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  • MIL-OSI Security: Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During January 6 Capitol Breach

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

                WASHINGTON – An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Oct. 8, 2024, to felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

                Dustin Martin, 30, of Grove City, Ohio, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of civil disorder and a misdemeanor charge of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds before U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan. Judge AliKhan will sentence Martin on Feb. 7, 2025.

                According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Martin and a friend – Cody Lee Tippett – arrived in Washington, D.C., from Columbus, Ohio, and made their way to the Ellipse to attend the former president’s speech. After the speech, Martin and Tippett walked from the Ellipse to the U.S. Capitol, arriving on the west side of Capitol grounds by at least 1:30 p.m. Martin then approached the Lower West Terrace, where he observed a crowd of people standing across from a line of bike rack barricades and police officers behind them, some dressed in riot gear.

                At approximately l:36 p.m., several rioters in Martin’s vicinity began to push against one of the barricades. As officers fought to prevent rioters from breaking the police line, Martin walked forward and joined with the rioters, leaning forward, bracing himself against those in front of him, and using his body weight to help push the barricade against the police officers on the other side. Court documents say that the group, including Martin, pushed the barricade directly into the officers, forcing them several feet back and requiring a dozen officers to drive the crowd back. The tussle caused Martin to fall, after which he retreated into the crowd.

                Later, at about 1:50 p.m., rioters on the Lower West Terrace pushed a line of police officers up a set of stairs leading to the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol. Other rioters, including Martin and Tippett, followed that group of rioters up onto the stairs. However, another police line prevented the crowd from advancing further up the stairs. At approximately 2:10 p.m., the rioters again pushed past the police line on the steps and gained access to the Capitol building for the first time that day. Martin and Tippett followed.

                At approximately 2:15 p.m., Martin and Tippett entered the Capitol building via the Senate Wing Door. Inside, Martin and Tippett walked to the Crypt and Capitol Visitor’s Center before exiting the building at about 2:57 p.m. Martin and Tippett remained on the Upper West Terrace, the area immediately outside the building, for nearly an hour.

                That day, Martin posted pictures, videos, and written descriptions on Facebook illustrating his participation in the riot at the Capitol. In one post, he included a photo of himself and Tippett inside the Capitol and wrote, “Trump 2021!!!” In another post, he included a photo of himself outside the Capitol and a video of rioters on the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol, writing, “So now I can say I’ve been hit with rubber bullets, bear mace, pepper spray, teargas, and wrestle with Capital Police f— yeah ‘America B— I’ll do it all over again too!”

                The FBI arrested Martin on June 21, 2023, in Ohio.

                Cody Lee Tippet was previously sentenced to 30 days in prison for his role in the events of January 6th.

                The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio provided valuable assistance.

                This case was investigated by the FBI’s Cincinnati and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

                In the 45 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 571 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

                Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Arvin High School Employee Sentenced for Explosives Conspiracy and Making False Statements to FBI

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

    FRESNO, Calif. — Angelo Jackson Mendiver, 27, of Bakersfield, a former campus security supervisor at Arvin High School, was sentenced today to two years in prison for conspiring to engage in the manufacturing and dealing in explosive materials and for mailing explosive devices, as well as making false statements to FBI agents, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

    According to court documents, Mendiver used an Instagram account to sell explosives and explosive materials and worked closely with a male juvenile Bakersfield high school student to fulfill transactions and send explosives in the mail to residents of other states. In Instagram messages to the juvenile, Mendiver sent a photo of titanium salute, an explosive device, followed by two videos of homemade explosive devices that he had made and the statement that “homemade kills all consumer.” He also advised the juvenile to be “super careful bro that homemade shit is dangerous.” On June 1, 2023, a federal search warrant executed at Mendiver’s residence resulted in the seizure of 536 pounds of uncontained explosives and explosive materials, which presented an extreme safety hazard to the residents. Agents seized another 440 pounds of uncontained explosives and explosive materials from the juvenile’s residence. At both residences, agents also found items used to make explosives.

    Mendiver also falsely stated to FBI agents that he did not sell explosives and did not work with anyone in committing explosives offenses.

    The juvenile co-conspirator’s case is being handled by the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.

    This case was the product of an investigation by the FBI with assistance from the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former City of Pittsburgh Building Inspector Sentenced for Accepting Bribes From Developer

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months of probation, including 90 days of home confinement, a $1,375 forfeiture, and a $1,500 fine on his conviction for bribery, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

    Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Walter Eiseman, 59.

    According to information provided to the Court, Eiseman was a building inspector for the City of Pittsburgh, where he was responsible for performing inspections of properties that were the subject of applications for certificates of occupancy. In 2018, a developer was working on a project to redevelop a commercial building in downtown Pittsburgh as luxury apartments and hotel rooms. As part of the financing for the project, the developer sought a historical tax credit, which would only be granted after the developer obtained a temporary certificate of occupancy for one of the project’s floors by the end of December 2018. As part of his guilty plea, Eiseman admitted performing inspections on two floors of the project during the month of December, which resulted in a temporary certificate of occupancy being issued. In return for such official action, Eiseman accepted home appliances from the developer, which were delivered in early January 2019. Eiseman also admitted that he solicited a set of kitchen cabinets from the developer, which were ordered but ultimately not delivered to Eiseman’s residence.

    Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey R. Bengel prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

    U.S. Attorney Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Eiseman.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth, Sorensen Visit Rock Island Arsenal to Reinforce Support for Local Servicemembers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    October 10, 2024

    [ROCK ISLAND, IL] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), and U.S. Representative Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17) today visited Rock Island Arsenal to discuss current manufacturing operations and how Congress can continue to support the Arsenal. Duckworth and Sorensen met Arsenal Leadership, including LTG Mark Landes, Commanding General, First Army, BG John “Brad” Hinson, Army Sustainment Command and COL William “Joe” Parker, III, Garrison Commander, to tour the Arsenal’s Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center and learn about their metal manufacturing operations.

    “Rock Island Arsenal plays an important role in the strength of both our national security and the Quad Cities community,” Duckworth said. “I’m glad to have the opportunity to see how the Arsenal’s expertise and resources are helping protect our nation and keep the region’s economy strong. I’ll keep working with Congressman Sorensen to ensure the men and women of Rock Island Arsenal have the support they need and that the Arsenal can succeed for years to come.”

    “The Rock Island Arsenal, and the brave men and women that work there, help make the Quad Cities community such a special place to live in,” Sorensen said. “I was honored to join Senator Duckworth and the Arsenal’s leadership in touring the facility and talking about ways we can work together to create more jobs and strengthen its operations. The Arsenal has always been an important part of how we keep our nation safe, and I will always work hard with Senator Duckworth to bring resources from Washington back home to support the Arsenal’s work.” 

    As a member of SASC, Duckworth has helped secure critical resources for Rock Island Arsenal and the surrounding communities through the yearly National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In this year’s Senate-passed NDAA, Duckworth secured provisions to allow the Department of Defense to make grants to local communities to improve infrastructure around military bases that benefit local communities, like those surrounding Rock Island Arsenal. In the Fiscal Year 2022 NDAA Duckworth secured $14 million for the Arsenal to support Army’s development of additive manufacturing capabilities in austere operating environments, and another $75 million in the FY 2020 NDAA for eligible projects near the Arsenal that would improve military value and enhance the lives of servicemembers who live in the surrounding communities.

    Last month, Duckworth helped announce more than $11 million in federal funding to support the rehabilitation of critical bridge access to Rock Island Arsenal. This funding was awarded as one of fourteen Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP) grants from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: During Children’s Health Month, NH Delegation Applauds More Than $19 Million to Protect Children from Lead Poisoning

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH)

    The New Hampshire delegation applauded the announcement of more than $19 million headed to New Hampshire from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Lead Hazard Reduction Grant program to help protect families with small children from the dangers of lead-based paint exposure. Specifically, the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority is receiving $7.75 million, the City of Nashua is receiving $7.7 million, and Sullivan County is receiving $4 million through the grant program.

    “The health of our children must always be a top priority, and protecting them from lead and other hazardous materials is essential in this effort,” said Congressman Pappas. “These funds will help New Hampshire families address lead-based paint and other health issues within our older housing supply to ensure our kids can grow up in a safe environment. I’ll continue working to address the needs of our children, families, and communities.”

    “Lead-based paint poses a serious health threat to children, and in states like New Hampshire where many of our neighborhoods have older housing stock, we must make every effort to protect families,” said Senator Shaheen. “This federal funding will help protect Granite State children from lead poisoning and exposure to other dangerous contaminants in their homes.”

    “New Hampshire’s children need safe places to live in order to thrive, but lead-based paint in older homes continues to jeopardize their health and development,” said Senator Hassan. “This federal funding to fix homes with lead paint is not only an important investment in the health of our children, but it also will preserve access to affordable housing in New Hampshire – giving more Granite Staters the safe homes and communities that they deserve.”

    “The science is clear: there is no safe amount of lead exposure—particularly for young children,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “I’m pleased to join the rest of the delegation in welcoming these resources heading to Nashua, Bedford, and Newport to help remediate older homes and apartments that contain lead paint and protect our communities from hazardous chemicals.”

    The bipartisan infrastructure law, which the full delegation supported, invested a historic $15 billion to identify and replace lead service lines.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Arrington Introduces Resolution Exposing Kamala Harris’ Disastrous Energy Policies

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19)

    Washington, D.C. – House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) introduced a resolution “strongly condemning Vice President Kamala Harris for championing policies that would exacerbate the national debt and reduce energy independence.”

    “Issuing 250 anti-energy executive orders, the Biden-Harris Administration led a whole-of-government attack on the oil and gas industry – an industry that employs 10 million people and accounts for almost 10 percent of our total economy – which have resulted in higher gas prices, a weaker economy, and more dependence on foreign sources of fuel,” said Chairman Arrington. “A Kamala Harris presidency would be much worse. As Senator, she was an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal, which would cost the federal government $93 trillion over 10 years and increase annual household energy costs by 31%. As a presidential candidate, she advocated to ban fracking, and, as Vice President, supported an $800 billion dollar EV mandate. I introduced this legislation to remind the American people that Kamala Harris’ energy policies would be disastrous for the American economy, threaten our energy and national security, and significantly increase energy costs for American consumers.” 

    “From day one, the Biden–Harris administration has been obsessed with banning gas stoves, gas cars, and other sources of clean, affordable energy—no matter the cost for families,” said Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President, Heritage Action. “Americans shouldn’t forget: Vice President Kamala Harris is a vocal supporter of radical ‘Green New Deal’ policies that lower energy efficiency and drive up costs. Conservatives in Congress must follow Rep. Arrington’s lead and continue to call out Harris’s climate alarmist agenda and fight back against her war on American energy independence.”  

    Background:

    Chairman Arrington’s resolution lays out:

    • The Federal Government has a debt of $35 trillion, amounting to a 120 percent debt-to-gross domestic product ratio not seen since World War II;
    • Energy independence and security in the United States is critical to the national security of the United States;
    • In 2019, then-Senator from California, Kamala Harris, was an original cosponsor of S. Res. 59, a resolution recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal, a proposal which, if implemented in its entirety, would cost the Federal Government $93,000,000,000,000 over 10 years;
    • A July 2019 analysis found that through 2040, the Green New Deal would reduce the annual employment in the United States by 1,200,000, reduce average annual household incomes by $7,964, and increase annual household energy costs by 31-percent, while having a negligible effect on reducing global surface temperatures;
    • Then-Senator Harris, as a candidate for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination, proposed her own climate plan that would cost American taxpayers approximately $10,000,000,000,000 over 10 years; 
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan called for a 100 percent electric vehicle mandate by the year 2035, banning combustion-engine vehicles, reducing automotive supply employment, and becoming more reliable on battery component and critical mineral imports from China;
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan would significantly increase energy costs for consumers in the United States by banning extraction on Federal lands and phasing out all oil and natural gas production, even if renewable alternatives are not readily available to make up the energy demand needs of the United States;
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan would double the financial contributions of the United States to the international Green Climate Fund;
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan calls for the Federal Government to acquire millions of acres of private land in the United States; and
    • Then-Senator Harris said during a CNN town hall that she was ‘‘in favor of banning fracking.’’

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: TD Bank Pleads Guilty to Bank Secrecy Act and Money Laundering Conspiracy Violations in $1.8B Resolution

    Source: US State of Vermont

    WASHINGTON — TD Bank N.A. (TDBNA), the 10th largest bank in the United States, and its parent company TD Bank US Holding Company (TDBUSH) (together with TDBNA, TD Bank) pleaded guilty today and agreed to pay over $1.8 billion in penalties to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and money laundering. 

    TDBNA pleaded guilty to conspiring to fail to maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program that complies with the BSA, fail to file accurate Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), and launder money. TDBUSH pleaded guilty to causing TDBNA to fail to maintain an AML program that complies with the BSA and to fail to file accurate CTRs.

    TD Bank’s guilty pleas are part of a coordinated resolution with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), as well as the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

    “By making its services convenient for criminals, TD Bank became one,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today, TD Bank also became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first US bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. TD Bank chose profits over compliance with the law — a decision that is now costing the bank billions of dollars in penalties. Let me be clear: our investigation continues, and no individual involved in TD Bank’s illegal conduct is off limits.”

    “For years, TD Bank starved its compliance program of the resources needed to obey the law. Today’s historic guilty plea, including the largest penalty ever imposed under the Bank Secrecy Act, offers an unmistakable lesson: crime doesn’t pay — and neither does flouting compliance,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Every bank compliance official in America should be reviewing today’s charges as a case study of what not to do. And every bank CEO and board member should be doing the same. Because if the business case for compliance wasn’t clear before — it should be now.”

    “For nearly a decade, TD Bank failed to update its anti-money laundering compliance program to address known risks. As bank employees acknowledged in internal communications, these failures made the bank an ‘easy target’ for the ‘bad guys.’ These failures also allowed corrupt bank employees to facilitate a criminal network’s laundering of tens of millions of dollars,” said Principal Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “U.S. financial institutions are the first line of defense against money laundering and illicit finance. When they participate in crime rather than prevent it, we will not hesitate to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” 

    “TD Bank prioritized growth and convenience over following its legal obligations,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “As a result of staggering and pervasive failures in oversight, it willfully failed to monitor trillions of dollars of transactions – including those involving ACH transactions, checks, high-risk countries, and peer-to-peer transactions – which allowed hundreds of millions of dollars from money laundering networks to flow through the bank, including for international drug traffickers. The bank was aware of these risks and failed to take steps to protect against them, including for two networks prosecuted in New Jersey and elsewhere – one that dumped piles of cash on the bank’s counters and another that allegedly withdrew amounts from ATMs 40 to 50 times higher than the daily limit for personal accounts.”

    According to court documents, between January 2014 and October 2023, TD Bank had long-term, pervasive, and systemic deficiencies in its U.S. AML policies, procedures, and controls but failed to take appropriate remedial action. Instead, senior executives at TD Bank enforced a budget mandate, referred to internally as a “flat cost paradigm,” requiring that TD Bank’s budget not increase year-over-year, despite its profits and risk profile increasing significantly over the same period. Although TD Bank maintained elements of an AML program that appeared adequate on paper, fundamental, widespread flaws in its AML program made TD Bank an “easy target” for perpetrators of financial crime.

    Over the last decade, TD Bank’s federal regulators and TD Bank’s own internal audit group repeatedly identified concerns about its transaction monitoring program, a key element of an appropriate AML program necessary to properly detect and report suspicious activities. Nonetheless, from 2014 through 2022, TD Bank’s transaction monitoring program remained effectively static, and did not adapt to address known, glaring deficiencies; emerging money laundering risks; or TD Bank’s new products and services. For years, TD Bank failed to appropriately fund and staff its AML program, opting to postpone and cancel necessary AML projects prioritizing a “flat cost paradigm” and the “customer experience.”

    Throughout this time, TD Bank intentionally did not automatically monitor all domestic automated clearinghouse (ACH) transactions, most check activity, and numerous other transaction types, resulting in 92% of total transaction volume going unmonitored from Jan. 1, 2018, to April 12, 2024. This amounted to approximately $18.3 trillion of transaction activity. TD Bank also added no new transaction monitoring scenarios and made no material changes to existing transaction monitoring scenarios from at least 2014 through late 2022; implemented new products and services, like Zelle, without ensuring appropriate transaction monitoring coverage; failed to meaningfully monitor transactions involving high-risk countries; instructed stores to stop filing internal unusual transaction reports on certain suspicious customers; and permitted more than $5 billion in transactional activity to occur in accounts even after the bank decided to close them.

    TD Bank’s AML failures made it “convenient” for criminals, in the words of its employees. These failures enabled three money laundering networks to collectively transfer more than $670 million through TD Bank accounts between 2019 and 2023. Between January 2018 and February 2021, one money laundering network processed more than $470 million through the bank through large cash deposits into nominee accounts. The operators of this scheme provided employees gift cards worth more than $57,000 to ensure employees would continue to process their transactions. And even though the operators of this scheme were clearly depositing cash well over $10,000 in suspicious transactions, TD Bank employees did not identify the conductor of the transaction in required reports. In a second scheme between March 2021 and March 2023, a high-risk jewelry business moved nearly $120 million through shell accounts before TD Bank reported the activity. In a third scheme, money laundering networks deposited funds in the United States and quickly withdrew those funds using ATMs in Colombia. Five TD Bank employees conspired with this network and issued dozens of ATM cards for the money launderers, ultimately conspiring in the laundering of approximately $39 million. The Justice Department has charged over two dozen individuals across these schemes, including two bank insiders. TD Bank’s plea agreement requires continued cooperation in ongoing investigations of individuals.

    As part of the plea agreement, TD Bank has agreed to forfeit $452,432,302.00 and pay a criminal fine of $1,434,513,478.40, for a total financial penalty of $1,886,945,780.40. TD Bank has also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for three years and to remediate and enhance its AML compliance program. TD Bank has separately reached agreements with the FRB, OCC, and FinCEN, and the Justice Department will credit $123.5 million of the forfeiture toward the FRB’s resolution.

    The Justice Department reached its resolution with TD Bank based on a number of factors, including the nature, seriousness, and pervasiveness of the offenses, as a result of which TD Bank became the bank of choice for multiple money laundering organizations and criminal actors and processed hundreds of millions of dollars in money laundering transactions. Although TD Bank did not voluntarily disclose its wrongdoing, it received partial credit for its strong cooperation with the Department’s investigation and the ongoing remediation of its AML program. TD Bank did not receive full credit for its cooperation because it failed to timely escalate relevant AML concerns to the Department during the investigation. Accordingly, the total criminal penalty reflects a 20% reduction based on the bank’s partial cooperation and remediation.

    IRS Criminal Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, and Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. The Morristown Police Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and New York City Police Department provided substantial assistance.

    Trial Attorneys D. Zachary Adams and Chelsea R. Rooney of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. Pesce and Angelica Sinopole for the District of New Jersey prosecuted the case.

    MLARS’ Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers, and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system. Since its creation in 2010, the Bank Integrity Unit has prosecuted financial institutions for violations of the BSA, money laundering, sanctions, and other laws, imposing total penalties of over $25 billion.

    This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Breaking into Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University and Destroying Property

    Source: US State of Vermont

    A New Jersey man pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and destroying property.

    “This defendant is being held accountable for Islamophobic-fueled acts of hate, interfering with the religious freedom of university students and staff during a sacred holiday for those of the Islamic faith,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department stands ready, along with our state and local partners, to hold accountable people who use force, or threats of violence, in order to intimidate people from exercising their religious beliefs. Islamophobic hate crimes have no place in our society today. We will continue to enforce the laws that make it safe for people of all faiths to engage in religious observance, including at educational institutions.”   

    “The free exercise of religion is a fundamental right of all Americans,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “Jacob Beacher admitted he intentionally broke into the Center for Islamic Life during the holy Eid-al-Fitr holiday and damaged and destroyed religious artifacts because of the Islamic faith of those associated with the facility. This office will not tolerate the use of force or threats to intimidate people and put them in fear of worshipping as they see fit.”

    “When we learned of this vandalism back in April, we immediately engaged with our law enforcement partners and Rutgers University,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado of the FBI Newark Field Office. “Within days, we tracked down and arrested Beacher. We want our actions and the speed with which we responded to illustrate our commitment and resolve to protect houses of worship in New Jersey. We all have the right to practice whatever religion we choose, without fear of hate marring the physical and spiritual place where we do it.”

    According to court documents, on or about April 10, at approximately 2:39 a.m., during the Eid- al-Fitr holiday, video surveillance footage showed Jacob Beacher, 24, walking toward the rear door of the CILRU. Soon after, at approximately 2:41 a.m., an intruder, later determined to be Beacher, forcibly entered the CILRU through its back door. Specifically, Beacher broke a glass pane on the door, pushed through a piece of plexiglass that was affixed to the interior side of the door and then manually opened the door from the inside by reaching through the broken glass to unlatch a deadbolt lock.

    Once inside the CILRU, Beacher damaged the CILRU’s property, including several religious artifacts, such as Turbah prayer stones and numerous items that contained holy language from the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred scripture. Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and at least one charity box belonging to the CILRU.

    A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a later date. Beacher faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Newark Field Office, Branchburg Resident Agency, New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Rutgers University Police Department-New Brunswick Division and New Jersey Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Levin and R. Joseph Gribko for the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Update on Potential IV Fluid Shortage in New York State

    Source: US State of New York

    Governor Kathy Hochul today issued an update on the State’s response to the potential disruption of intravenous fluid supply in New York State following the impact of Hurricane Helene. While there is no official shortage of IV fluid in New York State at this time, the State is actively coordinating with federal officials and local health officials to assess the impact of any current or future disruption. As this situation develops, the State stands ready to receive additional supplies of IV fluids that may be procured by the federal government based on local needs. Additionally, the State will continue to closely monitor this situation following any additional issues that may result from the impact of Hurricane Milton.

    “The safety and wellbeing of New Yorkers is my top priority – and I’m closely monitoring the supply of IV fluids in our state,” Governor Hochul said. “Our administration will work with the federal government, local counties and health care facilities across the State to ensure our medical supply needs are maintained.”

    State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “The State Health Department is working hard to ensure facilities are able to provide vital, lifesaving care amid this potential nationwide shortage of IV fluids. By issuing this guidance, we are ensuring the current supplies of IV fluids are available for the most critical patients until the supply chain is stabilized.”

    The current disruption to the IV fluid supply chain has been caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which forced the closure of the Baxter plant in Marion, North Carolina. Baxter is working with the federal government to manage their inventory and minimize supply disruption as they work to fully restore their manufacturing operations. Baxter supplies upwards of 60 percent of IV fluids used in the United States, including in New York State.

    The New York State Department of Health issued guidance on October 9, 2024 to health care providers statewide as part of a multifaceted response to limitations on shipments of intravenous fluid (IV) as a result of the impact of Hurricane Helene. Guidance has been distributed to hospitals and diagnostic and treatment centers, including ambulatory surgery centers and end stage renal disease facilities and clinics; long-term care facilities including nursing homes, adult care facilities and home care and hospice providers; and emergency medical services.

    While there is no official shortage in New York State at this time, these entities are being asked to adopt proactive strategies to conserve IV fluid to ensure available stock is used effectively and efficiently.

    In addition to providing guidance, the State Department of Health is gathering information from providers to assess provider supply status and identify critical needs.

    The State Department of Health is also coordinating with organizations that represent health care facilities to ensure that it has a complete picture of the situation. In addition to this, the Department has implemented its incident command system in response to this situation which allows expedited response and coordination activities to take place.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Transcript: World Mental Health Day Festival

    Source: US State of New York

    Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul participated in a fireside chat at The Project Healthy Minds World Mental Health Day Festival. World Mental Health Day was established on October 10, 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health. Since then, it has been observed every year with the aim of raising awareness in the global community about critical mental health agendas through collaboration with various partners to take action and create lasting change.

    VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and available in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

    AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.

    PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor’s Flickr page.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: Good morning, everyone. Good morning, and thank you so much for joining us on this World Mental Health Day. We are excited to have this conversation with regard to mental health — America’s fraying social fabric — which is such a necessary and worthwhile conversation to have. And we are so glad to have with us Kathy Hochul, the 57th Governor of New York — first female Governor of New York.

    Governor Hochul: Yes. Thank you, everybody.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And not only do we have in her an advocate when it comes to mental health reform, but also with abortion rights and gun safety and beyond. But in particular, today we’re going to really talk about the status of mental health when it comes to our youth both in the State of New York and beyond, because a number of the initiatives that you’ve actually started are really a model that the rest of the country is looking at and implementing. And so, we just thank you so much for taking the time to have this really critical and necessary conversation.

    You know, it’s been said that if you’re not afraid, you’re not paying attention. And I think that is certainly true of these times when we think about — whether it’s natural disasters or the global conflict in Ukraine or Israel, and the slightly contentious election for President that we’re in the midst of — but all of these have ramifications when it comes to our young people. And I want to get to that larger crisis that’s taking place, but first I want to talk about — further compounding all of this — is that there are still lingering effects from COVID-19.

    Governor Hochul: That’s exactly right. I would put that at the top of the list of what maybe precipitated this unusual time in our history where we’re finding that childhood is no longer a time of joy. It is enormously stressful. And to see kids in middle school and high school in particular that are really devolving into a dark place — and this is not from me reading books. This is from me spending two years on the road convening young people in libraries and classrooms and different community centers all over the State, and asking them what’s going on. Why are these statistics that we’re seeing about — particularly young women contemplating suicide and actually following through with it — happening? The depression, the anxiety — all these parallel factors are going on at a time when people are not recovered from the pandemic.

    And I say that to adults and they don’t even think about it anymore because their resiliency was baked into them. As adults, you’ve been through a lot. When you are a 12-year-old or a 16-year-old, you don’t have those natural coping skills. And those kids today are still talking about the pandemic that we have put in the rear view mirror.

    But parallel with that was the rise in social media algorithms that are addictive. So, this was the imperfect storm that — the collision of which — has affected the mental health of our kids, and we have to do something about it because we’re the adults in the room, we’re the adults in their lives and they’re asking us, as one young woman said to me, “You have to save us from ourselves. We cannot put down the phones, we cannot break the addiction.” And I have to do something. I’m the first woman governor, but also I’m the first mom governor whose kids have gone through this, and I see so many family members and so, I applaud you. And also Project Healthy Mind for putting a spotlight on something that four or five years ago I don’t think there would have been as much interest in, but now even the Surgeon General has declared this a crisis. And we, in leadership positions, have no option but to act, and I’ve been doing this for years.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And when you talk about the stress, anxiety, uncertainty in particular that kids are feeling — give us an idea of some of the initiatives, some of the specific steps that your administration is taking.

    Governor Hochul: Well, number one, when I first became governor three years ago, I knew that there’s still a stigma about seeking help. I mean, I’ve been working on this in the addictive space — opioid addiction — and so people don’t want to get help. Mental health, it seems like you’re admitting a weakness if you seek help. I’m glad to see there’s been an evolution where more people are open about it and talking about it on social media platforms and podcasts, and programs like this that allow people to feel more comfortable with the fact that we’re all imperfect. Sometimes we need help at different points in our lives. But when it came down to what I could do as governor — $1 billion I put on the table. I said, “This means we’re serious.” The whole array of services, whether it’s in schools — which I think is one of the most important places [for there to be] mental health services and clinics inside our schools — to help kids who are starting to show signs of fraying from the stress. If we help them now, we don’t have to commit them to a lifetime of needing services and help later. So, it’s right in the classroom, all the way to dealing with the challenge of homelessness and mental health challenges on our subways — we have embedded teams that are professionals, they’re caring, I’ve met with them so many times, I’ve been there with them — they meet individuals who others may walk by and be afraid of and say, “You know, that person could do harm to myself or my baby in the stroller. I’m a senior citizen going to a doctor’s appointment.” There’s a fear that’s embedded in all of us when you see something that is unknown to you.

    So, let’s get people help. They do not deserve to live on the subways and in our streets; we get them supportive housing so there’s money involved in that as well; opening up more mental health beds.

    During the pandemic — people don’t know this — thousands of beds dedicated for providing mental health services in our hospitals were converted to COVID beds. And then afterward I said, “Well, why aren’t they all back online? I’m tracking the numbers. Why do we have such a shortage in places like New York City? Why is there a shortage of hospital beds available to treat people who need these services?” Well, it turns out that the reimbursement rates were higher for a hospital, more profit could be made if you kept them as non-psychiatric beds because those costs are higher.

    So I said, “That’s not okay.” I closed the gap so they can make the money they need to make on Medicaid provided beds, so that was taken care of. And also making those — bringing them back online. So it’s everything from the classroom to reducing the stigma in countless ways, programs like this, money for programming and supportive services.

    Everything we can think of, we’re trying to do. But my job is to make sure we don’t start another whole generation of young people who are held captive to these algorithms. We have nation leading legislation, and I’ll tell you, taking on the tech companies is not the easiest thing in life to do, but we forced them to adhere to what we’re saying in New York.

    In New York State, as a result of laws that I enacted just a few months ago and with the support of Common Sense Media and other great organizations and our advocates, no longer can social media companies unsolicited — and bombard young people with addictive algorithms without them asking for it. Their parents have to be okay with that. I don’t think too many parents are going to say that’s okay.

    They also cannot send notifications all night long to our kids who need a good night’s sleep. They’re exhausted. You don’t function at a high level as an adult, but certainly not a young person supposed to sit for eight hours a day and be paying attention when you haven’t slept at night because you cannot put down that addictive feature, which is your phone.

    And so that’s where we are now, and again, talking about what’s happening in schools. Stood up to the social media companies. We are a tech society. We are a tech state. We’re a tech city. I welcome the tech companies. This is not an ‘us against them,’ it is saying, “You know better. You are all executives who probably have children. Do you really want your kids to be seeing these dark images and being drawn into places?”

    You put in the word ‘suicide,’ it’s not teaching you how to get help and supportive and uplifting messages to help you heal, it teaches you how to commit suicide. That’s what I’m talking about. There are messages that are not appropriate for young people.

    They can, on their own, go to social media sites, but don’t be taking personal information you have collected about a child that you have gathered, and now use that to hold them captive. That’s the cycle we’re going to break here in the State of New York, and I hope every other state follows suit.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And these are, as you’ve said — yes, there’s applause there — first in the nation social media laws that you are taking to protect our children. But beyond that, you just finished a listening tour with regard to — I guess, that has informed some of your decisions to try to have this initiative to ban cell phones in schools. I’m curious what made you decide, “You know what, we have to do this,” and what has been the reaction, the feedback that you’ve been getting?

    Governor Hochul: Great question. Again, I wanted to hear from parents, teachers, students themselves, administrators, school boards, principals, everybody. So, these are the people I’ve been gathering.

    And what I have universally heard is that school districts and school boards don’t want to be the heavies. They know this should happen, and those who are courageous enough to go forward already, and some school districts have, I know Lackawanna in Western New York, where I was born in the City of Lackawanna, they’ve done it; there’s a number in Westchester; Schoharie County was the first that I could think of that had a widespread unveiling of this. They said it was hard at first, and parents were resistant. Teachers didn’t know what would happen, they didn’t want to be the cell phone police, they wanted to just teach. But they are the happiest school district in our state — I’m going to go out on a limb here. Because the school superintendent said to me, “We heard something we haven’t heard in years, children’s voices – children’s voices at lunch, physical education, in the hallways.”

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: They’re actually interacting with each other.

    Governor Hochul: They’re talking, they’re sometimes yelling at each other. Sometimes there’s things — he says, “They’re not always friendly.” But he says, “And they’re making eye contact with each other.” I mean, think about what happens when you spend your day like this. You lose those human interaction skills that we expect young people to graduate from school having developed. And what happens to an 18-year-old, who does not have that because we’ve allowed this phenomenon and this distraction all day long. And they don’t develop that. When they go to a workplace, they want to get a job at Hudson Yards and be part of a team and, and the creative collisions that come up with the brilliant ideas that New York City is known for. It’s not going to happen because we’ve not allowed them to emerge as fully functioning adults by letting this distraction – And teachers, I’ll tell you, when I say distraction — 74 percent of teachers in the United States of America say this is such a distraction they want them gone because they’re in competition. One teacher said, “I don’t even want to teach anymore. I’m in competition with this cell phone, and they’re not looking at me, they’re not paying attention. I’m trying to create a bond and a relationship with them. And I, by the end of this school year, I’ve thrown in the towel, I can’t do this anymore.” So the teachers want it. School districts want me to be the heavy. I said, “I get blamed for everything anyhow, just add it to the list, right?” It’s like, “I can take it, don’t worry about me.” So I said, “I’ll be the heavy because this is right.”

    The parents are the ones you worry about, right? And I’m a mom. My kids were in middle school during Columbine. So that shapes how you feel, that insecurity when the most, you know, your most precious person in the world to you is your child going off to kindergarten. And again, I still sometimes think about how I cried for days when my kid’s going off to kindergarten. Then they go off to college, it’s like, bye, give us a call once in a while.

    So, but, it’s hard. And when you see this — the shootings, the mass shootings, we did an event with Gabby Giffords yesterday on gun violence, and thank you for raising that. We have the toughest gun laws in the country, by the way, and the lowest — third lowest homicide rate by the — third lowest in the nation. So that’s another focus, but it ties into anxiety that parents have and they feel now that because they have to be connected with their kids all day long and, and especially if there’s a crisis on the school grounds. There’s the worst nightmare of all: a school shooter on the loose near your child. I also was thinking, well, maybe this is going be too hard for parents because, you know, it’s a lot to ask and they’re going to be worried.

    When I talk to law enforcement, and they said to me, “Tell the parents and we’ll tell them — if there is an active shooter on the grounds, in the building — the last thing you want your child to be doing is looking for their cell phone, starting to record things, talking to their friends, calling their parents.” He said, “They need to be focused on the adult in the room who will lead them to safety.” And that was my aha moment. I said, “You’re right. Parents need to know that.” So, there’s that safety issue, but also, my kids are adults now. They didn’t have cellphones in school. They’re — it did not happen during their era. Our job is not to raise kids. Our job is to raise adults. Fully functioning adults who know how to interact with others, who are not so attached to their parents every hour of the day throughout school. At some point, you do have to cut the cord. The apron strings as they used to say. No one knows what an apron is anymore, so I don’t say that. I had to make one at Home Ec because they wouldn’t teach us real skills, okay? I wanted to work on cars, with the guys in the shop, but they didn’t let us, okay? So, you have to cut the ties at some point.

    And one first grade teacher said to me, and I love talking to teachers, she says, “I’m fed up with the fact that every child, every six-year-old in my first grade class, has a smartwatch on that the parents send so they can be in touch with their child throughout the day, and they’re like, ‘Oh, the teacher was mean to me, Mommy.’”

    They said they’re getting phone calls from parents: “‘I just got sent to the office.’ Why are you sending my little girl to the office?” So, it’s not functioning. And so, parents, I know it’s hard because you need to go back to a time when you grew up, your parents did not keep track of you all day long. You did not have them as a crutch. And my God, if you forgot your lunch, two options: Borrow one of your friends, see if you can share a sandwich, or the next day, don’t forget. And you won’t forget the next day, right? Oh, because I hear that. “What if they forget their lunch? What if they have to make their after school plans?” Well, we’ll give them the phone back after school and maybe they’ll learn the skill of pre-planning their day. So, I want them to learn coping skills, resiliency and emerge as part of our New York State workforce — fully functioning — and we are the barriers because we’re not being the heavies and saying no, and that’s the path I’m on. I have to work with our Legislature. I have to do a lot more education on this because it’s a change. But, none of us had it and we turned out okay, right?

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: I want to switch gears here for a minute because we are talking about — obviously, in the news — the devastation from Hurricane Milton, and when it comes to national disaster relief, quite often we’re talking about money to build homes and jobs back again, food and all of that. But, when it comes to mental health assistance, what do you think the role of the state and federal government is at that point?

    Governor Hochul: They’re absolutely right about the devastation — so many New Yorkers have a connection to Florida, right? My father’s home, my sister’s home, my brother’s home and my aunt’s home — all in St. Petersburg, heavily damaged. My aunt’s home was already demolished two weeks ago. So, we have connections that are tighter than most other states, so I immediately sent our resources. I said, “Tell the governor we’re on our way.” And, we sent helicopters, search and rescue — 65 people are down there now, we’ll send more.

    So, there’s that side of it, but the trauma inflicted on a community after an event like this is something we cannot overlook. This is like a community that has gone through a mass shooting. I refer back to Buffalo again. We had to provide mental health services to the survivors of the Tops shooting when ten people were gunned down and slaughtered in a grocery store in 2022 because of the color of their skin, and that’s what that white supremacist 18-year-old said he was going to do.

    That community is trying to heal, but you need to provide services so we went in, our mental health teams went in to help them heal. The same thing should happen in communities where you see these people sobbing, standing their whole — everything they’ve built their whole lives, the baby pictures are in a puddle on the street and their wedding album and their clothes.

    It is so hard to see your whole life wiped away, and if we don’t think that has an effect on your mental health and your sense of security forever, then we are wrong. So, we need to be more intentional and provide resources to local social service agencies and say, “Once the storm is cleaned up, don’t assume their lives are cleaned up — that they’re back to normal.” And so, being sensitive to that in government is the smart way to do it. These people need our help and that’s what government is there to do.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And we’re just about out of time, but I do want to ask one last question — which I think is a large overarching issue — which is, how do you destigmatize the idea of mental health? Because, a lot of people still — there is a fear or an embarrassment that I need a little help. I need to talk to somebody about this.

    Governor Hochul: That’s when you get the validators that people trust. It’s the hip hop artists, it’s the athletes, it’s the people that, people are watching their — I watch “Only Murders in the Building.” I mean, is that building actually here? I can’t find it. I keep walking around.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: I think it’s on the Upper West Side.

    Governor Hochul: Okay, I keep walking around trying to find it. I walk around the City all the time. No one knows it’s me, because I can put on a baseball hat and jeans and no one knows who I am, so it’s great. So, I’m always walking around doing things.

    But, more people who do that — I think because we are a society that’s impacted by influencers— Taylor Swift talks about it. I think that’s an important part of it because it’s really hard to break out of that, especially for men, I believe. But I’m really proud of even family members who say, “I have my weekly check in telehealth services with my therapist.” like, thank you. That’s smart, and tell your other friends you’re doing that.

    And I do think that the telehealth services help destigmatize. You don’t have to get up and go into an office and sit in a waiting room, and you might know somebody and you’re all kind of like — I think that’s a brilliant innovation that creates accessibility, even on your cell phone. I’ve got my appointment, I can talk to somebody.

    So, it has gotten much easier and stigma is a powerful negative force on people who should be seeking help. Whether it’s from fentanyl addiction, or opioid addiction. I did commercials on this when I was Lieutenant Governor, trying to destigmatize getting help for those addictions and services that are provided.

    Same thing with mental health. So, there’s not one answer, but forums like this, sharing information — I just talked about mental health on a podcast not long ago, and it’s getting out there. So, I will do my role. Anything I can do in state government, you know. Whether it’s public awareness campaigns, we always are doing this, but I’m open to ideas. I really am.

    We don’t have all the answers, and I want to be helpful. I want to be not just investing, the government investing the most money ever, but having the best results. And it is my state where people dealt with the epicenter of the pandemic, we have to recognize that.

    And we’re the ones who are very anxious about crime. I can tell everybody in the whole City that the crime rates, the murder rate in New York City is almost as low as it was in the 1960s. We have plummeted. Shootings are way down — but I can’t tell you to feel good about that. And that’s what we wrestle with. I want to change the psychology around this and it’s hard, but we have to take it on and say, “I want people to feel good about the City.” Not just, “I’m supposed to feel better because the numbers are down.” I don’t expect that. What I want to do is make people feel that they’re safer, that their kids are going to be okay. And just try to remove some of the stress that is part of everyday life here, because this is an extraordinary place.

    And the benefits so outweigh the negative, and we have to keep focusing on the positive — because life is good. And people sometimes just need a little bit of help, and pulling them upwards and letting them grow. Letting them just really flourish, you know? And mental health is such an important part, it’s the foundation of everything. It’s everything.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: Well, I think that forums like this, conversations like this, are so helpful. And step one, two three, right? Just to talk about it.

    And we appreciate so much you taking this time — your leadership and the initiatives that you have in order to try to make things better in particular, not just for us, but for our youth. And by extension of our youth, for all of us as the adults. So, we thank you so much. And we thank all of you for being such very intensive listeners today.

    And we do want to remind everybody here — I say it to you as I say it to myself as well, that we have to keep mental health top of mind, right? That is just as important as any other aspect of our wellness.

    And so, again, on this mental health day. We just thank you all so much for taking the time to be together.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: TD Bank Pleads Guilty to Bank Secrecy Act and Money Laundering Conspiracy Violations in $1.8B Resolution

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    WASHINGTON — TD Bank N.A. (TDBNA), the 10th largest bank in the United States, and its parent company TD Bank US Holding Company (TDBUSH) (together with TDBNA, TD Bank) pleaded guilty today and agreed to pay over $1.8 billion in penalties to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and money laundering. 

    TDBNA pleaded guilty to conspiring to fail to maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program that complies with the BSA, fail to file accurate Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), and launder money. TDBUSH pleaded guilty to causing TDBNA to fail to maintain an AML program that complies with the BSA and to fail to file accurate CTRs.

    TD Bank’s guilty pleas are part of a coordinated resolution with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), as well as the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

    “By making its services convenient for criminals, TD Bank became one,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today, TD Bank also became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first US bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. TD Bank chose profits over compliance with the law — a decision that is now costing the bank billions of dollars in penalties. Let me be clear: our investigation continues, and no individual involved in TD Bank’s illegal conduct is off limits.”

    “For years, TD Bank starved its compliance program of the resources needed to obey the law. Today’s historic guilty plea, including the largest penalty ever imposed under the Bank Secrecy Act, offers an unmistakable lesson: crime doesn’t pay — and neither does flouting compliance,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Every bank compliance official in America should be reviewing today’s charges as a case study of what not to do. And every bank CEO and board member should be doing the same. Because if the business case for compliance wasn’t clear before — it should be now.”

    “For nearly a decade, TD Bank failed to update its anti-money laundering compliance program to address known risks. As bank employees acknowledged in internal communications, these failures made the bank an ‘easy target’ for the ‘bad guys.’ These failures also allowed corrupt bank employees to facilitate a criminal network’s laundering of tens of millions of dollars,” said Principal Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “U.S. financial institutions are the first line of defense against money laundering and illicit finance. When they participate in crime rather than prevent it, we will not hesitate to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” 

    “TD Bank prioritized growth and convenience over following its legal obligations,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “As a result of staggering and pervasive failures in oversight, it willfully failed to monitor trillions of dollars of transactions – including those involving ACH transactions, checks, high-risk countries, and peer-to-peer transactions – which allowed hundreds of millions of dollars from money laundering networks to flow through the bank, including for international drug traffickers. The bank was aware of these risks and failed to take steps to protect against them, including for two networks prosecuted in New Jersey and elsewhere – one that dumped piles of cash on the bank’s counters and another that allegedly withdrew amounts from ATMs 40 to 50 times higher than the daily limit for personal accounts.”

    According to court documents, between January 2014 and October 2023, TD Bank had long-term, pervasive, and systemic deficiencies in its U.S. AML policies, procedures, and controls but failed to take appropriate remedial action. Instead, senior executives at TD Bank enforced a budget mandate, referred to internally as a “flat cost paradigm,” requiring that TD Bank’s budget not increase year-over-year, despite its profits and risk profile increasing significantly over the same period. Although TD Bank maintained elements of an AML program that appeared adequate on paper, fundamental, widespread flaws in its AML program made TD Bank an “easy target” for perpetrators of financial crime.

    Over the last decade, TD Bank’s federal regulators and TD Bank’s own internal audit group repeatedly identified concerns about its transaction monitoring program, a key element of an appropriate AML program necessary to properly detect and report suspicious activities. Nonetheless, from 2014 through 2022, TD Bank’s transaction monitoring program remained effectively static, and did not adapt to address known, glaring deficiencies; emerging money laundering risks; or TD Bank’s new products and services. For years, TD Bank failed to appropriately fund and staff its AML program, opting to postpone and cancel necessary AML projects prioritizing a “flat cost paradigm” and the “customer experience.”

    Throughout this time, TD Bank intentionally did not automatically monitor all domestic automated clearinghouse (ACH) transactions, most check activity, and numerous other transaction types, resulting in 92% of total transaction volume going unmonitored from Jan. 1, 2018, to April 12, 2024. This amounted to approximately $18.3 trillion of transaction activity. TD Bank also added no new transaction monitoring scenarios and made no material changes to existing transaction monitoring scenarios from at least 2014 through late 2022; implemented new products and services, like Zelle, without ensuring appropriate transaction monitoring coverage; failed to meaningfully monitor transactions involving high-risk countries; instructed stores to stop filing internal unusual transaction reports on certain suspicious customers; and permitted more than $5 billion in transactional activity to occur in accounts even after the bank decided to close them.

    TD Bank’s AML failures made it “convenient” for criminals, in the words of its employees. These failures enabled three money laundering networks to collectively transfer more than $670 million through TD Bank accounts between 2019 and 2023. Between January 2018 and February 2021, one money laundering network processed more than $470 million through the bank through large cash deposits into nominee accounts. The operators of this scheme provided employees gift cards worth more than $57,000 to ensure employees would continue to process their transactions. And even though the operators of this scheme were clearly depositing cash well over $10,000 in suspicious transactions, TD Bank employees did not identify the conductor of the transaction in required reports. In a second scheme between March 2021 and March 2023, a high-risk jewelry business moved nearly $120 million through shell accounts before TD Bank reported the activity. In a third scheme, money laundering networks deposited funds in the United States and quickly withdrew those funds using ATMs in Colombia. Five TD Bank employees conspired with this network and issued dozens of ATM cards for the money launderers, ultimately conspiring in the laundering of approximately $39 million. The Justice Department has charged over two dozen individuals across these schemes, including two bank insiders. TD Bank’s plea agreement requires continued cooperation in ongoing investigations of individuals.

    As part of the plea agreement, TD Bank has agreed to forfeit $452,432,302.00 and pay a criminal fine of $1,434,513,478.40, for a total financial penalty of $1,886,945,780.40. TD Bank has also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for three years and to remediate and enhance its AML compliance program. TD Bank has separately reached agreements with the FRB, OCC, and FinCEN, and the Justice Department will credit $123.5 million of the forfeiture toward the FRB’s resolution.

    The Justice Department reached its resolution with TD Bank based on a number of factors, including the nature, seriousness, and pervasiveness of the offenses, as a result of which TD Bank became the bank of choice for multiple money laundering organizations and criminal actors and processed hundreds of millions of dollars in money laundering transactions. Although TD Bank did not voluntarily disclose its wrongdoing, it received partial credit for its strong cooperation with the Department’s investigation and the ongoing remediation of its AML program. TD Bank did not receive full credit for its cooperation because it failed to timely escalate relevant AML concerns to the Department during the investigation. Accordingly, the total criminal penalty reflects a 20% reduction based on the bank’s partial cooperation and remediation.

    IRS Criminal Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, and Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. The Morristown Police Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and New York City Police Department provided substantial assistance.

    Trial Attorneys D. Zachary Adams and Chelsea R. Rooney of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. Pesce and Angelica Sinopole for the District of New Jersey prosecuted the case.

    MLARS’ Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers, and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system. Since its creation in 2010, the Bank Integrity Unit has prosecuted financial institutions for violations of the BSA, money laundering, sanctions, and other laws, imposing total penalties of over $25 billion.

    This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at http://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: New Hampshire Congressional Delegation Applauds Additional $25 Million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Support Clean Drinking Water

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan
    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a lead negotiator of the water provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), alongside Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01), celebrated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of $24,898,000  in new funding for New Hampshire for drinking water infrastructure, including to identify and remove lead pipes. The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was negotiated by Senators Shaheen and Hassan, and which the full New Hampshire Congressional delegation supported. Along with the funding, EPA announced plans to replace lead pipes across the country within a decade.
    “Every Granite Stater, regardless of where they live, should have clean water running from their taps,” said Senator Shaheen, “That’s why I was proud to help lead negotiations on the water infrastructure provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—the largest single investment in water ever made by the federal government. I’m glad to see more funding headed to New Hampshire from this historic law to benefit drinking water systems in communities throughout the state.”
    “Every Granite Stater deserves access to safe, clean drinking water, and that will be possible for more families now thanks to nearly $25 million in federal funding coming to New Hampshire to replace lead pipes,” said Senator Hassan. “I helped negotiate and pass the bipartisan infrastructure law to enable projects like these, which allow our communities to thrive, and I am glad to see that the bipartisan infrastructure law continues to deliver for New Hampshire.”
    “Lead exposure poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of Granite State communities—particularly kids’ growth and development,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “With these resources made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, New Hampshire will be able to remove dangerous lead pipes and ensure more homes, schools, and businesses have access to safe, clean drinking water.”
    “Lead pipes are harmful to the health of New Hampshire families and children, and addressing them in a targeted and comprehensive manner will ensure that everyone can access safe, clean drinking water,” said Congressman Chris Pappas. “I helped pass the bipartisan infrastructure law to deliver federal resources to our communities to modernize our infrastructure and safeguard public health, and these funds will do that. I’ll keep fighting to address contaminants in drinking water and protect the well-being of Granite Staters.”
    The New Hampshire Congressional delegation has championed work to ensure every Granite Stater has access to clean, safe drinking water no matter where they live. As a lead negotiator of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Shaheen spearheaded the water infrastructure provisions with Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), securing record funding to upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, address PFAS contamination and replace lead pipes. The nearly $25 million announced this week adds to the more than $265 million that New Hampshire has received for water infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law since its enactment in 2021.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cole Mourns the Passing of Chairman Dave Hobson of Ohio

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Olivia Porcaro 202-225-6165

    Washington, D.C. – Today, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma released the following statement while mourning the passing of a former member of the Appropriations Committee and the one time subcommittee chair of Energy and Water, “Cardinal”, Dave Hobson of Ohio:

    “Dave Hobson was a legislator’s legislator and a master Appropriator. I first met him when he was a freshman Representative from his beloved Ohio and I was a young Executive Director of the NRCC. We struck up a friendship that spanned more than thirty years.

    “When I finally ran for Congress in 2002 Dave was one of the first Members of Congress to help me in the general election. And I recall him telling me, ‘Tom, when you get here I want you to think about joining the Appropriations Committee.’ I never forgot his wise advice.

    “Dave began educating me about the Appropriations process before I ever reached the committee. By happenstance we lived in the same building in Alexandria and we both generally left early and came home late, which gave us time to talk about the committee, how it worked and why I ought to try to get there. 

    “In the tough political year of 2008, Dave helped me while I chaired the NRCC. When he announced his intention to retire he told me, ‘Tom, don’t worry about my seat. I will make sure we have a candidate who will win it.’ He was as good as his word.

    “When I finally reached the Appropriations Committee Dave was gone, but he kept in touch and was an invaluable advisor, especially when I became Chairman of one of our most difficult subcommittees, “Labor H”. 

    “Dave Hobson was one of those old school legislators who the media and most Americans beyond his constituents never know. But he and Members like him make Congress work — reaching across the aisle, pushing for causes that matter to most Americans far more than the ideological slogans of the day and displaying personal decency and bipartisanship on a daily basis.

    “I extend my deepest sympathy to Dave’s beloved wife Carolyn and his extended family and many friends. We have lost a great public servant and a man of character, common sense and good humor. And, like all those who knew Dave, I have lost a good friend,” said Congressman Cole
     

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sykes, Evans Introduce Bill to Crack Down on Corporate Investors Buying Up Local Homes, Driving Up Housing Prices

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Dwight Evans (2nd District of Pennsylvania)

    Legislation Would Restrict Tax Breaks for Private Equity Firms and Other Large Outside Investors that Buy Up Homes in Local Communities

    U.S. Representatives Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Dwight Evans (PA-03) introduced the Stop Predatory Investing Act to restrict tax breaks for big corporate investors that buy up homes, often driving up local housing prices and rents. This legislation would prohibit an investor who acquires 50 or more single-family rental homes from deducting interest or depreciation on those properties. The bill restricts tax breaks for private equity and large investors that currently give them an advantage in the market for affordable single-family homes, and helps make homeownership a reality for more families across the country.

    “With home prices reaching record highs, many Ohioans are struggling to afford homeownership and some are being priced out of the neighborhoods they’ve lived in all of their lives. It’s unfair for homeowners to have to compete with deep-pocketed investors who are adding to their real estate portfolios, meanwhile they drive up rents and reduce the housing supply while receiving generous tax breaks,” said Rep. Sykes. “My bill would prevent corporate landlords from driving up local home prices and restore power to working people who want to buy a home to live and raise their families in.” 

    “As a member of the Ways and Means Committee that oversees tax legislation, I appreciate Representative Sykes’ leadership on this issue and I’m proud to co-lead this bill,” said Rep. Evans. “I think the federal government shouldn’t be subsidizing large investors’ mass buying of single-family homes, just like we don’t want to subsidize mass purchasers buying up concert tickets. Working people deserve a fair chance at buying affordable homes, and this bill would be an important tool to add to the housing toolbox!”

    Private equity and other Wall Street-backed outside investors are a growing problem in local housing markets, and contribute to pushing home ownership further out of reach for many working families. In 2021, 16% of homes in Cleveland were purchased by investors, with one zip code reaching 70%. In Cincinnati, they bought 15% of homes, reaching nearly 50% of homes in some communities. On one street, a single company bought 29 homes. Large investors use technology and all-cash offers to outcompete individual buyers. And because investors often target the same types of affordable starter homes as first-time homebuyers, they push families out of the housing market.

    The Stop Predatory Investing Act is endorsed by Enterprise Community Partners, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), and National Housing Law Project (NHLP). 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoyer Statement on the Passing of Ethel Kennedy

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

    “Like her late husband, she was a great American patriot and an energetic advocate for human rights around the world. Crucially, she was an excellent mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend.

    “My prayers are with her family as they mourn her loss. We grieve with them. Her passing is a tremendous loss for our country and for all those who cherish human dignity and decency.

    “Being able to call Ethel Kennedy my dear friend will always remain one of the greatest joys of my life. I fondly recall sitting beside Ethel with President Biden at her 90th birthday party in Florida as well as visiting her just this past July at her home in Hyannis Port with my wife, Elaine. Ethel remained just as vivacious, tough, humorous, and demanding of excellence as when I first met her decades ago.

    “Even in her final days, she displayed what Tennyson once described as ‘that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven’ – a person with a ‘heroic heart made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’ That was Ethel Kennedy.

    “May God bless Ethel Kennedy and all those who loved her and lament her loss.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Biden-Harris Administration Awards Nearly $1.5 Million to Help Illinois Improve Maternal Health

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Robin Kelly IL

    Rep. Robin Kelly, Chair of CBC Health Braintrust, Joins Announcement as Part of HRSA’s Latest Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative Convening

    CHICAGO – The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced nearly $1.5 million to the University of Illinois-Chicago to identify and implement innovative strategies to address the maternal health crisis. HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman, joined by Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and Co-chair of the bipartisan Maternity Care Caucus, announced this award in Chicago as part of HRSA’s latest state Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative convening.

    HRSA announced the availability of this funding in December 2023 at a White House roundtable on innovation in maternal health convened by the Office of the Vice President Kamala Harris and the Domestic Policy Council in support of the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis.

    “Our nation’s crisis of maternal mortality requires urgent action. Pregnancy and birth should be one of the happiest moments for a family, but too many moms and women are suffering,” said Rep. Kelly. “I’m grateful to HRSA for elevating this conversation and for their efforts to improve maternal health outcomes in Illinois and nationwide. Together, we will ensure that every woman receives the care, support, and resources she deserves.”

    “Supporting community solutions to the maternal mortality crisis means listening to moms and women with lived experience,” said HRSA Deputy Administrator Grossman. “At the Health Resources and Services Administration, we are proud to invest in our State Maternal Health Task Force initiative to create community tables across the country that are innovating and deploying community-driven solutions and strategies to advance women’s health.”

    State Maternal Health Innovation programs identify the key drivers of maternal mortality in their state, develop strategies and implement new interventions to address these issues tailored to their state’s needs. As part of this program, HRSA also funds State Maternal Health Task Forces that bring together health care providers, policymakers, patients, payers, and other stakeholders to develop shared solutions specific to their state’s needs and to better support pregnant women and new moms.

    State Maternal Health Innovations programs have implemented a broad range of interventions to address maternal health challenges in their individual states. Examples of these interventions include early identification and treatment of hypertension to reduce preeclampsia and other risks, providing mobile simulation trainings to prepare health care providers for a range of adverse labor events, expanding access to trainings to rural and frontier hospitals that do not have a dedicated obstetrics department, and creating resources to improve first responders’ ability to respond to patients with substance use disorder during and after pregnancy.

    This funding is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader efforts to improve maternal health and supports HRSA’s ongoing initiative to reduce maternal mortality and health disparities. HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative aims to accelerate HRSA’s efforts to improve maternal health outcomes in partnership with women, grant recipients, community organizations, and state and local officials nationwide.

    Other key actions HRSA has taken to improve maternal health include:

    • Launching the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (833-TLC-MAMA) in 2022. The hotline provides 24/7 emotional and mental health support via call or text to expectant and new mothers and their families.
    • Expanding Home Visiting services. HRSA recently awarded over $440 million in funding to expand voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services for eligible families across the country. Through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, local organizations can provide home visits from nurses, social workers, and other trained health workers who work with families to improve maternal and child health, child development and school readiness.
    • Expanding Healthy Start services. HRSA recently invested $105 million in community-based organizations to improve maternal and infant health across the country through Healthy Start. Healthy Start funding will better support moms and babies to improve health in communities experiencing high disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.
    • Growing and diversifying the perinatal workforce, including doulas. HRSA has increased the number of obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs), nurses, midwives, doulas, and community health workers, especially in places without them, through grants, scholarships and loan repayment. For example, HRSA launched new programs to train more nurse midwifes who reflect the communities they serve, train and deploy more community-based doulas, and support the training of more nurse practitioners with a focus on maternal health, including in underserved and rural areas.
    • Investing in new community health center efforts to address maternal health disparities. HRSA invested more than $65 million in 35 HRSA-funded health centers across the country to implement innovative approaches to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce disparities for patients at highest risk.
    • Supporting maternal health care in rural communities. HRSA funds the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program to increase access to maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities and improve health outcomes for mothers and infants. HRSA also awarded nearly $9 million over four years to five organizations to expand access to and coordinate health care services before, during, and after pregnancy in rural communities in the South.

    For a complete list of State MHI awards, visit: https://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs-impact/programs/state-mhi.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Speaker Johnson on the Ground in Storm Damaged Western North Carolina

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

    Asheville, NC — Today, Speaker Johnson joined Representative Chuck Edwards (NC-11) and Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ted Budd (R-NC) in Western North Carolina to meet with first responders and families impacted by Hurricane Helene, which devastated communities in the Southeast last week. The delegation received multiple on-the-ground tours of the hurricane damage, and afterwards gave remarks to assembled local media.

    “I think it’s important for the Speaker of the House to come,” Speaker Johnson said to reporters. “It’s symbolic to show that it’s the whole of Congress that has our eyes and our attention, our prayers on the community here and those who are affected. We want them to know they will not be forgotten and that we will get recovery dollars to these communities as is needed.”

    “Before we left Congress two Wednesdays ago — we’re on day 13 post-storm here — but the day before Helene made landfall, Congress passed an appropriations, a continuing resolution to fund the government, and we included $20 billion to go to FEMA so that they would have what was necessary for the emergent needs, the urgent needs that followed the hurricane,” Speaker Johnson continued.

    “We supplied FEMA with the resources that it needed to respond directly,” Speaker Johnson concluded. “As of Monday, only 1% of those funds had actually been distributed. There’s concern that the federal response was too slow, and that needs to be addressed. But FEMA and the administration have the resources necessary right now to address the immediate needs.”

    “What happens next after a storm like this is that the states then do their individual assessments and calculations of the damages and then they submit that need to the federal government. Then Congress acts. So as soon as those calculations are prepared, Congress will act in a bipartisan fashion to supply what is needed to help these communities recover, the appropriate amount that the federal government should do.”

    Below are Speaker Johnson’s full remarks: 

    Well, we want to thank you all for being here. We took what really was a heart-breaking tour of the disaster area here. Helene did real damage across six states. Of course, over the last week or so, I’ve been in Georgia to see some of the devastation there. I went to Florida on the coast where the hurricane made landfall and devastated communities there. 

    But I think some of the worst devastation is probably right here in North Carolina, and that may be surprising to people. We don’t think of North Carolina and the mountains here in terms of hurricanes and floods normally, but this probably has been what they refer to as a thousand-year event. It’s devastating, and it’s heartbreaking to see the families, the small business owners, just the communities that are quite literally digging out from debris and all the terrible things that have been left behind the floods. 

    We went to Swannanoa and to Biltmore Village, and we’ve seen some of the most disaster I’ve seen in my life, and that’s saying a lot. 

    I’m from Louisiana where we know hurricanes, we know disasters of this magnitude. Katrina was almost 20 years ago. We’re still recovering in some ways from that in South Louisiana. So, we know these situations well, but it’s hard to see. What is encouraging is the spirit of the people. And we were at the First Baptist Church in Swannanoa there, and it’s become sort of a hub of a community activity where people and organizations and volunteers from all over the nation have come in to lend supplies and support and diapers and baby formula and medicine. 

    They set up what is effectively a makeshift hospital in the parking lot, and they have done such extraordinary work of serving and reaching people up into the hills and the mountains who were unreachable because bridges and roadways have been washed out. Some of the estimates we heard today that there may be as many as 615 roads and major thoroughfares in the state in western North Carolina that are severely damaged, and many will need to be rebuilt and replaced.

    You have bridges out all over the place. You’ve seen the devastation here in Biltmore Village where we are today. Historic levels of flooding and up to 20 feet in some places in these buildings and it will take a long, long time to recover. But the people are very resilient, and they remind us of what is best about America. And that’s the encouraging thing. 

    I came here, we wanted to be here to let them know that not only do they have extraordinary leadership in Congress, Congressman Chuck Edwards here and the Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, also you have Virginia Foxx and Richard Hudson and Patrick McHenry, everyone who has anything to do with Western North Carolina has had all hands on deck working to serve the needs of their constituents and to be on the ground and deeply involved in what’s happening here. 

    But I think it’s important for the Speaker of the House to come as well. It’s symbolic to show that it’s the whole of Congress that has our eyes and our attention, our prayers on the community here and those who are affected. We want them to know they will not be forgotten and that we will get recovery dollars to these communities as is needed. 

    I want to point out that before we left Congress two Wednesdays ago, we’re on day 13 post-storm here, but the day before Helene made landfall, Congress passed an appropriations, a continuing resolution to fund the government, and we included $20 billion to go to FEMA so that they would have what was necessary for the emergent needs, the urgent needs that followed the hurricane. We knew that it would be a large one. Of course, we saw it. We had more than a week’s notice that that would happen. 

    And so, we supplied FEMA with the resources that it needed to respond directly. When I last checked, as of Monday, only 1% of those funds had actually been distributed. There’s concern that the federal response was a little too slow, and that needs to be addressed. But FEMA and the administration have the resources necessary right now to address the immediate needs. 

    What happens next after a storm like this is that the states then do their individual assessments and calculations of the damages and then they submit that need to the federal government. Then Congress acts. So as soon as those calculations are prepared, Congress will act in a bipartisan fashion to supply what is needed to help these communities recover, the appropriate amount that the federal government should do. 

    But it will take some time, sadly and unfortunately, for those calculations to be made. In the meantime, again, literally billions of dollars are sitting in accounts at FEMA with the administration to address the immediate needs. So, we’re hopeful that that can be done. I’ll just say this, and I want to yield to my colleagues here to say a word here to give the local perspective. 

    I want to tell you that one of the encouraging things is to see these valiant, heroic first responders, to see volunteers from churches and private organizations. Samaritan’s Purse has been on the ground, of course. Mercury One, there’s all these outside organizations. We saw the Red Cross here. There’s a lot of really good people, a lot of great Americans doing a lot of important work here. We saw people hugging one another and just leaning on one another and that’s what reminds you about what’s great about our country. We do this better than anybody. The private sector, neighbors, communities are the best in sticking together at a time like this. I was heartened to see state police troopers from Louisiana, my home state, who are here and those friends, they know hurricanes and disaster recovery really well. But there’s law enforcement from all around the country. There’s over a thousand troops deployed right now out of Fort Liberty and out of Kentucky that are out here in the mountains and doing what they do, recovery and rescue and removal of debris and anything that’s needed. So, we’ve seen the best of America. That’s what’s encouraging. We will rebuild, and better days are ahead.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New West Wyalong key worker accommodation set to welcome health staff

    Source: New South Wales Government 2

    Headline: New West Wyalong key worker accommodation set to welcome health staff

    Published: 10 October 2024

    Released by: Minister for Regional Health

    Healthcare workers in West Wyalong can now access modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation, with three new units completed at West Wyalong Health Service, delivered as part of the NSW Government’s Key Worker Accommodation (KWA) Program.

    The three units are located on the hospital grounds, and will provide a safe, modern and comfortable place for healthcare workers who have relocated to West Wyalong and are still establishing themselves in the community.

    The pre-manufactured units were delivered in August, with the connection of services, furnishing, fencing and landscaping now complete. 

    Each unit is fully furnished and self-contained, and features a screened verandah, light-filled living and dining area, modern kitchen, bedroom with ensuite, and internal laundry.  Parking spaces and secure access are also provided.  

    West Wyalong Health Service is expecting the first occupants to move into the accommodation units shortly. 

    The Murrumbidgee Local Health District is one of three regional local health districts to benefit from the NSW Government’s $45.3 million investment to deliver accommodation for health workers under the KWA Program. 

    New accommodation units are also being delivered at Finley, Leeton and Narrandera, with units expected to be delivered to these sites before the end of the year.  

    Quotes attributable to Regional Health Minister Ryan Park: 

    “It’s exciting to see these units fully established on the West Wyalong Health Service site after being manufactured offsite and delivered on the back of trucks only two months ago.

    “Ensuring these units are available removes a barrier to finding accommodation for healthcare workers wanting to work at West Wyalong Health Service, meaning recruiting and retaining staff will be easier.

    “Recruitment is one of the biggest challenges facing rural and regional hospitals across Australia, which is why we are committing a further $200.1 million to increase key health worker accommodation in the state.”

    Quotes attributable to Labor Spokesperson for Cootamundra Stephen Lawrence MLC: 

    “Affordable, accessible accommodation is a key factor in attracting and retaining health workers and I am looking forward to the West Wyalong community welcoming the first workers into the units and the health service.

    “Investments like this underpin the Minns Labor Government’s focus on strengthening and supporting our highly skilled health workforce to ensure NSW’s regional and rural communities have access to high quality healthcare close to home.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Rebuilding after the fire: Government of Canada announces rent relief for Jasper National Park lessees and licensees

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Up to $15.2 million in rent relief for affected businesses and the Municipality of Jasper allowing them to redirect financial resources towards recovery and rebuilding efforts.

    Up to $15.2 million in rent relief for affected businesses and the Municipality of Jasper allowing them to redirect financial resources towards recovery and rebuilding efforts

    October 10, 2024                           Jasper, Alberta                              Parks Canada

    Residents and local business owners of Jasper are doing their best to get back on their feet in the face of the devasting impacts from the wildfire that went through Jasper in July 2024. The Government of Canada is working hard to help the community rebuild after the fire to restart economic activity and deal with the costs they face.

    Today, in his new role as Ministerial Lead to Jasper, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced rent relief for Parks Canada administered leases and licences in Jasper National Park. This rent forgiveness of up to $15.2 million provides financial relief to business owners, tenants and residents impacted by the wildfire.

    The Government of Canada, through Parks Canada, along with the Government of Alberta and the Municipality of Jasper, have been coordinating efforts from the initial incident response to the subsequent recovery and rebuilding efforts in Jasper. In early August, Parks Canada announced a pause to all rent collection from lessees and licensees in Jasper and began working towards providing more formal rent relief measures. While most leases and licences within the Town of Jasper have a nominal annual rent, with no money formally exchanged with Parks Canada, this rent relief will be of significant benefit to the Municipality of Jasper and lessees and licensees outside of the townsite allowing them to redirect resources towards recovery or rebuilding efforts, rather than on immediate financial obligations. In parallel, Parks Canada jointly with the Municipality of Jasper are working to ensure efficient processes that will lessen the burdens and stresses related to the loss of residential homes and commercial businesses.

    Rent relief is another important step in delivering on the Government of Canada’s commitment to support the community and local businesses in the National Park as they rebuild over the coming years. In mid-September, the Government introduced new legislation to enable the transfer of land use planning and development authorities to the Municipality of Jasper, aimed at giving the town, businesses and residents greater control to shape the future of Jasper, in partnership with Parks Canada.

                                                                                                             -30-

    Oliver Anderson
    Director of Communications      
    Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
    819-962-0686
    oIiver.anderson@ec.gc.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren, Whitehouse Call Out Accounting Regulator for “Profoundly Troubling” Failures, “Unacceptable” Error Rates in Public Company Audits

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    October 10, 2024
    Nearly half of 2023 audits had significant deficiencies. 
    “This is an astonishing finding that calls for immediate action by the PCAOB—and careful review by regulators….(I)nvestors and the public essentially face a coin flip when it comes to whether they should believe and trust the results of public companies’ audits.”
    Text of Letter (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), members of the Senate Committee on Finance, called on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to establish stricter accountability for accounting firms with “unacceptable” deficiency rates. The PCAOB is charged with overseeing the audits of public companies to protect investors and provide the public with “informative, accurate, and independent audit reports.” But the agency is not doing its job.
    Last year, the PCAOB’s review of over 200 accounting firms’ audits found that 46% had errors so significant that that auditor “had not obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support its opinion” about a public company’s financial statements and financial reporting. The findings of this review reveal a nearly complete failure by the agency and cast doubts on the auditing process that plays a crucial role for investors in publicly traded companies.
    “[T]he findings of this new analysis reveal a nearly complete failure [by PCAOB], indicating that investors and the public essentially face a coin flip when it comes to whether they should believe and trust the results of public companies’ audits,” wrote Senators Warren and Whitehouse.
    Yet, the PCAOB does not appear to recognize the seriousness of the problem. In fact, Chair Erica Williams said the report showed “small signs of movement in the right direction.” And Board Member Christina Ho downplayed the findings, asserting that “there is another side to the story.” 
    ‘[T]his is the wrong conclusion to draw from an embarrassing and intolerable set of findings,” wrote Sens. Waren and Whitehouse. 
    “The PCAOB must do better. …Either [auditing] standards are inadequate—or the PCAOB is failing to establish accountability for firms that do not meet them. These are unacceptable failures by the PCAOB,” concluded the lawmakers. 
    The senators request clarification about how the PCAOB plans to hold auditors accountable for ongoing problems by October 23, 2024. 
    Senator Warren has led the charge to ensure the PCAOB is effective and accountable to the public: 
    In January 2023, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote to the PCAOB raising concerns about crypto accounting firms’ independence and methodology following reports of whitewashed audits of crypto firms with histories of malfeasance. 
    In May 2021, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a letter to Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler requesting the SEC use its authority to immediately remove and replace the members of the PCAOB, which sets standards for audits of public company financial statements required under Sarbanes-Oxley.
    In April 2017, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) wrote to PCAOB, raising questions and releasing new information about KPMG’s role as the independent auditor of Wells Fargo during the time period in which thousands of Wells Fargo staff engaged in fraudulent behavior affecting millions of accounts.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warner & Kaine Announce Nearly $35.2 Million in Federal Funding to Replace Lead Pipes in Virginia

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, both D-VA, announced an estimated $35,159,000 in federal funding for Virginia to identify and replace lead pipes and create good-paying water infrastructure jobs. The funding was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that the senators helped pass and is being allocated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after the Biden-Harris Administration issued a rule requiring drinking water systems across the country to replace lead pipes within the next ten years.
    “Every Virginian should have access to safe, reliable drinking water,” said the senators. “We’re thrilled this funding will eliminate dangerous lead exposure in the tap water of homes and schools across the Commonwealth, all while creating good-paying jobs. We’re glad to have helped pass the legislation that made this investment possible and will continue to do all that we can to keep Virginians safe.”
    The EPA estimates that as of 2023, there are 187,883 lead services lines in Virginia, which can lead to significant long-term health risks for those exposed. In children, lead can severely harm mental and physical development, slow down learning, and irreversibly damage the brain. In adults, lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function, and cancer. If someone is impacted by lead exposure, there is no known antidote, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This funding will combat these risks by accelerating the lead pipe removal process.
    The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) also require more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold requiring communities to take action to protect people from lead exposure in water. In addition, the final rule improves communication within communities so that families are better informed about the risk of lead in drinking water, the location of lead pipes, and plans for replacing them.
    Warner and Kaine have long advocated for clean drinking water for Virginians. In September 2024, Warner and Kaine announced nearly $2 million in federal funding for Lee and Wise counties and the Town of Clintwood to support infrastructure projects that will improve and extend waterline and sewer systems to additional homes. In February, they announced over $2.8 million in federal funding to improve water quality and increase access to safe drinking water in Wythe County and to assess the public health risk from harmful chemicals in local landfills in rural communities across Virginia. Last year, they announced $4,352,000 in federal funding for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund (VCWRLF).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Adds More Counties to Florida Disaster Declaration  

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today the addition of seven primary counties and ten adjacent counties to the disaster declaration for Hurricane Helene that began on Sept. 23, giving more businesses and residents eligibility to apply for SBA’s low-interest disaster loan program.  

    The declaration covers Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Franklin, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Wakulla counties which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs): Bay, Broward, Calhoun, Clay, DeSoto, Flagler, Gadsden, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Liberty, Marion, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Polk, St. Johns, Sumter, Volusia in Florida; Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Grady, Lowndes, Thomas and Ware in Georgia. 

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

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

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

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

    Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses, 3.25% for nonprofit organizations, and 2.813% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and monthly payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the initial disbursement. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition. 

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

    “SBA’s disaster loan program offers an important advantage–the chance to incorporate measures that can reduce the risk of future damage,” said Sánchez. “Work with contractors and mitigation professionals to strengthen your property and take advantage of the opportunity to request additional SBA disaster loan funds for these proactive improvements.” 

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

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

    The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Nov. 27, 2024. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 30, 2025.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration 

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

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: FEMA Extends Renewal Period for Flood Insurance Policyholders in Seven States Affected by Helene

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: FEMA Extends Renewal Period for Flood Insurance Policyholders in Seven States Affected by Helene

    FEMA Extends Renewal Period for Flood Insurance Policyholders in Seven States Affected by Helene

    Flood insurance policyholders can receive advance payments to receive up to $20,000 for their recovery 

    WASHINGTON – FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program is taking immediate actions to help policyholders throughout the seven states recently affected by Helene. 

    While renewal dates have passed for some National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in states affected by Helene may be able to take steps that will renew their policy and receive immediate help. 

    Policyholders who received flood damage from Helene should be sure to ask their insurance agent or company about advance claims payments to help start their recovery. Advance payments may be available of up to $20,000 prior to a visit from an adjuster.

    Certain policyholders in seven states impacted by Helene now have a limited opportunity to renew their policies without a consequence of a lapse in coverage. Policyholders in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia who had flood damage now have until Nov. 26, 2024, to renew their policies, an increase from the standard 30-day renewal grace period.

    “I am deeply committed to helping our policyholders prioritize financial resources to help speed their recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction,” said Jeff Jackson, the interim Senior Executive of the program. “By extending the grace period for renewing policies, we are giving our policyholders some breathing room and demonstrating that the National Flood Insurance Program stands with them at time of tremendous heartache and difficulty.”

    The extension applies to policies with policy expiration dates beginning Aug. 28, 2024, as follows: 

    If the policy term ended on: The grace period would have ended: But now runs until:
    Aug. 28, 2024 Sept. 26, 2024 Nov. 26, 2024
    Sept. 26, 2024 Oct. 25, 2024 Nov. 26, 2024
    Oct. 15, 2024 Nov. 13, 2024 Nov. 26, 2024
    Nov. 1, 2024 Nov. 30, 2024 Nov. 30, 2024
    Nov. 15, 2024 Dec. 14, 2024 Dec. 14, 2024

    Policyholders whose policy renewal date is within this range should contact their agent or insurance company.

    For example, if the original policy expiration date was Aug. 28, 2024, the policy may be renewed on or before Nov. 26, 2024. Holders of active policies can file claims for damage received from Helene if premium is paid. 

    Other Actions to Help Policyholders

    The program has extended the proof of loss requirement for policyholders who suffered flood damage from Hurricane Helene from the standard 60 days to 120 days from the date of loss.

    FEMA also authorized its Write Your Own insurance company partners and the direct to pay claims based on the adjuster’s report without requiring policyholders to sign a proof of loss. When a policyholder seeks additional payment for any reason or disagrees with the adjuster report, they may still submit a signed proof of loss to the insurer along with supporting documentation, such as a contractor’s estimate, bills, receipts, photographs and other related documents. 

    Anyone affected by Helene who has a National Flood Insurance Program flood insurance policy and has suffered flood damage should begin filing their claim now. Evacuated policyholders can still start their claim and provide specifics later once local officials say it’s safe to return home.

    Policyholders who wish to take advantage of the grace period should contact their agent or insurance company. Those who don’t have their insurance agent or company’s contact information should call 877-336-2627 for assistance.

    To learn more about how to file a flood insurance claim visit floodsmart.gov.

    amy.ashbridge

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: First Greenhouse Gas Plumes Detected With NASA-Designed Instrument

    Source: NASA

    The imaging spectrometer aboard the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s Tanager-1 satellite identified methane and carbon dioxide plumes in the United States and internationally.
    Using data from an instrument designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the nonprofit Carbon Mapper has released the first methane and carbon dioxide detections from the Tanager-1 satellite. The detections highlight methane plumes in Pakistan and Texas, as well as a carbon dioxide plume in South Africa.
    The data contributes to Carbon Mapper’s goal to identify and measure greenhouse gas point-source emissions on a global scale and make that information accessible and actionable. 
    Enabled by Carbon Mapper and built by Planet Labs PBC, Tanager-1 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Aug. 16 and has been collecting data to verify that its imaging spectrometer, which is based on technology developed at NASA JPL, is functioning properly. Both Planet Labs PBC and JPL are members of the philanthropically funded Carbon Mapper Coalition.
    “The first greenhouse gas images from Tanager-1 are exciting and are a compelling sign of things to come,” said James Graf, director for Earth Science and Technology at JPL. “The satellite plays a crucial role in detecting and measuring methane and carbon dioxide emissions. The mission is a giant step forward in addressing greenhouse gas emissions.”
    The data used to produce the Pakistan image was collected over the city of Karachi on Sept. 19 and shows a roughly 2.5-mile-long (4-kilometer-long) methane plume emanating from a landfill. Carbon Mapper’s preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is more than 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of methane released per hour.
    The image collected that same day over Kendal, South Africa, displays a nearly 2-mile-long (3-kilometer-long) carbon dioxide plume coming from a coal-fired power plant. Carbon Mapper’s preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is roughly 1.3 million pounds (600,000 kilograms) of carbon dioxide per hour.
    The Texas image, collected on Sept. 24, reveals a methane plume to the south of the city of Midland, in the Permian Basin, one of the largest oilfields in the world. Carbon Mapper’s preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is nearly 900 pounds (400 kilograms) of methane per hour.
    In the 1980s, JPL helped pioneer the development of imaging spectrometers with AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer), and in 2022, NASA installed the imaging spectrometer EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation), developed at JPL, aboard the International Space Station.
    A descendant of those instruments, the imaging spectrometer aboard Tanager-1 can measure hundreds of wavelengths of light reflected from Earth’s surface. Each chemical compound on the ground and in the atmosphere reflects and absorbs different combinations of wavelengths, which give it a “spectral fingerprint” that researchers can identify. Using this approach, Tanager-1 will help researchers detect and measure emissions down to the facility level.
    Once in full operation, the spacecraft will scan about 116,000 square miles (300,000 square kilometers) of Earth’s surface per day. Methane and carbon dioxide measurements collected by Tanager-1 will be publicly available on the Carbon Mapper data portal.
    More About Carbon Mapper
    Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on facilitating timely action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Its mission is to fill gaps in the emerging global ecosystem of methane and carbon dioxide monitoring systems by delivering data at facility scale that is precise, timely, and accessible to empower science-based decision making and action. The organization is leading the development of the Carbon Mapper constellation of satellites supported by a public-private partnership composed of Planet Labs PBC, JPL, the California Air Resources Board, Arizona State University, and RMI, with funding from High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and other philanthropic donors.
    News Media Contacts
    Andrew Wang / Jane J. LeeJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
    2024-136

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Biofuels and Batteries Gain From the System Dynamics Behind the Research

    Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    How Modeling Feedback Loops Informs Analysis and Decisions Across Decarbonization Technologies 

    NREL researchers Swaroop Atnoorkar (right), Shubhankar Upasani (center), and Guilherme Castelao look at data analysis. Photo by Agata Bogucka, NREL

    “When you look at renewable energy, not everything is linear,” said Swaroop Atnoorkar, an analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). “Technologies often operate in complex systems with many moving parts in the background.”

    Atnoorkar relies on understanding the intricacies of clean energy systems in her research on biofuel economics and supply chains. Research like hers is a vital step in understanding how each decision made with any given technology could impact its evolution.

    But how do researchers examine the relationships between various factors within a given system, how they could change, and how those changes ultimately lead to different behaviors in the system over longer periods of time? And what exactly does this type of research inform?

    The answers to those questions may lie within a sophisticated modeling method known as system dynamics.

    Brief History of System Dynamics

    Since its creation in the 1950s by Jay W. Forrester, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, system dynamics has become a tried-and-true method for understanding the behaviors of complex systems in terms of stocks, flows, and the feedback loops that connect them.

    A simplified and generic example of a system dynamics model illustrates the complex interactions that could occur within a biofuel supply and production chain, featuring a feedstock, conversion pathway, and biofuel supply module. Graphic by Liz Craig, NREL

    Think of this relationship like planting crops such as corn.  The growth of corn in the field—a flow—is controlled by feedback processes including watering and nutrient availability. When the stock of corn is harvested, other feedback loops control the decomposition of residues and the return of nutrients to the soil.

    At the time Forrester developed it, system dynamics research was applied to corporate managerial questions at General Electric’s plants. Studying corporate managerial problems remained its primary application through the 1960s, until researchers broadened its uses to examine other larger-scale societal questions. Initially, these simulations of stock-flow feedback structures were conducted with command-line programs, visualized with hand-drawn diagrams, and showed how internal management decisions impacted the dynamics of inventory and human resource systems. Now, its applications include examining everything from public health to renewable energy systems.

    “Many of the early users of system dynamics knew its potential was far greater than its original business management use,” said Bobby Jeffers, acting laboratory program manager in NREL’s Energy Systems Integration directorate. “We are always trying to answer the question: ‘What are the feedback loops that really take hold of the system and cause it to go on some trajectory?’ We’re trying to encourage virtuous cycles that build on themselves while finding dampening cycles that allow things to grow sustainably.”

    Jeffers specializes in system dynamics research. He and other researchers at NREL, like Atnoorkar, now use computer modeling to explore the complex relationships between various elements of system structures.

    NREL program manager Bobby Jeffers leads a session during a workshop put together by the Energy Security and Resilience Program Office. Photo by Joe DelNero, NREL

    Snapshot of System Dynamics at NREL

    Atnoorkar is among the newer members of the research team working to find new ways to approach biofuel development at NREL.

    For the last decade, much of the work being done to gain insights into the biofuel market has utilized NREL’s Bioenergy Scenario Model (BSM), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). The System Dynamics Society Award-winning model tracks biofuel deployment and the effects of various influences on the biofuel market, such as changes in consumer demand, government policies, and land availability for feedstock. It dynamically models these elements as part of the U.S. domestic biofuels supply chain.

    “Factors like oil prices, biofuel demand, and the costs of resources are always fluctuating—sometimes unpredictably—and changes in each one creates different outcomes, especially at the national scale,” Atnoorkar said.

    NREL and BETO have historically used BSM to develop deployment strategies for advanced biofuels. Currently, it helps researchers like Atnoorkar develop insights into U.S. biofuels market growth and examine potential barriers to broader expansion of biofuel technologies. Among those technologies are those that create sustainable aviation fuels.

    System dynamics research at NREL helps inform development and policies surrounding sustainable aviation fuel that is used at airports across the United States. Photo from Getty Images

    “Many airports nowadays have sustainability goals, and they want to determine if those goals are feasible,” Atnoorkar said. “While the BSM does analysis for potential biofuels supply at the national scale, the analysis we do at the regional scale can also help ports and airports make decisions about their biofuel sourcing.”

    To that end, the system dynamics research being done at NREL has ultimately helped inform policy strategies surrounding low-carbon fuel standards. A major part of that research is the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge—a plan set forth by DOE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Transportation, and other federal agencies that aims to spur the expansion of commercial SAF production technologies.

    Critically, the SAF Grand Challenge is targeting at least a 50% reduction in life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and ramping up SAF supply to meet 100% of aviation fuel demand by 2050.

    “The BSM is now being used to investigate how we could reach those goals and what kinds of roadblocks may need to be overcome,” said Emily Newes, the NREL Strategic Energy Analysis Center’s Integrated Modeling and Economic Analysis Group manager.

    NREL Integrated Modeling and Economic Analysis Group Manager Emily Newes leads the teams studying supply chain and policy questions for aviation and maritime biofuels. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL

    Newes works extensively with the system dynamics models informing potential biofuel deployment, specifically the SAF Grand Challenge and biofuels for maritime applications. These models are answering questions about how changes in everything from the resources needed to build refineries to the different types of potential feedstocks ultimately affect the policies and decisions being made.

    “It helps inform us about what barriers there could be so that we can help find solutions—either through policy or the industry—to overcome them,” Newes said.

    System dynamics models are also informing NREL’s research in battery energy storage. A key modeling framework used in this space is the Lithium-Ion Battery Resource Assessment, or LIBRA, model. LIBRA is vital in NREL’s work in understanding the supply chain of lithium-ion batteries, which have become a key component to a future with more electric vehicles (EVs) on the road.

    “When we’re talking about the needs for manufacturing in this country and globally, you can’t just look at one technology at a time,” NREL’s supply chain analytics lead Maggie Mann said. “When we talk about batteries, we’re looking at how much cobalt, nickel, and lithium are needed to manufacture them, as well as the demand for those same materials for other technologies.”

    NREL’s system dynamics modeling examines supply chains for raw materials like the lithium used in electric vehicle batteries. Photo from Getty Images

    Mann was on the team that pioneered and developed the LIBRA model. It gives users the means to examine the long-term effects of changes in the battery supply chain for multiple EV battery types, consumer electronics, and utility-scale storage systems.

    Through examining elements such as the costs, raw materials, and changing policies at both the domestic and international scales, LIBRA is providing invaluable insights into the U.S. battery recycling supply chain. Those insights then inform manufacturing and industry practices as well as policy decisions in the clean energy sector.

    Along with the LIBRA model, supply chain researchers at NREL, like Mann, are also developing the Recursive Integrated Networks for Growth (RING) model, which supports NREL’s Mapping, Modeling, and Analysis Consortium (MMAC). This model, designed specifically for DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) office, calculates how each output can be cycled back into the supply chain itself. What does that mean?  

    “Say you want to look at how many batteries are manufactured, then go through their life, hit the end of their life, and you want to recycle them, so the raw materials and battery components go back into manufacturing,” Mann said. “System dynamics can allow for those types of recursive calculations and help us look out 10 to 12 years to see the total demand for manufactured batteries minus the raw materials that are recycled.”

    Both the RING and LIBRA models help researchers answer the critical question of “How much could recycling batteries affect the amount of new material we need to produce?” Each model helps inform the decisions behind battery production and policies through 2050 and quantify the impact that recycling can have on decreasing the United States’ dependence on foreign resources.

    NREL Decision Support Analysis Group Manager Maggie Mann presents about her research to a group at the Coordinating Research Council’s Sustainable Mobility Workshop. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

    How Is System Dynamics Evolving at NREL?

    Much of the research Atnoorkar, Jeffers, Mann, Newes, and others do in supply chains is centered around system dynamics. Because of their broad lenses, models like BSM, LIBRA, and RING are often used to develop strategies for new technology deployment.

    In the case of BSM, bioenergy’s large, comprehensive nature makes it tougher to focus on smaller-scale system dynamics. That is why the team is working to modify it for limited-case, regional scenarios, using a new BETO-funded model called the Regional Bio-Economy Model (RBEM).

    “The main structure is the same,” Atnoorkar said. “But with RBEM, we are able to focus on biorefinery investment decisions in specific regions, such as marine biofuel production in coastal areas or aviation biofuel production in the immediate area around a major airport.”

    RBEM will enable researchers to examine the logic behind the feedback loops in those smaller systems. The team aims to publicly release this model in the next year or two.

    And while Atnoorkar and Newes are helping with the development of RBEM, Jeffers says NREL could look to system dynamics as a unique lens to broaden the scope of NREL’s research into a low-carbon energy system future.

    “I think we lead the world in showing what a decarbonized energy system could look like,” Jeffers said. “But system dynamics can help us realize this future by giving us a means to think about all the complex elements of economic, social, and environmental systems that influence the pathway to affordable, resilient, and secure decarbonization.”

    Explore NREL’s bioenergy, energy analysis, and grid modernization research.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NIST Announces 2024 Baldrige Awards for Performance Excellence

    Source: US Government research organizations

    Students receiving instruction in an advanced manufacturing lab at Palo Alto College, one of the community colleges in the Alamo Colleges District, which is among this year’s Baldrige Award recipients.

    Credit: Alamo Colleges District

    WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that five organizations will receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s only presidential award for performance excellence. Among the recipients of the newly redesigned national quality award are a pair of two-time winners.

    The Baldrige Award was redesigned earlier this year to focus on organizational resilience. The new criteria are intended to help organizations adapt, innovate and thrive in a dynamic environment where change and disruption are constant. To win the award, in addition to demonstrating organizational resilience, recipients also must show long-term success through favorable performance levels and trends, comparisons to competitors and appropriate benchmarks, and relevant metrics.

    “The 2024 Baldrige Award recipients are role-model organizations that are helping us address some of our nation’s most critical needs, and they demonstrate the resilient spirit of the American people,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These five awardees are bettering the lives of American workers, strengthening our infrastructure, and improving the quality of life in communities across the nation. Each awardee demonstrates how the Baldrige process makes it possible for any type of organization to achieve excellence on behalf of the people and communities they serve.” 

    The 2024 honorees and some of their achievements are: 

    Alamo Colleges District (ACD) (Texas) provides affordable or tuition-free education to eligible students in an effort to help end poverty, enhance economic and social mobility, and meet workforce demands. Founded in 1945, the district includes five community colleges in the San Antonio area. In 2018, ACD won the Baldrige Award in education, and it now becomes the first higher education institution to win twice. 

    Chickasaw Nation Department of Health (CNDH) (Oklahoma) provides many types of inpatient, outpatient and population health services across a 13-county service area in southern Oklahoma. CNDH received a five-star (highest) rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, placing it among the top 10% nationally among health care organizations so rated. CNDH also ranks within the top 10% nationally both for patients’ willingness to recommend it and for low workforce turnover.  

    The City of Henderson (Nevada), founded in 1953 and named a “city of destiny” by President John F. Kennedy, ranks in the top 10% nationally for police and fire services, emergency preparedness, parks and overall city services. Bloomberg Philanthropies awarded it a “What Works Cities Gold Certification” for data-driven, well-managed local governance. Nearly 100% of the city’s employees indicate that they like the kind of work they do. 

    Freese and Nichols Inc. (Texas) is a privately owned engineering, planning and consulting firm with offices in 12 states. Its projects range from water supply reservoirs and wastewater treatment plants to state highways and flood risk reduction programs. In 2010, Freese and Nichols Inc. won the Baldrige Award in the small business category, and it now becomes the first two-time engineering firm winner. The firm showed total revenue growth from $200 million in 2019 to $325 million in 2023.

    Northeast Delta Dental (New Hampshire) provides prepaid dental insurance coverage and benefits to employers (including associations and union groups) and to individuals. Founded in 1961, Northeast Delta Dental comprises the Delta Dental Plans of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Northeast Delta Dental’s “March to a Million” journey to a million covered lives has insured 1,091,563 people out of a population of 3 million, with a retention rate of 99%. 

    Additionally, several organizations were designated as finalists for the award and received site visits from the Baldrige examiners. These organizations were: the City of Pharr, Texas; the Community Hospital Association of McCook, Nebraska; the Nor-Lea Hospital District, New Mexico; and Southcentral Foundation, Alaska. 

    The Baldrige judges may offer special recognition to finalists for having impact in areas of importance to their organizations, the nation or both. This year, the judges recognize Southcentral Foundation for best practices in its integrated health care system, workforce development, and data and information management approaches.

    Baldrige Award recipients will be recognized during a formal ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland, in the spring of 2025. The ceremony will be followed by the Quest for Excellence Conference, where Baldrige Award recipients and other leading organizations share best practices and innovations that can help any organization improve.

    The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is a public-private partnership within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is dedicated to promoting U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology. The program has fostered the adoption of proven leadership, management and operational best practices, and supported a global community that values people, organizational learning, continuous improvement and striving for sustained excellence.

    The program is funded in part through user fees. Key partners include the nonprofit Alliance for Performance Excellence, a network of Baldrige-based regional and state award programs, and the Baldrige Foundation, which provides advocacy but does not have a role or influence in the annual Baldrige Award process.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: SECU Foundation Awards $760,000 in Capacity Building Grants to 19 North Carolina Non-Profits

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The SECU Foundation Board of Directors recently approved $760,000 in Mission Development Grants (MDGs) to benefit 19 North Carolina non-profits, each receiving $40,000. Funding for this cohort focused on technology education, support against domestic violence, housing and homelessness, child advocacy and youth services, healthcare services, and crisis intervention.

    MDG funding began eight years ago and has since become an integral part of the Foundation’s annual grantmaking process. The award-winning program has laid the groundwork for the Foundation to expand its criteria for two additional capacity building programs – Rural Opportunity and Disaster Response grants. These small dollar high-value grants are helping to strengthen the infrastructure and sustainability of non-profits that provide vital services to their communities, particularly in underserved and rural areas.

    “The MDG program has added a layer of depth to our funding strategy that is helping organizations with strategic planning efforts to hopefully achieve more than they thought possible,” said SECU Foundation Executive Director Jama Campbell. “The success of this program speaks to the critical need for this type of funding among non-profits, and we couldn’t be more pleased to be part of their journey and future success.”

    Grantees representing 19 North Carolina counties include:

    Several grantees shared thoughts on how the SECU Foundation funding will help support their organizations and advance their work:

    • Henderson County Free Medical Clinic Director Pauline Carpenter said, “The Mission Development Grant of $40,000 will significantly enhance our organizational capacity. This grant empowers us to expand our reach, strengthen our strategic planning, and bolster our fundraising and marketing efforts, ensuring the sustainability of our vital services to the community.”
    • Home of Refuge Outreach Inc. Executive Director Melissa Galloway said, “We are honored to receive a Mission Development Grant from SECU Foundation. Our mission is to ‘bridge the gap between the community and homelessness,’ and this grant will be instrumental in our expansion efforts, significantly enhancing our ability to implement strategies and achieve our goals. As we continue to pursue meaningful change in our community, this support will help us grow and strengthen our impact in addressing homelessness. We are deeply grateful for this partnership and the confidence it represents in our work.”
    • Janice Faye’s Ranch Founder Joy Canady said, “Through equine-assisted learning activities shared with kids in crisis and their families, horses are helping humans heal. The Mission Development Grant will allow Janice Faye’s Ranch to further its cause in transforming lives and allow expansion for serving kids and their families. Thank you for allowing this much-needed service to help our organization thrive and continue moving forward in Sampson County and the surrounding areas.”
    • Able to Serve Founding Executive Director Carlton McDaniel Jr. said, “Able to Serve is so thankful to SECU Foundation and its commitment to recognizing that people of all abilities need a place to thrive in our community. Their support helps provide growth opportunities for adults with disabilities through community building, service projects, and life skill development. This grant expedites our process of strengthening our development efforts through wisdom, training, and additional resources to grow strategically. These efforts will equip our organization to match the growing demand for more programs for adults with disabilities in our community.”

    About SECU and SECU Foundation

    A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, and federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), SECU has been providing employees of the state of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for 87 years. SECU is the second largest credit union in the United States with $56 billion in assets. It serves more than 2.8 million members through 275 branch offices, over 1,100 ATMs, Member Services Support via phone, http://www.ncsecu.org, and the SECU Mobile App. The SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high-impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare, and human services. Since 2004, SECU Foundation has made a collective financial commitment of over $300 million for initiatives to benefit North Carolinians statewide.

    Contact: Jama Campbell, Executive Director, secufoundation@ncsecu.org

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: AMD Launches 5th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs, Maintaining Leadership Performance and Features for the Modern Data Center

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    — New EPYC processors deliver record breaking performance and efficiency for a wide range of data center workloads —

    — AMD EPYC CPUs continue momentum, with more than 950 AMD EPYC-powered public instances available globally and more than 350 platforms from OxMs —

    SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced the availability of the 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors, formerly codenamed “Turin,” the world’s best server CPU for enterprise, AI and cloud1.

    Using the “Zen 5” core architecture, compatible with the broadly deployed SP5 platform2 and offering a broad range of core counts spanning from 8 to 192, the AMD EPYC 9005 Series processors extend the record-breaking performance3 and energy efficiency of the previous generations with the top of stack 192 core CPU delivering up to 2.7X the performance4 compared to the competition.

    New to the AMD EPYC 9005 Series CPUs is the 64 core AMD EPYC 9575F, tailor made for GPU powered AI solutions that need the ultimate in host CPU capabilities. Boosting up to 5GHz5, compared to the 3.8GHz processor of the competition, it provides up to 28% faster processing needed to keep GPUs fed with data for demanding AI workloads.

    “From powering the world’s fastest supercomputers, to leading enterprises, to the largest Hyperscalers, AMD has earned the trust of customers who value demonstrated performance, innovation and energy efficiency,” said Dan McNamara, senior vice president and general manager, server business, AMD. “With five generations of on-time roadmap execution, AMD has proven it can meet the needs of the data center market and give customers the standard for data center performance, efficiency, solutions and capabilities for cloud, enterprise and AI workloads.”

    The World’s Best CPU for Enterprise, AI and Cloud Workloads

    Modern data centers run a variety of workloads, from supporting corporate AI-enablement initiatives, to powering large-scale cloud-based infrastructures to hosting the most demanding business-critical applications. The new 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors provide leading performance and capabilities for the broad spectrum of server workloads driving business IT today.

    The new “Zen 5” core architecture, provides up to 17% better instructions per clock (IPC) for enterprise and cloud workloads and up to 37% higher IPC in AI and high performance computing (HPC) compared to “Zen 4.”6

    With AMD EPYC 9965 processor-based servers, customers can expect significant impact in their real world applications and workloads compared to the Intel Xeon® 8592+ CPU-based servers, with:

    • Up to 4X faster time to results on business applications such as video transcoding.7
    • Up to 3.9X the time to insights for science and HPC applications that solve the world’s most challenging problems.8
    • Up to 1.6X the performance per core in virtualized infrastructure.9

    In addition to leadership performance and efficiency in general purpose workloads, 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors enable customers to drive fast time to insights and deployments for AI deployments, whether they are running a CPU or a CPU + GPU solution.

    Compared to the competition:

    • The 192 core EPYC 9965 CPU has up to 3.7X the performance on end-to-end AI workloads, like TPCx-AI (derivative), which are critical for driving an efficient approach to generative AI.10
    • In small and medium size enterprise-class generative AI models, like Meta’s Llama 3.1-8B, the EPYC 9965 provides 1.9X the throughput performance compared to the competition.11
    • Finally, the purpose built AI host node CPU, the EPYC 9575F, can use its 5GHz max frequency boost to help a 1,000 node AI cluster drive up to 700,000 more inference tokens per second. Accomplishing more, faster.12

    By modernizing to a data center powered by these new processors to achieve 391,000 units of SPECrate®2017_int_base general purpose computing performance, customers receive impressive performance for various workloads, while gaining the ability to use an estimated 71% less power and ~87% fewer servers13. This gives CIOs the flexibility to either benefit from the space and power savings or add performance for day-to-day IT tasks while delivering impressive AI performance.

    AMD EPYC CPUs – Driving Next Wave of Innovation
    The proven performance and deep ecosystem support across partners and customers have driven widespread adoption of EPYC CPUs to power the most demanding computing tasks. With leading performance, features and density, AMD EPYC CPUs help customers drive value in their data centers and IT environments quickly and efficiently.

    5thGen AMD EPYC Features
    The entire lineup of 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors is available today, with support from Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and Supermicro as well as all major ODMs and cloud service providers providing a simple upgrade path for organizations seeking compute and AI leadership.

    High level features of the AMD EPYC 9005 series CPUs include:

    • Leadership core count options from 8 to 192, per CPU
    • “Zen 5” and “Zen 5c” core architectures
    • 12 channels of DDR5 memory per CPU
    • Support for up to DDR5-6400 MT/s14
    • Leadership boost frequencies up to 5GHz5
    • AVX-512 with the full 512b data path
    • Trusted I/O for Confidential Computing, and FIPS certification in process for every part in the series
    Model
    (AMD EPYC)    		 Cores CCD
    (Zen5/Zen5c)    		 Base/Boost5
    (up to GHz)    		 Default
    TDP (W)    		 L3 Cache
    (MB)    		 Price
    (1 KU, USD)
    9965 192 cores “Zen5c” 2.25 / 3.7 500W 384 $14,813
    9845 160 cores “Zen5c” 2.1 / 3.7 390W 320 $13,564
    9825 144 cores “Zen5c” 2.2 / 3.7 390W 384 $13,006
    9755
    9745    		 128 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5c”    		 2.7 / 4.1
    2.4 / 3.7    		 500W
    400W    		 512
    256    		 $12,984
    $12,141
    9655
    9655P
    9645    		 96 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5c”    		 2.6 / 4.5
    2.6 / 4.5
    2.3 / 3.7    		 400W
    400W
    320W    		 384
    384
    384    		 $11,852
    $10,811
    $11,048
    9565 72 cores “Zen5” 3.15 / 4.3 400W 384 $10,486
    9575F
    9555
    9555P
    9535    		 64 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5”    		 3.3 / 5.0
    3.2 / 4.4
    3.2 / 4.4
    2.4 / 4.3    		 400W
    360W
    360W
    300W    		 256
    256
    256
    256    		 $11,791
    $9,826
    $7,983
    $8,992
    9475F
    9455
    9455P    		 48 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5”    		 3.65 / 4.8
    3.15 / 4.4
    3.15 / 4.4    		 400W
    300W
    300W    		 256
    192
    192    		 $7,592
    $5,412
    $4,819
    9365 36 cores “Zen5” 3.4 / 4.3 300W 256 $4,341
    9375F
    9355
    9355P
    9335    		 32 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5”    		 3.8 / 4.8
    3.55 / 4.4
    3.55 / 4.4
    3.0 / 4.4    		 320W
    280W
    280W
    210W    		 256
    256
    256
    256    		 $5,306
    $3,694
    $2,998
    $3,178
    9275F
    9255    		 24 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5”    		 4.1 / 4.8
    3.25 / 4.3    		 320W
    200W    		 256
    128    		 $3,439
    $2,495
    9175F
    9135
    9115    		 16 cores “Zen5”
    “Zen5”
    “Zen5”    		 4.2 / 5.0
    3.65 / 4.3
    2.6 / 4.1    		 320W
    200W
    125W    		 512
    64
    64    		 $4,256
    $1,214
    $726
    9015 8 cores “Zen5” 3.6 / 4.1 125W 64 $527

    Supporting Resources

    About AMD
    For more than 50 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. Billions of people, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research institutions around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. AMD employees are focused on building leadership high-performance and adaptive products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, LinkedIn and X pages.

    Cautionary Statement
    This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) such as the features, functionality, performance, availability, timing and expected benefits of AMD products including AMD EPYC™ processors, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as “would,” “may,” “expects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “projects” and other terms with similar meaning. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations, speak only as of the date of this press release and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Such statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond AMD’s control, that could cause actual results and other future events to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. Material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, without limitation, the following: Intel Corporation’s dominance of the microprocessor market and its aggressive business practices; Nvidia’s dominance in the graphics processing unit market and its aggressive business practices; the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry; market conditions of the industries in which AMD products are sold; loss of a significant customer; competitive markets in which AMD’s products are sold; economic and market uncertainty; quarterly and seasonal sales patterns; AMD’s ability to adequately protect its technology or other intellectual property; unfavorable currency exchange rate fluctuations; ability of third party manufacturers to manufacture AMD’s products on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies; availability of essential equipment, materials, substrates or manufacturing processes; ability to achieve expected manufacturing yields for AMD’s products; AMD’s ability to introduce products on a timely basis with expected features and performance levels; AMD’s ability to generate revenue from its semi-custom SoC products; potential security vulnerabilities; potential security incidents including IT outages, data loss, data breaches and cyberattacks; uncertainties involving the ordering and shipment of AMD’s products; AMD’s reliance on third-party intellectual property to design and introduce new products; AMD’s reliance on third-party companies for design, manufacture and supply of motherboards, software, memory and other computer platform components; AMD’s reliance on Microsoft and other software vendors’ support to design and develop software to run on AMD’s products; AMD’s reliance on third-party distributors and add-in-board partners; impact of modification or interruption of AMD’s internal business processes and information systems; compatibility of AMD’s products with some or all industry-standard software and hardware; costs related to defective products; efficiency of AMD’s supply chain; AMD’s ability to rely on third party supply-chain logistics functions; AMD’s ability to effectively control sales of its products on the gray market; long-term impact of climate change on AMD’s business; impact of government actions and regulations such as export regulations, tariffs and trade protection measures; AMD’s ability to realize its deferred tax assets; potential tax liabilities; current and future claims and litigation; impact of environmental laws, conflict minerals related provisions and other laws or regulations; evolving expectations from governments, investors, customers and other stakeholders regarding corporate responsibility matters; issues related to the responsible use of AI; restrictions imposed by agreements governing AMD’s notes, the guarantees of Xilinx’s notes and the revolving credit agreement; impact of acquisitions, joint ventures and/or investments on AMD’s business and AMD’s ability to integrate acquired businesses;  impact of any impairment of the combined company’s assets; political, legal and economic risks and natural disasters; future impairments of technology license purchases; AMD’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and AMD’s stock price volatility. Investors are urged to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in AMD’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to AMD’s most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.

    AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, EPYC and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

    1 EPYC-029C: Comparison based on thread density, performance, features, process technology and built-in security features of currently shipping servers as of 10/10/2024. EPYC 9005 series CPUs offer the highest thread density [EPYC-025B], leads the industry with 500+ performance world records [EPYC-023F] with performance world record enterprise leadership Java® ops/sec performance [EPYCWR-20241010-260], top HPC leadership with floating-point throughput performance [EPYCWR-2024-1010-381], AI end-to-end performance with TPCx-AI performance [EPYCWR-2024-1010-525] and highest energy efficiency scores [EPYCWR-20241010-326]. The 5th Gen EPYC series also has 50% more DDR5 memory channels [EPYC-033C] with 70% more memory bandwidth [EPYC-032C] and supports 70% more PCIe® Gen5 lanes for I/O throughput [EPYC-035C], has up to 5x the L3 cache/core [EPYC-043C] for faster data access, uses advanced 3-4nm technology, and offers Secure Memory Encryption + Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) + SEV Encrypted State + SEV-Secure Nested Paging security features. See the AMD EPYC Architecture White Paper (https://library.amd.com/l/3f4587d147382e2/) for more information.

    2 AMD EPYC™ 9005 processors utilize the SP5 socket. Many factors determine system compatibility. Check with your server manufacturer to determine if this processor is supported in systems configured with previously launched AMD EPYC 9004 family CPUs.

    3 EPYC-022F: For a complete list of world records see: http://amd.com/worldrecords.

    4 9xx5-002C: SPECrate®2017_int_base comparison based on published scores from http://www.spec.org as of 10/10/2024.

    2P AMD EPYC 9965 (3000 SPECrate®2017_int_base, 384 Total Cores, 500W TDP, $14,813 CPU $), 6.060 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU W, 0.205 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU $, https://www.spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q3/cpu2017-20240923-44833.html)

    2P AMD EPYC 9755 (2720 SPECrate®2017_int_base, 256 Total Cores, 500W TDP, $12,984 CPU $), 5.440 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU W, 0.209 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU $, https://www.spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q4/cpu2017-20240923-44837.pdf)

    2P AMD EPYC 9754 (1950 SPECrate®2017_int_base, 256 Total Cores, 360W TDP, $11,900 CPU $), 5.417 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU W, 0.164 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU $, https://www.spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2023q2/cpu2017-20230522-36617.html)

    2P AMD EPYC 9654 (1810 SPECrate®2017_int_base, 192 Total Cores, 360W TDP, $11,805 CPU $), 5.028 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU W, 0.153 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU $, https://www.spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q1/cpu2017-20240129-40896.html)

    2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ (1130 SPECrate®2017_int_base, 128 Total Cores, 350W TDP, $11,600 CPU $) 3.229 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU W, 0.097 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU $, http://spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2023q4/cpu2017-20231127-40064.html)

    2P Intel Xeon 6780E (1410 SPECrate®2017_int_base, 288 Total Cores, 330W TDP, $11,350 CPU $) 4.273 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU W, 0.124 SPECrate®2017_int_base/CPU $, https://spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q3/cpu2017-20240811-44406.html)

    SPEC®, SPEC CPU®, and SPECrate® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. See http://www.spec.org for more information. Intel CPU TDP at https://ark.intel.com/.

    5 GD-150: Boost Clock Frequency is the maximum frequency achievable on the CPU running a bursty workload. Boost clock achievability, frequency, and sustainability will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to: thermal conditions and variation in applications and workloads. GD-150.

    6 9xx5-001: Based on AMD internal testing as of 9/10/2024, geomean performance improvement (IPC) at fixed-frequency.

    – 5th Gen EPYC CPU Enterprise and Cloud Server Workloads generational IPC Uplift of 1.170x (geomean) using a select set of 36 workloads and is the geomean of estimated scores for total and all subsets of SPECrate®2017_int_base (geomean ), estimated scores for total and all subsets of SPECrate®2017_fp_base (geomean), scores for Server Side Java multi instance max ops/sec, representative Cloud Server workloads (geomean), and representative Enterprise server workloads (geomean).

    “Genoa” Config (all NPS1): EPYC 9654 BIOS TQZ1005D 12c12t (1c1t/CCD in 12+1), FF 3GHz, 12x DDR5-4800 (2Rx4 64GB), 32Gbps xGMI;

    “Turin” config (all NPS1): EPYC 9V45 BIOS RVOT1000F 12c12t (1c1t/CCD in 12+1), FF 3GHz, 12x DDR5-6000 (2Rx4 64GB), 32Gbps xGMI

    Utilizing Performance Determinism and the Performance governor on Ubuntu® 22.04 w/ 6.8.0-40-generic kernel OS for all workloads.

    – 5th Gen EPYC generational ML/HPC Server Workloads IPC Uplift of 1.369x (geomean) using a select set of 24 workloads and is the geomean of representative ML Server Workloads (geomean), and representative HPC Server Workloads (geomean).

    “Genoa” Config (all NPS1) “Genoa” config: EPYC 9654 BIOS TQZ1005D 12c12t (1c1t/CCD in 12+1), FF 3GHz, 12x DDR5-4800 (2Rx4 64GB), 32Gbps xGMI;

    “Turin” config (all NPS1): EPYC 9V45 BIOS RVOT1000F 12c12t (1c1t/CCD in 12+1), FF 3GHz, 12x DDR5-6000 (2Rx4 64GB), 32Gbps xGMI

    Utilizing Performance Determinism and the Performance governor on Ubuntu 22.04 w/ 6.8.0-40-generic kernel OS for all workloads except LAMMPS, HPCG, NAMD, OpenFOAM, Gromacs which utilize 24.04 w/ 6.8.0-40-generic kernel.

    SPEC® and SPECrate® are registered trademarks for Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Learn more at spec.org.

    7 9xx5-006: AMD internal testing as of 09/01/2024, on FFMPEG (Raw to VP9, 1080P, 302 Frames, 1 instance/thread, video source: https://media.xiph.org/video/derf/y4m/ducks_take_off_1080p50.y4m).

    System Configurations: 2P AMD EPYC™ 9965 reference system (2 x 192C) 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-6400 running at 6000MT/s, SAMSUNG MZWLO3T8HCLS-00A07, NPS=4, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, Kernel Linux 5.15.0-119-generic, BIOS RVOT1000C (determinism enable=power), 10825484.25 Frames/Hour Median

    2P AMD EPYC™ 9654 production system (2 x 96C) 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-5600, , SAMSUNG MO003200KYDNC, NPS=4, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, Kernel Linux 5.15.0-119-generic, BIOS 1.56 (determinism enable=power) , 5154133.333 Frames/Hour Median

    2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ production system (2 x 64C) 1TB 16x64GB DDR5-5600, 3.2 TB NVME, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, Kernel Linux 6.5.0-35-generic), BIOS ESE122V-3.10, 2712701.754 Frames/Hour Median

    For 3.99x the performance with the AMD EPYC 9965 vs Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ systems

    For 1.90x the performance with the AMD EPYC 9654 vs Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ systems

    Results may vary based on factors including but not limited to BIOS and OS settings and versions, software versions and data used.

    8 9xx5-022: Source: https://www.amd.com/content/dam/amd/en/documents/epyc-technical-docs/performance-briefs/amd-epyc-9005-pb-gromacs.pdf

    9 9xx5-071: VMmark® 4.0.1 host/node FC SAN comparison based on “independently published” results as of 10/10/2024.  
    Configurations:

    2 node, 2P AMD EPYC 9575F (128 total cores) powered server running VMware ESXi8.0 U3, 3.31 @ 4 tiles,
    https://www.infobellit.com/BlueBookSeries/VMmark4-FDR-1003

    2 node, 2P AMD EPYC 9554 (128 total cores) powered server running VMware ESXi 8.0 U3, 2.64 @ 3 tiles,
    https://www.infobellit.com/BlueBookSeries/VMmark4-FDR-1002

    2 node, 2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ (128 total cores) powered server running VMware ESXi 8.0 U3, 2.06 @ 2.4 Tiles,
    https://www.infobellit.com/BlueBookSeries/VMmark4-FDR-1001

    VMmark is a registered trademark of VMware in the US or other countries.

    10 9xx5-012: TPCxAI @SF30 Multi-Instance 32C Instance Size throughput results based on AMD internal testing as of 09/05/2024 running multiple VM instances. The aggregate end-to-end AI throughput test is derived from the TPCx-AI benchmark and as such is not comparable to published TPCx-AI results, as the end-to-end AI throughput test results do not comply with the TPCx-AI Specification.

    2P AMD EPYC 9965 (384 Total Cores), 12 32C instances, NPS1, 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-6400 (at 6000 MT/s), 1DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.5 TB Samsung MZWLO3T8HCLS-00A07 NVMe®, Ubuntu® 22.04.4 LTS, 6.8.0-40-generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 198096812, ulimit -n 1024, ulimit -s 8192), BIOS RVOT1000C (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost=Enabled)

    2P AMD EPYC 9755 (256 Total Cores), 8 32C instances, NPS1, 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-6400 (at 6000 MT/s), 1DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.5 TB Samsung MZWLO3T8HCLS-00A07 NVMe®, Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS, 6.8.0-40-generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 198096812, ulimit -n 1024, ulimit -s 8192), BIOS RVOT0090F (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost=Enabled)

    2P AMD EPYC 9654 (192 Total cores) 6 32C instances, NPS1, 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-4800, 1DPC, 2 x 1.92 TB Samsung MZQL21T9HCJR-00A07 NVMe, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, BIOS 1006C (SMT=off, Determinism=Power)

    Versus 2P Xeon Platinum 8592+ (128 Total Cores), 4 32C instances, AMX On, 1TB 16x64GB DDR5-5600, 1DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5719 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.84 TB KIOXIA KCMYXRUG3T84 NVMe, , Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS, 6.5.0-35 generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 132065548, ulimit -n 1024, ulimit -s 8192), BIOS ESE122V (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost = Enabled)

    Results:

    CPU Median Relative Generational
    Turin 192C, 12 Inst 6067.531 3.775 2.278
    Turin 128C, 8 Inst 4091.85 2.546 1.536
    Genoa 96C, 6 Inst 2663.14 1.657 1
    EMR 64C, 4 Inst 1607.417 1 NA

    Results may vary due to factors including system configurations, software versions and BIOS settings. TPC, TPC Benchmark and TPC-C are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Performance Council.

    11 9xx5-009: Llama3.1-8B throughput results based on AMD internal testing as of 09/05/2024.

    Llama3-8B configurations: IPEX.LLM 2.4.0, NPS=2, BF16, batch size 4, Use Case Input/Output token configurations: [Summary = 1024/128, Chatbot = 128/128, Translate = 1024/1024, Essay = 128/1024, Caption = 16/16].

    2P AMD EPYC 9965 (384 Total Cores), 6 64C instances 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-6400 (at 6000 MT/s), 1 DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.5 TB Samsung MZWLO3T8HCLS-00A07 NVMe®, Ubuntu® 22.04.3 LTS, 6.8.0-40-generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 198096812, ulimit -n 1024, ulimit -s 8192) , BIOS RVOT1000C, (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost=Enabled), NPS=2

    2P AMD EPYC 9755 (256 Total Cores), 4 64C instances , 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-6400 (at 6000 MT/s), 1DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.5 TB Samsung MZWLO3T8HCLS-00A07 NVMe®, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, 6.8.0-40-generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 198096812, ulimit -n 1024, ulimit -s 8192), BIOS RVOT1000C (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost=Enabled), NPS=2

    2P AMD EPYC 9654 (192 Total Cores) 4 48C instances , 1.5TB 24x64GB DDR5-4800, 1DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.5 TB Samsung MZWLO3T8HCLS-00A07 NVMe®, Ubuntu® 22.04.4 LTS, 5.15.85-051585-generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 1198117616, ulimit -n 500000, ulimit -s 8192), BIOS RVI1008C (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost=Enabled), NPS=2

    Versus 2P Xeon Platinum 8592+ (128 Total Cores), 2 64C instances , AMX On, 1TB 16x64GB DDR5-5600, 1DPC, 1.0 Gbps NetXtreme BCM5719 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe, 3.84 TB KIOXIA KCMYXRUG3T84 NVMe®, Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS 6.5.0-35-generic (tuned-adm profile throughput-performance, ulimit -l 132065548, ulimit -n 1024, ulimit -s 8192), BIOS ESE122V (SMT=off, Determinism=Power, Turbo Boost = Enabled).
    Results:

    CPU 2P EMR 64c 2P Turin 192c 2P Turin 128c 2P Genoa 96c
    Average Aggregate Median Total Throughput 99.474 193.267 182.595 138.978
    Competitive 1 1.943 1.836 1.397
    Generational NA 1.391 1.314 1

    Results may vary due to factors including system configurations, software versions and BIOS settings.

    12 9xx5-087: As of 10/10/2024; this scenario contains several assumptions and estimates and, while based on AMD internal research and best approximations, should be considered an example for information purposes only, and not used as a basis for decision making over actual testing.

    Referencing 9XX5-056A: “2P AMD EPYC 9575F powered server and 8x AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs running Llama3.1-70B select inference workloads at FP8 precision vs 2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ powered server and 8x AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs has ~8% overall throughput increase across select inference use cases” and 8763.52 tokens/s (9575F) versus 8,048.48 tokens/s (8592+) at 128 input / 2048 output tokens, 500 prompts for 1.089x the tokens/s or 715.04 more tokens/s.

    1 Node = 2 CPUs and 8 GPUs.
    Assuming a 1000 node cluster, 1000 * 715.04 = 715,040 tokens/s

    For ~700,000 more tokens/s

    Results may vary due to factors including system configurations, software versions and BIOS settings.

    13 9xx5TCO-001a: This scenario contains many assumptions and estimates and, while based on AMD internal research and best approximations, should be considered an example for information purposes only, and not used as a basis for decision making over actual testing. The AMD Server & Greenhouse Gas Emissions TCO (total cost of ownership) Estimator Tool – version 1.12, compares the selected AMD EPYC™ and Intel® Xeon® CPU based server solutions required to deliver a TOTAL_PERFORMANCE of 39100 units of SPECrate2017_int_base performance as of October 10, 2024. This scenario compares a legacy 2P Intel Xeon 28 core Platinum_8280 based server with a score of 391 versus 2P EPYC 9965 (192C) powered server with an score of 3030 (https://spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q3/cpu2017-20240923-44833.pdf) along with a comparison upgrade to a 2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ (64C) based server with a score of 1130 (https://spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q3/cpu2017-20240701-43948.pdf). Actual SPECrate®2017_int_base score for 2P EPYC 9965 will vary based on OEM publications.

    Environmental impact estimates made leveraging this data, using the Country / Region specific electricity factors from the 2024 International Country Specific Electricity Factors 10 – July 2024 , and the United States Environmental Protection Agency ‘Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator’.

    For additional details, see https://www.amd.com/en/claims/epyc5#9xx5TCO-001a

    14 9xx5-083: 5th Gen EPYC processors support DDR5-6400 MT/s for targeted customers and configurations. 5th Gen production SKUs support up to DDR5-6000 MT/s to enable a broad set of DIMMs across all OEM platforms and maintain SP5 platform compatibility

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3bb614ee-e307-43a7-a36b-f5bd02ed1335

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  • MIL-OSI: Capgemini’s World Energy Markets Observatory annual report 2024: The Paris Agreement’s goals are no longer achievable, but net zero is still in sight with accelerated efforts

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Press contact:
    Florence Lievre
    Tel.: +33 1 47 54 50 71
    Email: florence.lievre@capgemini.com

    Capgemini’s World Energy Markets Observatory annual report 2024:
    The Paris Agreement’s goals are no longer achievable, but net zero is still in sight with accelerated efforts

    • Despite impressive strides in 2023 and positive projections for 2024, the pace of renewable development isn’t fast enough
    • The critical role of nuclear energy to addressing increased clean energy demands is now recognized, but construction of new large power plants takes time and industrialization of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) is proving complex
    • Addressing the complexity of energy transition challenges will require new market mechanisms encouraging further innovation, choosing appropriate measures, and accelerated public and private investment in low carbon technologies and the power grid

    Paris, October 10, 2024 – Capgemini has published the 26thedition of its annual World Energy Markets Observatory (WEMO), created in partnership with Hogan Lovells, Vaasa ETT and Enerdata. The report takes stock of the current state of the energy transition. Despite progress being made, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are continuing to increase, reaching a new record high of 37.4 billion tonnes (Gt) in 20231, confirming that the path to the reach Paris Agreement’s objectives is not on track. The report provides insights on what the key focus areas would need to be, moving forward, to address the complex energy transition challenges, including a change in the measurement of clean energy progress, as well as accelerated investment in the power grid and clean technologies.

    James Forrest, Global Energy Transition & Utilities Industry Leader at Capgemini says: “Despite an historical spike in renewable penetration, the pace of development isn’t fast enough to close the gap. There is still much to do in the next decade to get closer to net zero by 2050 and achieve a successful energy transition: whether it be in the field of low carbon technologies, R&D efforts, nuclear or grid flexibility and storage. In addition, beyond the necessary adoption of new market mechanisms, a shift away from measuring energy based on primary consumption is needed. This measurement was relevant during past energy crises, but it is now time to adopt a more holistic approach. Moving to a final energy demand measurement would better assess clean energy progress and ensure more accurate projections.”

    Key observations from the 2024 report include:

    • There is a need to hasten the deployment of renewable energy globally, and to accelerate in developing countries, to deliver the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization goals. The total amount of final energy provided by renewable energy is likely to be limited to about 40% of global needs. In 2023, total renewable energy capacity increased by 14% year on year with a larger capacity expansion of solar (32%) than wind (13%). But, whilst 2024 is promising to hit another record, as this was the case for the 22nd previous years, this growth is far below what is needed to achieve net zero carbon in 2050. Moreover, while the renewable penetration rate increases, they are impacting grid stability and association with stationary batteries will become compulsory. According to the report, storable renewable energies development, such as biomass or geothermal energy, should be accelerated.
    • Hydrogen is now a strategic lever in the decarbonization path. The number of projects reaching final investment decision has quadrupled over the last two years. However, a refocus of applications has been observed due to the increasing costs of low-carbon hydrogen production, competition between uses, and regulations. Only certain uses in ‘Hard to Abate’ industries, such as heavy industry and maritime mobility, have strong potential.
    • Global nuclear capacity needs to triple to ensure stable, low-carbon power. COP28 has recognized the critical role of nuclear energy for reducing the effects of climate change. While there is some promising progress in nuclear renaissance, including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), development of new nuclear power plants is still difficult. In 2023, 440 nuclear reactors (390 GW) provided 9% of the world’s electricity, 25% of the world’s low-carbon electricity. SMRs are in the planning or early construction stages with many years before they are deployed at scale as their industrialization can prove to be complex. According to the report, more focus needs to be placed on extending the life of existing nuclear plants.
    • The power grid plays a fundamental role to accelerate clean energy transitions. Grid investment is starting to pick up and is expected to reach USD 400 billion in 20242, with Europe, the United Sates, China and parts of Latin America leading the way. According to the report, better forecasting electricity consumption and finer optimization scenarios thanks to technologies such as AI will help to improve grid balancing.
    • Whilst AI has the potential to significantly accelerate decarbonization, a lack of skills and a focus on short-term proof of concepts is hampering adoption to date. However, AI coupled with GenAI in agentic LLM (Large Language Model) workflows3 has a clear role to play as a catalyst to improve grids efficiency, e-fuel discovery; new battery or wind turbine design; synthetic biology; and augmented insights from many data sources for better informed decision making.
      • Protectionist approaches to increasing energy sovereignty may have undesirable implications. Ongoing geopolitical uncertainties are affecting energy markets and systems. To ensure security of supply, the use of embargoes, tariffs and subsidies in almost all jurisdictions is distorting energy markets and threatens efficient allocation of capital. According to the report, embargoes are proving ineffective, and decreasing the transparency and traceability of energy supplies, which is essential to tracking decarbonization efforts. Denying access to the cheapest sources of energy equipment and energy supplies drives up prices for consumers and reduces funding available for the energy transition.
      • According to the report, ‘Primary Energy Demand’ is an outdated concept for energy transition. There is a need to move from primary to final energy consumption measurement (in kWh) to ensure accurate projections, and clean energy progress. Measuring energy based on primary consumption ignores that: for the same end-energy services, new electric services are generally more efficient; a lot of fossil fuels are wasted in the generation of electricity; energy is also wasted on finding and processing fossil fuels.

    The World Energy Markets Observatory (WEMO) is Capgemini’s annual thought leadership and research report created in partnership with Hogan Lovells, Vaasa ETT and Enerdata, that tracks the transformation of global energy markets, including Europe, North America, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and China. Now in its 26th edition, the report has been prepared by a global team of over 100 experts, and includes 15 articles, all backed with rigorous analysis. The report begins with a global outlook, then covers the topics pivotal to the energy transition including geopolitical impacts, demand side energy transition, batteries, renewables, SMRs, Hydrogen, Industrial Heat, GenAI and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
    For more information and to get access to the report, click here

    About Capgemini
    Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2023 global revenues of €22.5 billion.
    Get The Future You Want | http://www.capgemini.com

    1 Source: IEA- CO2 Emissions in 2023
    2 Source IEA: Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions

    3 GenAI in agentic LLM (Large Language Model): iterative and collaborative model that transforms the interaction with LLMs into a series of manageable, refinable steps.

    Attachments

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  • MIL-OSI: Blockgraph Announces Release of Blockgraph OnDemand, a Self-Serve First-Party Data Onboarding Solution

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Blockgraph, a leading privacy-centric identity and data collaboration platform designed to fuel the future of connected TV advertising, today announced the launch of Blockgraph OnDemand, a new self-serve data onboarding solution designed so advertisers of any size can leverage their first-party audience and purchase data with participating media seller and ad tech platform partners. The new offering makes it easy for marketers to quickly and securely execute and measure targeted campaigns across connected TV households as well as attribute purchases to ad exposures. The cost-effective solution offers simple sign up with no upfront fees, ultimately facilitating easy onboarding of first-party data with no intermediaries, delivering efficient, privacy-focused audience-based targeting, measurement, and attribution.

    Due to ongoing signal loss in digital advertising, marketers must find new technology solutions to harness their first-party data in order to effectively target and engage their most relevant audiences. CTV has been an increasingly favored solution for many large and enterprise advertisers, allowing them to use first-party data to connect viewers on multiple screens and devices. However, these targeting methods have until now been difficult for smaller and mid-sized advertisers to execute due to cost and technology limitations.

    “First-party data is an essential asset for marketers seeking to improve campaign performance, particularly those who have relied on cookies and other third-party data sources,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph. “Our new self-serve data onboarding solution democratizes access to first-party data targeting and measurement, ensuring that smart, forward-thinking marketers can run successful campaigns with participating supply and platform partners. With this launch, we are looking forward to taking our business from our first 50 to our next 500 customers by focusing on an underserved and valuable segment of marketers.”

    Blockgraph OnDemand allows advertisers to sign up for free online and securely upload their first-party data through a user-friendly interface. Audience and purchase data can be deterministically matched to select media and platform partners in a privacy-centric manner, enabling relevant ads to be planned, delivered, and measured on a household level. As a result, advertisers using Blockgraph OnDemand can take advantage of a one-step process to execute linear and streaming CTV campaigns as easily as walled garden buys, while also being able to transparently assess performance.

    “We share Blockgraph’s commitment to providing local small and medium-sized businesses with easier access to the tools they need to optimize the outcomes of their advertising campaigns,” said Rob Klippel, Senior Vice President of Product, Technology & Operations at Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales business for Charter Communications, Inc. “The ability to target and measure multiscreen TV campaigns is vital for local advertisers; with Blockgraph OnDemand these capabilities will be expanded and become more accessible to a broader customer base.”

    “Self-serve platforms like Blockgraph OnDemand are important advancements for marketers – empowering agencies like PMG and our customers to confidently leverage their first-party data for converged TV campaigns with precision, control, and ease,” said Mike Treon, Head of CTV and Video at PMG. “By making it easier to match and activate data securely and transparently, Blockgraph OnDemand is removing barriers, so brands of all sizes can scale their CTV strategies in premium environments, directly and flexibly with media partners and their addressable user bases, which is critical for both operational ease and campaign success.”

    About Blockgraph
    Blockgraph is a leading privacy-centric identity and data collaboration platform designed to fuel the future of connected TV advertising. The world’s leading media, technology, and information services companies collaborate with trusted partners using Blockgraph’s privacy-focused platform to create and implement identity-based targeting and measurement solutions for multiscreen advertising. Blockgraph is owned by Charter Communications Inc., Comcast NBCUniversal, and Paramount. For more information, please visit Blockgraph at http://www.blockgraph.co.

    Contact:
    Alexandra Levy
    650-996-5758
    alex@siliconalley-media.com

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