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Category: KB

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Passes Schatz-Wicker Resolution Designating Telehealth Awareness Week

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
    WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan resolution authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) designating September 15-21 as “Telehealth Awareness Week.” The resolution recognizes that telehealth has helped millions of Americans across the country access quality health care, and has become a critical component of health care delivery.
    “Telehealth helps people access quality health care when and where they need it, and our resolution highlights the broad, bipartisan support for raising awareness of and expanding access to telehealth,” said Senator Schatz, co-chair of the Senate Telehealth Working Group.
    “Telehealth is a cost-effective way for people in rural and underserved areas to access health care. Increasing the services available to patients remains one of my top priorities,” Senator Wicker said.
    The resolution affirms the bipartisan support in Congress for telehealth and encourages expanded access to telehealth services for all people, including members of rural and underserved communities. It notes that 25 percent of Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth services at least once in 2023, and that nearly 90 percent were satisfied with their experience. It concludes that “Telehealth Awareness Week” unites the efforts of patients, caregivers, health care providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advance the role of telehealth in health care.
    The resolution is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.).
    Schatz has led efforts to expand access to telehealth, including reintroducing the CONNECT for Health Act, the most comprehensive bipartisan telehealth legislation in Congress. Since its first iteration in 2016, several provisions from the bill have been signed into law.
    The full text of the resolution is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Questions Judicial Nominees In Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    09.25.24
    WASHINGTON – During today’s Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Sarah Morgan Davenport, nominated to be a United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico, about her unique background.  Durbin also began his remarks by highlighting the rigorous vetting process nominees undergo to be considered for a judicial nomination.
    “Among our nominees is Ms. Davenport, who graduated from New Mexico State University with a bachelor’s in music and who was a music teacher before going to law school and then [becoming] a prosecutor.  She went from professor to prosecutor.  Can you tell me about your background in music [that lead to your nomination]?” Durbin asked.
    Ms. Davenport replied that she wanted to go down a different career path after serving as a music teacher—which led her to attend law school and pursue a career as a prosecutor.
    Durbin then asked Keli Marie Neary, nominated to be a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, about a case where she represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Federal Trade Commission et al., v. Penn State Hersey Medical Center et al.  The Commonwealth, along with the FTC, sued to block a merger of the Penn State Hershey Medical Center with the Pinnacle Health System. 
    “Can you tell us about that case?” Durbin asked.
    Ms. Neary responded, “that was one of two very important cases I worked on during my career that involved health care and providing care to many people across Pennsylvania.  In that particular case, we were working to make sure that no hospital became a monopoly in order to maintain prices in Pennsylvania, to ensure affordable health care in central Pennsylvania.” 
    She continued to say, “The other case I referenced is a case involving two large insurance companies in Pennsylvania and the hospital systems that participated in those insurance companies, and through my work on behalf of the Commonwealth, we were able to garner an agreement that resulted in affordable health care for many Pennsylvanians in the western part of the state.” 
    Durbin then questioned Judge Anthony J. Brindisi, nominated to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York, about his background as a congressman and his service on the bench.
    “Can you compare those legal experiences?” Durbin asked.
    Judge Brindisi responded that the key to being a good congressman is to be a good listener, work in a bipartisan way to get work done, and to sit down with individuals you might disagree with to better understand their ideas on bills.  He continued to say that he took the lessons he learned from Congress to the bench. 
    Durbin then questioned Elizabeth C. Coombe, nominated to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York, about her legal experience, noting that she has tried almost 40 cases to verdict or final decision.
    Ms. Coombe responded that given her experience litigating in both D.C. and New York federal courts, she was exposed to many bench trials and jury trials.  She continued to say, “I love being in the courtroom presenting cases to juries and seeing the power of the jury work its magic… And I think that my experience as a trial lawyer in front of juries will be helpful if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed.  I would bring that practical experience from the courtroom with me.”
    Video of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s questions Committee is available here for TV Stations.
    The hearing continues the Committee’s work filling judicial vacancies with highly qualified, diverse candidates who help ensure the fair and impartial administration of the American justice system.
    Under the leadership of Chair Durbin, the Senate has confirmed 212 judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench during the Biden-Harris Administration. Following the confirmation of Michelle Court to be U.S. District Judge for the District of California and last week’s executive business meeting, 18 lifetime judges – including four circuit court nominees and 14 district court nominees – are eligible for a vote on the Senate floor.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As Nationwide Book Bans Top 10,000, Schatz, Raskin Introduce Bicameral Resolution Condemning Book Bans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced a resolution condemning an escalating censorship crisis that has removed and targeted thousands of books from the shelves of schools, libraries and universities across the country. 
    The bicameral resolution, coinciding with Banned Books Week, reinforces congressional recognition of students’ First Amendment rights and affirms that the freedom to read is essential to a strong democracy. In the 2023-2024 school year alone, PEN America documented over 10,000 instances of individual books being banned, nearly triple the previous academic year. Many bans have removed books from public shelves with characteristics that would be targeted by Project 2025, which additionally proposes labeling teachers and librarians who distribute such books as sex offenders.
    “Any attempt to ban books because someone has an ideological disagreement or doesn’t believe in capturing the full scope of history is un-American,” said Senator Schatz. “Freedom of expression is a founding principle of our country, and it’s up to all of us to stand up against these attacks on this fundamental right.”
    “By filling our libraries with a diversity of stories, we help our students understand new perspectives rather than suppressing their freedom to think, read and write independently,” said Representative Raskin. “We must close this chapter of censorship and, rather than continuing to take a page from the world’s dictators and autocrats, turn our attention to the resources students need to succeed. I am grateful to Senator Schatz for his partnership on this resolution.”
    According to findings from PEN America and the American Library Association, targeted books include classics like To Kill A Mockingbird, 1984, and The Handmaid’s Tale. Books are also more likely to be removed if they feature content related to the LGBTQIA+ experience, race or racial injustice or stories about grief and abuse.
    “We thank Representative Raskin and Senator Schatz for their continued commitment to academic freedom and the First Amendment. The movement to ban books is an affront to public education and students’ ability to understand the world,” said PEN America’s Congressional Affairs Lead, Laura Schroeder. “The targeted bans intentionally seek to silence the experiences of authors of color, LGBTQI+ authors and stories that explore the themes of racism, trauma, religion, gender identity and sexual identity. Students are being deprived of stories that can help them deal with real lived experiences such as trauma and violence. This must end.”
    “Libraries defend every American’s freedom to read – a freedom that is increasingly under threat – even though many librarians face criticism and threats to their livelihood and safety,” said Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association. “This Banned Books Week, we’re proud to have Congressional leaders standing with us and with communities that are fighting back to protect their libraries and schools from the censors.”
    The resolution is endorsed by the American Library Association (ALA), Banned Books Week Coalition, EveryLibrary, Interfaith Alliance, JCRC of Greater Washington, Jewish Community Relations Council of Broward County (Florida), Jewish Community Relations Council of Portland, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Book Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Jewish Women, National Council of Teachers of English, National Education Association, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, PEN America, PFLAG National, Red Wine and Blue Education Fund, The Sikh Coalition, Jewish Community Relations Council for Tucson & Southern Arizona, and Urban Libraries Council (ULC). 
    In addition to Schatz, the Senate resolution is cosponsored by U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA Sets Coverage for Agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 Launch, Docking

    Source: NASA

    NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
    Liftoff is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT, Saturday, Sept. 28, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is the first human spaceflight mission to launch from that pad. The targeted docking time is approximately 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29.
    Live coverage of the prelaunch news conference, launch, the post-launch news conference, and docking stream on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of additional platforms, including social media.
    The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the orbiting laboratory for an approximate five-month science mission. This is the ninth crew rotation mission and the 10th human spaceflight mission for NASA to the space station supported by Dragon since 2020 as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
    The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
    Media looking for access to NASA live video feeds can subscribe to the agency’s media resources distribution list to receive daily updates and links.
    NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
    Friday, Sept. 27
    11:30 a.m. – One-on-one media interviews at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with various mission subject matter experts. Sign-up information will be emailed to media accredited to attend this launch.
    1:15 p.m. – NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Panel: Space Station 101 with the following participants:

    NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
    Robyn Gatens, director, NASA’s International Space Station Program, and acting director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Division
    Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    John Posey, Dragon engineer, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

    Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 12:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
    Coverage of the virtual news conference will stream live on NASA+, YouTube, Facebook, and the agency’s website. Members of the public may ask questions online by posting questions to the YouTube, Facebook, and X livestreams using #AskNASA.
    5 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference from Kennedy with the following participants:

    NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
    Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
    Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
    Dina Contella, deputy manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX
    Brian Cizek, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

    Coverage of the virtual news conference will stream live on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
    Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
    Saturday, Sept. 28
    9:10 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
    1:17 p.m. – Launch
    Following the conclusion of launch and ascent coverage, NASA will switch to audio only. Continuous coverage resumes on NASA+ at the start of rendezvous and docking and continues through hatch opening and the welcome ceremony. For NASA+ information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit:

    Home

    3 p.m. – Postlaunch news conference with the following participants:

    NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
    Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
    Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
    Dina Contella, deputy manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX

    The virtual news conference will stream live on NASA+, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
    Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
    Sunday, Sept. 29
    3:30 p.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
    5:30 p.m. – Targeted docking to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module
    7:15 p.m. – Hatch opening
    7:40 p.m. – Welcome ceremony
    All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on real-time operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.
    Audio Only Coverage
    Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240 or -7135. On launch day, “mission audio,” countdown activities without NASA+ launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135.
    Launch audio also will be available on Launch Information Service and Amateur Television System’s VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz and KSC Amateur Radio Club’s UHF radio frequency 444.925 MHz, FM mode, heard within Brevard County on the Space Coast.
    Live Video Coverage Prior to Launch
    NASA will provide a live video feed of Space Launch Complex-40 approximately six hours prior to the planned liftoff of the Crew-9 mission. Pending unlikely technical issues, the feed will be uninterrupted until the prelaunch broadcast begins on NASA+, approximately four hours prior to launch. Once the feed is live, find it online at:  http://youtube.com/kscnewsroom
    NASA Website Launch Coverage
    Launch day coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission will be available on the agency’s website. Coverage will include livestreaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 9:10 a.m. Sept. 28, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff.
    For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on the commercial crew or Crew-9 blog.
    Attend Launch Virtually
    Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following a successful launch.
    Watch, Engage on Social Media
    Let people know you’re following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtags #Crew9 and #NASASocial. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
    X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASASocial, @Space_Station, @ISS_Research, @ISS National Lab, @SpaceX, @Commercial_Crew
    Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab
    Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab, @SpaceX
    Coverage en Espanol
    Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en Espanol? Make sure to check out NASA en Espanol on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more coverage on Crew-9.
    Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425;antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov; o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371; messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
    NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.
    For NASA’s launch blog and more information about the mission, visit:
    https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
    -end-
    Joshua Finch / Jimi RussellHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1100joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
    Steven Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie PlucinskyKennedy Space Center, Florida321-867-2468steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
    Leah CheshierJohnson Space Center, Houston281-483-5111leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin, Duckworth, Ramirez, Underwood Celebrate Senate Passage Of Resolution Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    09.25.24
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) celebrated Senate passage of a resolution honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a six-year-old Palestinian American boy who was murdered as a victim of a hate crime in Plainfield, Illinois, on October 14, 2023. The lawmakers introduced the resolution earlier this year.
    “Wadee Alfayoumi and his mother were violently attacked for no apparent reason other than their religion and their ethnicity. Targeting someone based on their ethnicity or religion is wrong, and targeting an innocent child based on those characteristics is pure hatred. Nearly a year after Wadee Alfayoumi’s young life was taken too soon, our nation continues to mourn with his family,” said Durbin. “By passing this resolution, the United States Senate is honoring and remembering Wadee’s life and condemning all forms of hate.”
    “My heart breaks for the family of Wadee Alfayoumi, the precious, innocent 6-year-old who lost his life in an unimaginably cruel way, just because of his Palestinian Muslim identity,” Duckworth said. “This barbaric, cold-blooded murder was a chilling act of hate against the Palestinian community in Illinois, and we must do everything in our power to denounce and stop more hatred and violence.I’m proud our resolution passed honoring Wadee’s life and legacy. May his memory live on and serve as a reminder that we must be united in our shared goal of ending—rather than perpetuating—the needless suffering of innocent human beings.”
    “Yesterday’s Passage of S.Res. 847, honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, was an incredibly important step for humanity, for the movement against hate and bigotry, and for this moment,” said Ramirez. “We are 12 days from October 7th and 19 days from the anniversary of Wadee’s murder – both dates marked by children torn from their mothers. While time has passed, we continue to see an escalation of violence in the Middle East, a rise in bigotry and dehumanizing rhetoric, and a rejection of our shared humanity. We must remember Wadee. And his memory must move Speaker Johnson and the House to take up the Concurrent Resolution and bring it to the Floor for a vote after the October Recess.”
    “Our community lost a beautiful light when Wadee Alfayoumi was taken from us. He brought so much sunshine and joy to his loved ones and classmates,” Underwood said. “The hatred that took him has no place in our community or in our country. I’m glad to see this resolution pass the Senate, and proud to have worked on it with Wadee’s family and community leaders to honor his life and his memory.”
    Last week, Durbin chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America.”  The hearing examined the threats facing marginalized communities and how the federal government can better protect the civil rights and safety of all Americans, including Jewish, Arab, and Muslim Americans. During his opening remarks, Durbin recognized the family members of those who were victims of hate crimes in attendance, including Hanaan Shahin, Wadee’s mother.
    In addition to Durbin and Duckworth, the resolution is cosponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Help Navigators Advance Your Claim

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Help Navigators Advance Your Claim

    Help Navigators Advance Your Claim

    SANTA FE, N.M. – By law, the Claims Office can only pay claims that include the required documentation. After filing a Notice of Loss (NOL), claimants have 150 days to provide documents showing Proof of Loss (POL). If claimants think they will be unable to deliver the needed documents in 150 days, they can request an extension. Extensions are not automatic and must be requested by the claimant. 

    • It’s important to know that claimants do not have to wait for a Navigator to reach out to them to submit documentation. Claimants may submit documentation any time after they have received their Letter of Acknowledgment. 
    • Documentation may be hand delivered directly to one of the three claims offices or may be submitted via email to: FEMA-hermits-peak@FEMA.dhs.gov, or mailed to:  P.O. Box 1329 Santa Fe, NM 87504. 
    • We recommend you provide copies of your documents and keep the originals.

    When a Navigator does reach out, it is important that claimants respond to navigators’ attempts to reach them by phone or email, either when the navigators are first assigned to the claim – after an NOL is submitted — or later when the navigators seek needed paperwork. 

    Navigators are dealing with a very high volume of claims which requires them to work on multiple claims at a time, so it is important to answer your navigator in a timely manner, so they can work on your claim within the timeframe of a 150 days since your NOL was submitted. 

    “Navigators are here to help people understand what documentation is required during the claims process and how to submit the documentation, but the process moves faster when claimants work along with their navigators as a team”, said Jay Mitchell, Director of Operations for the New Mexico Joint Recovery Office. “Navigators are dedicated to helping impacted people receive compensation for their losses, but the claimants have a significant role in the determination of the compensation through the information they provide.”

    Anyone impacted by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and subsequent flooding is encouraged to start a claim with the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office if they haven’t already. The deadline to submit a Notice of Loss to start the claims process is November 14, 2024. 

    The Claims Office continues to observe an increase in claim submissions leading to longer wait times in claims reviews, determinations, and the issuance of Letters of Determination (LODs) for claims. We are actively working to reduce wait times and shorten processing times of claims by sharing checklists of what documentation is required for specific losses. 

    Claims Office compensation is not taxable. Receiving payment from the Claims Office will not impact eligibility for government assistance programs. Contact a tax professional for specific tax-related questions. Questions and concerns can also be addressed by calling your claim Navigator or the Claims Office Helpline at 505-995-7133.

    The Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office is committed to meeting the needs of people impacted by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and subsequent flooding by providing full compensation available under the law as expeditiously as possible. At the time of publication, the FEMA Claims Office has paid more than $1.2 billion to claimants. 

    For information and updates regarding the Claims Office, please visit the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office website at fema.gov/hermits-peak. For information in Spanish, visit fema.gov/es/hermits-peak. You can also follow our Facebook page and turn notifications on to stay up to date about the claims process, upcoming deadlines and other program announcements at facebook.com/HermitsPeakCalfCanyonClaimsOffice.  

    erika.suzuki

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: The Marshall Star for September 25, 2024

    Source: NASA

    By Wayne Smith
    NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center honored top contractors, subcontractors, teams, and individuals of fiscal year 2024 at the 38th meeting of Marshall’s Small Business Alliance. The awards honor aerospace companies and leaders who have demonstrated support of the center’s small business programs and NASA’s mission of exploration.

    The event took place Sept. 19 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Davidson Center for Space Exploration in Huntsville. Around 650 participants from industry and government gathered to network, learn about business opportunities, and recognize outstanding achievements in support of NASA’s mission and the small business community. Those attending represented 32 states and 10 nations.
    “The Marshall Small Business Alliance is an outreach tool designed to introduce the business community to the NASA marketplace,” said David Brock, small business specialist for the agency’s Office of Small Business Programs at Marshall. “Those in attendance can gain valuable insight into Marshall’s exciting programs and projects, upcoming procurement opportunities, and get an opportunity to network with Marshall prime contractors.”
    Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey welcomed attendees, while Jeramie Broadway, deputy director of Marshall’s Office of Strategic Analysis and Communications, provided an update on the center for fiscal year 2025 and beyond.
    Marshall’s Industry & Advocate Awards are presented annually and reflect leadership in business community and sustained achievement in service to NASA’s mission.
    “We are excited about this year’s winners,” Brock said. “Each play a key role in helping NASA achieve successes in support of key programs and projects, including the Human Landing System and Space Launch System rocket. Maintaining and sustaining an experienced and competitive industry base is what makes America strong, and small businesses are at the core of those successes.”

    Marshall manages the Human Landing System and Space Launch System programs.
    This year’s award recipients are:
    Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year
    Media Fusion
    Small Business Subcontractor of the Year
    Zin Technologies
    Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year
    Jacobs
    Mentor-Protégé Agreement of the Year
    Jacobs (mentor) and CodePlus (protégé)
    Procurement Person of the Year
    Joseph Tynes  
    Program Person of the Year
    Patrick McVay
    Small Business Technical Coordinator of the Year
    Leah Fox
    Technical Person of the Year
    David Hood

    NASA civil service employees nominate eligible individuals and organizations for awards. A panel of NASA procurement and technical officials evaluates each nominee’s business practices, innovative processes, adoption of new technologies and their overall contributions to NASA’s mission and the agency’s Small Business Program.
    Award recipients in the following categories become candidates for agency-level Small Business Industry and Advocate Awards:

    Large and Small Business Prime Contractors of the Year
    Small Business Subcontractor of the Year
    Procurement Team or Person
    Technical, Small Business Technical Coordinator/Technical Advisor
    Program Person or Team of the Year

    Learn more about Marshall’s small business initiatives.
    Smith, a Media Fusion employee and the Marshall Star editor, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
    › Back to Top

    By Serena Whitfield
    A new flag is reaching for the Moon outside the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center following a Sept.19 ceremony, marking contributions from center team members toward the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
    The Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The mission is scheduled to launch Sept. 28 no earlier than 12:17 p.m. CDT.

    Crew-9 will be the first human spaceflight mission to launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the orbiting laboratory under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The crew will spend approximately five months at the station, conducting more than 200 science and research demonstrations before returning in February 2025.
    Once aboard the space station, Hague and Gorbunov will become members of the Expedition 72 crew and perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities. The pair will join NASA astronauts Don Petitt, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. Wilmore and Williams, who launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, will fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025.

    The flag raising has been a tradition for missions supported at Marshall’s Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC), as well as a tradition within the CCP to celebrate the successful conclusion of NASA’s Agency Flight Readiness Review prior to launch. The HOSC provides engineering and mission operations support for the space station, the CCP, and Artemis missions, as well as science and technology demonstration missions. The Payload Operations Integration Center within HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.
    The CCP support team at Marshall provides crucial programmatic, engineering, and safety and mission assurance expertise for launch vehicles, spacecraft propulsion, and integrated vehicle performance. Marshall’s role within the CCP is to support certification that the spacecraft and launch vehicle are ready for launch. The support team performs engineering expertise, particularly for propulsion, as well as program management, safety and mission assurance, and spacecraft support. 

    The flag-raising ceremony was a joint effort between the Payload and Mission Operations Division (PMOD) and CCP team. Dave Gwaltney, technical assistant, specialty systems, and Commercial Crew Program representative, gave the introductions. He recognized Brady Doepke, structural analyst for liquid propulsion systems, for his significant contributions in preparation for Crew-9 mission success. Gwaltney said Doepke exemplified leadership and innovation through his guidance of Marshall’s CCP engineering team, which resulted in a successful risk assessment of the updated SpaceX turbine wheel fleet leader acceptance criteria.
    Payload and Mission Operations Division Manager Nicole Pelfrey also recognized Thomas “Reid” Lawrence as the division’s Crew-9 honoree.
    “Reid serves dutifully in the HOSC as part of the HOSC’s Data Operations Control Room Operations Engineers,” Pelfrey said. “Reid has a number of technical specialties, including his expertise in the Backup Control Center activation procedures. This expertise has been vital over the past year as JSC has worked through power upgrades. He also diligently ensures our ISS payload users receive their data and is a key engineer for the testing, verification, and operation of our HOSC interfaces that support commercial crew communications.”
    Whitfield is an intern supporting the Marshall Office of Communications.
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    NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center hosted the Rossi Prize Recognition Dinner at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville on Sept. 18. The dinner was held to recognize the IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) team members honored with the Bruno Rossi Prize, a top prize in high-energy astronomy. From left, Martin Weisskopf, Rossi Prize awardee and NASA emeritus scientist, who served as the principal investigator for IXPE during its development, launch, and commissioning; Paolo Soffitta, Rossi Prize awardee, and the Italian Space Agency’s principal investigator for IXPE; Hashima Hasan, program scientist for IXPE at NASA Headquarters; Andrea Marinucci, IXPE team member and researcher with the Italian Space Agency; and Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey, who provided welcome remarks at the dinner. “The Bruno Rossi Prize highlights how partnerships and teamwork can push the boundaries of scientific knowledge,” Pelfrey said. “The (IXPE) mission, a groundbreaking collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, represents over 30 years of dedicated effort and stands as a testament to the innovative work of a truly multinational team.” (NASA/Jennifer Deermer)

    Rossi Prize winners Weisskopf and Soffitta, center seated, are joined by a plush goat, the unofficial mascot of the IXPE mission, and other IXPE team members at the Rossi Prize Recognition Dinner. Read more about the award and the prize winners. (NASA/Jennifer Deermer)
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    By Wayne Smith
    Talk with Shannon Segovia for any length of time and you’ll quickly discover the care and enthusiasm she has for her position as director of the Office of Communications at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. And that care and enthusiasm extends to those she works with across the center to share news about Marshall missions and team members.
    In her role, Segovia oversees a team responsible for media relations and public affairs, digital and social media, stakeholder relations and engagement, internal and employee communications, and executive communications for the center.

    “We manage these activities for the entire center of about 7,000 people, so it is a definitely a very busy job!” said Segovia, a native of Athens, Alabama, who was named as permanent communications director this summer after more than 12 years at Marshall.
    She was the deputy director of communications starting in June 2023 after working as Marshall’s news chief and public affairs team lead starting in 2019. From 2012 to 2019, Segovia was a public affairs officer at the center. Prior to joining NASA, she was the communications manager for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
     At Marshall, she said it’s the people who continue to be her biggest motivators.
    “As a public servant, I want the people I serve – the people who follow our channels, listen to the news stories we create, and attend our events – to know why NASA’s missions are important and critical to the world we live in,” Segovia said. “I am so fortunate to have such a brilliant team, and they motivate me daily with their hard work.”
    “I’m also motivated by my husband and family because I want to make them proud. I want my nieces and nephews to have a bright future, and I truly believe the work we are doing at NASA will help them do that.”
    Question: What excites you most about the future of human space exploration, or your NASA work, and your team’s role it?
    Segovia: NASA’s missions depend on public and stakeholder support, and that is what our office does – ensures people know what we are doing at NASA and specifically at Marshall, why it is important, and how our missions are benefiting humanity. From social media posts to events like the South Star music festival to interviews with media outlets and stakeholder tours, we use every channel we can to tell others about the work we are doing at Marshall and NASA. Our office touches every organization at the center, and it is so exciting to have a front seat to everything we are doing to get humans back to the Moon and on to Mars.

    Question: What has been the proudest moment of your career and why?
    Segovia: I helped take a team of 12 Marshall female engineers to The Today Show in 2019 for a segment about International Women’s Day. As a public affairs specialist, one of our job duties is to prepare subject matter experts for interviews, making sure they have messages, talking points, and anything else they need. I have never been more proud to be a woman and to work for Marshall than I was that day, seeing how well these women represented NASA and the extraordinary achievements they have made possible. It also made me even more thankful for the job I have – preparing them to make sure they felt confident and could talk about their work was a wonderful experience. The other moment in my career I will never forget is the Artemis I launch in November 2022. I’ve supported the Space Launch System since I started working at NASA, and seeing that rocket fly was one of the best moments of my career. It was the culmination of so much hard work and sacrifice from so many people and was truly an overwhelming and amazing experience.
    Question: Who or what inspired you to pursue an education/career that led you to NASA and Marshall?
    Segovia: My parents have always been my No. 1 fans, encouragers, and supporters. They instilled in me a strong work ethic and the belief I could do anything I wanted to do if I worked hard. They made education a priority for my brothers and I and would do anything to help us succeed. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful family. My mom always wanted me to do something in the medical field, but a biology course in college changed my mind quickly on that. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but had been at school for two years and needed to declare a major. I liked to write and read but didn’t know how to make a career out of that until I went to a journalism class taught by Ms. Bobbie Hurt at the University of North Alabama, and I was hooked. She became my mentor and really taught me how to be a good writer, which has been the foundation for my entire career. I ended up with a double major in journalism and public relations, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
    Question: What advice do you have for employees early in their NASA career or those in new leadership roles?
    Segovia: Find people to whom you can go to for advice, who have your back, and can help you accomplish your goals. I’ve had some amazing mentors, teammates, and bosses who have not only supported me but pushed me to do things I wasn’t sure I could do and helped me even when I messed up. I would not be here without them, and I think it is so important to have those people in your entire career, but especially when you are new. Ask for help when you need it. Time flies, so enjoy the season and job you are in. You will know when it is time to move on, but being present and learning from where you are will help you succeed.
    Question: What do you enjoy doing with your time while away from work?
    Segovia: I love the water – ocean, river, pool, lake – I like being outside and water activities. I love to read and travel, and also to spend time with family and friends. I have three nieces and two nephews, and I like to go to their games and activities. I have a 4-year-old terrier mix named Ted and I enjoy taking him on walks and to the park.
    Smith, a Media Fusion employee and the Marshall Star editor, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
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    NASA has awarded a total of $1.5 million to two U.S. teams for their novel technology solutions addressing energy distribution, management, and storage as part of the agency’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. The innovations from this challenge aim to support NASA’s Artemis missions, which will establish long-term human presence on the Moon.

    This two-phase competition has challenged U.S. innovators to develop breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies that could enable long-duration Moon missions to advance the nation’s lunar exploration goals. The final phase of the challenge concluded with a technology showcase and winners’ announcement ceremony Sept. 20 at Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the visitor center for NASA’s Glenn Research Center.
    “Congratulations to the finalist teams for developing impactful power solutions in support of NASA’s goal to sustain human presence on the Moon,” said Kim Krome-Sieja, acting program manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. “These technologies seek to improve our ability to explore and make discoveries in space and could have implications for improving power systems on Earth.”

    The winning teams are:

    First prize ($1 million): H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) of Santa Barbara, California
    Second prize ($500,000): Orbital Mining Corporation of Golden, Colorado

    Four teams were invited to refine their hardware and deliver full system prototypes in the final stage of the competition, and three finalist teams completed their technology solutions for demonstration and assessment at Glenn. The technologies were the first power transmission and energy storage prototypes to be tested by NASA in a vacuum chamber mimicking the freezing temperature and absence of pressure found at the permanently shadowed regions of the Lunar South Pole. The simulation required the teams’ power systems to demonstrate operability over six hours of solar daylight and 18 hours of darkness with the user three kilometers (nearly two miles) away from the power source.
    During this competition stage, judges scored the finalists’ solutions based on a Total Effective System Mass (TESM) calculation, which measures the effectiveness of the system relative to its size and weight – or mass – and the total energy provided by the power source. The highest-performing solution was identified based on having the lowest TESM value – imitating the challenges that space missions face when attempting to reduce mass while meeting the mission’s electrical power needs.

    Team H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) from University of California, Santa Barbara, won the grand prize for their hardware solution, which had the lowest mass and highest efficiency of all competitors. The technology also featured a special cable operating at 800 volts and an innovative use of energy storage batteries on both ends of the transmission system. They also employed a variable radiation shield to switch between conserving heat during cold periods and disposing of excess heat during high power modes. The final 48-hour test proved their system design effectively met the power transmission, energy storage, and thermal challenges in the final phase of competition.
    Orbital Mining Corporation, a space technology startup, received the second prize for its hardware solution that also successfully completed the 48-hour test with high performance. They employed a high-voltage converter system coupled with a low-mass cable and a lithium-ion battery.
    “The energy solutions developed by the challenge teams are poised to address NASA’s space technology priorities,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive for Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “These solutions support NASA’s recently ranked civil space shortfalls, including in the top category of surviving and operating through the lunar night.”

    [embedded content]
    Watch the finale of NASA’s Watts on the Moon challenge, a $5 million, two-phase competition designed to develop breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies.

    During the technology showcase and winners’ announcement ceremony, NASA experts, media, and members of the public gathered to see the finalist teams’ technologies and hear perspectives from the teams’ participation in the challenge. After the winners were announced, event attendees were also welcome to meet NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen.
    The Watts on the Moon Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge led by Glenn. Marshall manages Centennial Challenges, which are part of the agency’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA contracted HeroX to support the administration of this challenge.
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    Manufacturing equipment that will be used to build components for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for future Artemis missions is being installed at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility.
    The novel tooling will be used to produce the SLS rocket’s advanced exploration upper stage, or EUS, in the factory’s new manufacturing area. The EUS will serve as the upper, or in-space, stage for all Block 1B and Block 2 SLS flights in both crew and cargo configurations.

    In tandem, NASA and Boeing, the SLS lead contractor for the core stage and exploration upper stage, are producing structural test articles and flight hardware structures for the upper stage at Michoud and the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Early manufacturing is already underway at Michoud while preparations for an engine-firing test series for the upper stage are in progress at nearby Stennis Space Center.
    “The newly modified manufacturing space for the exploration upper stage signifies the start of production for the next evolution of SLS Moon rockets at Michoud,” said Hansel Gill, director at Michoud. “With Orion spacecraft manufacturing and SLS core stage assembly in flow at Michoud for the past several years, standing up a new production line and enhanced capability at Michoud for EUS is a significant achievement and a reason for anticipation and enthusiasm for Michoud and the SLS Program.”

    The advanced upper stage for SLS is planned to make its first flight with Artemis IV and replaces the single-engine Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) that serves as the in-space stage on the initial SLS Block 1 configuration of the rocket. With its larger liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant tanks feeding four L3 Harris Technologies- built RL10C-3 engines, the EUS generates nearly four times the thrust of the ICPS, providing unrivaled lift capability to the SLS Block 1B and Block 2 rockets and making a new generation of crewed lunar missions possible.
    This upgraded and more powerful rocket will increase the SLS rocket’s payload to the Moon by 40%, from 27 metric tons (59,525 lbs.) with Block 1 to 38 metric tons (83,776 lbs.) in the crew configuration. Launching crewed missions along with other large payloads enables multiple large-scale objectives to be accomplished in a single mission.

    Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon. The rocket is part of NASA’s deep space exploration plans, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. NASA’s SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
    NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the SLS Program and Michoud.
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    Chris Pereira can personally attest to the immense gravitational attraction of black holes. He’s been in love with space ever since he saw a video on the topic in a high school science class.
    But it wasn’t just any science class. It was one specially designed for English learners.

    “I was born and raised in Guatemala,” Pereira said. “I came here at 14 unable to speak any English.”
    Pereira did not know how to navigate the U.S. educational system either, but after that class, he was certain he wanted a career in space.
    Thus began a journey that ultimately landed him at L3Harris Technologies, where he works in the Aerojet Rocketdyne segment as an engineer and operations integrator on the RS-25 engine – used to power the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will launch astronauts to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
    Pereira’s first step was to stay after class and ask to borrow a copy of the video on black holes. His teacher not only obliged but took him across the street to the local library to get his first library card.
    Pereira quickly recognized that the pathway to his desired career in space was through higher education. It was equally clear, however, that he was not yet on that pathway. English as a Second Language classes, including that science class, did not count toward college admissions. His guidance counselor, meanwhile, was nudging him toward the trades.
    But with the help of teachers and a new guidance counselor, he got himself on the college-bound track.
    “I came to understand there were multiple career pathways to explore my interest in space,” Pereira said. “One was engineering.”
    There was a lot of catching up to do, so Pereira took eight classes per day, including honors courses. He also worked every day after school cleaning a gymnasium from 6 to 11 p.m. to help his family make ends meet.
    Pereira earned his mechanical engineering degree at California State University at Los Angeles while also working as a senior educator at the California Science Center to cover the cost of his college tuition and living expenses.
    Pereira’s first career experience was as an intern in manufacturing engineering at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “I learned that making 100% mission-success engines requires a strong culture of attention to detail, teamwork and solid work ethics.” Pereira said. His first full-fledged engineering job was with Honeywell Aerospace working on aircraft programs.
    Eventually, space came calling – literally. “My mentor at Aerojet Rocketdyne called me up and said, ‘Chris, I have a job for you,’” Pereira said.
    He began his new job working on rocket engine programs including the AR1 and RS-68 but shifted to the RS-25 after NASA awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a contract for newly manufactured versions of the engine. Initial versions of the SLS are using refurbished engines from the Space Shuttle Program. Evolved versions of the RS-25 recently concluded a critical test series and will debut with the fifth Artemis flight.
    As RS-25’s operations integrator, Pereira is responsible for ensuring that the many pieces of the program – from tracking on-time procurement of supplies and labor loads to coordinating priorities on various in-demand machine centers – come together to deliver a quality product.
    Playing a key role in the nation’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon feels a bit like coming home again, Pereira said. “You develop your first love, work really hard, take different pathways and encounter new passions,” he said. “It’s almost funny how the world and life work out – it’s like I’ve taken a big circle back to my first love.”
    NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
    NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the SLS Program.
    Read other I Am Artemis features.
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    Renee Weber, chief scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, talks during the “Legacy of the Invisible” event in downtown Huntsville on Sept. 20. About 300 people attended the event, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The celebration featured “No Straight Lines,” a new mural at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Washington Street by local artist Float. The mural honors Huntsville’s rich scientific legacy in astrophysics and highlights the groundbreaking discoveries made possible by Marshall scientists and engineers. Other speakers included Collen Wilson-Hodge, principal investigator of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The event also offered members of the community the opportunity to meet the scientists who worked on some of NASA’s most revolutionary astrophysics missions. Featured exhibits from Marshall included the Apollo Telescope mount, the main science instrument on Skylab; the High Energy Astrophysics Program (HEAO); the BATSE instrument on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory; Chandra X-ray Observatory; Fermi; IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer); and Marshall’s X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility. “I had a really nice time at the event,” Weber said. “It’s always great to see such interest and enthusiasm in our science work from the public.” Wilson-Hodge said the mural is an artistic depiction of the historic event detected with the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory on Aug. 17, 2017. “On that day, for the first time ever, we observed both a gamma-ray burst and gravitational waves from two very dense neutron stars merging to form a black hole,” she said. (NASA/Serena Whitfield)

    From left to right, scientists and astrophysicists from Marshall, Cori Fletcher, Michelle Hui, Steven Ehlert, Weber, Colleen Wilson-Hodge, Lisa Gibby, and the artist Float pose for a photo in front of the “No Straight Lines” mural at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Washington Street in Huntsville. (NASA/Serena Whitfield)
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    Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have found a galaxy cluster has two streams of superheated gas crossing one another. This result shows that crossing the streams may lead to the creation of new structure.

    Researchers have discovered an enormous, comet-like tail of hot gas – spanning over 1.6 million light-years long – trailing behind a galaxy within the galaxy cluster called Zwicky 8338 (Z8338 for short). This tail, spawned as the galaxy had some of its gas stripped off by the hot gas it is hurtling through, has split into two streams.
    This is the second pair of tails trailing behind a galaxy in this system. Previously, astronomers discovered a shorter pair of tails from a different galaxy near this latest one. This newer and longer set of tails was only seen because of a deeper observation with Chandra that revealed the fainter X-rays.
    Astronomers now have evidence that these streams trailing behind the speeding galaxies have crossed one another. Z8338 is a chaotic landscape of galaxies, superheated gas, and shock waves (akin to sonic booms created by supersonic jets) in one relatively small region of space. These galaxies are in motion because they were part of two galaxy clusters that collided with each other to create Z8338.
    This new composite image shows this spectacle. X-rays from Chandra (represented in purple) outline the multimillion-degree gas that outweighs all of the galaxies in the cluster. The Chandra data also shows where this gas has been jettisoned behind the moving galaxies. Meanwhile an optical image from the Dark Energy Survey from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile shows the individual galaxies peppered throughout the same field of view.
    The original gas tail discovered in Z8338 is about 800,000 light-years long and is seen as vertical in this image. The researchers think the gas in this tail is being stripped away from a large galaxy as it travels through the galaxy cluster. The head of the tail is a cloud of relatively cool gas about 100,000 light-years away from the galaxy it was stripped from. This tail is also separated into two parts.

    The team proposes that the detachment of the tail from the large galaxy may have been caused by the passage of the other, longer tail. Under this scenario, the tail detached from the galaxy because of the crossing of the streams.
    The results give useful information about the detachment and destruction of clouds of cooler gas like those seen in the head of the detached tail. This work shows that the cloud can survive for at least 30 million years after it is detached. During that time, a new generation of stars and planets may form within it.
    The Z8338 galaxy cluster and its jumble of galactic streams are located about 670 million light-years from Earth. A paper describing these results appeared in the Aug. 8, 2023, issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and is available here.
    NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
    Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
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    What does it take to build a massive spacecraft that will seek to determine if a mysterious moon has the right ingredients for life? Find out in a new video series called “Behind the Spacecraft,” which offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the roles of five engineers working on NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, from building the spacecraft’s communications systems to putting it through rigorous tests so the orbiter can meet its science goals in space.

    [embedded content]

    With its launch period opening Oct. 10, Europa Clipper is the agency’s first mission dedicated to exploring an ocean world beyond Earth. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles to the Jupiter system, where it will investigate the gas giant’s moon Europa, which scientists believe contains a global saltwater ocean beneath its icy shell.
    The videos are being released here weekly. The first two are already out.
    Meet the team:

    Dipak Srinivasan, lead communications systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, makes sure the Europa Clipper team can communicate with the spacecraft. Learn more about his work in the video above.
    Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, helped plan Europa Clipper’s trajectory, ensuring the spacecraft arrives at Jupiter safely and has a path to fly by Europa dozens of times. Learn more about Sarah’s work here.
    Jenny Kampmeier, a science systems engineer at JPL, acts as an interface between mission scientists and engineers.
    Andres Rivera, a systems engineer at JPL and first-generation American, works on Europa Clipper’s cruise phase — the journey from Earth to Jupiter.
    Valeria Salazar, an integration and test engineer at JPL who spent her childhood in Mexico, helped test the Europa Clipper spacecraft to ensure its launch readiness.

    Europa Clipper experts will answer questions about the mission in a NASA Science Live show airing in English on Oct. 1, and in Spanish on Oct. 3. The broadcasts will appear on NASA+, YouTube, Facebook, and X. The Spanish broadcast will be streamed on the NASA en Español YouTube channel. Viewers can submit questions on social media using the hashtag #askNASA or by leaving a comment in the chat section of the Facebook or YouTube stream.
    Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission and will fly through the most punishing radiation environment of any planet in the solar system. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and, during multiple flybys of Europa, will collect a wealth of scientific data with nine science instruments and an experiment that uses its telecommunications system to gather gravity data.
    Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Final Rule on Mitigating the Impact of Significant, Anomalous, and Highly Suspect Billing Activity on Medicare Shared Savings Program Financial Calculations in Calendar Year 2023 (CMS-1799-F)

    Source: US Department of Health and Human Services

    On September 24, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule entitled, “Medicare Program: Mitigating the Impact of Significant, Anomalous, and Highly Suspect Billing Activity on Medicare Shared Savings Program Financial Calculations in Calendar Year 2023” (CMS-1799-F). This final rule is part of a larger strategy to address significant, anomalous, and highly suspect (SAHS) billing activity within Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) reconciliation. A proposal in the calendar year (CY) 2025 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule addresses SAHS billing activity for CY 2024 onwards. This fact sheet summarizes the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) policies that are included in this final rule. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: HARRISBURG – Shapiro Administration to Showcase the Power of Transformation in Substance Use Disorder Recovery with

    Source: US State of Pennsylvania

    September 26, 2024 – Harrisburg, PA

    ADVISORY – HARRISBURG – Shapiro Administration to Showcase the Power of Transformation in Substance Use Disorder Recovery with “The Phoenix” Makeover Event

    The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) will host “The Phoenix,” a makeover-style event to highlight the power of transformation and importance of access to supports in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD).

    DDAP will join David Ridley and Mariette Torres, two individuals in recovery who will share their inspiring stories and show off their new look courtesy of Recovery House of Worship York, a recovery community organization (RCO).

    A discussion on the importance of RCOs, DDAP’s recovery house licensure program and other state-funded recovery supports will follow the reveals.

    WHO:
    Kelly Primus, DDAP Deputy Secretary
    David Ridley, makeover recipient
    Mariette Torres, makeover recipient
    Reginald and Yolanda Hunter, Recovery House of Worship, RCO
    Michael and Robin Straley, Leah’s Legacy, RCO

    WHEN:
    Thursday, September 26, 2024; 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

    WHERE:
    Main Rotunda, State Capitol Building, Harrisburg

    RSVP:
     For press wishing to attend the event, please email stdugan@pa.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: BEAVER COUNTY – Governor Shapiro and Local Leaders to Highlight Key Investments in Workforce Development, Expanded Job Training, and Vo-Tech Initiatives

    Source: US State of Pennsylvania

    September 26, 2024 – Monaca, PA

    ADVISORY – BEAVER COUNTY – Governor Shapiro and Local Leaders to Highlight Key Investments in Workforce Development, Expanded Job Training, and Vo-Tech Initiatives

    Governor Josh Shapiro will visit Beaver CountyCareer & Technology Center (BCCTC) to highlight the investments in workforce development, job training, and career and technical education (CTE) included in the bipartisan budget the Governor signed into law this year.

    In the 2024-25 budget, Governor Shapiro secured key investments to help grow our workforce and give Pennsylvanians the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.

    WHO:
    Governor Josh Shapiro
    Laura DelVecchio, Administrative Director, BCCTC
    David Liptak, Carpentry Instructor, BCCTC
    Karleigh Matscherz, student, BCCTC
    Representative Robert Matzie
    Congressman Chris Deluzio

    WHEN
    Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 11:15 AM
    *Press conference to begin around 11:45 AM

    WHERE:
    Beaver County Career & Technology Center (BCCTC)
    145 Poplar Avenue
    Monaca, PA 15061

    LIVE STREAM:
    pacast.com/live/gov
    governor.pa.gov/live/

    RSVP:
    Press who are interested in attending must RSVP with the names and phone numbers for each member of their team to ra-gvgovpress@pa.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Speech by the President of the Republic before the United Nations General Assembly.

    MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –

    Source: President of the Republic of France in French (video)

    To follow the Presidency of the Republic: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elysee.fr Twitter: https://twitter.com/elysee Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elysee LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pr-sidence-de-la-r-publique

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

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI: Poet Technologies Announces Closing of US$15 Million Private Placement

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

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

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — POET Technologies Inc. (“POET” or the “Corporation“) (TSXV: PTK; NASDAQ: POET), the designer and developer of the POET Optical Interposer™, Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) and light sources for the data center, tele-communication and artificial intelligence markets, is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement with a single institutional investor pursuant to which the Corporation issued 4,000,000 common shares (the “Common Shares“) and an accompanying warrant exercisable for an aggregate of up to 2,000,000 Common Shares (each, a “Warrant Share”) at an exercise price of $5.00 (or approximately C$6.78) per Common Share (the “Warrant“) for aggregate gross proceeds of US$15,000,000 (the “Offering”). The combined price of one Common Share and accompanying Warrant in respect of one-half Common Share was US$3.75 (or approximately C$5.09). Subject to the terms of the Warrant, the Warrant is exercisable, in whole or in part, for a period of five years from the date of issuance.

    The Corporation intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. No commission or finder’s fee was paid by the Corporation and no underwriter or sales agent was engaged by the Corporation in connection with the Offering.

    All Common Shares and the accompanying Warrant issued under the Offering were distributed to a purchaser located outside of Canada in reliance on OSC Rule 72-503 – Distributions Outside of Canada and, accordingly, all Common Shares, the accompanying Warrant and all Warrant Shares issued under the Offering are not subject to a Canadian statutory hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The Offering remains subject to the final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange“).

    This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. This news release shall not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements.

    About POET Technologies Inc.

    POET is a design and development company offering high-speed optical engines, light source products and custom optical modules to the artificial intelligence systems market and to hyperscale data centers.  POET’s photonic integration solutions are based on the POET Optical Interposer™, a novel, patented platform that allows the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single chip using advanced wafer-level semiconductor manufacturing techniques. POET’s Optical Interposer-based products are lower cost, consume less power than comparable products, are smaller in size and are readily scalable to high production volumes. In addition to providing high-speed (800G, 1.6T and above) optical engines and optical modules for AI clusters and hyperscale data centers, POET has designed and produced novel light source products for chip-to-chip data communication within and between AI servers, the next frontier for solving bandwidth and latency problems in AI systems.  POET’s Optical Interposer platform also solves device integration challenges across a broad range of communication, computing and sensing applications.  POET is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with operations in Allentown, PA, Shenzhen, China, and Singapore.  More information about POET is available on our website at www.poet-technologies.com.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

    This news release contains “forward-looking information” (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws) and “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such statements or information are identified with words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “potential”, “estimate”, “propose”, “project”, “outlook”, “foresee” or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding any potential outcome. Such statements include, without limitation, the Corporation’s expectations with respect to its products, the scalability of the POET Optical Interposer and the success of the Corporation’s products, the Corporation’s use of proceeds for the Offering and the Corporation’s ability to obtain the final approval of the Exchange. Such forward-looking information or statements are based on a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which may cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated and which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, management’s expectations regarding the size of the market for its products, the capability of its joint venture to produce products on time and at the expected costs, the performance and availability of certain components, and the success of its customers in achieving market penetration for their products. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including, without limitation, the attractiveness of the Corporation’s product offerings, performance of its technology, the performance of key components, and ability of its customers to sell their products into the market. For further information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to the Corporation’s filings on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information or statements are reasonable, prospective investors in the Corporation’s securities should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because the Corporation can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release are as of the date of this news release and the Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise this forward-looking information and statements except as required by applicable securities laws.

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

    120 Eglinton Avenue, East, Suite 1107, Toronto, ON, M4P 1E2- Tel: 416-368-9411 – Fax: 416-322-5075

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Leader of Gorilla Stone Mafia Gang Convicted of Two Murders on Staten Island and Drug Distribution

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

    While in Jail, the Defendant Wrote About the Murders: “I Feel Like the Reaper”

    Today, a federal jury in Brooklyn returned a guilty verdict against John Pena, leader of the Gorilla Stone Mafia (GSM), a subgroup of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation (UGSN), which is a faction of the nationwide Bloods street gang. The jury convicted Pena, also known as “Tragedy,” “Don Tragg,” “Last Don” and “Money Baggz,” on all six counts of a second superseding indictment charging him with racketeering; murder in-aid-of racketeering; causing death through use of a firearm; unlawful possession, brandishing and discharge of a firearm; being a felon in possession of ammunition; and conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana and crack cocaine.  Pena was convicted of murdering Mark Bajandas on March 10, 2021, and Francisco Gonzalez on June 22, 2021, on behalf of GSM.  The verdict followed a seven-day trial before United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly.  When sentenced, Pena faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

    Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Thomas G. Donlon, Interim Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the verdict.

    As the evidence proved, Pena was consumed by seeking revenge against rivals and maintaining his leadership position in the Gorilla Stone Mafia gang by any means necessary,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “Killing a man as he slept in bed and shooting another man with a dozen bullets are shocking examples of Pena’s ruthlessness.  Today’s verdict ensures he will spend the rest of his life in prison for his direct role in the extreme violence and drug trafficking wreaked on a Staten Island community.” 

    Mr. Peace thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance.

    “Today’s guilty verdict is a direct result of the focused and collaborative efforts of dedicated investigators from the NYPD, FBI, and the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York,” stated Interim NYPD Commissioner Donlon.  “Gang activity, especially the carrying and indiscriminate shooting of illegal guns on our streets, instills fear in the daily lives of New Yorkers. It is crucial that we and our law enforcement partners continue to target and dismantle these criminal groups, and work toward preventing the violence that is so often associated with their activities.”

    As proven at trial, Pena committed the crimes of conviction in connection with his leadership of GSM, which operated out of the Stapleton Houses, a public housing development on Staten Island.  Members of GSM use intimidation, threats of violence and acts of violence to preserve and protect GSM’s power, territory and criminal activities.  They also use drug trafficking as a means of obtaining money.

    In the early morning hours of March 10, 2021, Pena fired multiple gunshots from close range at Mark Bajandas, also known as “Drama,” a former GSM associate and perceived rival, killing him.  Bajandas, a former GSM member who had defected to the rival Bugatti set of USGN, suffered at least 12 gunshot wounds.  The murder occurred after Pena and Bajandas had attended a memorial earlier in the evening to commemorate the death of Avanti Brock, a former GSM member who was murdered allegedly by Bugatti approximately one year earlier. 

    On June 22, 2021, Pena murdered Francisco Gonzalez, a former GSM member, by shooting him three times in the head while Gonzalez was asleep in bed next to Pena’s ex-girlfriend. 

    Law enforcement recovered writings from Pena’s jail cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center that included statements in which he took responsibility for the murders of Bajandas and Gonzalez, such as: “Kuz I Turn all my opps into ghost / Francisco I mix them N / Mark / A … shhh / Gotta chill … they don’t Know / Lately how I feel / Like the reaper / If I spot em I’m snatching his soul.”  Pena also wrote about killing Gonzalez, including: “left his brains on them sheets man what was he thinkin’?,” referring to the fact that he had shot Gonzalez in the head while Gonzalez was asleep in bed.

    Witness testimony and evidence obtained from cell phones proved that GSM members enriched themselves by selling controlled substances in and around the Stapleton Houses and also in Vermont, and that Pena was involved in the sale and distribution of marijuana, crack cocaine and heroin.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  As part of the program, U.S. Attorney’s Offices work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and their local communities to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.  Assistant United States  Attorneys Dana Rehnquist, Andrew Roddin and Elias Laris are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Reed and Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Galeotti.

    The Defendant:

    JOHN PENA (also known as “Tragedy,” “Don Tragg,” “Last Don” and Money Baggz”)
    Age:  32
    Staten Island, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No.:  21-CR-176 (S-2) (AMD)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Netflix’s Monsters is ‘murder porn’ at its worst. It comes at a cost to real victims – and the truth

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Forensic Criminologist, University of Newcastle

    Netflix

    Are we products of nature or nurture?

    That’s the age-old question at the heart of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s new Netflix release, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story. The show focuses on the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menéndez by their sons Erik and Lyle.

    The prosecution convinced a jury the two brothers were cold-blooded killers, driven by the desire to access their parents’ wealth. The brothers, meanwhile, claim to be victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents – and say the killings were therefore self-defence.

    What’s the truth? Perhaps both.

    Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny play the roles of the parents, José and Kitty.
    Netflix

    Creating the image of a ‘monster’

    The case details are well known. In fact, I have taught this case to my own criminology students as an example of the victim-offender overlap, as clearly these brothers existed in a very dysfunctional family.

    On August 20 1989, brothers Lyle (then 21) and Erik (then 18) shot and killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. They faced two trials. The first one in 1993 saw the brothers tried separately and ended in two hung juries and subsequent mistrials.

    In the second trial, which began in 1995, the pair were tried together. In 1996 they were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Interestingly, the prosecution raised new objections to the admission of a large amount of defence evidence in the second trial, so the judge consequently excluded much of the evidence of abuse.

    This essentially dismantled the brothers’ entire defence, which was predicated on the fact they killed their parents out of fear, after they threatened to expose their father for serious and protracted physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

    In their second trial, Erik and Lyle were found guilty of murdering their parents and sentenced to life without parole.
    Netflix

    The Netflix series has created significant controversy. It documents a version of events leading up to the murders, including detailed histories of both Lyle’s and Erik’s sexual abuse, as well as the crimes themselves and subsequent trials.

    In the series, the brothers are portrayed in a homoerotic and incestuous way. For context, back in 1995 Lyle testified that he sexually offended against Erik, but this was against the background of the alleged sexual abuse from their father.

    Monsters, on the other hand, shows the brothers having an incestuous relationship as adults. The brothers deny this and there’s little evidence to support it.

    While the pair is sometimes painted in a sympathetic light, at other times the viewer is led to question whether greed was their true motive.

    Erik Menéndez has slammed the series, saying it walks back on decades of understanding of the devastating impacts sexual abuse has on male victims.

    I have to agree.

    The brothers didn’t just kill their parents and call it a day. These murders were incredibly brutal. As a criminologist, it looked to me like they were trying to obliterate their parents.

    José was shot in the back of the head, execution-style, while Kitty was shot a total of ten times, including one shot directly to her face. Such crimes are generally not motivated by money; they tend to be driven by something much deeper.

    After their parents’ deaths, the Menéndez brothers appeared to be spending their inheritance extravagantly – a point that later contributed to the prosecutor’s case against them.
    Netflix

    Murder porn at its worst

    This case can be seen through the ghoulish eyes of “murder porn”. The first trial, which was televised in 1993, went viral on TikTok in 2021, engaging a new generation of fans.

    Watching the footage from the 1990s, some of us will remember the legions of screaming girls who welcomed the handsome brothers to court. It was more like a scene from a boyband concert than a brutal double-murder trial.

    Whether you believe the brothers are cold-blooded and opportunistic killers, or victims of serious child abuse, will influence your take on the ongoing interest in the case and the portrayal in Monsters.

    Ari Graynor plays Leslie Abramson, the lawyer who represented Erik in both trials.
    Netflix

    Monsters isn’t the first example of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan cheapening real tragedies by turning them into voyeuristic and fictionalised television.

    The first instalment of the same series focused on Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer and sex offender who killed 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Dahmer also engaged in necrophilia and cannibalism, so his brutal crimes were rich fodder for Netflix.

    Dahmer’s victims were openly critical, saying the retelling of the offender’s story diminished their loved ones’ suffering and revictimised them by opening old wounds.

    Regardless, Dahmer achieved critical acclaim with 13 nominations at the 2023 Emmy Awards, no doubt spurring the creators’ enthusiasm to further develop the franchise.

    The way forward

    The path to ethical true crime depiction lies in establishing facts and veering away from embellishing or glorifying the criminal or their crimes.

    Ideally, true crime should be victim focused and should achieve a purpose beyond entertainment. We have a lot to learn from criminal history, but these stories should be told in educational ways that respect and honour victims’ lives.

    While the real Menéndez family was dysfunctional, their portrayal in Monsters can only be considered sensational.
    Netflix

    We each have a responsibility to consume ethically produced true crime. Whether it’s TV series, films, podcasts or books, we vote for what we want through our engagement. My maxim is to choose content that reflects how I would want my story told, were I to ever become the focus of a true crime production.

    If you’re curious to hear more about the Menéndez brothers’ story, a new Netflix documentary called The Menéndez Brothers is set for release on October 7. Both Erik and Lyle have contributed to it through phone interviews conducted from prison – and they say there’s much that hasn’t been told.

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

    – ref. Netflix’s Monsters is ‘murder porn’ at its worst. It comes at a cost to real victims – and the truth – https://theconversation.com/netflixs-monsters-is-murder-porn-at-its-worst-it-comes-at-a-cost-to-real-victims-and-the-truth-239596

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mixing it up: hybrid work models can offer the best of both worlds for worker wellbeing and productivity

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Blumenfeld, Director, Centre for Labour, Employment and Work, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sparked debate on the future of work in New Zealand this week when he ordered public service employees back to the office.

    But Luxon’s edict neglects a broader transformation in work culture.

    Work from home (WFH) arrangements have grown considerably over the past decade, propelled by an increase in dual-income households and rapid technological advancements.

    The COVID pandemic acted as a catalyst for further change, proving that many jobs could successfully be performed remotely.

    Our upcoming article in the New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations addresses the pros and cons of remote work. We highlight how a hybrid model – mixing days in the office with days working from home – can improve wellbeing, engagement and productivity.

    We found embracing a hybrid approach may lead to better outcomes as society shifts with technology and employment expectations. And, despite the prime minister’s demands on public service workers, it may be too late to go back.

    Embracing flexibility

    Under current rules, employees can request flexible working arrangements. Employers must provide valid reasons if they decline the request.

    According to a 2023 survey from Human Resources New Zealand, 40% of HR professionals noted productivity gains as a critical advantage of WFH arrangements.

    And some professional organisations have embraced work from home or hybrid work arrangements.

    The New Zealand Law Association, for example, has emphasised the significant benefits of flexible work for their members, including increased employee engagement, productivity, and overall wellbeing.

    A report from Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission noted the public service’s success in delivering quality services during the pandemic while working remotely.

    The commission’s current guidance on hybrid work arrangements supports flexibility that allows working from home to focus and working together when necessary.

    Does WFH reduce efficiency?

    Luxon argues forcing workers back to the office will promote efficiency. But there is little evidence suggesting New Zealand’s productivity has significantly declined with WFH or hybrid arrangements.

    Instead, we found office-only arrangements risked introducing new inefficiencies for the government. These included new layers of permissions and reporting on arrangements that have already been agreed to.

    The assumption that office work suits everyone is also contradicted by experiences during and after COVID.

    During the first year of the pandemic, many workers felt the void of casual interactions that once sparked creativity. They also struggled with isolation. This was especially pronounced for caregivers, often women, who had to juggle professional duties with increased childcare responsibilities.

    Despite this, a University of Otago survey conducted during the pandemic noted 67% of participants preferred a hybrid work model.

    Many expressed optimism regarding remote work’s continuation, with significant portions reporting stable or increased productivity, although some struggled with home distractions.

    And our research found taking a hybrid approach to work – with one or more days at home – reduced the risks from professional and social isolation and improved collaboration.

    Opportunities to work at home some of the time also allowed time for focused work, reduced commuting time and improved wellbeing.

    Boosting productivity from home

    Luxon’s assertion that working from home is “not an entitlement” aligns with traditional views on work. These include the belief that time at a desk is a measurement of productivity, rather than measuring the outcomes from work.

    However, a growing body of evidence indicates remote work can elevate both productivity and employee satisfaction.

    Eliminating daily commutes allows employees to redirect time toward focused work, positively impacting job satisfaction and mental wellbeing.

    Moreover, remote work fosters inclusivity, enabling organisations to source talent from a broader geographic area, which in turn enhances diversity and innovation.

    A report from McKinsey & Company found businesses adopting flexible work arrangements are better positioned to navigate future uncertainties, sustaining or even boosting productivity.

    A survey by the Australian Council of Trade Unions exploring WFH revealed nearly 48% of participants experienced enhanced productivity, attributed in part to the elimination of commuting.

    However, it also highlighted challenges. Some 40% of respondents said they were facing longer work hours, which can lead to burnout. Addressing these issues is essential to maintaining employee wellbeing.

    The future of work

    Instead of enforcing strict office attendance, leaders should adapt to the changing work landscape.

    Promoting flexible arrangements can foster a more productive and engaged workforce, ultimately benefiting New Zealand’s public service in today’s dynamic environment.

    Balancing both office and remote work presents the most promising path forward.

    Joanne Crawford receives funding from the Health Research Council and the NZ Industrial Relations Foundation Trust.

    Roya Gorjifard receives funding from the Victoria University of Wellington for Doctoral Research.

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

    – ref. Mixing it up: hybrid work models can offer the best of both worlds for worker wellbeing and productivity – https://theconversation.com/mixing-it-up-hybrid-work-models-can-offer-the-best-of-both-worlds-for-worker-wellbeing-and-productivity-239710

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The government is reviewing negative gearing and capital gains tax, but this won’t be enough to fix our housing shortage

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Cull, Associate professor, Western Sydney University

    Negative gearing and capital gains tax are back on the national agenda as Australians deal with a housing crisis and politicians look for ways to tackle the issue and win voters’ support at the upcoming election.

    The Labor government confirmed this week the tax concessions were being reviewed. Meanwhile, the government is struggling to pass its Help to Buy housing assistance legislation through the Senate.

    The Help to Buy legislation is aimed at helping first home buyers on low and middle incomes purchase their first home. The government would contribute up to 40% of the home purchase price and require only a 2% deposit from buyer. Buyers could eventually buy back the government’s equity share.

    But the legislation has stalled with the Greens wanting more including rent caps and pulling back negative gearing while the Coalition says the government “shouldn’t be in the business of co-owning people’s homes”.

    The review, revealed yesterday, could reportedly include a cap on the number of properties a person could negatively gear. The changes would not affect anyone who is currently negatively geared.

    Negative gearing lets taxpayers claim deductions on their tax for the expenses relating to owning an investment property. They can save on tax as the property potentially rises in value. They can also be eligible for a reduced capital gains tax when they sell the property.

    But any changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax policies could face further opposition – depending on how they are implemented. The crucial issue is whether the changes free up enough housing stock and make it more affordable for buyers and renters.

    Home ownership in Australia

    Based on National Housing Supply and Affordability Council data, home ownership across most age groups has been declining since the 1970s.

    Younger households, aged between 25 and 34 years, are hardest hit, having 34% of household income spent on mortgage costs in 2022–23.

    About 67% of households in Australia are home owners, and the remainder renters. While the proportion of owners with a mortgage has increased since 1994, so too has the proportion of private renters.

    Size of the investment market

    Just under 10% of all taxpayers negatively geared their properties in 2020–21 and more than 70% of property investors have only one investment property.

    While there have been calls for changes to negative gearing policy to cap the number of investment properties at six, this would impact about only 20,000 individual property investors.

    Changes to capital gains tax

    Suggestions to increase capital gains tax (CGT) need to be considered carefully, given that:

    • there is no solid evidence to show that increasing CGT will increase housing supply and in fact, it may have the opposite effect by limiting rental housing available

    • any change to CGT legislation also impacts other investments (such as shares), as the CGT discount also applies to other capital gains

    • multiple investment properties are often held within self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) which are subject to different CGT rules and also benefit from superannuation tax concessions

    • the rapid increase in housing prices over recent years is likely to result in very large amounts of CGT being paid on investment properties, even with the current 50% CGT discount.

    Other ways to improve affordability and availability

    Policy discussions around housing affordability and availability invariably lead to suggestions to change how negative gearing and capital gains tax operate. However, taxation policy is not the only solution available.

    Another suggestion put forward is to allow first home buyers to use their superannuation for deposits.

    Regardless of one’s position on accessing superannuation for something other than retirement, this suggestion is not viable for low to middle income earners. These households are unlikely to have substantial superannuation balances. Also, they don’t have the earning capacity to service a mortgage for the outstanding amount.

    There is currently a push to use self-managed super funds SMSFs to enable home ownership. This would effectively allow individuals to become tenants in homes owned by their super funds.

    However, the complexities of superannuation law mean this could cause big problems for people whose relationships break down.

    Considering the generational wealth that currently exists in property, the government could consider making it easier for parents or grandparents to gift (or sell) property to their children or grandchildren, in certain circumstances.

    This area has not yet been sufficiently explored.

    What needs to change

    The real issue of housing affordability is multifaceted, and any change needs to be done as part of a broader policy.

    It is likely that on its own, changes to negative gearing and/or capital gains tax will not achieve the intended outcome to make housing more accessible and affordable for Australians who want to buy a home.

    While the debate around the best way to achieve housing affordability and accessibility continues, and while there are statistics that tell us about the current housing crisis, one crucial thing that is missing is the voice of the very people that any new housing policy should be designed to assist.

    More consultation is needed with younger age groups and low to middle income earners who are struggling with high rent and unable to purchase their own home.

    Australia desperately needs bold new innovative housing policies that do not rely solely on the taxation system but that consider a raft of measures that meet the housing needs of everyday Australians.

    Michelle Cull is co-founder of the Western Sydney University Tax Clinic which has received funding from the Australian Taxation Office as part of the National Tax Clinic Program. Michelle Cull is a member of CPA Australia and the Financial Advice Association Australia. Michelle is also an academic member of UniSuper’s Consultative Committee and volunteers as Chair of the Macarthur Advisory Council for the Salvation Army Australia.

    – ref. The government is reviewing negative gearing and capital gains tax, but this won’t be enough to fix our housing shortage – https://theconversation.com/the-government-is-reviewing-negative-gearing-and-capital-gains-tax-but-this-wont-be-enough-to-fix-our-housing-shortage-239813

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Our electricity workforce must double to hit the 2030 renewables target. Energy storage jobs will soon overtake those in coal and gas

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jay Rutovitz, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

    Wanwajee Weeraphukdee/Shutterstock

    The electricity workforce will need to double in five years to achieve Australia’s 2030 renewable energy target, our new report finds. More than 80% of these jobs will be in renewables. Jobs in energy storage alone will overtake domestic coal and gas jobs (not including the coal and gas export sector) in the next couple of years.

    The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) updates its Integrated System Plan every two years. It’s a blueprint for the energy transition from coal to renewable energy. The plan lays out scenarios for how the electricity system might change to help put in place all the elements needed to make the transition happen.

    AEMO and the RACE for 2030 co-operative research centre commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Futures to undertake modelling on the workforce needed for this transition. The “step change” scenario in the Integrated System Plan is broadly aligned with the 2030 renewables target. Under this scenario, we found the electricity workforce would need to grow from 33,000 to peak at 66,000 by 2029.

    Rooftop solar and batteries together are projected to account for over 40% of these jobs. Wind farms will employ around one-third and solar farms just under 10%. Jobs would also treble in transmission line construction to connect renewables in regional areas to cities and other states in the next few years.

    Job projections in the National Electricity Market under the ‘step change’ scenario that aligns with the 2030 renewables target.
    Author provided

    Job growth would surge in a ‘renewable energy superpower’

    In the “green energy export” scenario, Australia becomes a “renewable energy superpower”. The country uses renewable energy to export green hydrogen and power heavy industry. In this scenario, the electricity workforce would almost treble to 96,000 by the late 2020s.

    By 2033, after construction peaks, more than half of electricity sector jobs will be in operations and maintenance. This applies to both the step change and green energy export scenarios.

    A significant employment downturn is projected during the 2030s. But in the green energy export scenario jobs then climb steeply again to a peak of 120,000. This projection reflects AEMO’s expectations of when green export growth will occur.

    New South Wales is projected to have the most renewable energy jobs in the 2020s. However, Queensland would become the largest state for renewable jobs (especially in wind farms) in the green energy export scenario.

    Projected total job numbers by scenario.
    Author provided

    What are the other possibilities?

    “Progressive change” is another scenario in the Integrated System Plan. For this scenario, we modelled slower growth in renewable energy. It reflects constraints on the economy and supply chains (including labour and minerals) for renewables.

    In an “enhanced manufacturing” scenario, local renewable energy manufacturing increases. Our modelling found it could create a peak of 5,000 extra jobs.

    Importantly, these projections don’t include upstream jobs in supply chains for the sector (for example, increased mining to supply the resources that renewables need) or electrification of homes.

    Creating this many jobs is very challenging

    Our modelling shows the workforce needs to grow very rapidly to make Australia’s energy transition happen. Unfortunately, the challenges of building this workforce are daunting. They include:

    • there’s a shortage of almost all key occupations in demand for the electricity sector – electricians, engineers, construction managers – according to Australia’s Skills Priority List

    • “extraordinary growth” forecast by Infrastructure Australia in other major infrastructure projects, such as transport, which will compete for many of the same skilled workers

    • under AEMO’s scenarios, employment will be subject to boom-bust cycles, which increases the risk of skill shortages and damaging impacts, such as housing shortages, in regional areas

    • Australia has relied heavily on skilled migrants – and will look to do so again – but many parts of the world are chasing the same workers.

    The International Energy Agency has noted:

    Labour and skills shortages are already translating into project delays, raising concerns that clean energy solutions will be unable to keep pace with demand to meet net zero targets.

    What can be done to avoid skill shortages?

    Some action has been taken to increase the workforce. The federal government, for instance, is subsidising apprentices under the New Energy Apprenticeship program.

    But action isn’t happening at the scale and pace required.

    What else can be done?

    Firstly, Jobs Skills Australia and Powering Skills Organisation (which oversees energy skills training) have outlined ways to increase the system’s capacity to train more skilled workers. This includes creating better pathways into renewable energy for students, especially in recognised Renewable Energy Zones.

    Secondly, Jobs Skills Australia has noted the need for renewable energy businesses to increase their intakes of apprentices. It recommends expanding the Australian Skills Guarantee to include generation and transmission projects.

    The guarantee has set mandatory targets for apprentices or trainees to complete 10% of labour hours on Commonwealth-funded major construction and information technology projects (A$10 million plus). It could also be applied to major government funding programs for renewable energy and transmission. These include:

    • the Capacity Investment Scheme, a government tender program to support a large volume of new renewables and storage projects

    • Rewiring the Nation, a $20 billion fund for transmission lines

    • grants from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

    Thirdly, government tenders could moderate the peaks and troughs in employment by limiting the maximum and minimum volumes built each year.

    Fourthly, including more women and First Nations Australians can increase labour supply and workforce diversity. Only one-in-two First Nations Australians are employed compared to around two in three in the wider population. Yet they account for around one-in-ten people in some major Renewable Energy Zones.

    Government pre-employment programs, working with industry and First Nations groups, could also increase the supply of workers. These could have a dramatic social impact too.

    It’s a challenging problem whichever way you look at it. We need rapid change to build renewable energy capacity before coal plants retire and to tackle climate change. But that depends on growing the workforce amid skill shortages.

    There’s a range of ways to increase the supply of workers and improve local outcomes. But we are running out of time. Urgent action is needed.

    The Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney received funding from the Australian Energy Market Operator and the RACE for 2030 CRC for the report upon which this article is based

    The Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney received funding from the Australian Energy Market Operator and the RACE for 2030 CRC for the report upon which this article is based.

    – ref. Our electricity workforce must double to hit the 2030 renewables target. Energy storage jobs will soon overtake those in coal and gas – https://theconversation.com/our-electricity-workforce-must-double-to-hit-the-2030-renewables-target-energy-storage-jobs-will-soon-overtake-those-in-coal-and-gas-239718

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Why are we seeing more pandemics? Our impact on the planet has a lot to do with it

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Anikeeva, Research Fellow, School of Public Health, University of Adelaide

    ImageFlow/Shutterstock

    Pandemics – the global spread of infectious diseases – seem to be making a comeback. In the Middle Ages we had the Black Death (plague), and after the first world war we had the Spanish flu. Tens of millions of people died from these diseases.

    Then science began to get the upper hand, with vaccination eradicating smallpox, and polio nearly so. Antibiotics became available to treat bacterial infections, and more recently antivirals as well.

    But in recent years and decades pandemics seem to be returning. In the 1980s we had HIV/AIDS, then several flu pandemics, SARS, and now COVID (no, COVID isn’t over).

    So why is this happening, and is there anything we can do to avert future pandemics?

    Unbalanced ecosystems

    Healthy, stable ecosystems provide services that keep us healthy, such as supplying food and clean water, producing oxygen, and making green spaces available for our recreation and wellbeing.

    Another key service ecosystems provide is disease regulation. When nature is in balance – with predators controlling herbivore populations, and herbivores controlling plant growth – it’s more difficult for pathogens to emerge in a way that causes pandemics.

    But when human activities disrupt and unbalance ecosystems – such as by way of climate change and biodiversity loss – things go wrong.

    For example, climate change affects the number and distribution of plants and animals. Mosquitoes that carry diseases can move from the tropics into what used to be temperate climates as the planet warms, and may infect more people in the months that are normally disease free.

    We’ve studied the relationship between weather and dengue fever transmission in China, and our findings support the same conclusion reached by many other studies: climate change is likely to put more people at risk of dengue.

    COVID was not the first pandemic, and is unlikely to be the last.
    Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock

    Biodiversity loss can have similar effects by disrupting food chains. When ranchers cleared forests in South America for their cattle to graze in the first half of the 20th century, tiny forest-dwelling, blood-feeding vampire bats suddenly had a smörgåsbord of large sedentary animals to feed on.

    While vampire bats had previously been kept in check by the limited availability of food and the presence of predators in the balanced forest ecosystem, numbers of this species exploded in South America.

    These bats carry the rabies virus, which causes lethal brain infections in people who are bitten. Although the number of deaths from bat-borne rabies has now fallen dramatically due to vaccination programs in South America, rabies caused by bites from other animals still poses a global threat.

    As urban and agricultural development impinges on natural ecosystems, there are increasing opportunities for humans and domestic animals to become infected with pathogens that would normally only be seen in wildlife – particularly when people hunt and eat animals from the wild.

    The HIV virus, for example, first entered human populations from apes that were slaughtered for food in Africa, and then spread globally through travel and trade.

    Meanwhile, bats are thought to be the original reservoir for the virus that caused the COVID pandemic, which has killed more than 7 million people to date.

    Climate change can affect the distribution of animals which carry disease, such as mosquitoes.
    Kwangmoozaa/Shutterstock

    Ultimately, until we effectively address the unsustainable impact we are having on our planet, pandemics will continue to occur.

    Targeting the ultimate causes

    Factors such as climate change, biodiversity loss and other global challenges are the ultimate (high level) cause of pandemics. Meanwhile, increased contact between humans, domestic animals and wildlife is the proximate (immediate) cause.

    In the case of HIV, while direct contact with the infected blood of apes was the proximate cause, the apes were only being slaughtered because large numbers of very poor people were hungry – an ultimate cause.

    The distinction between ultimate causes and proximate causes is important, because we often deal only with proximate causes. For example, people may smoke because of stress or social pressure (ultimate causes of getting lung cancer), but it’s the toxins in the smoke that cause cancer (proximate cause).

    Generally, health services are only concerned with stopping people from smoking – and with treating the illness that results – not with removing the drivers that lead them to smoke in the first place.

    Similarly, we address pandemics with lockdowns, mask wearing, social distancing and vaccinations – all measures which seek to stop the spread of the virus. But we pay less attention to addressing the ultimate causes of pandemics – until perhaps very recently.

    Often we treat the proximate causes of illness, but not the ultimate causes.
    Basil MK/Pexels

    A planetary health approach

    There’s a growing awareness of the importance of adopting a “planetary health” approach to improve human health. This concept is based on the understanding that human health and human civilisation depend on flourishing natural systems, and the wise stewardship of those natural systems.

    With this approach, ultimate drivers like climate change and biodiversity loss would be prioritised in preventing future pandemics, at the same time as working with experts from many different disciplines to deal with the proximate causes, thereby reducing the risk overall.

    The planetary health approach has the benefit of improving both the health of the environment and human health concurrently. We are heartened by the increased uptake of teaching planetary health concepts across the environmental sciences, humanities and health sciences in many universities.

    As climate change, biodiversity loss, population displacements, travel and trade continue to increase the risk of disease outbreaks, it’s vital that the planetary stewards of the future have a better understanding of how to tackle the ultimate causes that drive pandemics.

    This article is the first in a series on the next pandemic.

    Olga Anikeeva receives funding from Green Adelaide.

    Jessica Stanhope receives funding from the Ecological Health Network and Green Adelaide. She is affiliated with the Environmental Physiotherapy Association.

    Peng Bi receives funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, AusAID,

    Philip Weinstein receives funding from competitive external granting bodies. He is affiliated with Nature Foundation, Australian Entomological Society, and the South Australian Museum.

    – ref. Why are we seeing more pandemics? Our impact on the planet has a lot to do with it – https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-seeing-more-pandemics-our-impact-on-the-planet-has-a-lot-to-do-with-it-226827

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The ‘best comet of the year’ is finally here – here’s everything you need to know

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland

    AstroStar/Shutterstock

    In January 2023, a new comet was discovered. Comets are found regularly, but astronomers quickly realised this one, called C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), had the potential to be quite bright.

    Some hyperbolic reports have suggested it might be the “comet of the century”, but any astronomer will tell you the brightness of comets is notoriously hard to predict. As I explained last year, we’d have to wait until it arrived to be sure how bright it would become.

    Now, the time has come. Comet C/2023 A3 is currently visible with the naked eye in the morning sky in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, with its best yet to come in the next few weeks. And it does look promising. It’s unlikely to be the comet of the decade (never mind the comet of the century), but it will almost certainly become the best comet of the year.

    So where, and when, should you look to get your best views of this celestial visitor?

    A show in the morning, before sunrise

    At the moment, comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a morning object, rising around an hour and a half before sunrise. It is visible to the naked eye, but not yet spectacular. However, with binoculars you can easily see the comet’s dusty tail pointing away from the Sun.

    The comet will remain at about the same altitude in the morning sky until around September 30. It will then get closer to the horizon on each consecutive morning until it’s lost in the glare of the approaching dawn by October 6 or 7.

    If you want to spot the comet in the morning sky, look east. The sliders below will help you orient yourself and choose the best time to look, depending on your latitude.

    During this period, the comet should slowly brighten. It reaches its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on September 27, when it will be 58 million kilometres from our star.

    As it swings around the Sun, it will continue to approach Earth, and so should continue to brighten. The best show in the morning sky will likely be during the last couple of days of September and the first few days in October, before the comet is lost to view.

    A potential daylight comet

    Thanks to pure good fortune, comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will then pass almost directly between Earth and the Sun on October 9 and 10.

    This could cause a spectacular brightening of the comet, thanks to “forward scattering” caused by its dust. Imagine looking towards a bright light source through a cloud of dust grains. The grains nearest to the light source will scatter light from the source back towards you.

    As the comet swings between Earth and the Sun, it will be perfectly placed for this forward scattering process to occur. If the comet is particularly dusty, this could cause its apparent brightness to increase by up to 100 times.

    If it does, there’s a small chance the comet could briefly become visible in the daylight sky on October 9 and 10.

    However, it will be very close to the Sun in the sky, and incredibly hard to spot. Only the most experienced observers may be able to detect the comet at this time, and it requires a special technique. Do not try to stare at the Sun to see it.

    The best show could be after October 12

    After swinging between Earth and the Sun, the comet will appear in the evening sky. It will rapidly climb in the western sky, and should be a bright, naked-eye object for a few days from October 12. The sliders below will give you a sense of where to look.

    For the first few days of this period, the comet will still benefit from the forward scattering of sunlight, but this will decrease as it moves away.

    What about the tail?

    The positioning of the comet, Earth and the Sun in the Solar System means the comet’s tail will be streaming outwards, past our planet. This means it could grow to prodigious lengths in the night sky.

    The bulk of that tail will likely be too dim to see easily with the naked eye, but it could be a fantastic spectacle for photographers. Expect to see a wealth of comet images flooding the internet around the middle of October.

    As the days pass and the comet climbs higher, it will fade quite rapidly. It will likely become too faint to see with the naked eye, even for seasoned and experienced observers, before the end of October.

    At that point, the show will be over. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will continue to flee the inner Solar System, moving into the icy depths of space, never to return.

    How reliable are the predictions?

    At the moment, the comet is already bright enough to consider it the “comet of the year”, outshining comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from earlier this year.

    But remember the classic saying – comets are like cats. They have tails and will often surprise us. For now, comet C/2023 A3 is behaving itself. It’s brightening predictably, and putting on a good show.

    But comets that approach this closely to the Sun often fragment. This is impossible to predict, and far from guaranteed. If the comet did break up, it could become even more spectacular because of all the dust and gas it would release.

    The opposite could still happen, too. The comet could fail to brighten as much as we expect, although that seems unlikely at this stage.

    Whatever happens, we’re in for a fascinating few weeks of comet watching. Hopefully, a real spectacle awaits us.

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

    – ref. The ‘best comet of the year’ is finally here – here’s everything you need to know – https://theconversation.com/the-best-comet-of-the-year-is-finally-here-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-239300

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: In a too-close-to-call US presidential election, will ‘couch-sitters’ decide who wins?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Bleich, Professorial fellow, Jeff Bleich Centre for Democracy and Disruptive Technologies, Flinders University

    In countries with compulsory voting, such as Australia and many in Latin America, the system usually ensures an overwhelming majority of voters cast their ballots election after election.

    In the United States, it’s a very different story. Two-thirds of eligible voters turned out to vote in the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate since 1900. Turnout in presidential elections before 2020 tended to hover between 50% and 65%.

    Often, it’s the voters choosing to stay home on the couch who effectively decide an election’s outcome.

    Under the United States’ unusual Electoral College presidential voting system, the candidate who wins the most votes nationally does not necessarily win the election. Twice in the past 25 years, Democrats have won the popular vote in the presidential race and still lost the election. That includes Donald Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

    As such, victory depends on getting more voters “off the couch” in key battleground states where the decisive Electoral College votes are up for grabs. In those states, it doesn’t matter what percentage of people show up to vote, or how much a candidate wins by, it is winner take all.

    A voter who doesn’t vote, therefore, actually makes an active choice — they remove a vote from the candidate they would have likely chosen, and so give an important advantage to the person they would not have voted for.

    The “couch” is effectively where Americans go to vote against their self-interest.

    Who is more incentivised to vote?

    As this year’s presidential election between Trump and Kamala Harris approaches, we ask a simple question: whose “couch” will decide one of the most consequential elections in living memory?

    Recent research demonstrates that partisanship is an important driver of voter choice in presidential elections.

    The fact that the US is deeply divided is not news to most, but current survey data show how evenly split along partisan lines it actually is. With about 30% of Americans identifying as a Republican and 30% identifying as a Democrat, there is virtually no difference in the total number of voters who support each major party.

    The remaining 40% of Americans identify as “independent” – that is, not loyal to either major political party. Almost seven decades of research on the American voter shows, however, that independents heavily “lean” towards one party or the other, with about half leaning Republican and the other half leaning Democrat.

    One possible insight into which group has greater incentive to vote is polling on people’s dissatisfaction with their party’s candidate.

    According to the most recent Gallup Poll data, 9% of Republicans currently have an unfavourable opinion of Trump. In contrast, only 5% of Democrats have an unfavourable opinion of Harris.

    Partisan voters who are dissatisfied with their party candidate have a massive incentive to “stay on the couch” and refrain from voting. They don’t really want to vote for “the other team”, but they can’t stand their own team anymore either.

    For example, Republican women in the suburbs, veterans and traditional Republicans have started to abandon Trump over his stances on reproductive rights and national security, and his temperament. The Trump campaign clearly knows this. At a rally in New York a few days ago, he told attendees to “get your fat ass out of the couch” to go vote for him.

    Should these disaffected Republican and Republican-leaning voters stay home on November 5, Harris may well have a decisive edge over Trump.

    When the couch wins, America loses

    In 2016, Trump defied the polls and traditional voter turn-out trends by convincing some disaffected, working-class Democrats to stay on the couch, vote for an unelectable third party candidate or, in some cases, vote for him.

    Could this happen again? Or will Democrats be able to reverse this phenomenon by getting exhausted Republicans suffering Trump fatigue to stay home, while motivating everyone from Taylor Swift fans to “never Trumpers” to veterans of foreign wars to get out to vote.

    Recent trends suggest overall turnout will be comparatively high, in line with the past three federal US elections.

    Democrats have traditionally benefited from higher voter turn-out, but it is not as clear this is still the case in 2024. Recent research shows higher turnout rates seem to have favoured the Republican Party since 2016.

    Yet both parties still have significant numbers of people who don’t vote. According to the Pew Research Center, 46% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents didn’t vote in the past three elections (2018, 2020 and 2022), compared to the 41% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

    So again, who sits on the couch matters. Inevitably, many of those who stay home will get precisely what they don’t want. When the couch wins, America loses.

    Jeff Bleich is a former US ambassador to Australia and a member of the National Security Leaders for America, a group of 700 former generals, admirals, service secretaries, ambassadors, and other national security professionals, that has endorsed Kamala Harris in the presidential election. He was also special counsel to President Barack Obama and served as chair of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board under President Donald Trump and as a member of President Joe Biden’s (non-partisan) National Security Education Board.

    Rodrigo Praino receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Government Department of Defence, and SmartSat CRC.

    – ref. In a too-close-to-call US presidential election, will ‘couch-sitters’ decide who wins? – https://theconversation.com/in-a-too-close-to-call-us-presidential-election-will-couch-sitters-decide-who-wins-239394

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina – Chairman of Presidency Addresses UN General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Denis Bećirović, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

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    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
    请在联合国网络电视（UN Web TV）观看中文版视频
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    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RaB9LSFO-4

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Cohen Votes for Continuing Budget Resolution to Keep the Federal Government Operating

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

    WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today voted for a continuing appropriations resolution (known as a CR) to keep the government operating beyond the September 30 fiscal year deadline and until December 20. The measure was stripped of Republican poison pill provisions that caused him to vote against last week’s CR. The measure passed this afternoon would not have passed without Democratic member votes.

    The vote on passage was 341 to 82.

    Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

    “Our job in Congress is to appropriate money and to see that the federal government operates. The threat of a government shutdown was once unheard of but has become a regular occurrence under the Republican majority’s haphazard control of the House. Without the votes of Democrats, Speaker Johnson could not have passed this measure which now assures the continuation of necessary services at appropriate levels without the partisan poison pill provisions Donald Trump was pushing. I look forward to a return to a more disciplined and thoughtful appropriations process after the November elections.”

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇫🇷 France – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
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    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Yc8PaRBPA

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    José Maria Pereira Neves, President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTokeUDu92I

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  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇱🇷 Liberia – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Joseph Nyuma Boakai, President of the Republic of Liberia, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
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    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gG06GtC2DE

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇧🇼 Botswana – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
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    https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1g/k1g6f97nho

    Screenshot credit: UN Photo/Laura Jarriel

    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0UWm9yTawA

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo – President Addresses UN General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
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    https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1r/k1rv7sxaq7

    Screenshot credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh9XouWEAKI

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇭🇳 Honduras – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento, President of the Republic of Honduras, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
    请在联合国网络电视（UN Web TV）观看中文版视频
    Regardez cette vidéo en français sur UN Web TV
    Vean este video en español en UN Web TV
    Смотрите это видео на русском на UN Web TV
    https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k13/k133vvdn94

    Screenshot credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE2ETXD7vps

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Úmaro Sissoco Embaló, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 24 – 30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
    请在联合国网络电视（UN Web TV）观看中文版视频
    Regardez cette vidéo en français sur UN Web TV
    Vean este video en español en UN Web TV
    Смотрите это видео на русском на UN Web TV
    https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1s/k1scwc8cj7

    Screenshot credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1HQshlGsLc

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 🇷🇴 Romania – President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session | #UNGA

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Klaus Werner Iohannis, President of Romania, addresses the General Debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the UN (New York, 24-30 September 2024).

    World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

    The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.

    General debate website: https://gadebate.un.org/

    —————————————-

    مشاهدة هذا الفيديو باللغة العربية على موقع البث الشبكي للأمم المتحدة
    请在联合国网络电视（UN Web TV）观看中文版视频
    Regardez cette vidéo en français sur UN Web TV
    Vean este video en español en UN Web TV
    Смотрите это видео на русском на UN Web TV
    https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k17/k17uutx111

    Screenshot credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    #UNGA #UnitedNations

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNKANuQcPFU

    MIL OSI Video –