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Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI Global: What’s the difference between wholemeal and wholegrain bread? Not a whole lot

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Margaret Murray, Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Swinburne University of Technology

    Phish Photography/Shutterstock

    If you head to the shops to buy bread, you’ll face a variety of different options.

    But it can be hard to work out the difference between all the types on sale.

    For instance, you might have a vague idea that wholemeal or wholegrain bread is healthy. But what’s the difference?

    Here’s what we know and what this means for shoppers in Australia and New Zealand.

    Let’s start with wholemeal bread

    According to Australian and New Zealand food standards, wholemeal bread is made from flour containing all parts of the original grain (endosperm, germ and bran) in their original proportions.

    Because it contains all parts of the grain, wholemeal bread is typically darker in colour and slightly more brown than white bread, which is made using only the endosperm.

    Wholemeal flour is made from all parts of the grain.
    Rerikh/Shutterstock

    How about wholegrain bread?

    Australian and New Zealand food standards define wholegrain bread as something that contains either the intact grain (for instance, visible grains) or is made from processed grains (flour) where all the parts of the grain are present in their original proportions.

    That last part may sound familiar. That’s because wholegrain is an umbrella term that encompasses both bread made with intact grains and bread made with wholemeal flour. In other words, wholemeal bread is a type of wholegrain bread, just like an apple is a type of fruit.

    Don’t be confused by labels such as “with added grains”, “grainy” or “multigrain”. Australian and New Zealand food standards don’t define these so manufacturers can legally add a small amount of intact grains to white bread to make the product appear healthier. This doesn’t necessarily make these products wholegrain breads.

    So unless a product is specifically called wholegrain bread, wholemeal bread or indicates it “contains whole grain”, it is likely to be made from more refined ingredients.

    Which one’s healthier?

    So when thinking about which bread to choose, both wholemeal and wholegrain breads are rich in beneficial compounds including nutrients and fibre, more so than breads made from further-refined flour, such as white bread.

    The presence of these compounds is what makes eating wholegrains (including wholemeal bread) beneficial for our overall health. Research has also shown eating wholegrains helps reduce the risk of common chronic diseases, such as heart disease.

    The table below gives us a closer look at the nutritional composition of these breads, and shows some slight differences.

    Wholegrain bread is slightly higher in fibre, protein, niacin (vitamin B3), iron, zinc, phosphorus and magnesium than wholemeal bread. But wholegrain bread is lower in carbohydrates, thiamin (vitamin B1) and folate (vitamin B9).

    However the differences are relatively small when considering how these contribute to your overall dietary intake.

    Which one should I buy?

    Next time you’re shopping, look for a wholegrain bread (one made from wholemeal flour that has intact grains and seeds throughout) as your number one choice for fibre and protein, and to support overall health.

    If you can’t find wholegrain bread, wholemeal bread comes in a very close second.

    Wholegrain and wholemeal bread tend to cost the same, but both tend to be more expensive than white bread.

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

    – ref. What’s the difference between wholemeal and wholegrain bread? Not a whole lot – https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-wholemeal-and-wholegrain-bread-not-a-whole-lot-249156

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s inbound cruise tourism sets sail in 2025

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    Tianjin and Qingdao, two major port cities in China, kicked off the new year with their first inbound international cruise ship of 2025 — the Malta-registered Europa 2, a clear signal of the steady revival of China’s cruise tourism industry.

    The luxury liner, carrying hundreds of passengers from countries including Germany, Austria and Switzerland is on a global voyage. During its China leg, the tour group headed to major destinations including Xiamen, Shanghai and Tianjin.

    After a brief stop in Qingdao in Shandong Province, east China, on March 1, the ship would head to Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to Kristina Jurgawka, a crew member aboard the ship.

    An avid history enthusiast, she was deeply impressed by the Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and enchanted by the skyline of Shanghai. “I’m truly grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.

    For German tourist Joachin Dopp, the ease of entry into China left the strongest impression. “It’s simple to enter, no need for a visa or all those formalities. It’s great that you can just enter the country and enjoy it [your trip],” he told Xinhua.

    His experience reflects well on China’s effort to rejuvenate the cruise tourism sector. In May last year, a policy was rolled out allowing visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups arriving on cruise ships at any of the country’s cruise ports along the coastline.

    With a coastline stretching 18,000 km, China has seen steady improvements in its port infrastructure. The country boasts abundant tourism resources and is experiencing rapid growth in the service industry, making it a major destination for international cruise liners.

    Wang Hong, president of China Europe International Business School, said in a media interview that the visa-free entry policy for cruise passengers will bring unprecedented development opportunities to China’s tourism and cruise industries. It is expected to attract more foreign visitors to choose cruises as a means of traveling to China, thereby boosting inbound tourism.

    Industry leaders predict a strong rebound in international cruise tourism in China this year.

    On Jan. 3, an international cruise ship carrying 456 passengers docked at Phoenix Island International Cruise Port in Sanya, a popular tropical destination. From 2006 to the end of 2024, the port handled over 1,600 cruise ship voyages and over 2 million passenger trips.

    Days later, the Silver Dawn became the first international cruise ship to arrive in Shanghai this year, bringing over 400 tourists from more than 20 countries, including the United States, Britain, and Australia. During the eight-day Spring Festival holiday, the border inspection authorities in Shanghai reported 22 cruise ship entries and exits, with 72,000 cruise passenger trips.

    Tang Ming, head of a Shanghai-based travel agency, noted that since February 2024, the market has steadily recovered. “We expect to see a 20 to 30 percent increase in international cruise tourists this year,” he said.

    Cruise ports in Qingdao are expected to receive over 40 cruise ship visits in 2025, twice the number recorded in 2024, according to the city’s culture and tourism bureau. Meanwhile, Tianjin International Cruise Home Port is preparing for increased activities, with more than 40 inbound and outbound cruise ship visits anticipated at Dongjiang Port in the first quarter alone.

    Globally, the Cruise Lines International Association estimates that the number of ocean-going cruise passengers will reach 39.5 million by 2027, reflecting sustained demand for cruise voyages.

    By 2035, China’s cruise market is expected to welcome 4.2 million inbound foreign tourist trips annually, with total economic output projected to reach 531.7 billion yuan (about 74.12 billion U.S. dollars), according to a report by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, as cited by Liao Minsheng, a marine tourism expert from Hainan Tropical Ocean University.

    China’s market, Liao said in a media interview, presents unprecedented opportunities for the global cruise and yacht economy.

    “China’s vast market size and growing demand for cruise tourism provide international cruise and yacht companies with ample room for expansion,” he added. “The sector’s growth is expected to drive the development in areas such as ship design and manufacturing, foreign trade, tourism services, port construction and modern maritime services.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What’s the difference between wholemeal and wholegrain bread? Not a whole lot

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Murray, Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Swinburne University of Technology

    Phish Photography/Shutterstock

    If you head to the shops to buy bread, you’ll face a variety of different options.

    But it can be hard to work out the difference between all the types on sale.

    For instance, you might have a vague idea that wholemeal or wholegrain bread is healthy. But what’s the difference?

    Here’s what we know and what this means for shoppers in Australia and New Zealand.

    Let’s start with wholemeal bread

    According to Australian and New Zealand food standards, wholemeal bread is made from flour containing all parts of the original grain (endosperm, germ and bran) in their original proportions.

    Because it contains all parts of the grain, wholemeal bread is typically darker in colour and slightly more brown than white bread, which is made using only the endosperm.

    Wholemeal flour is made from all parts of the grain.
    Rerikh/Shutterstock

    How about wholegrain bread?

    Australian and New Zealand food standards define wholegrain bread as something that contains either the intact grain (for instance, visible grains) or is made from processed grains (flour) where all the parts of the grain are present in their original proportions.

    That last part may sound familiar. That’s because wholegrain is an umbrella term that encompasses both bread made with intact grains and bread made with wholemeal flour. In other words, wholemeal bread is a type of wholegrain bread, just like an apple is a type of fruit.

    Don’t be confused by labels such as “with added grains”, “grainy” or “multigrain”. Australian and New Zealand food standards don’t define these so manufacturers can legally add a small amount of intact grains to white bread to make the product appear healthier. This doesn’t necessarily make these products wholegrain breads.

    So unless a product is specifically called wholegrain bread, wholemeal bread or indicates it “contains whole grain”, it is likely to be made from more refined ingredients.

    Which one’s healthier?

    So when thinking about which bread to choose, both wholemeal and wholegrain breads are rich in beneficial compounds including nutrients and fibre, more so than breads made from further-refined flour, such as white bread.

    The presence of these compounds is what makes eating wholegrains (including wholemeal bread) beneficial for our overall health. Research has also shown eating wholegrains helps reduce the risk of common chronic diseases, such as heart disease.

    The table below gives us a closer look at the nutritional composition of these breads, and shows some slight differences.

    Wholegrain bread is slightly higher in fibre, protein, niacin (vitamin B3), iron, zinc, phosphorus and magnesium than wholemeal bread. But wholegrain bread is lower in carbohydrates, thiamin (vitamin B1) and folate (vitamin B9).

    However the differences are relatively small when considering how these contribute to your overall dietary intake.

    Which one should I buy?

    Next time you’re shopping, look for a wholegrain bread (one made from wholemeal flour that has intact grains and seeds throughout) as your number one choice for fibre and protein, and to support overall health.

    If you can’t find wholegrain bread, wholemeal bread comes in a very close second.

    Wholegrain and wholemeal bread tend to cost the same, but both tend to be more expensive than white bread.

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

    – ref. What’s the difference between wholemeal and wholegrain bread? Not a whole lot – https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-wholemeal-and-wholegrain-bread-not-a-whole-lot-249156

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: AI deepfakes threaten democracy and people’s identities. ‘Personality rights’ could help

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wellett Potter, Lecturer in Law, University of New England

    Ray Bond/Shutterstock

    How much is your voice worth?

    It could be as little as roughly A$100. That was how much ABC News Verify recently spent to clone federal senator Jacqui Lambie’s voice – with her permission – using an easily accessible online platform.

    This example highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) apps which create a synthetic replica of a person’s image and/or voice in the form of deepfakes or voice cloning are becoming cheaper and easier to use.

    This poses a serious threat not only to the functioning of democracy (especially around elections), but also to a person’s identity.

    Current copyright laws in Australia are inadequate when it comes to protecting people if their image or voice is digitally cloned without their permission. Establishing “personality rights” could help.

    Detecting what’s fake is difficult

    Deepfake technology is able to produce content which seems increasingly real. This makes it harder to detect what is fake and what is not. Indeed, several people for whom the ABC played the voice clone of Senator Lambie did not initially realise it was fake.

    This shows how unauthorised deepfakes and voice cloning can be easily used to generate misinformation. They can also be extremely damaging to individuals.

    This was highlighted back in 2020, when one of Australia’s first political deepfake videos was released. It featured the then Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk claiming the state was “cooked” and in “massive debt”.

    The video received around 1 million views on social media.

    What laws cover this?

    In Australia, defamation, privacy, image-based abuse laws, passing off and consumer protection laws might be applicable to situations involving deepfake video or audio clips. You may also be able to lodge a complaint with the eSafety commissioner.

    In theory copyright law can also protect a person’s image and voice. However, its application is more nuanced.

    First, a person whose likeness has been cloned by an AI platform often does not own the source material. This material could be an image, video or voice recording which has been copied and uploaded. Even if your image and voice is depicted, if you are not the owner of the source material, you cannot sue for infringement.

    Using Senator Lambie as an example, the ABC only needed 90 seconds of original voice recording to create the AI clone. Senator Lambie’s voice itself is not able to be copyright-protected. That’s because copyright can only attach to a tangible expression, say in written or recorded form. It cannot attach to speech or unexpressed ideas.

    As the ABC arranged, recorded and produced the original 90-second recording, the broadcaster could hold copyright in it as a sound recording. It is a fixed, tangible expression of Senator Lambie’s voice. However, unless the senator and the ABC made an agreement, Senator Lambie would have no economic rights, such as the right to reproduction, to the original voice recording. Nor would she have any rights to the clone of her voice.

    In fact, the AI-generated clone itself is unlikely to be protected by copyright, as it is considered authorless under Australian copyright law. Many AI-generated creations are currently unable to be protected under Australian copyright, due to a lack of original, identifiable human authorship.

    Moral rights – including the right of attribution (to be credited as the performer), the right against false attribution and the right of integrity – are also limited in scope. They could apply to the original audio clip, but not to a deepfake.

    What are ‘personality rights’?

    In most jurisdictions in the United States, there exist what are commonly known as “personality rights”. These rights include the right of publicity, which acknowledges that an individual’s name, likeness, voice and other attributes are commercially valuable.

    Celebrities such as Bette Midler and Johnny Carson have successfully exercised this right to prevent companies using elements of their identity for commercial purposes without permission.

    However, personality rights might not always apply to AI voice clones, with some lawyers arguing that only actual recorded voices are protectable, not clones of voices. This has led to states such as Tennessee introducing legislation to specifically address AI-generated content. The Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act, introduced in 2024, addresses the misappropriation of an individual’s voice through generative AI use.

    Urgent steps are needed

    There has been longstanding scholarly debate about whether Australia should introduce statutory publicity rights.

    One of the challenges is overlap with pre-existing laws, such as Australian consumer law and tort law. Policymakers might be hesitant to introduce a new right, as these other areas of the law may provide partial protection. Another challenge is how to enforce these rights if an AI-generated deepfake is created overseas.

    Australia could also consider introducing a similar law to the “No Fakes Bill” currently being debated in the US. If passed, this bill would allow people to protect their image and voice through intellectual property rights. This should be given serious consideration in Australia too.

    Deepfakes are becoming more and more common, and are now widespread during elections. Because of this, it’s important that Australians remain vigilant to them in the lead up to this year’s federal election.

    And let’s hope that whoever wins that election takes urgent steps to better protect everyone’s image and voice.

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

    – ref. AI deepfakes threaten democracy and people’s identities. ‘Personality rights’ could help – https://theconversation.com/ai-deepfakes-threaten-democracy-and-peoples-identities-personality-rights-could-help-251267

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy, Markey, Colleagues Introduce Children, Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Legislation 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Edward Markey (D-MA), and colleagues introduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) to update online data privacy rules for the 21st century and ensure children and teenagers are protected online. COPPA 2.0 would stop the data practices fueling today’s youth mental health crisis.
    “Every kid has an iPad or smartphone. They’re going to use the internet. Parents should be confident they can do it safely,” said Dr. Cassidy. “COPPA 2.0 is the tool that will give parents the peace of mind they need and keep their children’s personal information secure.”
    “We need strong modern legislation that keeps pace with the ever-evolving digital landscape and creates a safer online environment by addressing the youth mental health crisis and protecting the personal information of our kids,” said Senator Markey. “Congress must finally pass my Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act to extend these protections to teenagers, block targeted advertising to kids and teens, and give parents of young people an eraser button to protect them from predatory data collection practices.” 
    COPPA 2.0 would:
    Ban targeted advertising to children and teens.
    Create an “Eraser Button” by requiring companies to permit users delete personal information collected from a child or teens.
    Establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens’ data.
    Revise COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard to close the loophole that allows platforms to ignore kids and teens on their side.
    Build on COPPA by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent.
    Cassidy and Markey were joined by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Katie Britt (R-AL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
    COPPA 2.0 is endorsed by over 50 groups and organizations including the School Superintendents Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and National Association of School Nurses. 
    Background
    In July 2024, the U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, which included COPPA 2.0, by a 91-3 vote. Cassidy highlighted the passage of his bill to protect children’s privacy online in an op-ed for The Advocate. In September 2024, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee passed COPPA 2.0. 
    In May 2023, Cassidy and Markey reintroduced COPPA 2.0, legislation that would update online data privacy rules for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online. In July 2023, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee unanimously passed COPPA 2.0. In February 2024, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Chair and Ranking Member of the committee, agreed to cosponsor COPPA 2.0. In April 2024, U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) introduced the House companion to COPPA 2.0. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Trump Tells Farmers ‘Have Fun’ As He Kicks Off Pointless Trade Wars. Cantwell Tells the Truth: ‘It’s Not Going to Be Fun, It’s Going to Be A Nightmare’

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
    03.04.25
    Trump Tells Farmers ‘Have Fun’ As He Kicks Off Pointless Trade Wars. Cantwell Tells the Truth: ‘It’s Not Going to Be Fun, It’s Going to Be A Nightmare’
    Ahead of Presidential address, Cantwell calls on Congress to reclaim its Constitutional authority over tariffs; Cantwell also calls out arbitrary and wasteful layoffs at NOAA, NIH, NSF, USDA: “These kinds of ideas sound great, but they’re not well thought out. It’s literally throwing tax dollars away.”
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, delivered a Senate floor speech raising concerns about the economic fallout of Trump’s newly announced tariffs, hours before the President is set to deliver remarks before a Joint Session of Congress.
     “Trump said to our farmers yesterday on Truth Social, quote, ‘tariffs will go on external products on April 2. Have fun.’ End quote,” Sen. Cantwell said. “’Have fun?’ ‘Have fun?’ When retaliatory tariffs strike our farmers — just as they did in the first Trump administration — it’s not going to be fun, it’s going to be a nightmare for our farmers. And many of the farmers in my state worry [whether] they will be able to farm at all.”
    “I hope my colleagues will slow down on this tariff tirade. Under Article One, Section Eight of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to set duties and regulate foreign commerce. However, Congress has spent the last 80 years delegating its tariff authority to presidents,” she continued. “This president, I believe, is abusing this authority. He calls it an emergency. He’s using the trade wars to supposedly force countries to do things like changing their border policies. I believe it’s time for Congress to start taking back some of that power and considering how we’re going to protect the family farm.”
    Over the past 24 hours, as President Trump’s long-promised 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% tariff increase on goods from China took effect, stock prices in the United States have plummeted. The Dow fell more than 700 points this morning. Today, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board criticized his decision: “Trump takes the dumbest tariff plunge.”.
    Sen. Cantwell also showed the following graph with the alarming new forecast by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, which recently began predicting negative real GDP growth for the first quarter of 2025, a rapid reversal of its prior forecast for growth.  “Just last week, when people want to talk about GDP and where this is going, it’s amazing that the Atlanta Fed was forecasting GDP growth over two percent for the first quarter of 2025…. but we can see when we got to February, we fell off a cliff… this drop is the representation of a cliff that President Trump is pushing the American economy over.”

    “We know this — that in my state, families are paying more for groceries. They’re paying more at the gas pump. They’re paying more at electricity bills. And they are seeing the stock market plummet because as businesses grapple with Trump’s unnecessary trade war, businesses are concerned about the long-term impacts of the supply chain and the cost of those tariffs,” Sen. Cantwell said.
    In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and trade-related industries. More information on how President Trump’s tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China will affect consumers and businesses in the State of Washington can be found HERE. Nationwide:
    A 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico would add an estimated $144 billion a year to the cost of manufacturing in the United States.
    Tariffs on Canada and Mexico could increase U.S. car prices by as much as $12,000.
    According to the Yale Budget Lab, Trump’s proposed tariffs would result in the highest U.S. effective tariff rate in more than 80 years, and depending on the level of retaliation by other trading partners, will result in increased costs of between $1,600 and $2,000 per household. According to their analysis, electronics, clothing, cars, and food will all see above-average price increases.
    Sen. Cantwell has remained a steadfast supporter of free trade to grow the economy in the State of Washington and nationwide. Sen. Cantwell was the leading voice in negotiations to end India’s 20% retaliatory tariff on American apples, which was imposed in response to tariffs on steel and aluminum and devastated Washington state’s apple exports. India had once been the second-largest export market for American apples, but after President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in his first term, India imposed retaliatory tariffs in response and U.S. apple exports plummeted. The impact on Washington apple growers was severe: Apple exports from the state dropped from $120 million in 2017 to less than $1 million by 2023.  In September 2023, following several years of Sen. Cantwell’s advocacy, India ended its retaliatory tariffs on apples and pulse crops which was welcome news to the state’s more than 1,400 apple growers and the 68,000-plus workers they support.
    In her speech today, Sen. Cantwell also railed against the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) push to indiscriminately slash federal workers from the payroll, compromising the vital ongoing work at federal agencies.
    “The cuts that these agencies have been facing are really the cuts to some of the most technical jobs the United States government has. Whether you’re talking about NOAA, or the National Weather Service, or the National Institutes of Health, or the National Science Foundation, or the US Department of Agriculture — they’ve all been targeted for reductions. These agencies are critical to our economic growth and to our security. And at a time when we are seeing more extreme weather events, or more floods or more wildfires, why shouldn’t we be investing more in weather forecasting, not less? 
    “And when you look at NOAA workers who support our commercial, and recreation, and tribal fisheries, they employ 1.7 million people, including thousands in the State of Washington. Why would you cut specialized workforce that are helping support the growth of GDP?” Sen. Cantwell said.
    “DOGE wants to cap the overhead expenses of research. University of Washington medicine tells me that this would leave them with shortfalls and that they might have to stop clinical trials that are underway. You can’t just stop medical research like it’s a faucet! Once halted, the research, the data, the clinical trials, the patients, the laboratories, the equipment — all that led to innovation will be lost. You think you just turn that back on? You know, these kinds of ideas sound great, but they’re not well thought out. It’s literally throwing tax dollars away.”
    Since DOGE announced its intent to hack away at federal agencies and programs, Sen. Cantwell has been sounding the alarm and coming to the defense of workers at NOAA, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the National Park Service, and more.
    A video of her speech on the Senate floor today can be viewed HERE; audio is HERE; and a transcript is HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Government of Yukon celebrates the 10th anniversary of ‘Chante-la ta chanson’

    Government of Yukon celebrates the 10th anniversary of ‘Chante-la ta chanson’

    Since 2015, French programs have been inviting students from schools across the Yukon to come together and share their voices for the annual “Chante-la ta chanson” concert.

    Held at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, this year’s concert brought together elementary students from Core French, Intensive French and French Immersion and French First Language programs in Whitehorse and Dawson.

    The participating schools included the following.

    • Yukon Education: Golden Horn School, Selkirk Elementary School, École Whitehorse Elementary School, Christ the King Elementary School, Robert Service School.
    • First Nation School Board: Takhini Elementary School.
    • Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon: École Émilie-Tremblay, Programme Confluence.

    Each participating school performed a French song selected by their classes, showcasing their unique talents. To close the event, all the schools united with the energetic French Programs mascot to perform a special song, inviting the audience to sing along in a heartfelt finale.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: South West Metro conversion period to be extended into 2026

    Source: New South Wales Premiere

    Published: 5 March 2025

    Released by: Minister for Transport

    The complex extension of Sydney Metro services from Sydenham to Bankstown will be completed in 2026 due to the ongoing impacts that industrial action has had on the project.

    This conversion of a century old train line to a brand-new state of the art metro is a very complex and difficult project that the NSW Government warned last year could take over 1 year to complete.

    The complexity of this project has been compounded by more than 130 days of work on the project that have been impacted by industrial action and its subsequent effects, placing increasing pressure on the construction and testing programs.

    Industrial action limited access to work sites and restricted the provision of crucial work permits, which are required for contractors to safely complete work in a live electrical network environment.

    This is particularly crucial at the interfaces between the future metro network and the existing Sydney Trains assets.

    This has required significant reprogramming of vital construction activities including overhead wiring upgrades, electrification changes, disconnection from adjoining rail networks, track improvements, and platform extensions at Bankstown Station.

    This resulted in a delay to the commencement of dynamic train testing, a crucial component of safely testing and commissioning the new railway.

    Despite the significant disruptions, the project team and delivery partners have worked tirelessly to progress the Southwest Conversion.

    Dynamic testing of Metro Trains on the Southwest conversion is imminent, following approval by the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator.

    Passengers on the M1 Line will have experienced some disruption to their commutes with partial closures of the service to allow for work to progress when possible. These disruptions will continue as the testing program commences. We acknowledge passengers will be frustrated and apologise for any inconvenience caused. These possessions will allow the team to complete necessary work to extend metro services to Bankstown.

    All platform screen doors and mechanical gap fillers along the line from Marrickville to Bankstown have been installed, taking teams approximately 500 hours to fit out each station.

    Since the conversion began a large portion of works have been completed including new lifts installed at Wiley Park, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Punchbowl and Canterbury Stations, as well as new kiss and ride zones and refurbishing of station buildings and platform surfaces.

    A total of 28.3 kilometres of high-tech railway fencing has been installed along the alignment, which is made up of 5.8km of segregation fencing to separate the existing freight line and the metro corridor and 22.5km of security fencing.

    The security fencing includes first-of-its-kind intrusion and object detection system which uses fibre optic cables to monitor for possible intrusions.

    Southwest Link buses will continue to operate and will continue to be free for passengers until the new Southwest Metro opens.

    Minister for Transport John Graham said:

    “The Government has always said that this complex and difficult project may take longer than 1 year. We need to let people know that over 130 days of work have been impacted by industrial action. That means we’ll complete this project in 2026.

    “Works like upgrades to overhead wiring and station platforms, as well as electrical work to disconnect the line from the wider train network haven’t been able to proceed on schedule. Testing will start soon but industrial action has been very disruptive.

    “Converting a 130-year-old rail line to metro standards is a highly complex project and we are very sorry that passengers will have to wait a bit longer to jump on the metro from Bankstown to the Sydney CBD.

    “We promise it will be worth the wait – passengers can look forward to fast, safe and reliable trips, with a train arriving every 4 minutes in the peak.

    “When the extension to Bankstown opens in 2026, a trip from Bankstown to Central will take just 28 minutes, Marrickville to Macquarie University will take just 36 minutes and Dulwich Hill to Victoria Cross will take 21 minutes.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Let’s Make America Healthy Again

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Ron Johnson

    I had the honor of attending the swearing-in ceremony for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after being confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services.
    The ceremony was held in the Oval Office, a unique honor. 
    I’m looking forward to working with Secretary Kennedy in his commitment to radical transparency and conquering chronic illness. I believe this is a watershed moment for America. 
    The Make American Healthy Again movement held a press conference after RFK Jr’s swearing-in. Watch my remarks here, but the entire MAHA press conference with Del Bigtree is well worth watching. Truth is about to be revealed.

    The Senate DOGE Caucus met with Elon Musk, and I gave him my variance sheet comparing a reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending to this year’s outrageous $7.3 trillion. In 2019, the federal government spent $4.4 trillion. 
    We need to turn Elon’s brilliant DOGE efforts into long-term savings. Here’s the chart I shared with Elon. I’m an accountant and I’ve long been frustrated by how little Washington talks about the actual numbers. Three years ago, I asked my colleagues and the Washington press corps what the federal government spent and no one knew.  

    On February 21, I joined the Clay & Buck Show and the discussion turned to Ukraine. I was at Zelensky’s inauguration and he told me in 2019 he knew war with Putin was unwinnable. This war never should have started and never should have gone on this long. 
    On March 2, I joined The Cats Roundtable with John Catsimatidis to talk about Zelensky’s Oval Office meeting. President Trump is dedicated to peace and ending war with out-of-the-box thinking. 

    The American people deserve a full accounting of Joe Biden’s activities. 
    I sent another letter to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) highlighting multiple requests — some dating back to June 2021 — for records relating to Joe Biden and his family business dealings. For years, NARA failed to provide the requested records to both Sen. Chuck Grassley and myself. 
    Although former President Biden is no longer in office and he pardoned his son Hunter and other family members, we believe it is of importance to review these records so the American people have a full accounting of Joe Biden and his family’s activities while Joe Biden was in government. 
    READ: Fox News — Grassley, Johnson demand NARA turn over Biden records relating to email aliases, family business dealings

    Congratulations to Finn Peterson, a junior at the Prairie School in Racine, for earning a spot in the U.S. Senate Page Program this semester. 
    Pages play an important role in the daily operation of the Senate. They live in Washington, D.C. for the semester and attend Page School while working in the U.S. Senate. Pages deliver correspondence and legislative material within the Capitol and Senate office buildings, prepare the Chamber for Senate sessions, and work on the Senate floor.
    Contact my office and the Senate Page Coordinator for more information on the program for 16 or 17-year-olds in their junior year of high school.

    I had the pleasure of meeting Meredith Clark, a senior at Green Lake High School, and her dad. Clark is a national recipient of the Samsung American Legion Scholarship. She plans to attend Ripon College and then veterinary school at Colorado State University. 
    Samsung funds these scholarships to show appreciation for U.S. veterans who came to Korea’s aid during its struggle against communist forces in the Korean War.

    A group from Wisconsin’s Disabled American Veterans (DAV) was in Washington. The organization has over 14,000 members in Wisconsin and helps provide resources and fulfill promises made to our nation’s Veteran heroes. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ahead of Trump’s Address, Senator Murray, Former SOTU Guest Kayla Smith and Others Harmed by Republican Abortion Bans Speak Out About Trump Administration’s New Attacks on Reproductive Freedom

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ICYMI:  Senator Murray On Trump’s Joint Congressional Address
    ***VIDEO HERE***
    Washington, D.C. – This morning, ahead of President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, participated in a virtual press conference with women harmed by Republican abortion bans—including Washington state resident Kayla Smith, who Senator Murray brought as her guest to last year’s State of the Union Address. The speakers highlighted how the Trump administration and Republicans’ efforts to restrict access to reproductive health care everywhere and ultimately ban abortion nationwide are putting women’s health and lives at risk. Senator Murray released a statement last night explaining her decision not to attend President Trump’s Joint Address—instead she will be meeting with constituents who have been harmed by this administration’s reckless actions.
    Participating in the virtual press conference with Senator Murray were multiple women: Kayla Smith, Murray’s State of the Union guest last year and a plaintiff in Adkins v. State of Idaho—more on Kayla’s story here; Amanda Zurawski, patient storyteller and lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. State of Texas; Latorya Beasley, IVF patient storyteller from Alabama; Dr. Caitlin Bernard, OB-GYN from Indiana who spoke out publicly about providing abortion care to a 10-year-old victim of rape; and former U.S. Representative Colin Allred (D, TX-32). Kayla, Amanda, Latorya, and Dr. Bernard were all honored guests at last year’s State of the Union.
    “Republicans are doing everything they can to push things from what is already nightmarishly bad to somehow even worse,” Senator Murray said on today’s press call. “They’ve replaced anti-abortion dog whistles with anti-abortion train whistles—sending a clear signal to extreme, and even dangerous, anti-abortion crusaders to go wild… It may be early days of this new administration, but, unfortunately, it is not too early to see that they are hell-bent on ripping away women’s reproductive rights, and that we will need to fight tooth and nail to defend abortion access in this country from a new onslaught of Republican attacks.”
    In his first few weeks in office, President Trump has taken direct aim at reproductive health care access—issuing two executive orders and taking a host of other actions to roll back efforts to protect and advance access to abortion and birth control, and that threaten health care providers across the country.  These actions include:
    Pardoning anti-abortion extremists found guilty of entering clinics by force, barricading clinic entrances with chains and bike locks, harassing patients and providers, and even assaulting and injuring clinic staff—and announcing that his Department of Justice will no longer enforce the FACE Act at all except in “extraordinary cases.”
    Taking down ReproductiveRights.Gov and scrubbing agency websites of vital information about reproductive health care.
    Repealing two Biden-era executive orders that sought to protect and expand access to reproductive health care in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
    Reinstating the expanded Global Gag Rule that targets reproductive health care around the world.
    Rescinded critical travel and leave benefits for service members and their families seeking abortion care.
    Nominating notorious anti-abortion extremists for critical public health positions and other influential roles in his administration—including Dr. David Weldon for CDC Director, Pam Bondi for U.S. Attorney General, Russell Vought for OMB Director, and Dean John Saurer as Solicitor General, and many others.
    Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights, and she has led Congressional efforts to fight back after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
    Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need; Murray has led efforts to push for passage of these bills on the floor multiple times. Last January, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Murray led her colleagues in hosting a “State of Abortion Rights” briefing with women who have suffered firsthand from Republican abortion bans, and last June, she chaired a HELP Committee hearing titled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America.” Recently, Murray helped lead efforts to force Republicans on the record on votes to protect access to contraception and access to IVF (twice), and she led her colleagues in raising the alarm about the threat a second Trump administration poses to reproductive rights and abortion access in every state, as outlined in Project 2025.
    Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered on today’s press call, are below and video is HERE:
    “Thank you all for joining this important conversation. And I have to say it is so great to be reunited with Kayla, who was my guest to last year’s State of the Union, where we joined together to underscore the devastation and cruelty caused by Republicans’ extreme attacks on abortion rights.
    “Unfortunately, it’s painfully clear today we have to continue shining a harsh spotlight on this issue—because while Trump and Republicans would no doubt love for all the chaos they are causing to push these stories out of the public eye, there are even more women suffering now and yes, dying, because of Republicans’ extreme abortion bans.
    “And we will not stop pushing to make their stories heard, and make change happen.
    “This work is far from over but I will never, ever, back down from this fight—especially not now, when Republicans are doing everything they can to push things from what is already nightmarishly bad to somehow even worse.
    “The stories women have shared since abortion rights were stripped away have been horrific: women forced to stay pregnant despite what they wanted, despite what was best for them, even despite medical emergencies.
    “But the data also continues to roll in and give us an even clearer picture of the grim reality for women in this country.
    “At the same time that we are finally making overdue progress nationally to lower maternal death rates, we are seeing maternal death rates surge in Texas and other states after Republicans put in place extreme abortion bans.
    “And what is the Trump Administration doing now? Well, for starters, they’ve locked researchers out of a key maternal health database and fired people working on maternal health research.
    “That’s going to painfully undermine some of our best tools for understanding the damage that Republicans’ extreme abortion bans are doing nationwide—but more than that, they’ve replaced anti-abortion dog whistles with anti-abortion train whistles, sending a clear signal to extreme, and even dangerous, anti-abortion crusaders to go wild.
    “President Trump issued mass pardons of people who broke laws that keep patients receiving reproductive health care safe, and he made clear he won’t punish people who break that law going forward.
    “That is a chilling invitation to lawlessness—people blocking patients, barricading clinic entrances, and making violent threats—all of which we have seen before, and all of which it’s clear Trump wants to make even worse.
    “And Trump is not just emboldening extremists—Trump is seeking to empower them as well.
    “His pick to lead the CDC is the father of the Weldon amendment, which gave the Trump Administration free rein to withhold funds from states that seek to protect abortion access.
    “Dave Weldon is someone who has radical anti-abortion views and a long history of peddling inflammatory and medically debunked anti-abortion rhetoric that put the lives and health of women in danger.
    “Meanwhile, Trump’s HHS Secretary has made clear he is completely open to Republicans’ bogus push to rip away access to medication abortion—something that would upend the most common, and most accessible form of abortion care, which hundreds of millions of women turn to each year, especially since the Dobbs decision.
    “So, it may be early days of this new Administration—but, unfortunately, it is not too early to see that they are hell-bent on ripping away women’s reproductive rights, and that we will need to fight tooth and nail to defend abortion access in this country from a new onslaught of Republican attacks.“But women across the country are fed up with having their rights undermined, having their health jeopardized, and having their most personal decision stripped away from them by Republican politicians.
    “They are going to continue speaking out. Women like Kayla are going to continue having the courage to tell their stories, and I am going to continue doing everything I can to lift them up, to make their stories heard in the halls of power, and to stand my ground in the fight to protect abortion access in America.
    “Thank you, and now I’ll turn it over to Kayla.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Fires used to terrify city residents. New research suggests climate change could see this fear return

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania

    Fire rages in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles in January 2025 eley archives/Shutterstock

    For centuries, fire was one of the major fears for city-dwellers. Dense cities built largely of wood could – and did – burn. In 1666, a fire in a bakery went on to destroy two-thirds of the city of London, leaving 85% of residents homeless. In 1871, fire burned out huge areas of Chicago. In World War II, bombing raids by Allied forces largely destroyed cities such as Dresden in Germany and Tokyo in Japan.

    The threat of large-scale urban fires drove authorities to spend more on urban firefighting and require buildings to use less flammable material. Fire alarms, fire engines and automatic sprinklers have done much to reduce the chance of uncontrolled spread.

    But will our sense of safety endure in the age of climate change? In January, we saw swathes of Los Angeles burn – even in the northern winter. Driven by low humidity and high winds, numerous large fires encroached on the city, destroying outlying suburbs. Climate change made the fires worse, according to climate scientists.

    Now we have new research on the question of whether climate change will make large city fires more likely. A research team from China, Singapore and Australia have gathered a decade’s worth of data on fires from almost 3,000 cities in 20 nations, home to one-fifth of the world’s population.

    The researchers found for every 1°C increase in air temperature, outdoor fires (rubbish and landfill) increase 4.7% and vehicle fires 2.5%. If the world accelerates its burning of fossil fuels under a high emissions scenario compatible with a 4.3°C temperature rise by century’s end, outdoor fires in cities would soar 22% and vehicle fires 11%. But building fires are projected to actually fall 5%. Thankfully, this emissions scenario is now less likely.

    The Great Fire of London destroyed most of the city in 1666.
    HodagMedia/Shutterstock

    What did this research find?

    To make these findings, the researchers aggregated the fire incident data from 2,847 cities located in 20 countries over the 2011–20 decade and analysed them to see how air temperature influences the frequency of three types of fires: outdoor, structural and vehicle. They found a strong correlation.

    Of the 20 nations, New Zealand looks likely to have the highest increase in fires, soaring 140% over 2020 figures by 2100.

    When we think of fires in a city, we usually think of structural fires – a building going up in flames.

    The research suggests building fires would actually decrease 5% by 2100. This is unexpected, and might suggest uncertainty about this finding.

    Interestingly, this research found the fewest structural fires occurred at air temperatures of 24°C, a temperature which humans find optimal. When it’s hotter or cooler than that, more buildings catch fire.

    Why? It’s likely due to our behaviour. We spend more time indoors when it’s very cold or very hot outside, which the authors suggest could make us more likely to accidentally cause fires by using electrical appliances and fireplaces which have a fire risk.

    By contrast, outdoor and vehicle fires do increase linearly as temperatures rise. Most vehicle fires come from an equipment or heat source failure, which are both likely to increase as temperatures rise. We are also more likely to have a car crash when it’s hotter, and vehicle fires often come after a crash.

    Vehicle fires will become more common as the climate changes, according to this research.
    Rodrigo Teixeira/Pexels, CC BY-NC-ND

    Outdoor fires become more likely because heat dries out fuels and favours fire spread. Rubbish dumps can spontaneously catch fire when temperatures are too high – even underground. This happens because chemical reactions are accelerated in warmer temperatures, causing waste materials to heat up faster. If the extra heat isn’t dissipated, waste can become so hot that it catches fire on its own.

    We should take these estimates with a grain of salt. This is because they project recent statistical patterns into an uncertain future, and draw on a data set not perfectly suited to the task. The data set stops in 2020, before the electric vehicle transition gathered speed. EVs have a different risk profile for accidental fires.

    As the authors note, there are large barriers to getting a coherent understanding of fire risk. “Despite multiple efforts, we have been unsuccessful in obtaining fire data from Africa and South America,” they write.

    Their estimates also relate to a high-emissions future which is hopefully becoming less likely, though the general pattern of the results are similar under less severe climate projections.

    Most importantly, it’s not yet clear why temperature influences urban fires. This uncertainty raises questions over whether simple projections of current patterns into the future are realistic or appropriate.

    Cities aflame?

    Arguably the most important contribution of this new research is to show us that our cities are not inherently protected from fire.

    For city authorities, this research points to the need to manage combustible materials, from piles of mulch to dry urban parks and even home gardens. Storage yards, rubbish dumps and recycling centres will also need to be managed.

    Fire used to be a major concern for cities, and it could be again. Cities and fire are uneasy bedfellows, and climate change will worsen the situation.

    David Bowman is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and also receives funding from the New South Wales Bushfire and Natural Hazards Research Centre, and Natural Hazards Research Australia.

    Calum Cunningham receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Fires used to terrify city residents. New research suggests climate change could see this fear return – https://theconversation.com/fires-used-to-terrify-city-residents-new-research-suggests-climate-change-could-see-this-fear-return-251056

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: America or Europe? Why Trump’s Ukraine U-turn is a fork in the road for New Zealand

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato

    The aftermath of one of the most undiplomatic – and notorious – White House meetings in recent history reveals a changed world.

    Having berated Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for supposedly not wanting peace with Russia and failing to show sufficient gratitude to the United States, President Donald Trump has now paused all military aid to Ukraine.

    This equates to about 40% of the beleaguered nation’s military support. If the gap is not quickly covered by other countries, Ukraine will be severely compromised in its defence against the Russian invasion.

    This has happened while the Russian army is making slow but costly gains along the front in eastern Ukraine. Trump’s goal appears to be to force Zelensky to accept a deal he does not want, and which may be illegal under international law.

    New Zealand is a long way from that front line, but the implications of Trump’s unilateral abandonment of Ukraine still create a serious foreign policy problem.

    Aside from its unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s actions, New Zealand has provided Defence Force personnel for training, intelligence, logistics and liaison to the tune of nearly NZ$35 million. The government has also given an additional $32 million in humanitarian assistance.

    At the same time, New Zealand has supported global legal efforts to hold Russia to account at both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. With Trump undermining these collective actions, New Zealand faces some stark choices.

    Allies at war

    While a genuine ceasefire and eventual peace in Ukraine are the right aims, Trump’s one-sided proposal has involved direct talks between Russia and the US, excluding all other parties, including the actual victims of Russian aggression.

    With eery parallels to the Munich Agreement of 1938 between Nazi Germany, Britain, France and Italy, peace terms could be dictated to the innocent party. Ukraine may have to sacrifice part of its territory in the hope a wider peace prevails.

    In exchange, Ukraine may be given some type of “security assurance”. But what that arrangement would look like, and what kind of peacekeeping force might be acceptable to Russia, remains unclear.

    If the current UK and European ceasefire proposals fail, Europe could be pulled more directly into the conflict. Since the Trump rebuff, European leaders are embracing Zelenskyy more tightly, wary of an emboldened Russia threatening other states with substantial Russian populations such as in Estonia and Latvia.

    European boots on the ground in Ukraine could escalate the existing war into a much larger and more dangerous conflict. The complexities of this new reality are now spilling over in the United Nations.

    A fork in the road

    While the Security Council finally agreed on a broad statement in favour of a lasting peace, just what that might look like has seen opposing resolutions in the General Assembly.

    On February 18, 53 countries, including New Zealand, voted in favour of a resolution condemning Russian aggression and calling for the return of Ukrainian territory. The resolution passed, but the US, Russia, Belarus and North Korea voted against it.

    The US then put up its own resolution calling for peace, without recognising Russian aggression or the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. New Zealand supported this, too.

    Those two votes clearly signal a fork-in-the-road moment for New Zealand.

    As well as the wider consequences and potential precedents of any Ukraine peace settlement for security in Europe and the Pacific region, there is the immediate problem of supporting Ukraine.

    With the US and Europe – both traditional allies of New Zealand – now deeply divided, whatever path the government chooses will directly affect present and future security arrangements – including any possible “pillar two” membership of AUKUS.

    Potentially complicating matters further, Trump’s civilian lieutenant Elon Musk has publicly advocated for the US leaving the UN and NATO. Whether or not that happens, the threat alone underscores the gravity of the current situation.

    No option without risk

    Ultimately, if Trump decides to force Zelensky to the negotiating table against his will, and Europe continues urging and supporting him to fight on, New Zealand will have to take sides. It cannot take both.

    The National-led coalition government will either have to abandon the stance New Zealand has taken on the Russian invasion over the past three years, or wait for Europe’s response and align with efforts to support a rules-based international order.

    The first option would mean stepping back from that traditional foreign policy position, cutting military support for Ukraine (and trusting the Trump process), and probably ending sanctions against Russia and diplomatic efforts for legal accountability.

    The other path would mean spending more on military aid, and possibly deploying more defence personnel to help fill the gap Trump has created.

    No option is without risk. But, on balance, the European approach to international affairs seems closer to New Zealand’s worldview than the one currently articulated by the Trump administration.

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

    – ref. America or Europe? Why Trump’s Ukraine U-turn is a fork in the road for New Zealand – https://theconversation.com/america-or-europe-why-trumps-ukraine-u-turn-is-a-fork-in-the-road-for-new-zealand-251459

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Police are seizing 3D-printed guns across Australia, but our laws aren’t keeping up

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hemming, Associate Professor of Law, School of Law and Justice, University of the Sunshine Coast

    Shutterstock

    After Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded 23 others at Port Arthur in 1996, Australia made fundamental changes to its gun laws. The use of automatic and semi-automatic weapons became restricted and a national gun registry was established.

    As a result, unlike the situation in the United States where automatic weapons can be readily obtained, mass shootings are a rarity in Australia.

    However, a new and pressing danger in the form of 3D guns, or “ghost guns”, threatens to undermine Australia’s strict gun control laws.

    The reason is simple: 3D guns can be manufactured in a suburban garage. In a process like making a dress from a pattern, a digital blueprint for the manufacture of a firearm can be downloaded from the internet. Then, instead of a sewing machine, you need a 3D printer or an electronic milling machine.

    The emergence of these types of firearms reveal big loopholes in many of our gun laws. These need urgent attention.

    How are these guns made?

    A 3D gun is manufactured in stages, with each part of the gun printed separately and assembled manually.

    Think of yourself as making a toy LEGO gun, but instead of taking the parts from the LEGO box, you make the parts on your 3D printer based on your digital blueprint and you then assemble your gun. Your raw materials are thermoplastic polymers and metal for the barrel and firing pin.

    High-end, industrial-grade 3D printers are priced between $2,000 and $10,000, and are readily available.

    This technology has been around for more than a decade.

    The first 3D printed handgun was designed by Cody Wilson in 2013, which he christened The Liberator. It was made of 15 parts of plastic and a nail for the ring pin.

    Also in 2013, reporters from the Daily Mail newspaper in London 3D-printed a Liberator pistol and smuggled the disassembled gun onto a Eurostar train. They reassembled the gun in the toilet.

    As the gun was made of plastic, metal detectors were not activated, demonstrating the danger these weapons pose even in high-security locations such as airports and public transport.

    In the recent high-profile murder in New York of Brian Thompson, chief executive of the US health insurance company United Healthcare, the suspect, Luigi Mangione, when arrested was found to be in possession of a similar 3D-printed gun and 3D-printed suppressor to those allegedly used in the shooting.

    Leaps forward in technology

    In the 12 years since the designs for The Liberator were posted on the internet, the quality and range of 3D guns have greatly improved and expanded.

    According to Detective Inspector Brad Phelps from Queensland’s Crime and Intelligence Command Drug Squad, the technology has advanced sufficiently that:

    now you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a privately manufactured firearm and a traditional firearm in many instances […] every jurisdiction in Australia has reported an increase, particularly in the last 18 months to two years.

    As 3D guns are untraceable, the actual prevalence of 3D guns is unknown, other than the growing number of 3D guns seized in police raids. According to gun safety groups, 3D guns can now fire up to 40 rounds and use standard gauge ammunition.

    Police predict homemade guns will soon overtake illicit weapon imports.

    In October 2024, Western Australian police seized 21 privately made 3D-printed firearms from a home in Perth.

    Fixing the legal loopholes

    So, with all these alarm bells ringing in the ears of law enforcement agencies, what steps have authorities taken to meet the threat 3D guns pose to community safety?

    Indeed, what effective steps are being taken to prevent further advances in the technology and thwart any efforts to produce these guns en masse?

    The answer would appear to be that little attention has been directed towards the dangers 3D guns represent. Legislation across Australian jurisdictions is inconsistent.

    At present, only New South Wales and Tasmania have legislated to make it an offence to possess a digital blueprint for the manufacture of a firearm on a 3D printer or electronic milling machine. The maximum penalties are imprisonment for 14 years and 21 years, respectively.

    In 2022, WA took a step in the right direction by making unauthorised possession of firearms technology an offence. This included possession of a 3D printer or milling device.

    The slow progress on this issue is well illustrated by South Australia. There have been 23 incidents in which police have seized 3D-printed firearms and firearm parts between 2020 and 2023.

    But the drafting of proposed legal amendments to address these incidents started in 2024 and are still to be introduced into the SA parliament.

    There needs to be a national sense of urgency similar to the federal government’s response to the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Existing laws are inadequate as there is no uniformity in the legislation covering 3D-printed firearms and their digital blueprints.

    There was a senate inquiry into gun violence in 2014, which found 3D printers “were by no means integral to the illegal manufacture of firearms”. This is no longer accurate.

    Ironically, the senate committee recommended “Australian governments investigate the requirement for uniform regulations in all jurisdictions covering the manufacture of 3D-printed firearms and firearm parts”. A decade on, little progress has been made.

    New laws could distinguish between possessing of a digital blueprint for a 3D gun and actually manufacturing a firearm. This could look like a scale of penalties, such as those imposed for the possession and manufacture of illegal drugs, which are based on the category of drug and the quantity seized.

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

    – ref. Police are seizing 3D-printed guns across Australia, but our laws aren’t keeping up – https://theconversation.com/police-are-seizing-3d-printed-guns-across-australia-but-our-laws-arent-keeping-up-250255

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Huawei Cloud Stack Announces Six Scenario-specific Solutions for Carriers to Drive Efficiency, Revenue Growth, and Digital Inclusion

    Source: Huawei

    Headline: Huawei Cloud Stack Announces Six Scenario-specific Solutions for Carriers to Drive Efficiency, Revenue Growth, and Digital Inclusion

    [Barcelona, Spain, March 4, 2025] At MWC 2025, during the Huawei Cloud Carrier Forum, themed “Take a Cloud Leap to Transform from Telco to Techco”, Huawei released six Huawei Cloud Stack-based scenario-specific solutions for carriers around the world, as well as a Telco2Techco Cloud Leap Program. They aim to help carriers enhance operational efficiency and generate new revenue streams through cloud innovation.
    Shang Haifeng, President of Huawei’s Huawei Cloud Stack Business Dept, delivering an opening speech through digital human

    Today, more and more carriers are transforming themselves from traditional telecommunications companies (telcos) to technology companies (or techcos). Shang Haifeng, President of the Huawei Cloud Stack Business Dept at Huawei, said: “This [telco-to-techco] transformation is not just about adopting new technologies; it is about redefining the role of carriers in a digital-first world. At Huawei Cloud, we are proud to partner with global carriers on their journey to becoming techcos.”
    Johnny Lyu, CTO of International Business, Huawei Cloud Stack, delivering a keynote

    In recent years, carrier transformation has typically started with an all-cloud transformation for boosting operational efficiency and enriching services for an enhanced customer experience. Johnny Lyu, CTO of International Business at Huawei Cloud Stack, said: “Huawei Cloud Stack offers a reliable cloud foundation. Today, we are releasing six scenario-specific solutions for carriers, helping them improve the efficiency of their businesses, platforms, and services, and start a second growth curve.”
    Huawei Cloud Stack’s six scenario-specific solutions for carriers include three for enhancing internal operational efficiency and three out-of-the-box solutions aimed at driving external revenue growth.
    Leap to Cloud to improve efficiency
    FinTech: This solution supports secure, high-performance, and flexible operational capabilities for Mobile Money. It helps ensure the compliance of both mobile financial services and data while enhancing user experience for their customers.
    Marketing big data: This solution offers an efficient, one-stop, cloud-native data foundation with 200 built-in data models for simplified development. It guarantees 99.999% availability on the cloud, supporting customer acquisition and retention by carriers.
    AICC: A solid, centrally managed cloud foundation for Artificial Intelligence Contact Center (AICC) ensures 24/7 availability for services such as digital ambassadors for customer service, AI scheduling, and AI voice analytics.
    Spark innovation with out-of-the-box solutions
    Smart government: Huawei Cloud Stack provides a unified cloud operations platform, enhancing capabilities in product listing, metering and billing, and customer management. This enables better public services for both businesses and residents as well as digitalized, modernized city governance.
    Smart education: This solution offers course management, remote classrooms, and exam management on the cloud. A high-concurrency, high-performance platform supports AI-generated live captions in multiple languages as well as knowledge graphs.
    Cloud phone: Huawei Cloud Stack supports cloud-based virtual phones with pre-installed apps, such as gaming and office tools. These virtual phones can serve as data backups for users, with flexible permissions control, helping carriers drive 4G conversion among subscribers.
    Launch ceremony of Huawei’s Telco2Techco Cloud Leap Program

    Huawei Cloud Stack, together with Orange, Zain Kuwait, iSoftStone, and ULearning, jointly launched the Telco2Techco Cloud Leap Program underpinned by six scenario-specific solutions for carriers. Focusing on 10+ innovative service scenarios, this program offers project support, marketing support, training, enablement, and more, helping carriers accelerate the transition from telcos to techcos.
    MWC Barcelona 2025 is held from March 3 to March 6 in Barcelona, Spain. During the event, Huawei will showcase its latest products and solutions at stand 1H50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1.In 2025, commercial 5G-Advanced deployment will accelerate, and AI will help carriers reshape business, infrastructure, and O&M. Huawei is actively working with carriers and partners around the world to accelerate the transition towards an intelligent world.For more information, please visit: https://carrier.huawei.com/en/events/mwc2025

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Education for Democracy, Agreement on Conservation of Marine Biological Diversity among Several Resolutions Adopted by General Assembly

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Poland’s President Warns of Resurgence of ‘Russian Imperialism’, Calls War on Ukraine ‘Beginning of Effort to Violently Destroy International Order’

    The General Assembly, over the course of two meetings today, adopted seven resolutions — some drawing more contention than others — and heard an address by the President of Poland.

    International Day for Judicial Well-being

    First, the General Assembly took up the draft resolution titled “International Day for Judicial Well-being” (document A/79/L.52).  Introducing the text, Lionel Rouwen Aingimea, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Nauru, stressed that — while the judiciary “serves as a cornerstone of justice” — challenges faced by judicial officers have long been overlooked.

    However, the representative of the United States said that his delegation will request a recorded vote — and vote no — “because this resolution represents the internationalization of the self-care movement and the migration of it into domains where it does not belong”.

    The Assembly then adopted the resolution by a recorded vote of 160 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 3 abstentions (Haiti, Madagascar, Syria).  Through the text, the General Assembly decided to proclaim 25 July of each year the International Day for Judicial Well-being.

    Education for Democracy

    Next, the Assembly considered the draft resolution titled “Education for democracy” (document A/79/L.56).  The representative of Mongolia introduced that text, emphasizing that an inclusive education system empowers individuals and strengthens governance institutions.  The text therefore calls for investments in quality education and lifelong learning, also urging Member States to harness the potential of digital technologies to advance education for democracy, he said.

    The representative of the United States said that his delegation will again call for a recorded vote — and vote no — on this draft “because much of the text violates United States policies”.  Specifically, he said that its discussion of misinformation and disinformation is an “unequivocal red line for the United States”, as these terms are “intentionally nebulous and ill-defined so they can be wielded as tools of censorship”.

    The Assembly then adopted the resolution by a recorded vote of 151 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 8 abstentions (Argentina, Belarus, Fiji, Madagascar, Russian Federation, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Syria).  Through the text, the Assembly strongly encouraged Member States and education authorities to integrate education for democracy — along with civic education and human-rights education, among others — into their education standards.

    After the vote, the representative of the Russian Federation noted that “democracy does not have a universal definition or a single model”.  She also disassociated from the text’s reference to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stating that mention of the Office in a resolution about education is “unjustified” — a point echoed by Nicaragua’s representative.

    Iran’s representative, meanwhile, said that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Education 2030 Incheon Declaration are “absolutely non-legally binding”.  Disassociating from relevant paragraphs, he said that Iran’s national plans and programmes “will be our final source of action and reference”.  Argentina’s representative also disassociated from several paragraphs, stressing that “every State, within its own sovereignty, has the right to participate [in the 2030 Agenda] — or not”.

    UN Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Central Asia and Afghanistan

    The Assembly then turned to the draft resolution titled “United Nations Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan” (document A/79/L.57/Rev.1).  Introducing that text, the representative of Kazakhstan said that the Centre aims to address the specific needs of Central Asian countries, which each possesses unique challenges and opportunities that are shaped by diverse socioeconomic contexts, cultural realities and environmental conditions.

    The representative of the Russian Federation then noted that the countries of Central Asia are “unified by a shared history, similar geographic and social conditions and shared challenges in development”.  Therefore, they must coordinate efforts and find shared regional solutions.  “This, in turn, meets the current trends to regionalize efforts in the area of development,” he noted.

    The Assembly then adopted the text without a vote, through which it decided to formalize the Centre in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  Further, it requested the Secretary-General to appoint its Head and further decided that the costs of all its activities shall be met by voluntary contributions.

    After the vote, several delegates expressed concern over the process by which this text was negotiated.  Switzerland’s representative said that her delegation would have preferred more transparency and inclusivity, while the representative of Türkiye said that the wider membership was not sufficiently consulted during negotiations.  Mexico’s representative expressed hope that “this way of carrying out multilateral negotiations will not be repeated in other processes”.

    Meanwhile, the representative of the United States said that Kazakhstan “needs neither an expanded UN system nor the SDGs in order to prosper — it should instead make sovereign decisions for its people and cast aside the burden of soft global governance”.  For her part, Australia’s representative — also speaking for Canada and New Zealand — welcomed the adoption.

    International Day of Peaceful Coexistence and International Day of Hope

    The Assembly also considered the draft resolution titled “International Day of Peaceful Coexistence” (document A/79/L.53).  Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister for Transportation and Telecommunications of Bahrain, introducing that text, said that it reaffirms the role of Member States and other stakeholders in promoting tolerance, respect for religious and cultural diversity and human rights.

    The representative of the United States again said that his delegation will call for a recorded vote on this text — and vote no — expressing concern that the resolution “advances a programme of soft global governance that is inconsistent with US sovereignty”.  He added:  “Simply put, globalist endeavours like Agenda 2030 and the SDGs lost at the ballot box; therefore, the US rejects and denounces the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.”

    He also expressed concern that the resolution’s titular reference to “peaceful coexistence” could be “co-opted to imply the United Nations’ endorsement of China’s ‘Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence’”.  Speaking in exercise of the right of reply, China’s representative said that such principles are “widely recognized by the international community and contained in many international instruments”.

    Adopting the resolution by a recorded vote of 162 in favour to 3 against (Argentina, Israel, United States), with 2 abstentions (Paraguay, Peru), the Assembly decided to proclaim 28 January as the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence, to be observed annually.

    The Assembly then turned to the draft resolution titled “International Day of Hope” (document A/79/L.54).  Introducing it, Kiribati’s representative said that hope is “a force that has carried humanity through the darkest of times and propelled us towards a future of possibility, resilience and renewal”.  However, he expressed disappointment over the decision by the United States to force a vote.

    On that, the delegate of the United States said that the text “contains references to diversity, equity and inclusion that conflict with US policies that seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination and create equal opportunities for all”.  He added: “In a world that faces many challenges, funding and effort should be allocated to critical causes and crises, rather than International Days.”

    The Assembly then adopted the text by a recorded vote of 161 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 4 abstentions (India, Paraguay, Peru, Türkiye), through which it decided to declare 12 July the International Day of Hope.

    “What we’ve just seen this morning is a clear example of the lack of commitment by the United States to a culture of peace, to the United Nations as a whole and to multilateralism in general,” stressed the representative of Cuba, after the vote.

    Agreement on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

    The Assembly also took up the draft resolution titled “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction” (document A/79/L.55).  Singapore’s representative, introducing the text, called on States to ratify the agreement. He also made an oral revision to replace “welcome” with “take note of” regarding signatures and ratifications of the agreement to date.

    The Assembly then adopted that text, as orally revised, without a vote.  By its terms, the Assembly called on all States and regional economic integration organizations that have not done so to consider signing, ratifying, approving or accepting the Agreement as soon as possible.

    However, the representative of the Russian Federation disassociated from consensus, stating that mechanisms to establish marine protected areas without appropriate scientific research “run the risk of abuse and unsubstantiated restriction of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of States on the high seas”.  His counterpart from the United States, meanwhile, said that her country is “currently reviewing its policies and does not take a position on this matter”.

    Eightieth Anniversary of the End of the Second World War

    The Assembly also adopted, without a vote, a text titled “Eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War” (document A/79/L.51), which requested the holding of a special meeting of the Assembly to commemorate all victims of the Second World War in the second week of May in 2025 and every five years thereafter.

    The representative of the Russian Federation, introducing that text, said that 2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of the victory over Nazism, fascism and Japanese militarism.  Paying tribute to the millions who were sacrificed for that victory — including 27 million from the Soviet Union — he said that the international community has a shared duty to honour that victory.

    However, Ukraine’s representative underscored that it is the “height of cynicism” for a State engaged in an unprovoked war of aggression to attempt to unite nations around the memory of the Second World War.  She added:  “Despite the high price paid for peace, the promise of ‘never again’ remains unfulfilled — today, Europe is witnessing the most brutal war since Hitler.”

    The representative of the United Kingdom, similarly, pointed to the “fundamental irony of Russia summoning us here today”, having presented a resolution “to mark the end of one war in Europe having started another”.  Lithuania’s representative added:  “Today, Russia instrumentalizes the memory of the Second World War to justify its own crimes, both past and present.”  Poland’s representative, also speaking for a group of 34 other European States, spotlighted the Russian Federation’s “cynicism of using ‘de-Nazification’ to justify its illegal aggression and occupation of part of an independent UN Member State”.

    “We have to say this — the sponsor of this resolution simply does not live by the words of the UN Charter,” stressed the representative of Canada, also speaking for Australia and New Zealand.  “Russia’s aggression — and we must name it precisely — and its bid to expand its territory at the expense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other States is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter,” he said.

    For his part, the representative of the United States said that the “Russia-Ukraine war has waged on for far too long”, urging that the “UN be guided by its original purpose and unite to end the bloodshed”.  All Member States should recommit themselves to the “old vision of peace that propelled us out of the devastation and despair of World War II”, he added.  Israel’s representative said:  “It is our responsibility not only to remember but to ensure that future generations carry this memory forward to prevent history from repeating itself.”

    Speaking in exercise of the right of reply, the delegate of the Russian Federation expressed concern about the politicized statements delivered by the delegates of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and the United Kingdom.  It is the actions of European States, she said, that are hampering the settlement of the Ukraine conflict.

    Appointments to Joint Inspection Unit

    In other business, the Assembly decided, without a vote, to appoint Makiese Kinkela Augusto (Angola), Victor Moraru (Republic of Moldova), Jesús Miranda Hita (Spain) and Marcel Jullier (Switzerland) to the Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations system, for a five-year term beginning 1 January 2026 and expiring on 31 December 2030.

    Address by President of Poland

    The General Assembly also heard an address by Andrzej Duda, President of Poland.  Noting that recent years have demonstrated how fragile peace and security are, he spotlighted the resurgence of “Russian imperialism”.  The 2014 attack on Ukraine marked “just the beginning of an effort to violently destroy the international order”, he said.

    Detailing Poland’s security cooperation, he pointed to the United States missile base in Redzikowo — an example of the “American security umbrella over Europe” — as well as recent talks with United States President Donald J. Trump.  Poland is also active in collective security systems and UN peacekeeping missions, and he also highlighted the Three Seas Initiative, which aims to improve connectivity among 13 countries across Central and Eastern Europe.

    “Poland has never imposed its views on anyone” or colonized another country, he went on to say.  Recalling his country’s long history, he invoked the construction of a powerful seventeenth-century State, gradual partitions, loss of independence, a 123-year-long independence struggle, the achievement of independence in 1918 and the destruction of that independence “by the two totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century:  Russian communism and German Nazism”.

    In the last 30 years of Poland’s history — after it broke free from the Russian Federation’s sphere of influence — it transformed from a backward, poor country with high unemployment into a highly developed State and the twenty-first largest economy in the world, he pointed out.  “Only peace can provide optimal conditions for development,” he said, adding that it is necessary to defend peace with real force.

    The representative of the Russian Federation, taking the floor under a point of order after the address, said that his delegation “had doubts” regarding the expediency of conducting today’s meeting.  “The President of Poland spent a lot of time on debating our country,” he said, adding that — although the Council adopted a text calling for peace between the Russian Federation and Ukraine — one of Poland’s leaders “talked about the logic of military focus” and providing support to Ukraine.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Huge milestone for UTAS Stadium redevelopment

    Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

    The transformation of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) Stadium has taken a giant leap forward, with a Development Application (DA) for main works now released.

    The main works will include a brand-new centre-west stand for an upgraded spectator experience, expanded western infill seating and a revitalised eastern stand for ultimate comfort and atmosphere. The works will also create a dynamic south-east entry plaza.

    These enhancements will elevate UTAS Stadium into a world-class destination for sports and entertainment, benefiting fans, athletes, and the entire Launceston community.

    The DA is open for public exhibition, and community members are invited to review the plans and be part of this once-in-a-generation transformation.

    With $130 million in joint funding—$65 million each from the Australian and Tasmanian governments—this project is set to make Launceston a powerhouse for national sporting and entertainment events, boosting business, tourism, and local pride.

    The main works are set to commence in July and scheduled to be completed by early 2027.

    For more details on the project, visit Infrastructure.tas.gov.au.

    To view the DA, visit: https://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/Business-and-Development/Planning/Advertised-Development-Applications

    Quotes attributed to Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King:

    “Upgrading existing facilities is the first step towards overhauling the stadium into a premier destination for fans and athletes.”

    “We’re growing the economy and creating jobs in Northern Tasmania by investing in local sports infrastructure.”

    “This investment is part of our Government’s commitment to creating a sustainable investment framework for growing cities such as Launceston.”

    Quotes attributed to Tasmanian Minister for Sports and Events Nick Duigan:

    “The Tasmanian Government is squarely focused on delivering the transformational infrastructure that will create jobs, economic growth and provide better opportunities for Tasmanians. “

    “This revitalisation project ensures UTAS Stadium will continue to host world-class events, inspiring the next generation of sporting stars and reinforcing Tasmania’s status as a premier destination for major events and sporting excellence.”

    “It will also support the Tasmania Devils Football Club.”

    “Reaching this important milestone reinforces our government’s commitment to delivering a premier sports and entertainment venue for the region, enhancing the overall experience for visitors and the local community.”

    “Our government is investing in sporting facilities right across the State as part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future to ensure locals have access to the facilities they need.”

    Quotes attributed to City of Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood:

    “This is an incredible opportunity for Launceston and Northern Tasmania and will ensure UTAS Stadium remains a premiere sporting facility for our community for future generations.”

    “The redevelopment aims to attract national sporting and entertainment events to Launceston, supporting the City of Launceston’s vision to make the city a premier business, retail and lifestyle hub.”

    Quotes attributable to CEO of Stadiums Tasmania James Avery:

    “This development will make a significant difference to the northern Tasmanian sports and events community.”

    “It will result in a host of new events coming to UTAS Stadium in addition to securing the future of those community, sporting and entertainment events that have become a mainstay on the Launceston calendar.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Australian Deputy PM: Huge milestone for UTAS Stadium redevelopment

    Source: Minister of Infrastructure

    The transformation of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) Stadium has taken a giant leap forward, with a Development Application (DA) for main works now released.

    The main works will include a brand-new centre-west stand for an upgraded spectator experience, expanded western infill seating and a revitalised eastern stand for ultimate comfort and atmosphere. The works will also create a dynamic south-east entry plaza.

    These enhancements will elevate UTAS Stadium into a world-class destination for sports and entertainment, benefiting fans, athletes, and the entire Launceston community.

    The DA is open for public exhibition, and community members are invited to review the plans and be part of this once-in-a-generation transformation.

    With $130 million in joint funding—$65 million each from the Australian and Tasmanian governments—this project is set to make Launceston a powerhouse for national sporting and entertainment events, boosting business, tourism, and local pride.

    The main works are set to commence in July and scheduled to be completed by early 2027.

    For more details on the project, visit Infrastructure.tas.gov.au.

    To view the DA, visit: https://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/Business-and-Development/Planning/Advertised-Development-Applications

    Quotes attributed to Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King:

    “Upgrading existing facilities is the first step towards overhauling the stadium into a premier destination for fans and athletes.”

    “We’re growing the economy and creating jobs in Northern Tasmania by investing in local sports infrastructure.”

    “This investment is part of our Government’s commitment to creating a sustainable investment framework for growing cities such as Launceston.”

    Quotes attributed to Tasmanian Minister for Sports and Events Nick Duigan:

    “The Tasmanian Government is squarely focused on delivering the transformational infrastructure that will create jobs, economic growth and provide better opportunities for Tasmanians. “

    “This revitalisation project ensures UTAS Stadium will continue to host world-class events, inspiring the next generation of sporting stars and reinforcing Tasmania’s status as a premier destination for major events and sporting excellence.”

    “It will also support the Tasmania Devils Football Club.”

    “Reaching this important milestone reinforces our government’s commitment to delivering a premier sports and entertainment venue for the region, enhancing the overall experience for visitors and the local community.”

    “Our government is investing in sporting facilities right across the State as part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future to ensure locals have access to the facilities they need.”

    Quotes attributed to City of Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood:

    “This is an incredible opportunity for Launceston and Northern Tasmania and will ensure UTAS Stadium remains a premiere sporting facility for our community for future generations.”

    “The redevelopment aims to attract national sporting and entertainment events to Launceston, supporting the City of Launceston’s vision to make the city a premier business, retail and lifestyle hub.”

    Quotes attributable to CEO of Stadiums Tasmania James Avery:

    “This development will make a significant difference to the northern Tasmanian sports and events community.”

    “It will result in a host of new events coming to UTAS Stadium in addition to securing the future of those community, sporting and entertainment events that have become a mainstay on the Launceston calendar.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kehoe Announces Two Judicial Appointments

    Source: US State of Missouri

    MARCH 4, 2025

    Jefferson City — Today, Governor Kehoe announced judicial appointments to the 21st and 9th Judicial Circuits.

    Ellen W. Dunne, of Des Peres, was appointed as the Circuit Judge in the 21st Judicial Circuit.

    Judge Dunne currently serves as Associate Circuit Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit, a position in which she has held since 2017. She earned her Juris Doctor from Saint Louis University School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Missouri. Prior to her judicial service, she practiced law for over two decades, representing clients in all types of civil matters. In addition to her judicial duties, Judge Dunne is an active member of the Missouri Bar Association, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Lawyers Association of St. Louis, Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis, and St. Louis County Bar Association. Judge Dunne will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Nancy M. Watkins McLaughlin from the circuit bench.

    Adam Warren, of Chillicothe, was appointed as the Associate Circuit Judge for Sullivan County in the 9th Judicial Circuit.

    Mr. Warren currently serves as the Livingston County prosecuting attorney, a position he has held since 2011. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Science in hospitality and restaurant administration from Missouri State University. Mr. Warren built a successful private practice as the owner of Warren Law Office, LLC. He also served in the Missouri Army National Guard from 2004 to 2011 before receiving a honorable discharge. Mr. Warren will fill the vacancy left by the recent passing of Judge Tracey Mason-White.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Franklin Resident Convicted of Multiple Cyber Stalking Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NASHVILLE – A federal jury on Friday convicted McKenzie McClure a/k/a Kalvin McClure, 31, of Franklin, Tennessee, of cyberstalking, announced Robert E. McGuire, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

    According to the evidence presented at trial, the defendant, between February 2024 and April 2024, posted countless Tweets on X fixated on Christ Presbyterian Academy (“CPA”) and Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, school shootings, school lockdowns, guns, and other violent incidents. The defendant also visited the CPA school campus on Sunday, February 25, 2024, during the afternoon when almost no one would be present. During that time, the defendant was observed attempting to enter the locked doors of the church sanctuary three times, taking pictures of the maps of the school grounds, and flipping off the school campus while standing on the school crest. Then, on Sunday, March 24, 2024, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the day of the Covenant School shooting, the defendant then left a menacing five-minute voicemail on CPA’s main phone line. In the voicemail, the defendant referenced multiple historical violent incidents and expressed anger and hostility at the school. The voicemail also referenced the movie Deadpool 2 in which a former student attempts to go back to his school to exact revenge and kill the headmaster. Countless school officials and the headmaster die in that movie. As a result of the defendant’s conduct, CPA closed school on Monday, March 25, 2024.

    “Children, parents, teachers, administrators and staff need to feel safe from harm while at school,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “Our office, and our law enforcement partners, are fully committed to keeping our school communities safe and will have no tolerance for those who would put our kids at risk.”

    “The defendant’s concerning actions and social media posts emotionally devastated the school and church community and threatened their safety,” said Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “The FBI and our partners are committed to protecting the communities we serve and we encourage the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious or threatening behavior to law enforcement.”

    “No one should have to worry about their safety at school—students, parents, and teachers deserve peace of mind. Because of that, the Tennessee Office of Homeland Security is committed to protecting our communities and making sure threats like this are taken seriously,” said Commissioner Jeff Long, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security. “We’ll continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to hold individuals accountable and ensure Tennessee remains a safe place to live, learn, and work.”

    McClure will be sentenced on Monday, July 7, 2025. At sentencing, McClure faces a maximum term of incarceration of five years in federal prison.

    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nashville Field Office, and the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katy Risinger and Joshua Kurtzman prosecuted the case.

    # # # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A potential $110B economic hit: How Trump’s tariffs could mean rising costs for families, strain for states

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Bedassa Tadesse, Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth

    A worker at a steel company in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on Feb. 11, 2025. Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP via Getty Images

    Get ready to pay more for avocados, maple syrup and – well – almost everything.

    The U.S. officially imposed new 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on March 4, 2025, following through on a long-delayed pledge from President Donald Trump. American consumers and businesses are now bracing for higher costs and potential supply disruptions.

    Although tariffs, or taxes on imports, are a pillar of Trump’s economic policy, the move still surprised many observers, since Mexico and Canada are among the U.S.’s traditional allies and top trading partners. The administration further rattled global supply chains by doubling existing tariffs on Chinese goods to 20%.

    As an economist who studies global trade, I wanted to know how the 25% import duties on Canada and Mexico would affect different parts of the country. So I conducted a state-by-state impact analysis.

    What I found is alarming: The U.S. economy could face an annual loss of US$109.23 billion. This shortfall would mean rising costs of everyday goods for American families and would disproportionately affect certain states. My analysis focused exclusively on the effects of U.S. tariffs, so it didn’t take retaliation from Canada or Mexico into account. If it did, the losses would be even greater.

    Unequal burdens for states, higher prices for families

    Imagine your grocery bill surging by 17.5% to 25%, car parts costing hundreds of dollars more, and your favorite local restaurant raising prices as imported ingredients become unaffordable. Because tariffs drive up consumer prices, these scenarios, or others like them, will soon become reality across the U.S.

    But not all Americans will be affected equally, I found. States that are deeply connected to North American supply chains will suffer the biggest economic blows. Texas, with its strong trade ties to Mexico and key role in energy, would lose $15.3 billion. California’s diverse economy would take a $10.2 billion hit. Michigan, heavily reliant on auto manufacturing, would face a $6.2 billion blow – over 1% of its gross domestic product.

    The biggest losers from the policy on a per-capita basis would be smaller, trade-dependent states that lack the flexibility to absorb such a shock. New Mexico, Kentucky and Indiana would be among the hardest hit, with projected GDP losses ranging from 1.12% to 1.48%. These states rely heavily on manufacturing and specialized industries, making them particularly vulnerable to rising costs and supply chain disruptions.

    Take New Mexico. While it may not experience the largest total economic loss, it would bear the highest per-person burden. That $1.73 billion hit to its economy would translate to $822 for every resident – a devastating blow in a state where incomes are already below the national average.

    Indeed, the likely effects of tariffs will be felt especially hard by American families. For example, a family of four in New Mexico would see an estimated $3,288 additional annual costs, equivalent to three months of grocery bills or an entire year’s utility expenses. Families in Kentucky and Indiana would also bear heavy financial burdens, paying an extra $3,120 and $2,836, respectively. Even in wealthier states such as Texas, the added annual costs would reach over $2,000 per household.

    For middle- and lower-income families, these aren’t trivial costs. They represent difficult trade-offs, forcing households to cut back on essentials, delay major purchases or dip into savings to make ends meet.

    A truck crosses the Ambassador Bridge, a border crossing between Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Detroit, Mich., on March 1, 2025.
    Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

    Where industry will face a tough hit

    Perhaps no industry would suffer more than the auto sector, particularly in states such as Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. These regions rely on a highly integrated North American supply chain, where components cross borders multiple times before a final product reaches consumers. Tariffs would disrupt this delicate balance, leading to price increases, reduced production and job losses.

    My conservative estimate shows that such disruptions could cost the industry approximately $28.2 billion, putting around 680,000 jobs at risk across manufacturing, parts production and sales operations. And the ripple effects would extend beyond automakers to suppliers, dealerships and local economies.

    But the pain wouldn’t stop there. Manufacturing, which plays a critical role in 17 of the top 20 states most affected by tariffs, would also face rising costs and shrinking profit margins. The agricultural sector – vital in at least 10 states – would endure higher input costs and potential retaliatory tariffs from Mexico and Canada. Past trade disputes have shown that American farmers often bear the brunt of such policies, with lost export markets and declining revenues.

    During the U.S.-China trade war of 2018-2019, for example, American farmers suffered over $27 billion in losses, with soybean exports dropping by 71% and states such as Iowa, Illinois and Kansas losing billions in GDP. The federal government paid affected farmers more than $23 billion to offset these losses. Similar – and possibly worse – challenges loom now.

    Retaliation from Mexico and Canada could deal a heavy blow to agricultural exports – including corn, beef and dairy – that anchor local economies, especially in Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Both countries have threatened countermeasures targeting key U.S. exports, raising concerns among farmers and agribusinesses. Retaliatory tariffs could shrink profit margins, further disrupt supply chains, and create uncertainty for producers relying on these markets.

    Looking at the bigger picture

    The new Trump tariff regime represents a fundamental shift in how the U.S. engages with its closest economic partners. While ostensibly meant to strengthen American industry, the tariffs on offer have serious side effects that will likely cause widespread disruptions for businesses, consumers and entire state economies.

    Trade isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about real people, real businesses and the intricate economic fabric that connects the nation. Changes to this system can come at a high price. Safeguarding American jobs and ensuring economic stability entails recognizing the realities of global trade and considering the trade-offs of instituting new policies.

    While tariffs are one method of disrupting the status quo, they are far from the only way. Indeed, reform is also possible through targeted policies – including negotiated trade agreements, investment incentives and workforce development programs – that address trade concerns without altering deeply integrated supply chains.

    Bedassa Tadesse 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 potential $110B economic hit: How Trump’s tariffs could mean rising costs for families, strain for states – https://theconversation.com/a-potential-110b-economic-hit-how-trumps-tariffs-could-mean-rising-costs-for-families-strain-for-states-251028

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Diversified Royalty Corp. Announces March 2025 Cash Dividend and Q4 2024 Earning Release Date

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Diversified Royalty Corp. (TSX: DIV and DIV.DB.A) (the “Corporation” or “DIV”) is pleased to announce that its board of directors has approved a cash dividend of $0.02083 per common share for the period of March 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025, which is equal to $0.25 per common share on an annualized basis. The dividend will be paid on March 31, 2025 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 14, 2025.

    Q4 2024 Earnings Release Date

    DIV will release earnings results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024 following the closing of regular trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on March 24, 2025.

    About Diversified Royalty Corp.

    DIV is a multi-royalty corporation, engaged in the business of acquiring top-line royalties from well-managed multi-location businesses and franchisors in North America. DIV’s objective is to acquire predictable, growing royalty streams from a diverse group of multi-location businesses and franchisors.

    DIV currently owns the Mr. Lube + Tires, AIR MILES®, Sutton, Mr. Mikes, Nurse Next Door, Oxford Learning Centres, Stratus Building Solutions and BarBurrito trademarks. Mr. Lube + Tires is the leading quick lube service business in Canada, with locations across Canada. AIR MILES® is Canada’s largest coalition loyalty program. Sutton is among the leading residential real estate brokerage franchisor businesses in Canada. Mr. Mikes operates casual steakhouse restaurants primarily in western Canadian communities. Nurse Next Door is a home care provider with locations across Canada and the United States as well as in Australia. Oxford Learning Centres is one of Canada’s leading franchisee supplemental education services. Stratus Building Solutions is a leading commercial cleaning service franchise company providing comprehensive janitorial, building cleaning, and office cleaning services primarily in the United States. BarBurrito is the largest quick service Mexican restaurant food chain in Canada.

    DIV’s objective is to increase cash flow per share by making accretive royalty purchases and through the growth of purchased royalties. DIV intends to continue to pay a predictable and stable monthly dividend to shareholders and increase the dividend over time, in each case as cash flow per share allows.

    Forward Looking Statements

    Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The use of any of the words “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “will”, ”project”, “should”, “believe”, “confident”, “plan” and “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information contains these identifying words. Specifically, forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements made in relation to: the amount and timing of the March 2025 dividend to be paid to DIV’s shareholders; DIV’s objective to continue to pay predictable and stable monthly dividends to shareholders; and DIV’s corporate objectives. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events, performance, or achievements of DIV to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking information. DIV believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In particular there can be no assurance that: DIV will be able to make monthly dividend payments to the holders of its common shares; or DIV will achieve any of its corporate objectives. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned that forward-looking information included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance, and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. More information about the risks and uncertainties affecting DIV’s business and the businesses of its royalty partners can be found in the “Risk Factors” section of its Annual Information Form dated March 21, 2024 and in its most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis, copies of each of which are available under DIV’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com.

    In formulating the forward-looking information contained herein, management has assumed that, among other things, DIV will generate sufficient cash flows from its royalties to service its debt and pay dividends to shareholders; the business and economic conditions affecting DIV and its royalty partners will continue substantially in the ordinary course, including without limitation with respect to general industry conditions, general levels of economic activity and regulations. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect.

    All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, DIV. The forward-looking information included in this news release is presented as of the date of this news release and DIV assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.

    THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR THE ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

    Additional Information

    Additional information relating to the Corporation and other public filings, is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com.

    Contact:
    Sean Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer
    Diversified Royalty Corp.
    (236) 521-8470

    Greg Gutmanis, Chief Financial Officer and VP Acquisitions
    Diversified Royalty Corp.
    (236) 521-8471

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Boosting job opportunities for people with disability

    Source: Ministers for Social Services

    The Albanese Labor Government continues to deliver on its commitment to create an inclusive labour market where everyone has the opportunity to work.

    Australians with disability who can and want to work will benefit from our $14.6 million boost to support the evolution of the supported employment sector.

    Supported employment is a type of job for people with disability who need substantial ongoing support to get or keep a job, and they receive extra support while at work. About 16,000 Australians with disability currently participate in supported employment.

    Thirty-three organisations will receive grants in round 2 of the $29.5 million Structural Adjustment Fund. They’ll deliver projects that increase the range of job opportunities and pathways into open employment for people with disability with high support needs.

    Minister for Social Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Amanda Rishworth, said people with disability had the right to meaningful work and training, and this investment would ensure the sector continues to evolve to meet individual needs.

    “We understand that most people with disability want to work but unfortunately face many barriers to finding and maintaining suitable employment,” Minister Rishworth said.

    “Boosting disability employment and opening more opportunities for people with disability who can and want to work, is high on the Albanese Labor Government’s agenda.

    “Funding under this grant round will be delivered across various locations around Australia, ensuring people with high support needs can reap both the social and economic benefits that employment can provide.”

    The Minister today visited Cultivate Food and Beverage in Adelaide, a social enterprise offering open employment in food manufacturing for people with barriers to work. Cultivate is backed by Bedford – a round 2 funding recipient that will deliver the Bedford Rangers program. It will build on a trial they delivered with RM Williams to host employment in mainstream workplaces with an employment coach and create individualised pathways to open employment for supported employees.

    The Structural Adjustment Fund boosts training and skills for people with disability, creates and expands pathways to open employment and broadens social enterprise offerings. It aims to create employment pathways and opportunities for people with intellectual disability and other high support needs by investing in the supported employment sector.

    The Structural Adjustment Fund complements the Government’s new specialist disability employment program, Inclusive Employment Australia. Replacing the current Disability Employment Services program, Inclusive Employment Australia recognises that people with disability may be at different stages of their employment journey – and that a one size fits all approach doesn’t work.

    Learnings from the Structural Adjustment Funds projects will also be shared with the sector through the new Centre for Inclusive Employment. Previously known as the Disability Employment Centre of Excellence, the Centre will be an evidence-informed, best-practice hub that provides resources, tools, and training to help providers deliver quality employment services for people with disability.

    “Inclusive Employment Australia and Centre for Inclusive Employment align with the Government’s vision of a more inclusive future, where people with disability, as well as those with injuries or health conditions, can get the support they need to find work and progress in their careers,” Minister Rishworth said.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Democrats Block Tuberville Bill to Protect Female Athletes

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville
    “At least 900 medals that belonged to women went to men instead over the past few years.”
    WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate took a procedural vote on U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, his legislation to require federally-funded institutions to keep men out of women’s sports, locker rooms, and other spaces designated only for females. The bill did not receive the 60 votes needed to proceed. All 45 Democrats refused to stand up for female athletes and voted to block the bill. 
    Prior to the vote, Senator Tuberville called on his colleagues to pass this commonsense piece of legislation and preserve Title IX to keep a level playing field for current and future female athletes.
    Excerpts from Senator Tuberville’s remarks can be found below, or on YouTube or Rumble.

    “Over the past four years, women’s sports and women’s protections, at all levels, have been under attack. Since the beginning of time, people have agreed that sex is assigned at birth and determined by God. But under [the] Biden administration, you had people claiming that men can get pregnant. Pure, absolute insanity. But it didn’t stop there. They weren’t content just to erase gender norms that have been accepted for thousands of years. No, they wanted to allow transgender men to participate in women’s and girls’ sports. This has been happening at schools all across our country. […] Young women have been forced to compete against men and even to share locker rooms and shower time. And on top of that, your taxpayer dollars are paying for it. Thankfully, President Trump signed an Executive Order—he said, ‘no more, no more federal money to any state that allows this to happen.’ But you have to understand, this only lasts as long as President Trump is in office. We need this vote, which is going to happen in around an hour, to pass so we can make this into law. This Executive Order that he signed can be reversed.
    […]
    Congress needs to act on this to protect women’s sports to ensure Title IX protections are preserved. My bill that we are voting on today in about an hour, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, would make sure women’s rights to equal competition, equal scholarships, safe locker rooms, and that they all are protected. This legislation has already passed the House just about a month ago – with two Democrats actually supporting it. I appreciate the support of all my Republican colleagues on this. You all have joined me in championing this important cause for the past three years. I especially want to thank Leader Thune for […] bringing my bill to the floor here in the United States Senate. This will be the third time. It is hard to get a bill on this floor, but it is important to understand that. I also want to thank my friend and former Democrat colleague Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia who was the only Democrat in the last few years to support this when he was in the Senate. But unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues have been radio silent on this very issue despite the fact that a recent poll shows 67% [of] Democrats do not want men in women’s sports. 67%.
    […]
    One of the most frequent talking points I’ve heard from the other side on this is that it isn’t a big deal and isn’t impacting that many women. That’s not true. At least 900 medals that belonged to women have gone to men just over the past few years of men competing against women. In Pennsylvania alone, 66 female athletes have lost placements to male competitors since 2020. How sad is that. For each woman, the medals that went to men, there are potentially hundreds of women who lost out on that opportunity. Not to mention the hundreds of girls who perhaps did not make a team at all because they didn’t have a spot [on the roster]—you can only have so many on a team. Or the many young women who missed out on a scholarship because a man, or biological boy,  took that scholarship. It’s not fair. [So] no, this is [not] a minor issue impacting a few Americans. […] I took the liberty of looking up how many women and girls participate in women’s sports in some of my Democrat colleagues’ home states. More than 77,000 girls participate in high school [athletics] in the state of Georgia. In Michigan, 114,000. In Virginia, 164,000. In New Hampshire, 17,000. Pennsylvania [has] almost 150,000. New Mexico [has] almost 20,000. Minnesota [has] 98,000. Arizona [has] 120,633. And don’t tell me it’s not going to affect these states when, today, my Democrat colleagues come on this floor that represent these states and vote against this bill. It will affect [women], and it will affect them for years. So, as you can see, men competing in women’s sports has a negative impact on a lot of different girls across this country. But you know, it’s not just trophies. It’s about playing time,  it’s about learning and being on a team, learning how to win and learning how to lose.
    […]
    Last week, my wife Suzanne and I were proud to welcome our first granddaughter, Rosie Grace. She’s about five or six days old. We want her to have the same opportunities that all the other girls have had over the years. She deserves [the same rights] to fair competition, scholarships, trophies. I already bought her first pair of golf clubs—at age five days old. But if Democrats have their way today, she may one day be forced to compete against a man. Let me tell you something, if she has to share a locker room with a boy, you’re looking at a grandfather that will raise hell. If they shower in the same showers, we’re going to have problems. So, what we’re creating here is more and more problems that our country doesn’t need. I heard a story the other day about a 6th grade girl in Minnesota who was changing in a college locker room after swim practice when a biological man who identified as a female walked in and came within 5-6 feet of her to grab something. Let me tell you something, her dad became unglued. You would have too. Anybody would. This isn’t even about politics. This is about right and wrong. 79% of Americans agree on this: allowing men to compete against women is just plain wrong. 79% of the entire country. And like I said earlier, 67% of my Democratic colleagues and their constituents say, ‘no way, Jose.’ It’s not going to happen. So, to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, you may want to check with your constituents before you make this vote today in about an hour.
    […]
    Because if polling is even close to correct, 8 out of 10 of your constituents do not want men competing against women. And if that doesn’t strike a chord with you, let me ask you this: Do you have daughters? Do you have granddaughters? Do you have nieces?  How would you feel if they trained for years – waking up early every morning, staying after school late practicing. Putting in those long hours when nobody else is watching. Missing spring breaks, family vacations, birthday parties, and holidays, making tremendous physical and financial sacrifices. All so they could one day have the opportunity either to win a trophy or win a scholarship. But then only to have that opportunity ripped away by a bigger, better, stronger, faster male athlete because they want to participate against women.
    […]
    Thanks to President Trump’s Executive Order, the NCAA recently announced men will no longer be allowed to compete against women on the college level. While this is a step in the right direction, the NCAA’s rules still allow, to this day, the NCAA to change the rules but they still allow men—biological boys or men—to enjoy in all the other benefits of being on a women’s team—practicing, dressing in the locker room, showering. But they just can’t compete in a game. That makes no sense. The NCAA needs to stand up for young women across this country and say, ‘no way.’ It just makes no sense, when [President Trump] made that [Executive Order]. To fully protect women, Congress needs to pass legislation on this, as I said earlier. We have got to pass it. It’s the only way it’s going to stop. Because the people out there that have lost their minds are going to continue to force this to happen. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would prevent a school from receiving federal funding if it lets boys compete in women. It’s the only way we can stop it. It also defines gender as male and female. What an idea, right?
    […]
    I hope we can put politics aside and in about, and hour [or] 45 minutes, do the right thing and protect women and girls in sports.”
    BACKGROUND:
    The issue of biological males in girls’ and women’s sports proved to be a winning message during the 2024 Presidential Election. Support continues to grow for keeping biological males out of women’s sports—a recent NYT poll found 79% of respondents said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. This number is a 10% increase from a 2023 survey where 69% of respondents agreed that biological males do not belong in women’s sports.
    This growing increase in support for keeping biological males out of girls and women’s sports isn’t a partisan issue. In the NYT poll, of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% agreed that biological male athletes shouldn’t be allowed in women’s sports.
    The Trump administration has taken historic action to establish where it stands on the issue, including an Executive Order from President Trump himself recognizing two genders and the Department of Education’s announcement that it will revoke the disastrous Biden-era Title IX policies. President Trump has spoken about the need to keep biological males out of women’s sports on multiple occasions.
    However, there is still a need to make the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act permanent law. Now, Senator Tuberville faces another different challenge—getting Republican leadership to bring the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (or S.9 for Title IX) before the Senate for a vote after leadership previously signaled support. The legislation is simple: 1) it bans federal funds from going to ANY institution that allows biological males in spaces designated for girls and women, and 2) ensures that Title IX provisions only recognize a person’s biological gender—or gender at birth.
    The U.S. House of Representatives quickly moved to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on January 14, 2025, a week after the bill’s reintroduction. Two Democrats—Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzales—joined Republicans in voting for its passage, bringing the vote to 218-206. Another Democrat congressman—Rep. Ron. Davis—voted “present.” The bill had no Democrat support when it passed the House in 2023, signaling that some Democrats are beginning to wake up to the fact that Americans do not want biological males competing against female athletes.
    One of Tuberville’s first acts after taking office in 2021 was offering an amendment to protect female athletes. Though the amendment had broad support, Senate Democrats blocked it from even being considered by a vote of 49-50.
    Senator Tuberville has continued to be the leader on preserving Title IX, introducing legislation such as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and the Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, and forcing Democrats to show the American people exactly where they stand on the issue of protecting female athletes.
    On June 23, 2022—the 50th anniversary of Title IX becoming law—the Biden Department of Education announced its proposed changes to Title IX that would allow biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. Senator Tuberville led 21 of his Republican colleagues in submitting a “public comment” to then-ED Secretary Miguel Cardona that warned of the dangers of his proposal, should it be carried out. 
    In April 2023, Senator Tuberville reintroduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to strip away funding from schools that allow biological males to participate in female sporting events. The U.S. House of Representatives passed this legislation, but Senate Democrats blocked it when Senator Tuberville brought it up for a vote on the Senate floor.
    In March 2024, Senator Tuberville once again forced the Democrats’ hand during a critical election year, when offering the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act as an amendment. ALL 51 Democrats at the time voted against allowing the bill to proceed.
    In March 2024, Senator Tuberville ALSO introduced a bill to ban men from competing in women’s U.S. Olympic sports, following USA Boxing’s announcement that it would allow men to box against women.
    IN THE NEWS:
    Not One Democrat Senator Voted to Protect Women’s Sports From Males
    White House Backs Tuberville’s Women’s Sports Legislation Ahead Of Senate Vote
    After This Vote, the Dems Show They Really Haven’t Learned Anything From Their 2024 Loss
    Democrats Stall Senate Bill To Protect Women’s Sports
    Bill to Ban Biological Males From Women’s Sports Blocked by Democrats
    Senate Dems face backlash after bill to prevent boys from playing girls’ sports fails to break filibuster
    Senate Dems Kill Legislative Effort to Protect Women’s Sports
    Senate Democrats block GOP bill to keep male-born athletes out of female sports
    Senate bid to prevent boys from playing girls’ sports get stuck on filibuster
    Fight To Protect Women’s Sports Could Stall In Senate
    Will Democrats stand up for women or let men destroy girls’ sports?
    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: School property back on track

    Source: New Zealand Government

    The Government has taken decisive action to address the inequitable state of school property to ensure better outcomes for all students. 
    “It is crucial that the school property portfolio is managed effectively so students can continue to benefit from safe, warm, and dry learning environments,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
    “After a Ministerial Inquiry found the Ministry’s School Property function unfit for purpose, the Government is delivering improved efficiency and performance by prioritising warm, safe, and dry learning environments, maintaining existing school assets, and accelerating cost-effective new builds using standard designs and offsite manufacturing.”
    Since the release of the Inquiry there has been:

    A 35 percent increase in the number of standard or repeatable designed buildings delivered.
    A 28 percent reduction in the average cost of each classroom, from $1.2m to $0.87m.
    A 34 percent increase in funding for school maintenance.

    The Ministry has also increased the number of new classrooms it delivered in 2024 by 140 when compared to 2023. 
    “One example was Wellington Girls’ College, where 14 classrooms over four, two-storey modulars were delivered in just 12 weeks at a cost of around $550,000 per classroom. This represented a 35% saving on the current value for money cost per classroom.”
    Jerome Sheppard has been appointed Chief Executive of School Property as part of the phased approach to address the recommendations of the report. 
    “Mr Sheppard brings expertise in delivering infrastructure to have responsibility for all operational aspects of school property, and I look forward to working with him to ensure we can achieve better outcomes for all schools.”
    The decisions on the final form of the Ministry’s School Property function will be made later this year.
    “This Government is committed to delivering a world leading education in classrooms that give Kiwi kids the best chance to succeed so they can grow up and live the lives they want,” Ms Stanford says.
     
    Notes for editor:
    The Report of the Ministerial Inquiry into School Property: Microsoft Word – Report of the Ministerial Inquiry into School Property – Final draft.docx

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI: Eos Energy Enterprises Strengthens Executive Leadership to Drive Growth in American-Made Energy Storage

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    EDISON, N.J., March 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: EOSE) (“Eos” or the “Company”), America’s leading innovator in designing, manufacturing, and providing zinc-based long duration energy storage (LDES) systems sourced and manufactured in the United States, today announced two leadership appointments that will further support its growth strategy and strengthen its market position. Effective March 5, 2025, Nathan Kroeker will transition from his current Chief Financial Officer role to become Eos’ Chief Commercial Officer. In conjunction with this strategic transition, the Company has appointed Eric Javidi as its new Chief Financial Officer, bringing extensive investing, operating and organizational leadership experience in the energy and energy infrastructure spaces.

    “Over the past two years, Nathan secured over $850 million in transformative financing, positioning Eos for significant operational expansion. His prior experience as CEO, where he successfully led an energy trading and marketing company operating assets like those of our customers, gives him a unique understanding of both the complexities of the industry and the evolving needs of customers,” said Joe Mastrangelo, Eos Chief Executive Officer. “Nathan’s background as Chief Financial Officer gives him a unique advantage in understanding both the financial and commercial landscapes of the industry, allowing him to create customer-centric solutions that are not only impactful, but also financially sustainable.”

    Kroeker will be responsible for expanding into new geographies, driving customer project financing, and ensuring that Eos’ offering is aligned with the diverse needs of its customer base. His expertise will help guide the Company’s growth by strengthening customer relationships and bankability, providing financing solutions, and positioning Eos as the preferred partner in long duration energy storage.

    “I am also very pleased to welcome Eric Javidi as our next Chief Financial Officer,” continued Mastrangelo. “Eric brings over 15 years of experience within the energy and energy infrastructure space, having held a variety of executive roles in both the public and private sectors. His extensive experience as a strategic leader will be invaluable as we scale our company. He has a proven track record of driving performance and growth through strategic decision making and tactical capital allocation decisions. His leadership will be crucial in maximizing profitability and shareholder value.”

    Javidi is an experienced executive with extensive industry experience having previously served as Managing Partner and Co-head of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, LP’s (“Kayne Anderson”) Energy Infrastructure strategy. In addition to his six years at Kayne Anderson, Javidi has served in C-suite executive roles for several public and private companies, including as the Chief Financial Officer of Archaea Energy, Inc. (NYSE: LFG) and CrossAmerica Partners LP (NYSE: CAPL), and as President and CEO of Southcross Holdings LP. Additionally, he has provided ongoing strategic consulting services to some of the world’s largest infrastructure private equity firms related to their energy transition investments and strategies. Javidi began his career as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, Barclays and UBS and holds an MBA from Duke University.

    “These two appointments are vital to our continued success,” added Mastrangelo. “Nathan’s transition to Chief Commercial Officer and the addition of Eric as Chief Financial Officer bring two uniquely qualified executives to key roles in the Company. Together, they will lead our efforts to scale operations, profitability and achieving long-term strategic growth in American-made energy storage.”

    “I am thrilled to be part of such an innovative and dynamic team and organization,” said Javidi. “With the energy storage market rapidly evolving to longer duration storage, Joe’s leadership and ability to execute, in addition to the world-class strategic partnership with Cerberus, it couldn’t be a more exciting time to join Eos. I look forward to leveraging my experience to support the Company’s growth, drive value creation and help position Eos for both near-term and long-term success. With Nathan in his new role as Chief Commercial Officer, Eos is poised to enhance both our financial strength and our customer focused approach as we expand our domestic and international footprint and deliver industry-leading solutions.”

    This leadership change comes at a pivotal time as Eos continues to focus on expanding its presence in the fast-growing long duration energy storage market that require increased access to financing options that enable customers to adopt innovative technologies with greater ease and accessibility.

    About Eos Energy Enterprises

    Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. is accelerating the shift to American energy independence with positively ingenious solutions that transform how the world stores power. Our breakthrough Znyth™ aqueous zinc battery was designed to overcome the limitations of conventional lithium-ion technology. It is safe, scalable, efficient, sustainable, manufactured in the U.S., and the core of our innovative systems that today provides utility, industrial, and commercial customers with a proven, reliable energy storage alternative for 3 to 12-hour applications. Eos was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey. For more information about Eos (NASDAQ: EOSE), visit eose.com.


    Forward-Looking Statements

    Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our expected revenue, for the fiscal years December 31, 2025, our path to profitability and strategic outlook, statements regarding orders backlog and opportunity pipeline, statements regarding our expectation that we can continue to increase product volume on our state-of-the-art manufacturing line, statements regarding our future expansion and its impact on our ability to scale up operations, statements regarding our expectation that we can continue to strengthen our overall supply chain, statements regarding our expectation that our new comprehensive insurance program will provide increased operational and economic certainty, statements that refer to the delayed draw term loan with Cerberus, milestones thereunder and the anticipated use of proceeds, statements that refer to outlook, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected.

    Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: changes adversely affecting the business in which we are engaged; our ability to forecast trends accurately; our ability to generate cash, service indebtedness and incur additional indebtedness; our ability to achieve the operational milestones on the delayed draw term loan; our ability to raise financing in the future; risks associated with the credit agreement with Cerberus, including risks of default, dilution of outstanding Common Stock, consequences for failure to meet milestones and contractual lockup of shares; our customers’ ability to secure project financing; the amount of final tax credits available to our customers or to Eos pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act; the timing and availability of future funding under the Department of Energy Loan Facility; our ability to continue to develop efficient manufacturing processes to scale and to forecast related costs and efficiencies accurately; fluctuations in our revenue and operating results; competition from existing or new competitors; our ability to convert firm order backlog and pipeline to revenue; risks associated with security breaches in our information technology systems; risks related to legal proceedings or claims; risks associated with evolving energy policies in the United States and other countries and the potential costs of regulatory compliance; risks associated with changes to the U.S. trade environment; our ability to maintain the listing of our shares of common stock on NASDAQ; our ability to grow our business and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain our management and key employees; risks related to the adverse changes in general economic conditions, including inflationary pressures and increased interest rates; risk from supply chain disruptions and other impacts of geopolitical conflict; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that Eos may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; other factors beyond our control; risks related to adverse changes in general economic conditions; and other risks and uncertainties.

    The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to additional risks, uncertainties, and factors, including those more fully described in the Company’s most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Further information on potential risks that could affect actual results will be included in the subsequent periodic and current reports and other filings that the Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Moreover, the Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks and uncertainties may emerge that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

    Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Beyond the garage: How important are spaces to business creation?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Etienne Capron, Postdoctoral fellow, HEC Montréal

    Cities, and on a smaller scale, neighbourhoods and meeting places, play a significant role in promoting innovation. (Shutterstock)

    There is an enduring myth that many technological innovations have come out of garages, bedrooms and basements.

    One of the most famous garages is the one at Steve Jobs’ parents’ house where he was rumoured to have designed the Apple I computer, along with Steve Wozniak and some colleagues. The myth was so persistent, that the garage was designated as a site of historical importance in 2013. It was a similar story for the founders of Google, who set up their first offices in an actual garage in Menlo Park in San Jose, Calif.

    Then there was William Hewlett and David Packard, who developed a low-distortion frequency oscillator in their garage in Palo Alto, before going on to found the information technology company HP Inc. One of their first customers was Walt Disney, who used it for the sound in his 1940 film Fantasia.

    The garage is an important site in the founding myths of many entrepreneurial adventures. Before a company becomes successful, where it starts out is as important as the visionaries who invest in it. And in addition to the specific space of the garage, the surrounding urban environment is also important. What a city offers, and the way it is organized, both contribute to innovation.

    This article is part of our series Our cities from yesterday to tomorrow. Urban life is going through many transformations, each with cultural, economic, social – and, in this election year, political – implications. To shed light on these diverse issues, The Conversation Canada is inviting researchers to discuss the current state of our cities.

    Multiplicity of creative spaces

    There are many spaces specifically designed to support entrepreneurship today, including incubators, accelerators and collaborative workspaces. In addition to providing a place to work, these spaces facilitate both networking with potential partners and access to business opportunities.

    It is also interesting to note how these creative spaces have multiplied in most cities, sometimes with a specialization. They can be found in the fields of health, social innovation and digital technologies.

    The Apple garage, located in Steve Jobs’s childhood home, was a meeting place for Apple’s founders.
    (Shutterstock)

    Yet, as important as they may be for some players, these spaces are not the only factors that contribute to entrepreneurial success. Other places, sometimes unexpected, such as the fast food restaurant where Nvidia was born or the Californian saunas that have replaced luxury hotels for business meetings between investors and entrepreneurs, also contribute to the creation and development of new companies. Nor can the success of an entrepreneurial venture be explained by a single place.

    That raises the question: what do we know about how cities, and the variety of places within them, affect the development of entrepreneurial capacity?

    As a postdoctoral researcher at HEC Montréal (MOSAIC) and a professor of innovation management at the IAE Nantes University, respectively, we have explored this question as part of our research in innovation management, particularly in a recent piece of research.

    The city, an ecosystem

    Research has long focused on specific types of places. The aim is both to understand what happens there and to extract lessons that can be replicated elsewhere. Accessing a shared workspace offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to socialize. This was also the great promise of the American company WeWork: to be a member of a community.



    À lire aussi :
    WeWork : chute d’une entreprise ou fin du coworking ?

    Specific technologies or tools for prototyping can be found in a fab lab or a collaborative manufacturing workshop. Presenting your project to investors is easier from an incubator or accelerator. For example, by presenting a project at Y-Combinator in California, an accelerator renowned for supporting promising projects, entrepreneurs know they’ll get noticed by investors.

    Similarly, it is easier to meet potential partners or pick up on the latest trends in a market or technologies by spending the evening in a trendy café or bar. Informal exchanges are easier there and these play a big role in the entrepreneurial dynamics of a territory.

    WeWork shared office space in Two Summerlin, Nevada, USA.
    (Shutterstock)

    And then, quite simply, where does the initial idea come from? As the American columnist and writer Steven Johnson shows through the examples of Gutenberg and Darwin, it is clear this often happens at odd times and in unusual places.

    As a result, whether innovators are entrepreneurs, artists or scientists, it is unlikely that all the resources they require will be available to everyone, all the time, in one place.

    As the American urban planner and sociologist Jane Jacobs so aptly put it, individuals experience the city. They do not got to a single place: they visit or pass by a variety of places, each of which, in its own way, can nurture the creativity and career of an entrepreneur. Our research reveals that it is above all the combination of a city’s places – their diversity of size, function, purpose and location – that produces entrepreneurial capacity.

    Observing artists to better understand entrepreneurship

    Let’s take the example of creators who produce projection mapping works in Montréal. Thanks to a six-month survey of 21 Montréal artists, we were able to show the heterogeneity of places they visited regularly throughout the process of creation and development.

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    Our study led to two main conclusions.

    Firstly, depending on the profile of individuals and their creative approach, the places they visit regularly are different, and sometimes distinctive. This is the case, for example, of an artist who benefits from a residency in a printing workshop to create a projection on fabrics. It is also the case of a designer who goes to a fab lab to experiment with sensors.

    This suggests that there are specific trajectories for each individual, and therefore, no single path that leads to innovation.

    The need for structuring places

    Secondly, this observation suggests that the convergence around certain places does not owe to chance: multiple resources, sometimes crucial for recognition in a field, are mobilized there.

    For example, many of the artists in our study regularly visited Montréal’s Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), a renowned meeting place that has helped the careers of many artists. The artists we met go there to take courses, attend shows, and meet musicians with whom they may eventually collaborate.

    That’s how a venue’s reputation is built. As we have shown, this can become essential at a particular stage of the entrepreneur’s journey.

    But before or after this stage, other places may be more beneficial.

    In fact, depending on the phase of the innovation project, the types of places visited and their number vary greatly. So, since needs are different, the capacity to innovate depends on the places and possibilities that exist in a city. For example, Montréal’s diverse cultural offerings, with its artist-run centres and performance halls, strongly inspire projection mapping artists.

    Workshops are obviously important places for experimentation and creation, but they are only used when a prototype or final work is being produced.

    The territory of innovation

    In a more global context, where there are many technological, societal and environmental challenges, innovations are necessary.

    Ideas and entrepreneurs are essential to make innovation happen. Entrepreneurs need skills and financial resources. They need to be part of collectives and communities. But also, and perhaps even above all, they need to be in territories that offer a wide range of places where they can take advantage of complementary resources to carry out their projects.

    The city as a whole, and on a smaller scale, its neighbourhoods, are the melting pot from which ideas circulate and mix, where projects mature and take shape. The urban morphology, which can be seen as a particular arrangement of places and transport or travel infrastructures, then becomes a new deciding factor in entrepreneurial capacity.

    Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.

    – ref. Beyond the garage: How important are spaces to business creation? – https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-garage-how-important-are-spaces-to-business-creation-250130

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Bill Gates’ origin story describes a life of privilege, exposing the DNA of some of the tech industry’s problems

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dana McKay, Associate Dean, Interaction, Technology and Information, RMIT University

    Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft, is one of the world’s richest men. He is also a highly controversial figure.

    On one hand, he contributes to social, medical and environmental causes through his foundation, making grants worth more than US$77 billion ($A123 billion) from its inception to the end of 2023. On the other, he has confirmed associations with Jeffrey Epstein and was the subject of spurious COVID conspiracy theories.

    Even Gates’ Microsoft days were controversial. Under his leadership, Microsoft became the first tech giant, but Gates has been repeatedly described as ruthless, both personally and professionally.

    Review: Source Code, My Beginnings – Bill Gates (Penguin)

    He was accused by his late long-term friend and business partner Paul Allen, of canvassing ways to dilute Allen’s shares in Microsoft when the latter was undergoing treatment for lymphoma. Gates reportedly apologised to Allen, and they repaired their relationship, and were on good terms by the time Allen died.

    Still, as a leader, his style has been characterised by some who worked with him in the 1980s and 1990s as bullying. (Gates’ spokesperson has denied he mistreated employees.)

    Childhood

    In Source Code, Gates sets out to tell his own story, and the story of the birth of the tech industry.

    His parents were the children of hardworking strugglers. His father, Bill Senior, was educated as a lawyer on the GI bill; his mother, Mary, was, according to Gates, an innovative and engaged homemaker, who later shattered glass ceilings.

    Born in 1955 Gates describes himself as the kind of kid his mother had to warn his preschool teachers about. He responded to not knowing how to fit in with other kids by becoming a class clown, and was pushed by his mother to relate to other adults.


    He was introduced to mathematics by his maternal grandmother, a Christian Scientist and a card sharp. She played assiduously with her grandchildren. She did not believe in losing to them deliberately. Through cards, Gates learned two key lessons: that you can learn the mathematics of a problem, and that practising a skill will hone it.

    His relationship with his father was loving and respectful, but his relationship with his mother was more fraught. She encouraged him, but he resented her expectation that he live up to social mores so much that peace had to be brokered by a family therapist.

    The privilege of private school

    Gates was sent to a private school for boys, and his stories about Lakeside School in Seattle are probably the most engaging segment of the book. It was at Lakeside that he learned to apply himself academically, after his class-clown act failed to impress. There, he also met Allen, who would become co-founder of Microsoft, and got his hands on his first computer.

    In the late 1960s and early 1970s, computer time was charged by the minute. Gates used lucky connections and his entreprenurial spirit to get a job coding, so he could do more of what he loved. This was how he clocked up 500 hours coding before he left high school, a mean feat even by today’s standards.

    Gates describes a degree of freedom almost unimaginable in today’s regimented education system. He had access to the computer lab at all hours and was able to take an entire semester off to code.

    He continued his elite education at Harvard. Eventually, he chose to major in applied mathematics, partly because it gave him some of the same freedom he had been accustomed to. He soon realised he was not the best at pure mathematics, as he had anticipated.

    Gates again got early access to computers at Harvard. He used this access to build his first microprocessor software (“Micro-Soft”), with Allen, which he and Allen sold to a company called MITS in 1975.

    He was sanctioned by Harvard for this project. Their computers were not supposed to be for commercial use. He was also bringing non-students into the lab.

    At this point, aged 19, he decided to take a semester off to focus on his business.

    But they stole my software!

    In 1975 Gates went to work with MITS, the company that built the first desktop computer, where he expanded his software.

    The first version of this software was literally stolen at a trade fair, reducing Microsoft’s profits and creating a rift between Gates and many of the hobbyists who were using this software

    Gates believed that software should be paid for; many of the hobbyists believed software should be free and open source.

    Gates describes the head of MITS, Ed Roberts, as loud and somewhat mercurial, an irony that is not lost as we read Gates’ letters to his friends and business partners, in whom he is frequently disappointed.

    Eventually, the relationship with MITS broke down. MITS failed to meet the terms of its contract to promote and license Gates’s software.

    The end of this contract left Gates free to sell his software to a range of companies, including Apple and Texas Instruments. A legal judgement confirmed MITS had not fulfilled its contract to Microsoft, and that Microsoft had full ownership of its software and the right to sell it. This judgement is probably the foundation of the for-profit software industry.

    In early adulthood, Gates already showed little respect for other people and social norms. He describes subscribing to the ideology of the lone genius, being arrested for speeding (where the famous mugshot of him comes from), and even joyriding on parked bulldozers.

    This section of the book is probably the least readable. It presents a limited account of an exciting time in computing. Steven Levy’s Hackers is a great alternative account.

    The DNA of computer programs

    The “source code” is the DNA of the computer programs we use. Gates’ book sets out the source code of Microsoft, as a company, and in many ways, of the tech industry as a business.

    Gates created not just Microsoft, but arguably an entire industry: selling software. His book describes the unique set of personal characteristics that made him the right person for this (single minded focus, which Gates attributes to likely autism, and a willingness to ignore all other considerations to get the job done).

    It also describes a lucky set of circumstances. Gates benefited from a legal education at his father’s knee, a family history of entrepreneurship, and early access to computers.

    The book ends in the late 1970s just as this combination of circumstances is about to bear fruit and a full four years before the launch of Microsoft’s first operating system. It does not cover Microsoft’s heyday, nor Gates’ substantial philanthropic activities later in life.

    It isn’t clear why Gates has written this book now. If it is to rehabilitate his image, he makes a poor job of it. He describes a life of consistent privilege and only acknowledges this privilege at the end of the book, which rings hollow.

    He displays a profound belief that he has been right in his interactions with others, going so far as to describe his relationship with Steve Jobs at Apple as “sometimes rivalrous, sometimes friendly”, even though Apple famously sued Microsoft over the rights to the windows style of user interface we are all used to today.

    There is little acknowledgement in the book even of the regrets he has expressed elsewhere, for example over his treatment of Paul Allen. There is little to dilute the impression that Gates was ruthless, though perhaps a later memoir may document changes later in life.

    A male-dominated industry

    While Gates’ focus and drive were clearly fundamental to the growth of the tech industry, this book also exposes the DNA of some of the tech industry’s problems.

    He describes his father as a feminist, but his mother’s social expectations were a source of irritation to him, and he barely mentions his two sisters. He got his first access to computers at an elite boys’ school – a school where, notably, his best friend protested the integration of the sister school for fear it would reduce academic standards.

    This school, and later Harvard (then another male bastion), were the source of all early Microsoft employees, sowing the seeds of today’s male-dominated industry, with all its attendant problems.

    Gates’ attitude to property underpins Microsoft’s aggressive business practices. He was clearly prepared to borrow what isn’t his (bulldozers, computer lab time), but he is incensed by the theft of his intellectual property. This attitude is evident in the long history of Microsoft litigation.

    The company has been repeatedly prosecuted for antitrust behaviour and sued for copyright infringement. Conversely, it aggressively pursued those it believes to be infringing, including, famously, a 17-year-old entrepreneur, who was probably not unlike Gates himself.

    Gates doesn’t draw these connections. He is largely uncritical of his own path, only occasionally admitting he treated someone poorly.

    Ultimately, his book is a useful insight into the source code of the tech industry, but not always in the ways Gates likely anticipates.

    Dana McKay has previously received funding from Google.

    – ref. Bill Gates’ origin story describes a life of privilege, exposing the DNA of some of the tech industry’s problems – https://theconversation.com/bill-gates-origin-story-describes-a-life-of-privilege-exposing-the-dna-of-some-of-the-tech-industrys-problems-247577

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: New population of critically endangered kākāriki established

    Source: Department of Conservation

    Date:  05 March 2025

    The taonga were released on the predator-free island in Fiordland’s Tamatea/Dusky Sound on Friday, after two days in acclimatisation aviaries on the island.

    The manu were bred and raised at The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust and Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch before being flown to Invercargill, where they were met by representatives from Ōraka-Aparima Rūnaka on behalf of Kaitiaki Rōpū Ki Murihiku.

    Joshua Kingipotiki and Alex Taurima from Ōraka-Aparima Rūnaka accompanied the manu on their helicopter journey to the island, welcoming them with karakia and waiata.

    “Being part of this release was a big learning experience and rather humbling, as it was the first time that I have been in the presence of kākāriki karaka,” Joshua Kingipotiki says.

    Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kākāriki Karaka Species Representative Yvette Couch-Lewis says it is exciting to have mana whenua representatives from Ōraka-Aparima leading the tikanga and kawa of welcoming the kākāriki karaka onto the motu, with assistance from a kaitiaki ranger.

    “Ngāi Tahu is definitely on a journey with this manu,” Yvette Couch-Lewis says.

    “Kākāriki karaka are our smallest parrots, but they have a great deal of mana and are proof that the best things can come in small packages.”

    “For me it is a very emotional process seeing these manu, which have been born and raised in captivity, being released into the wild. There is a sense of amnesia associated with engaging with this manu because we haven’t had the opportunity in generations to observe them in their natural environment.

    “Translocations such as this are important because they build the population up so that one day we can engage with kakariki karaka again.”

    DOC Kākāriki Karaka Operations Manager Wayne Beggs says setting up a secure new wild site is a huge step forward for the recovery of the species.

    “Kākāriki karaka are extremely vulnerable to introduced predators, so finding safe places for them to live and breed in the wild is vitally important for the species’ survival.

    “The predator-free beech and rimu forest on Pukenui/Anchor Island should be a great site for kākāriki karaka to flourish.”

    Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust (ICWT) CEO Rob Kinney says the last six months of intensive husbandry by staff at ICWT is a testament to their dedication and expertise in caring for this critically endangered bird species.

    “We are proud of our partnership with DOC and our involvement in this important conservation project.”

    The vision of the recently released kākāriki karaka recovery strategy, Te Ara Mōrehu, is that kākāriki karaka will be thriving independently in the wild, with ten self-sustaining populations in the Ngāi Tahu takiwā in the next 20 years.

    The recovery programme thanks tourism operator RealNZ and specialist insole company Formthotics for their significant donations which made the translocation and follow-up monitoring possible.

    “RealNZ’s purpose is to help the world fall in love with conservation, and one of our flagship events aligned to this purpose is our annual Conservation Ball, aligning with the Department of Conservation to identify key projects that would benefit from our support,” says RealNZ CEO Dave Beeche.

    “It’s incredible to see the funds raised from the 2023 Conservation Ball in action, assisting with the translocation of these critically endangered manu to Pukenui Anchor Island.”

    Wayne says a lot of planning, effort, and cost goes into a translocation like this, and its success relies on a range of people and groups working together.

    “We plan to do more translocations in the future. The NZ Nature Fund is raising money for this work and the public can contribute through their website.”

    The kākāriki karaka recovery programme is supported by The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust, Orana Wildlife Park, Canterbury University, Mainpower, and the NZ Nature Fund.

    Related links

    Background information

    Kaitiaki Rōpū Ki Murihiku represent the four southern Ngāi Tahu Papatipu Rūnanga: Te Rūnanga o Hokonui, Ōraka-Aparima Rūnaka, Waihōpai Rūnaka, and Te Rūnaka o Awarua.

    With about 450 left in the wild, kākāriki karaka are the rarest mainland forest bird in Aotearoa. The population naturally fluctuates based on environmental conditions.

    They were once plentiful across the country but proved an easy meal for introduced predators and were affected by habitat loss, which saw their numbers dwindle.

    Because they nest and roost in holes in trees, kākāriki karaka are extremely vulnerable to rats, stoats and cats.

    The species was twice declared extinct in the past (in 1919 and 1965) before being rediscovered in the late 1980s.

    Anchor Island/Pukenui is already home to a range of threatened bird species including kākāpō.

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Names Small Business of the Week, Plantpeddler

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
    RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced her Small Business of the Week: Plantpeddler of Howard County. Throughout the 119th Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties.
    “Shipping over 15 million plants each year, Plantpeddler has rooted themselves as the go-to small business for all horticulture needs,” said Chair Ernst. “From garden mums to begonias, Plantpeddler serves 3,200 growers domestically and abroad, leafing an impact felt far beyond Iowa.”
    After graduating from Iowa State University with a degree in horticulture, Mike and Rachel Gooder purchased Cresco Greenhouse in 1980 with plans to revitalize and rebrand it. The couple modernized the infrastructure, optimized production methods, and diversified the variety of plants grown, eventually renaming their business to Plantpeddler.
    In 1984, Plantpeddler established a wholesale division, providing independent and middle-market retailers with a wide range of premium crops and plants. In 2001, they continued to expand and created a Young Plants division, positioning the business as a major propagator of vegetative genetics in the floriculture industry. In 2014, John Gooder, Mike and Rachel’s son, joined the company. John pushed for advancements in automation and genetic research, ultimately becoming part-owner in 2024. This June, Plantpeddler looks forward to celebrating its 45th anniversary.
    Stay tuned as Chair Ernst recognizes more Iowa small businesses across the state with her Small Business of the Week award.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Ukraine: Switzerland expands its sanctions lists

    Source: Switzerland – Federal Administration in English

    The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), in its capacity as the competent body for sanctions, has expanded its list of sanctions against Russia. Switzerland is adopting the additional measures decided by the EU in response to Russia’s continuing military aggression against Ukraine. The measures will take effect on 4 March.

    MIL OSI Europe News –