NewzIntel.com

Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: What is personalized pricing, and how do I avoid it?

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor Questrom School of Business, Boston University

    Recently, Delta Air Lines announced it would expand its use of artificial intelligence to provide individualized prices to customers. This move sparked concern among flyers and politicians. But Delta isn’t the only business interested in using AI this way. Personalized pricing has already spread across a range of industries, from finance to online gaming.

    Customized pricing – where each customer receives a different price for the same product – is a holy grail for businesses because it boosts profits. With customized pricing, free-spending people pay more while the price-sensitive pay less. Just as clothes can be tailored to each person, custom pricing fits each person’s ability and desire to pay.

    I am a professor who teaches business school students how to set prices. My latest book, “The Power of Cash: Why Using Paper Money is Good for You and Society,” highlights problems with custom pricing. Specifically, I’m worried that AI pricing models lack transparency and could unfairly take advantage of financially unsophisticated people.

    The history of custom pricing

    For much of history, customized pricing was the normal way things happened. In the past, business owners sized up each customer and then bargained face-to-face. The price paid depended on the buyer’s and seller’s bargaining skills – and desperation.

    An old joke illustrates this process. Once, a very rich man was riding in his carriage at breakfast time. Hungry, he told his driver to stop at the next restaurant. He went inside, ordered some eggs and asked for the bill. When the owner handed him the check, the rich man was shocked at the price. “Are eggs rare in this neighborhood?” he asked. “No,” the owner said. “Eggs are plentiful, but very rich men are quite rare.”

    Custom pricing through bargaining still exists in some industries. For example, car dealerships often negotiate a different price for each vehicle they sell. Economists refer to this as “first-degree” or “perfect” price discrimination, which is “perfect” from the seller’s perspective because it allows them to charge each customer the maximum amount they’re willing to pay.

    Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia was a pricing pioneer.
    Hulton Archive/Getty Images

    Currently, most American shoppers don’t bargain but instead see set prices. Many scholars trace the rise of set prices to John Wanamaker’s Philadelphia department store, which opened in 1876. In his store, each item had a nonnegotiable price tag. These set prices made it simpler for customers to shop and became very popular.

    Why uniform pricing caught on

    Set prices have several advantages for businesses. For one thing, they allow stores to hire low-paid retail workers instead of employees who are experts in negotiation.

    Historically, they also made it easier for stores to decide how much to charge. Before the advent of AI pricing, many companies determined prices using a “cost-plus” rule. Cost-plus means a business adds a fixed percentage or markup to an item’s cost. The markup is the percentage added to a product’s cost that covers a company’s profits and overhead.

    The big-box retailer Costco still uses this rule. It determines prices by adding a roughly 15% maximum markup to each item on the warehouse floor. If something costs Costco $100, they sell it for about $115.

    The problem with cost-plus is that it treats all items the same. For example, Costco sells wine in many stores. People buying expensive Champagne typically are willing to pay a much higher markup than customers purchasing inexpensive boxed wine. Using AI gets around this problem by letting a computer determine the optimal markup item by item.

    What personalized pricing means for shoppers

    AI needs a lot of data to operate effectively. The shift from cash to electronic payments has enabled businesses to collect what’s been called a “gold mine” of information. For example, Mastercard says its data lets companies “determine optimal pricing strategies.”

    So much information is collected when you pay electronically that in 2024 the Federal Trade Commission issued civil subpoenas to Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase and other financial companies demanding to know “how artificial intelligence and other technological tools may allow companies to vary prices using data they collect about individual consumers’ finances and shopping habits.” Experiments at the FTC show that AI programs can even collude among themselves to raise prices without human intervention.

    To prevent customized pricing, some states have laws requiring retailers to display a single price for each product for sale. Even with these laws, it’s simple to do custom pricing by using targeted digital coupons, which vary each shopper’s discount.

    How you can outsmart AI pricing

    There are ways to get around customized pricing. All depend on denying AI programs data on past purchases and knowledge of who you are. First, when shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, use paper money. Yes, good old-fashioned cash is private and leaves no data trail that follows you online.

    Second, once online, clear your cache. Your search history and cookies provide algorithms with extensive amounts of information. Many articles say the protective power of clearing your cache is an urban myth. However, this information was based on how airlines used to price tickets. Recent analysis by the FTC shows the newest AI algorithms are changing prices based on this cached information.

    Third, many computer pricing algorithms look at your location, since location is a good proxy for income. I was once in Botswana and needed to buy a plane ticket. The price on my computer was about $200. Unfortunately, before booking I was called away to dinner. After dinner my computer showed the cost was $1,000 − five times higher. It turned out after dinner I used my university’s VPN, which told the airline I was located in a rich American neighborhood. Before dinner I was located in a poor African town. Shutting off the VPN reduced the price.

    Last, often to get a better price in face-to-face negotiations, you need to walk away. To do this online, put something in your basket and then wait before hitting purchase. I recently bought eyeglasses online. As a cash payer, I didn’t have my credit card handy. It took five minutes to find it, and the delay caused the site to offer a large discount to complete the purchase.

    The computer revolution has created the ability to create custom products cheaply. The cashless society combined with AI is setting us up for customized prices. In a custom-pricing situation, seeing a high price doesn’t mean something is higher quality. Instead, a high price simply means a business views the customer as willing to part with more money.

    Using cash more often can help defeat custom pricing. In my view, however, rapid advances in AI mean we need to start talking now about how prices are determined, before customized pricing takes over completely.

    Jay L. Zagorsky 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. What is personalized pricing, and how do I avoid it? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-personalized-pricing-and-how-do-i-avoid-it-262195

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Strengthening collective labor rights can help reduce economic inequality

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Skip Mark, Assistant professor of political science, University of Rhode Island

    Only about 1 in 10 U.S. workers belong to unions today. champc/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Despite the strength of the U.S. economy, the gap between rich and poor Americans is increasing.

    The wealthiest 1% of Americans have more than five times as much wealth as the bottom 50%, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. That’s up from four times as much in the year 2000. In 2024 alone, the wealthiest 19 families got a total of US$1 trillion richer – the largest one-year increase on record.

    And yet 59% of Americans don’t have enough money saved up to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense.

    We are political scientists who study human rights and political economy.

    In a 2023 study, our team looked at 145 countries, including the U.S., to understand the link between labor rights and inequality. We found evidence that strengthening collective labor rights may reduce economic inequality.

    Empowering workers

    Collective labor rights include the rights to form and join a union, bargain collectively for higher pay and better working conditions, go on strike, and get justice if employers punish workers who exercise these rights.

    In the U.S., where less than 10% of workers belong to unions, union members typically earn higher wages than their nonunion counterparts.

    Through negotiations on behalf of their members, unions can pressure employers to provide fair wages and benefits. If negotiations break down, the union can call for a strike – sometimes winning better benefits and higher wages as a result.

    Some U.S. unions don’t have the right to strike, including air traffic controllers, teachers and those working on national security issues. But most unions have some ability to implement work stoppages and impose costs on employers to negotiate for raises and better benefits and conditions.

    Reducing inequality

    For our study, we analyzed the human rights in the CIRIGHTS dataset, which uses human rights reports from the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International and other sources to measure government respect for 24 human rights, including the rights to unionize and bargain collectively. The dataset is produced by the University of Rhode Island, Binghamton University and the University of Connecticut. One of us, Skip Mark, serves as a co-director of the project.

    Using a scoring guide, a team of researchers reads human rights reports and gives each country a score of zero if they have widespread violations, one point if they have some violations, or two if they have no evidence of violations. The team has assigned scores for all 24 rights from 1994 through 2022.

    Using this data, we created a measure of collective labor rights by adding scores for the right to workplace association and the right to collective bargaining. The resulting collective labor rights score ranges from zero to four.

    Countries where workers’ rights are routinely violated, such as Afghanistan, China and Saudi Arabia, scored a zero. The United States, Macedonia and Zambia, three countries with little in common, were among those that tended to get two points, placing them in the middle. Countries with no reported violations of the rights to workplace association and collective bargaining, including Canada, Sweden and France, got four points.

    According to the CIRIGHTS dataset, the strength of respect for collective labor rights around the world declined by 50%, from 2.06 in 1994 to 1.03 in 2022.

    At the same time, according to the World Inequality Dataset, the share of income earned by the 1% with the biggest paychecks increased by 11%.

    We used advanced statistical methods to figure out whether better worker protections actually reduce inequality or are just associated with it.

    Gaps between individuals and ethnic groups

    We also measured what’s been happening to economic inequality, using two common ways to track it.

    One of them is vertical inequality, the gap between what people earn within a country – the rich versus the poor. The more unequal a society becomes, the higher its vertical inequality score gets. We measured it using the disposable income measure from the Gini index, a commonly used indicator of economic inequality that captures how much money individuals have to spend after taxes and government transfers.

    We found that a one-point increase in collective labor rights on our four-point scale reduces vertical inequality by 10 times the average change in inequality. For the U.S., a one-point increase in collective labor rights would be about enough to undo the increase in inequality that occurred between 2008 and 2010 due to the Great Recession and its aftermath. It would also likely help stem the growing wealth gap between Black and white Americans. That’s because income disparities compound over time to create wealth gaps.

    We also assessed the connection between horizontal inequality, which measures income inequality between ethnic or other groups, and collective labor rights.

    Negative horizontal inequality measures the amount of a country’s income held by the poorest ethnic group. Higher scores for this metric indicate that the lowest-earning ethnic group has less income relative to the rest of society. Black Americans have the lowest median income of any racial or ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

    Positive horizontal inequality measures the income earned by the richest ethnic group. When positive horizontal inequality rises, that means the richest ethnic group has more income relative to the rest of society. According to the same Census Bureau report, Asian Americans had the highest median earnings.

    We found that stronger collective labor rights, both in law and in practice around the world, also reduce both types of horizontal inequality. This means they raise the floor by helping to improve the income of the poorest ethnic groups in society. They also close the gap by limiting the incomes of the richest ethnic group, which can reduce the likelihood of conflicts.

    That is, our findings suggest that when workers are free to advocate for higher wages and better benefits for themselves, it also benefits society as a whole.

    Stephen Bagwell is a researcher with the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, a charitable trust registered in New Zealand

    Skip Mark 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. Strengthening collective labor rights can help reduce economic inequality – https://theconversation.com/strengthening-collective-labor-rights-can-help-reduce-economic-inequality-254258

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Black teachers are key mentors for Philly high school seniors navigating college decisions

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Joseph Sageman, Postdoctoral Researcher in Sociology, University of Pennsylvania

    In Pennsylvania, nearly 15% of students are Black, but less than 4% of teachers are. JohnnyGreig/E+ Collection via Getty Images

    Zikia, a 12th grader in Philadelphia, was stressing over where she would attend college in the fall. Her charter school’s college decision ceremony was the next day, and she was torn between her two top choices.

    At a crossroads, she reached out to her favorite teacher, the only Black educator on her course schedule. “I texted him at nighttime,” she recalled. “I didn’t feel like I could do that with my other teachers.”

    In my research
    on college and career readiness, I did not initially set out to study the impact of Black teachers, but students like Zikia readily brought up the topic.

    In interviews, students insisted on the importance of having Black educators. They consistently named their Black teachers and counselors as the most influential adults in their planning for life after graduation.

    Black educators, though, are severely underrepresented in the local teaching workforce. At Zikia’s school, over 75% of students are Black compared to only about 15% of teachers.

    The picture is just as striking in Pennsylvania as a whole. Statewide, the share of Black students is four times the share of Black teachers – 14.5% of students are Black, while only 3.7% of teachers are. A majority of public schools in Pennsylvania do not employ a single teacher of color despite serving racially diverse communities.

    These statistics are particularly concerning because strong evidence suggests that minority students benefit greatly from working with same-race teachers.

    Over the past two decades, a wave of studies from economists and education scholars have documented that when Black students are assigned to Black teachers, their math and reading scores improve, their rates of absenteeism and suspensions drop, and over the long run, they are more likely to enroll in honors classes, complete high school and go to college.

    This research is mostly quantitative and does more to establish that Black teachers are effective than explain why they are able to deliver such impressive results.

    To answer this latter question, I went directly to the source.

    I conducted interviews with roughly 100 Philadelphia 12th graders, asking them how they came to trust and depend on Black educators when weighing one of the most consequential decisions of their lives: whether and where to go to college. I spoke with students at five city high schools, including district-run and charter schools, as well as some of the teachers and counselors involved in their college decisions.

    Zikia and the other names used in this story are pseudonyms to protect the confidentiality of research participants.

    Inspiration, empathy and insight

    The presence of Black educators mattered to students for several reasons.

    Some of my respondents felt inspired by seeing Black people in school leadership positions. LaMont, for instance, said that taking classes from Black teachers motivated him: “Just to see success is achievable. A teacher is something in life. And it shows that people that look like me are able to overcome something. Having Black teachers gives you a sense of confidence.”

    LaMont’s seeing his own identity and background reflected in his teachers is what sociologists and political scientists call descriptive representation. His classmates agreed that it was important to have teachers who looked like them. Their connection, they insisted, was more than skin deep. Most of them gravitated to Black teachers because of how those teachers did their jobs and advocated for minority students, a concept called substantive representation.

    For instance, many students felt most comfortable asking for help from Black teachers because they regarded them as more empathetic listeners and felt they were invested in their holistic well-being, not just in their grades or academic performance.

    When I asked Ramir to tell me about the teachers he had strong relationships with, he offered a typical answer: “Most of them are African American,” he said. “But it’s not even just about that. I like a teacher who tries to understand you for who you are. Not look at you as a student but as a human being and build with you.”

    Students also credited Black teachers with making them feel like they belonged at school. They sought out advice from teachers who believed in their potential and held them to high academic and behavioral standards. These qualities were by no means unique to Black teachers, but white teachers sometimes found it difficult to balance authority with warmth in their relationships with students.

    “There are some teachers that act like siblings and some that act like parents,” said Emily, a white social studies teacher. “And it’s very rare that a white teacher can act like a parent and have the kids still like them.”

    Black educators also had culturally relevant insights into college that students valued highly. They often had deeper knowledge of local historically Black colleges and universities, or they could speak to the experience of being a racial minority at a predominantly white institution. Students valued guidance more when it came from a source they felt was relatable.

    These findings suggest that Black educators are effective not only because of shared identity or experiences, but also because of the skills and dispositions they bring into the classroom: proactively building relationships, coupling high expectations with high levels of support, and bringing schoolwork to life. As a result, minority students held out hope not only for more representation in the classroom but also that all their teachers – regardless of race – would integrate these practices into their tool kits.

    Read more of our stories about Philadelphia.

    Joseph Sageman 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. Black teachers are key mentors for Philly high school seniors navigating college decisions – https://theconversation.com/black-teachers-are-key-mentors-for-philly-high-school-seniors-navigating-college-decisions-261732

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Yosemite embodies the long war over US national park privatization

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Michael Childers, Associate Professor of History, Colorado State University

    The Ahwahnee is a privately run hotel inside Yosemite National Park. George Rose/Getty Images

    The Trump administration’s cuts to the National Park Service’s budget and staffing have raised concerns among park advocates and the public that the administration is aiming to further privatize the national parks.

    The nation has a long history of similar efforts, including a wildly unpopular 1980 attempt by Reagan administration Interior Secretary James Watt to promote development and expand private concessions in the parks. But debate over using public national park land for private profit dates back more than a century before that.

    As I explain in my forthcoming book, no park has played a more central role in that debate than Yosemite, in California.

    Early concerns

    In early 1864, Central American Steamship Transit Company representative Israel Ward Raymond wrote a letter to John Conness, a U.S. senator from California, urging the government to move swiftly to preserve the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees to prevent them from falling into private hands. Five months later, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act, ceding the valley and the grove to the state of California, “upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation.” This was years before Yellowstone became the first federal land designated a national park in 1872.

    For centuries, the natural beauty of the Yosemite Valley has impressed visitors.
    Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Controversy arose quickly at Yosemite. Two men – James Lamon and James Hutchings – had claimed land in the valley before the federal government gave it to California. Both began commercial operations, Lamon growing cash crops and Hutchings operating a hotel.

    California said their businesses threatened the state’s ability to develop roads and trails in Yosemite by competing for tourist dollars. A legal battle ensued and was not resolved until an 1872 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found that the men’s land claims had not been fully validated according to the procedures of the time. The California legislature paid both men compensation for their land, and both left the park.

    In 1890, neighboring parts of the Yosemite area became America’s third national park – and in 1906, the federal government again took possession of the Yosemite Valley itself and the Mariposa Grove, specifically to incorporate them into an expansion of the national park.

    Development rights

    Yet, as my research has found, the role of private interests in the park remained unsolved. Private companies under contract to the National Park Service have long provided needed amenities such as lodging and food within the national parks. But questions over what is acceptable in national parks in the pursuit of profit have shaped Yosemite’s history for generations.

    In 1925, I found, the question centered on the right to build the first gas station inside the park, in Yosemite Valley. Two private businesses, the Curry Camping Company and the Yosemite National Park Company, had long competed for tourist dollars within the park. Each wanted to build a gas station to boost profits.

    Frustrated over the need to decide, National Park Service Director Horace Albright ordered the rival firms to simplify management of the park’s concessions. The companies merged, and the newly formed Yosemite Park and Curry Company was granted the exclusive rights to run lodges, restaurants and other facilities within the park, including the new gas station.

    But as I found in my research, the park service and the concessions company did not always see eye to eye on the purpose of the park. The conflict between profit and preservation is perhaps most clearly illustrated by the construction of a ski area within the park in the early 1930s. The park service initially opposed the development of Badger Pass Ski Area as not conducive to the national park ideal, but the Yosemite Park and Curry Company insisted it was key to boosting winter use of the park.

    In 1973, the Music Corporation of America, an entertainment conglomerate, bought the Yosemite Park and Curry Company. The company already had a tourist attraction operating near Hollywood, where visitors could pay to tour movie sets, but had not yet changed its name to Universal Studios or launched major theme parks in Florida and California. Its purchase of the park’s concessions set off a firestorm of controversy over fears of turning Yosemite into a theme park.

    That didn’t happen, but annual park visitor numbers climbed from 2.5 million to 3.8 million over the 20 years MCA ran the concessions, which sparked concerns about development and overcrowding in the park. Conservationists argued the park service had allowed the corporate giant to promote and develop the park in ways that threatened the very aspects of the park most people came to enjoy.

    With three restaurants, two service stations with a total of 15 gas pumps, two cafeterias, two grocery stores, seven souvenir shops, a delicatessen, a bank, a skating rink, three swimming pools, a golf course, two tennis courts, kennels, a barbershop, a beauty shop, Badger Pass Ski Area and three lodges, the Yosemite Valley was a busy commercial district. Critics argued that such development contradicted the park service’s mandate to leave national parks unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

    Crowds gather at some of Yosemite’s most popular sites, such as the California Tunnel Tree.
    David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

    Who owns the names?

    Falling profits and consolidation within the music industry led MCA to sell its concessions rights in Yosemite in 1993. The Delaware North Companies, a global hospitality corporation, took over and ran the park’s concessions until 2016, when it sold the rights to Aramark.

    But in that sale, the question of public resources and private profits arose again. Delaware North demanded $51 million in compensation for Aramark continuing to use the names of several historic properties within the park, such as the Ahwahnee, a hotel, and Curry Village, another group of visitor accommodations. The company claimed those names were a part of its assets under its contract with the park service.

    The park service rejected the claim, saying the names, which dated back more than a century, belonged to the American people. But to avoid legal problems during the transition, the agency temporarily renamed several sites, including calling the Ahwahnee the Majestic Yosemite Hotel and changing Curry Village to Half Dome Village. Public outrage erupted, denouncing the claim by Delaware North as commercial overreach that threatened to distort Yosemite’s heritage. In 2019, the park service and Aramark agreed to pay Delaware North a total of $12 million to settle the dispute, and the original names were restored.

    Protesters unfurl an upside-down U.S. flag from the top of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in February 2025, protesting Trump administration changes to the National Park Service.

    Renewed interest in commercial efforts

    In June 2025, Yosemite again took center stage in the dispute over the role of federal funding versus private interests at the start of the second Trump administration when a group of climbers unfurled an American flag upside down off El Capitan in protest of the administration’s cuts in personnel and slashing of the park service’s budget.

    Conservationists, including former National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, argued that by defunding the park service and laying off as much as a quarter of its workforce, the Trump administration was “laying the groundwork to privatize” the national parks by allowing corporate interests more access to public lands. Those concerns echo ones raised during the first Trump administration, when the White House argued privatization would better serve the American public by improving visitor experiences and saving federal dollars.

    Whichever side prevails in the short term, the debate over the role of private interests within national parks like Yosemite will undoubtedly continue.

    Michael Childers 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. Yosemite embodies the long war over US national park privatization – https://theconversation.com/yosemite-embodies-the-long-war-over-us-national-park-privatization-261133

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Wolves at Work helps local residents grab starring roles at new city centre cinema

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    Independent commercial operator, PDJ, opened the doors to the state of the art 4 screen venue inside the iconic Chubb Building earlier this month.

    It will ultimately employ a local workforce of 3 permanent and 20 part time staff – with 9 of the vacancies now filled by recruits from council led employment service, Wolves at Work.

    Roles include front of house service to ensuring the safety of customers watching films to offer the best experience possible.

    Working with city partners, Wolves at Work offers one to one support for residents living in Wolverhampton who are looking for work or to progress in their careers and is a free service available for people of any age to access.

    Residents are offered their own dedicated Work Coach who provides support with CVs, help to complete job applications and interview practice, advice on training courses and in work benefits and access to hundreds of local jobs through links with employers.

    Deon Marcel Millen from Bradmore in Wolverhampton, a Lockworks Cinema employee supported by Wolves at Work, said: “Wolves at Work were very, very helpful. I contacted them in April/May because I needed help finding a job and I got signed in which was nice and easy. A lady called Michelle helped me with my CV and within 3 weeks to a month I was able to get this job.

    “It’s really good here and the team and staff are great. It’s a well balanced job for me and I’m enjoying helping people.”

    Councillor Chris Burden, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills, said: “Supporting our residents into jobs, skills and training is one of the key priorities for the city and Wolves at Work is producing positive employment outcomes for our residents.

    “PDJ has delivered an exciting new city centre cinema and by connecting with Wolves at Work it has ensured the new jobs available are going to local people.

    “The cinema, alongside other popular venues like the art gallery, Grand Theatre and University of Wolverhampton at The Halls, will also drive footfall to support neighbouring local businesses and help them grow – creating further job opportunities.”

    James Jervis, Director at PDJ Management, said: “We have been delighted to work with Wolves at Work. They have provided a brilliant service and the staff we have taken on have impressed from day one with an excellent attitude, big smiles and ensuring the Lockworks Cinema has best in class customer service.

    “The connection to the local area from our employees is a key part of what makes us a true independent cinema for the city.”

    To register for employment support visit the Wolves at Work office at i10, Railway Drive, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LH (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm), calling 01902 554400 or emailing wolvesatwork@wolverhampton.gov.uk.

    Local employers looking for support to fill roles can call on Wolves at Work’s team of dedicated Recruitment Managers. They can help by finding the right candidates for vacant roles and offer a range of support, from mapping potential candidates against your criteria through to arranging interviews. They also offer ongoing support to ensure that candidates stay in employment – from assisting with initial travel costs to providing advice on childcare and finances.

    Employers can advertise their vacances for free on Wolves Workbox, an online skills and employment website dedicated to the City of Wolverhampton. Anyone interested in doing this should visit Wolves Workbox or email recruitment@wolverhampton.gov.uk.  

    Check out the Lockworks Cinema website to buy tickets for the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Secures Major Settlement with Brown University

    Source: US Whitehouse

    SECURING HISTORIC SETTLEMENT WITH BROWN UNIVERSITY: Today, President Donald J. Trump secured a historic settlement with Brown University to restore fairness, merit, and safety in higher education.

    • The agreement ensures Brown will not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in admissions or university programming. Brown will provide access to all relevant data and information to rigorously assess compliance with its commitment to merit-based admissions. 
    • Brown will pay $50 million over ten years to state workforce development organizations that comply with anti-discrimination laws, supporting regional economic growth and career opportunities.
    • Brown will adopt the definitions of “male” and “female” from President Trump’s Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism” for women’s sports, programing, facilities, and housing.
    • Brown will not perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors or prescribe them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.
    • Brown will take steps to improve the campus climate for Jewish students and combat anti-Semitism.
    • The agreement reinstates all HHS grants, restores Brown’s eligibility for future grants and awards, and closes pending investigations into the university.
    • The agreement establishes a three-year monitoring period to ensure compliance with the agreement and federal laws.

    ADDRESSING DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES AT BROWN: The Trump Administration took action to address concerns about violations of federal civil rights laws, protecting students and upholding fairness in higher education.

    • The settlement comes after public outcry over incidents and civil rights investigations into Brown’s alleged discrimination on the basis of race and national origin.
    • Brown’s failure to address anti-Semitism and ensure fair treatment for all students raised urgent concerns about student safety and equal opportunities.
    • Brown’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs promoted unlawful race-based outcomes, violating anti-discrimination laws.
    • By securing this settlement, the Trump Administration is ensuring that Brown upholds merit-based standards, complies with federal law, and fosters an environment of academic excellence and safety for all students.

    ADVANCING REFORMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: President Trump is holding elite universities accountable, ensuring they prioritize fairness, merit, and American values.  

    • The Administration has challenged elite universities like Harvard, Columbia, and Brown for discriminating against students and staff, failing to protect students from violent anti-Semitism, and otherwise failing to be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars.
    • President Trump signed a Proclamation to safeguard national security by suspending the entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University. 
    • The Administration successfully negotiated a resolution with the University of Pennsylvania to keep men out of women’s sports and restore the trophies and records of women.
    • President Trump secured a more than $200 million settlement with Columbia University to resolve claims related to discriminatory practices, marking a significant win for accountability in academia.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Silver State Schools Credit Union Adopts Point Predictive’s Income and Employment Validation Technology, IEValidateTM To Streamline Member Experience

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAS VEGAS, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silver State Schools Credit Union (SSSCU), Nevada’s trusted financial partner serving communities across the Silver State, today announced the adoption of IEValidate. The adoption will transform SSSCU’s lending process by enabling instant income and employment verification, allowing the credit union to safely grow its portfolio while creating a friction-free experience for members.

    The integration addresses a critical challenge in today’s lending environment, where traditional income verification methods often frustrate members and slow down the approval process.

    With IEValidate, SSSCU will be able to

    • Streamline loans – automate up to 80% of income and employment validations.
    • Reduce risk – identify fraud and misrepresentation.
    • Convert more loans – increase conversion rates of credit-approved loans by 50%.

    “At SSSCU, our members come first, and we’re always looking for ways to make their financial journey smoother and more convenient,” said Scott Arkills, CEO of SSSCU. “By partnering with Point Predictive, we’re not just improving our lending process – we’re revolutionizing how our members experience financing. This technology allows us to say yes faster while maintaining the security and reliability our members expect from their credit union.”

    Point Predictive’s IEValidate will enable SSSCU to provide insights that can reduce proof of income and employment requests on up to 80% of approved loans, dramatically improving the member experience while maintaining robust risk management standards.

    IEValidate provides instant validation of member income and employment, eliminating the need for pay stubs, bank statements, or banking credentials. When an applicant applies for a loan, rather than supplying this information, SSSCU will access income and employment validation directly from Point Predictive in less than a second. Armed with that information, the credit union can determine if further information is needed, allowing most loans to proceed without additional documentation safely.

    “Silver State Schools Credit Union represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking financial institution that understands how technology can enhance member relationships while strengthening their lending portfolio,” said Tim Grace, CEO of Point Predictive. “By implementing our income and employment verification solutions, SSSCU is positioning itself to serve its members more effectively, providing faster approvals and a more convenient lending experience while maintaining the highest standards of risk management.”

    For SSSCU members, the benefits will be immediate and tangible. Loan applications that previously required multiple days for income verification can now be processed in minutes. Members will no longer need to search for pay stubs or wait for employer verification calls, creating a streamlined experience that aligns with their expectations for modern financial services.

    About Silver State Schools Credit Union:

    Silver State Schools Credit Union (SSSCU), founded in 1951, is a State-Chartered financial cooperative focused on Prioritizing People Over Profit. The Credit Union serves over 64,000 members in the Southern Nevada community, with ten branches in the valley. SSSCU provides “Excellent Member Service and Financial Solutions – For Life!” via a wide range of banking products, that are simple, secure, and convenient.

    As of March 31st, 2025, SSSCU reported Total Assets of $1.284 Billion, Deposits of $1.179 Billion, and Loans of $906 Million. Liquidity remains strong at $$168 Million, and the Credit Union is well-capitalized with a Regulatory Net Worth of $118 Million, equal to 9.21% of Total Assets. Accounts are insured up to $500,000. American Share Insurance insures each account up to $250,000. Excess Share Insurance Corporation provides up to an additional $250,000 of insurance per account. This institution is not federally insured. For more information, visit silverstatecu.com

    About Point Predictive:

    Point Predictive powers a new level of lending confidence and speed through artificial intelligence, powerful data insight from our proprietary data repository, and decades of risk management expertise. The company’s data and technology solutions quickly and accurately identify truthful and untruthful disclosures on loan applications. As a result, lenders can fund the majority of loans without requiring onerous documentation, such as pay stubs, utility bills, or bank statements, improving funding rates while reducing early payment default losses. Subsequently, borrowers receive loans more quickly, and lenders achieve a more profitable bottom line. For more information, please visit pointpredictive.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Panorama Named Preferred Partner By Skyward to bring Best In Class AI and MTSS Solution

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    STEVENS POINT, Wis., July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Skyward, a school administration software provider committed to helping K-12 leaders spend less time on tasks and more time with students, is proud to announce Panorama Education, a K-12 education technology company that helps students achieve success in school and beyond, a preferred partner bringing AI-driven intervention planning and best in class evidence-based multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) to students across the nation.

    Skyward customers now have direct access to Panorama Solara, a FERPA-compliant AI platform built for K–12, and Panorama Student Success, a proven MTSS platform highly integrated with Skyward’s Qmlativ solution.

    As educators rapidly adopt generative AI at the classroom level to save time and personalize student learning, school districts are seeking effective system-wide AI solutions that uphold rigorous standards for data security, privacy, and compliance. At the same time, emerging mandates require districts to track and report interventions more comprehensively, yet many SIS platforms do not seamlessly integrate with the MTSS tools that make this possible.

    Now, with this new preferred partnership, districts using Skyward can enjoy a holistic integration with Panorama Solara (a FERPA-compliant AI platform built for K-12 districts) or Panorama Student Success (research-backed MTSS platform). “When districts can securely integrate tools that work together, they spend less time managing systems and more time supporting students,” said Dave Ilkka, vice president of new business development at Skyward.

    Skyward districts can now confidently use Panorama’s AI-powered intervention planning, MTSS reporting and analytics, and district-specific AI tools without needing to build costly custom integrations or dealing with unknown compliance or security risks. While Skyward’s Qmlativ platform includes a built-in MTSS solution, integrating with Panorama Student Success will bring districts deeper insights and additional functionality to better support every student and streamline how districts access and use data for AI and MTSS.

    “Through our partnership with Skyward, districts can now leverage high-quality, context-aware AI outputs and research-backed MTSS interventions while upholding the highest standards of student data privacy,” said John Ruff, director of strategic partnerships at Panorama Education. “This eliminates data silos, reduces manual work, and supports seamless state reporting and compliance.”

    Together, Skyward, and Panorama Education are committed to delivering a smarter, more secure path forward for districts—one that empowers educators, supports compliance, and drives better outcomes for every student.

    About Skyward: Since 1980, Skyward’s SIS and ERP solutions have helped more than 2,500 school districts save time, connect with families, and empower success. By blending advanced technology guided by actual users with world-class support delivered with a personal touch, Skyward is the clear choice for K-12 leaders who want to spend less time on tasks and more time with students. To learn more about the next generation of K-12 administration software, visit www.skyward.com.

    About Panorama: Panorama Education is an education technology company founded in 2012 that helps students achieve success in school and beyond, and gives schools and school districts a platform to hear what families, students and teachers need in the classroom. Educators use Panorama’s software platform to understand and support students across academics, attendance, behavior, and life skills development. District leaders use the same platform to track progress toward strategic goals, such as literacy, graduation, and school safety. Panorama is proud that its platform is used to support 15 million students in 25,000 schools and 2,000 districts across the United States. For more information, visit www.panoramaed.com. 

    Media Contact:
    Alexis Bushman
    Skyward, Inc.
    (715) 972-4397
    alexis.bushman@skyward.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The company tax regime is a roadblock to business investment. Here’s what needs to change

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Robson, Deputy Chair, Productivity Commission, and Adjunct Professor, Queensland University of Technology

    Erman Gunes/Shutterstock

    Productivity growth is a key driver of improvements in living standards. But in Australia over the last decade, output per hour worked grew by less than a quarter of its 60-year average.

    We urgently need to turn this around.

    That’s why the government has asked the Productivity Commission – where I am deputy chair – to conduct five inquiries and identify priority reforms.

    As a first step to boost productivity growth, we need business to expand and invest in the tools and technology that help us get the most out of our work.

    Unfortunately, some of our most important policy settings are holding us back.

    Business investment has slumped

    Capital expenditure by all non-mining firms is down 3.2 percentage points as a share of the economy since the end of the global financial crisis in 2009.

    And the ever-growing thicket of rules and regulations faced by business is a significant handbrake on growth.

    The Productivity Commission’s first interim report, Creating a more dynamic and resilient economy, focuses on two big policy levers: tax and regulation.

    Lower company tax rates are likely to attract more overseas firms to invest in Australia and help people start and grow businesses. They may strengthen the ability of smaller firms, which contribute the bulk of capital investment, to compete with larger ones.

    Our draft recommendations include:

    • Cutting the company tax rate to 20% from 25% or 30% for businesses with revenue under A$1 billion – the vast majority of companies

    • Introducing a new 5% net cash-flow tax on all firms. This supports companies’ capital expenditure by allowing them to immediately deduct the full value of their investments.

    The company tax rate would remain at 30% for firms earning over $1 billion. This would affect about 500 companies.

    In line with other developed nations

    The reduction in Australia’s headline company tax rate would move Australia from having one of the highest to one of the lowest rates for small and medium-sized firms among developed economies.

    And if the net cashflow tax is effective, it could be expanded over time and fund broader reductions in company income tax.

    Our modelling indicates these two changes would increase investment in the economy by $8 billion and boost Australia’s GDP by $14 billion, with no net cost to the budget over the medium term.

    An abundance of red tape

    The interim report also notes regulation can enhance productivity and protect against harms. But too much, or inappropriate, regulation can disproportionately inhibit economic dynamism and resilience.

    Australia’s regulatory burden has grown. Businesses report spending more and more on regulatory compliance.

    Regulators and policymakers have a broad mandate to further the public interest. But they can face incentives to be overly risk-averse and to downplay the burden that regulations place on businesses. They may pursue narrow goals at the expense of broader economy-wide goals.

    There are many practical examples that illustrate the problem.

    In the Australian Capital Territory, for example, the average time a house builder must wait for a planning decision is nearly six months. In New South Wales, it takes an average of nine years to get approval to build a wind farm.

    This kind of unnecessary and costly over-regulation ultimately benefits nobody.

    More scrutiny needed

    Simply put: Australia’s regulatory culture needs to change. And cultural change starts at the top.

    As a first step, the government needs to make a clear, whole-of-government public commitment to reducing regulatory burdens, and ensure new regulatory proposals face greater cabinet and parliamentary scrutiny.

    Regulators need to look for ways to promote economic growth, while continuing to ensure Australians are protected against avoidable harms.

    Ministers could issue statements of expectations to regulators and regulatory policymakers that clearly indicate how much risk they should tolerate in pursuit of business dynamism.

    To improve the evaluation of cumulative regulatory burdens, the Productivity Commission should be tasked with a regular and systematic stream of reviews. These would focus on sectors or regulatory systems where complex and enduring thickets of regulation have emerged.

    The draft recommendations on tax and regulation set out in the interim report are clear, actionable and ambitious reforms. They will support governments in delivering a meaningful and measurable boost to Australia’s lagging productivity.

    Alex Robson is deputy chair of the Productivity Commission.

    – ref. The company tax regime is a roadblock to business investment. Here’s what needs to change – https://theconversation.com/the-company-tax-regime-is-a-roadblock-to-business-investment-heres-what-needs-to-change-261652

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Pacific tsunami: modern early warning systems prevent the catastrophic death tolls of the past

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ian Main, Professor of Seismology and Rock Physics, University of Edinburgh

    The earthquake in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula on July 30 2025 may have been one of the most severe on record, with a magnitude of 8.8. But innovations in science and technology gave governments vital time to warn and evacuate their people from the resulting tsunami.

    Millions of people escaped to higher ground before the tsunami hit.

    The 2004 Boxing Day 9.3 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Sumatra, which caused approximately 230,000 deaths, some as far away as Somalia on the other side of the Indian Ocean, shows how important these warnings are.

    Early warning systems were not in place for the Indian Ocean in time for the 2004 disaster. But there is now a system in place, with 27 countries participating in the group effort.

    The 2004 tsunami was particularly tragic because tsunami waves travel at a steady speed in the open ocean, about as fast as a jet plane. This means they can take several hours to reach shore across an ocean, with plenty of time for warning.

    An early warning system for the Pacific Ocean, based in Hawaii, was created in 1948 following a deadly tsunami two years before. On April 1 1946, the magnitude 8.6 Aleutian Islands earthquake in the northern Pacific Ocean generated a tsunami that devastated parts of Hawaii hours later, leading to 146 fatalities.

    The death toll was exacerbated by the leading wave being downwards. This happens in around 50% of tsunamis, and exposes the seashore in a similar way to when the tide goes out, but exposing a larger area than normal. People sometimes investigate out of curiosity, bringing them closer to the danger.

    The accuracy and response times of early tsunami warnings have significantly improved since 1948.

    How tsunamis happen

    To understand the work involved in protecting coastal communities, first you need to understand how tsunamis are generated.

    Tsunamis are caused by displacement of mass on the sea floor after an earthquake, landslide or volcanic eruption. This provides an energy source to set off a wave in the deep sea, not just near the surface like in the ocean waves we see whipped up by the wind and storms. Most are small. The Japanese word tsunami translates somewhat innocuously as “harbour wave”.

    Detailed global mapping of the sea floor, pioneered by US geologist Marie Tharpe between 1957 and 1978, helped establish the modern theory of plate tectonics. It also improved the physical models for how the tsunami will travel in the ocean.

    Wave height increases as it approaches the shore, and the topography of the sea floor can result in a complicated pattern of wave interference and concentration of the energy in stream-like patterns. The establishment of sea-floor observatories led to better data for the pressure at the sea floor (related to wave height) and satellite networks now directly monitor wave height globally using radar signals from space.

    One of the factors that has helped scientists predict the range of a tsunami includes the setting up of the worldwide standard station network of seismometers in 1963, which allowed better estimations of earthquake location and magnitude.

    These were superseded by the digital broadband global network of seismometers in 1978, which allowed more detail on the source to be calculated quickly. This includes a better estimate of earthquake size, the source rupture area and orientation in three dimensions.

    It also tells scientists about the slip, which controls the pattern of displacement on the sea floor. This data is used to forecast the time of landing, the amplitude of the wave on the shoreline, and its height in areas where the wave travels further inland.

    The Pacific Ocean warning system now has 46 countries contributing data. It also uses physical and statistical models for estimating tsunami height. The models developed as scientists learnt more about earthquake sources, mapped features on the sea floor and tested model forecasts against outcomes.

    Today’s technology

    The early warning systems we have today are due to a decades-long commitment to global research collaboration and open data. Scientists have also improved their forecast methods. Recently they started using trained AI algorithms which could improve the timeliness and accuracy.

    Pioneered by the US Geological Survey, rapid data sharing is now used routinely to estimate earthquake parameters and make them available to the public soon after the rupture stops. This can be within minutes for an initial estimate then updated over the next few hours as more data comes in.

    However, the forecast wave height is inherently uncertain, variable from place to place, and may turn out to be more or less than expected. Similarly, large earthquakes are rare, making it hard to estimate how likely they are on average, and therefore to design appropriate mitigation measures.

    The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan destroyed or overtopped the eight-metre high protective sea walls that had been put in place based on such hazard estimates. There were over 19,000 fatalities. As a consequence, their height has been increased to 12-15 metres in some areas.

    Early warning systems also rely on rapid communication to the public, including mass alerts communicated by mobile phone, coordination by the relevant authorities across borders, clear advice, and advance evacuation plans and occasional alarm tests or drills. Although tsunami waves slow down to the speed of a car as they approach the shore, it is impossible to outrun one, so it is better to act quickly and calmly.

    The effectiveness of warnings also means accepting a degree of inconvenience in false alarms where the tsunami height is less than that forecast, because this is inevitable with the uncertainties involved. For good reason, authorities issuing alerts will err on the side of caution.

    To give an example, nuclear power plants on Japan’s eastern seaboard were shut down on July 30.

    So far it looks like the Pacific early warning system – combined with effective levels of preparedness and action by service providers and decision makers – has worked well in reducing the number of casualties that might have happened without it.

    There will always be a level of uncertainty we will have to live with. On balance, it is a small price to pay for avoiding a catastrophe.

    Ian Main is professor of Seismology and Rock Physics at the University of Edinburgh. He receives funding from UK Research and Innovation Research Council, a member of the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation Expert panel on external hazards, and acts as an independent reviewer for the Energy Industry-funded SeIsmic hazard and Ground Motion Assessment research program SIGMA3.

    – ref. Pacific tsunami: modern early warning systems prevent the catastrophic death tolls of the past – https://theconversation.com/pacific-tsunami-modern-early-warning-systems-prevent-the-catastrophic-death-tolls-of-the-past-262283

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Vasectomy, pain and regret: what online forum Reddit reveals about men’s experiences

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kevin Pimbblet, Professor and Director of the Centre of Excellence for Data Science, AI and Modelling, University of Hull

    Fabian Montano Hernandez/Shutterstock

    Vasectomy has long been regarded as a permanent, safe and effective form of contraception. Its benefits are often summarised as minimally invasive and largely risk-free.

    But that may not be the full story.

    In recent years, vasectomy rates in the UK have declined significantly. It’s a puzzling trend, given that the procedure’s efficacy hasn’t changed. What has arguably shifted is how men talk about it. Not in doctors’ offices, but online.

    As an AI researcher working with large-scale public data, I led a 2025 study using natural language processing (NLP) – a branch of artificial intelligence that analyses patterns in human language – to examine thousands of posts from r/vasectomy and r/postvasectomypain, which are subreddits (topic-specific discussion forums) on Reddit, a social media platform where users share and comment on content in themed communities.

    My goal wasn’t to weigh in on urology (I’m not that kind of doctor), but to explore the emotional tone and self-reported outcomes in digital spaces where users speak candidly and in real time.

    The findings are revealing and raise important questions about informed consent, online health discourse and the growing influence of social data on healthcare communication.

    Fear, regret and pain?

    The most common emotional response to vasectomy, whether being considered or already undergone, is fear. To assess this, we used a tool called NRClex, a crowd-trained emotion classifier. This is an AI model trained on thousands of labelled examples to detect emotional tone in text. It found that “fear” dominated more than 70% of user-generated content.

    This isn’t surprising. Men on Reddit ask questions like “How bad is the pain?” “How long does it last?” and “Will I regret this?” These are not rare concerns: they’re central to the conversation.

    While overall sentiment analysis shows that most users report positive outcomes, a significant minority express deep regret and ongoing pain – sometimes lasting for years after surgery.

    This pain is often described as post-vasectomy pain syndrome (PVPS), a relatively little-known condition defined by new or chronic scrotal pain that continues for more than three months after the procedure.

    PVPS is poorly understood and may have multiple causes, some anatomical, some neurological and some still unclear. Though some health authorities describe it as “rare,” our Reddit data suggests it could be more common, or at least more disruptive, than currently acknowledged.

    We analysed more than 11,000 Reddit posts and found that the word “pain” appeared in over 3,700 of them; roughly one-third. In many cases, the pain described persisted well beyond the expected recovery period. The word “month” appeared in nearly 900 pain-related posts, while “year” appeared in over 600.

    This is noteworthy. Post-surgical pain is typically expected to resolve within days or weeks. Yet our dataset suggests that 6%–8% of Reddit users discussing vasectomy report longer-term discomfort – a rate that aligns with the upper estimates in the urological studies. More recent research, including a large-scale postoperative study, argues that the incidence is likely much lower, perhaps under 1%.

    Of course, we must emphasise that these are self-reported experiences. Not all mentions of “pain” equate to a formal PVPS diagnosis. It’s also important to acknowledge that people who are dissatisfied with a medical procedure are generally more likely to post about it online – a well-recognised bias in social data. Even so, the volume, consistency and emotional intensity of these posts suggest the issue warrants closer attention from clinicians and researchers alike.

    Even more strikingly, around 2% of posts mention both “pain” and “regret”, implying serious, potentially life-altering consequences for a small but significant group of people.

    On r/postvasectomypain – a subreddit specifically dedicated to discussing PVPS – the tone is even more sobering. Unsurprisingly, 74% of posts describe persistent, long-term pain. Additionally, 23% mention pain during sex and 27% report changes in sensitivity.

    Posts on this forum also frequently reference vasectomy reversal surgery far more often than more specialised interventions such as microsurgical denervation: a complex nerve-removal procedure used in severe cases of chronic testicular pain, typically when other treatments have failed.

    From AI to andrology: an ethical crossroads

    Why is a professor of AI and physics analysing pain in urology forums?

    Because in today’s digital world, people increasingly turn to online platforms like Reddit for health advice, peer support and decision-making – often before speaking to a clinician. As an AI researcher, I believe we have a responsibility to examine how these discussions shape public understanding, and what they can teach us about real-world healthcare challenges.

    In this case, it’s possible that the drop in vasectomy uptake is linked, at least in part, to the open and emotional sharing of negative outcomes online. These posts are not scaremongering. They’re detailed, candid and often highly specific. They represent a type of real-world evidence that clinical trials and formal studies don’t always capture.

    So, what should we take from all this?

    Terms like “rare”, often used in consent forms and clinical conversations, can obscure the complexity and variability of patient outcomes. Pain following vasectomy, whether mild, temporary, chronic or debilitating, appears common enough to warrant more transparent and nuanced communication.

    This is not an argument against vasectomy. It remains a safe, effective, and empowering option in reproductive planning. But truly informed consent should reflect both the clinical literature and the experiences of those who undergo the procedure, especially when such experiences are now publicly available in large volumes.

    In a world where online forums double as health diaries, support networks and informal research registries, we must take them seriously. Medical language matters. Terms like “rare”, “uncommon” or “low risk” carry real emotional and moral weight. They shape expectations and influence decisions.

    If even a small percentage of men experience long-term pain after vasectomy, that risk should be communicated clearly, in plain English – ideally with a range of percentages drawn from published studies.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Kevin Pimbblet currently receives funding from STFC, EPSRC, The British Academy, The Royal Astronomical Society, The British Ecological Society, and The Office for Students. None are in direct relation to this work.

    – ref. Vasectomy, pain and regret: what online forum Reddit reveals about men’s experiences – https://theconversation.com/vasectomy-pain-and-regret-what-online-forum-reddit-reveals-about-mens-experiences-261633

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Who is Odysseus, hero of Christopher Nolan’s new epic?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stephan Blum, Research associate, Institute for Prehistory and Early History and Medieval Archaeology, University of Tübingen

    Somewhere between hero and hustler, family man and philanderer, king and con artist, Odysseus is one of ancient literature’s most complex figures. In the Iliad, he is the mastermind behind the Trojan horse.

    In Homer’s Odyssey, he is the protagonist of a ten-year journey home – one that sees him encounter gods, monsters, temptations and profound moral dilemmas. Next year, he will be the hero of a new Christopher Nolan epic, and played by Matt Damon.

    Odysseus’s journey from Troy to Ithaca in the Odyssey is anything but a straight line. It’s an epic zigzag through storms, temptations, divine grudges and existential threats. Instead of returning in weeks, he spends a decade adrift.

    He is stranded by nymphs, resists sirens and watches his crew perish one by one. Every stop tests not only his wit but his very sense of self.

    The Odyssey isn’t a tale of noble perseverance. It’s a study in survival. Odysseus deceives, disguises and entangles himself in morally grey romantic liaisons with a sorceress (Circe), nymph (Calypso) and princess (Nausicaa). He does so often as strategist and sometimes as willing participant.

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

    In Homer’s world, infidelity is a tool of survival. Odysseus survives not through moral clarity, but through his moral agility. His loyalty to his wife Penelope (reportedly played by Anne Hathaway in the new adaptation) is longitudinal, not linear. His compass is always aimed at returning to Ithaca, if not always in a straight line.

    Would this flexibility pass modern ethical scrutiny? Probably not. But what made him successful wasn’t moral integrity – it was his ability to navigate each situation, even if that meant bending the rules.

    While Odysseus adapts, Penelope endures with strategic resilience. For 20 years, she fends off suitors with deft delay tactics. She avoids them by weaving and unweaving a funeral shroud for her husband’s father, Laertes. It’s a defiant, slow motion resistance campaign, waged with thread and silence.

    Penelope and the Suitors by John William Waterhouse (1912).
    Aberdeen Art Gallery

    If Odysseus navigates external monsters, Penelope masters the domestic battlefield. Her fidelity in her husband’s absence is deliberate, political and astute. In a patriarchal world, her power lies in pause. Her story is one of emotional labour and strategic survival.

    Narrative loops and non-linear journeys

    The Odyssey is an ancient masterpiece of non-linear storytelling. It begins in the middle of the action and uses nested narratives, flashbacks and shifting voices. Odysseus tells much of his own story, reframing events from his point of view and reshaping himself in hindsight. Memory becomes montage. Truth bends to necessity. Fact and fiction bleed into one another.

    Homer doesn’t just tell a story – he constructs a labyrinth. The Odyssey anticipates the fractured forms of modernist literature and cinema, where identity is unstable and time itself is malleable.

    Odysseus and Penelope by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (1802).
    Wiki Commons

    When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, disguised as a beggar and quietly assessing his ship’s wreckage, it’s no romantic climax. It’s a calculated risk. Penelope doesn’t swoon; she tests. Only when he passes her intimate knowledge test – he reacts with outrage when she suggests moving their bed, which he built around a living olive tree – does she relent. Their reunion is not a Hollywood embrace but a wary negotiation.

    It signals restoration, yes. But also mistrust, trauma and mutual testing. Homecoming, like survival, is complicated.

    Odysseus is not a flawless hero. He is a survivor who negotiates with monsters, debates with gods and crawls home disguised as a beggar. A man shaped as much by cunning as by consequence.

    Would Odysseus pass a modern ethics exam? Certainly not. Would he charm the professor, flip the question and still walk out with an A? Absolutely. Some stories endure not because they are true, but because they were told by survivors.

    This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    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. Who is Odysseus, hero of Christopher Nolan’s new epic? – https://theconversation.com/who-is-odysseus-hero-of-christopher-nolans-new-epic-261781

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: England’s new free speech law comes into force – what it means for universities

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Eric Heinze, Professor of Law and Humanities, Queen Mary University of London

    Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock

    The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 comes into force throughout England on August 1 2025. Designed to stop universities from censoring controversial or unpopular ideas, the law gives the Office for Students responsibility for ensuring institutions comply.

    This law will mean that many universities will have to change the way they approach free speech.

    When it comes to adopting campus speech policies, educational establishments have always had three choices.

    One option has been to follow the law, permitting whichever messages the law already allows, while banning whichever messages the law already forbids. UK law prohibits, for example, certain core expressions of racism, anti-LGBTQ+ hatred, Islamophobia, antisemitism, or glorification of terrorism. I’ll call this the “legalist” option.

    Another approach is to allow more speech than the law allows. This would, for example, permit guest lecturers to advocate white supremacy or the belief that only heterosexual relationships and behaviour are normal. I’ll call this the “libertarian” option. It treats free speech as sacrosanct.

    But this option would never be adopted. Few institutions would welcome the torrent of parental complaints, media publicity, donor withdrawals, police investigations, or full-blown litigation that would follow.

    A third option is to permit less speech than the law allows. This would mean, for example, banning sexist speech, which is otherwise still permitted under UK law. We can call this the “communitarian” option. It views educational institutions as more than just places for exchanging ideas: they must also promote civic values, aiming to build an empathic society.

    Changing approaches

    In the past, British universities could choose option three, cancelling or avoiding events featuring messages that, although legal, risk stoking campus divisions.

    Some institutions have stopped controversial speakers through decisions by senior leadership. For example, in 2013 UCL’s senior administrators banned a group that advocated sex segregation. Other times, efforts to cancel events have been made by students or staff. In 2015, the University of York cancelled events for International Men’s Day after complaints from students and staff.

    The effect of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act will be to shift universities from the communitarian to the legalist model. Campus members wishing to stage events will still have to comply with routine guidelines on reserving campus venues, ticketing participants, ensuring security controls, and the like. However, under the act, universities may no longer impede the communication of otherwise legal messages solely on the grounds of their provocative content.

    For advocates of free speech, this act may still not go far enough since it keeps an escape hatch. Management can still cancel controversial events if the institution lacks the means to ensure adequate security, and such claims are often difficult to verify.

    Yet for others, the act will go too far. Some would argue that existing law in Britain does not adequately protect vulnerable groups, and that universities should stick to the communitarian ideal, creating a refuge that the law often fails to provide.

    These anxieties become ever greater in our internet era, when misinformation can proliferate. Some may fear that abandoning the communitarian ethos will turn the campus into a wild west of free speech, disproportionately affecting its most vulnerable members.

    The act aims to preserve free speech on university campuses.
    Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

    However, online communications have also proved to be powerful mobilising tools for staff and students, so online power hierarchies may work in more complex ways than meets the eye.

    Note also that nothing in the act abolishes student welfare services. Individually targeted acts of bullying, threats, stalking and harassment will remain under the aegis of campus oversight as well as UK law. Staff or students exhibiting racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic conduct will remain as subject as they were before to disciplinary proceedings and even dismissal or expulsion.

    Finally, it is worth bearing in mind that the act’s most salient ingredients are procedural, placing considerable burdens on institutions to facilitate free speech and deal transparently with accusations of censorship. Yet whether this will lead to an explosion of complaints, and whether ideas exchanged on campus will really differ so much from those we already hear today, remains to be seen.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Eric Heinze has received funding for submitting a report to the UK Commission for Countering Extremism.

    – ref. England’s new free speech law comes into force – what it means for universities – https://theconversation.com/englands-new-free-speech-law-comes-into-force-what-it-means-for-universities-262080

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: English universities now have a duty to uphold freedom of speech – here’s how it might affect students’ sense of belonging

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Bale, Director of Academic Development and Research, Associate Professor, The University of Law

    Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock

    The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, which comes into force on August 1 2025, means universities in England now have a new duty to uphold “robust” strategies to ensure freedom of speech on campus.

    To support universities in navigating the boundaries of lawful and unlawful speech, universities regulator the Office for Students appointed its first director for freedom of speech and academic freedom in 2023. Arif Ahmed, who is also a professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, has reportedly said that coming across views students might find offensive is part of a university education.

    It’s possible, though, that feeling offended comes up against the important concept of “belonging” at university. In the context of higher education, belonging is often defined as feeling at home, included and valued. It is linked to more students staying in their courses, having enhanced wellbeing, and being able to learn well at university.

    But feeling offended and feeling you belong at university don’t have to be contradictory. Some of our research has found that belonging can also mean being able to challenge the dominant culture at a university, which may exclude students who don’t fit a particular mould.

    Being able to challenge opinions is important.
    Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock

    Some students explained that they proactively resist the prevalent image of the “typical” student. For example, in highly selective universities, students are often extremely competitive and industrious with a tendency to overwork. But this culture may not align with the work-life balance prioritised by some students.

    This form of “positive not-belonging” often takes the form of friendship groups and communities that cultivate an alternative kind of belonging. These groups may well enable greater freedom of self-expression, without fear of being judged or feeling pressured to conform to pre-existing academic cultures.

    While some students are able to carve out these collective and alternative communities for belonging, many others feel their presence and sense of belonging is conditional – especially minority ethnic students. Clearer advocacy for free speech might help these students feel more comfortable speaking up and building a stronger sense of belonging.

    We must not forget that the idea of belonging carries power dynamics, and often has implications for what is perceived as up for debate – and what is not.

    Existing free speech

    What’s more, the views of students suggest that free speech is already part of their experience at university. In 2023, the Office for Students added a question about freedom of expression to the annual National Student Survey, which gathers final-year undergraduates’ opinions on their higher education experience. The question, added for students at English universities only, asked how “free” students felt to express their ideas, opinions and beliefs.

    The results showed that 86% did feel they had this freedom. This has remained stable in the latest survey, with a slight increase to just over 88% in the 2025 results.

    The Office for Students also commissioned YouGov to poll research and teaching staff at English universities about their perceptions of free speech in higher education in 2024.

    Some positive results mirrored the student data. For example, 89% of academics reported that they are confident they understand what free speech means in higher education. But the polling also found that 21% did not feel free to discuss controversial topics in their teaching.

    This lack of perceived freedom of expression does not only have a negative impact on staff. It is widely understood that a key purpose of higher education is to nurture students’ independent thinking and self-awareness. A key step toward this goal is not to be afraid of engaging in difficult conversations, including asking questions.

    However, this does not happen automatically. Universities need to provide clear scaffolding, guidance and practical steps to protect freedom of speech. It is also important to normalise and promote conversations about topics such as cultural differences and intercultural competence, which refers to the ability to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds effectively and appropriately.

    If addressed, these discussions can help to foster inclusion, and promote diversity of thought and expression.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    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. English universities now have a duty to uphold freedom of speech – here’s how it might affect students’ sense of belonging – https://theconversation.com/english-universities-now-have-a-duty-to-uphold-freedom-of-speech-heres-how-it-might-affect-students-sense-of-belonging-260867

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: New peace plan increases pressure on Israel and US as momentum grows for Palestinian statehood

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin

    A new vision for Middle East peace emerged this week which proposes the withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and the West Bank, the disarming and disbanding of Hamas and the creation of a unified Palestinian state. The plan emerged from a “high-level conference” in New York on July 29, which assembled representatives of 17 states, the European Union and the Arab League.

    The resulting proposal is “a comprehensive and actionable framework for the implementation of the two-state solution and the achievement of peace and security for all”.

    Signatories include Turkey and the Middle Eastern states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan. Europe was represented by France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the UK. Indonesia was there for Asia, Senegal for Africa, and Brazil, Canada and Mexico for the Americas. Neither the US nor Israel were present.

    Significantly, it is the first time the Arab states have called for Hamas to disarm and disband. But, while condemning Hamas’s attack on Israel of October 7 2023 and recalling that the taking of hostages is a violation of international law, the document is unsparing in its connection between a state of Palestine and an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza’s civilians.

    It says: “Absent decisive measures toward the two-state solution and robust international guarantees, the conflict will deepen and regional peace will remain elusive.”

    A plan for the reconstruction of Gaza will be developed by the Arab states and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – a Jeddah-based group which aims to be the collective voice of the Muslim world – supported by an international fund. The details will be hammered out at a Gaza Reconstruction and Recovery Conference, to be held in Cairo.

    It is a bold initiative. In theory, it could end the Israeli mass killing in Gaza, remove Hamas from power and begin the implementation of a process for a state of Palestine. The question is whether it has any chance of success.

    First, there appears to be growing momentum to press ahead with recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a comprehensive peace plan leading to a two-state solution. France, the UK and, most recently, Canada have announced they would take that step at the UN general assembly in September. The UK stated that it would do so unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire and the commencement of a substantive peace process.



    Read more:
    UK and France pledges won’t stop Netanyahu bombing Gaza – but Donald Trump or Israel’s military could

    These announcements follow those made in May 2024 by Spain, Ireland and Norway, three of the other European signatories. By the end of September at least 150 of the UN’s 193 members will recognise Palestinian statehood. Recognition is largely symbolic without a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from both Gaza and the West Bank. But it is essential symbolism.

    For years, many European countries, Canada, Australia and the US have said that recognition could not be declared if there was the prospect of Israel-Palestine negotiations. Now the sequence is reversed: recognition is necessary as pressure for a ceasefire and the necessary talks to ensure the security of both Israelis and Palestinians.

    Israel accelerated that reversal at the start of March, when it rejected the scheduled move to phase two of the six-week ceasefire negotiated with the help of the US, and imposed a blockade on aid coming into the Strip.

    The Netanyahu government continues to hold out against the ceasefire. But its loud blame of Hamas is becoming harder to accept. The images of the starvation in Gaza and warnings by doctors, humanitarian organisations and the UN of an effective famine with the deaths of thousands can no longer be denied.

    Saudi Arabia and Qatar, behind the scenes and through their embassies, have been encouraging European countries to make the jump to recognition. Their efforts at the UN conference in New York this week are another front of that campaign.

    Israel and the Trump administration

    But in the short term, there is little prospect of the Netanyahu government giving way with its mass killing, let alone entering talks for two states. Notably neither Israel nor the US took part in the conference.

    Trump has criticised the scenes of starvation in Gaza. But his administration has joined Netanyahu in vitriolic denunciation of France and the UK over their intentions to recognise Palestine. And the US president has warned the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, that recognition of Palestinian statehood would threaten Canada’s trade deal with the US.

    In response to Trump’s concern over the images of starving children and his exhortation “We’ve got to get the kids fed,” Israel has airdropped a few pallets of aid – less than a truck’s worth. Yet this appears more of a public relations exercise directed at Washington than a genuine attempt to ease the terrible condition on the Strip.

    A small number of lorries with supplies from UN and humanitarian organisations have also crossed the border, but only after lengthy delays and with half still held up. There is no security for transport and delivery of the aid inside Gaza.

    A sacrifice for a state?

    So the conference declaration is not relief for Gaza. Instead, it is yet another marker of Israel’s increasing isolation.

    After France’s announcement, the Netanyahu government thundered: “Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy … A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel.”

    But while recognising Hamas’s mass killing of October 7 2023, most governments and their populations do not perceive Israel as attacking Hamas and its fighters. They see the Netanyahu government and Israeli military slaying and starving civilians.

    Even in the US, where the Trump administration is trying to crush sympathy for Palestine and Gazans in universities, non-governmental organisations and the public sphere, opinion is shifting.

    In a Gallup poll taken in the US and released on July 29, only 32% of respondents supported Israel’s actions in Gaza – an all-time low – and 60% opposed them. Netanyahu was viewed unfavourably by 52% and favourably by only 29%.

    Israel has lost its moment of “normalisation” with Arab states. Its economic links are strained and its oft-repeated claim to being the “Middle East’s only democracy” is bloodstained beyond recognition.

    This will be of no comfort to the people of Gaza facing death. But in the longer term, there is the prospect that this sacrifice will be the catalyst to recognise Palestine that disappeared in 1948.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Scott Lucas 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. New peace plan increases pressure on Israel and US as momentum grows for Palestinian statehood – https://theconversation.com/new-peace-plan-increases-pressure-on-israel-and-us-as-momentum-grows-for-palestinian-statehood-262259

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: New peace plan increases pressure on Israel and US as momentum grows for Palestinian statehood

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin

    A new vision for Middle East peace emerged this week which proposes the withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and the West Bank, the disarming and disbanding of Hamas and the creation of a unified Palestinian state. The plan emerged from a “high-level conference” in New York on July 29, which assembled representatives of 17 states, the European Union and the Arab League.

    The resulting proposal is “a comprehensive and actionable framework for the implementation of the two-state solution and the achievement of peace and security for all”.

    Signatories include Turkey and the Middle Eastern states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan. Europe was represented by France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the UK. Indonesia was there for Asia, Senegal for Africa, and Brazil, Canada and Mexico for the Americas. Neither the US nor Israel were present.

    Significantly, it is the first time the Arab states have called for Hamas to disarm and disband. But, while condemning Hamas’s attack on Israel of October 7 2023 and recalling that the taking of hostages is a violation of international law, the document is unsparing in its connection between a state of Palestine and an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza’s civilians.

    It says: “Absent decisive measures toward the two-state solution and robust international guarantees, the conflict will deepen and regional peace will remain elusive.”

    A plan for the reconstruction of Gaza will be developed by the Arab states and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – a Jeddah-based group which aims to be the collective voice of the Muslim world – supported by an international fund. The details will be hammered out at a Gaza Reconstruction and Recovery Conference, to be held in Cairo.

    It is a bold initiative. In theory, it could end the Israeli mass killing in Gaza, remove Hamas from power and begin the implementation of a process for a state of Palestine. The question is whether it has any chance of success.

    First, there appears to be growing momentum to press ahead with recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a comprehensive peace plan leading to a two-state solution. France, the UK and, most recently, Canada have announced they would take that step at the UN general assembly in September. The UK stated that it would do so unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire and the commencement of a substantive peace process.



    Read more:
    UK and France pledges won’t stop Netanyahu bombing Gaza – but Donald Trump or Israel’s military could

    These announcements follow those made in May 2024 by Spain, Ireland and Norway, three of the other European signatories. By the end of September at least 150 of the UN’s 193 members will recognise Palestinian statehood. Recognition is largely symbolic without a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from both Gaza and the West Bank. But it is essential symbolism.

    For years, many European countries, Canada, Australia and the US have said that recognition could not be declared if there was the prospect of Israel-Palestine negotiations. Now the sequence is reversed: recognition is necessary as pressure for a ceasefire and the necessary talks to ensure the security of both Israelis and Palestinians.

    Israel accelerated that reversal at the start of March, when it rejected the scheduled move to phase two of the six-week ceasefire negotiated with the help of the US, and imposed a blockade on aid coming into the Strip.

    The Netanyahu government continues to hold out against the ceasefire. But its loud blame of Hamas is becoming harder to accept. The images of the starvation in Gaza and warnings by doctors, humanitarian organisations and the UN of an effective famine with the deaths of thousands can no longer be denied.

    Saudi Arabia and Qatar, behind the scenes and through their embassies, have been encouraging European countries to make the jump to recognition. Their efforts at the UN conference in New York this week are another front of that campaign.

    Israel and the Trump administration

    But in the short term, there is little prospect of the Netanyahu government giving way with its mass killing, let alone entering talks for two states. Notably neither Israel nor the US took part in the conference.

    Trump has criticised the scenes of starvation in Gaza. But his administration has joined Netanyahu in vitriolic denunciation of France and the UK over their intentions to recognise Palestine. And the US president has warned the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, that recognition of Palestinian statehood would threaten Canada’s trade deal with the US.

    In response to Trump’s concern over the images of starving children and his exhortation “We’ve got to get the kids fed,” Israel has airdropped a few pallets of aid – less than a truck’s worth. Yet this appears more of a public relations exercise directed at Washington than a genuine attempt to ease the terrible condition on the Strip.

    A small number of lorries with supplies from UN and humanitarian organisations have also crossed the border, but only after lengthy delays and with half still held up. There is no security for transport and delivery of the aid inside Gaza.

    A sacrifice for a state?

    So the conference declaration is not relief for Gaza. Instead, it is yet another marker of Israel’s increasing isolation.

    After France’s announcement, the Netanyahu government thundered: “Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy … A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel.”

    But while recognising Hamas’s mass killing of October 7 2023, most governments and their populations do not perceive Israel as attacking Hamas and its fighters. They see the Netanyahu government and Israeli military slaying and starving civilians.

    Even in the US, where the Trump administration is trying to crush sympathy for Palestine and Gazans in universities, non-governmental organisations and the public sphere, opinion is shifting.

    In a Gallup poll taken in the US and released on July 29, only 32% of respondents supported Israel’s actions in Gaza – an all-time low – and 60% opposed them. Netanyahu was viewed unfavourably by 52% and favourably by only 29%.

    Israel has lost its moment of “normalisation” with Arab states. Its economic links are strained and its oft-repeated claim to being the “Middle East’s only democracy” is bloodstained beyond recognition.

    This will be of no comfort to the people of Gaza facing death. But in the longer term, there is the prospect that this sacrifice will be the catalyst to recognise Palestine that disappeared in 1948.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Scott Lucas 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. New peace plan increases pressure on Israel and US as momentum grows for Palestinian statehood – https://theconversation.com/new-peace-plan-increases-pressure-on-israel-and-us-as-momentum-grows-for-palestinian-statehood-262259

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The first Chinese-Russian choral festival opened in Suifenhe

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Suifenhe, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, sparkled with new colors on July 30 thanks to an international cultural event – the grand opening of the first China-Russia Choir Festival.

    According to the city government website, the event was attended by about 500 Chinese and foreign artists and choral singing enthusiasts, representing 8 leading groups from Harbin Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Anshan, Suzhou University, as well as Russian Vladivostok and Bolshoy Kamen /Primorsky Krai/.

    In his welcoming speech, Gao Jun, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Suifenhe Municipal Committee, said that every corner of Suifenhe, which is the vanguard of China’s opening up to the north, is permeated with the atmosphere of spiritual intertwining of the peoples of the two neighboring countries. Eight Chinese and Russian choirs, like eight timbres merging into a single harmony, wrote notes in the camp of friendship on the Suifenhe stage.

    According to him, every sound becomes a new starting point for cultural mutual enrichment, and the warmth of mutual attraction of hearts penetrates into the souls of the peoples of the two countries.

    The festival is organized by the Suifenhe Cultural and Tourism Group and the Sing, China! New Choral Works Promotion Committee under the leadership of the Suifenhe City Department of Culture and Tourism.

    To ensure the professional level and international status of the festival, an authoritative jury of eight Chinese and foreign experts was formed. The festival program consists of 4 main blocks: the opening ceremony, competitive performances of high-level performers, master classes and an award ceremony. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The first Chinese-Russian choral festival opened in Suifenhe

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Suifenhe, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, sparkled with new colors on July 30 thanks to an international cultural event – the grand opening of the first China-Russia Choir Festival.

    According to the city government website, the event was attended by about 500 Chinese and foreign artists and choral singing enthusiasts, representing 8 leading groups from Harbin Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Anshan, Suzhou University, as well as Russian Vladivostok and Bolshoy Kamen /Primorsky Krai/.

    In his welcoming speech, Gao Jun, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Suifenhe Municipal Committee, said that every corner of Suifenhe, which is the vanguard of China’s opening up to the north, is permeated with the atmosphere of spiritual intertwining of the peoples of the two neighboring countries. Eight Chinese and Russian choirs, like eight timbres merging into a single harmony, wrote notes in the camp of friendship on the Suifenhe stage.

    According to him, every sound becomes a new starting point for cultural mutual enrichment, and the warmth of mutual attraction of hearts penetrates into the souls of the peoples of the two countries.

    The festival is organized by the Suifenhe Cultural and Tourism Group and the Sing, China! New Choral Works Promotion Committee under the leadership of the Suifenhe City Department of Culture and Tourism.

    To ensure the professional level and international status of the festival, an authoritative jury of eight Chinese and foreign experts was formed. The festival program consists of 4 main blocks: the opening ceremony, competitive performances of high-level performers, master classes and an award ceremony. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Global Adaptability of China’s Creative Industry as Seen by SCO Representatives

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    TIANJIN, July 31 (Xinhua) — China exported dolls and toy animals worth 47.63 billion yuan in 2024, up 4.9 percent year on year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

    Representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries believe that this not only shows that Chinese design is becoming increasingly recognizable around the world, but is also inseparable from China’s strong manufacturing industry and ideal support for its production chains.

    “Labubu is very popular among the youth of Kazakhstan. The surprise box meets the psychological needs of the youth and has become a new fashion trend in the world,” said Ekaterina Khvaniz of Kazakhstan, who studies at Tianjin University of Foreign Languages.

    Thanks to innovative design concepts and business models, China’s creative industry is now enjoying great popularity worldwide.

    In 2024, The Monsters series conquered global markets, generating over 3 billion yuan in revenue, with a year-on-year increase of 726.6%. This makes it the most successful IP in the company’s history.

    “Labubu showcases the uniqueness of Chinese creative products, breaking through language and cultural barriers and attracting many international consumers,” said Abdul Rahman, a Pakistani student at Tianjin University.

    It is worth noting that, thanks to digital technology, China’s cultural and creative products are quickly attracting the attention of the global audience through a younger, digital and interactive way.

    “Social platforms such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu and other e-commerce platforms are popular all over the world, introducing Chinese creative and cultural products to the world in a new way,” said Adel Baktygulova, a Kyrgyz student at Tsinghua University.

    According to the data, the operating income of China’s cultural industry and related industries exceeded 19 trillion yuan in 2024, a record high. The operating income of content development and production and creative design services increased by 8.4 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Global Adaptability of China’s Creative Industry as Seen by SCO Representatives

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    TIANJIN, July 31 (Xinhua) — China exported dolls and toy animals worth 47.63 billion yuan in 2024, up 4.9 percent year on year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

    Representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries believe that this not only shows that Chinese design is becoming increasingly recognizable around the world, but is also inseparable from China’s strong manufacturing industry and ideal support for its production chains.

    “Labubu is very popular among the youth of Kazakhstan. The surprise box meets the psychological needs of the youth and has become a new fashion trend in the world,” said Ekaterina Khvaniz of Kazakhstan, who studies at Tianjin University of Foreign Languages.

    Thanks to innovative design concepts and business models, China’s creative industry is now enjoying great popularity worldwide.

    In 2024, The Monsters series conquered global markets, generating over 3 billion yuan in revenue, with a year-on-year increase of 726.6%. This makes it the most successful IP in the company’s history.

    “Labubu showcases the uniqueness of Chinese creative products, breaking through language and cultural barriers and attracting many international consumers,” said Abdul Rahman, a Pakistani student at Tianjin University.

    It is worth noting that, thanks to digital technology, China’s cultural and creative products are quickly attracting the attention of the global audience through a younger, digital and interactive way.

    “Social platforms such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu and other e-commerce platforms are popular all over the world, introducing Chinese creative and cultural products to the world in a new way,” said Adel Baktygulova, a Kyrgyz student at Tsinghua University.

    According to the data, the operating income of China’s cultural industry and related industries exceeded 19 trillion yuan in 2024, a record high. The operating income of content development and production and creative design services increased by 8.4 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Xi Jinping signs decree on awarding some military units and individuals /detailed version-1/

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping signed an order recognizing the achievements of two military units and five individuals.

    One of the organs of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Unit 63920 was awarded the First Class Merit Award. Ding Yang of the PLA Unit 92853 was awarded the First Class Merit Award in Defense Science and Technology.

    PLA Unit 96712 was awarded the Second Class Merit Award.

    Wang Haidou of the former Army Armored Academy, Gao Yuqi of the Army Medical University, Yang Zichun of the Naval Engineering University and Chen Wei of the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences were each awarded third-class merits in defense science and technology. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Xi Jinping signs decree on awarding some military units and individuals /detailed version-1/

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping signed an order recognizing the achievements of two military units and five individuals.

    One of the organs of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Unit 63920 was awarded the First Class Merit Award. Ding Yang of the PLA Unit 92853 was awarded the First Class Merit Award in Defense Science and Technology.

    PLA Unit 96712 was awarded the Second Class Merit Award.

    Wang Haidou of the former Army Armored Academy, Gao Yuqi of the Army Medical University, Yang Zichun of the Naval Engineering University and Chen Wei of the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences were each awarded third-class merits in defense science and technology. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Medical school proposals assessed

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Task Group on New Medical School convened its fourth meeting today to conduct an overall evaluation of the proposals for the establishment of the third medical school and discuss the next steps for the task group’s work.
     
    The task group is co-chaired by Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau and Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin.
     
    Previously, the task group had in-depth discussions with the three universities that submitted proposals, namely Baptist University, Polytechnic University and the University of Science & Technology. Subsequently, the expert advisors conducted a comprehensive review of the proposals.
     
    Apart from carrying out an overall assessment of the proposals today, the expert advisors also initiated the next phase of follow-up work involving a thorough study of the proposals’ funding arrangements and financial sustainability.
     
    A final recommendation on the establishment of the new medical school is expected to be provided to the Government later this year.
     
    Prof Lo said: “We will consolidate the views of all task group members and submit our recommendation to the Chief Executive as soon as possible.
     
    “The Government will thoroughly consider the task group’s report and announce the results in due course.”
     
    Ms Choi thanked the expert advisors and members of the task group for their efforts and valuable professional input throughout the evaluation process.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Albanese Government cuts 20 per cent off all student debts

    Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

    The Albanese Labor Government has today cut all student debts by 20 per cent.

    We are wiping more than $16 billion in debt for more than three million Australians.

    Our number one focus is continuing to deliver cost of living relief for the Australian people.

    Cutting student debt by 20 per cent will ease pressure on workers and students across the country.

    For someone with the average debt of $27,600, this will see $5,520 wiped from their outstanding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans.

    Backdated to 1 June, this is lifting the burden for Australians with a student debt – including all HELP, Vocational Education and Training (VET) Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans, Student Startup Loans, and other student loans.

    In addition to cutting student debt by 20 per cent, we are raising the minimum amount before people have to start making repayments from $54,435 to $67,000 and reduces minimum repayments.

    For someone earning $70,000 it will reduce the minimum repayments they have to make by $1,300 a year.

    This builds on our reforms to fix the indexation formula, which has already cut more than $3 billion in student debt.

    This means, all up, the Albanese Labor Government will cut close to $20 billion in student debt for more than three million Australians.

    The ATO will now begin the work of processing the cut.

    This will take a little while but the 20 per cent cut to student debt is guaranteed.

    Most people will see their balance reduced before the end of the year, backdated to June.

    Quotes attributable to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

    “This is another way my Government is continuing to deliver cost of living relief to Australians.

    “We promised cutting student debt would be the first thing we did back in Parliament – and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

    “Getting an education shouldn’t mean a lifetime of debt.

    “No matter where you live or how much your parents earn, my Government will work to ensure the doors of opportunity are open for you.”

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

    “We promised we would cut your student debt by 20 per cent and we have delivered.

    “This is a big deal for 3 million Australians.

    “This will save millions of Australians thousands of dollars.

    “The average student debt today is $27,600, this will cut that debt by $5,520.

    “Just out of uni, just getting started, this will take a weight off their back.

    “We are also cutting annual repayments. For someone earning $70,000 a year, it will cut the amount they have to repay every year by $1,300.

    “That’s real help with the cost of living. It means more money in your pocket, not the government’s.”

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles:  

    “At the election, students and apprentices sent a resounding message of support for our Government’s plan to cut student debt by 20 per cent.

    “Now, we’ve delivered on this commitment, making a real difference to the lives of students and apprentices – including nearly 300,000 TAFE students and apprentices.

    “The Albanese Government is backing Australians with cost of living relief, and backing them to pursue an apprenticeship or qualification that sets them up for their future.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders Forces Vote to Stop Arms Sales to Israel Amid Starvation in Gaza

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders

    WASHINGTON, July 30 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today rose to force a vote on two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to block offensive arms sales to Israel in light of the daily civilian massacres and unfolding famine created by the Netanyahu government’s policies. The JRD is the only formal mechanism available to Congress to prevent an arms sale noticed by the administration from advancing.

    Sanders’ remarks introducing the vote today, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched live HERE:

    M. President, let me begin by stating what this debate is about, and what it is not about. It is not about whether anyone in the Senate disagrees that Hamas is a terrorist organization, which began this war with a brutal terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages. Everyone agrees with that.

    The International Criminal Court was right to indict the leaders of Hamas as war criminals for those atrocities. There is also, I believe, no disagreement as to whether or not Israel had a right to defend itself, like any other country suffering an attack like that. Clearly, it did.

    And, in a certain sense, this debate is not really about Israel. It is about the United States of America, and whether we will abide by U.S. and international law, or whether we will continue to contribute billions of dollars to an extremist government in Israel, which has caused an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Gaza. This debate is over whether or not the United States of America will have any moral credibility on the international scene. Whether or not we will be able, with a straight face, to condemn other countries who commit barbaric acts if we don’t stand up tonight. That is what we are debating.

    M. President, the vast majority of the American people and the world community understand that the Netanyahu government in Israel has gone well beyond defending itself from Hamas. Over the last 21 months, it has waged an all-out, illegal, immoral and horrific war of annihilation against the Palestinian people. 

    This war has already killed some 60,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 143,000 — most of whom are women, children and the elderly. In a population of just over two million, more than 200,000 people have been killed or wounded since this war began. That, M. President, is 10% of the population of Gaza. 

    M. President, to put that into scale so we as Americans can understand the enormity of what is happening there, if that kind of destruction happened in the United States — if 10% of our population were killed or wounded in war, it would mean that 34 million of us would have been killed or wounded.

    The toll on Gaza’s children is unspeakable, and it is literally hard to imagine. The United Nations reports that more than 18,000 children have been killed since this war began. Just this morning, the Washington Post published a list of all these children’s names, and I ask that these names be entered into the Congressional Record.

    I should mention that more than 12,000 of these children were under the age of 12, and more than 3,000 children in Gaza have had one or more limbs amputated. That is how this war has impacted the children in Gaza. But it’s not just the horrific loss of life that we are seeing.

    New satellite imagery shows that Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment has destroyed 70% of all structures in Gaza. The UN estimates that 92% of the housing units have been damaged or destroyed. Most of the population is now living in tents or other makeshift structures.

    And let us not forget, over the last 21 months, these people, most of whom are poor, have been displaced time and time again — told to go here, told to go there, moved around with often no possessions other than the clothing on their backs.

    M. President, the health care system in Gaza has been destroyed. Most of the territory’s hospitals and primary health care facilities have been bombed. More than 1,500 health care workers have been killed, as well as 336 UN staff.

    Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has been totally devastated, including almost 90% of water and sanitation facilities. Raw sewage now runs all over Gaza. Most of the roads have been destroyed. Gaza’s educational system has been obliterated. Hundreds of schools have been bombed, as has every single one of Gaza’s 12 universities. And there has been no electricity in Gaza for 21 months. 

    M. President, all of this is a horror unto itself. But in recent months, the Netanyahu government’s extermination of Gaza has made an unspeakable and horrible situation even worse. 

    From March 2 to May 19, Israel did not allow a single shipment of humanitarian aid into Gaza — no food, no water, no fuel and no medical supplies for a distressed population of two million people over a period of 11 weeks. Since then, Israel has allowed a trickle of aid to get into Gaza, but nowhere near enough to meet the enormous needs of a population besieged for so long. 

    M. President, when you cut off all food to a population, what happens is not surprising. People starve to death. And that is exactly what Israeli policy has deliberately done — it is causing mass starvation and famine.

    Children and other vulnerable people are dying in increasing numbers. In the last two weeks, dozens of young children have died from starvation. Starving mothers cannot breastfeed their infants, and no formula is available, and certainly no clean water to make it, in any case. Hospitals have run out of nutritional treatments, and doctors and nurses who are already treating the desperate, they themselves are going hungry and are fainting from hunger. 

    The World Food Programme says that the food crisis has reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.” 

    Just yesterday, the gold-standard UN-backed food monitoring group, the IPC, issued a new report saying: “The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.”  

    When mass death from starvation begins, it is difficult to reverse. Aid groups say it will soon be too late to stop a wave of preventable deaths in Gaza, all of which is the direct result of the Israeli government’s policies. 

    M. President, what I’m going to describe now is gruesome, but I think it is important for us to understand what is happening to the children in Gaza.

    Mark Brauner, an American doctor who spent in two weeks in Gaza in June described the situation: “a lot of the children have already passed the point of no return where their physiology has eroded to the point where even refeeding could potentially cause death itself. The gut lining has started to auto-digest and it will no longer have adequate absorptive capacity for water or for nutrition. Death is unfortunately imminent for probably thousands of children.”

    That’s an American physician who was in Gaza in June.

    M. President, what the extremist Netanyahu government is doing now is not an effort to win a war. There is no military purpose in starving thousands and thousands of children. Let us be clear: This is not an effort to win a war, this is an effort to destroy a people.

    Having already killed or wounded more than 200,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the extremist Israeli government is using mass starvation to engineer the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. They are trying to drive a desperate people out of their homeland, to God knows where. 

    This is not my speculation; this what Israeli ministers and officials are saying themselves.

    A few months ago, the Finance Minister vowed that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed.” Just last week, another current Israeli minister said: “All Gaza will be Jewish… the government is pushing for Gaza being wiped out. Thank God, we are wiping out this evil.” Another Likud member of the Knesset and former minister called for “Erasing all of Gaza from the face of the earth.”

    And in the West Bank, we see this agenda being carried out clearly and methodically, with more than 500,000 Israeli settlers now illegally occupying land integral to any future Palestinian state. Earlier this month, the Knesset even approved a non-binding motion in favor of formally annexing the West Bank.

    This slow-motion annexation is backed by violence: Israeli security forces and settler extremists have killed thousands of Palestinians in recent years. Israeli settlers brutally beat a young American to death earlier this month, the seventh American killed in the West Bank since 2022. Despite a demand from President Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, no one has been held accountable for these deaths.

    M. President, people around the world are outraged by what is going on in Gaza right now, and countries are increasingly demanding that Netanyahu’s government stop what they are doing.

    France and Canada have said they will recognize a Palestinian state. The United Kingdom has said it will do so, as well, if Israel does not immediately end this war and surge humanitarian aid. And at the UN last month, 149 countries voted for a ceasefire resolution condemning the use of starvation as a weapon of war and demanding an end to Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid. But it is not just the international community. 

    Just yesterday, Gallup, one of the best polling organizations in our country, released a new poll that shows that just 32% of Americans support Israel’s military action in Gaza, while 60% oppose it. To my Democratic colleagues here in the Senate, I would point out that only 8% of Democrats support this war, and just 25% of independents. And to my Republican colleagues, I would point out that more and more Republicans are beginning to speak out against the atrocities of this war and the fact that billions of billions of taxpayer dollars are going to a government in Israel waging an illegal war. 

    Further, M. President, a recent Economist/YouGov poll shows that just 15% of the American people support increasing military aid to Israel, while 35% support decreasing military aid to Israel or stopping it entirely. Just 8% of Democrats support increasing military aid to Israel. 

    M. President, the American people are haunted by the images coming out of Gaza.

    These are desperate children with pots in their hands, crying, begging for food in order to stay alive. That’s what the American people are seeing every night on TV, on the internet and in the newspapers. These are emaciated children, their bodies, in some cases, barely more than skeletons. The American people are seeing miles and miles of rubble where cities and towns once stood. They are seeing innocent people shot down while they wait on line to get food while they are starving.

    M. President, despite these war crimes, carried out daily in plain view, the United States has provided more than $22 billion for Israel’s military operations since this war began. One estimate, based on Brown University research, calculates that the United States has paid for 70% of the Gaza war. In other words, American taxpayer dollars are being used to starve children, bomb schools, kill civilians and support the cruelty of Netanyahu and his criminal ministers. And that, M. President, is why I have brought these two resolutions of disapproval to block offensive arms sales to Israel. 

    S.J.Res.34 would prohibit the U.S.-taxpayer financed $675.7 million sale of thousands of 1,000-pound bombs and many thousands of JDAM guidance kits.

    And S.J.Res.41 would prohibit the sale of tens of thousands of fully automatic assault rifles.

    These arms sales clearly violate the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act, which prohibit sending arms to countries that violate international law by killing civilians and blocking humanitarian aid — and very few people doubt that that is exactly what Israel is doing. If you want to obey the law, vote for these resolutions. 

    The rifles in question will go to arm a police force overseen by far-right, extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has long advocated for the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from the region, who was convicted of support for terrorism by an Israeli court, and who has distributed weapons to violent settlers in the West Bank. Ben-Gvir has formed new police units comprised of extremist settlers and has boasted about how many weapons he has distributed to vigilante settlers in the West Bank. And you want to give him more rifles? That’s what one of these resolutions is about.

    These are rifles the Biden administration held back over fears they would be used by extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank to terrorize Palestinians and push them from their homes and villages.

    M. President, U.S. taxpayers have spent many, many billions of dollars in support of the racist, extremist Netanyahu government. Enough is enough. 

    Americans want this to end. They do not want to be complicit in an unfolding famine and daily civilian massacres. And we here in Congress tonight have the power to act. No more talks, no more great speeches. But tonight, we have the power to act — the power to force Netanyahu and his extremist government to end this slaughter.

    The time is long overdue for Congress to use the leverage we have — tens of billions in arms and military aid — to demand that Israel end these atrocities.

    At a time when Israeli soldiers are shooting civilians trying to get food aid on a near-daily basis, when extremist settlers are pushing Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank, and when Gaza is witnessing mass starvation as a result of Israeli government policy, the United States should not and must not be providing more weapons to enable these atrocities. 

    M. President, whatever happens tonight, history will condemn those who fail to act in the face of these horrors.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Padilla Questions Former AG Eric Holder on Republican Push for Racial Gerrymandering in Texas During Spotlight Forum on Voter Suppression

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    WATCH: Padilla Questions Former AG Eric Holder on Republican Push for Racial Gerrymandering in Texas During Spotlight Forum on Voter Suppression

    Office of Special Counsel Confirms Hatch Act Investigation Following Padilla Letter

    Holder: “It’s both a sign of weakness and a sign of fear … The President and his party are afraid of the voters, and they are trying to manipulate the maps in Texas so that they can rig the election in 2026.”

    WATCH: Padilla questions Attorney General Holder and Professor Levitt on Republican power grab for five additional Texas congressional seats
     
    Watch the full spotlight forum, including witness opening statements and questioning, here.

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, convened a spotlight forum titled “Protecting the Future of American Democracy: Fighting a Surge in Voter Suppression.” During the forum, he questioned former Attorney General Eric Holder and Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt on the Trump Administration’s efforts in Texas and other states to implement mid-decade racial redistricting for partisan political purposes.

    The spotlight forum — co-led by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — came as Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives released their new gerrymandered maps, caving to pressure from political appointees at Trump’s White House and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in an effort to create five additional Republican congressional seats.

    Padilla highlighted his recent letter to the independent Office of Special Counsel demanding an investigation into senior Trump Administration officials for carrying out the President’s partisan scheme to racially gerrymander Texas and other states, calling it “a clear violation of the Hatch Act.” In response to Padilla’s letter, the Hatch Act Unit at the Office of Special Counsel confirmed they will open a file to address this potential violation.

    While questioning Attorney General Holder, Padilla called the Trump-directed Texas redistricting “nothing short of a power grab” and emphasized that Republicans are “trying to tip the scales because they’re afraid of the response of the people in the 2026 election” to their extreme agenda. Holder further underscored the stakes of the Trump Administration’s partisan attempt at a racial gerrymander and highlighted an ongoing lawsuit on Texas’ previous gerrymander. He emphasized that nearly 90 percent of Texas’ population growth that recently granted them additional congressional seats came from people of color moving to Texas, yet the state previously added two majority white congressional districts.

    • PADILLA: Attorney General Holder, what is your reaction to seeing a President of the United States — it’s not a dog whistle, it’s not saying the quiet part out loud, they’re using bull horns now — publicly call for partisan advantage through mid-decade racial gerrymandering and redistricting from the White House grounds, and is the Department of Justice appropriate to be party to this?
    • HOLDER: Yeah. I mean, it’s both a sign of weakness and a sign of fear, as I indicated before. The President and his party are afraid of the voters, and they are trying to manipulate the maps in Texas so that they can rig the election in 2026, and people need to understand: this is not just a Texas problem. I mean, you know, the margin in the House of Representatives is now, I guess, three seats or so. What they’re trying to get is five seats out of Texas with the thought that that will be an insurance policy to somehow keep an unpopular party with unpopular policies, unpopular candidates in power in the United States House of Representatives. And to have a President of the United States make that kind of statement, I mean, it’s not, it’s as you say. He’s saying the quiet part out loud. He’s not saying that there’s a basis for this other than just “give me five seats so that I will have those protections that we need.” […]
    • HOLDER: I think this is all about power. It’s all about the acquisition and the maintenance of power. It’s about the fear that they have of the people. And I think that this body, this committee and all Americans have to do all that we can to oppose that which they are trying to do, which is, at base, fundamentally un-American.

    Padilla also asked Professor Levitt about the Trump Administration’s potential Hatch Act violations as a result of their partisan redistricting push. Levitt called the redistricting attempt “flatly unlawful,” emphasizing the Supreme Court’s 9-0 ruling that excessive partisan gerrymanders are unconstitutional and criticizing the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s recent letter to Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The DOJ letter purports that they have “serious concerns regarding the legality” of four majority-minority districts represented by Democrats, giving Texas a pretext for their gerrymander, despite the state previously defending their district lines and arguing for several years that they had utilized a race-blind process for developing them.

    • PADILLA: In addition to the disregard, disrespect to voters of this whole exercise, as I mentioned in my opening statement, there’s a genuine significant concern about Hatch Act violations when the President of the United States and those around him are clearly utilizing their position and resources for partisan political purposes. Professor Levitt, are we on track here? Can you share your thoughts?
    • LEVITT: Yeah, lamentably, I think we are, Ranking Member Padilla. To have the Texas legislators violate their oaths of office by acting unconstitutionally and unlawfully to erect an excessive partisan gerrymander — the Supreme Court said nine to nothing in 2019 that excessive partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional. It is inconsistent with democratic principles. So, to have a number of Texas legislators about to violate their own oaths that they have sworn is alarming. I share Attorney General Holder’s concern that to have that cheer-led from the lawn of the White House and from the Department of Justice is even more alarming. It is both unconstitutional and unlawful. You have passed, Congress has passed, laws that prohibit the use of public office, including the offices in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice for any partisan purpose. And the letter that was sent to Texas that Texas relied on a month after disclaiming exactly the same arguments was such shoddy pretext that it is impossible to understand that letter as anything other than a partisan act, and issued from the Department of Justice that’s flatly unlawful.

    Video of Padilla’s first round of questioning is available here, and his second round of questioning is available here.

    Padilla’s opening remarks from today’s spotlight forum are available here.

    In addition to Attorney General Holder and Professor Levitt, Democratic Senators also heard today from North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Allison Riggs and Vet Voice Foundation Chief Executive Officer Janessa Goldbeck on systematic attacks on the right to vote.

    Read Attorney General Eric Holder’s opening testimony here.

    Read Professor Justin Levitt’s opening testimony here and his full written testimony here.

    Read Associate Justice Allison Riggs’ opening testimony here.

    Read Vet Voice CEO Janessa Goldbeck’s opening testimony here. The Rules Committee Democrats’ spotlight forum series continues to underscore the dangers of the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attacks on election security, integrity, and funding required to smoothly administer elections and protect American democracy. The first spotlightforum in May focused on Congressional Republicans’ Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act and Trump’s illegal anti-voter executive order, both of which threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible American citizens.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Serious issue that 30% of pupils distracted by mobile phones during lessons

    Source: Government of Sweden

    Young people’s use of mobile phones at school negatively affects their performance. This was the theme when Minister for Schools Lotta Edholm took part in a seminar organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where decision-makers and experts from various countries convened to discuss screen time in classrooms and the consequences of forbidding it.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Education the 2024 theme for task force for Jewish life in Sweden

    Source: Government of Sweden

    The task force for Jewish life in Sweden held its third meeting on Friday 9 February, with its discussions mainly focused on the 2024 theme of education. New representatives of the National Agency for Education and the Swedish National Council of Adult Education joined this meeting. The task force will also continue to address last year’s theme of security in 2024.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray, Health Insurance Marketplace Experts Lay Out How Republicans’ Refusal to Extend Health Care Tax Credits Will Spike Premiums & Health Care Costs for Millions

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    KFF: Individual market insurers are requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years; Out-of-pocket premium payments will go up by 75 percent if the tax credits expire

    In Washington state, expiration of health care tax credits will kick 80,000 people off health coverage

    Senator Murray has been fighting for months to extend tax credits that help working families afford health care and has introduced legislation to make them permanent

    ***Watch full press conference HERE; download HERE***

    Washington, D.C. —Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference with Jeanne Lambrew, Director of Health Care Reform at The Century Foundation and a former senior official in the Obama administration official who worked on the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO Ingrid Ulrey, to discuss—and sound the alarm on—how Republicans’ refusal to extend critical ACA tax credits that help families and small businesses who purchase their own health insurance on the marketplace will spike premiums and raise health care costs for people in Washington state and across the country.

    At the end of this year, enhanced premium tax credits Congress enacted to lower the cost of health care for working people who buy health insurance on their own are set to expire. For months, Republicans have refused to extend them, including recently as part of their partisan reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which was explicitly designed to extend expiring tax credits, and included trillions of dollars in tax breaks for billionaires.

    If Republicans continue to refuse to extend the health care tax credits, 22 million Americans across the country—including more than 216,000 people in Washington state—will see their health care costs and premiums skyrocket in January. The expiration of these tax credits is estimated to drive up out-of-pocket premium payments by an average of over 75 percent for Americans who rely on ACA health plans for coverage, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade—including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state. Right now, health insurers and state regulators are finalizing premium rates for next year, and marketplace insurers are requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years. In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by one fifth—people who purchase health insurance through the marketplace may see their premiums rise between 4.7 percent and 23.6 percent, depending on the plan. A fact sheet from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange on the enhanced premium tax credits and what their expiration would mean for people in Washington state is HERE.

    “While the health care tax credits Republicans refused to extend may not expire until the end of the year, insurers are setting their rates right now, and when credits expire—rates go higher. Marketplace insurers are right now requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years. In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by over 20 percent, in no small part because of what Republicans have done—or rather, refused to do,” said Senator Murray. “When premiums spike next year, I am going to make sure everyone knows it’s because Republicans chose to make health care more expensive. Not on accident. Not for reasons unknown. But because Republicans decided to do nothing and let costs skyrocket. Because Republicans decided we can afford to shovel trillions of dollars towards tax breaks for billionaires, but we can’t afford to help working families get health care.”

    Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don’t expire, including cosponsoring legislation—the Health Care Affordability Act—that would make them permanent.

    “The expiring ACA Marketplace tax credits are critical to keeping meaningful coverage within reach for millions of Americans,” said Jeanne Lambrew, Director of Health Care Reform at The Century Foundation and a former senior official in the Obama administration official who worked on the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “Unless Republicans come to the table to lower costs for families by extending these tax credits, Americans across the country are going to see their premiums skyrocket—especially in rural areas and places where access to health care is already challenging.”

    “Enhanced premium tax credits help more than 216,000 Washingtonians afford health coverage and are especially important for older and rural residents, small business owners and self-employed people in our state. If Congress allows them to expire, people will be angry and upset by steep premium increases starting in January 2026. Many will drop coverage and everyone in our state will feel the pain of ripple effects across our health care system and economy,” said Ingrid Ulrey, Chief Executive Officer for Washington Health Benefit Exchange. “These tax credits work. They help make coverage more affordable for working people, families and small businesses all over the state.”

    Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

    “Thank you all for joining me today. You know, Republicans have been trying to tell some big fat lies about their big, awful bill, especially when it comes to health care.

    “So, we are here to set the record straight, and to give America a stark warning. When Republicans lined up behind Trump, and jammed through a bill they hardly liked, and hardly even read—they didn’t just vote to throw trillions of dollars in tax cuts at some of the richest people in the world, they also voted to throw working families to the wolves and throw America’s health care into chaos.

    “From cutting Medicaid, something they first said they weren’t doing and now are pretending they want to undo. To shuttering hospitals, something they first said would not happen and then said they could cover with a Band-Aid.

    “To approving Trump’s sabotage of the ACA marketplace something that will kick millions of families off their coverage.

    “To refusing to extend health care tax credits, something that will send premiums skyrocketing, and push another 4.2 million people off their insurance.

    “Let’s be clear about just how big of a deal that is. Right now, these tax credits—passed entirely by Democrats—are saving millions of people across the country hundreds of dollars a month!

    “In Washington state, we have over 200,000 people—who are saving around $1,300 a year on average.

    “But instead of extending that support for working class families, instead of putting health care first, Republicans put billionaires first.

    “And now families are going to be the one stuck footing the cost for Republicans’ big, ugly bill. And unfortunately, the consequences of Republican actions—which they keep trying to deny—are coming sooner than Republicans might think.

    “Because, while the health care tax credits they refused to extend may not expire until the end of this year, insurers are setting their rates right now, and when credits expire—rates go higher.

    “Marketplace insurers are right now requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years.

    “In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by over 20 percent, in no small part because of what Republicans have done—or rather, refused to do.

    “Combined with Republican ACA sabotage? That could push as many as 150,000 people off their health care coverage across our state. To say nothing of the people who will get pushed off Medicaid in 2027 and beyond.

    “This is going to be catastrophic—which is why it’s so important we sound the alarm for families about what is coming down the pike.

    “And I want to sound the alarm for Republicans too—if you don’t come to the table ASAP to fix this, you are not going to be able to spin your way out of this reality.  

    “When over 15 million people lose their health care due to Republican health care cuts and sabotage, you are not going to convince them everything is A-Okay.

    “When hospitals shutter because Republicans gutted their funding, you can’t just pretend everything is sunshine and nothing is wrong.

    “When insurance companies jack up premiums across the country and millions of families lose the health care tax credits that saved them thousands of dollars because Republicans refused to lift a finger, you’re not going to get by, by sticking your heads in the sand.

    “You are the ones who put American health care on this collision course. You may try to ignore the warnings, you may try to ignore the voices back home speaking out, but you’re not going to be able to avoid the responsibility.

    “When premiums spike next year, I am going to make sure everyone knows it’s because Republicans chose to make health care more expensive.

    “Not on accident. Not for reasons unknown. But because Republicans decided to do nothing and let costs skyrocket.

    “Because Republicans decided we can afford to shovel trillions of dollars towards tax breaks for billionaires, but we can’t afford to help working families get their health care.

    “They couldn’t be more wrong.

    “So, I’m really glad to be joined today by two speakers who are experts on the ACA tax credits and they can lay out what their expiration will mean for families in Washington state and across the country.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Mats Persson visits United States to attend launch of Marcus Wandt space mission

    Source: Government of Sweden

    Minister for Education Mats Persson is visiting the United States on 15–20 January to attend the launch of a mission involving Sweden’s latest astronaut, Marcus Wandt. Mr Persson will also visit New York for meetings and study visits with a focus on STEM education and research, technology and AI.

    MIL OSI Europe News –