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Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/DR CONGO – M23 rebels loot 10 tons of strategic minerals from a plant in South Kivu

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:4447M-cassiterite.jpg

    Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – More than 10 tons of strategic minerals were taken by M23 militiamen from a plant in the Congolese province of South Kivu. This is what was reported by the “Thematic Working Group on Mining and Hydrocarbons of the Civil Society of South Kivu” sent to Fides. The province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), together with the province of North Kivu, is gradually being conquered by M23 militias, supported by Rwanda (see Fides, 18/2/2025).”During the night of February 19 and 20, 2025, the mineral processing plant of the company ‘CJX Minterals’ was looted by armed fighters of the M23,” the statement reads. The militiamen are said to have turned off the surveillance cameras and abducted security officers from the facility.According to information from the Congolese civil society organization, the militiamen took a shipment of about 10 tons of the so-called 3T minerals, which were already labeled and prepared for export. The so-called 3T minerals are tin, tungsten (tungsteno) and coltan (tantalum), three strategic minerals for the global electronics, aerospace and military industries that are at the heart of the war in eastern DRC (see Fides, 1/2/2023).“CJX Minerals” is a private company under Congolese law, founded in 2014, and is the largest exporter of 3T minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”These targeted lootings demonstrate the clear will of the M23 to destroy the local economy for the benefit of Rwanda, whose economy depends on the plundering of the DRC’s natural resources,” the note says. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 26/2/2025)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: JMIC’s Role Expands to Entire CMF Operating Area

    Source: United States Navy

    To support the newly expanded JMIC mission, Royal Australian Navy Capt. Jorge McKee, Combined Task Force (CTF) 153 commander, transferred three Naval Cooperation and Guidance of Shipping (NCAGS) specialist officers to JMIC.

    McKee with JMIC Director, U.S. Navy Capt. Lee Stuart, and JMIC Deputy Director, Republic of Singapore Navy Cmdr. Andrew Sim, to transfer the officers, who are from the Royal Netherlands and Royal Norwegian navies.

    Since forming on Feb. 20, 2024, as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG), the international response to attacks on merchant mariners by Yemen-based Houthis terrorists, JMIC has enhanced understanding, information sharing and cooperation between naval and commercial shipping in the region.

    Once responsibility for OPG transferred from CTF 153 to the U.S. Navy’s Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 50 on Feb. 1, JMIC expanded their operating area so they can provide the same level of service to the entire operating area.

    JMIC’s regular information products now include incident monitoring, reporting and security assessments for the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Northwestern Indian Ocean in addition to the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab.

    “These officers have been an integral part of this task force, bringing valuable specialist commercial shipping industry expertise to inform daily operational decisions that I, and the rest of the team, have greatly appreciated,” McKee said. “We look forward to seeing their expertise benefit all CMF task forces and shipping operators across the region.”

    Stuart likened the officers to the first crew of a newly commissioned ship.

    “These officers are JMIC ‘plank owners.’” Stuart said. “They comprise the first crew of a combined unit supporting the free flow of commerce and commercial mariner safety for years to come.”

    JMIC welcomes engagement from shipping industry stakeholders via its new LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jmic

    MIL Security OSI –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Joint Maritime Information Center Meets with Cruise Ship Industry Officials to Discuss Red Sea Security

    Source: United States Navy

    U.S. Navy Capt. Lee Stuart, JMIC director, along with representatives of Combined Task Force (CTF) 153 of the Combined Maritime Forces, briefed ships’ masters, senior officers and corporate security managers on the current Middle East region maritime security situation, specifically in the Red Sea. CTF 153 is responsible for maritime security in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Western Gulf of Aden.

    “The Red Sea attacks highlighted the gap in understanding between commercial shipping and navies. JMIC aims to bridge that gap and increase cooperation to help keep mariners and passengers safe at sea,” said Stuart.

    Stuart also outlined JMIC’s role, composition, operations and range of information products, including its incident-specific Information Notes and monthly reports with rolling statistical analysis.

    “The cruise industry is highly competitive, rapidly growing, sets schedules years ahead and must keep passenger safety as paramount,” he said.

    Stuart also introduced JMIC’s Bridge Emergency Reference Cards, which guide bridge crews on actions to take before, during and after an incident.

    The deepening engagement comes as cruise operators and other commercial shipping operators cautiously evaluate the risk of returning to the Red Sea.

    “The cruise industry has some difficult decisions to make in response to the region’s complex and dynamic regional security situation,” Stuart said. “JMIC has a vital role to play in giving them reliable information to help their decision-making.”

    The Joint Maritime Information Center, initially formed in February 2024 to engage commercial shipping stakeholders regarding Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, recently became a permanent part of Combined Maritime Forces with a broader, region-wide mandate.

    Similar cruise industry engagements are planned for the future. JMIC also welcomes engagement from shipping industry stakeholders via its LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jmic.

    MIL Security OSI –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Defiance ETFs’ QTUM, Quantum Computing ETF, Earns 5-Star Morningstar Rating and Surpasses $1 Billion in AUM

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIAMI , Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Defiance ETFs, a pioneer in thematic investing, is proud to announce that its QTUM – Defiance Quantum Computing ETF has achieved two significant milestones: a prestigious 5-star Overall Morningstar Rating™ and assets under management (AUM) exceeding $1 billion. These accomplishments underscore QTUM’s position as a leader in providing investors with targeted exposure to the rapidly evolving quantum computing sector. The 5-star Morningstar Rating, based on risk-adjusted returns as of January 31, 2025, places QTUM among the top-performing funds in its technology category, evaluated against 262 peers over a three-year period.

    Launched in September 2018, QTUM tracks the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index, offering access to a diversified portfolio of global companies at the forefront of quantum innovation. With holdings including industry trailblazers like D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS), IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), and Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), QTUM has capitalized on the surging demand for computational power driving the AI age.

    “We’re thrilled to see QTUM earn a 5-star Morningstar Rating and break the $1 billion AUM barrier,” said Sylvia Jablonski, CEO of Defiance ETFs. “This dual achievement is a testament to the vision we had when we launched QTUM—to give investors a front-row seat to one of the most disruptive technological shifts of our time. Quantum computing isn’t just the future; it’s the now”

    The quantum computing market is projected to grow exponentially, with estimates suggesting a valuation of $90 billion to $170 billion by 20401, driven by its ability to solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical computing. QTUM’s success reflects this momentum, offering a compelling option for investors seeking to tap into this high-growth sector without the risks of single-stock exposure.

    For more information on QTUM, including current holdings and performance data, visit www.defianceetfs.com/qtum.

    About Defiance ETFs
    Founded in 2018, Defiance ETFs is a leading issuer of thematic, leveraged, and income-focused exchange-traded funds.

    1. Source: bcg.com The Long-Term Forecast for Quantum Computing Still Looks Bright, July 18, 2024.

    Past performance does not guarantee future results. Fund holdings and sector allocations are subject to change at any time and should not be considered recommendations to buy or sell any security.

    The Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contains this and other important information about the investment company. Please read it carefully before investing. A hard copy of the prospectus can be requested by calling 833.333.9383.

    Morningstar Disclaimer: The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or “star rating,” is calculated for managed products with at least a three-year history. The top 10% of products in each category receive 5 stars. The Overall Morningstar Rating is derived from a weighted average of performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10- year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. ©2025 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. The Funds are not actively managed and would not sell a security due to current or projected under performance unless that security is removed from the Index or is required upon a reconstitution of the Index. A portfolio concentrated in a single industry or country may be subject to a higher degree of risk. The value of stocks of information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in technology product cycles, rapid product obsolescence, government regulation and competition.

    The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, so it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers. Investments in foreign securities involve certain risks including risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability. This risk is magnified in emerging markets. Small and mid-cap companies are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than securities of large-cap companies.

    The possible applications of quantum computing are only in the exploration stages, and the possibility of returns is uncertain and may not be realized in the near future.

    The “BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index™”, “BQTUM™ Index” (collectively “Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index”), is the exclusive property and a trademark of BlueStar Global Investors LLC d/b/a BlueStar Indexes® and has been licensed for use for certain purposes by Defiance ETFs LLC. Products based on the Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by BlueStar Global Investors, LLC or BlueStar Indexes®, and BlueStar Global Investors, LLC and BlueStar Indexes® makes no representation regarding the advisability of trading in such product(s). It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

    QTUM is distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

    Contact Information

    David Hanono
    info@defianceetfs.com
    833-333-9383

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3d994faf-766a-4a4d-8949-39f33c321b95

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Economics: How Microsoft adaptive cloud offerings help deliver more reliable and secure energy

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: How Microsoft adaptive cloud offerings help deliver more reliable and secure energy

    As utilities adapt to increasing electrification, grid modernization, and the expansion of distributed energy, traditional operational technology (OT) environments are being pushed beyond their limits. At the same time, utilities and energy providers must navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, from data sovereignty requirements in Europe to cybersecurity mandates like North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

    While cloud adoption is accelerating, many OT systems, such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS), and Outage Management Systems (OMS), require hybrid architectures to ensure operational continuity, compliance, and secure integration with real-time grid control.

    The challenge is clear: how do energy providers unlock the full potential of the cloud while helping to ensure mission-critical operations remain secure, resilient, and interoperable with legacy infrastructure?

    Microsoft for energy and resources

    Drive innovation to achieve net zero and deliver safe, reliable, equitable energy for a sustainable future.

    Adaptive cloud: The bridge between IT, OT, and AI-powered intelligence

    The Microsoft adaptive cloud approach provides a seamless, scalable, and secure framework for unifying on-premises, edge, and cloud environments. Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all migration to the cloud, the Microsoft adaptive cloud integrates IT and OT seamlessly, bringing together on-premises control systems and edge intelligence with cloud-scale analytics. Instead of forcing a binary choice between on-premises versus cloud, adaptive cloud supports energy providers to:

    • Integrate on-premises systems with cloud-driven intelligence while meeting global compliance and sovereignty requirements.
    • Utilize complex AI algorithms and real-time data streaming to unlock operational efficiencies, increase resilience, and enhance reliability.
    • Strengthen cybersecurity with built-in Zero Trust protections and industry-aligned security frameworks.
    • Support edge computing for localized grid control while harnessing the cloud’s computational power.

    At Microsoft, we’re working with energy leaders around the world to implement this adaptive cloud approach that unites and integrates siloed teams, distributed sites, and operational systems into a unified model for operations, security, applications, and data. With a foundation built on Microsoft Azure and spanning more than 60 public cloud regions, our approach supports energy providers to utilize cloud-native and AI capabilities across the enterprise while bringing together IT and OT systems to accelerate energy production and help teams manage increasingly complex environments more efficiently.

    Meeting growing demand while driving critical efficiencies

    As population growth and rapidly changing markets continue driving demand for energy, industry leaders are faced with immense pressure to not only provide secure, equitable, and sustainable energy, but to optimize every aspect of business for continued growth. The Microsoft adaptive cloud environment sets the stage for critical improvements that help energy companies keep up with demand without overextending their own resources. These improvements include:

    • Secure integration of cloud AI with critical OT systems. Many grid control systems such as SCADA, EMS, and DERMS must interact with real-time operational data while helping to ensure security and compliance. The Microsoft adaptive cloud supports these systems to securely connect to cloud-based AI and analytics without disrupting mission-critical workflows.
    • Enhanced security. The increasing sophistication of cyber threats makes security a non-negotiable priority. Supporting an adaptive cloud-based environment is a critical step in improving security measures and allowing quick responses, helping to ensure that energy systems are protected against evolving cyber threats. Real-time OT and IT threat detection is an imperative going forward.
    • Faster data analytics. Energy operators require high-speed decision-making, but traditional OT systems often rely on static models that struggle to adapt to real-time fluctuations. Running enterprise systems in Azure facilitates faster, more informed decision-making based on real-time data and supports cloud-based, high-speed analytics that ingest, process, and visualize terabytes of operational data from the grid. These data-driven insights can be applied to predictive maintenance, which helps reduce unplanned downtime and mitigates related operational expenses. Applying AI capabilities on top of analytics can supercharge the value of enterprise data, saving time and empowering decision-makers with actionable information.
    • Compliance with global regulatory and data sovereignty requirements. Energy companies navigate a complex web of regional regulations, including:
      • NERC CIP (North America)—critical infrastructure protection for utilities
      • GDPR (European Union)—data privacy and protection regulations
      • Schrems II Ruling (European Union)—restrictions on data transfers from the EU to third countries
      • ISO 27001 & IEC 62443—international cybersecurity frameworks for industrial control systems

    With hybrid capabilities in Azure, utilities can process sensitive data on-prem or within sovereign cloud regions while still using cloud-scale AI and automation.

    • Edge computing for low-latency control and decision-making. Certain grid operations require millisecond response times, making local processing at the substation or field level critical. Adaptive cloud allows real-time decision-making at the grid edge while still syncing with cloud-based AI for broader optimization.
    • Increased scalability and flexibility. An adaptive cloud also supports energy providers to remain agile with changing demands and adopt new technologies that can easily integrate with current infrastructure investments.

    Global energy leaders unlock new value with Azure

    Microsoft collaborates with energy customers to unearth insights that help them make better, faster decisions and optimize efficiencies across the enterprise. For many, that starts with introducing cloud solutions that make it easier to collect and organize data. But data regulations, legacy on-premises systems, and a growing number of applications to manage are just a few challenges that pop up along the way. Below are two recent examples of how Microsoft has worked with energy leaders to address these and other challenges.

    Uniper: Standardizing IT and OT with a hybrid cloud strategy

    Uniper, the world’s largest power generation company, wanted to introduce cloud solutions but faced strict regulations around where certain applications could operate depending on the type of data involved, making it difficult for the IT team to manage all applications in a uniform, secure way. Their solution:

    • Microsoft Azure Arc and Microsoft Azure Monitor created a single dashboard for managing applications across cloud and on-premises environments.
    • Microsoft Azure Stack HCI allowed hybrid use of cloud services while helping to ensure compliance with European data regulations.

    With this adaptive cloud strategy, Uniper can now manage IT and OT environments in a standardized way, launch new services faster, and optimize performance without disrupting critical infrastructure. This translates to launching orders more quickly, bringing new services to market faster, and building new systems with just a few clicks.

    Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA): AI-powered edge intelligence for industrial operations

    EGA is another energy leader that turned to Azure to pave a path for sustainable, scalable infrastructure. EGA’s on-premises environment couldn’t deliver the level of flexibility needed to manage increasingly complex and data-intensive operations with scalable computing infrastructure. EGA needed a hybrid cloud approach to support real-time AI and analytics across its energy-intensive operations. To address this challenge, the company deployed a hybrid environment managed by Azure Arc. The new environment allowed EGA to connect private cloud services through on-premises datacenters—which host operational data, quality control data, environmental and energy data, and supply chain and market data—with the public cloud. This helped optimize latency, support advanced AI and automation solutions, and offer sustaining commercial savings by applying intelligence at the edge. It also streamlined processing for massive amounts of real-time readings from sensors, machinery, and production lines.

    Using an adaptive cloud approach went a long way in helping EGA accelerate industrial AI use cases and improve production processes. The company experienced 10 to 13 times faster AI response time, lower latency, and 86% cost savings associated with AI image and video use cases. They also developed and trained a model on 100,000 images to define and differentiate between what makes a good anode and what makes a bad one, ultimately helping to improve the overall quality of their aluminum production.

    An adaptive cloud approach to power a sustainable energy future

    As enterprises from across all industries aim to reduce their carbon footprint through more efficient, sustainable practices, there’s little doubt that all eyes are on the energy industry to lead the way. Microsoft is proud to be recognized as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Distributed Hybrid Infrastructure (DHI), placing Microsoft Furthest and Highest in Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. Microsoft offers an adaptive cloud approach and can help energy companies make real progress toward a resilient and sustainable future by setting the stage for significant value-adds like improved data management and generative AI capabilities. Collectively, these improvements help strengthen security posture, simplify management of applications, improve operational performance, and, critically, reduce carbon footprint.

    By partnering with Microsoft, global energy providers can:

    • Unify IT and OT systems across on-premises, edge, and cloud for seamless integration.
    • Meet global regulatory and compliance requirements while maximizing cloud capabilities.
    • Enhance cybersecurity with real-time threat detection and Zero Trust protections.
    • Scale AI and analytics to energy infrastructure, reduce downtime, and improve efficiency, reliability, and resilience.

    By embracing adaptive cloud, energy providers can future-proof their operations, strengthen cybersecurity, and build the resilient energy systems of tomorrow—without compromising compliance, security, or operational continuity.

    We’re here to support customers and partners along the way, as we all look to accelerate the energy transition and build a sustainable energy future for the next generation.

    Explore more energy solutions and resources

    Learn more about Microsoft for energy and resources.

    GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. 

    Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 

    Bilal Khursheed

    Worldwide Power and Utilities Leader, Energy and Resources Industry, Microsoft

    With nearly two decades at the forefront of the Power and Utilities (P&U) industry, Bilal Khursheed holds the role of Worldwide Power & Utilities Leader at Microsoft, leading its go-to-market strategy for P&U. Renowned for merging innovation with tangible results, Bilal drives Microsoft’s global P&U vision and dedicates his expertise championing sustainability and mentoring the next generation of industry leaders.

    See more articles from this author

    MIL OSI Economics –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Last Chance’ to Achieve Two-State Solution, UN Mediator Tells Security Council, as Speakers Highlight Need to Sustain Gaza Ceasefire

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    This may be “the last chance” to achieve a two-State solution — the creation of independent Israel and Palestine coexisting peacefully side by side — a United Nations mediator told the Security Council today, as it considered the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the first phase of which is set to expire on 1 March.

    While welcoming the implementation of this initial phase, including the release of 34 hostages, Sigrid Kaag, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim, added:  “None of us will forget the harrowing pictures of the coffins of the Bibas children taken hostage with their mother and killed while in captivity.” Condemning Hamas’ public parading of hostages, she also noted the release of 1,135 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and reports of the ill treatment and humiliation they experienced.

    In Gaza, far more remains to be done to address over 15 months of deprivation of basic human necessities and “above all, a loss of human dignity”, she said, while noting some improvements in humanitarian aid access.  “Palestinians must be able to resume their lives, to rebuild and to construct their future in Gaza,” she stressed, adding that there can be no question of forced displacement.  Gaza must remain an integral part of a future Palestinian State, and the Strip must be unified with the West Bank including East Jerusalem, “politically, economically and administratively”, she said, calling on the Council to ensure continued support for the full realization of the ceasefire deal, urgent de-escalation in West Bank and support for Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction — which would cost $53 billion.

    Also briefing the Council today was Daniel Levy, President of the US/Middle East Project, who stressed that Israelis and Palestinians both deserve security, while acknowledging the “power asymmetry” between a colonizing State and a colonized people.  Recalling the Israeli ambassador’s “gimmick” of shredding the UN Charter at the General Assembly podium, he said:  “When a State like Israel conducts itself in ways that render the Charter meaningless and which assault [international] conventions, including on genocide […] then that is a challenge that cannot be allowed to pass.”

    Calling for a full ceasefire, the release of all Israeli hostages and a surge in humanitarian assistance, he cautioned:  “There is good reason to fear that this could collapse.”  In that vein, he warned against the attempt to permanently depopulate the north of Gaza, adding:  “Hamas non-governance in Gaza is achievable, the movement itself has said so.”  But, there will be resistance if the structural violence of occupation and apartheid continue.  He also cautioned against zero-sum thinking, also stressing that the unlawful forced displacement of Palestinians must not be endorsed or encouraged by any State, let alone, one of the permanent five.

    Testimony from Ex-Hostage

    “I was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on 7 October 2023 from the Nova music festival with my partner,” recalled Noa Argamani, who also addressed the Council today.  She added that she was taken by force into Gaza and “held in total fear, living in a nightmare”.  Noting that she was rescued by Israeli soldiers after eight months in captivity, she said:  “Being here today is a miracle, but I’m here today to tell you we have no time.” There are still 63 hostages in captivity — 24 believed to still be alive — “the [ceasefire] deal must go on, in full”, she urged.

    Recalling that her captors murdered her friend, she underscored:  “Every second in captivity is dangerous.”  The Council must “not let the darkness take over”, she warned, stating that she came to the Council so that the international community understands that “the hostages are in hell” and deserve to return home immediately.

    Determined to Eradicate Hamas

    “This is the story of every hostage and every family shattered by Hamas’ terror,” said Israel’s delegate, urging the Council to adopt a resolution condemning the group — a move he argued the 15-member organ could have taken 16 months ago.  Stressing that the tragedy will not end “until each one of them is back home”, he continued: “The question now is whether this Council will help write that ending, or continue to look away.”

    “No matter what happens, our commitment to freeing all the hostages and completely eradicating Hamas is unshakeable,” he underscored. Turning to the humanitarian situation, he pointed to thousands of trucks entering Gaza every week to deliver aid and stressed:  “The only starved people in Gaza are the hostages.”  He added that “it is time to think beyond the frameworks of the past and build a new reality — one where terrorists do not hold entire communities hostage and where life is sacred once more”.

    Recordings of Gunfire at Family 

    Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, said while “nothing justifies” what happened to the Bibas family, Palestinian children are “not any less deserving of your outrage for their killing”.  He went on to play recordings of the calls made to emergency services by 15-year-old Layan Hamadeh and her 6-year-old cousin Hind Rajab — both found dead later — after their family members were shot dead while evacuating Gaza City by car. He also remembered the Palestinian parents who had to collect “what remained of their children’s bodies in plastic bags”.

    “Did you see the images of our released prisoners, often starved, with marks and scars on their bodies?”, he asked, noting that Israel subjects them to beatings and humiliating treatments.  “How many hostages were released by military actions and how many hundreds of Palestinians have perished in these military attacks that were supposed to rescue the hostages but led to the death of many of them?”, he asked, adding:  “Ceasefire works.”  The next few days is a test of Israel’s true priorities, he said.

    Support for Ceasefire’s Second Phase

    Council members stressed the need to uphold the ceasefire and reach an agreement on the second phase, which aims to establish a permanent truce.  Under this phase, Israel would fully withdraw from Gaza, while Hamas would release all remaining hostages in exchange for additional detainees.

    The representative of Sierra Leone, voiced a “renewed sense of relief and optimism” despite “the uncertainty that still looms”.  The representative of the Republic of Korea noted that the agreement shows “what firm political will can bring to the region” as Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners reunite with their families.  The ceasefire is also saving lives, Denmark’s delegate said, adding that it is vital that it moves to its second phase.  Georgios Gerapetritis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, added that the ceasefire will “allow planning for a more prosperous and secure ‘day after’ for the whole region”.

    The representative of France said that his country has deployed specialized personnel within the framework of the European Union Border Assistance Mission at the Rafah Crossing Point to support the ceasefire.  He also noted that his country and Saudi Arabia will co-chair an international conference for the implementation of a two-State solution in June.

    The Russian Federation’s delegate expressed concern about the “opaque monitoring mechanism”, highlighting accusations from both sides about the other side’s bad faith in the implementation of individual steps.  Somalia’s delegate said that the continued attacks, illegal arrests, settlement-expansion and excessive use of force “undermine the spirit of the ceasefire deal” and that “mediation efforts will not succeed if the aggression continues unchecked”.  If the ceasefire fails, Panama’s delegate warned, “then the human toll will be incalculable and prospects for regional peace and stability will fade further”.

    The representative of the United Kingdom welcomed improved aid supplies since the ceasefire agreement as having “demonstrated the central role of the UN and humanitarian actors, including UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East]”.  She also expressed concern over tightening humanitarian space, as well as the expansion of Israel’s operations killing and displacing civilians in the West Bank.

    Gaza’s Future without Hamas

    The representative of the United States expressed support for Israel’s “sovereign decision” to close UNRWA offices in Jerusalem, adding:  “UNRWA is not and never has been the only option for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza”.  Her country stands with all hostages, she said, adding that the desecration of the remains of Shiri Bibas shows “the depth of Hamas’s cruelty”.  President Donald J. Trump has made clear that the future of Gaza must look different, she said, adding that Hamas must be fully removed from power and held accountable for its 7 October 2023 terrorist massacre.

    Save West Bank from Becoming Next Gaza

    Other speakers, however, highlighted the impact of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, and the escalation of settlements and violence in the West Bank.  “Israel is not trying to return to calm,” said Kuwait’s delegate, speaking for the Arab Group.  Asking the Council if it is waiting for a repeat of the Gaza tragedy, he called on the international community to help end the occupying Power’s aggression in the West Bank and its attacks on Christian and Muslim holy sites in the Aqsa Mosque compound.

    Algeria’s delegate drew attention to the Israeli Finance Minister’s declaration that the “goal for 2025 is to demolish more than what Palestinian are building in the West Bank”.  Stressing the need to support UNRWA and empower the Palestinian Authority, he added that weakening the Authority is a deliberate strategy by the Israeli occupying Power which dreams “of a land free of Palestinians”, from the river to the sea.  Five newborn babies froze to death yesterday in a hospital in Gaza City, he noted, adding “we have no more time to waste”.  The ceasefire agreement should serve as a foundation for a durable peace plan.

    Slovenia’s delegate stressed:  “Gaza belongs to Gazans and it is an integral part of the Palestinian State.”  Pointing to the “many more steps” needed for lasting peace to persist in the Middle East, he observed:  “While peace seems to be a big word, it essentially boils down to everyday decisions to work for it.”

    “The cumulative effect of Israel’s violent occupation of Palestinian territories has entrapped the Palestinian people in a cycle of violence and poverty,” Guyana’s delegate noted.  Pakistan’s representative pointed to the forcible displacement, military raids, settler violence and illegal land annexations Israel is conducting, describing these as “ethnic cleansing in real time”.

    The representative of China, Council President for February, speaking in his national capacity, urged the international community to support the parties in moving ahead with negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire and called on Israel to cease its military and settler activity in the West Bank, underscoring:  “The West Bank must not become the next Gaza.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero to Step Down from the Commission and Retire from Federal Service

    Source: US Commodity Futures Trading Commission

    With the fulfillment of her term, and the nomination of Brian Quintenz to succeed her, Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will step down from the Commission upon Mr. Quintenz’s confirmation, and retire from federal service.  Commissioner Goldsmith Romero said, “It’s been a tremendous privilege to serve in the federal government for 23 years.  Following my wonderful tenure at the SEC and as the Special Inspector General for TARP at the Department of the Treasury, it has been a joy to be a CFTC Commissioner and serve alongside my fellow Commissioners and the CFTC staff.  History has shown how sound regulation plays a critical role in U.S. financial markets being the envy of the world, and I am honored to have played a part in promoting U.S. markets and protecting investors and customers.” “I congratulate my friend and fellow Commissioner, Christy Goldsmith Romero, on her retirement from decades of dedicated federal service” said Acting Chairman Caroline Pham. “Throughout her distinguished career, she has worked tirelessly to protect the American public and address risks in banking and financial services. I have appreciated her notable accomplishments towards our shared goal of supporting the CFTC’s robust enforcement program—to hold those who break the law accountable and deter bad actors from causing harm to our markets. In particular, Christy has been a thought leader in combatting fraud and addressing cybersecurity in new technologies such as AI and blockchain as sponsor of the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee. I will miss her partnership and collegiality on the Commission.”Commissioner Goldsmith Romero is a well-regarded, trusted, and internationally recognized leader in financial regulation and oversight.  She has served as a Presidential appointee since 2012, was twice unanimously confirmed by the Senate, has testified before Congress 14 times, and was recently nominated to be the FDIC Chairman and Board Member.  Her work has received substantial media coverage, and she is a sought-after speaker.  Commissioner Goldsmith Romero led the CFTC during a time of expansion of derivatives markets and amid geopolitical uncertainty.  Her overriding priority has been to ensure that markets work well—that they remain vibrant, resilient and have integrity.  She has visited farmers, agricultural and energy providers, and critical mineral providers, and met with exchanges, trading platforms, clearing houses, banks and brokers.During her term, Commissioner Goldsmith Romero prioritized risk management, focusing on the Commission’s mission to promote market resilience.  Her work led to increased surveillance to ensure prices for food and fuel were not artificially increased by fraud or manipulation.  She led the drafting of the CFTC’s first proposed rule on cyber resilience for banks and brokers, which garnered a unanimous Commission vote.  She spoke about resilience to climate risk, given the impact of severe climate events on agricultural and energy markets. Commissioner Goldsmith Romero built on her career-long enforcement record of combating fraud and other illegality and of advancing investor and customer protection.  She changed the CFTC’s routine practice of settling all cases without requiring defendants to admit their misconduct and called for stricter penalties for recidivism and violations of anti-money laundering laws.  She proposed the creation of a National Financial Fraud Registry, and advocated that Congress define “retail customer” for derivatives markets.Commissioner Goldsmith Romero has been a leader at the CFTC on future of finance issues.  She promoted responsible innovation and competition in the CFTC’s regulation of trading of digital assets and engaged with technology innovators.  She sponsored the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee, to which she added technology experts in cryptocurrency, stablecoins, blockchain, digital identity, AI, fintech, and cybersecurity.  The committee examined emerging technology and cyber resilience and released first-of-its-kind reports on “Decentralized Finance” and “Responsible AI in Financial Markets.”Commissioner Goldsmith Romero was the first AANHPI lawyer to serve as a CFTC Commissioner and the first LGBTQIA+ Commissioner.  She thanks President Biden for her nomination, the U.S. Senate for its unanimous confirmation, and her current and former staff and CFTC for their outstanding public service.About Commissioner Goldsmith RomeroCommissioner Goldsmith Romero was sworn in as a CFTC Commissioner on March 30, 2022, after being nominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.  In June 2024, President Biden nominated her to be the FDIC Chairman and Board Member (nomination returned by the Senate in January 2025).Prior to becoming a CFTC Commissioner, she served for 12 years at the Department of Treasury, including for a decade as the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), after being nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.  She continued to serve in that position throughout President Trump’s administration and the beginning of President Biden’s administration.  There, she led a nationwide law enforcement and audit watchdog office conducting oversight over TARP, the government’s response to the financial crisis that covered banks, derivatives, housing, the automotive industry and insurance.  She testified before Congress and served as a non-partisan Congressional resource on the U.S. financial system, the global financial crisis and TARP.  SIGTARP returned more than $11 billion to taxpayers and other victims, a 27 times return on investment.  SIGTARP developed a unique ability to find hidden fraud in banks.  SIGTARP investigations led to criminal charges against 465 defendants (including 75 bankers sentenced to prison and 121 homeowner scammers sentenced to prison), as well as civil charges by the DOJ, the SEC & others against 25 entities including large financial institutions.Commissioner Goldsmith Romero served for six years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including as counsel to two SEC Chairs, Christopher Cox (R) and Mary Schapiro (I), after serving on the staff of the Enforcement Division.  She also was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center teaching a class on the SEC and securities regulation, and at the University of Virginia Law School teaching classes on cryptocurrency regulation and federal oversight.  Prior to joining the SEC, she worked at national law firms including Jenner & Block, Snell and Wilmer, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and served a federal clerkship. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty To Filing A False Tax Return; Avoided Paying More Than $1 Million In Taxes

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man admitted to filing a false tax return and causing more than $200,000 in tax losses for tax year 2018, Acting United States Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.

    Francis Esposito, 66, of Red Bank, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before United States District Court Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court today to an Information charging him with one count of filing a false tax return.

    According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

    Esposito was the sole or majority owner of numerous entities. For tax years 2015 through 2018, Esposito derived certain income through these entities that he failed to report on his Form 1040.

    For tax year 2018, Esposito had approximately $719,272 of unreported income, which resulted in a tax loss of approximately $216,635. For tax year 2017, Esposito had approximately $940,978 of unreported income, which resulted in a tax loss of approximately $383,806. For tax year 2016, Esposito had approximately $746,886 of unreported income, which resulted in a tax loss of approximately $304,640. For tax year 2015, Esposito had approximately $589,929 of unreported income, which resulted in a tax loss of approximately $244,291. In total, Esposito’s unreported income resulted in a tax loss of approximately $1,149,372.

    The filing a false tax return charge has a maximum term of three years, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss resulting from the offense.

    Acting United States Attorney Khanna credited special agents of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark.  

    The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vinay Limbachia and Andrew Kogan of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Bank of Åland Plc: Notice to convene the Annual General Meeting

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Bank of Åland Plc
    Notice to convene general meeting
    February 26, 2025, 17.15 EET.

    Notice to convene the Annual General Meeting

    Notice is hereby given to the shareholders of the Bank of Åland Plc (Ålandsbanken Abp) of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held at 3.00 p.m. Finnish time (15.00 EET) on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at the Alandica Kultur & Kongress auditorium, Strandgatan 33, Mariehamn, Åland, Finland.

    The reception of persons who have registered to participate in the Meeting and the distribution of voting tickets will commence at 2.00 p.m. on the above date.

    A. Matters on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting

    The following matters will be dealt with at the Meeting:

    1. Opening of the Meeting

    2. Calling the Meeting to order
    3. Election of persons to check the minutes and to supervise the counting of votes

    4. Verification of the legality of the Meeting

    5. Verification of attendance at the Meeting and adoption of the voting list

    6. Presentation of the financial statements, the Report of the Directors and the Auditors’ Report for 2024

    Managing Director’s review.

    7. Adoption of the financial statements

    8. Decision on allocation of the profit shown in the balance sheet and dividend distribution

    The Board of Directors proposes that a dividend of EUR 2.40 per share plus an extra dividend of EUR 0.35 per share shall be paid for the financial year January 1 – December 31, 2024, that the record date for dividend payment shall be Thursday, March 27, 2025 and that the payment date shall be Thursday, April 3, 2025.

    9. Decision on granting discharge from liability to the members of the Board of Directors and the Managing Director for the financial year January 1 – December 31, 2024

    10. Presentation and adoption of the compensation report

    11. Decision on the number of members on the Board of Directors

    It is proposed that the number of Board members shall be set at seven.

    12. Decision on fees for the members of the Board

    The Board of Directors proposes an unchanged annual fee for its Chairman (EUR 37,000), the Deputy Chairman (EUR 31,500) and each other Board member (EUR 29,000). The Board also proposes an unchanged fee per meeting attended for the Chairman (EUR 1,000) and for each other Board member (EUR 750).

    It shall be noted that the fee per meeting for Board members’ attendance at meetings of the committees appointed by the Board is EUR 750 per Board member and EUR 1,000 for the committee Chairman. In addition, it shall be noted that compensation for travel and accommodation expenses as well as daily subsistence allowances are paid in compliance with the instructions of tax authorities and the Bank’s travel guidelines.

    13. Election of Board members

    The Nomination Committee proposes the re-election of Board members Anders Å Karlsson, Nils Lampi, Mirel Leino-Haltia, Malin Lombardi, Christoffer Taxell, Ulrika Valassi and Anders Wiklöf for a term of office that will run until the closing of the next AGM.

    14. Decision on the auditors’ fees

    In accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors proposes that the auditors’ fees be paid as invoiced.

    15. Decision on the number of auditors

    The Board of Directors proposes that the number of auditors shall be unchanged, that is, one auditor.

    16. Election of auditors

    In accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors proposes the re-election of the authorised accounting firm of KPMG Oy Ab, with Henry Maarala (KHT) as auditor in charge, for a term of office that will run until the closing of the next AGM.

    17. Decision on the sustainability auditors’ fees

    In accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors proposes that the sustainability auditors’ fees be paid as invoiced.

    18. Election of sustainability auditors

    In accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors proposes the election of the authorised accounting firm of KPMG Oy Ab, with Henry Maarala (KHT) as auditor in charge, for a term of office that will run until the closing of the next AGM. KPMG Oy Ab has informed the Bank that certified sustainability auditor Henry Maarala will be the sustainability auditor in charge.

    19. Closing of the Meeting

    B. General Meeting documents

    The above-mentioned proposals by the Board of Directors, this notice convening the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and other documents that shall be available as provided by the Finnish Companies Act are found on the website of the Bank of Åland Plc, www.alandsbanken.fi in Swedish.

    The Board’s proposals and the accounting documents will also be available at the Company’s Head Office and at the AGM. Copies of these documents and of this notice convening the AGM will be sent to shareholders upon request.

    C. Instruction for participants in the Annual General Meeting

    1. Shareholders listed in the Company’s shareholder register

    Shareholders who were listed on March 13, 2025 (the record date for the AGM) in the Company’s shareholder register, which is maintained by Euroclear Finland Ab, are entitled to participate in the Meeting. A shareholder whose shares are registered in his or her Finnish personal book-entry securities account is listed in the Company’s shareholder register.

    Shareholders wishing to participate in the AGM must register no later than 12 noon on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

    They may register for the AGM:

    a) via the internet at the address www.alandsbanken.fi/bolagsstamma

    b) by telephone at +358 18 29 011;

    c) by letter addressed to Bank of Åland Plc, PB 3, AX-22101 Mariehamn, Åland, Finland.

    When registering, please state the shareholder’s name, personal identity code or business ID number and the name of any assistant or authorised representative and the representative’s personal identity code. These personal data will be used only for purposes attributable to the AGM and for processing of registrations related to this.

    If needed, the shareholder and his/her authorised representative must be able to prove their identity and/or authorisation at the Meeting venue.

    2. Holders of nominee-registered shares

    A holder of nominee-registered shares is entitled to participate in the AGM on the basis of the shares he or she would be entitled to be listed on March 13, 2025 (the record date for the AGM) in the Shareholder Register maintained by Euroclear Finland Ab. Participation also requires that on the basis of these shares, no later than 10.00 a.m. on March 20, 2025 the shareholder has been listed in the temporary shareholder register maintained by Euroclear Finland Ab. In the case of nominee-registered shares, this shall be counted as registration for the AGM. Changes in the shareholding after the record date for the AGM shall not affect the right to participate in the AGM or the shareholder’s number of votes.

    Registration shall be carried out by the asset manager’s account administrator no later than the above-mentioned deadline. A holder of nominee-registered shares is urged to request instructions well in advance from his or her asset manager regarding entry into the temporary shareholder register, issuance of powers of attorney and registration for the AGM. The asset manager’s account managing institution shall register the holder of nominee-registered shares who wishes to participate in the AGM in the Company’s temporary shareholder register no later than the above-mentioned deadline.

    3. Authorised representatives and powers of attorney

    Shareholders may participate in the AGM and exercise their rights at the Meeting through authorised representatives. A shareholder’s authorised representative must show a dated power of attorney or otherwise prove in a reliable manner that he or she is authorised to represent the shareholder.

    If a shareholder is represented at the Meeting by more than one authorised representatives, who represent a shareholder with shares in different book-entry securities accounts, at the time of registration the shareholder must state on the basis of which shares each authorised representative is representing the shareholder.

    Any original powers of attorney should be sent to the Bank of Åland Plc, PB 3, AX-22101 Mariehamn, Åland, Finland and be in the possession of the Company before the expiration of the registration period. Please label the envelope “Annual General Meeting” or “AGM”. Alternatively, a copy of the power of attorney may be sent by e-mail to bolagsstamma@alandsbanken.fi, in which case the original power of attorney shall be shown at the AGM.

    4. Other instructions and information

    Shareholders who attend the Meeting are entitled to ask questions concerning matters being dealt with at the Meeting, pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act.

    On the date of this Notice convening the Annual General Meeting, the number of shares in the Bank of Åland Plc totals 6,476,138 Series A shares, which represent 129,522,760 votes, and 8,890,781 Series B shares, which represent 8,890,781 votes, or 15,366,919 shares and 138,413,541 votes in all. Each Series A share has 20 votes at the Meeting and each Series B share has one vote, but subject to the limitation on voting rights stipulated in the Articles of Association, Section 7.

    Mariehamn, February 25, 2025

    Board of Directors

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: BlueCat appoints Peter Brennan as Chief Revenue Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BlueCat Networks, a leading provider of Intelligent Network Operations solutions that help organizations modernize, optimize, and secure their network infrastructure, announced Peter Brennan as its new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

    Brennan, who joined the company in January, is responsible for driving revenue growth and providing leadership for field teams, including sales, technical, channel, and alliances. Previously, he was the CEO for Scality, Inc., a leader in software-defined storage and data management, and the worldwide CRO for Scality, Grp.

    “BlueCat delivers important network infrastructure solutions to some of the biggest companies in the world,” said Brennan. “Our recent acquisition of LiveAction enhanced BlueCat’s industry-recognized offerings with industry leading network intelligence capabilities and I’m excited to show our prospects and customers how our technology can help them achieve their biggest goals.”

    Earlier in his career, Brennan achieved record growth over two decades in executive roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and VMware. “His decades of experience with infrastructure software companies, sales execution, and ability to transform go to market organizations is aligned with our mission to greatly accelerate growth and expand our reach,” said BlueCat CEO Stephen Devito. “We deliver products and services that help our customers spend less time managing the network and more time helping their businesses grow, and Peter is key to amplifying that story.”

    In October, BlueCat announced it was acquiring LiveAction, Inc., a global provider of network observability and intelligence solutions. Adding LiveAction’s industry-leading network performance monitoring, packet capture, and forensics offerings has strengthened BlueCat’s mission-critical DNS, DHCP, and IP address management (together known as DDI) and network infrastructure management solutions. Audax Private Equity is a strategic growth investor in BlueCat Networks.

    About BlueCat

    BlueCat’s Intelligent Network Operations (NetOps) provide the analytics and intelligence needed to enable, optimize, and secure the network to achieve business goals. With an Intelligent NetOps suite, organizations can more easily change and modernize the network as business requirements demand. BlueCat’s growing portfolio includes unified core network services, security and compliance, network observability and intelligence. These solutions can be deployed in hybrid or multicloud environments, in the data center, at remote or branch locations, and via SD-WAN. BlueCat’s DDI management platform was recognized as a market leader and outperformer in GigaOm’s 2024 Radar report. The company is headquartered in Toronto and New York and has additional offices in the United States, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Singapore, Serbia, and the United Kingdom. Learn more at bluecat.com.

    About Audax Private Equity

    Based in Boston and San Francisco, Audax Private Equity is a leading capital partner for middle and lower middle market companies that seeks to facilitate transformational growth. With approximately $19 billion of assets under management, over 250 employees, and 100-plus investment professionals, the firm has invested in more than 170 platforms and 1,250 add-on acquisitions since its founding in 1999. Through our disciplined Buy & Build approach, across six core industry verticals, Audax helps portfolio companies execute organic and inorganic growth initiatives that fuel revenue expansion, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. For more information, visit audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: NBC Securities Promotes Sam Ransom to Chief Financial Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NBC Securities, a leading independent full-service broker-dealer and registered investment advisor headquartered in Alabama, is pleased to announce the promotion of Sam Ransom to Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Since joining NBC in 2021 as Director of Finance, Mr. Ransom has played a critical role in overseeing financial operations and driving strategic financial initiatives that have strengthened the firm’s long-term growth.

    In his new role, Mr. Ransom will oversee all financial functions, ensuring NBC Securities remains positioned for continued national expansion and operational excellence. His leadership will be instrumental in advancing the company’s financial strategy, budgeting, and reporting while maintaining the Southeastern roots of the BD/RIA, as well as its commitment to providing advisors with industry-leading support and resources.

    “Sam has been a driving force behind NBC Securities’ financial strategy, bringing expertise and forward-thinking leadership to our firm,” said Peyton Falkenburg, NBC Securities Executive Vice President. “His broad understanding of financial operations and commitment to NBC’s growth make him an invaluable part of our leadership team. His contributions in this new role will advance our mission to help the legacies of those we serve reach their full potential.”

    With a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Richmond, Mr. Ransom brings a proven track record of close to 15 years across various financial sectors, specializing in accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, and operational efficiency. His expertise has been pivotal in developing and implementing financial policies that support NBC’s mission to provide customized investment solutions and comprehensive advisor support.

    “I am honored to step into the role of CFO at NBC Securities and proud to be part of a team that is so deeply committed to supporting our advisors and clients,” said Sam Ransom. “NBC’s advisor-first approach and dedication to growth—while fostering a culture of caring and support—create an environment focused on delivering exceptional service, and I look forward to further strengthening our financial strategy to drive continued success.”

    About NBC Securities
    NBC Securities is a privately held, full-service broker-dealer and registered investment advisor catering to individuals and companies across the United States. They provide private wealth services and asset management strategies from financial professionals who average over 25 years of industry experience, in addition to technology-driven custodial solutions that streamline and optimize operations for advisors nationwide.

    They are independent and employee-owned, committed to building lasting relationships and legacies. The firm achieves this through the combined power of its network of advisors, sophisticated suite of business services, and in-house portfolio products and research that spans equities, fixed income, mutual funds, SMAs, annuities, and life insurance.

    NBC Securities manages or advises approximately $5 billion in assets with an operating footprint that spans the US with corporate headquarters located in Birmingham, Alabama, and 28 branch offices, including Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, and Ohio.

    For more information, visit www.nbcsecurities.com.

    Contact: press@mbcstrategic.com

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Video: Evolving Threat of Poor Governance | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025

    Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)

    In 2024, poor governance – marked by weak accountability, lack of transparency and ineffective rule of law – fuelled conflicts, eroded global cooperation and stalled progress on critical social, economic and environmental issues.

    What strategies can leaders adopt to champion transparency and rebuild good governance and trust?

    Speakers: Johan H. Andresen, Yusuf Tuggar, Ngaire Woods

    The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.

    This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.

    The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

    World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
    Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/
    YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/wef
    Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/worldeconomicforum/
    X ► https://twitter.com/wef
    LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
    TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
    Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF

    #Davos2025 #WorldEconomicForum #wef25

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-CRUv8-3S4

    MIL OSI Video –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson on the Enforcement Advisory on Self-Reporting, Cooperation and Remediation

    Source: US Commodity Futures Trading Commission

    Today, the Division of Enforcement released an Enforcement Advisory on Self-Reporting, Cooperation and Remediation (Advisory). I thank the Division staff for receiving and considering the comments shared by my office. While I am supportive of the goals of greater transparency, clarity, and efficiency in enforcement practices designed and developed to enhance registrants’ willingness to be forthcoming and cooperative with the Commission, I believe that we must be careful not to muddy the waters. To best enable market participants to develop internal compliance infrastructure, is critical that the Commission offer clear, consistent guidance that enables effective compliance as well as a well-defined pathway to report, cooperate, or remediate. We must exercise caution when advancing new reporting, cooperation, and remediation regimes or rescinding long-standing guidance.  Any effort to adopt new reporting processes, particularly processes that require inter-division guidelines and infrastructure, must be consistent with the mandates of our statue and regulation. Consequently, I am unable to support the Division’s recent Advisory. 
    In developing the Advisory, the Division may have benefited from deeper engagement with other divisions at the Commission, market participants, and the Commissioners and their staff. I stand ready to work with all of the divisions at the Commission and our registered market participants to develop further clarity on the Commission’s policies articulated in the Advisory.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: MissionSquare Retirement Expands Sales Team with Key Appointments to Strengthen DCIO Platform

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Washington, D.C., Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MissionSquare Retirement is pleased to announce the appointment of Brian Bouchard as its new Defined Contribution Investment Only (DCIO) Platform Director, alongside Niles Monica, who joined earlier this year as Institutional Client Advisor. Both will work together to enhance the organization’s investment offerings and accelerate its growth in the DCIO market.

    Bouchard is a highly accomplished leader in retirement plan sales and DCIO, with a proven track-record of driving revenue growth and building high-performing programs. His extensive experience in sales leadership, business development, and relationship management positions MissionSquare to expand its investment strategies and strengthen its presence in both public and private retirement markets.

    Niles Monica brings over 20 years of experience in sales and sales management, specializing in distribution of asset management and technology solutions to large institutions, consultants, advisors, and defined contribution providers. His expertise in fintech and asset management will be instrumental in connecting emerging businesses in the industry to the audiences that can meaningfully grow their revenue with a scalable distribution strategy.

    “This appointment underscores MissionSquare’s strategic commitment to the DCIO market, reflecting our focus on providing innovative and effective investment solutions that help retirement plan participants and sponsors achieve their financial goals,” said Andre Robinson, CEO and President of MissionSquare Retirement. “With the combined leadership of Brian and Niles, we are confident that their expertise and vision will help position MissionSquare as a premier provider of investment solutions for defined contribution plans.”

    Bouchard joins MissionSquare from the TransamericaSM DCIO team, where he served as Vice President of Institutional Retirement. During his industry tenure, Bouchard achieved multiple top sales awards and successfully expanded distribution within the retirement consulting marketplace. His previous leadership roles at Morgan Stanley and as Head of Investment Only at USAA® further demonstrate his ability to build relationships, execute strategic initiatives, and grow market share.

    Monica, currently serving as Institutional Client Advisor at MissionSquare Retirement, has held senior level roles at multiple fintech firms and spent over a decade with JP Morgan Asset Management’s Defined Contribution business. Leveraging his extensive experience in fintech and asset management, Monica develops and implements scalable distribution strategies that drive innovation and growth. His expertise in connecting emerging businesses with key market players supports MissionSquare’s strategic vision of expanding its footprint in the DCIO space and delivering cutting-edge investment solutions that create substantial value for clients and partners.

    Bouchard holds a Graduate Certificate in Administration and Management from Harvard University Extension School and a Bachelor of Arts from The Catholic University of America. He is also a registered representative.  Monica holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Villanova University.

    For more information about MissionSquare Retirement’s investment solutions, visit MissionSquare Retirement .

    About MissionSquare Retirement
    Since our founding in 1972, MissionSquare Retirement has been dedicated to simplifying the path to retirement security for public service employees. As a mission-based financial services company, we manage and administer over $72.0 billion in assets.* Our commitment to delivering results-oriented retirement plans, education, investments, and financial education sets us apart. Explore how we enable public service workers to build a secure financial future. For more information, visit www.missionsq.org or follow the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X.

    *As of December 31, 2024. Includes 457(b), 401(k), 403(b), Retirement Health Savings (RHS) plans, Employer Investment Program (EIP) plans, affiliated IRAs, and investment-only assets.

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: TopLine Financial Credit Union Members and Employees Provide Warmth to Those in Need This Winter

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MAPLE GROVE, Minn., Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based member-owned financial services cooperative, held their fourth annual Winter Gear Drive during the month of January benefitting local non-profits, Avenues for Youth, Karen Organization of Minnesota, MORE Community Services and YMCA of the North Youth and Family Services. TopLine members and employees generously donated winter gear items of youth and adult size jackets, boots, gloves, hats, scarves, socks and more to help bring warmth to those in need in our local communities.

    Employees were able to participate by donating winter gear items and money in exchange for a “Foundation Friday/Saturday” sticker, allowing them to wear jeans to work. TopLine and community members could also purchase items from an Amazon Wishlist or Target Registry and have them delivered directly to TopLine, and in return delivered to the charitable partners. When the program ended TopLine employees and members had donated over 493 winter gear items and $1,191 in cash to assist local individuals and families.

    “We are dedicated to meeting the needs identified by our nonprofit partners through various donation drives,” said Mick Olson, President and CEO of TopLine. “We are grateful for the generosity of our donors who have supported youth, adults, and families in our communities by donating coats, hats, mittens, scarves, and other warm winter items. We deeply appreciate our nonprofit partners who handle the distribution of all collected items.”

    Avenues for Youth provides emergency shelter, short-term housing and supportive services for homeless youth in a safe and nurturing environment. There are over 6,000 homeless youth in Minnesota each night. Avenues shelters in Brooklyn Park and Minneapolis help over 300 youth. Visit www.avenuesforyouth.org.

    Karen Organization of Minnesota provides refugees with resources and programs to remove barriers and achieve economic, social and cultural well-being. Visit https://mnkaren.org.

    MORE Community Services provides refugees and immigrants with education and support, helping them achieve economic and social independence today and for generations to come. Visit more-empowerment.org.

    The YMCA of the North Youth and Family Services is a leading nonprofit dedicated to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.
    To learn more about the Y’s mission and work, visit https://www.ymcanorth.org/impact.

    TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesota’s 9th largest credit union, with assets of over $1.1 billion and serves over 70,000 members. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit financial cooperative offers a complete line of financial services from its ten branch locations — in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Circle Pines, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake, Maple Grove, Plymouth, St. Francis and in St. Paul’s Como Park — as well as by phone and online at www.TopLinecu.com or www.ahcu.coop. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members, as well as employees and retirees of Anoka Hennepin School District #11, Anoka Technical College, Federal Premium Ammunition, Hoffman Enclosures, Inc., GRACO, Inc., and their subsidiaries. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit union’s foundation, visit www.TopLinecu.com/Foundation.

    CONTACT:
    Vicki Roscoe Erickson
    Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
    TopLine Financial Credit Union
    verickson@toplinecu.com | 763.391.0872

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/569e6412-d235-42f2-b3a7-82b07a9a58f4

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Bristol debt recovery business which didn’t hand over money is shut down

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Bristol debt recovery business which didn’t hand over money is shut down

    Insolvency Service investigation found that Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd failed to fully hand over the money it collected

    • Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd cold-called businesses and potential customers and then collected debts which they did not fully hand over.
    • In some instances, they falsely claimed to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
    • The company was shut down following a winding up hearing at the High Court in London on 25 February 2025.

    A Bristol-based debt recovery company which collected debts for businesses and individuals but failed to forward on all the money has been shut down.

    Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd, which traded as Encore Debt Recovery, cold-called businesses and individuals offering to recover commercial and consumer debts in return for an up-front fee or a percentage payment.

    In some instances, they falsely claimed to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – which they were not – and said they had been appointed by a court to make debt collections.

    Encore was subject to a winding up hearing held at the High Court in London on 25 February 2025.

    Edna Okhiria, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

    Our investigation found many aspects of Encore’s operations that were not legitimate, namely money not being fully forwarded after a debt collection and false claims to being FCA regulated.

    Encore continued to bank the money they collected, while ignoring emails and phone calls from those they had been contracted by to recover the debts.

    The Insolvency Service is grateful to those who came forward with their complaints, whose information and evidence helped us to shut down this scam business, protecting the public and economy from further financial harm.

    The apparent services offered by Encore included debt collection and County Court Judgement (CCJ) enforcements.

    The Insolvency Service identified at least 27 complainants during the investigation who said the company had collected debts on their behalf, or from them, but had failed to forward some or all the money received.  

    Encore also failed to cooperate with the investigation despite having a legal requirement to do so and did not produce any trading or accounting records, despite repeated requests.

    Encore did not have a presence at its registered office or obtain proper authorisation to use that address, despite it being a legal requirement to have an address at which official correspondence can be received.

    As well as the Insolvency Service, complaints about Encore were made to Action Fraud and Citizen’s Advice.

    All enquiries concerning the affairs of the Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit:

    16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ.

    Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk

    Further information:

    • Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd, company number 13204266
    • The Insolvency Service can investigate complaints about corporate abuse by live companies. This may include serious misconduct, fraud, scams or dishonest practice in the way the company operates. Further information on our live investigations can be found here  
    • Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

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    Updates to this page

    Published 26 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Partners Value Split Corp. Announces $125,000,000 Public Offering of Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 15

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES

    TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Partners Value Split Corp. (the “Company”) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell 5,000,000 Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 15 (the “Series 15 Preferred Shares”) to a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities Inc. on a bought deal basis.

    The Series 15 Preferred Shares will be issued at a price of $25.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $125,000,000. The Series 15 Preferred Shares will carry a fixed coupon of 5.15% and will have a final maturity of March 31, 2031. The Series 15 Preferred Shares have a provisional rating of Pfd-2 from DBRS Limited. The net proceeds of the offering will be used by the Company to pay a special dividend on the Company’s capital shares.

    The Company has granted the underwriters an option, exercisable in whole or part prior to closing, to purchase up to an additional 1,000,000 Series 15 Preferred Shares at the same offering price, which, if exercised in full, would increase the gross offering size to $150,000,000. Closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about March 5, 2025.

    The Company owns a portfolio consisting of approximately 119 million Class A Limited Voting Shares of Brookfield Corporation and approximately 30 million Class A Limited Voting Shares of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (collectively, the “Brookfield Securities”), which are expected to yield quarterly dividends that are sufficient to fund quarterly fixed cumulative preferential dividends for the holders of the Company’s preferred shares and to enable the holders of the Company’s capital shares to participate in any capital appreciation of the Brookfield Securities.

    Brookfield Corporation is a leading global investment firm focused on building long-term wealth for institutions and individuals around the world. Brookfield Corporation has three core businesses: alternative asset management, wealth solutions, and its operating businesses which are in renewable power, infrastructure, business and industrial services, and real estate. Brookfield Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BN.

    Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (“BAM”) is a leading global alternative asset manager with over US$1 trillion of assets under management across renewable power & transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate, and credit. BAM’s objective is to generate attractive, long-term risk-adjusted returns for the benefit of its clients and shareholders. BAM is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BAM.

    Jason Weckwerth, Chief Financial Officer, will be available at (416) 363-9491 to answer any questions regarding the offering.

    This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and regulations. The words “expected”, “will”, “agreed” and “enable” and other expressions which are predictions of or indicate future events, trends or prospects and which do not relate to historical matters or identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements with regard to the provisional rating on the Series 15 Preferred Shares, which is not a final rating, the use of proceeds of the offering and quarterly dividends from the Company’s portfolio of Brookfield Securities which are expected to fund quarterly fixed cumulative preferential dividends for holders of the Company’s preferred shares and to enable holders of its capital shares to participate in any capital appreciation of the Brookfield Securities. Although the Company believes that the anticipated future results or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information and statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information and statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking information and statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by the forward-looking information and statements include: the behaviour of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and exchange rates, availability of equity and debt financing and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in the Company’s other documents filed with the Canadian securities regulators. We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking information to make decisions with respect to the Company, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as may be required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or statements, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Reference should be made to the Company’s short form base shelf prospectus dated September 19, 2024 for a description of the major risk factors.

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Signature Systems, Inc. Announces Slate Of New Features For Casino POS

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WARMINSTER, Pa., Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Signature Systems, Inc. (SSI), the award-winning hospitality technology provider known for their point-of-sale,PDQ POS, is proud to announce the release of “The Multi-Revenue Center Update.” This new software revision, numbered 3.5.383, gives operators of facilities that contain multiple food & beverage operations the ability to place orders and accept payment for any of those operations wirelessly. Guests can place, pay for and receive orders for any restaurant on premises without the need to leave their seat.

    With the new Multi-Revenue Center Update, staff can easily select any of their locations with one tap and take orders from a wireless POS tablet. Patrons at slot machines, tables, sportsbooks or at other locations can place orders for their favorite food and beverage items and have it delivered to them without taking their eyes off of the game.

    Contained in this update is the new virtual table functionality, which allows staff to easily create or transfer tabs for guests who are not at a pre-programmed location, like a set table or bar seat. This functionality also grants the ability to easily track customers who move locations, like from a table to a bar, or from a bar to a sportsbook without needing to close out and create a new tab.

    “The gaming industry is modernizing, using data and technology to enhance guest’s experiences, increasing retention,” said John White, EVP/CIO of Signature Systems Inc. “We’re modernizing along with them and, with this software update, casinos can take another big step forward. Multiple revenue centers from any POS removes a pre-existing limit to guest enjoyment and helps operators use hardware more efficiently.”

    Included in the software update is also the much-anticipated SMS Waitlist feature. Which allows for hosts and other staff to quickly add guests to a waitlist and be notified via SMS text message when their table is ready. This new functionality removes the need for special notification devices to hand to guests on the waitlist or additional software subscriptions.

    “When designing software for these environments, it’s crucial to consider the experiences of both guests and staff,” Said Justin Andrews, Lead Software Engineer at Signature Systems, Inc. “By improving operational efficiency and the speed of interaction, we can increase revenue and boost customer satisfaction.”

    About Signature Systems (SSI)

    With deep roots in food and beverage, Signature Systems, Inc. (SSI), is a 35-year tenured technology solutions provider whose signature product is PDQ POS, a top rated, all-concept point of sale management system. SSI differentiates itself from all others by virtue of its all-in-one, custom solution sets; all-in-house, domestic teams (including development, live 24x7x365 support, and data/cyber security); and all-in-accountability for prompt, accurate issue resolution.

    Products & services include natively integrated enterprise reporting w/mobile app, natively integrated Delivery Toolkit mobile app, natively integrated custom online ordering, 3rd party delivery fulfillment,

    an array of guest empowerment solutions including self-serve kiosks with multiple tenders, full PCI DSS compliance, comprehensive menu management, value-added integrations, expert project management, onsite training and education, and much more. Learn more at PDQpos.com and

    SSIpos.com, for all casino/hospitality-based restaurants, bars, and retail.

    SSI is the proud winner of the 2022 Innovation Award from Gaming & Leisure©.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ec5b944-1695-4254-9a84-d09811651780

    The MIL Network –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Economics: 13th Global Community of Practice (G-CoP) – Unlocking Africa’s Potential: Driving Innovation and Harnessing Domestic Debt Markets for Sustainable…

    Source: African Development Bank Group
    Do you wish to be part of a transformative conversation shaping Africa’s future?
    The African Development Institute of the African Development Bank is excited to invite you to the 13th Global Community of Practice (G-CoP) Policy Dialogue focusing on innovative strategies for unlocking Africa’s domestic debt markets.

    MIL OSI Economics –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Economics: The Indigenous-led solar farm redefining Alberta’s energy landscape

    Source: – Press Release/Statement:

    Headline: The Indigenous-led solar farm redefining Alberta’s energy landscape

    “Alberta needs to proceed with caution: it is counterproductive to jeopardize existing wind and solar projects,” Vittoria Bellissimo, president and CEO of CanREA, said in a December press release. “These projects were built in good faith but could fail if they cannot repay their debt, causing credit downgrades across the sector. This will raise borrowing costs for companies and ultimately increase the cost of electricity for customers.” Read more.
    The post The Indigenous-led solar farm redefining Alberta’s energy landscape appeared first on Canadian Renewable Energy Association.

    MIL OSI Economics –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: No world order: Europe needs more radical thinking for the Trump era

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Youngs, Professor of International and European Politics, University of Warwick

    There is general agreement that the US’s geopolitical shock therapy is a sign of a new world order. While European powers nominally recognise this, their policies are not, in practice, tailored towards such a change.

    The EU and other European governments are, understandably, focused on very immediate matters – talks on Ukraine, defence budgets, rebutting big US tech firms. But they also need to be guided by a clearer vision of the broader international order that flows from this inflection point.

    Even though the world has already changed profoundly over the last decade, most observers judge the current juncture to be a decisive watershed. Yet the tumult unleashed in 2025 feels not so much like a well-defined new world order as the chaotic imprecision of “no world order”. Nothing concrete has emerged as a replacement for the long-crumbling liberal order.

    Multi-polarity is not fully evident because there is little balance between powers. But the current influence of large powers rubs uneasily with the notion of a “G-zero world” in which no countries have any real control.

    The long-predicted plurilateralism, in which smaller groups of states reach political agreements, has not become reality. Yet neither is a well-ordered concert of great powers especially evident.

    A concert-based order would hardly accord the primacy now reassigned to Russia, a country that enjoys only a few of the long-term structural attributes of great-power status.

    But it’s also worth noting that “no world order” is not quite the same thing as “new world disorder”. Although many leaders make a show of flouting international rules and norms on high-profile issues like international courts, the reality is that they still matter in conditioning international behaviour.

    It can reasonably be suggested that the new order will be eclectic or composite – essentially, a combination of all of the above. Yet, the current jumble and clash of dynamics does not constitute a patterned “order”. The relationships between the different forces at work are nowhere near being worked out.

    What is European ‘independence’?

    In this void, European governments and the EU are leaning heavily on two long-familiar tenets, even as these raise operational question marks.

    One is the notion of autonomy. European leaders have now doubled down on their calls for more strategic autonomy and a narrative of Europe of being “independent” from the US and “writing its own history”.

    But autonomy is a somewhat hazy geopolitical motif. European powers of course need the autonomy to chart their own strategic priorities, but current crises palpably reinforce the need to manage complex interdependencies. Autonomy in the sense of deploying economic, political or military capabilities unconstrained by other powers is a diminished prospect.

    The other European reflex is to stress a determination to “reinforce multilateralism”, something few other world powers are apparently willing to do now.

    But multilateralism in its current form is surely beyond resuscitation. The imperative is rather to rethink multilateral norms and salvage the most essential core of liberal cooperation amid today’s lurch towards uncontrolled turbulence and power-expediency.

    I have previously proposed what I term “geoliberalism” as a path forward. This is a model that balances geopolitical reality alongside liberal and democratic values. In the second Trump era, the liberal elements of this concept are even more squeezed than they were before he was re-elected.



    Read more:
    Europe is still in short-term crisis mode over Ukraine and lacks a vision for its post-war identity

    Despite the multilateralism rhetoric, European powers actually seem to be leaning towards a more absolute version of realpolitik, with diplomacy based on practical rather than moral considerations. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, talks of “hyper-transactionalism”, which is less a vision of order than its negation.

    European international liberalism needs to be reframed, not jettisoned. It will be more rearguard and selective, but needs also to be more concerted to hold at bay today’s turbo-charged illiberal assault.

    It can lock onto powerful global societal trends to which realpolitik is dangerously and self-defeatingly blind. European Union powers need to be more measured but also more pointed in salvaging islands of liberal order – for example on climate change cooperation.

    There is little sign of such reflection. Familiar cliches are dominating the European response to the US illiberal pivot.

    The strategic debate has narrowed, especially around the question of defence spending. Repeating ad nauseum that “Europe must step up” and “get its act together” says little about what kind of strategy is needed to navigate the current order implosion, the end towards which defence capabilities are ultimately directed.

    European governments should indeed boost their defence spend, but that spend needs to be rooted in and directed towards an appropriate strategy for global re-ordering.

    The current flux means this is a moment when the parameters of the next international order will be defined. European powers need to prioritise practical action to influence that order more than endless, self-referential speeches about their own power status.

    Even if a degree of self-survival short-termism is understandable, the EU and European governments must lift their eyes to craft more far-sighted responses to the world’s collapsing certainties.

    Richard Youngs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. No world order: Europe needs more radical thinking for the Trump era – https://theconversation.com/no-world-order-europe-needs-more-radical-thinking-for-the-trump-era-250864

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: How palaeontologists are uncovering dinosaur behaviour

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By David Hone, Senior Lecturer in Zoology, Queen Mary University of London

    How do scientists study the behaviour of dinosaurs, who died 65 million years ago? After all, dinosaur fossils are rare enough as it is, and most are fragments and difficult to work with.

    This is something that palaeontologists have been working on since the earliest days of research on these incredible animals. Until recently, this was often only in vague terms of, for example, which animals were herbivores or carnivores.

    But new opportunities are becoming available to us. Palaeontologists have recently pieced together the colours and patterns of some feathered dinosaurs, using electron microscopes to see tiny preserved structures that used to contain the pigments of the animals in life. This is something that scientists used to think was probably impossible.

    But right now it can only tell us so much – it just tells us the colour of the individual animal at the time of its death.

    Studying more specimens of the same species could reveal if males and females were the same colours or if they differed, and if these feathers underwent seasonal changes or varied with the environment. Perhaps they turned white in winter as camouflage. Maybe feathers were different colours in different regions. This would suggest that the local environment helped these dinosaurs to hide and that they cannot have been wide ranging or their camouflage would not work.

    Perhaps the males were brightly coloured to attract mates, or perhaps both were, which would suggest both sexes were involved in rearing their offspring.

    This is something scientists should be able to tackle in the coming years. For some species at least, such as the small feathered dinosaur Anchiornis, we have the fossils, and we have the techniques. We just need to extract the data from the dinosaur fossils we have.

    We already have a good idea of what colours and patterns mean for different groups of living animals, so we can apply some of this knowledge to dinosaurs. However, much of researchers’ work on dinosaur behaviour has been stunted by a poor use of the behaviour of modern animals as a template for dinosaurs, and a tendency to focus on special specimens as being representative of bigger patterns.

    For example, we have well-studied fossils of carnivorous dinosaurs with the bones of other animals inside them. Although is incontrovertible that the carnivorous dinosaurs ate these other animals, it is hard – or even impossible – to know if the prey was scavenged or if it was hunted by the dinosaur.

    It’s too easy to think the dinosaur lived on the species the bones belonged to. Bones tend to survive the fossilisation process, but the animal might have mostly eaten muscle and organs, or even insects and they wouldn’t show up. Although such finds are important, we need to take them as evidence that something happened once, not that it was a habitual activity. Then we can go in search of other evidence to test or reject such an idea.

    In that context, we really are blessed. New fossils and new techniques (such as CT scans to get inside skulls to dinosaur brain to assess them) are still being discovered. And there are perhaps more dinosaur researchers than ever before, even if that total is not that high compared to other disciplines.

    It means that we are continually getting insights and new lines of evidence about things like how and what dinosaurs ate, their underlying physiology, the environments in which they lived, how they moved, and how they changed as they grew. This is the raw material of studies for behaviour, and adding this kind of data to our understanding of the behaviour of modern animals has enormous potential for future studies of dinosaurs (and other prehistoric animals).

    Another angle to consider is how palaeontologists formulate their ideas about dinosaur behaviour in the first place. For example, although we have numerous examples of several individuals of a dinosaur species found together, this doesn’t meant that the species habitually lived in groups, let alone that their near relatives did.

    Cats are generally solitary animals, but if you inferred the social behaviour of lions or cheetah from tigers and puma, you’d think these animals lived their lives alone. The fact is that lions and male cheetah usually live in groups.

    But they are sometimes solitary and will switch between being solo or living together at various times in their lives. So taking from the position that one group of dinosaurs died near each other means they and their relatives lived together won’t help us understand how they were really living.

    The future of the study of dinosaur behaviour is looking bright. This is why I wanted to write a book on the subject and to explore the issues we have had before, but frame the successes that are happening. Coupled with more rigorous attempts to investigate and test our hypotheses, we can establish a much firmer ground for understanding how these incredible creatures lived.

    David Hone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How palaeontologists are uncovering dinosaur behaviour – https://theconversation.com/how-palaeontologists-are-uncovering-dinosaur-behaviour-246702

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld is moving, witty and achingly real

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sarah Trott, Senior Lecturer in American Studies and History, York St John University

    I was immediately struck by the title of Curtis Sittenfeld’s new collection of 12 short stories, Show Don’t Tell. That’s because it’s also the name of a narrative technique that allows readers to experience a story through the characters’ actions, words, thoughts and feelings, rather than the author’s explanations. It means that readers can create their own visualisations and conclusions without the author telling them what to think.

    And this is exactly what Sittenfeld does. Show Don’t Tell offers slices of life in the American midwest from a middle-aged and mostly female perspective. The stories can be enjoyed casually. Or, they can be read as a more profound exploration of individual and social conflict at a time when the US is on the verge of momentous political change.

    The self-contained stories evoke many moods and feelings. Each one is relatable in its own way, and all 12 are addictively consumable in one sitting. Within just a few paragraphs Sittenfeld’s vibrant characters feel familiar. They reflect on their lives and the changes in their desires and hopes. And they regularly wonder about their inherent “goodness” and that of those around them and the world they live in.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    Show Don’t Tell is an exploration of relationships, human emotion, honesty, compassion and contemplation. The stories offer a realistic exploration of life’s ups and downs – comical or otherwise.

    What links these the stories are the personal reflections they offer on important political subjects, from the COVID pandemic and tech billionaires, to sex and sexuality, wealth, health, marriage and racism. They represent a contemporary and timely connection to events in the US.

    Absurdist America

    The book’s title story, Show Don’t Tell, originally published in The New Yorker in 2017, lays the groundwork for the book’s focus on memory. It acknowledges the importance of youth – “when you were, like a pupa, in the process of becoming yourself” – and the cynicism that comes with age and maturity.

    The book references the American author Don DeLillo.
    Library of Congress

    The story mentions Don DeLillo’s postmodern novel White Noise (1985), referring to the author as the “ombudsman of American letters right now”. Like DeLillo, Sittenfeld’s work combines tone, style and multiple voices to create a humorous yet mildly absurdist representation of America. Her characters blunder tactlessly into faux pas after faux pas, which made me wince with sympathetic embarrassment or awkward discomfort. There is a cringeworthy quality to some situations and circumstances that feel amusingly relatable, sincere and human.

    There’s also a universality that pervades the collection. For example, Creative Differences is ultimately about toothpaste and brushing your teeth. This is the power of Sittenfeld’s work – her ability to slip complex subject matters, such as love, death, and loss, relationships between the sexes, and prejudice, into slice-of-life narratives.

    Hidden depths

    Despite the absurd or humorous surface nature of the stories, there is a profundity to the collection that lies just below the surface.

    The daily low-level dread and sense of disaster that inhabits the protagonist in Follow-Up strikes a chord, again, with DeLillo’s characters’ obsession with death and catastrophe in White Noise. But Sittenfeld gently reminds us that, considering the chaotic past decade, where death, catastrophe and complex political issues have dominated American lives, fear and anxiety are an entirely reasonable emotional response.

    She shows that it’s normal to look for human connection and comfort wherever we can find it. America has been turned upside down by a global pandemic, social conflict over sexuality, simmering racial tension and the accumulation of enormous wealth. And Sittenfeld shows us the aftermaths; the differences between then (the 1980s and 90s) and now (the 2020s). She shows us the changes between the innocence of youth and the realities of the post-9/11 and post-COVID world.

    This is the strength of the collection – reminding the reader of the universality of actions and emotions. And the authenticity that permeates the stories reminds us that we’re not alone.

    This is a clever, witty and moving collection with sometimes achingly real portrayals. The themes that unite the stories showcase women and men at moments of introspection, revealing the diversity and genuineness that permeates the multiple authentic worlds that Sittenfeld creates.

    Sarah Trott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld is moving, witty and achingly real – https://theconversation.com/show-dont-tell-by-curtis-sittenfeld-is-moving-witty-and-achingly-real-247853

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why people rebuild in Appalachia’s flood-ravaged areas despite the risks

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kristina P. Brant, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, Penn State

    Parts of the North Fork of the Kentucky River flooded in July 2022, and again in February 2025. Arden S. Barnes/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

    On Valentine’s Day 2025, heavy rains started to fall in parts of rural Appalachia. Over the course of a few days, residents in eastern Kentucky watched as river levels rose and surpassed flood levels. Emergency teams conducted over 1,000 water rescues. Hundreds, if not thousands of people were displaced from homes, and entire business districts filled with mud.

    For some, it was the third time in just four years that their homes had flooded, and the process of disposing of destroyed furniture, cleaning out the muck and starting anew is beginning again.

    Historic floods wiped out businesses and homes in eastern Kentucky in February 2021, July 2022 and now February 2025. An even greater scale of destruction hit eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina in September 2024, when Hurricane Helene’s rainfall and flooding decimated towns and washed out parts of major highways.

    Scenes of flooding from several locations across Appalachia in February 2025.

    Each of these events was considered to be a “thousand-year flood,” with a 1-in-1,000 chance of happening in a given year. Yet they’re happening more often.

    The floods have highlighted the resilience of local people to work together for collective survival in rural Appalachia. But they have also exposed the deep vulnerability of communities, many of which are located along creeks at the base of hills and mountains with poor emergency warning systems. As short-term cleanup leads to long-term recovery efforts, residents can face daunting barriers that leave many facing the same flood risks over and over again.

    Exposing a housing crisis

    For the past nine years, I have been conducting research on rural health and poverty in Appalachia. It’s a complex region often painted in broad brushstrokes that miss the geographic, socioeconomic and ideological diversity it holds.

    Appalachia is home to a vibrant culture, a fierce sense of pride and a strong sense of love. But it is also marked by the omnipresent backdrop of a declining coal industry.

    There is considerable local inequality that is often overlooked in a region portrayed as one-dimensional. Poverty levels are indeed high. In Perry County, Kentucky, where one of eastern Kentucky’s larger cities, Hazard, is located, nearly 30% of the population lives under the federal poverty line. But the average income of the top 1% of workers in Perry County is nearly US$470,000 – 17 times more than the average income of the remaining 99%.

    This income and wealth inequality translates to unequal land ownership – much of eastern Kentucky’s most desirable land remains in the hands of corporations and families with great generational wealth.

    When I first moved to eastern Kentucky in 2016, I was struck by the grave lack of affordable, quality housing. I met families paying $200-$300 a month for a small plot to put a mobile home. Others lived in “found housing” – often-distressed properties owned by family members. They had no lease, no equity and no insurance. They had a place to lay one’s head but lacked long-term stability in the event of disagreement or disaster. This reality was rarely acknowledged by local and state governments.

    Eastern Kentucky’s 2021 and 2022 floods turned this into a full-blown housing crisis, with 9,000 homes damaged or destroyed in the 2022 flood alone.

    “There was no empty housing or empty places for housing,” one resident involved in local flood recovery efforts told me. “It just was complete disaster because people just didn’t have a place to go.”

    Most homeowners did not have flood insurance to assist with rebuilding costs. While many applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance, the amounts they received often did not go far. The maximum aid for temporary housing assistance and repairs is $42,500, plus up to an additional $42,500 for other needs related to the disaster.

    The federal government often provides more aid for rebuilding through block grants directed to local and state governments, but that money requires congressional approval and can take months to years to arrive. Local community coalitions and organizations stepped in to fill these gaps, but they did not necessarily have sufficient donations or resources to help such large numbers of displaced people.

    Affordable rental housing is hard to find in much of Appalachia. When flooding wipes out homes, as Jackson, Ky., saw in July 2022 and again in February 2025, it becomes even more rare.
    Michael Swensen/Getty Images

    With a dearth of affordable rentals pre-flood, renters who lost their homes had no place to go. And those living in “found housing” that was destroyed were not eligible for federal support for rebuilding.

    The sheer level of devastation also posed challenges. One health care professional told me: “In Appalachia, the way it usually works is if you lose your house or something happens, then you go stay with your brother or your mom or your cousin. … But everybody’s mom and brother and cousin also lost their house. There was nowhere to stay.” From her point of view, “our homelessness just skyrocketed.”

    The cost of land – social and economic

    After the 2022 flood, the Kentucky Department for Local Government earmarked almost $300 million of federal funding to build new, flood-resilient homes in eastern Kentucky. Yet the question of where to build remained. As another resident involved in local flood recovery efforts told me, “You can give us all the money you want; we don’t have any place to build the house.”

    It has always been costly and time-intensive to develop land in Appalachia. Available higher ground tends to be located on former strip mines, and these reclaimed lands require careful geotechnical surveying and sometimes structural reinforcements.

    If these areas are remote, the costs of running electric, water and other infrastructure services can also be prohibitive. For this reason, for-profit developers have largely avoided many counties in the region. The head of a nonprofit agency explained to me that, because of this, “The markets have broken. … We have no [housing] market.”

    Eastern Kentucky’s mountains are beautiful, but there are few locations for building homes that aren’t near creeks or rivers. Strip-mined land, where mountaintops were flattened, often aren’t easily accessible and come with their own challenges.
    Posnov/Moment via Getty Images

    There is also some risk involved in attempting to build homes on new land that has not previously been developed. A local government could pay for undeveloped land to be surveyed and prepared for development, with the prospect of reimbursement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development if housing is successfully built. But if, after the work to prepare the land, it is still too cost-prohibitive to build a profitable house there, the local government would not receive any reimbursement.

    Some counties have found success clearing land for large developments on former strip mine sites. But these former coal mining areas can be considerable distances from towns. Without robust public transportation systems, these distances are especially prohibitive for residents who lack reliable personal transportation.

    Another barrier is the high prices that both individual and corporate landowners are asking for properties on higher ground.

    The scarcity of desirable land available for sale, combined with increasingly urgent demand, has led to prices unaffordable for most. Another resident involved in local flood recovery efforts explained: “If you paid $5,000 for 30 acres 40 years ago, why won’t you sell that for $100,000? Nope, [they want] $1 million.” That makes it increasingly difficult for both individuals and housing developers to purchase land and build.

    One reason for this scarcity is the amount of land that is still owned by outside corporate interests. For example, Kentucky River Properties, formerly Kentucky River Coal Corporation, owns over 270,000 acres across seven counties in the region. While this landholding company leases land to coal, timber and gas companies, it and others like it rarely permit residential development.

    But not all unused land is owned by corporations. Some of this land is owned by families with deep roots in the region. People’s attachment to a place often makes them want to stay in their communities, even after disasters. But it can also limit the amount of land available for rebuilding. People are often hesitant to sell land that holds deep significance for their families, even if they are not living there themselves.

    Rural communities are often tight-knit. Many residents want to stay despite the risks.
    AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

    One health care professional expressed feeling torn between selling or keeping their own family property after the 2022 flood: “We have a significant amount of property on top of a mountain. I wouldn’t want to sell it because my papa came from nothing. … His generation thought owning land was the greatest thing. … And for him to provide his children and his grandchildren and their great-grandchildren a plot of land that he worked and sweat and ultimately died to give us – people want to hold onto that.”

    She recognized that land was in great demand but couldn’t bring herself to sell what she owned. In cases like hers, higher grounds are owned locally but still remain unused.

    Moving toward higher ground, slowly

    Two years after the 2022 flood, major government funding for rebuilding still has not resulted in a significant number of homes. The state has planned seven communities on higher ground in eastern Kentucky that aim to house 665 new homes. As of early 2025, 14 houses had been completed.

    Progress on providing housing on higher ground is slow, and the need is great.

    In the meantime, when I conducted interviews during the summer and fall of 2024, many of the mobile home communities that were decimated in the 2022 flood had begun to fill back up. These were flood-risk areas, but there was simply no other place to go.

    Last week, I watched on Facebook a friend’s live video footage showing the waters creeping up the sides of the mobile homes in one of those very communities that had flooded in 2022. Another of my friends mused: “I don’t know who constructed all this, but they did an unjustly favor by not thinking how close these towns was to the river. Can’t anyone in Frankfort help us, or has it gone too far?”

    With hundreds more people now displaced by the most recent flood, the need for homes on higher grounds has only expanded, and the wait continues.

    Kristina Brant has received funding from the National Science Foundation and United States Department of Agriculture to support her past and ongoing research in rural Appalachia.

    – ref. Why people rebuild in Appalachia’s flood-ravaged areas despite the risks – https://theconversation.com/why-people-rebuild-in-appalachias-flood-ravaged-areas-despite-the-risks-240429

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Parrotfish support healthy coral reefs, but they’re not a cure-all, and sometimes cause harm

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, Professor of Marine Ecology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

    Rainbow and midnight parrotfish feed at Alacranes Reef in the Gulf of Mexico. Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, CC BY-ND

    After two years of record-breaking ocean heat, scientists are assessing the impacts of the world’s fourth mass bleaching event on coral reefs around the globe. At least 74 countries and territories are confirmed to have experienced coral bleaching since the spring of 2023.

    As coastal development, pollution and climate change put increasing stress on the world’s oceans, tropical reefs are losing reef-building corals at unprecedented rates. These corals – species with rigid skeletons, such as elkhorn and brain corals – are the architects of these ecosystems, providing the foundations for coral reef communities.

    Coral reefs perform many important functions, such as buffering coastlines and providing habitat for one-fourth of all marine species. In the U.S. alone, these ecological services are worth an estimated US$3.4 billion yearly.

    Over the past several decades, many studies have spotlighted the role of “grazers” – fish who feed on algae – in keeping coral reefs clean and healthy. Protecting parrotfish, a family of some 90 species of large, colorful grazers, has become a tenet of reef conservation policies.

    We have analyzed indicators of reef health and resilience and assessed the roles parrotfish play in controlling seaweed, promoting coral growth and eroding reefs. While it is clear that parrotfish are an important part of coral reef communities, management strategies focusing on them, in our view, have not fully proved effective. In a review of recent science, we showed why conservation programs need to rethink the role parrotfish can play as a conservation tool to improve reef health.

    The coral bleaching event that started in 2024 is the largest such episode on record.

    The parrotfish paradigm

    Corals and the reef bottom they live on need to stay clean to prevent seaweed from growing on their surfaces. Excessive seaweed growth on reefs can block sunlight from corals’ surfaces, release chemicals that affect coral survival, slow the corals’ growth and make it harder for new corals to establish themselves and build reef structures.

    When disease or bleaching kills corals on a reef, other fast-growing organisms, including seaweed, rapidly colonize the dead corals’ skeletons. This impedes new corals from settling and surviving on the reef, and locks the ecosystem into a state of low growth and poor recovery.

    In this context, it is easy to see why protecting algae-eating fish has become a cornerstone of coral reef conservation. This paradigm assumes that restoring populations of “grazing” species by protecting them from fishing is essential for controlling seaweeds, improving reef health and promoting coral recovery.

    This strategy has spurred governments in many countries, including Belize, Bermuda, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Colombia and the U.S., to create marine protected areas, restrict fishing in designated zones and ban parrotfish harvesting.

    Fishermen in Indonesia with a green humphead parrotfish.
    Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images

    Missing pieces of parrotfish protection

    Evidence shows that conservation measures have increased parrotfish populations in some places, such as Bonaire and Belize, with positive effects on reefs. However, parrotfish increases have not always reduced algae growth or increased coral cover. In our review, we highlight three main factors that may be hindering the success of this approach in the Caribbean.

    First, parrotfish management has traditionally treated all species as if they consume the same amount of algae. This notion leads to using measures like the total number or total weight of parrotfish present in a given reef as proxies for seaweed consumption.

    However, not all parrotfish are the same. Some species, such as the redband parrotfish, effectively remove algae, while others, such as the blue parrotfish, barely eat it. More precise and targeted conservation measures would consider each species’ specific impact on seaweed growth.

    Second, while parrotfish help reefs to grow by keeping them clean, they also can cause gradual erosion of reef structures. Some parrotfish species graze by biting off chunks of coral, especially from dead skeletons, and grinding it in their digestive systems, excreting it as sand.

    Humphead parrotfish are among the species that consume coral, grinding it in their powerful jaws and excreting fine sand that creates tropical beaches.

    This bioerosion process is natural and essential. But on highly degraded reefs with low coral cover, large numbers of eroding parrotfish can accelerate reef breakdown.

    Increases or declines in populations of parrotfish influence the intensity of erosion. But focusing so closely on parrotfish has unintentionally overlooked the erosive capacity of these fishes by assuming all parrotfish have the same effect on the ecosystem. This raises an important question: Which species are favored by restrictions on harvesting parrotfish?

    Our research shows that key bioeroding species that break down dead coral, such as the queen parrotfish and the stoplight parrotfish, are more vulnerable to overfishing because they are larger and take longer to mature. This means that reducing or restricting their catch might unintentionally increase bioerosion. For these ecosystems, increasing parrotfish numbers might not reduce algae growth enough to fully offset higher rates of bioerosion.

    A stoplight parrotfish breaks down dead coral while feeding.

    Conservation strategies that evolve

    As science progresses and new evidence emerges, it is crucial to reexamine conservation strategies and see whether they need to be updated or even scrapped. This ongoing process of refining plans based on evolving knowledge is known as adaptive management and is widely used in ecology and conservation.

    We are not calling for an end to protecting parrotfish. However, no single strategy can be a comprehensive tool for conserving coral reefs, which are very complex ecosystems.

    Rather, we want to encourage people – especially reef managers and scientists – to recognize the different roles that various parrotfish species play and the varying challenges each species faces, and tailor reef protection efforts accordingly. We also believe it is critical to do more to counter the causes of coral mortality, including climate change, coastal development and water pollution. Along with grazers to keep them clean, coral reefs need cleaner waters and cooler oceans to ensure their long-term survival.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Parrotfish support healthy coral reefs, but they’re not a cure-all, and sometimes cause harm – https://theconversation.com/parrotfish-support-healthy-coral-reefs-but-theyre-not-a-cure-all-and-sometimes-cause-harm-242270

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: States that impose severe prison sentences accomplish the opposite of what they say they want

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John Leverso, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati

    Prison doors close, but for most people convicted of crimes, they eventually open again. Hans Neleman/Stone via Getty Images

    Across the U.S., tough-on-crime policies are surging again, despite research showing they do little to reduce crime, particularly violent offenses.

    Before the early 1990s, people who were sentenced to 10 years in prison might be released after serving roughly half that long. That’s because of policies that allowed incarcerated individuals to earn credit for good behavior or, in some states, to avoid losing credits they already held toward an early release. These so-called “good time” policies were created by states to encourage good behavior and rehabilitation and to reduce prison overcrowding.

    But in the 1990s, when national politics was focused on crime rates, Congress encouraged states to adopt so-called “truth-in-sentencing” laws, which required people to serve at least 85% of their prison sentence.

    As research highlighted the inefficacy and unintended consequences of these laws, states rolled them back or modified them, mostly by partially repealing them or reducing the severity of mandatory sentences.

    Some efforts to roll back harsh sentencing rules continue: In Illinois, traditionally a leader in criminal justice reform, one bill that would soften truth-in-sentencing requirements has stalled, though another was introduced in January 2025.

    But in many other states, truth-in-sentencing laws and other similar laws that impose longer sentences are making a comeback, particularly for violent crimes.

    Since 2023, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Dakota and Tennessee have passed truth-in-sentencing laws. North Dakota is now considering similar legislation. In November 2024, Colorado voters required people convicted of violent crimes to serve higher percentages of their sentences, which is a similar move, though it didn’t bear the “truth-in-sentencing” label.

    A personal lens on the topic

    These laws have real effects on real people.

    In 1998, I was sentenced to 22 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for a gang-related violent crime I committed as a juvenile. I served just 11 of those years under a long-standing policy that allowed individuals to serve half their sentence with good behavior.

    But if I had been arrested just 100 days later, a truth-in-sentencing law would have taken effect, and I would have had to serve the full 22 years.

    Eleven years is a long time. Since my release in 2012, I’ve earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a Ph.D. I’m now a college professor, author, husband and father.

    If I had been required to serve my full sentence, I would have been released in 2023, older and with fewer opportunities for education, rehabilitation and rebuilding my life.

    Instead of being able to start my education at the age of 30, I would have entered the world in my forties, making it much harder to pursue a decade of schooling to become a professor. The delay would have also made it harder to start a family, forcing me to balance career-building with the difficulties of having children later in life.

    Incarcerated graduates, who finished various educational and vocational programs in prison, wait for the start of their graduation ceremony in May 2023.
    AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

    Not deterring crime

    Supporters of truth-in-sentencing laws say they are intended to increase accountability for wrongdoing and deter crime. The logic can seem reasonably intuitive: If people know they will receive a harsher punishment, they will be less likely to commit particular crimes.

    But research finds that those are not the results. There is no compelling evidence that punitive sentencing policies discourage individuals from engaging in criminal activity.

    And states without truth-in-sentencing laws have seen their crime rates fall to roughly the same degree as states that have the laws.

    Harming society at large

    Research also finds that truth-in-sentencing laws cause far-reaching harms to people convicted of crimes and to society at large, undermining both rehabilitation and public safety.

    Because truth-in-sentencing laws focus on deterrence, they do not address the causes of criminal behavior, such as poverty and childhood trauma.

    These laws also make prisons less safe: They remove incentives for people in prison to follow the rules, get an education, participate in psychotherapy or otherwise engage in positive activities while behind bars.

    The vast majority of incarcerated people – six out of every seven inmates – are released into society again. Under truth-in-sentencing laws, they emerge from prison less prepared to follow the laws than they would have been if they had access to educational programs, therapy and an incentive structure that encouraged rehabilitation while incarcerated.

    A study in Georgia, for instance, found that after stricter sentencing requirements were enacted, inmates subject to the new rules committed more disciplinary infractions and participated in fewer rehabilitation programs in prison. And once released, they were more likely to commit new crimes than released inmates who had not been subject to the stricter sentences.

    Costing taxpayers dearly

    Additionally, the financial burden of these laws is significant.

    For example, Arkansas’ truth-in-sentencing law, passed in 2023, is projected to cost the state’s taxpayers at least US$160 million over the next decade to pay for increased prison capacity and staffing.

    Instead of deterring crime, truth-in-sentencing laws lock more people up for longer periods of time without addressing the underlying factors, which strains already overburdened correctional systems.

    These laws also disproportionately affect people of color, exacerbating systemic inequities in the criminal justice system.

    These people incarcerated in a California prison are learning computer programming.
    AP Photo/Eric Risberg

    A different path

    For me, the possibility of earning good-time credit was a powerful motivator to engage in rehabilitative activities and regain lost time after disciplinary infractions.

    When I began my sentence, Illinois law allowed people to receive a 50% reduction in their sentence through good-time credit: I might need to serve only half of my original 22-year sentence, and be released after 11 years, if I maintained good behavior.

    Breaking the rules would cost credit, extending my time in prison beyond that 50% mark. Early in my sentence, I broke the rules and was placed in isolation – also called segregation or restrictive housing, in a cell for 24 hours a day, except for six hours of exercise a week – for a total of 18 months, resulting in a significant loss of my good-time credit. As a result, instead of serving 11 years, my expected time in prison increased to approximately 12.5 years.

    This setback was a turning point. I knew that my actions had directly affected the length of time I would have to spend in prison. I became determined to earn back my lost time. I focused on staying out of trouble, earning my GED, completing my associate degree and enrolling in available programs. I was able to regain my time credit and had to serve only 11 years.

    Under today’s truth-in-sentencing laws, none of this would have been possible. I would have been required to serve my full sentence, regardless of whether I chose to change, rehabilitate or prepare for life after prison. The ability to reduce my sentence through good behavior and educational achievement gave me a tangible incentive to turn my life around, an opportunity that truth-in-sentencing laws eliminate.

    A way forward

    By contrast, investing in rehabilitation not only improves outcomes for those incarcerated but also makes communities safer by reducing the cycle of crime.

    Research shows that in-prison rehabilitation programs – particularly those centered on education and vocational training programs and social-support services such as housing help, mental health care and job placement assistance – reduce recidivism rates. While in prison, people are held accountable while also having opportunities to grow and learn, preparing for successful reintegration into society after their release.

    I believe that in the overwhelming majority of people in prison, there is potential for redemption – but that potential is most likely to emerge when they have opportunities to learn and grow and receive benefits for making changes in their lives.

    Unfortunately, many states are choosing to spend millions locking up more people for longer periods – while giving them less opportunity to improve themselves and their lives, reducing their potential for change and safe, productive reintegration into society upon release.

    John Leverso does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. States that impose severe prison sentences accomplish the opposite of what they say they want – https://theconversation.com/states-that-impose-severe-prison-sentences-accomplish-the-opposite-of-what-they-say-they-want-247550

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: How ticket-splitting voters could shape the 2026 midterms

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ian Anson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    Even in polarized times, some American voters still cross party lines to support both Democratic and Republican candidates. wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images

    With the 2024 U.S. election over and done with, political analysts and both major parties are already turning their attention to the upcoming midterm elections in 2026.

    All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 Senate seats will be up for grabs. The Democrats are as desperate to retake control of Congress as Republicans are to keep it. A Democratic-controlled Congress in 2026 would do everything in its power to halt President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda in its tracks.

    To edge out their opponent, candidates in highly competitive districts will have to win over some voters who rejected their own party’s presidential candidate in 2024. Democratic candidates will need to get support from at least some Trump voters; Republicans will need some support from Kamala Harris voters.

    Despite the intensely polarized U.S. political environment, a significant number of Americans routinely cross party lines to support both Democratic and Republican candidates at the polls. When it happens on the same ballot, this is called ticket-splitting.

    Just who are these voters, and when do they choose to split their tickets?

    I am a political scientist who studies American voting behavior. I see these questions as key to understanding how long Trump’s total control of government will last.

    Split tickets in North Carolina and Arizona

    Ticket-splitting created some surprising election returns in 2024, mostly benefiting down-ballot Democrats.

    For instance, Republican Donald Trump won North Carolina by around 3 percentage points, but voters elected a Democrat, Josh Stein, for governor by a margin of almost 15 percentage points. Several hundred thousand North Carolinians split their tickets to produce this outcome.

    More than 100,000 Arizonans likewise split their tickets in 2024, electing Trump with 52% of the vote, yet rejecting the Trump-aligned Senate candidate Kari Lake in favor of Democrat Ruben Gallego.

    Many experts believe that candidates such as Gallego and Stein were simply perceived as less extreme than their opponents, and so they lured moderate voters and even some Republicans.

    In this theory, extreme MAGA-aligned candidates win primary elections because they attract the most partisan voters. But they turn off many people in the general electorate.

    Marylanders split their tickets

    One of the most extreme examples of ticket-splitting in 2024 was in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland.

    Partyliners or ticket-splitters? Maryland voters cast their ballots in Baltimore on Nov. 5, 2024.
    J. Countess/Getty Images

    Cardin was a retiring three-term Democrat who had last won reelection in 2018 by an astronomical margin of over 34 percentage points. Initially, many expert analysts saw the seat as safe for Democrats.

    Then, in February 2024, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who had previously ruled out a Senate run, surprised political analysts by entering the Republican primary. After winning the primary handily, Hogan eventually squared off against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, in the general election.

    Suddenly, a matchup that should have been Alsobrook’s to lose got competitive.

    Hogan, who left office in 2023, was a successful Republican governor who won election twice in reliably blue Maryland. Perceived by many voters as an ideological moderate, he was also a vocal Trump opponent in a state that supported Biden over Trump in 2020 by around 33 percentage points. During his governorship, Hogan routinely outperformed MAGA-aligned Republicans who ran for Congress in Maryland.

    Ultimately, Hogan did lose to Alsobrooks. She became Maryland’s first female U.S. senator and first Black U.S. senator. Yet Hogan came an incredible 17 percentage points closer to winning than Trump did. Kamala Harris beat Trump by 1.9 million votes, winning 63% of the electorate to Trump’s 34%.

    This means that Hogan exceeded Trump’s vote total by over 300,000 votes. That’s an immense amount of ticket-splitting by Marylanders in 2024.

    Who are the Hogan Democrats?

    To better understand ticket-splitting in Maryland’s 2024 election, I analyzed a survey that my university conducted in Baltimore County. Baltimore County is a bellwether county that has backed the winning gubernatorial candidate in every election since 2006.

    The UMBC Battleground Exit Poll surveyed 1,119 voters at election precincts across Baltimore County during early voting and on Election Day 2024. The results were weighted to ensure demographic representativeness.

    This extensive survey shows that around 10% of all voters in Baltimore County supported the surprising combination of the Democrat Harris and the Republican Hogan.

    In contrast, fewer than 2% of Trump voters split their tickets to back the Democratic Senate candidate Alsobrooks.

    My team’s data analysis shows that roughly half of Harris-Hogan voters – 51% – were Democrats. These ticket-splitters included a higher percentage of white voters than the Democrats who supported both Harris and Alsobrooks. Around 37% of Harris-Hogan voters identified as Black, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern or another nonwhite racial category, compared with 55% of Harris-Alsobrooks voters.

    We found virtually no gender differences between Democrats who split their tickets to back a woman for president and a man for Senate and those who backed two women candidates.

    Harris-Hogan Democrats tended to be better educated than other voting groups. Around 68% reported having a college degree, compared with around 51% of all survey respondents.

    Perhaps the most striking feature of Harris-Hogan voters is their self-declared moderation.

    On a seven-point ideological scale ranging from “very liberal” to “very conservative,” around 61% of Harris-Hogan ticket-splitters put themselves at the exact midpoint of the scale. Only around 42% of the full sample of Maryland voters categorized themselves as centrist.

    Can moderates survive in Trump’s shadow?

    As our study shows, Hogan’s popularity in Maryland is due in part to his appeal among moderates. This finding helps to explain how this Republican has remained popular among Democrats and independent voters.

    However, Hogan still lost. Unlike in Arizona, where the Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego won by wooing moderate Republicans, the tenuous balance of power in the U.S. House and Senate may have prevented some Democratic and independent voters in Maryland from crossing the aisle to support a moderate Republican.

    Of course, Hogan also faced a formidable opponent. Alsobrooks had already emerged victorious in a tight primary against a well-funded and popular incumbent U.S. House representative, David Trone. I suspect a less-skilled Democratic candidate would have created even more Harris-Hogan voters.

    Ultimately, my analysis of ticket-splitting in 2024 reveals that even in an era of entrenched polarization, many voters approach congressional and presidential races with different mindsets.

    This dynamic will likely influence the next election cycle, too.

    The party of the president often takes heavy losses in midterm elections. In 2026, congressional candidates – and Democrats in particular – will be doing everything they can to woo moderates.

    This will be especially true if Trump’s aggressive policies, such as widespread government layoffs and mass deportations, prove unpopular.

    Let the campaigning begin.

    Ian Anson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How ticket-splitting voters could shape the 2026 midterms – https://theconversation.com/how-ticket-splitting-voters-could-shape-the-2026-midterms-246017

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Cutting Medicaid and federal programs are among 4 key Trump administration policy changes that could make life harder for disabled people

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Matthew Borus, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Binghamton University, State University of New York

    Disabled people’s employment rights and access to free health care are among the policy issues that the Trump administration is aiming to change. Catherine McQueen/Moment/Getty Images

    While policy debates on immigration, abortion and other issues took center stage in the 2024 presidential election, the first months of the Trump administration have also signaled major changes in federal disability policy.

    An estimated 20% to 25% of Americans have a disability of some kind, including physical, sensory, psychological and intellectual disabilities.

    Disability experts, myself included, fear that the Trump administration is creating new barriers for disabled people to being hired at a job, getting a quality education and providing for basic needs, including health insurance.

    Here are four key areas of disability policy to watch over the coming years.

    People hold signs at a protest in June 2024 demanding subway elevator reliability for disabled people in New York.
    Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

    1. Rights at work

    The Americans with Disabilities Act, which became law in 1990, requires that employers with more than 15 employees not discriminate against otherwise qualified candidates on the basis of their disability. It also requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to disabled workers. This means, for instance, that a new or renovated workplace should have accessible entrances so that a worker who uses a wheelchair can enter.

    Despite these protections, I have spoken to many disabled workers in my research who are reluctant to ask for accommodations for fear that a supervisor might think that they were too demanding or not worth continuing to employ.

    Trump’s actions in his first days in office have likely reinforced such fears.

    In one of the many executive orders Trump signed on Jan. 20, 2025, he called for the relevant government agencies to terminate what he called “all discriminatory programs,” including all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies, programs and activities that Trump deems “immoral.”

    The next day, Trump put workers in federal DEIA and accessibility positions on administrative leave.

    The following week, a tragic plane crash outside Washington, D.C., killed 67 people. Trump, without any evidence, blamed the crash on unidentified disabled workers in the Federal Aviation Administration, enumerating a wide and seemingly unrelated list of disabilities that, in his mind, meant that workers lacked the “special talent” to work at the FAA.

    Advocates quickly pushed back, pointing out that disabled workers meet all qualifications for federal and private sector jobs they are hired to perform.

    2. The federal workforce

    Many government disability programs have complex rules designed to limit the number of people who qualify for support.

    For instance, I study supplemental security income, a federal program that provides very modest cash support – on average, totaling US$697 a month in 2024 – to 7.4 million people who are disabled, blind or over 65 if they also have very low income and assets.

    It can take months or even years for someone to go through the process to initially document their disability and finances and show they qualify for SSI. Once approved, many beneficiaries want to make sure they don’t accidentally put their benefits at risk in situations where they are working very limited hours, for example.

    To get answers, they can go to a Social Security office or call an agency phone line. But there are already not enough agency workers to process applications or answer questions quickly. I spoke in 2022 with more than 10 SSI beneficiaries who waited on hold for hours while they tried to get more information about their cases, only to receive unclear or conflicting information.

    Such situations may grow even more severe, as Trump and billionaire Elon Musk try to eliminate large numbers of federal employee positions. So far, tens of thousands of federal workers have been laid off from their jobs in 2025. More layoffs may be coming – on Feb. 12, 2025, Trump instructed federal agency heads to prepare for further “large-scale reductions in force.”

    At the same time, multiple Social Security Administration offices have also been marked for closure since January 2025. An overall effect of these changes will be fewer workers to answer questions from disabled citizens.

    3. Educational opportunities

    Students with disabilities, like all students, are legally entitled to a free public education. This right is guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed in 1975. IDEA is enforced by the federal Education Department.

    But Trump is reportedly in the process of dismantling the Education Department, with the goal of eventually closing it. It is not clear what this will mean for Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act enforcement, but one possibility is laid out in the Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership, a policy blueprint with broad support in Trump’s administration.

    Project 2025 proposes that Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act funds “should be converted into a no-strings formula block grant.” Block grants are a funding structure by which federal funds are reduced and each state is given a lump sum rather than designating the programs the funds will support. In practice, this can mean that states divert the money to other programs or policy areas, which can create opportunities for funds to be misused.

    With block grants, local school districts would be subject to less federal oversight meant to ensure that they provide every student with an adequate education. Families who already must fight to ensure that their children receive the schooling they deserve will be put on weaker footing if the federal government signals that states can redirect the money as they wish.

    4. Health care

    Before President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, many disabled people lived with the knowledge that an insurer could regard a disability as a preexisting condition and thereby deny them coverage or charge more for their insurance.

    The ACA prohibited insurance companies from charging more or denying coverage based on preexisting conditions.

    Republicans have long opposed the ACA, with House Speaker Mike Johnson promising before the 2024 election to pursue an agenda of “No Obamacare.”

    About 15 million disabled people have health insurance through Medicaid, a federal health insurance program that covers more than 74 million low-income people. But large Medicaid cuts are also on the Republican agenda.

    These deep cuts might include turning Medicaid into another block grant. They could also partly take the form of imposing work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries, which could serve as grounds on which to disqualify people from receiving benefits.

    While proponents of work requirements often claim that disabled people will be exempt, research shows that many will still lose health coverage, and that Medicaid coverage itself often supports people who are working.

    Medicaid is also a crucial source of funding for home- and community-based services, including personal attendants who help many people perform daily activities and live on their own. This helps disabled people live independently in their communities, rather than in institutional settings. Notably, Project 2025 points to so-called “nonmedical” services covered under Medicaid as part of the program’s “burden” on states.

    When home- and community-based services are unavailable, some disabled people have no options but to move into nursing homes. One recent analysis found that nursing homes housed roughly 210,000 long-term residents under age 65 with disabilities. Many nursing facilities are understaffed, which contributed to the brutal toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes.

    In response to both the pandemic and years of advocacy, the Biden administration mandated higher staffing ratios at nursing homes receiving Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. But Republicans are eyeing repealing that rule, according to Politico’s reporting.

    U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, right, speaks during a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 19, 2025, on efforts to protect Medicaid from cuts.
    Nathan Poser/Anadolu via Getty Images

    Daunting task

    Tracking potential changes to disability policy is a complicated endeavor. There is no federal department of disability policy, for example.

    Instead, relevant laws and programs are spread throughout what we often think of as separate policy areas. So while disability policy includes obvious areas such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is also vitally relevant in areas such as immigration and emergency response.

    These issues of health care, education and more could impact millions of lives, but they are far from the only ones where Trump administration changes threaten to harm disabled people.

    Different programs have their own definitions of disability, which people seeking assistance must work to keep track of.

    This was a daunting task in 2024. Now it may become even more difficult.

    Matthew Borus received funding in the past from ARDRAW, a small grant program for graduate students working on disability research. The program was run by Policy Research, Inc. and funded by the Social Security Administration. The opinions and conclusions expressed here are solely the author’s.

    – ref. Cutting Medicaid and federal programs are among 4 key Trump administration policy changes that could make life harder for disabled people – https://theconversation.com/cutting-medicaid-and-federal-programs-are-among-4-key-trump-administration-policy-changes-that-could-make-life-harder-for-disabled-people-244458

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Philadelphia continues long history of Black-led protest meetings aimed at fighting racial inequity and prejudice

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Linn Washington, Jr., Professor of Journalism, Temple University

    Philadelphians attend a meeting at Germantown’s Center in the Park on Feb. 25, 2025, to strategize a new Black agenda. Linn Washington Jr. , CC BY-NC-ND

    A meeting in Philadelphia, held at a senior center on a bitter cold Saturday afternoon in late January 2025, drew nearly 300 people.

    They came for two key reasons.

    One was to voice outrage at the upsurge in policies and proposals nationwide that attack the advances of African Americans – many of which were secured in part through 1960s-era civil rights protests.

    The other was to begin to develop a “Black agenda” to counter those attacks in Philadelphia.

    In gathering communally to voice their concerns, attendees continued a legacy of Black-led protest meetings that spans over two centuries in the city.

    I am a professor of journalism at Temple University and a reporter who has covered racial inequities in America and abroad for 50 years. I was invited to attend the Philadelphia meeting to talk about the history of protest meetings in the city.

    That’s a history of successes and shortfalls that helped shape both Philadelphia and the nation.

    First mass meeting

    Over 200 years ago, what is considered the first mass protest meeting ever held in the United States by African Americans took place in Philadelphia.

    That little-known meeting, held in January 1817, drew 3,000 African Americans to Philadelphia’s historic Mother Bethel AME Church. The attendees came to denounce efforts by the American Colonization Society to relocate free Black Americans to a colony in West Africa. That group, with a predominately white membership that included prominent politicians and preachers, believed free Blacks could not be integrated into white America.

    The attendees at Mother Bethel in 1817 saw relocation as a forced removal of Black Americans from the homeland they supported as patriotically as white Americans. The unanimous opposition that attendees expressed helped change the stance of local Black leaders, such as Mother Bethel founder Richard Allen, from lukewarm supporters of relocation to opponents.

    Successes and shortfalls

    The tradition of mass meetings to address the adversity impacting Philadelphia’s African American community continued from the 19th century into the 20th and now the 21st century.

    The results have been mixed.

    For example, after members of the Pennsylvania state legislature proposed inserting a white-males-only voting restriction into the state’s constitution in 1838, denying voting rights for free Black men, Black Philadelphians held mass meetings to demand the provision be deleted.

    But those demands failed. Pennsylvania restricted voting to white men until 1870 when ratification of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted African American men the right to vote.

    However, mass meetings during the 1860s that had an agenda to desegregate trolleys in Philadelphia were successful. A law signed in 1867 banned segregated seating on public transit statewide.

    Renowned scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois credited “public meetings and repeated agitation” for that statewide ban in his seminal 1899 book “The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study.”

    Demands to end police brutality have been the focus of mass meetings in the city at least since the 1918 formation of Philadelphia’s now-defunct Association for the Protection of Colored People. Abusive policing practices that continue in Philadelphia to this day point to a shortfall in fulfilling those demands.

    And yet, momentum from the key agenda item of mass meetings in the early 1970s – to increase political power – ultimately led to the election of the city’s first Black mayor, Wilson Goode, in 1983.

    Unfinished business

    Since 1817, Black-led protest meetings in Philadelphia have sought to end discrimination against African Americans. That consistent goal remains unrealized.

    The first national political conventions that African Americans staged in the U.S., beginning in September 1830, castigated discrimination. Convention attendees in 1831 sought an end to cruel and oppressive laws devised to disadvantage free Blacks.

    Nearly 150 years later, the “Human Rights Agenda” developed during a Philadelphia mass meeting in December 1978 and later the report from Philadelphia’s 2015 Black Political Summit Coalition both decried racial prejudice against African Americans.

    An observation that Du Bois made in “The Philadelphia Negro” about discrimination against African Americans in the so-called City of Brotherly Love retains contemporary relevance.

    A mural dedicated to Du Bois and the Old Seventh Ward is painted on the corner of 6th and South streets in Philadelphia.
    Paul Marotta/Getty Images Entertainment Collection via Getty Images

    Race prejudice “is a far more powerful social force than most Philadelphians realize,” Du Bois wrote. Most white Philadelphians, he noted, “are quite unconscious” regarding the prejudice that impacts Black residents. Their impulse is emphatically to deny such discrimination.

    Such denial allowed prejudice to persist then – and today.

    To begin to develop a new Black agenda, the organizers of the meeting at the senior center collected suggestions that attendees filed on note cards. They promised to publicly announce an action plan that is expected to involve economic boycotts and actions to strengthen the economic infrastructure in Philadelphia’s African American community.

    Defending rights and progress aroused attendees at that January meeting in 2025 as strongly as denouncing forced colonization aroused attendees at the mass meeting 208 years earlier.

    Read more of our stories about Philadelphia.

    Linn Washington, Jr. does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Philadelphia continues long history of Black-led protest meetings aimed at fighting racial inequity and prejudice – https://theconversation.com/philadelphia-continues-long-history-of-black-led-protest-meetings-aimed-at-fighting-racial-inequity-and-prejudice-249117

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    February 27, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Video: Tech’s Answer to Pollution | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025

    Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)

    Biotech, AI and other advanced technologies are opening new possibilities in material science and resource circularity.

    What are the most promising technologies and how can they address pollution in the air, land, or marine ecosystems?

    Speakers: Takayuki Morita, Ronaldo Lemos, Manuela Kasper-Claridge, Jessika Roswall

    The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.

    This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.

    The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

    World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
    Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/
    YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/wef
    Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/worldeconomicforum/
    X ► https://twitter.com/wef
    LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
    TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
    Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF

    #Davos2025 #WorldEconomicForum #wef25

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65MqMlg71A0

    MIL OSI Video –

    February 27, 2025
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