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  • MIL-OSI USA: Last Day for Kentuckians To Apply for FEMA Assistance

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Last Day for Kentuckians To Apply for FEMA Assistance

    Last Day for Kentuckians To Apply for FEMA Assistance

    FRANKFORT, Ky. — Survivors of the May 21-27 severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides, and mudslides have only a few hours left to apply for FEMA assistance. The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET, Sept. 23.

    How To Apply for FEMA Individual Assistance

    • Call FEMA at 800-621-3362. Multilingual operators are available. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service.
    • Apply at DisasterAssistance.gov.
    • Download and use the FEMA app.

    FEMA programs are accessible to people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.

    In addition, today is the final day for homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to apply for long-term, low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance and other sources. Kentucky residents and businesses can apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at sba.gov/disaster.

    gerard.hammink

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A video game based on the Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ is the most recent example of innovative retelling of this popular story

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Michael Naparstek, Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Tennessee

    Gaming enthusiasts at the 2023 Gamescom gaming fair on Aug. 23, 2023, in Cologne, Germany. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

    The recent launch of the video game “Black Myth: Wukong” has broken numerous records around the world for the number of users. The game is set in the world of the famous Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” where players battle gods and demons of traditional popular Chinese religion. In the first few weeks following its release on Aug. 19, 2024, “Black Myth: Wukong” had reportedly sold over 18 million copies, making it one of the fastest-selling games of all time.

    Players take on the role of freeing Sun Wukong, the monkey protagonist from the popular 16th-century novel. The story details the journey of the Chinese monk, Xuanzang, as he makes his way to India in search of Buddhist scrolls. Sun Wukong aids the monk in this trip. Yet, the monkey proves to be the ultimate troublemaker, as Sun Wukong insults popular gods of the Chinese pantheon and insists on besting them in magical battles. Sun Wukong’s fate is sealed when the Buddha imprisons him under a mountain as punishment for all the havoc he created in Heaven.

    The video game picks up after the end of the story, pitting the player against those whom Sun Wukong had fought in the popular narrative. In so doing, the game continually references the complex and competitive world of traditional Chinese religion in which Buddhist, Taoist and popular gods are always interacting with one another.

    As a scholar of Chinese religion, I am interested in the ways narratives of Chinese deities become popular and spread across different contexts. The popularity of “Black Myth: Wukong” is the most recent example in a centuries-old tradition of retelling this story through popular media.

    Woodblock print of the monkey king from the Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West.’
    Japanese Artist Yashima Gakutei, 1827, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    Many stories, many versions

    “Journey to the West” was first published in 1592, but the stories were popular long before that.

    As scholar of Chinese literature Anthony Yu notes, the various tales describing Xuanzong and Sun Wukong’s adventures existed for nearly 1,000 years before they were collected and published in “Journey to the West.” People in traditional China would hear many of these adventures through oral storytelling, but also through various media such as dramatic performances, poetic tales and short stories.

    Traveling opera troupes were one of the most popular ways to tell Sun Wukong’s tale. Professional actors would perform tales of Sun Wukong’s exploits through dramatic renditions coupled with acrobatic fight scenes and dazzling displays of martial arts. These entertaining performances would disseminate information about the gods to both literate and illiterate audiences all throughout China.

    An 18th-century painting of a Chinese traveling opera performance.
    Xu Yang, 18th c. via Wikimedia Commons

    Stories of Sun Wukong’s mischievous, and often irreverent, behavior made their rounds throughout traditional Chinese society. The monkey hero’s brash attempts at subverting authority and picking fights with divine personae cemented his place as a popular cultural icon. As scholar of Chinese religions Meir Shahar notes, novels such as “Journey to the West” served as a way to define and transmit an entire pantheon of deities all across the various regions of traditional China.

    In so doing, these forms of media would reflect the dynamic world of Chinese religion and, at the same time, help shape the way people would come to understand the stories of their own gods.

    Impact on Chinese religions

    Many of the characters who appear in “Journey to the West” come directly out of the Chinese pantheon. Guanyin, the Buddhist deity of compassion and one of the most popular gods across East Asia, has her struggles against Sun Wukong; Taoist figures, such as the deified Lao-tzu, the purported author of the Taoist classic “Tao Te Ching,” battles with the monkey, and ancient Chinese deities like the Queen Mother to the West and the Jade Emperor play a prominent role as authority figures throughout the story.

    Sun Wukong also battles localized gods like the martial deity Erlang. Many of these figures are also referenced throughout the video game, while some, like Erlang, appear as “bosses” who need to be defeated before moving on to the next level.

    In the novel, the gods work together to stand in the way of Sun Wukong, representing the authority of the Chinese pantheon. At the same time, Sun Wukong often gets the better of the gods, either through trickery or martial prowess. Eventually, the authority of the gods wins out, with the monkey trapped under the mountain. Yet, this is not the end of Sun Wukong. As the recent release of the video game demonstrates, it is but one more beginning to the monkey’s story.

    While the game is careful not to promote any one religious identity, the cultural source for these compelling characters remains deeply rooted in the long history of Chinese religions.

    Today’s gamers get to encounter aspects of Chinese culture in a whole new way. Players who may be unfamiliar with Sun Wukong’s character from the novel can still see Sun Wukong flip in the air, brandish his weapons and defeat his enemies with dramatic flair. Only now the gamer gets to perform these feats through their connection with the video game’s hero.

    Still, while the gaming experience may be relatively new, enjoying tales of the gods is very old.

    Michael Naparstek 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. A video game based on the Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ is the most recent example of innovative retelling of this popular story – https://theconversation.com/a-video-game-based-on-the-chinese-novel-journey-to-the-west-is-the-most-recent-example-of-innovative-retelling-of-this-popular-story-238404

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Veterans rally round to revamp war memorial garden

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    The project at Bilston War Memorial Garden was launched by Falklands Conflict veteran Neil Binder and his wife Wendy who, with the support of fellow residents and friends, have been busy creating a tranquil and reflective space.

    Neil has also used the project to help him with his post traumatic stress disorder related to his military experience, as he finds gardening relaxing and calm.

    He said: “We want to make this space welcoming and comfortable for people to come and sit, ponder and reflect, so Wendy and I and a few friends got together and decided to make it look a little bit prettier.

    “For the last 2 years, we’ve dug and planted and begged and borrowed and put money in from our own pockets to get plants in here and make it a nice, presentable place, as well as a welcome on the route into Bilston town centre.”

    The project has been financed mainly by Neil and Wendy and supported by the City of Wolverhampton Council, while Edward Howell Galvanisers donated 3 tonnes of soil to fill 2 of the raised planters earlier this year.

    There are currently 4 raised beds at Bilston War Memorial Garden, with thousands of bulbs, wildflower and poppy seeds planted. Members of the Wolverhampton Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club have helped with the planting and labouring, and Neil is keen that the local community, schools and companies get involved and help with the maintenance of the site going forward.

    Neil added: “This is a safe space for anyone who would like to use it, and where they can relax, reflect and take in the surroundings. If everything blooms as we hope, there will be plenty of interest and plenty of colour.”

    Mayor of Wolverhampton Councillor Linda Leach, who visited the garden recently, said: “I am delighted that the council has been able to support this project because the site has military heritage and it is important to honour and remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Mixed emotions – neuroscience is exploring how your brain lets you experience two opposite feelings at once

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Anthony Gianni Vaccaro, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

    Can you hold a positive emotion simultaneously with a negative one? Dimitri Otis/Stone via Getty Images

    Countless parents across the country recently dropped their kids off at college for the first time. This transition can stir a whirlwind of feelings: the heartache of parting, sadness over a permanently changed family dynamic, the uncertainty of what lies ahead – but also the pride of seeing your child move toward independence. Some might describe the goodbye as bittersweet, or say that they’re feeling mixed emotions.

    In that scenario, what would you do if I asked you to rate how you felt on a scale from 1-9, with 1 being the most negative and 9 the most positive? This question seems silly given the circumstances – how should you rate this blend of bad and good? Yet, this scale is what psychology researchers often use to survey feelings in scientific studies, treating emotions as either positive or negative, but never both.

    I’m a neuroscientist who studies how mixed emotions are represented in the brain. Do people ever truly feel both positive and negative at the same time? Or do we just switch quickly back and forth?

    What emotions do for you

    Scientists sometimes define emotions as states of the brain and body that motivate you toward or away from things. People typically experience them as either positive or negative.

    If you’re walking in the woods and see a bear, your heart rate and breathing accelerate, giving you the urge to flee – likely helping you make a decision that keeps you alive. Many scientists would label that reaction as the emotion of “fear.”

    Similarly, warm feelings around loved ones make you want to stay around them and nurture those relationships, helping strengthen your social network and support system.

    This approach-and-avoid view of emotions helps explain why emotions evolved and how they affect decision-making. Scientists have used it as a guiding principle when trying to figure out the biology behind emotions.

    But mixed emotions do not fit into this framework. If opposite biological systems inhibit each other, and if emotions are biological, you can’t experience opposites in the same moment. This reasoning would mean it’s impossible to hold two opposite emotions at once; you must instead be flipping back and forth. Ever since scientists proposed the first theories on the biological foundations of emotion, this is how they’ve conceptualized mixed emotions.

    The pride, love and sadness that mingle when a parent drops off a child at college comprise a classic mixture of emotions.
    fstop123/E+ via Getty Images

    Untangling the biology of mixed emotions

    Mainstream methods for measuring feelings still treat positive and negative as opposite sides of a spectrum. But researchers find that study participants commonly report mixed emotions.

    For instance, people across cultures experience some feelings, such as nostalgia and awe, as simultaneously positive and negative.

    One research group found that volunteers’ physiological responses – such as heart rate and skin conductance – display unique patterns during experiences that are both disgusting and funny, compared with either category separately. This implies that disgusted and amused reactions are indeed occurring simultaneously to create something new.

    In a seemingly contradictory finding, research that used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study brain responses to disgusting humor did not find a pattern of brain activity that was distinct from plain disgust. The brain states of people reporting being both disgusted and amused seemed to reflect only disgust – not a unique pattern for a new mixed emotion.

    But fMRI studies generally rely on averaging brain activity across people and time. The heart of the question – experiencing truly mixed emotions versus fluctuating between positive and negative states – concerns what the brain is doing over time. It is possible that by looking at the average brain activity across time, scientists end up with a pattern that looks a lot like one emotion – in this case, disgust – but are missing important information about how activity changes or stays the same second-to-second.

    Mixed emotions in the brain

    To dig in to that possibility, I ran a study to see whether mixed emotions were related to a unique brain state that held steady over time.

    While in the MRI machine, participants watched a bittersweet animated short film about a young girl’s lifelong pursuit, with her father’s support, to become an astronaut. Spoiler alert: Her dad dies. After scanning, those same subjects rewatched the video and labeled the exact times they had felt positive, negative and mixed emotions.

    Researchers looked for brain areas with above average (red) or below average (blue) activity during moments in Taiko Studio’s ‘One Small Step’ that elicited mixed emotions.
    Taiko Studios and University of Southern California Dornsife Office of Communications

    My colleagues and I discovered that mixed emotions didn’t show unique, consistent patterns in deeper brain areas like the amygdala, which plays an important role in quick responses to emotionally important items. Strikingly, the insular cortex, a part of the brain that connects deeper brain regions with the cortex, had consistent and unique patterns for both positive and negative emotions, but not for mixed ones. We took this finding to mean that regions such as the amygdala and insular cortex were processing positive and negative emotions as mutually exclusive.

    But we did see unique, consistent patterns in cortical regions such as the anterior cingulate, which plays an important role in processing conflict and uncertainty, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which is important for self-regulation and complex thinking.

    These brain regions in the cortex that carry out more advanced functions appear to represent much more complex states, allowing someone to truly feel a mixed emotion. Brain regions such as the anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex integrate many sources of information – essential for being able to form a mixed emotion.

    Our findings also fit with what scientists know about brain and emotional development. Interestingly, kids do not begin to understand or report mixed emotions until later in childhood. This timeline matches up with what researchers know about how development of these brain regions leads to more advanced emotional regulation and understanding.

    What happens next

    This study revealed something new about how complex feelings are formed in the brain, but there is much more to learn.

    Mixed emotions are so interesting, in part, because of their potential role during important life events. Sometimes, mixed emotions help you cope with big changes and turn into cherished memories. For example, you may experience both positive and negative feelings when your friends throw a big going away party before you move to another city for your dream job.

    Other times, mixed emotions are an ongoing source of distress. Even if you know you should break up with a romantic partner, that doesn’t mean all the positive feelings you have about them automatically go away, or that a split won’t bring some pain.

    What leads to this difference in outcome? Might these differences have to do with how the brain represents these mixed emotional states over time? A better understanding of mixed emotions might help people make sure these kinds of strong feelings become cherished memories that help them grow, instead of a distressing goodbye they fail to get over.

    Anthony Gianni Vaccaro 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. Mixed emotions – neuroscience is exploring how your brain lets you experience two opposite feelings at once – https://theconversation.com/mixed-emotions-neuroscience-is-exploring-how-your-brain-lets-you-experience-two-opposite-feelings-at-once-234994

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial News: Mortgage Borrower Protection Standard to Take Effect in January 2025

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    The Committee on Standards for the Activities of Credit Institutions approved the Standard for the Protection of the Rights and Legitimate Interests of Mortgage Borrowers, agreed upon with the Bank of Russia.

    The main goal of the document is to minimize the spread of high-risk mortgage lending schemes and to ensure that banks provide borrowers with more detailed information about the terms of the loan and the risks associated with it.

    The standard, in particular, is aimed at preventing cases when banks send funds issued under a mortgage loan not to an escrow account, but to a letter of credit, where they then remain for a long time and are not used for their intended purpose. A ban on long-term placement of funds of mortgage borrowers in letters of credit will reduce the risks of citizens, since in letters of credit, unlike escrow accounts, funds are not protected by the deposit insurance system.

    The down payment cannot include the amount that will be returned to the buyer after purchasing the apartment (cashback). The purpose of these requirements is for the buyer to pay the down payment using his own funds, since the less of them, the higher the risk that he may overestimate his strength and ultimately lose both the money and the apartment.

    The bank will not have the right to receive compensation from the seller (developer) for setting a reduced interest rate on a mortgage if this leads to an increase in the price of the property.

    The mortgage standard sets out the principles for determining the terms of a mortgage agreement, and describes what the lender must take into account when determining the loan amount, term, possible fees, and other parameters. It is recommended to conclude mortgage loan agreements for a term of no more than 30 years and for an amount no higher than 80% of the fair value of the mortgaged item.

    The document also describes what information the bank is obliged to disclose to the borrower in an understandable form before concluding the agreement and what risks to warn about. The credit institution is obliged to answer the borrower’s questions about the mortgage loan and related services.

    The standard will become mandatory for banks from January 1, 2025 and will apply to contracts concluded after this date. From January 1, banks will also be required, when receiving a reward from a borrower for setting a reduced interest rate, to honestly inform him of the difference in the total cost of the loan, so that when making a decision, the borrower understands whether this service is beneficial for him. The bank will also have to return the unused portion of such reward in the event of early repayment of the loan.

    Standards Committee was createdin May 2024, two-thirds of which consists of representatives of banks and banking associations.

    Preview photo: Valentin Antonov / TASS

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://vvv.kbr.ru/press/event/?id=21019

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: U.S. Navy EOD advances exMCM capabilities with Allies and partners at Exercise Sea Breeze 2024

    Source: United States Navy

    VARNA, Bulgaria – Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8 and Mobile Diving and Salvage Company (MDS) 2-3 operated alongside NATO allies and partners at Exercise Sea 24-3, Sept. 9-20, 2024. This collaborative exercise aims to address the current maritime mine threat, collective demining capabilities, and effective means of enhancing Black Sea regional maritime security.

    In its 23rd iteration, Sea Breeze is an annual, multinational maritime exercise, originally co-hosted by Ukraine and U.S. 6th Fleet to enhance interoperability and capabilities among participating forces.

    For Sea Breeze 24.3, U.S. 6th Fleet led the pre-planning and coordinated logistics, and EODMU 8, a subordinate command of Commander Task Force (CTF) 68 headquartered in Rota, Spain, led the planning and execution, sharing extensive expeditionary mine countermeasure (exMCM) knowledge and capabilities with NATO allies and partners. Countries participating, observing, or mentoring during Sea Breeze 24-3 included Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Japan, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine, and U.S.

    U.S. Navy expeditionary forces such as EODMU 8 have had a consistent presence in the Black Sea and have a longstanding history of training alongside partner nations on tactics, techniques, and procedures for mine threat operations in order to enhance our shared lethality and support freedom of navigation.

    “EOD Mobile Unit 8 operates consistently with outstanding professionalism, and every member of the Thunderstealer team plays a critical role in ensuring mission success,” said Cmdr. John Kennedy, commander, EOD Mobile Unit 8. “Exercises like Sea Breeze allow us to share our knowledge, techniques, and best practices with our NATO Allies and partners for enhanced agility and interoperability in future mine countermeasure operations and demining the Black Sea.”

    Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Allied and partner nations have counter charged over 100 floating mines. As this threat increases, EOD forces have a responsibility to prepare for a large-scale post-conflict demining effort.

    “Our goal for this year’s Sea Breeze is to improve freedom of navigation in the Black Sea region for the security and stability of the Black Sea nations,” said Vice Adm. Thomas Ishee, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet. “We’ll do this through continued training and by enhancing interoperability to counter the floating mine threat in the Black Sea.”

    The mines in the Black Sea region pose a significant danger to civilian ships, disrupt exports, and threaten freedom of navigation.

    “Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, there is currently a mine concern in international waters, and our job is to mitigate that,” said Kennedy. “We’ve shown our standards to our partners and allies, we’ve practiced our techniques shoulder-to-shoulder, and that builds confidence when we are called to mitigate explosive threats in the Black Sea. Our support to Ukraine has never been stronger.”

    In response to the current mine threat, NATO members Bulgaria, Romania, and Türkiye joined forces to tackle this issue through the Mine Countermeasures Task Group Black Sea (MCM Black Sea).

    Collaboration between NATO members in support of MCM Task Group Black Sea underscores the importance of collective security efforts to restore safety and stability in the region.

    Multinational exercises like Sea Breeze are a tangible representation of the agility and cooperation made possible through partnership in the dynamic security environment of the Black Sea.

    “The greatest value we’ve gained from Sea Breeze is an understanding how each unit of action operates, and then learning to operate together in order to be the most lethal combined force in a future conflict,” said Lt. Jon Miller, EOD company commander, EODMU 8. “We’re able to enhance the tactics, techniques, and procedures of all participating units at the exercise, and then flex those capabilities in the event of real-world operations.”

    Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2, a subordinate command of EODGRU 2, is also participating in Sea Breeze 24-3, with a focus on diving and salvage training. MDS Company 2-3, currently deployed to U.S. 6th Fleet, trained alongside partners and Allies from Ukraine and Romania on surface supplied diving, underwater cutting and welding, and other skills to enhance harbor clearance and battle damage repair capabilities.

    “Operating and exchanging knowledge on battle damage repair in this area of operations is our unit’s first opportunity to train the techniques and capabilities in a region with real world implications,” said Chief Navy Diver Michael Christensen, company master diver, MDSU 2. “We are in the Black Sea, doing this with the Ukrainian salvage divers, and their military is currently engaged in conflict. After Sea Breeze, they can return to the fight and utilize these skills for harbor clearance.”

    Navy EOD is the only community with mine warfare as a core competency, and our capabilities directly support deterrence of aggression, promote freedom of navigation and stability, and contribute directly to the fight for sea control. Our unique ability to conduct explosive ordnance disposal operations and clear hazards underwater make Navy EOD crucial in a future fight for sea control – protecting our own and our partners’ bases, harbors and sea lanes, sea transport capabilities, mobility and combat strength.

    CTF 68 provides explosive ordnance disposal operations, naval construction, expeditionary security, and theater security efforts in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

    EODGRU 2 operates as part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and provides skilled, capable, and combat-ready deployable Navy EOD and Navy Diver forces around the globe to support a range of operations.

    Details of Sea Breeze 2024 activities and imagery are available at http://www.c6f.navy.mil and https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/seabreeze24.

    For the full collection of photos of EODGRU2 operating at Sea Breeze 2024, and news about U.S. Navy EOD, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/EODG-2.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Alaska Congressional Delegation Welcomes $277 Million in Fishery Disaster Funding for Alaska

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Lisa Murkowski
    09.23.24
    Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-AK) and Representative Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK) welcomed the announcement of $277 million in funding for Alaska fishery disasters from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Funding for a number of salmon and crab fisheries from 2020-2023 will be transmitted to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for distribution to fishermen, their crews, seafood processors, and communities impacted by these fishery disasters.
    “There is no question that fisheries and coastal communities in Alaska need help as they navigate catastrophic fishery collapses,” Senator Murkowski said. “Although I am grateful our fishermen and communities will finally see some relief, for many it might be too little too late. After years of waiting, some have already moved onto other professions, and in some cases have even left the state. I will continue working with my colleagues to pass legislation to streamline the process so these regulatory delays are a thing of the past. I am hopeful this assistance will help Alaska’s hardworking fishermen recover from a devastating few years so they can get back on the water and return to their active role in this critical industry.”
    “I’m glad to see this significant batch of federal relief dollars finally being distributed to our hard-working fishermen and coastal communities,” said Senator Sullivan. “These Alaskans should never have had to wait this long to see this relief processed—a frustration I raised with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NOAA Fisheries Director Janet Coit on numerous occasions in recent months. The Commerce Department must address the serious disruptions caused by their new financial management system and other bureaucratic hurdles. I have put forward legislation with Senator Rick Scott to enact timelines on the executive branch’s approval process for these disasters to ensure our fishermen are receiving the relief dollars they are due in a timely fashion. We need this funding to expeditiously reach Alaskans so that they can weather these disasters over the long-term and continue to responsibly harvest the freshest, most sustainable seafood in the world.”
    “Our fishermen and fishing families have suffered enough the last few years – when disaster strikes, it only sets us back further,” said Rep. Peltola. “This funding is critical in helping our fisheries recover and support the communities all over Alaska, and beyond, that rely on their seafood product output.”

    Fishery Disaster

    Allocation

    Alaska Gulf of Pacific Cod Fishery 2020

    $17,772,540

    Alaska 2018 East Side Setnet Salmon and 2020 Upper Cook Inlet Salmon Fisheries
    Alaska Copper River and Prince William Sound Salmon Fisheries, 2018 and 2020

    $43,730,937

    Alaska Bering Sea Crab Fisheries, 2021/2022
    Alaska Norton Sound Red King Crab Fisheries, 2020 and 2021
    Alaska Bering Sea Crab Fisheries, 2022/2023

    $193,915,406

    Alaska Chignik Salmon Fishery, 2021

    $4,989,902

    Alaska Norton Sound Salmon Fisheries 2021
    Alaska Kuskokwim River Salmon Fishery, 2021
    Alaska Copper River/Prince William Sound Salmon Fisheries, 2020

    $16,998,673

    Background:
    On November 15, 2022, the Alaska delegation sent a letter to Secretary Raimondo in support of Governor Dunleavy’s 2020-2023 fishery disasters declarations.
    On November 17, 2022, Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, along with Senators Cantwell and Murray (both D-Wash.), sent a letter to Secretary Raimondo requesting a federal disaster for several crab fisheries.
    On December 16, 2022, the Department of Commerce determined that fishery disasters have occurred in numerous Alaska fisheries, allowing this funding to be distributed to fishermen and their crews, seafood processors, and research initiatives in regions that experienced fishery disasters.
    On May 15, 2024, Senator Murkowski pressed Secretary Raimondo during a Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations to share an update regarding fisheries disaster funding.
    On May 23, 2024, Senator Sullivan organized and Senator Murkowski and Representative Peltola participated in an Alaska Seafood Industry Roundtable with Secretary Raimondo at the U.S. Department of Commerce to facilitate dialogue between state industry leaders and the Department.
    On September 4, 2024, Sens. Murkowski and Sullivan joined Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and several colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Commerce (DOC) demanding answers regarding the implementation of the DOC’s new financial management system that has delayed financial relief for fishery disasters.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Offers Disaster Assistance to Businesses and Residents of Illinois Affected by July Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    WASHINGTON – Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to businesses and residents in Illinois following the announcement of a Presidential disaster declaration for severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding that occurred on July 13-16.

    “SBA’s mission-driven team stands ready to help Illinois small businesses and residents impacted by this disaster in every way possible under President Biden’s disaster declaration for certain affected areas,” said SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “We’re committed to providing federal disaster loans swiftly and efficiently, with a customer-centric approach to help businesses and communities recover and rebuild.”

    The disaster declaration covers Cook, Fulton, Henry, St. Clair, Washinton, Will and Winnebago counties which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs):  Boone, Bureau, Clinton, Dekalb, DuPage, Grundy, Jefferson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendell, Knox, Lake, Madison, Marion, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Monroe, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Randolph, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Warren and Whiteside in Illinois; Lake in Indiana; St. Louis in Missouri; and Green and Rock in Wisconsin. 

    Disaster survivors should not wait to settle with their insurance company before applying for a disaster loan. If a survivor does not know how much of their loss will be covered by insurance or other sources, SBA can make a low-interest disaster loan for the total loss up to its loan limits, provided the borrower agrees to use insurance proceeds to reduce or repay the loan.

    Businesses and private nonprofit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.  

    For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

    Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed personal property.

    Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses, 3.25% for nonprofit organizations, and 2.688% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and monthly payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the initial disbursement. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    Building back smarter and stronger can be an effective recovery tool for future disasters. Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future disasters. 

    “The opportunity to include measures to help prevent future damage from occurring is a significant benefit of SBA’s disaster loan program, said “Francisco Sánchez, Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration.  “I encourage everyone to consult their contractors and emergency management mitigation specialists for ideas and apply for an SBA disaster loan increase for funding.”

    With the changes to FEMA’s Sequence of Delivery, survivors are now encouraged to simultaneously apply for FEMA grants and the SBA low-interest disaster loan assistance to fully recover.  FEMA grants are intended to cover necessary expenses and serious needs not paid by insurance or other sources. The SBA disaster loan program is designed for your long-term recovery, to make you whole and get you back to your pre-disaster condition.  Do not wait on the decision for a FEMA grant; apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at sba.gov/disaster.  

    Applicants may also call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or send an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Nov. 19, 2024. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 20, 2025.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration 

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Rapid7 Adds Extended Ecosystem Support of Third-Party Detections to Managed Detection and Response

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BOSTON, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD), a leader in extended risk and threat detection, today announced the addition of third-party detections for defense in-depth with Managed Threat Complete (MTC), the company’s Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution. Rapid7’s global service now includes coverage for CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

    Native endpoint security has always been part of Rapid7’s defense-in-depth approach. Now, by enriching and layering SOC expertise with third-party endpoint detections, MTC delivers a more comprehensive defense of the customer’s extended ecosystem.

    Rapid7’s MDR service goes beyond endpoint telemetry alone and leverages its leading next-gen SIEM foundation to integrate and correlate diverse telemetry across the attack surface – endpoint, network, user, cloud. This wider coverage, combined with Rapid7’s expertise, provides critical context and faster investigations for more effective response for the modern attack surface. The additional endpoint support announced today builds on Rapid7’s strategy to provide modern attack surface monitoring across endpoint, cloud service providers, identity and access management, and network security solutions.

    “Our leading next-gen SIEM allows Rapid7 to process broad telemetry and was purpose built to operationalize our SOC expertise to deliver unparallelled clarity for our MDR service,” said Craig Adams, chief product officer at Rapid7. “Adding third-party detection support to Managed Threat Complete deepens our visibility across a customer’s environment, which in turn helps us respond even more quickly and efficiently to threats.”

    With the addition of extended ecosystem monitoring, customers can connect the supported tools in their environment to MDR for triage, investigation, and response. Rapid7’s SOC analysts now can better serve customers with:

    • Enhanced Visibility: With coverage for third-party event sources, the need to manually normalize information across a customer’s technical environment is eliminated, saving time and giving teams confidence that their full attack surface is covered.
    • Reduced Noise: Detect threats across all phases of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and modern threat landscape – without more noise. Realize high efficacy detections with operationalized threat intelligence and expertise.
    • Optimized Response: With broader telemetry and correlation across endpoint, network, identity and cloud, Rapid7’s incident response analysts can respond faster and more accurately to threats to eradicate them from customers’ environments.

    To learn more about Rapid7’s Managed Detection and Response service and its Managed Threat Complete with extended ecosystem monitoring, visit https://www.rapid7.com/services/managed-detection-and-response-mdr.

    About Rapid7
    Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD) is on a mission to create a safer digital world by making cybersecurity simpler and more accessible. We empower security professionals to manage a modern attack surface through our best-in-class technology, leading-edge research, and broad, strategic expertise. Rapid7’s comprehensive security solutions help more than 11,000 global customers unite cloud risk management with threat detection and response to reduce attack surfaces and eliminate threats with speed and precision. For more information, visit our website, check out our blog, or follow us on LinkedIn or X.

    Rapid7 Media Relations
    Kelly Crummey
    Corporate Communications
    press@rapid7.com 
    (617) 921-8089

    Rapid7 Investor Contact
    Elizabeth Chwalk
    Sr. Director, Investor Relations
    investors@rapid7.com 
    (617) 865-4277

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: A water secure Africa in the spotlight at UN General Assembly

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Water and Sanitation Minister, Pemmy Majodina, and a delegation of water sector stakeholders will attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, USA from 24 to 26 September 2024.

    The Minister will join other global leaders in interrogating and mobilising commitments for a water-secure Africa.

    President Cyril Ramaphosa is attending the UN General Debate and High-Level Week (UNGA79) in New York from 21-24 September 2024.

    This annual gathering of world leaders is the most important event on the UN calendar, with Heads of State and Government and Heads of International Organisations discussing global challenges and how to address these challenges in the best interest of humanity. 

    Majodina is expected to participate in panel discussions to review the progress in mobilising investments for the AU High Level Panel Investment Action Plan and outline a road map towards the coming AU Africa Water Investment Summit and UN Water Conference in 2026, with South Africa leading the G20 Presidency next year.

    As part of the AU High-Level Panel, Majodina said South Africa will participate in discussions and the review of previous UN recommendations on how to accelerate progress to achieve access and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, as well as the achievement of other multiple SDGs.

    “The deliberations will focus on understanding, valuing, and managing water to provide a foundation for broader integrated water management and building partnerships and international collaboration at the global level,” Majodina said.

    The Minister is also expected to participate in panel discussions on Climate Change and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), to explore wider methods and opportunities to advance their agendas.

    READ | President Ramaphosa in New York for UN General Assembly

    President Ramaphosa is expected to address the General Assembly on the opening day, Tuesday, 24 September 2024.

    This year, the African Group presides over the General Assembly, with Philemon Yang, former Prime Minister of Cameroon, elected as President of the 79th Session.

    The theme identified by the President of UNGA79 is: “Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for everyone everywhere.”

    Among the issues on which President Ramaphosa will focus on during his engagements in New York include the necessity for the maintenance of international peace and security; the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; climate change and the upcoming COP29 in Baku; financing for development, and health and pandemic preparedness. – SAnews.gov.za
     

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Testimonial Story I Editorial: Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2024 Finals

    Source: Samsung

    Celebrating Samsung Mentors, Learners & Teachers in the 2024 Top 10 Finals
    The Samsung Solve For Tomorrow (SFT) Competition has now reached its Final stage and the electronics giant in collaboration with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) will host the Winner Announcement Ceremony at AHA Kopanong Hotel & Conferencing in Benoni on Wednesday, 02 October 2024.
     
    In an effort to recognise and celebrate the work done by the participating schools, Samsung took the time to speak to both learners and teachers from four finalist schools that entered the competition this year. The aim of the conversation was to ascertain how these participants felt about being part of the contest, how their experience has been and how their preparations were going before the prototype presentation in October. A crucial stage that would determine which school would end up walking away with the ultimate prize; and this is what they had to say:
     
    Nomfundo Manqele, a learner from Adams College in KwaZulu-Natal expressed how thrilled she was to be part of the finalist schools. However, from time to time she did experience a bit of anxiety and a roller coaster of emotions when she was reminded just how big the competition was. Nomfundo mentioned that it was both an incredible and hectic experience for both the teachers and learners as they all learnt new things, every day.
     

     
    She also admitted to the fact that they also faced many challenges along the way, but overall, it was an affirming experience. Nomfundo added by saying: “Preparations for our final prototype are currently underway and coming along quite nicely. Although, we have encountered many challenges in this journey, we somehow found a way to persevere. In spite of the challenges, I am certain that the win is coming to KZN considering the effort we put into crafting our masterpiece.”
    To date, we’ve learnt quite a lot in this competition and one of the lessons that stands out for us and one that we will forever hold onto is that: “In life, if you want to go far, go together. Nothing beats working well as a team and having a great leader that will lead you to victory through healthy competition and teamwork.”
     
    Nomfundo’s words of encouragement to schools that haven’t yet entered the contest are: “This is a really challenging contest that requires hard work and dedication, so always bear that in mind. However, in a competition arena, resilience separates winners from the rest. There are no winners or losers, only learners – nothing more, nothing less.”

    Amyoli Resha, a grade 11 learner from Khwezi Lomso Comprehensive School at Zwide township in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape said: “Entering the Samsung SFT competition and even becoming a finalist makes me feel very ecstatic.
     
    “This competition and this milestone has brought a sense of pride, considering the fact that we are the only school in the Eastern Cape to make it to the Top 20 & Top 10, we definitely embody the spirit of the Home of Legends.”
     
    He added that it has been quite a wonderful, yet very challenging experience. From the start of the programme, their team has enjoyed a great deal of support from the entire school and its faculty. And this unwavering support is what got the team through all the challenges they faced during the process leading up to where it is today.
     
    Amyoli confidently said that the preparations for the prototype were going quite smoothly. “The team is not in panic mode because we were told that the final product may take some time to materialise into perfection. However, by the look of things and the confidence we possess – the team is more than convinced that we WILL definitely Bring the Win Home,” he added.
     
    Above all, the competition has taught the whole team from Khwezi Lomso – the importance of teamwork and believing that their combined proposals and ideas can actually make a large impact. Amyoli then called upon all schools to enter this competition so that they can unleash their learners’ potential because this contest will give them the opportunity to advance and explore their imaginations.
     
    Zandile Sonandze, a teacher also from Khwezi Lomso Comprehensive School in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape said that she’s very excited because they didn’t think that they could get this far in the competition, especially as a new entry. She said that, as an educator, the entire team’s confidence has been boosted enough to enter other competitions. “When we first entered the SFT competition, we didn’t even think that we would be selected for the first round, but look at us now,” Zandile exclaimed.
     
    According to this enthusiastic teacher: “This experience has been exciting and overwhelming at the same time, because everything had to go as planned. Our learners are also excited to be in the Finals and for the opportunity to fly to Johannesburg. Our educators and the entire school are also cheering for us – they are all very proud of how far we’ve come.”
     
    Zandile also explained that the preparations are not yet 100%, and that there are still some finer details they are trying to wrap-up in an effort to help the team to win the competition. However, she said that they are trying their best to be as creative as possible – the team is now just hoping for the best. She has also taken the time to encourage other schools to enter the competition as this has been an eye opening experience for their entire school.
     
    Phume Unarine, a learner and group leader from Thengwe High school located in the Limpopo Province said that she’s very happy and looking forward to what the finals have in store for them. For Phume and her team, this has been one of the most interesting and exciting experiences that the learners, teachers and their whole school has participated in.
     

     
    “The preparations for our prototype went according to our plans,” Phume added confidently. “We’ve faced every obstacle that came our way with the full support of our mentor whose support has been crucial to us reaching this stage of the competition. I have confidence in my team and I’m convinced that we’re going to come out victorious.”
    During this competition, we learnt that people aren’t the same and their differences are what makes them unique. She added that she learnt that teamwork is not only about being part of a group and that a great leader is made by the motivated people around him or her. I’d like to advise other schools that have not yet participated in this contest to take a leap of faith and enter because this will help them discover more knowledge and open them up to new experiences that they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.
     
    Makhosazana Mazibuko, a learner and team leader from Mandisa Shiceka School of Specialisation in Gauteng appreciated being part of the SFT competition and found the contest to be a very exciting experience that she thoroughly enjoyed. She also saw this as an opportunity to improve her community. For Makhosazana, the competition was full of research and helped their team members to create lasting bonds. As far as preparation for the prototype presentation is concerned, she said: “It’s going very well, we are productive and are dealing with our trial and errors very well. Our idea involves one of the basic necessities in our community and is unique, so I’m very confident that we will win.”

    During this competition, Makhosazana believes that she learnt how to be patient, how to “turn down” ideas and how to be a better leader. Overall, she’s learnt to be kinder and more understanding with circumstances, peers, adults and above all herself. She also feels that her presentation skills have improved and that she’s gained more confidence, in herself and her intellect.
     
    And lastly, Nonki Bridgette Motlogelwa, an educator from Mandisa Shiceka – a Gauteng-based Maths, Science & ICT School of Specialisation, with a focus in mining and manufacturing said: “As a new entry, I feel so honoured and grateful to be part of the competition. Over the last few months, we put in so much effort into our idea and to know that it is being appreciated – has truly made us feel on top of the world. Now, we feel like we can do anything as long as we put our minds to it.” 
     
    Nonki expressed how proud and blown away she was by the learners from her school. She explained how they have shown so much courage, creativity and teamwork, a clear indication that they are heading in the right direction. During the competition process, the learners started feeling the pressure but fortunately they pulled through and decided to do hydroponics. This technique involves growing plants using water-based nutrient solution rather than soil.
     
    When it was announced that the school is in the top 10, the entire school was so happy, this has motivated other school learners to want to enter next year. Having a Samsung mentor as well, she believes, made this challenging experience much easier, because she was able to guide the team through.
    For Nonki, the overall experience was amazing and thought-provoking. She also confirmed that their preparations for the prototype presentation are going well, the learners are putting their all and their teamwork is superb. The learners were also able to alternate themselves in terms of building the prototype and preparations for the final presentation. 
     
    Nonki is encouraging learners from other schools who have not yet participated in this SFT competition to always take chances and believe in themselves, because the future is in their hands. “Because all the learners have the brains and creativity, its important to let them shine and show the world that every individual deserves an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background or circumstances,” concluded Nonki.
     

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI: EquityZen Adds to Senior Executive team – Hires Justin Howell as COO and promotes Jean Brandolini Lamb to CMO

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EquityZen, an online marketplace for company-approved sales of pre-IPO employee shares, today announces the appointment of Justin Howell as Chief Operating Officer. Howell’s appointment marks a significant milestone for EquityZen as it accelerates its mission of bringing “private markets to the public” for investors and shareholders on its fintech platform. 

    Howell will oversee daily operations and will report to EquityZen CEO, Atish Davda. Before joining EquityZen, Justin founded and led Rize Money, Inc., a pioneering embedded payments platform that provided payment infrastructure and risk management capabilities to fintechs and other technology companies seeking to integrate innovative financial products into their existing user experiences. Under his leadership, Rize was successfully acquired by Fifth Third Bank, where he served as Senior Vice President and oversaw the integration of Rize’s infrastructure into Newline, Fifth Third’s embedded payments division, allowing Fifth Third to win enterprise-scale clients like Stripe and Trustly. 

    “Throughout my career I have been on a mission to transform financial services through technology,” said EquityZen’s newly appointed COO, Justin Howell. “As an early investor in EquityZen and a long-time client, I am thrilled to be working with the leadership team at EquityZen to help bring greater access to alternative markets.”

    Howell’s career spans over 20 years with various roles at Bain & Company, Bain Capital, Soleil Securities and Perry Capital, where he gained experience in strategy, operations, and investment across both startups and Fortune 100 companies before founding Rize. His passion for building impactful companies extends to sectors such as personal finance, greentech, education and media & entertainment. Justin holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MBA from The Wharton School. He actively contributes to the entrepreneurial community as a mentor, advisor and board member.

    Jean Brandolini Lamb has spent two years as EquityZen’s head of marketing before being promoted to Chief Marketing Officer. 

    “It’s been a pleasure to be part of EquityZen’s advancement as we see interest in our category and company grow. I look forward to working even more deeply with the leadership team to focus on our customers and the opportunities ahead of our thriving business,” said Jean Brandolini Lamb, EquityZen’s new CMO. 

    Jean joined EquityZen as head of marketing in 2022. Over the last 20+ years, Jean has led marketing teams at global financial services and technology companies including J.P. Morgan, TIAA, SAP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from NYU and an MA from Columbia University. 

    “Justin is an invaluable addition to our team given his experience as a seasoned entrepreneur, business strategist and his proven track record in scaling businesses. His deep understanding of our business, financial technology and how to operate nimbly in a highly regulated industry will be instrumental as we continue to innovate and transform our pre-IPO platform,” said Atish Davda, CEO of EquityZen. “Jean joined to lead marketing two years ago and expanded her purview to also lead funds, research and customer experience in her tenure. With this promotion, she brings her valued voice and insight into our customers to the senior executive team. Our goal at EquityZen is to democratize access to investing in the private markets and I look forward to both of their contributions at our company,” he added.

    About EquityZen

    Since 2013, the EquityZen marketplace has made it easy to buy and sell shares in the private companies shaping the future. EquityZen brings together investors and shareholders, providing liquidity to early shareholders and private market access to accredited investors. With low investment minimums through our funds and with more than 41,000 private placements completed across 450+ companies, EquityZen leads the way in delivering “Private Markets for the Public.” 

    Media Contact

    Deborah Kostroun, Zito Partners

    +1 (201) 403-8185

    deborah@zitopartners.com

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/946c4fa0-0b3d-4fb1-ad69-92656e2711ca
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24305c18-3024-4999-be01-12e6d1ecd213

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Sprout Social Deepens Commitment to Public Sector by Partnering With Carahsoft as a NASPO-Approved Vendor for Government Agencies

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sprout Social (Nasdaq: SPT), an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, today announced their publishing, engagement, customer care, advocacy, and AI-powered business intelligence solutions have been added to the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) ValuePoint Cloud Solutions Contract held by Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®. The contract enables Carahsoft and its reseller partners to provide Sprout Social’s products to participating state and local government agencies.

    NASPO ValuePoint Cloud Solutions Contract is a cooperative purchasing program facilitating public procurement solicitations and agreements using a lead-state model. The program provides the highest standard of excellence in public cooperative contracting. By leveraging the leadership and expertise of all states and the purchasing power of their public entities, NASPO ValuePoint Cloud Solutions delivers the highest valued, reliable and competitively sourced contracts, offering public entities outstanding pricing.

    “Social media has become a vital tool for government agencies to engage with the public and deliver timely, transparent communication,” said Ryan Barretto, President and incoming CEO, Sprout Social. “Our partnership with Carahsoft and NASPO ensures Sprout customers in the public sector can work more efficiently, create more time for citizen engagement and confidently demonstrate the value of social.”

    Sprout takes billions of social conversations from across the major social networks and brings them together in seconds, surfacing rich insights, building comprehensive dashboards and powering intelligent automations. With the addition of Sprout Social solutions to NASPO, government agencies may now purchase the platform alongside other approved technologies, all from one contract offered by Carahsoft.

    “Carahsoft is excited to announce that Sprout Social’s cloud-based social media management platforms are now available to NASPO members,” said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. “The inclusion of Sprout Social in NASPO’s offerings expands the range of digital communication solutions available to State and Local agencies. Carahsoft is committed to helping NASPO members enhance their social media management through collaboration with our resellers. With Sprout Social now part of NASPO, customers can more effectively communicate and serve their communities.”

    Learn more about Sprout Social here.

    About Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is a global leader in social media management and analytics software. Sprout’s intuitive platform puts powerful social data into the hands of more than 30,000 brands so they can deliver smarter, faster business impact. Named the #1 Best Software Product by G2’s 2024 Best Software Award, Sprout offers comprehensive publishing and engagement functionality, customer care, influencer marketing, advocacy, and AI-powered business intelligence. Sprout’s software operates across all major social media networks and digital platforms. For more information about Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT), visit sproutsocial.com.

    Social Media Profiles:
    www.twitter.com/SproutSocial
    www.twitter.com/SproutSocialIR
    www.facebook.com/SproutSocialInc
    www.linkedin.com/company/sprout-social-inc-/
    www.instagram.com/sproutsocial

    Contact
    Media:
    Layla Revis
    Email: pr@sproutsocial.com
    Phone: (866) 878-3231

    Investors:
    Lexi Johnson
    Twitter: @SproutSocialIR
    Email: investors@sproutsocial.com
    Phone: (312) 528-9166

    About Carahsoft
    Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Customer Experience and Engagement, Cybersecurity, HR and Training Technology, MultiCloud, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, DevSecOps and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com. 

    Contact
    Mary Lange
    (703) 230-7434
    PR@carahsoft.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: FHLBank Atlanta Announces $5 Million Heirs’ Property Family Wealth Protection Fund

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ATLANTA, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) announced its 2024 Heirs’ Property Family Wealth Protection Fund (FWP), allocating $5 million to assist organizations with the prevention and resolution of heirs’ property issues.

    A recent survey sponsored by FHLBank Atlanta and conducted by The Harris Poll found that most homeowners (90%) expect the equity in their home to benefit their heirs when they die, yet more than 4 in 10 (43%) do not have a will/trust or estate plan. The survey also showed that roughly 1 in 5 homeowners did not have, or were not sure whether they have, a clear title (22%) or recorded deed (20%).

    “Without the proper legal process, there are often roadblocks preventing equity from being passed down as property owners intend,” said FHLBank Atlanta’s President and Chief Executive Officer Kirk Malmberg. “As part of our work to address housing and homeownership challenges, FHLBank Atlanta has focused on heirs’ property issues, which occur when a property owner passes away without a will designating a successor owner or the heirs fail to properly vest title to the property in their names.”

    Through FHLBank Atlanta member institutions, starting October 1, 2024, community organizations, tribal entities, governments and municipalities may apply for up to $500,000 in grant funding to assist property owners located in low-to-moderate income areas within communities in the FHLBank Atlanta district: Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The application deadline is October 31, 2024.

    Heirs’ property issues may also arise when a property is left to multiple beneficiaries without a plan to manage the property, resulting in fractured or tangled title. The survey found that 38% of homeowners without a will/trust or estate plan intend to leave their home or property to more than one heir.

    “Family homes and properties are key to generational wealth building, but all too often, this legacy is lost due to inadequate legal documentation,” said Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams, a member of the Financial Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. “Earlier this year, I led the introduction of the HEIRS Act, which shares the same goal as FHLBank Atlanta’s program: to increase access to essential legal services, bridge wealth disparities, and give families confidence that their properties are secure for future generations.”

    Further, heirs’ property could be a more common challenge among lower income households. The survey indicated that 57% of homeowners with an annual household income under $50,000 do not have a will/trust or estate plan, and 42% in the same income range intend to leave their home to multiple heirs, exacerbating the potential risk.

    “When ownership of a property is unclear, it hinders the accumulation of generational wealth and makes it hard for the home to be maintained or sold, often leading to neighborhood blight,” said FHLBank Atlanta Senior Vice President and Director of Community Investment Services Tomeka Strickland. “The Family Wealth Protection Fund was created to help individuals protect their hard-earned assets for future generations while strengthening communities.”

    For additional information on FHLBank Atlanta’s Heirs’ Property Family Wealth Protection Fund or to identify a FHLBank Atlanta member financial institution for partnership opportunities, visit the Bank’s Find a Member page or contact Community Investment Services at 800.536.9650, option 3 or FHLBAtlantaHeirsProperty@fhlbatl.com.

    About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
    FHLBank Atlanta is a member-owned cooperative that offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to assist its member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank’s members are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $9.1 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than 1.2 million households.

    For more information, visit our website at www.fhlbatl.com.

    Survey Method

    The survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta from August 20-22, 2024, among 1,306 homeowners. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 3.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.

    CONTACT:
    Sheryl Touchton
    Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
    stouchton@fhlbatl.com
    404.716.4296

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Aether Fuels Signs MOU with JetBlue

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aether Fuels (Aether), a venture-backed climate technology company, today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU). Aether has developed a breakthrough technology that utilizes a diverse array of waste feedstocks to produce sustainable liquid fuels at a lower cost and greater scale than existing approaches. The agreement creates a pathway for Aether to supply JetBlue with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) when commercial production begins.

    The MOU extends Aether’s relationship with JetBlue that began when its venture capital subsidiary, JetBlue Ventures, invested in Aether’s convertible note and Series A financings.

    Aether’s technology, known as Aether Aurora™, uses a range of waste carbon feedstocks that do not compete with food or feed value chains. This critical “feedstock flexibility” differentiator enables the large-scale deployment of Aether Aurora technology and contributes to the breakthrough economics that are essential for sustainable liquid fuels, by enabling the conversion of numerous abundant waste carbon feedstocks into jet fuel. This overcomes the supply constraints faced by many other SAF production processes that rely on a limited type of often-scarce or cost-constrained feedstocks.

    The technology, an enhanced version of the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, combines innovations in chemistry (catalysts), equipment (reactors), and novel process flow schemes that enable major process simplifications (intensification) when converting waste carbon streams, such as captured carbon dioxide, industrial waste gases, biogas and treated agricultural residues, into liquid hydrocarbons. It is a robust, flexible, and efficient process engineered to deliver high yield and broad feedstock support at lower investment and operating costs.

    This MOU is the first for Aether in the SAF space. It comes as the company’s team of expert technologists, in partnership with GTI Energy, are constructing a 100 gallon-per-day (380l/day) pilot line that builds on the successful operation of an existing 1.5 gallon-per-day (6l/day) pilot line. The work leverages eight years of technology development initiated by GTI Energy and accelerates the commercial deployment of Aether Aurora at scale.

    In parallel, Aether is developing a pipeline of commercial-scale production facilities. This includes projects in the U.S. and Southeast Asia to produce SAF and other high-value sustainable liquid fuels in collaboration with select strategic partners.

    “JetBlue is a leader in proactively transitioning to SAF so their interest in the company and the Aether Aurora technology is gratifying,” said Conor Madigan, Co-founder and CEO at Aether. “For a disruptive technology like ours, early and informed input from potential users, including airlines, can accelerate the ramp from R&D to commercialization. We are excited to engage with JetBlue and look forward to supporting their SAF vision.”

    “Scaling up production of SAF is the essential challenge to solve for the decarbonization of aviation,” said Sara Bogdan, Managing Director of Sustainability and ESG at JetBlue. “Aether Fuels’ technology targets a key need. By enabling access to a much wider range of feedstocks than previously available, the new technology shows incredible promise to help SAF reach the commercial scale needed for the industry transition to renewable fuels. As our investment via JetBlue Ventures demonstrates, we are believers in the Aether technology and team, and we look forward to being part of that journey.”

    Aether Aurora is trademarked by Aether Fuels

    About JetBlue: JetBlue is New York’s Hometown Airline®, and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles, Orlando and San Juan. JetBlue, known for its low fares and great service, carries customers to more than 100 destinations throughout the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and Europe. For more information and the best fares, visit jetblue.com.

    About Aether Fuels: Aether Fuels envisions a net-zero world enabled by its breakthrough sustainable liquid fuel production technology. We are developing highly scalable solutions that dramatically improve the unit economics of producing sustainable fuels for aviation and ocean shipping. Established in 2022 as a spin-out of Xora Innovation, a deep-tech early-stage investment platform of Temasek, we maintain principal offices in the U.S. and Singapore. For more information, visit www.aetherfuels.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

    Contact

    Kelsey Duke; Diffusion PR for Aether Fuels; email: AetherFuels@Diffusionpr.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Des Moines Register Names VizyPay as Top Workplace for Fourth Year in a Row

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WAUKEE, Iowa, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VizyPay, the leading payment processing fintech serving small businesses in rural America, today announces its recognition as an Iowa Top Workplace by the Des Moines Register for the fourth year in a row. The winners are selected based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey that measures employee experience and themes of employees feeling respected and supported, enabled to grow, and empowered to execute.

    VizyPay was recognized specifically for its transparent, diverse and energetic environment. The company represents a melting pot of diverse backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives, creating an atmosphere that fosters innovation and creativity. The strong culture fuels success and enables top-notch service to VizyPay merchants year after year.

    “This recognition highlights the strength of #TeamVizy. At VizyPay, we prioritize our team over everything else, fostering an environment where we build strong relationships, enjoy ourselves, and support each other’s professional growth,” said VizyPay CEO Austin Mac Nab. “Our team is more than just colleagues; we’re a family that supports each other through thick and thin. We celebrate our successes and learn from our failures, always striving to be better.”

    “Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “That’s something to be proud of. In today’s market, leaders must ensure they’re allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That’s paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends.”

    For more information about VizyPay’s culture, please visit www.vizypay.com.

    About VizyPay
    Headquartered in Waukee, Iowa, VizyPay was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs who each had either significant credit card processing experience or were previously small business owners. Their combined understanding of these different industries created the perfect cocktail for a credit card processing company that could truly look out for the business owner. Making a huge splash nationwide by being honest and simple, VizyPay ranked #1841 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America with a three-year revenue growth of 305%.

    About Energage
    Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 18 years of culture research and the results from 27 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com.

    Media Contact
    Alexis Ware
    Uproar PR for VizyPay
    aware@uproarpr.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: View politics critically but charitably and with good old common sense: cowboy commentator Will Rogers’ wisdom for 2024

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Steven Watts, Professor of History, University of Missouri-Columbia

    Will Rogers made a career out of making fun of politics and politicians − with a generous spirit. George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

    For those trying to come to terms with a particularly tumultuous election year full of deep divisions, ideological invective and personal insults, guidance can come from a historical figure whose insights into American politics still prove useful.

    As I chronicle in my new book, “Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers And The American People,” Will Rogers stood as perhaps the most influential commentator on public affairs in the United States a century ago. Born in Oklahoma, he had risen to fame as a cowboy humorist in vaudeville, the Ziegfeld Follies, Broadway shows and silent movies, and he earned public acclaim with his shrewd, folksy and witty observations on American life and values.

    By the 1920s, this led to a syndicated column Rogers wrote for over 300 newspapers, a stream of magazine articles and essays, and steady appearances on the national lecture circuit. He hosted a national radio program and had starring roles in several Hollywood “talkie” movies.

    Rogers became the most beloved figure in America until his death in 1935. As I discovered in my research, a flood of eulogies appeared in newspapers and magazines following his passing. Typical was this one appearing in the Minneapolis Journal: “We all loved Will Rogers … . Poets we have had, and philosophers, and humorists of note; but not one among them all so endeared to the heart of the whole people. None was ever mourned with such genuine grief, none will be so missed from our common life.”

    Especially fascinated by the nation’s politics, Rogers often trained his humor on its foibles and achievements alike. Three touchstones guided his commentary: a genial skepticism about politics as usual, a belief that politics must be subsumed within a broader perspective on life and, above all, an insistence that political discussants honor a code of civility.

    Will Rogers sends up politics and politicians in this radio broadcast from 1924.

    ‘I just … report the facts’

    Rogers got most of his laughs from skeptical jabs at the system. He gleefully skewered the “bunk” of American politics, his favorite word for politicians’ shameless hypocrisy, bombastic rhetoric, inflated egos and shady deal-making. Both Democrats and Republicans stood guilty of peddling bunk.

    “You know, the more you read and observe about this politics thing, you’ve got to admit that each party is worse than the other,” Rogers said. “It is getting so that a Republican promise is not much more to be depended on than a Democratic one. And that has always been considered the lowest form of collateral in the world.”

    The Oklahoman poked fun at the political system’s grandiose rituals and fumbling institutions. He wrote of a benumbing presidential convention in 1924 that took three weeks and 103 ballots to nominate a nonentity: “In number of population the convention is holding its own. The deaths from old age among the delegates is about offset by the birthrate.”

    Rogers pilloried governmental ineptness in Washington, D.C. One year, when Congress reconvened after a round of egregious bickering and inaction, he joked, “Let us all pray: Oh Lord, give us strength to bear that which is about to be inflicted upon us. Be merciful with them, Oh Lord, for they know not what they do.”

    He claimed a simple approach: “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”

    ‘Critical yet charitable’

    Yet Rogers insisted that political disputation should be kept in perspective. He urged his fellow citizens to avoid politicizing every public issue and instead concentrate on more meaningful endeavors – family, friends, community and work.

    Despite the dire warnings of political zealots, he said, “There is no less sickness, no less Earthquakes, no less Progress, no less inventions, no less morality, no less Christianity under one (president) than the other.”

    But for Rogers, the ultimate guarantee of stability came from the mass of workaday American citizens seeking commonsense solutions to public problems. What Rogers called the “Big Honest Majority” lived simply and worked hard, wanted a good life for their families and pursued their own version of happiness.

    The average citizen, Rogers believed, had solid judgment and “was not simple minded enough to believe that EVERYTHING is right and doesn’t appear to be cuckoo enough to believe that EVERYTHING is wrong.”

    Finally, Rogers urged an approach to politics that was critical yet charitable, principled yet magnanimous. A connoisseur of civility, he insisted that political disputants were opponents, not enemies, and that contrary viewpoints deserved respect.

    The humorist set the example: “I haven’t got it in for anybody or anything.”

    Will Rogers dining with Oklahoma Gov. Bill Murray on Feb. 3, 1931, in Oklahoma City. Murray had his usual meal of hard-boiled eggs and milk; Rogers chose fried chicken.
    Associated Press

    Surviving overwrought partisanship

    Even as he pilloried politicians’ shortcomings, he never made it personal. Despite their faults, Rogers wrote, “the Rascals, when you meet ’em face to face and know ’em, they are mighty nice fellows.” He declared famously, “I’ve joked about every prominent man in my time but I never met a man I didn’t like.”

    Determinedly nonpartisan throughout most of his career, he leaned toward the party of Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression while jesting, “I don’t belong to any organized political faith; I’m a Democrat.” The cowboy humorist saw politics as an endeavor for genial discussion, not a blood sport.

    Rogers’ political axioms of healthy skepticism, perspicacity and civility remain useful guides for surviving even the most sordid electioneering.

    So when you hear overwrought partisans lamenting “the end of democracy” or “we won’t have a country left anymore,” take a deep breath and consider Will Rogers’ calmer, wiser approach to presidential elections a century ago. Remember his conclusion that America won’t be ruined “no matter who is elected, so the Politicians will have to wait four more years to tell us who will ruin us then.”

    Then you can adopt his sage advice that when dealing with a political adversary, “don’t disagree with him looking at him; walk around behind him and see the way he’s looking.”

    Steven Watts 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. View politics critically but charitably and with good old common sense: cowboy commentator Will Rogers’ wisdom for 2024 – https://theconversation.com/view-politics-critically-but-charitably-and-with-good-old-common-sense-cowboy-commentator-will-rogers-wisdom-for-2024-239372

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Banzai to Host Shareholder Update Conference Call Webcast on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SEATTLE, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Banzai International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNZI) (“Banzai” or the “Company”), a leading marketing technology company that provides essential marketing and sales solutions, will hold a conference call webcast on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss recent announcements, review ongoing initiatives, and anticipated 2024 milestones.

    Banzai Founder and CEO Joe Davey will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer period. The conference call will be accompanied by a presentation, which can be viewed during the webcast or accessed via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.

    To access the call, please use the following information:

    A replay of the webcast and the presentation utilized during the call will be available in the Company’s investor relations section here.

    About Banzai

    Banzai is a marketing technology company that provides essential marketing and sales solutions for businesses of all sizes. On a mission to help their customers achieve their mission, Banzai enables companies of all sizes to target, engage, and measure both new and existing customers more effectively. Banzai customers include Square, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Thinkific, Doodle and ActiveCampaign, among thousands of others. Learn more at www.banzai.io. For investors, please visit https://ir.banzai.io.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often use words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “target,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “propose,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “predict,” “potential,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar variations and expressions. Forward-looking statements are those that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Examples of forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements regarding Banzai International, Inc.’s (the “Company’s”): future financial, business and operating performance and goals; annualized recurring revenue and customer retention; ongoing, future or ability to maintain or improve its financial position, cash flows, and liquidity and its expected financial needs; potential financing and ability to obtain financing; acquisition strategy and proposed acquisitions and, if completed, their potential success and financial contributions; strategy and strategic goals, including being able to capitalize on opportunities; expectations relating to the Company’s industry, outlook and market trends; total addressable market and serviceable addressable market and related projections; plans, strategies and expectations for retaining existing or acquiring new customers, increasing revenue and executing growth initiatives; and product areas of focus and additional products that may be sold in the future. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industry in which the Company operates may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Therefore, investors should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include changes in the markets in which the Company operates, customer demand, the financial markets, economic, business and regulatory and other factors, such as the Company’s ability to execute on its strategy. More detailed information about risk factors can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the heading “Risk Factors,” and in other reports filed by the Company, including reports on Form 8-K. The Company does not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

    Investor Relations:
    Chris Tyson
    Executive Vice President
    MZ Group – MZ North America
    949-491-8235
    BNZI@mzgroup.us
    www.mzgroup.us

    Media
    Rachel Meyrowitz
    Director, Demand Generation, Banzai
    rachel.meyrowitz@banzai.io

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Gun violence in Philadelphia plummeted in 2024 − researchers aren’t sure why, but here are 3 factors at play

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carla Lewandowski, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Rowan University

    Philadelphia had 563 homicides in 2021 — the deadliest year on record. Alex Potemkin/E+ Collection via Getty Images

    Philadelphia experienced a surge in shootings and homicides during the COVID-19 years that disproportionately affected young Black and Latino men in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with drug markets.

    In 2020, Philadelphia had 499 homicides – nearly 150 more than the previous year. Gun violence worsened in 2021 – with 562 homicides that year – and then dropped slightly in 2022.

    Fortunately, recent data shows a notable decline in these crimes over the past two years. As of late September 2024, homicides are down 40% for the year to date compared with 2023. And the number of shooting victims has decreased similarly – from 1,236 in the first eight months of 2023 to 758 for the same period in 2024.

    As professors of criminal justice who live in Greater Philadelphia, we know that there is no single explanation for the drop in gun violence. Rather, many factors at both the local and national levels could be playing a role.

    Police and justice system return to (sort of) normalcy

    A shortage of police – driven by pandemic-era resignations, retirements and injuries – significantly affected cities like Philadelphia.

    Additionally, the Philadelphia Police Department’s number of traffic and pedestrian stops dropped drastically. This was due to both the need to adhere to social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and a widespread reluctance among officers to engage with citizens after massive protests in response to the murder of George Floyd. In fact, the number of documented stops plummeted by 83% from 2019 to 2020 alone.

    Philadelphia police staffing remains nearly 20% lower than before the pandemic.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images News via Getty Images

    As the year progressed, the department struggled with officers’ abuse of the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act. This statewide disability program allows police and firefighters injured on the job to collect their full salaries.

    By September 2021, 14% of Philadelphia patrol officers were out of work on “no duty” disability leave, according to investigations by both The Philadelphia Inquirer and the city controller.

    Though up-to-date data is unavailable, there was a 31% drop in injury claims by December 2022, 10 months after the Inquirer investigation was published.

    More recently, the Philadelphia Police Department has attempted to increase its ranks through intensified recruitment efforts. It also lowered physical requirements and eliminated certain residency restrictions.

    Despite these efforts, staffing remains nearly 20% lower than in 2019. This places considerable strain on the existing workforce.

    Of course, the COVID-19 years considerably affected the entire criminal justice system and beyond in Philadelphia. Courts operated in a limited capacity, cases backlogged, probation and parole officers were less able to supervise individuals in the community, and the jail population was reduced. The city’s array of community- and hospital-based violence intervention programs were also disrupted.

    The post-pandemic resumption of court operations, improved violence intervention programs, police recruitment efforts and reduced disability claims may help explain the recent drop in shootings.

    New leadership and crime-fighting strategies

    Reducing gun violence was a top campaign issue during Philadelphia’s 2023 mayoral race.

    Mayor Cherelle Parker, elected on a law-and-order platform, declared a public safety emergency on her first day in office.

    She also appointed Kevin Bethel as police commissioner in charge of the more than 6,000-member force. Bethel, second in command under former Commissioner Charles Ramsey, quickly released a 100-day plan that focused on crime reduction in high-crime districts, shutting down open-air drug markets in Kensington and reinforcing federal partnerships to tackle violent crime.

    Philadelphia has also adopted new policing strategies and technologies.

    In early 2022, before Parker and Bethel’s tenure, the Philadelphia Police Department under former Commissioner Danielle Outlaw designated a new unit to investigate nonfatal shootings. In 2021, only 17% of nonfatal shootings led to arrests, a failure that can fuel retaliatory violence, legal cynicism – which refers to a drop in trust of the legal system – and communities resorting to self-policing.

    While it’s not yet clear what effect the new unit has had in Philadelphia, research shows such units that prioritize resources to solving nonfatal shootings in places such as Boston and Denver have reduced gun violence.

    More recently, the city began deploying mobile surge teams on weekends to flood high-crime areas with officers to deter potential criminal activity.

    Meanwhile, Temple University attributes the reduction in crime within its patrol areas to the implementation of safety measures, including new equipment for officers such as firearms and radios, upgraded security cameras and advanced technology such as license plate readers, which help identify stolen vehicles or those linked to criminal behavior.

    Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel has prioritized reducing gun violence in high-crime neighborhoods.
    Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images

    National crime trends

    While local initiatives have likely contributed to Philadelphia’s drop in violent crime, these improvements also fit into national crime trends as cities across the U.S. experienced similar declines.

    Economics and public safety expert John Roman, for example, attributes both the rise and fall of violence to pandemic-related losses in government staffing and functionality, which he argues returned to prepandemic levels in late 2023.

    Roman shows how 1.3 million government jobs were lost nationally at the outset of COVID-19, with 75% of the losses coming at the local level. These local government employees, such as social and outreach workers, often connect people in marginalized communities that bear the brunt of gun violence to crucial services such as trauma counseling, victim advocacy and legal assistance.

    In Philadelphia, approximately 3,000 local government jobs were lost between 2019 and 2022. The reopening of social services and increase in those jobs and community-based interventions post-pandemic may have helped stabilize Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.

    Crime trends tend to ebb and flow. This current drop appears to align with a national de-escalation in violent crime. These factors, alongside the statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean – where crime rates normalize after extreme spikes – apply to both national and local crime rates.

    Some researchers, including Roman, have also considered the possibility that the recent 2020-2022 homicide peak killed a portion of the most violent offenders who drive shootings in their neighborhood. It’s based on the concept of the victim-offender overlap that those at the highest risk of violence are often offenders themselves.

    But crediting Philadelphia’s decline in homicides and violent crime to any single cause oversimplifies a much more intricate picture. While the exact causes of these shifts are complex, understanding the interplay of local and national forces is essential to sustaining this positive trajectory.

    John A. Shjarback receives funding from: the South Jersey Institute for Population Health; the NJ Gun Violence Research Center; and a few local/county governments including Cumberland County, NJ, Atlantic City, NJ, and Suffolk County, NY.

    Carla Lewandowski 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. Gun violence in Philadelphia plummeted in 2024 − researchers aren’t sure why, but here are 3 factors at play – https://theconversation.com/gun-violence-in-philadelphia-plummeted-in-2024-researchers-arent-sure-why-but-here-are-3-factors-at-play-235485

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Partners Value Split Corp. Announces $125,000,000 Public Offering of Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 14

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

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

    TORONTO, Sept. 23, 2024 (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 14 (the “Series 14 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 14 Preferred Shares will be issued at a price of $25.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $125,000,000. The Series 14 Preferred Shares will carry a fixed coupon of 5.50% and will have a final maturity of June 30, 2030. The Series 14 Preferred Shares have a provisional rating of Pfd-2 from DBRS Limited. The net proceeds of the offering will be used by the Company in connection with the Company’s redemption of its outstanding Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 8 and 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 14 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 September 27, 2024.

    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 approximately 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 14 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 –

  • MIL-OSI: Canon U.S.A., Inc. Supports Cross-University Project

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MELVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aligned with its commitment to supporting higher education and fostering collaboration, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to announce its support of a collaborative project between Syracuse University and Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico through which their students created a documentary film. The project was made possible through the help of powerful technology provided by Canon1, enabling students from both universities to work together to bring their ideas to life from ideation to execution. The resulting documentary, A Tale of Two Cities, will make its debut at the upcoming Syracuse Film Festival in Syracuse, New York, showcasing the students’ unique perspectives and collaborative efforts.2

    Under the guidance of faculty members Milton Santiago at Syracuse University and Professor Harold Leonard Navarro at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, students explored a topic of mutual regional significance. Despite the geographic distance between the two groups, they were able to seamlessly collaborate using Canon’s AMLOS (Activate My Line of Sight) solution and captured the documentary on Canon’s EOS R5C hybrid camera. Canon’s AMLOS solution facilitated real-time interaction, allowing the students to communicate in an engaging way to merge their unique perspectives and skills into a cohesive documentary project.

    “This project truly enabled our students to understand the power of collaboration,” said Santiago, an assistant professor of visual communications at Syracuse University’s renowned Newhouse School of Public Communications.

    “Despite being geographically distant, the students at Syracuse and at Sagrado were able to rally around a common goal: telling an important story while raising awareness about a timely issue,” Santiago added. “In joining forces through storytelling, the work they have created will have impact beyond our academic walls.”

    In exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, captured on Canon’s EOS R5 C camera, students reflect on how they used the AMLOS solution to collaborate seamlessly across geographic boundaries.

    A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

    Additional footage shows the students working with the EOS R5 C camera to bring their documentary vision to life, highlighting the impact of Canon’s technology on their creative process.

    A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

    The benefits of Canon’s technology extended beyond merely facilitating interaction. It empowered students to work together to merge their perspectives seamlessly to help them create a polished final product.

    “The success of this project demonstrates that technology is an extremely powerful tool for collaboration across academic disciplines,” said Professor Navarro. “This experience has opened the door for future projects, bringing together students and faculty from diverse backgrounds in innovative ways.”

    Students echoed this sentiment, emphasizing how the project made a profound impact on their learning experience.

    “The experience that everyone got from this project is something that will leave a lasting impact on us,” said Jennifer Wybieracki, master’s graduate student at Syracuse University. “The collaboration between multidisciplinary fields is super important as we’re able to see how different industries operate and how we all contribute to the end product.”

    “We thank Canon for providing us with the equipment that allowed us to present the reality of the community by enabling us to obtain high-quality content,” said Victor Jiménez, journalism undergraduate student at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón.

    Supporting this collaborative project underscores Canon’s ongoing commitment to fostering creativity and innovation across academic institutions.

    “At Canon, we believe that technology has the power to transcend boundaries, whether geographic, cultural, or academic,” said Shinya Fukuda, senior vice president, Corporate Planning and Communications, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “By supporting this cross-university collaboration, we’re proud to help equip the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers with the tools they need to not only share their unique perspectives but also to foster meaningful connections through creativity and innovation.”

    About Newhouse School at Syracuse University

    The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University trains the next generation of communications leaders, preparing students to not only enter a rapidly changing media industry, but to shape its future. Called one of the “very best schools” in its field by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) in a 2023 report, Newhouse has been lauded for providing an excellent educational experience due to its outstanding students, faculty, staff, leadership and facilities, as well as financial stability and a deep curriculum. Newhouse is committed to expanding academic excellence through research and creative activity, as well as community engagement and professional opportunities to help students develop their skill set outside the classroom.

    About Universidad del Sagrado Corazón

    The Universidad del Sagrado Corazón is the oldest educational project in Puerto Rico, founded in 1880. It is located in the heart of Santurce, in the capital city of San Juan. The university offers academic programs that foster innovative thinking and creativity, helping students develop into leaders across various industries. The Ferré Rangel School of Communication is the premier institution for media and communication studies in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Its graduates hold leadership roles in media and communication organizations both domestically and internationally. Learn more about the Ferré Rangel School of Communication at https://www.sagrado.edu/en/communications/

    About Canon U.S.A. Inc.

    Canon U.S.A. Inc. is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean markets. With approximately $29.4 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. as of 2023 has ranked in the top-five overall in U.S. patents granted for 38 consecutive years†. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To learn more about Canon, visit us at www.usa.canon.com and connect with us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/canonusa.

    † Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

    1 Canon U.S.A., Inc. also provided limited financial support to the schools for the project.

    2 The views and opinions expressed in the documentary are the views and opinions of the makers thereof and do not reflect the views and opinions of Canon U.S.A.

    To learn more about the AMLOS solution, including requirements, technical specifications and compatibility information please contact your Canon Authorized Representative. Subscription to, purchase, and use of other Canon and third-party services and solutions required for set-up, sound, to see remote users, and other features. Subject to applicable Canon or third-party provider’s terms and conditions. Neither Canon Inc. nor Canon U.S.A., Inc. represents or warrants any third-party product, service, or feature referenced hereunder.

    Not responsible for typographical errors.

    Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and may also be a registered trademark or trademark in other countries. AMLOS, the AMLOS logo and Activate My Line of Sight are trademarks of Canon U.S.A., Inc. All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

    Contact info: Nicole Esan Niesan@cusa.canon.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minister Ng promotes trade and investment ties at Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic ministers meeting in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Over the weekend, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, concluded her participation in the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers-Canada Consultation, in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR).

    September 23, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

    Over the weekend, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, concluded her participation in the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers-Canada Consultation, in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR).

    During the consultation, Minister Ng highlighted the progress Canada and ASEAN member states have made toward an ASEAN-Canada free trade agreement, and underscored the importance of intensifying efforts to conclude the agreement negotiations in 2025.

    At the meeting, Minister Ng and ASEAN partners discussed the increased trade and economic cooperation since the launch of Canada-ASEAN Strategic Partnership a year ago, including the advancement of initiatives under Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in key areas such as inclusive trade, digital trade, agriculture and agri-food and sustainability.

    The Minister also acknowledged the Canada-ASEAN Business Council’s participation in the consultations and recognized its support of Canada’s commitment to creating new opportunities for Canadian businesses and investors.

    On the margins of the consultations, Minister Ng also interacted with several international partners to advance discussions on trade priorities of mutual interest.

    These included:

    • Malaithong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Lao PDR
    • Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia
    • Filipus Nino Pereira, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Timor-Leste
    • Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN
    • Cham Nimul, Minister of Commerce, Cambodia
    • Helene Budliger Artieda, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Switzerland
    • Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade, Australia
    • Douglas Alexander, Minister of State (Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security), the United Kingdom

    “These in-person engagements in the Lao PDR were an excellent opportunity for us to continue strengthening the ASEAN-Canada bilateral commercial relationship and contribute to our mutual economic prosperity and growth. Canada will keep working with ASEAN partners to deepen trade ties that will benefit Canadian businesses and workers, create good jobs and generate strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth from coast to coast to coast.”

    – Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development

    Huzaif Qaisar
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development
    343-575-8816
    Huzaif.Qaisar@international.gc.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: Taglich Brothers Initiates Coverage of RYVYL Inc.

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Taglich Brothers, Inc. announces that it has initiated coverage of RYVYL Inc. (NASDAQ: RVYL).

    RYVYL Inc., headquartered in San Diego, California, is a global financial payment processing technology organization that has developed applications in order to provide an end-to-end suite of turnkey financial products with enhanced security, data privacy, identity theft protection, and rapid speed to settlement. The technology platform can process high volumes of unchanged transactional records at the speed of the internet for first-tier partners, merchants, and consumers. The company provides private and white label licensing opportunities for its payment processing technology offerings.

    The complete 20-page report is available at https://taglichbrothers.com/

    Taglich Brothers, Inc. is a full-service broker dealer focused exclusively on microcap companies. The Company defines the microcap segment of the equity market as companies with less than $250 million in market capitalization. Taglich Brothers currently offers institutional and retail brokerage services, investment banking and comprehensive research coverage to the investment community.

    We do not undertake to advise you as to changes in figures or our views. This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell. Taglich Brothers, Inc. is fully disclosed with its clearing firm, Axos Clearing, LLC, is not a market maker and does not sell to or buy from customers on a principal basis. The above statement is the opinion of Taglich Brothers, Inc. and is not a guarantee that the target price for the stock will be met or that predicted business results for the company will occur. There may be instances when fundamental, technical and quantitative opinions contained in this report are not in concert. We, our affiliates, any officer, director or stockholder or any member of their families may from time to time purchase or sell any of the above-mentioned or related securities. Analysts and members of the Research Department are prohibited from buying or selling securities issued by the companies that Taglich Brothers, Inc. has a research relationship with, except if ownership of such securities was prior to the start of such relationship, then an Analyst or member of the Research Department may sell such securities after obtaining expressed written permission from Compliance. As of the date of this report, we, our affiliates, any officer, director or stockholder, or any member of their families do not have a position in the stock of the company mentioned in this report. Taglich Brothers, Inc. does not currently have an Investment Banking relationship with the company mentioned in this report and was not a manager or co-manager of any offering for the company within the last three years.

    All research issued by Taglich Brothers, Inc. is based on public information. In September 2024, the company paid Taglich Brothers a monetary fee of $9,000 (USD) representing payment for the creation and dissemination of research reports for three months. Three-months after publication of the initial report (January 2025), the company will begin paying Taglich Brothers a monthly monetary fee of $3,000 (USD) for the creation and dissemination of research reports for a minimum of twelve months after the date the initiation report is first published.

    Contact:
    Rick Oh
    Taglich Brothers, Inc.
    631-757-1500

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget Introduces Multi-Asset Margin Mode for USDT-M Futures, Enhancing Capital Efficiency

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VICTORIA, Seychelles, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, is excited to announce the launch of the USDT-M Futures in Multi-Asset Mode, available to all users starting on September 23, 2024, at 16:00 (UTC+8). This new feature allows users to trade USDT-margined futures by using non-USDT assets as margin, offering greater flexibility and capital efficiency.

    In single-asset margin mode, only USDT is used as collateral, whereas multi-asset margin mode allows users to leverage a variety of cryptocurrencies for USDT-M Futures trading. Bitget’s Multi-Asset Margin Mode now supports BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, PEPE, USDC, BGB, and USDT as collateral. This means users can utilize their existing assets directly for margin trading without needing to convert them into USDT. Bitget will continue to update the list of supported assets as market conditions change, providing users with more trading options.

    “At Bitget, we are dedicated to offering top-tier trading solutions that meet the diverse needs of our users. The introduction of the Multi-Asset Margin Mode is a significant step toward enhancing our users’ trading experience, empowering them to maximize the utility of their assets while providing more flexibility in managing their portfolios. This is just one of many innovations we are implementing to improve the trading experience and deliver secure, efficient solutions for our expanding global community,” commented Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget.

    To utilize the Multi-Asset Margin Mode on the Bitget platform, users simply need to follow a few steps. First, switch the margin mode to multi-asset in the margin section of the trading page. Next, by transferring coins from their spot account to the USDT-M Futures account as margin, users can adjust their leverage according to their risk tolerance and trading strategy.

    As one of the largest derivatives trading platforms in crypto, Bitget is renowned for its high liquidity, low fees, and stability, supporting over 300 cryptocurrencies. The futures trading volumes of major assets like BTC consistently rank Bitget among the top two in the industry. Additionally, to help users trade smarter, Bitget supports tools such as copy trading and AI bots in the derivatives market, enabling the optimization of trading strategies and the automation of trading operations.

    This new mode enhances the capital efficiency of users by allowing them to trade without needing to liquidate or convert their preferred cryptocurrencies. Bitget remains dedicated to continuous innovation and to meeting the demand for more flexible derivatives products, empowering its 45 million users to manage and diversify portfolios in a rapidly evolving market.

    For more information on Bitget Multi-Asset Margin Mode, please visit here.

    About Bitget
    Established in 2018, Bitget is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 45 million users in 100+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more. Bitget inspires individuals to embrace crypto through collaborations with credible partners, including legendary Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi and Turkish National athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist) and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team).

    For more information, visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet
    For media inquiries, please contact: media@bitget.com

    Risk Warning: Digital asset prices may fluctuate and experience price volatility. Only invest what you can afford to lose. The value of your investment may be impacted and it is possible that you may not achieve your financial goals or be able to recover your principal investment. You should always seek independent financial advice and consider your own financial experience and financial standing. Past performance is not a reliable measure of future performance. Bitget shall not be liable for any losses you may incur. Nothing here shall be construed as financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b6dd6544-cd36-43be-800d-bea2108c0800

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Governor of New York State Kathy Hochul

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, on the margins of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

    Prime Minister Trudeau and Governor Hochul underscored the strong economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties between Canada and New York State. In 2023, two-way trade exceeded $50 billion, and Canadian-owned companies employed tens of thousands of people across the State of New York.

    The two leaders discussed their mutual interest in strengthening critical mineral value chains to support advanced manufacturing and the deployment of clean energy projects. The Prime Minister highlighted Canada’s supply of clean energy to New York State through the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, as well as our partnership through the semiconductor manufacturing corridor between New York State and Bromont, Quebec. Both leaders emphasized the need to maintain the highest environmental and social standards in government and business practices, including by working with Indigenous partners in the development of natural resource projects. 

    The Prime Minister and the Governor discussed the ongoing housing crisis in both countries and the need to build more homes, faster, to meet the demand of growing communities. The Prime Minister highlighted Canada’s $4.4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund, which is helping to cut red tape and build more than 100,000 new homes across Canada over the next three years.

    The leaders welcomed opportunities for continued collaboration between the Government of Canada and the State of New York to advance their shared goals of economic prosperity and environmental sustainability on both sides of the border.

    Prime Minister Trudeau and Governor Hochul agreed to remain in close and regular contact.

    Associated Links

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: Intesa Sanpaolo is the World’s Leading Bank for Diversity and Inclusion in the 2024 “Ftse Diversity & Inclusion Index – Top 100”

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MILAN and TURIN, Italy, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Intesa Sanpaolo has been ranked the world’s leading bank among the 100 most inclusive and diversity-sensitive workplaces in the FTSE Diversity & Inclusion Index – Top 100, the FTSE Russel (formerly Refinitiv) international index. The Group ranks seventh globally among all companies, and is the leading banking group worldwide as well as the only Italian bank in the index.

    The analysis by FTSE Russell assesses more than 15,500 listed companies worldwide, using 24 parameters that fall into four key categories: gender diversity, inclusion, people development and controversies. FTSE Russell is a leading global provider of benchmarking, analytics and data solutions.

    Inclusion in the FTSE Diversity & Inclusion Index – Top 100 underlines the commitment of Intesa Sanpaolo, led by CEO Carlo Messina, to promoting diversity and inclusion as essential components for growth. It also reflects the Group’s commitment to promoting an inclusive workplace, that welcomes and values all forms of diversity, supported by a process of continuous measurement, evaluation and enrichment of the results obtained.

    “Society, the business world, and especially the banking sector are experiencing rapid, transformative changes driven by new technologies.

    “At Intesa Sanpaolo, we believe that the human factor – the talent and dedication of our people – is more important than ever to face these new realities. That’s why we invest significant effort, resources, and innovative programs in our employees, aimed at building a bank that nurtures the best talents with a focus on inclusivity and appreciation for the richness of human capital in terms of gender and other forms of diversity.

    “This recognition from such a prestigious index is both an honor and an encouragement to keep advancing in this direction.”

    Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo

    Media Relations Intesa Sanpaolo
    international.media@intesasanpaolo.com

    Intesa Sanpaolo
    Intesa Sanpaolo, with over €422 billion in loans and €1.35 trillion in customer financial assets at the end of June 2024, is the largest banking group in Italy, with a significant international presence. It is a European leader in wealth management, with a strong focus on digital and fintech. The Group will provide €115 billion of Impact lending by 2025 to support communities and the green transition, together with a €1.5 billion program (2023-2027) to help people in need. The Bank’s network of museums, the Gallerie d’Italia, hosts its owned artistic heritage and cultural projects of recognized value.

    News: group.intesasanpaolo.com/en/newsroom
    X: @intesasanpaolo

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b0c50f6-2842-48f3-9bc4-979813f4d7b6

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NIST Awards $3 Million for Community-Based Cybersecurity Workforce Development

    Source: US Government research organizations

    GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded cooperative agreements totaling nearly $3 million aimed at developing the workforce needed to defend the nation’s organizations and infrastructure from cybersecurity risks. The grants of roughly $200,000 each will go to 15 education and community organizations in 11 states that are working to address the nation’s shortage of skilled cybersecurity employees.

    The cooperative agreements will be overseen by NICE, a NIST-led partnership between government, academia and the private sector focused on cybersecurity education, training and development of a diverse workforce. 

    “To strengthen our national and economic security, we need a highly skilled and talented cybersecurity workforce,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “This investment in cybersecurity education and training will help fill a critical workforce need while giving people the skills they need to succeed in good-paying, high-quality jobs.”

    The NICE-funded CyberSeek tool, which analyzes data about the cybersecurity job market, found that there were nearly 470,000 cybersecurity job openings in the U.S. between May 2023 and April 2024. Roughly 85 workers were available to fill every 100 cybersecurity job openings in the U.S. during this time.

    The organizations receiving the awards will build Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) cybersecurity education and workforce development. These RAMPS projects will align the workforce needs of local business and nonprofit organizations with the NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity.

    “The RAMPS program provides individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences and life circumstances access to cybersecurity careers,” said NICE Director Rodney Petersen. “It also helps communities collaborate on creating career pathways to good jobs for all Americans and contributes to economic development by addressing workforce needs at the local and regional scales.”

    Many of the RAMPS projects promote curriculum development or education and training at the high school, collegiate or professional levels. Others support work-based learning experiences in the form of internships, apprenticeships or projects. Still others support workshops, bootcamps, competitions and hackathons.

    With these latest awards, there will now be 33 RAMPS communities in 20 states. The award recipients, areas served, and amounts awarded are:

    Adventurous Minds Produce Extraordinary Dreams Inc.          
    Louisville, Kentucky   
    $199,670

    The Coding School   
    New York City & Westchester County Region
    $200,000

    Del Mar College District       
    Corpus Christi, Texas               
    $200,000

    The Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies Inc.          
    North Bethesda, Maryland   
    $199,700 

    Howard Community College            
    Columbia, Maryland 
    $200,000

    Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments       
    Washington, D.C.        
    $195,726

    Miami University
    Oxford, Ohio                   
    $199,850

    Moraine Valley Community College            
    Palos Hills, Illinois      
    $199,982                

    New York University
    New York, New York   
    $200,000

    Old Dominion University Research Foundation
    Norfolk, Virginia 
    $200,000

    Purdue University     
    West Lafayette, Indiana          
    $199,717

    Research Foundation of CUNY on behalf of Lehman College  
    Bronx, New York           
    $200,000

    The Sierra College Foundation        
    Rocklin, California 
    $198,000

    University of Florida                
    Gainesville, Florida    
    $199,999

    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University          
    Blacksburg, Virginia  
    $194,270

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Minister Ng promotes trade and investment ties at Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Ministers Meeting in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    MIL OSI Translation. Canadian French to English –

    Source: Government of Canada – in French

    Over the weekend, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, concluded her participation in the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Canada Economic Ministers’ Consultation in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR).

    September 23, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

    Over the weekend, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, concluded her participation in the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Canada Economic Ministers’ Consultation in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR).

    During the consultation, Minister Ng highlighted the progress made by Canada and ASEAN Member States towards an ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement and stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve the goal of concluding negotiations for the agreement in 2025.

    At the meeting, Minister Ng and ASEAN partners discussed the trade and economic cooperation that has grown since the launch of the Canada-ASEAN Strategic Partnership a year ago, including advancing initiatives under Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in key areas such as inclusive trade, digital trade, agriculture and agri-food, and sustainability.

    The Minister also welcomed the participation of the Canada-ASEAN Business Council in the consultations and acknowledged its support for Canada’s commitment to creating new opportunities for Canadian businesses and investors.

    On the sidelines of the consultations, Minister Ng also met with several international partners to advance discussions on trade priorities of mutual interest.

    She met in particular:

    Malaithong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Lao PDR Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia Filipus Nino Pereira, Minister of Trade and Industry, Timor-Leste Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN Cham Nimul, Minister of Commerce, Cambodia Helene Budliger Artieda, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Switzerland Tim Ayres, Deputy Minister for Trade, Australia Douglas Alexander, Minister of State (Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security), United Kingdom

    “These face-to-face exchanges in Lao PDR provided us with an excellent opportunity to continue to strengthen the ASEAN-Canada bilateral trade relationship and contribute to the economic prosperity and growth of both our countries. Canada will continue to work with our ASEAN partners to deepen commercial ties that will benefit Canadian businesses and workers, create good jobs, and generate strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth from coast to coast to coast.”

    – Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development

    Huzaif QaisarPress SecretaryOffice of the Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development343-575-8816Huzaif.Qaisar@international.gc.ca

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI China: Innovations at int’l manufacturing convention pave way for future industries

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    HEFEI, Sept. 23 — The 2024 World Manufacturing Convention concluded Monday with a showcase of cutting-edge technologies and pivotal agreements that are set to drive the evolution of future industries.

    The convention, which brought together industry leaders, innovators, and policymakers from across the globe, highlighted the critical role of innovation in shaping the next generation of manufacturing.

    Throughout the four-day convention held in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui Province, a total of 718 investment projects worth 369.2 billion yuan (about 52 billion U.S. dollars) have been signed, underscoring strong collaboration in fields such as artificial intelligence, green technology and advanced manufacturing.

    Among the most notable was a partnership agreement between Hefei and Chinese drone maker EHang, which focused on the operations and sales of the company’s passenger-carrying autonomous aerial vehicles in east China.

    In addition, a cooperation agreement on the production of high efficiency cadmium telluride thin film solar cells was also inked at the convention.

    This type of cell has a much lower production cost compared to crystalline silicon and other solar cells. Additionally, their spectrum is the most consistent with sunlight, allowing them to absorb some 95 percent of sunlight.

    A highlight of the event was the display of several groundbreaking products and technologies that are poised to reshape the manufacturing landscape. Humanoid robots that can mimic human movements with remarkable precision were prominently featured.

    One of the standout presentations came from the Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Humanoid Robots, which introduced the Qijiang-2 humanoid robot capable of performing delicate tasks such as folding clothes, opening bottles, wiping dishes and navigating uneven terrain.

    “In the future, these humanoid robots will be able to adapt to both industrial production and elderly care scenarios, serving as robot workers and caregivers,” said Liu Houde, director of the laboratory.

    The convention not only served as a platform for technological advancements but also offered an immersive experience.

    At the convention’s outdoor exhibition area, visitors were enthralled by an unmanned sightseeing bus equipped with Shine Auto’s self-developed autonomous driving technology.

    They can either scan a QR code to board or reserve a ride through a WeChat mini program, with the option to disembark at multiple sightseeing stops.

    “The future of automobiles will undoubtedly enter the era of autonomous driving. Cars are no longer just a means of transportation, they have also become intelligent mobile terminals, transforming into mobile spaces that make life better,” said Zhou Ji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI: Top KingWin Announces Update to Supply Chain Business – Tuoxun Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Signs A Letter of Intent with Top KingWin’s Subsidiary, Guji Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    GuangZhou, China, Sept. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Top Kingwin Ltd (the “Company”) (NASDAQ – TCJH) announced today that its subsidiary, Guji Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (“Guji Technology”) signed a nonbinding letter of intent (“LOI”) with Tuoxun Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (“Tuoxun Technology”), for the potential sale of 1,000 units of Lenovo Think System SR588/860 servers to Tuoxun Technology. The term of the LOI is one year from September 30, 2024 to September 29, 2025, and the parties may not enter into any definitive purchase agreement. The final purchase price will be decided based on the listed market price and the minimum market price for the product to be set forth in a definitive purchase agreement.

    Guji Technology’s hardware supply chain business continues to expand, covering areas such as servers, integrated circuits and tablet computers. By continuously growing its market share in supply chain products, Guji Technology plans to enhance its reputation in the market.

    Guji Technology CEO Wei Dai commented: “With the rising demand for data processing, providing robust servers has become a key part of our supply chain business. By supplying these servers to Tuoxun Technology, we are expanding our market share in supply chain products.”

    Guji Technology remains committed to providing hardware supply to its customers to meet the growing demands. Looking ahead, Guji Technology plans to continue to deepen its partnerships within the industry and further expand its market presence in hardware supply chain.

    About Top KingWin Ltd

    Top KingWin’s main clients are entrepreneurs and executives in small and medium-sized enterprises in China. Services provided by Top KingWin to its clients including (i) corporate business training services, which mainly focus on providing training services of advanced knowledge and new perspectives on the capital markets, (ii) corporate consulting services, which mainly focus on providing a combination of customized corporate consulting services to fulfill client’s unique financial needs, and (iii) advisory and transaction services, which mainly focus on connecting entrepreneurs and businesses with diversified sources of capital. Its mission is to provide comprehensive services to address clients’ needs throughout all phases of their development and growth.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this press release are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the use of proceeds from the Company’s offering, the intent, belief or current expectations of Top KingWin and members of its management, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company’s registration statement and in its other filings with the SEC.

    For more information, please contact:

    Bonnie

    Email: IR@tcjhgw.cn

    SOURCE: Top Kingwin Ltd

    The MIL Network –