with the text, you can identify its strengths and weaknesses, evaluate its claims, and form your own opinions about the topic.
Furthermore, crafting response paper examples can be a valuable exercise in self-reflection. It allows you to articulate your thoughts and feelings about a particular topic and can help you better understand your values and beliefs.
Types of Response Papers
There are various types of response papers, each with its own unique characteristics and requirements. These include:
https://preview.redd.it/qbp6ctbbhm3b1.png?width=1180&format=png&auto=webp&s=f19e8801f9567994f5b1965fe96c6432f694237e

• Personal response: Here, you express your personal opinions, thoughts, and emotions about the text. This type of paper allows you to engage with the text more personally and explore your reactions to it.
• Critical response: Involves analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting the text to provide a critique. This type of paper requires you to engage with the text more objectively and analytically, focusing on its strengths and weaknesses and providing evidence to support your claims.
• Research-based response: Research-based response paper examples involve using external sources to support your claims. This type of paper requires you to engage with the text and supplement your analysis with evidence from other sources, such as scholarly articles, books, or interviews.

How to Write a Response Paper: Pre-Writing Steps
Before diving into the writing process, laying a strong foundation through effective pre-writing steps is crucial. These initial stages not only provide clarity and structure but also enhance the overall quality of your response. And if you aren’t sure how to write a reaction paper, these steps can also be employed for your assignment.
https://preview.redd.it/e6hpk4xqhm3b1.png?width=1180&format=png&auto=webp&s=2557fb29c7641317de6f6c252065cc6fa2849007
Carefully Read and Analyze the Text
The first step in response paper creation is to carefully read and analyze the text. This involves more than just reading the words on the page; it requires critical thinking and analysis. As you read, pay attention to the author's tone, style, and use of language. Highlight important points, take notes, and identify the author's main argument and themes. Consider the context in which the text was written and how it relates to contemporary issues.
For example, if you are reading a historical document, think about how it reflects the social and political climate of the time. If you are reading a work of fiction, consider how the characters and plot relate to larger themes and ideas. By carefully analyzing the text, you will be better equipped to write a thoughtful and insightful response.
Take Notes and Highlight Key Points
Another important step is to take notes while reading, as it helps you organize your thoughts and ideas. As you read through the text, jot down your reactions, questions, and observations. Highlight key points, evidence, and quotes that support the author's argument. This will make it easier to refer back to specific parts of the text when you are writing your response.
Additionally, taking notes can help you identify patterns and connections between different parts of the text. This can be especially helpful when you are trying to develop your thesis statement and outline.
Develop a Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is a central argument that you will be making in your paper. It should be clear and concise and provide direction for your essay. Your thesis statement should be based on your analysis of the text and should reflect your own perspective.
When developing your thesis statement, consider the main argument of the text and how you agree or disagree with it. Think about the evidence and examples that the author uses to support their argument and how you might use those same examples to support your own argument. Your thesis statement should be specific and focused and should guide the rest of your essay.
Create an Outline
If you want to unlock the most important tip on how to ace a response paper perfection, it lies in creating a well-organized outline. Identify key points, evidence, and arguments that you want to discuss and organize them into a well-written paper format. Your outline should include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Start by introducing the text and your thesis statement. In the body paragraphs, discuss your main points and provide evidence from the text to support your argument. Use quotes and examples to illustrate your points. In conclusion, summarize your main points and restate your thesis statement. In the following paragraphs, we'll delve deeper into writing each section with more details.
Actual Writing Process with a Response Paper Format
Now that you have completed the essential pre-writing steps, it's time to delve into the actual writing process of your paper. In this section of our comprehensive guide, we will explore how to start a response paper along with developing insightful body paragraphs and culminating in a powerful conclusion.
Engage the Reader In Your Introduction
The introduction is the first impression that your reader will have of your paper. It is important to make a good first impression, so you want to engage them right from the start. There are several ways to do this, such as providing context, using a hook, or starting with a rhetorical question.
For example, if you are writing a paper about the effects of social media on mental health, you might start with a hook like:
'Did you know that the average person spends over two hours a day on social media? That's more time than they spend exercising or socializing in person.'
When working with your paper, this hook immediately grabs the reader's attention and makes them interested in learning more about your topic.
Provide Context and Background Information
Once you have engaged the reader, it's important to provide context for the text you are analyzing. This includes information like the author's name, the title of the work, and the publication date. This information helps the reader understand the context of the text and why it is important.
For example, if you are analyzing a poem by Maya Angelou, you would want to provide some background information about her life and work. You might mention that she was a civil rights activist and a prolific writer and that the poem you are analyzing was written in 1969, during a time of great social and political upheaval in the United States.
Present Your Thesis Statement
Finally, it's important to present your thesis statement in the introduction. The thesis statement is the main argument of your paper, and it should be presented clearly and concisely so that the reader knows exactly what your paper is about.
For instance, if you are crafting a response paper example about the effects of social media on mental health, your thesis statement might be something like:
'This paper argues that excessive use of social media can have negative effects on mental health, including increased anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation.'
By presenting your thesis statement in the introduction, you are setting up the rest of your paper and giving the reader a roadmap for what to expect. This helps them stay focused and engaged throughout your paper.
Crafting the Body
One key aspect of ensuring a well-structured and articulate paper is to utilize your typical response paper outline as a reliable roadmap. By following it, you can maintain focus, coherence, and logical flow throughout your response. Moreover, keep the following points in mind as you proceed with crafting the body of your response paper:
1. Use evidence and examples from the text:

• Incorporate relevant quotes, statistics, or other evidence that supports your opinions and arguments.
• By using evidence from the text, you can strengthen your argument and demonstrate a deep understanding of the material.

2. Analyze and interpret the text:

• Demonstrate your critical thinking skills by thoroughly analyzing and interpreting the text.
• Explain how the text relates to your thesis statement and overall argument.
• Provide a clear and concise response that showcases your knowledge and understanding of the material.

3. Address counterarguments and alternative perspectives:

• Acknowledge and address opposing viewpoints to demonstrate your ability to consider different perspectives.
• Explain why your argument is stronger than the opposing viewpoint.
• Provide evidence to support your claim and solidify your stance.

Concluding Your Paper
In the conclusion of your response paper example, it is essential to consolidate your reactions, ideas, and arguments regarding the text. Summarize the key points discussed throughout your paper, drawing inferences whenever applicable.
When uncertain about ​​how to write a conclusion for a research paper, the first important rule is to refrain from introducing new ideas or reiterating information already presented in the introduction of your paper. Instead, provide a concise and coherent summary that encapsulates the essence of your response, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.
To Wrap Up
As we conclude this comprehensive guide on how to write a response paper, you have acquired the essential tools and knowledge to embark on your writing journey with confidence. With a firm grasp of pre-writing strategies, the art of crafting an engaging introduction, organizing a well-structured body, and understanding the significance of supporting arguments and addressing counter arguments with a good response paper example, you are poised to leave a lasting impression.
And if you ever find yourself struggling to find inspiration or facing challenges with any aspect of your essays, order essay online and take advantage of the opportunity to seek assistance from our professional writing service team. By trusting us with your college essays and ordering a response paper, you can confidently navigate your academic journey!

.
*** PAGE UPDATED JUNE 01, 2023 - 06:29 AM **\*
.
https://preview.redd.it/lrxn4d3bhm3b1.png?width=544&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f8c3defc1c5164a9d88572bb483916732c78ca0
The American Red Cross and Cedar Fair theme parks are joining together to encourage blood donations this summer, All those who come to donate at select blood drives will receive one free ticket, valid for entry to participating U.S. Cedar Fair parks as listed below, while supplies last. Ends August 01, 2023, Parking not included.
.
The summer months are a crucial time for blood and platelet donations as donations tend to decline due to summer vacations and travel among regular donors,, The Red Cross is grateful to blood and platelet donors for coming together to support patients during this challenging time..
Register thru website listed below, Find the blood drive you want to attend, click link and enter the sponsor code: "cedarpoint" in MI or OH, Special code below for Indiana, For that blood drive and register online for an appointment. Blood Donor or person attempting to Donate Blood will receive One (1) Free Cedar Fair ticket available at any one of these Amusement Parks & Blood Drives (below) only. Free Ticket Voucher may be mailed, Due to limited tickets available at each location below. Advance Registration Required. Check back bi-weekly as we add more blood drives. You can donate blood once every 52 days. Did you know when you donate blood, you can save 3 lives. Be the difference, Donate blood and save 3 lives today! Thanks so much for your blood donation..
.
RedditRocks2021's Story - I personally cannot give blood due to epilepsy, So I want to encourage others to donate blood at blood drives throughout the USA, As each person who donates a pint of blood will save 3 lives, Do a good deed and Feel good about yourself, Become someone's hero by donating blood and at the same time receive a free incentive such as: Free theme park ticket(s), Free Meals, Concert Tickets, Movie Tickets,T-Shirts, Free Gift Cards, Free Pint of Beer, Free Ice Cream, Free Pound of Coffee, Win Trips, Win 2 Year Car Lease, Win Sports Memoryibla and much more! One website I posted on received over 600,000 hits in one year and if each of those people donated blood then 1,800,000 lives have been saved. Be the difference, donate blood and save 3 lives today!
.
.
■ Free Admission Voucher good at any of these Cedar Fair Parks:
Cedar Point – 1 Cedar Point Dr., Sandusky, Ohio
Cedar Point Shores – 1 Cedar Point Dr., Sandusky, Ohio
Carowinds – 14523 Carowinds Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina
California’ s Great America – 4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, California
Dorney Park – 4000 Dorney Park Rd., Allentown, Pennsylvania
Kings Dominion – 16000 Theme Park Way, Doswell, Virginia
Kings Island – 6300 Kings Island Drive, Kings Island, Ohio
Knott’s Berry Farm – 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, California
Knott’s Soak City – 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, California
Michigan’s Adventure -4750 Whitehall Rd., Muskegon, Michigan
Schlitterbahn Galveston – 2109 Gene Lucas Blvd, Galveston, Texas
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels – 400 N. Liberty Avenue, New Braunfels, Texas
Valleyfair – 1 Valleyfair Drive, Shakopee, Minnesota
Worlds of Fun – 4545 Worlds of Fun Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri
.
.
STATE OF INDIANA - 2023 Season - "SponsorCode" or Zipcode
05/26 - 12:30 PM - 06:00 PM - Church of the Nazarene, 1555 Flaxmill Road, Huntington - "hnaz"
05/27 - 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM - YMCA, 5736 Lee Rd., Indianapolis - "bhymca"
05/30 - 02:00 PM - 06:00 PM - DaySpring Church, 2305 N Indiana, Auburn - "daysprich"
06/01 - 10:00 AM - 03:00 PM - IU Health Tipton, 1000 S. Main St., Tipton, "iuhtipton"
06/01 - 08:00 AM - 01:00 PM - Culvert High School, 701 School St., Culver, "culverhs"
06/02 - 07:00 AM - 01:00 PM - Faith Family Church, 508 West Green St., Frankfort. "faithfamily"
06/04 - 11:00 AM - 04:00 PM - YMCA, 7900 Shelby St., Indianapolis. "baxterymca"
06/06 - 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM - Marion Public Library, 600 S. Washington, Marion. "marpublib"
06/06 - 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM - JCC Indianapolis, 6701 Hoover Rd., Indianapolis. "jccindy"
06/08 - 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM - First Church, 5387 W. State Rd. 10, Wheatfield,"firstwheat"
06/09 - 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM - Woodlawn Hospital 1400 E 9th St, Rochester "woodh"
06/09 - 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM - Columbus East High School, 230 S. Marr Rd., Columbus, 47201
06/14 - 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM - Manch[email protected] W State Road 114, North Manchester, "thecorner"
06/14 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM - Community Center 401 East Diamond St. Kendallville "46755"
06/14 - 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM - United Methodist Church 13527 Leo Rd. Leo "46765"
06/15 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM - Chapel Hill Church, 2600 W. Alto Rd., Kokomo - "chaphill"
06/15 - 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM - Palko Services, 4991 West US Hwy 20, Michigan City, "palko"
06/16 - 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM - Skyline YMCA 838 South Harrison St, Fort Wayne " ymcafw "
06/21 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM - Fairhaven Baptist, 86 E. Oak Hill Rd., Chesterton, "fairbapch"
06/22 - 11:45 AM - 04:00 PM - Abundant Life Church, 105 S. Benton St., Peru, "abundant"
06/22 - 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM - Woodbridge Health, 602 Woodbridge Ave., Logansport, "woodlong"
06/22 - 11:00 AM - 04:00 PM - National Guard, 791 83rd Ave., Merrillville, "nationalguard"
06/26 - 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM - First Baptist Church of Ossian 1001 Dehner Dr, Ossian " 46777"
06/27 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM - Zion Church 101 East North St. Columbia City "46725"
06/27 - 11:00 PM - 04:00 PM - YMCA, 2809 W. Purdue Ave., Muncie "ymcamuncie"
06/28 - 08:00 AM - 02:00 PM - Digger Specialties, 3965 E. Countyline Rd., Nappanee, "46506"
06/28 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM - YMCA 5680 YMCA Park Dr West, Fort Wayne "46835"
06/29 - 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM - College Park Church 1936 College Ave, Huntington "46750"
06/29 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM - Plymouth Fire Dept. 111 N. Center St., Plymouth "plymouthfire"
06/30 - 12:30 PM - 05:30 PM - YMCA 10313 Aboite Center Rd, Fort Wayne "46804"
.
.
STATE OF MICHIGAN - 2023 Season - Sponsor Code: CEDARPOINT or Zip code
05/31 - 11:30 AM - 04:15 PM....United Methodist Church 203 Concord Rd, Jonesville
06/02 - 08:00 AM - 04:00 PM....Serra Whelan Chevrolet 40445 Van Dyke. Sterling Heights, 48313
06/02 - 09:00 AM - 03:00 PM....Pleasant Ridge Center 4 Ridge Rd. Pleasant Ridge, 48069
06/09 - 11:00 AM - 04:45 PM....Columbia Central High School 11775 Hewitt Rd, Brooklyn
06/21 - 12:00 PM - 05:45 PM....Chilson Hills Church 4440 Brighton Road Howell, 48843
06/22 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM....Oakland Church 5100 Adams Rd Rochester, 48306
06/26 - 11:00 AM - 03:45 PM....Napoleon Township 6755 Brooklyn Rd, Napoleon
06/27 - 10:00 AM - 03:45 PM.....West Rome Baptist Church 11984 Rome Rd, Manitou Beach
06/29 - 11:00 AM - 04:45 PM.....Goodwill Headquarters 1357 Division Street Adrian
07/05 - 01:00 PM - 07:00 PM.....St. Joseph Church 715 North Lapeer Rd. Orion, 48362
07/06 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM.....St. Joseph Church 715 North Lapeer Rd. Orion, 48362
07/06 - 01:00 PM - 05:45 PM.....First Baptist Church 131 E Main street North Adams
07/06 - 12:00 PM - 05:45 PM.....Free Methodist Church 2829 Park Drive, Jackson
07/07 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM.....St. Hubert Church 38775 Prentiss, Harrison Twnshp, 48045
07/11 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM....Redeemer Fellowship Church 5305 Evergreen Dr, Monroe
07/12 - 07:00 AM - 06:30 PM....Merriman Rd Church 2055 Merriman Rd, Garden City, 48135
07/13 - 07:00 AM - 06:30 PM....Merriman Rd Church 2055 Merriman Rd, Garden City, 48135
07/24 - 01:00 PM - 07:00 PM.....Oxford Meth. Church 790 South Lapeer Oxford, 48371
07/25 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM.....St. Andrews Church 1234 Inglewood Rochester, 48307
07/27 - 10:00 AM - 03:30 PM....Dundee Veterans Memorial 418 Dunham Dundee.
.
.
STATE OF OHIO - 2023 Season - Sponsor Code: CEDARPOINT or Zip code
05/26 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM.....Rocky River Civic Center 21016 Hilliard Blvd. Rocky River
05/30 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM.....Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) 847 W. Maple St. Clyde
05/30 - 09:00 AM - 03:00 PM.....Cleveland Heights High 13263 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights
05/31 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM.....Christ Community Chapel 750 West Streetsboro St. Hudson
06/01 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM....Youngstown Saxon Club 710 S Meridian Rd, Youngstown
06/06 - 08:00 AM - 03:00 PM.....Massillon Recreation Center 505 Erie Street North Massillon
06/07 - 11:00 AM - 06:00 PM......Avon Isle Park 37080 Detroit Road, Avon
06/07 - 08:00 AM - 02:00 PM......All American Drive at The Venues, 540 S. St Clair Street, Toledo
06/07 - 07:30 AM - 01:30 PM......Bryan High School 1000 W Fountain Grove Dr, Bryan
06/07 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......Celina High School, 715 E. Wayne St., Celina, "celinahs"
06/08 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......All American Drive at The Venues, 540 S. St Clair St, Toledo
06/08 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......Ashtabula Towne Square, 3315 N Ridge Rd E, Ashtabula
06/09 - 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM......Alida High School, 401 E. North St., Alida, "alidahs"
06/10 - 09:00 AM - 03:00 PM......Grace Church 7393 Pearl Rd Middleburg Heights
06/12 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM......Wickliffe Community Center 900 Worden Road Wickliffe
06/13 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......Stonebridge Church 2111 Stonehedge Dr. Findlay
06/14 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM......St Paul's Lutheran Church 2860 East Market St. Warren
06/15 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM......Sandusky Mall Rt. 250 Milan Rd. Sandusky
06/15 - 01:00 PM - 07:00 PM.......Wooster Community Hospital 1761 Beall Ave. Wooster
06/16 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM......Zenobia Shrine 8048 Broadstone Blvd. Perrysburg
06/20 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......Moose Lodge, 1146 N SR 53, Tiffin
06/21 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM......Sawmill Creek Resort 400 Sawmill Creek Dr., Huron
06/22 - 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM......North Ridgeville Library, 35700 Bainbridge Rd, North Ridgeville
06/23 - 09:00 AM - 06:00 PM......Mentor Civic Arena 8600 Munson Rd. Mentor
06/23 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......American Legion 500 Glenwood Napoleon
06/23 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM......Hilltop High School 1401 West Jackson Street West, Unity
06/28 - 07:00 AM - 07:00 PM......ABC6/FOX28 @ Makoy Center 5462 Center St, Hilliard
06/29 - 07:00 AM - 07:00 PM......ABC6/FOX28 @ Makoy Center 5462 Center St, Hilliard
06/29 - 01:00 PM - 07:00 PM......Medina Performing Center, 851 Weymouth Rd, Medina
06/30 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM.....Montpelier High School 1015 E. Brown Rd. Montpelier
07/03 - 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM.....Fairview/Gemini Center 21225 Lorain Road Fairview Park
07/05 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM.....Packard Music Hall 1703 Mahoning Ave. Warren
07/05 - 01:00 PM - 07:00 PM......Wooster Community Hospital 1761 Beall Ave. Wooster
07/07 - 08:30 AM - 02:30 PM.......Hilton Garden Inn 6165 Levis Commons Blvd. Perrysburg
07/11 - 01:00 PM - 07:00 PM.......Hilton Garden Inn 700 Beta Drive Mayfield Village
07/13 - 12:00 PM - 06:00 PM......United Methodist Church, 130 W. Johnson St., Upper Sandusky
07/13 - 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM......United Methodist Church 170 Seminary St. Berea
07/13 - 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM......Teamsters Local 20 435 S. Hawley St Toledo
07/18 - 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM......Crocker Park 239 Market Street Westlake
07/26 - 09:30 AM - 07:00 PM......Cleveland Marriott East 26300 Harvard Rd. Warrensville Heights
07/27 -12:00 PM - 06:00 PM.......Elks 231 Buckeye Blvd. Port Clinton
07/31 - 09:00 AM - 03:00 PM......Community Center 6363 Selig Dr, Independence
08/01 -12:00 PM - 06:00 PM .......Cuyahoga County Library 5071 Wallings Rd, North Royalton
.
Additional blood drives added every week - Click here for updates
Red Cross First Time Donors Video
What happens to donated blood?
American Red Cross - Donate Blood Eligibility Requirements