Category: United States of America

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Rethinking the MBA: Character as the educational foundation for future business leaders

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Andrew J. Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, Ross School of Business, School for Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan

    Questions about the role of business education have led to introspection among business school leaders and researchers. Supatman/iStock via Getty Images

    Programs to help students discern their vocation or calling are gaining prominence in higher education.

    According to a 2019 Bates/Gallup poll, 80% of college graduates want a sense of purpose from their work. In addition, a 2023 survey found that 50% of Generation Z and millennial employees in the U.K. and U.S. have resigned from a job because the values of the company did not align with their own.

    These sentiments are also found in today’s business school students, as Gen Z is demanding that course content reflect the changes in society, from diversity and inclusion to sustainability and poverty. According to the Financial Times, “there may never have been a more demanding cohort.”

    And yet, business schools have been slower than other schools to respond, leading to calls ranging from transforming business education to demolishing it.

    What are business schools creating?

    Historically, studies have shown that business school applicants have scored higher than their peers on the “dark triad” traits of narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. These traits can manifest themselves in a tendency toward cunning, scheming and, at times, unscrupulous behavior.

    Over the course of their degree program, other studies have found that business school environments can amplify those preexisting tendencies while enhancing a concern for what others think of them.

    And these tendencies stick after graduation. One study examined 9,900 U.S. publicly listed firms and separated the sample by those run by managers who went to business school and those whose managers did not. While they found no discernible difference in sales or profits between the two samples, they found that labor wages were cut 6% over five years at companies run by managers who went to business school, while managers with no business degree shared profits with their workers. The study concludes that this is the result “of practices and values acquired in business education.”

    But there are signs that this may be changing.

    Questioning value

    Business leaders play a significant role in society, but they aren’t always trusted.
    miniseries/E+ via Getty Images

    Today, many are questioning the value of the MBA.

    Those who have decided it is worth the high cost either complain of its lack of rigor, relevance and critical thinking or use it merely for access to networks for salary enhancement, treating classroom learning as less important than attending recruiting events and social activities.

    Layered onto this uncertain state of affairs, generative artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering the education landscape, threatening future career prospects and short-circuiting the student’s education by doing their research and writing for them.

    This is concerning because of the outsized role that business leaders play in today’s society: allocating capital, developing and deploying new technologies and influencing political and social debates.

    At times, this role is a positive one, but not always. Distrust follows that uncertainty.

    Only 16% of Americans had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in corporations, while 51% of Americans between 18 and 29 hold a dim view of capitalism.

    Facing this reality, business educators are beginning to reexamine how to nurture business leaders who view business not only as a means to making money but also as a vehicle in service to society.

    Proponents such as Harry Lewis, former dean of Harvard College; Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University; Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University; and Anthony Kronman, former dean of the Yale Law School, describe this effort as a return to the original focus of a college education.

    Not ethics, but character formation

    Character education could challenge business students to consider what type of leaders they aspire to be.
    MoMo Productions/Digital Vision via Getty Images

    Business schools have often included ethics courses in their curriculum, often with limited success. What some schools are experimenting with is character formation.

    As part of this experimentation is the development of a coherent moral culture that lies within the course curriculum but also within the cocurricular programming, cultural events, seminars and independent studies that shape students’ worldviews; the selection, socialization, training and reward systems for students, staff and faculty; and other aspects that shape students’ formation.

    Stanford’s Bill Damon, one of the leading scholars on helping students develop a sense of purpose in life, describes a revised role for faculty in this effort, one of creating the fertile conditions for students to find meaning and purpose on their own.

    I use this approach in my course on vocation discernment in business, shifting from a more traditional academic style to one that is more developmental.

    This is relational teaching that artificial intelligence cannot do. It involves bringing the whole person into the education process, inspiring hearts as much as engaging heads to form competent leaders who possess character, judgment and wisdom.

    It allows an examination of both the how and the why of business, challenging students to consider what kind of business leader they aspire to be and what kind of legacy they wish to establish.

    It would mark a return to the original focus of early business schools, which, as Rakesh Khurana, a professor of sociology at Harvard, calls out in his book “From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession,” was to train managers in the same vocational way we train doctors “to seek the higher aims of commerce in service to society.”

    Reshaping business education

    Most business school curricula are similar, but there are examples that break the mold.
    Oscar Wong/Moment via Getty Images

    The good news is that there are emerging exemplars that are seeking to create this kind of curriculum through centers such as Notre Dame University’s Institute for Social Concerns and Bates College’s Center for Purposeful Work and courses such as Stanford University’s Designing Your Life and the University of Michigan’s Management as a Calling.

    These are but a few examples of a growing movement. So, the building blocks are there to draw from. The student demand is waiting to be met. All that is needed is for more business schools to respond.

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

    ref. Rethinking the MBA: Character as the educational foundation for future business leaders – https://theconversation.com/rethinking-the-mba-character-as-the-educational-foundation-for-future-business-leaders-259223

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How universities can keep protests from turning violent: 3 lessons from the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Matthew J. Mayhew, Professor of Higher Education, The Ohio State University

    Pro-Palestinian supporters march outside Columbia University in September 2024. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

    In spring 2024, pro-Palestinian student encampments that began at Columbia and Harvard spread to university campuses throughout the U.S. as Israel invaded Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack. At least 100 campuses had encampments for at least a few days during this period.

    While some campuses erupted in violence, others remained peaceful and didn’t experience the open conflict that led to congressional hearings, university presidents losing their jobs and repercussions that are continuing to be felt today.

    What made the difference?

    In spring 2024, Ohio State University’s College Impact Laboratory, where we all work, surveyed universities to learn more about whether their campuses experienced protests, what happened and how they handled them. Part of our goal was to understand how spiritual leaders played a role, if any, in managing the protests. We’ve been analyzing the data ever since. The results from those who responded point to several lessons universities could learn from to avoid violence in future protests.

    Campuses are a critical arena for activism

    Campus protests have long been a defining feature of social and political change in the U.S. From the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s to the student-led climate strikes of recent years, higher education institutions have served as a critical space for activism.

    Often, these protests reflect broader societal tensions, and how universities respond has played a significant role in shaping their outcomes.

    Historically, protests have been most likely to escalate when students feel unheard. In contrast, institutions that adopt proactive strategies, such as facilitating conversations or including students in decision-making, often experience better outcomes.

    A George Washington University student carries a Palestinian flag at a student encampment protesting the Israel-Hamas war in May 2024.
    AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

    Snapshot of the pro-Palestinian protests

    As our survey data shows, the pro-Palestinian protests illustrate this dynamic.

    To gather data, the College Impact Laboratory sent questionnaires to administrators at the 329 universities that participate in our Interfaith Spiritual, Religious and Secular Campus Climate Index, also known as the INSPIRES Index, as well as hundreds of colleges and universities in our recruitment database.

    In all, 35 schools responded to our 23-question survey. Of those, we found that most protests were led by students, half lasted less than a week, and the vast majority were nonviolent. Fifteen did not have protests, while the rest did. While the number of institutions that participated in this survey is relatively small, it does give us key insights into what schools were thinking.

    Half of the campuses with protests reported law enforcement involvement – either campus police or city officers – with 20% experiencing physical altercations between protesters and police. Other disruptive actions such as academic interruptions, vandalism, physical violence and doxxing were reported with varying frequencies.

    Protests at campuses that participated in our survey peaked during April and May 2024, with 70% of them experiencing demonstrations in these months.

    Here are three takeaways from the survey, suggesting steps universities can take before and during future protests to avoid escalation:

    1. Involve students in guidelines for engagement – early

    At every surveyed institution that reported protests, students were at the forefront of organizing and leading these efforts.

    Yet, despite this clear student leadership, about one-third of institutions said they didn’t consult with students to establish guidelines for engagement. Those that did invited representatives from student organizations or student government officers into the policymaking process to determine what protocols would be followed to manage protests and keep them peaceful.

    On campuses where administrators didn’t engage with student leaders, tensions tended to escalate, and protests disrupted the institutions for weeks, often after police were called in or curfews were imposed.

    While many of the protests lasted only one to seven days, we found that institutions that opened lines of communication early between administration and student protest leaders were more likely to deescalate tensions quickly. In contrast, campuses where administrators did not engage early on saw protests lasting weeks or involving greater disruptions.

    Also, institutions that engaged early with student leaders were less likely to face stronger demands, such as calls for administrators to be fired, divestment from Israeli companies or calls to defund the campus police.

    Our survey results suggest it’s important for administrators to engage with students early to establish clear guidelines to make it less likely future protests spiral into violence.

    2. Communicate openly, often and before protests

    Discussion of difficult topics, such as the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, shouldn’t wait until protests break out to begin. We found that every school in our survey that proactively supported dialogue between Jews and Muslims – before the war broke out – didn’t see violence result from the protests.

    Dialogue isn’t just a strategy for preventing protests from spiraling out of control; it is fundamental to intergroup learning in higher education. These events create safe spaces for students − whether Arab, Jewish, Palestinian or members of different ethnic or religious groups − to engage with classmates with different points of view.

    But even once protests begin, dialogue can help. When institutions engaged in dialogue, during or as a result of a protest, the protests were less likely to involve violence. At half of the campuses that participated in our survey and experienced protests, protests were ended peacefully through dialogue.

    Brown, for example, modeled the power of institutional listening in its response to its April 2024 encampment. Rather than escalating tensions, university leaders engaged directly with student activists, resulting in a peaceful resolution and a commitment to bring the students’ divestment proposal to a formal vote in October. It ultimately failed to pass the board of directors.

    Demonstrators unfurl a banner on a lawn after an encampment protesting the Israel-Hamas war was taken down at Brown University on April 30, 2024, in Providence, R.I.
    AP Photo/David Goldman

    3. Involve relevant groups in decision-making

    Most administrators in our survey, as they considered how to engage with protesters, reached out to relevant student groups such as those that focus on Jewish and Muslim students to better understand their perspectives.

    However, only 28% consulted a religious or spiritual life office staff member on campus.

    Religious or spiritual life staff are present on both private and public campuses and may include university-employed multifaith chaplains, interfaith coordinators or directors of spiritual life. Unlike student-led religious groups, these professionals often serve as liaisons to the religious and nonreligious communities represented on campus.

    The focus of such roles on serving students from all worldviews positions them as key resources for deescalation through community outreach, support and two-way communication. Additionally, these professionals have valuable expertise in religious pluralism and community relationships. This experience helps them to advise administrators on policy and potential courses of action in times of tension.

    Consulting with university staff with a focus on religion or spiritual life makes particular sense given the nature of the protests and how religion is intertwined, but our data suggests they may be underutilized more broadly for their expertise in navigating tensions related to competing worldviews.

    Proactive engagement with these leaders not only helps campuses navigate an immediate crisis but demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and respect for different groups’ perspectives.

    Leading by example

    Put another way, our research suggests institutions can avoid the negative outcomes of protests by embodying the traits commonly associated with universities, such as showing mutual respect, fostering democratic debate and engaging in critical thinking even on divisive issues. Engaging from a mindset of goodwill with student leaders shows administrators value student voices and are willing to work collaboratively toward solutions.

    But when campuses ignore peaceful protests or refuse to engage with student leaders, they risk turning manageable situations into prolonged crises.

    At a time when divisions run deep, we believe campuses that lead by example by embracing dialogue and engaging student activists before, during and after protests take place are not only likely to see less violence, but are likely to help heal America’s great divides.

    Matthew J. Mayhew receives grant funding for various research projects from the National Science Foundation, the ECMC Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and Pew Charitable Trusts. Currently, Dr. Mayhew leads the College Impact Laboratory at The Ohio State University. He is the Principal Investigator for the INSPIRES Index project and is the current editor of the Digest of Recent Research.

    Renee L. Bowling works for the College Impact Lab at The Ohio State University that produces the INSPIRES Index and serves as Chair of NASPA’s Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community.

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

    ref. How universities can keep protests from turning violent: 3 lessons from the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments – https://theconversation.com/how-universities-can-keep-protests-from-turning-violent-3-lessons-from-the-2024-pro-palestinian-encampments-252278

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: A law from the era of Red Scares is supercharging Trump administration’s power over immigrants and noncitizens

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Daniel Tichenor, Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon

    The Trump administration detained former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, center, for more than two months and is seeking to revoke his lawful permanent resident status. Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

    Nativism, the idea that government must guard native-born Americans from various threats posed by immigrants, has a long history in the United States.

    Today, the Trump administration is citing the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a restrictive measure written by nativist members of Congress decades ago when fears of communism were rampant, to sharply restrict the rights of noncitizens.

    Under this law, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act, federal agencies have arrested and detained noncitizens associated with pro-Palestinian protests, reintroduced immigrant registration requirements, and imposed a new travel ban that affects 19 nations.

    Since the 1950s, Congress has removed some of this sprawling federal law’s most discriminatory features, such as racist national origins quotas. But other key provisions remain on the books. Now they are the primary legal basis for some of President Donald Trump’s most controversial immigration crackdowns.

    Author and reporter Clay Risen discusses parallels between anticommunist fears in the 1950s and the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies.

    Foreign policy trumps free speech

    In March 2025, the White House invoked the McCarran-Walter Act to justify arresting and deporting Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident who had participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. Officials pointed to Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the law, which states that any “alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.”

    This has been tried only once before. In 1995, the Clinton administration unsuccessfully sought to use the provision to deport a former Mexican official, Mario Ruiz Massieu, to face charges in his homeland for extortion and obstructing a murder investigation. Ruiz Massieu was later indicted in the U.S. on money laundering charges and died by suicide shortly before his arraignment.

    The Trump administration cited the same provision to justify detaining Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk in March. Ozturk came under government scrutiny because she co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university’s position on the Israel-Gaza war.

    Surveillance footage of a terrified Ozturk being arrested by masked Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents on a street in Somerville, Massachusetts, drew criticism from government officials and civil liberties advocates. In response, Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleged that Ozturk had harmed U.S. interests by supporting “movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus.”

    Khalil and Ozturk both were released after weeks in detention, pending final resolution of their cases. Their lawyers argue that their clients’ treatment violates free speech protections and that the defendants were punished for expressing their political beliefs.

    Monitoring noncitizens

    The McCarran-Walter Act also authorizes intrusive registration and tracking requirements for noncitizens who remain in the U.S. for 30 days or longer.

    On Jan. 20, 2025, Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to enforce an “alien registration requirement.” The agency issued a final rule in April requiring all noncitizens over the age of 14 to register and be fingerprinted. Parents or guardians must register noncitizen children under age 14. The rule also requires adult noncitizens to carry “evidence of registration” at all times.

    Such policies aren’t new. Noncitizen registration was codified in the Alien Registration Act of 1940, on the eve of U.S. entry into World War II. The law was designed to regulate the foreign-born population and encourage eligible noncitizens to join the U.S. armed forces. Its requirements were written into the McCarran-Walter Act.

    After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration created the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which targeted noncitizen males age 16 or older from 25 Muslim-majority countries. It required registrants to submit biometric information, check in regularly with immigration authorities and use specific ports of entry for travel.

    The Obama administration suspended this system in 2011 and permanently dismantled it in 2016.

    Today, Trump administration officials say they are simply enforcing long-standing legal authority. A federal judge agreed, ruling on April 10 that the Homeland Security Department could require noncitizens to register and carry documentation.

    The Trump administration says it will strictly enforce a long-standing requirement for immigrants in the country more than 30 days to register with the federal government.

    Travel bans redux

    On June 2, Trump announced a new travel ban on foreign nationals from 12 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East. The ban draws its authority from the McCarran-Walter Act. Two days later, Trump claimed the same legal discretion to exclude Harvard University’s international students from the U.S.

    During his first term, Trump invoked these sections of the law to justify a travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld this action in 2018 by a 5-4 vote in Trump v. Hawaii. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that the travel ban was well within broad powers over immigration granted to the president under the McCarran-Walter Act. He added that the court had “no view on the soundness of the policy.”

    Trump’s new ban is more carefully crafted than earlier versions and more likely to withstand legal challenges. But his efforts to use the McCarren-Walter Act to ban international students from attending Harvard University face stiff legal headwinds.

    On May 22, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem notified Harvard officials that the agency was revoking the school’s certification to participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which grants visas to international students to come to the U.S. In a June 4 proclamation, the White House claimed that foreign students at Harvard had behaved in ways that threatened U.S. national security.

    A federal judge in Boston quickly blocked the revocation, holding that it violated core constitutional free speech rights. “The government’s misplaced efforts to control a reputable academic institution and squelch diverse viewpoints seemingly because they are, in some instances, opposed to this administration’s own views, threaten these rights,” wrote Judge Allison D. Burroughs.

    The latest step came on July 9, when the Trump administration subpoenaed Harvard for information on its foreign students, including their disciplinary records and involvement in campus protests.

    Broad power over noncitizens

    Ironically, congressional sponsors of the McCarran-Walter Act were at odds with the White House when the law was enacted in 1952. They overrode a veto by President Harry S. Truman, who thought the law’s nativist ideas were unfitting for a nation of immigrants and global defender of democracy.

    However, the expansive executive powers created by this law have endured largely unaltered over time, through waves of immigration reform.

    Now they are a boon to the Trump administration’s ambitious immigration crackdown. It’s a telling reminder that repressive old laws can come back to life – even when they don’t reflect the current views of many Americans.

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

    ref. A law from the era of Red Scares is supercharging Trump administration’s power over immigrants and noncitizens – https://theconversation.com/a-law-from-the-era-of-red-scares-is-supercharging-trump-administrations-power-over-immigrants-and-noncitizens-255307

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How 17M Americans enrolled in Medicaid and ACA plans could lose their health insurance by 2034

    Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Simon F. Haeder, Associate Professor of Public Health, Texas A&M University

    The millions of people losing insurance include many who get coverage through the ACA marketplace. sesame/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

    The big tax and spending package President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will cut government spending on health care by more than US$1 trillion over the next decade.

    Because the final version of the legislation moved swiftly through the Senate and the House, estimates regarding the number of people likely to lose their health insurance coverage were incomplete when Congress approved it by razor-thin margins. Nearly 12 million Americans could lose their health insurance coverage by 2034 due to this legislation, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

    However, the number of people losing their insurance by 2034 could be even higher, totaling more than 17 million. That’s largely because it’s likely that at least 5 million Americans who currently have Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance will lose their coverage once subsidies that help fund those policies expire at the end of 2025. And very few Republicans have said they support renewing the subsidies.

    In addition, regulations the Trump administration introduced earlier in the year will further increase the number of people losing their ACA marketplace coverage.

    As a public health professor, I see these changes, which will be phased in over several years, as the first step in a reversal of the expansion of access to health care that began with the ACA’s passage in 2010. About 25.3 million Americans lacked insurance in 2023, down sharply from 46.5 million when President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law. All told, the changes in the works could eliminate three-quarters of the progress the U.S. has made in reducing the number of uninsured Americans following the Affordable Care Act.

    Millions will lose their Medicaid coverage

    The biggest number of people becoming uninsured will be Americans enrolled in Medicaid, which currently covers more than 78 million people.

    An estimated 5 million will eventually lose Medicaid coverage due to new work requirements that will go into effect nationally by 2027.

    Work requirements target people eligible for Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act’s expansion. They tend to have slightly higher incomes than other people enrolled in the program.

    Medicaid applicants who are between 19 and 64 years old will need to certify they are working at least 80 hours a month or spending that much time engaged in comparable activities, such as community service.

    When these rules have been introduced to other safety net programs, most people lost their benefits due to administrative hassles, not because they weren’t logging enough hours on the job. Experts like me expect to see that occur with Medicaid too.

    Other increases in the paperwork required to enroll in and remain enrolled in Medicaid will render more than 2 million more people uninsured, the CBO estimates.

    And an additional 1.4 million would lose coverage because they may not meet new citizenship or immigration requirements.

    In total, these changes to Medicaid would lead to more than 8 million people becoming uninsured by 2034.

    Many of those who aren’t kicked out of Medicaid would also face new copayments of up to US$35 for appointments and procedures – making them less likely to seek care, even if they still have health insurance.

    The new policies also make it harder for states to pay for Medicaid, which is run by the federal government and the states. They do so by limiting the taxes states charge medical providers, which are used to fund the states’ share of Medicaid funding. With less funding, some states may try to reduce enrollment or cut benefits, such as home-based health care, in the future.

    Losing Medicaid coverage may leave millions of low-income Americans without insurance coverage, with no affordable alternatives for health care. Historically, the people who are most likely to lose their benefits are low-income people of color or immigrants who do not speak English well.

    A supporter of the Affordable Care Act stands in front of the Supreme Court building on Nov. 10, 2020.
    Samuel Corum/Getty Images

    ACA marketplace policies may cost far more

    The new law will also make it harder for the more than 24 million Americans who currently get health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplace plans to remain insured.

    For one, it will be much harder for Americans to purchase insurance coverage and qualify for subsidies for 2026.

    These changes come on the heels of regulations from the Trump administration that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will lead to almost 1 million people losing their coverage through the ACA marketplace. This includes reducing spending on outreach and enrollment.

    What’s more, increased subsidies in place since 2021 are set to expire at the end of the year. Given Republican opposition, it seems unlikely that those subsidies will be extended.

    Not extending the subsidies alone could mean premiums will increase by more than 75% in 2026. Once premiums get that unaffordable, an additional 4.2 million Americans could lose coverage, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.

    With more political uncertainty and reduced enrollment, more private insurers may also withdraw from the ACA market. Large insurance companies such as Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealth have already raised concerns about the ACA market’s viability.

    Should they exit, there would be fewer choices and higher premiums for people getting their insurance this way. It could also mean that some counties could have no ACA plans offered at all.

    Ramifications for the uninsured and rural hospitals

    When people lose their health insurance, they inevitably end up in worse health and their medical debts can mount. Because medical treatments usually work better when diagnoses are made early, people who end up uninsured may die sooner than if they’d still had coverage.

    Having to struggle to pay the kinds of high medical bills people without insurance face takes a physical, mental and financial toll, not just on people who become uninsured but also their families and friends. It also harms medical providers that don’t get reimbursed for their care.

    Public health scholars like me have no doubt that many hospitals and other health care providers will have to make tough choices. Some will close. Others will offer fewer services and fire health care workers. Emergency room wait times will increase for everyone, not just people who lose their health insurance due to changes in Trump’s tax and spending package.

    Rural hospitals play a crucial role in health care access.

    Rural hospitals, which were already facing a funding crisis, will experience some of the most acute financial pressure. By one estimate, more than 300 hospitals are at risk of closing.

    Children’s hospitals and hospitals located in low-income urban areas also disproportionately rely on Medicaid and will struggle to keep their doors open.

    Republicans tried to protect rural hospitals by designating $50 billion in the legislative package for them over 10 years. But this funding comes nowhere near the $155 billion in losses KFF expects those health care providers to incur due to Medicaid cuts. Also, the funding comes with a number of restrictions that could further limit its effectiveness.

    What’s next

    Some Republicans, including Sens. Mike Crapo and Ron Johnson, have already indicated that more health care policy changes could be coming in another large legislative package.

    They could include some of the harsher provisions that were left out of the final version of the legislation Congress approved. Republicans may, for example, try to roll back the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.

    Moving forward, spending on Medicare, the insurance program that primarily covers Americans 65 and older, could decline too. Without any further action, the CBO says that the law could trigger an estimated $500 billion in mandatory Medicare cuts from 2026 to 2034 because of the trillions of dollars in new federal debt the law creates.

    Trump has repeatedly promised not to cut Medicare or Medicaid. And yet, it’s possible that the Trump administration will issue executive orders that further reduce what the federal government spends on health care – and roll back the coverage gains the Affordable Care Act brought about.

    Portions of this article first appeared in a related piece published on June 13, 2025.

    Simon F. Haeder has previously received funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for unrelated projects.

    ref. How 17M Americans enrolled in Medicaid and ACA plans could lose their health insurance by 2034 – https://theconversation.com/how-17m-americans-enrolled-in-medicaid-and-aca-plans-could-lose-their-health-insurance-by-2034-260664

    MIL OSI

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Weird space weather seems to have influenced human behavior on Earth 41,000 years ago – our unusual scientific collaboration explores how

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Raven Garvey, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan

    Wandering magnetic fields would have had noticeable effects for humans. Maximilian Schanner (GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany)

    Our first meeting was a bit awkward. One of us is an archaeologist who studies how past peoples interacted with their environments. Two of us are geophysicists who investigate interactions between solar activity and Earth’s magnetic field.

    When we first got together, we wondered whether our unconventional project, linking space weather and human behavior, could actually bridge such a vast disciplinary divide. Now, two years on, we believe the payoffs – personal, professional and scientific – were well worth the initial discomfort.

    Our collaboration, which culminated in a recent paper in the journal Science Advances, began with a single question: What happened to life on Earth when the planet’s magnetic field nearly collapsed roughly 41,000 years ago?

    Weirdness when Earth’s magnetic shield falters

    This near-collapse is known as the Laschamps Excursion, a brief but extreme geomagnetic event named for the volcanic fields in France where it was first identified. At the time of the Laschamps Excursion, near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, Earth’s magnetic poles didn’t reverse as they do every few hundred thousand years. Instead, they wandered, erratically and rapidly, over thousands of miles. At the same time, the strength of the magnetic field dropped to less than 10% of its modern day intensity.

    So, instead of behaving like a stable bar magnet – a dipole – as it usually does, the Earth’s magnetic field fractured into multiple weak poles across the planet. As a result, the protective force field scientists call the magnetosphere became distorted and leaky.

    The magnetosphere normally deflects much of the solar wind and harmful ultraviolet radiation that would otherwise reach Earth’s surface.

    So, during the Laschamps Excursion when the magnetosphere broke down, our models suggest a number of near-Earth effects. While there is still work to be done to precisely characterize these effects, we do know they included auroras – normally seen only in skies near the poles as the Northern Lights or Southern Lights – wandering toward the equator, and significantly higher-than-present-day doses of harmful solar radiation.

    The skies 41,000 years ago may have been both spectacular and threatening. When we realized this, we two geophysicists wanted to know whether this could have affected people living at the time.

    The archaeologist’s answer was absolutely.

    Human responses to ancient space weather

    For people on the ground at that time, auroras may have been the most immediate and striking effect, perhaps inspiring awe, fear, ritual behavior or something else entirely. But the archaeological record is notoriously limited in its ability to capture these kinds of cognitive or emotional responses.

    Researchers are on firmer ground when it comes to the physiological impacts of increased UV radiation. With the weakened magnetic field, more harmful radiation would have reached Earth’s surface, elevating risk of sunburn, eye damage, birth defects, and other health issues.

    In response, people may have adopted practical measures: spending more time in caves, producing tailored clothing for better coverage, or applying mineral pigment “sunscreen” made of ochre to their skin. As we describe in our recent paper, the frequency of these behaviors indeed appears to have increased across parts of Europe, where effects of the Laschamps Excursion were pronounced and prolonged.

    Naturally occurring ochre can act as a protective sunscreen if applied to skin.
    Museo Egizio di Torino

    At this time, both Neanderthals and members of our species, Homo sapiens, were living in Europe, though their geographic distributions likely overlapped only in certain regions. The archaeological record suggests that different populations exhibited distinct approaches to environmental challenges, with some groups perhaps more reliant on shelter or material culture for protection.

    Importantly, we’re not suggesting that space weather alone caused an increase in these behaviors or, certainly, that the Laschamps caused Neanderthals to go extinct, which is one misinterpretation of our research. But it could have been a contributing factor – an invisible but powerful force that influenced innovation and adaptability.

    Cross-discipline collaboration

    Collaborating across such a disciplinary gap was, at first, daunting. But it turned out to be deeply rewarding.

    Archaeologists are used to reconstructing now-invisible phenomena like climate. We can’t measure past temperatures or precipitation directly, but they’ve left traces for us to interpret if we know where and how to look.

    An artistic rendering of how far into lower latitudes the aurora might have been visible during the Laschamps Excursion.
    Maximilian Schanner (GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany)

    But even archaeologists who’ve spent years studying the effects of climate on past behaviors and technologies may not have considered the effects of the geomagnetic field and space weather. These effects, too, are invisible, powerful and best understood through indirect evidence and modeling. Archaeologists can treat space weather as a vital component of Earth’s environmental history and future forecasting.

    Likewise, geophysicists, who typically work with large datasets, models and simulations, may not always engage with some of the stakes of space weather. Archaeology adds a human dimension to the science. It reminds us that the effects of space weather don’t stop at the ionosphere. They can ripple down into the lived experiences of people on the ground, influencing how they adapt, create and survive.

    The Laschamps Excursion wasn’t a fluke or a one-off. Similar disruptions of Earth’s magnetic field have happened before and will happen again. Understanding how ancient humans responded can provide insight into how future events might affect our world – and perhaps even help us prepare.

    Our unconventional collaboration has shown us how much we can learn, how our perspective changes, when we cross disciplinary boundaries. Space may be vast, but it connects us all. And sometimes, building a bridge between Earth and space starts with the smallest things, such as ochre, or a coat, or even sunscreen.

    Agnit Mukhopadhyay has received funding from NASA Science Mission Directorate and the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School.

    Raven Garvey and Sanja Panovska do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    ref. Weird space weather seems to have influenced human behavior on Earth 41,000 years ago – our unusual scientific collaboration explores how – https://theconversation.com/weird-space-weather-seems-to-have-influenced-human-behavior-on-earth-41-000-years-ago-our-unusual-scientific-collaboration-explores-how-257216

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Sculptor galaxy image provides brilliant details that will help astronomers study how stars form

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rebecca McClain, Ph.D. Student in Astronomy, The Ohio State University

    This image of the Sculptor galaxy will give astronomers detailed information on a variety of stars, nebulae and galactic regions. European Southern Observatory

    If you happen to find yourself in the Southern Hemisphere with binoculars and a good view of the night sky on a dark and clear summer night, you might just be able to spot the Sculptor galaxy. And if your eyes were prisms that could separate light into the thousands of colors making it up, then congratulations: After hours of staring, you could have recreated the newest image of one of the nearest neighbors to our Milky Way galaxy.

    This is not just another stunningly gorgeous picture of a nearby galaxy. Because it reveals the type of light coming from each location in the galaxy, this image of the Sculptor galaxy is a treasure trove of information that astronomers around the world cannot wait to pick apart.

    As an astronomy Ph.D. student at Ohio State University, I (Rebecca) am one of the lucky people who gets to stare at this image for hours every day, alongside my adviser (Adam), discovering meaning behind the beauty everyone can appreciate.

    Creating the image

    The Sculptor galaxy lies 11 million light-years from the Milky Way. This may sound unfathomably far, but it actually makes Sculptor one of the closest galaxies to Earth.

    For this reason, Sculptor has been the primary target for many observations. In 2022, an international team of scientists observed Sculptor with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, MUSE, on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, and publicly released the data this June.

    Most astronomical observations obtain either an image of a single color of light – for example, red or blue – or a spectrum, which splits the light coming from the whole galaxy into many different colors.

    MUSE, conveniently, does both, producing a spectrum at every location it observes. One observation creates thousands of images in thousands of colors, each tracing the critical components that make up the galaxy: stars, dust and gas.

    It may look like only one picture, but this image of Sculptor is actually over 100 individual observations and 8 million individual spectra, painstakingly stitched together to reveal millions of stars all in one cohesive galaxy.

    Scientific significance

    The light associated with the stars in Sculptor is colored white, and gas made up of charged particles is colored red. The largest concentration of both is found in the spiral arms. At the very center of the galaxy is a nuclear starburst: a region of extreme star formation that is blowing material out of the galaxy.

    There is even information in the absence of light. Dust obscures light emitted from behind it, creating a shadow effect called dust lanes. Tracing these dust lanes reveals the cold, dense material that exists between stars. Scientists believe this dark material is the fuel that will form the next generation of stars.

    Complex gaseous nebulae (red) surround young and massive stars (white) in this zoom-in of a cluster of star-forming regions.
    European Southern Observatory/VLT/MUSE

    There is a lot to look at in this image, but the subject of my work and what I find most interesting is the gas illuminated in red. In these star-forming regions, young and massive stars excite the gas around them, which then glows with a specific color to reveal the chemical makeup and physical conditions of the gas.

    This image represents one of the first times that astronomers have obtained images of thousands of star-forming regions at this impressive level of detail. A component of our team’s research uses the data from MUSE to understand how these regions are structured and how they interact with the surrounding galaxy.

    By meticulously piecing all of this information together, astronomers can use this image to learn more about the formation and evolution of stars across the universe.

    Rebecca McClain receives funding from the National Science Foundation.

    Adam Leroy receives funding from NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute that supports research related to the survey of NGC 253 discussed in this article.

    ref. Sculptor galaxy image provides brilliant details that will help astronomers study how stars form – https://theconversation.com/sculptor-galaxy-image-provides-brilliant-details-that-will-help-astronomers-study-how-stars-form-259754

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Rethinking the MBA: Character as the educational foundation for future business leaders

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Andrew J. Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, Ross School of Business, School for Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan

    Questions about the role of business education have led to introspection among business school leaders and researchers. Supatman/iStock via Getty Images

    Programs to help students discern their vocation or calling are gaining prominence in higher education.

    According to a 2019 Bates/Gallup poll, 80% of college graduates want a sense of purpose from their work. In addition, a 2023 survey found that 50% of Generation Z and millennial employees in the U.K. and U.S. have resigned from a job because the values of the company did not align with their own.

    These sentiments are also found in today’s business school students, as Gen Z is demanding that course content reflect the changes in society, from diversity and inclusion to sustainability and poverty. According to the Financial Times, “there may never have been a more demanding cohort.”

    And yet, business schools have been slower than other schools to respond, leading to calls ranging from transforming business education to demolishing it.

    What are business schools creating?

    Historically, studies have shown that business school applicants have scored higher than their peers on the “dark triad” traits of narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. These traits can manifest themselves in a tendency toward cunning, scheming and, at times, unscrupulous behavior.

    Over the course of their degree program, other studies have found that business school environments can amplify those preexisting tendencies while enhancing a concern for what others think of them.

    And these tendencies stick after graduation. One study examined 9,900 U.S. publicly listed firms and separated the sample by those run by managers who went to business school and those whose managers did not. While they found no discernible difference in sales or profits between the two samples, they found that labor wages were cut 6% over five years at companies run by managers who went to business school, while managers with no business degree shared profits with their workers. The study concludes that this is the result “of practices and values acquired in business education.”

    But there are signs that this may be changing.

    Questioning value

    Business leaders play a significant role in society, but they aren’t always trusted.
    miniseries/E+ via Getty Images

    Today, many are questioning the value of the MBA.

    Those who have decided it is worth the high cost either complain of its lack of rigor, relevance and critical thinking or use it merely for access to networks for salary enhancement, treating classroom learning as less important than attending recruiting events and social activities.

    Layered onto this uncertain state of affairs, generative artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering the education landscape, threatening future career prospects and short-circuiting the student’s education by doing their research and writing for them.

    This is concerning because of the outsized role that business leaders play in today’s society: allocating capital, developing and deploying new technologies and influencing political and social debates.

    At times, this role is a positive one, but not always. Distrust follows that uncertainty.

    Only 16% of Americans had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in corporations, while 51% of Americans between 18 and 29 hold a dim view of capitalism.

    Facing this reality, business educators are beginning to reexamine how to nurture business leaders who view business not only as a means to making money but also as a vehicle in service to society.

    Proponents such as Harry Lewis, former dean of Harvard College; Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University; Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University; and Anthony Kronman, former dean of the Yale Law School, describe this effort as a return to the original focus of a college education.

    Not ethics, but character formation

    Character education could challenge business students to consider what type of leaders they aspire to be.
    MoMo Productions/Digital Vision via Getty Images

    Business schools have often included ethics courses in their curriculum, often with limited success. What some schools are experimenting with is character formation.

    As part of this experimentation is the development of a coherent moral culture that lies within the course curriculum but also within the cocurricular programming, cultural events, seminars and independent studies that shape students’ worldviews; the selection, socialization, training and reward systems for students, staff and faculty; and other aspects that shape students’ formation.

    Stanford’s Bill Damon, one of the leading scholars on helping students develop a sense of purpose in life, describes a revised role for faculty in this effort, one of creating the fertile conditions for students to find meaning and purpose on their own.

    I use this approach in my course on vocation discernment in business, shifting from a more traditional academic style to one that is more developmental.

    This is relational teaching that artificial intelligence cannot do. It involves bringing the whole person into the education process, inspiring hearts as much as engaging heads to form competent leaders who possess character, judgment and wisdom.

    It allows an examination of both the how and the why of business, challenging students to consider what kind of business leader they aspire to be and what kind of legacy they wish to establish.

    It would mark a return to the original focus of early business schools, which, as Rakesh Khurana, a professor of sociology at Harvard, calls out in his book “From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession,” was to train managers in the same vocational way we train doctors “to seek the higher aims of commerce in service to society.”

    Reshaping business education

    Most business school curricula are similar, but there are examples that break the mold.
    Oscar Wong/Moment via Getty Images

    The good news is that there are emerging exemplars that are seeking to create this kind of curriculum through centers such as Notre Dame University’s Institute for Social Concerns and Bates College’s Center for Purposeful Work and courses such as Stanford University’s Designing Your Life and the University of Michigan’s Management as a Calling.

    These are but a few examples of a growing movement. So, the building blocks are there to draw from. The student demand is waiting to be met. All that is needed is for more business schools to respond.

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

    ref. Rethinking the MBA: Character as the educational foundation for future business leaders – https://theconversation.com/rethinking-the-mba-character-as-the-educational-foundation-for-future-business-leaders-259223

    MIL OSI

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How universities can keep protests from turning violent: 3 lessons from the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Matthew J. Mayhew, Professor of Higher Education, The Ohio State University

    Pro-Palestinian supporters march outside Columbia University in September 2024. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

    In spring 2024, pro-Palestinian student encampments that began at Columbia and Harvard spread to university campuses throughout the U.S. as Israel invaded Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack. At least 100 campuses had encampments for at least a few days during this period.

    While some campuses erupted in violence, others remained peaceful and didn’t experience the open conflict that led to congressional hearings, university presidents losing their jobs and repercussions that are continuing to be felt today.

    What made the difference?

    In spring 2024, Ohio State University’s College Impact Laboratory, where we all work, surveyed universities to learn more about whether their campuses experienced protests, what happened and how they handled them. Part of our goal was to understand how spiritual leaders played a role, if any, in managing the protests. We’ve been analyzing the data ever since. The results from those who responded point to several lessons universities could learn from to avoid violence in future protests.

    Campuses are a critical arena for activism

    Campus protests have long been a defining feature of social and political change in the U.S. From the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s to the student-led climate strikes of recent years, higher education institutions have served as a critical space for activism.

    Often, these protests reflect broader societal tensions, and how universities respond has played a significant role in shaping their outcomes.

    Historically, protests have been most likely to escalate when students feel unheard. In contrast, institutions that adopt proactive strategies, such as facilitating conversations or including students in decision-making, often experience better outcomes.

    A George Washington University student carries a Palestinian flag at a student encampment protesting the Israel-Hamas war in May 2024.
    AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

    Snapshot of the pro-Palestinian protests

    As our survey data shows, the pro-Palestinian protests illustrate this dynamic.

    To gather data, the College Impact Laboratory sent questionnaires to administrators at the 329 universities that participate in our Interfaith Spiritual, Religious and Secular Campus Climate Index, also known as the INSPIRES Index, as well as hundreds of colleges and universities in our recruitment database.

    In all, 35 schools responded to our 23-question survey. Of those, we found that most protests were led by students, half lasted less than a week, and the vast majority were nonviolent. Fifteen did not have protests, while the rest did. While the number of institutions that participated in this survey is relatively small, it does give us key insights into what schools were thinking.

    Half of the campuses with protests reported law enforcement involvement – either campus police or city officers – with 20% experiencing physical altercations between protesters and police. Other disruptive actions such as academic interruptions, vandalism, physical violence and doxxing were reported with varying frequencies.

    Protests at campuses that participated in our survey peaked during April and May 2024, with 70% of them experiencing demonstrations in these months.

    Here are three takeaways from the survey, suggesting steps universities can take before and during future protests to avoid escalation:

    1. Involve students in guidelines for engagement – early

    At every surveyed institution that reported protests, students were at the forefront of organizing and leading these efforts.

    Yet, despite this clear student leadership, about one-third of institutions said they didn’t consult with students to establish guidelines for engagement. Those that did invited representatives from student organizations or student government officers into the policymaking process to determine what protocols would be followed to manage protests and keep them peaceful.

    On campuses where administrators didn’t engage with student leaders, tensions tended to escalate, and protests disrupted the institutions for weeks, often after police were called in or curfews were imposed.

    While many of the protests lasted only one to seven days, we found that institutions that opened lines of communication early between administration and student protest leaders were more likely to deescalate tensions quickly. In contrast, campuses where administrators did not engage early on saw protests lasting weeks or involving greater disruptions.

    Also, institutions that engaged early with student leaders were less likely to face stronger demands, such as calls for administrators to be fired, divestment from Israeli companies or calls to defund the campus police.

    Our survey results suggest it’s important for administrators to engage with students early to establish clear guidelines to make it less likely future protests spiral into violence.

    2. Communicate openly, often and before protests

    Discussion of difficult topics, such as the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, shouldn’t wait until protests break out to begin. We found that every school in our survey that proactively supported dialogue between Jews and Muslims – before the war broke out – didn’t see violence result from the protests.

    Dialogue isn’t just a strategy for preventing protests from spiraling out of control; it is fundamental to intergroup learning in higher education. These events create safe spaces for students − whether Arab, Jewish, Palestinian or members of different ethnic or religious groups − to engage with classmates with different points of view.

    But even once protests begin, dialogue can help. When institutions engaged in dialogue, during or as a result of a protest, the protests were less likely to involve violence. At half of the campuses that participated in our survey and experienced protests, protests were ended peacefully through dialogue.

    Brown, for example, modeled the power of institutional listening in its response to its April 2024 encampment. Rather than escalating tensions, university leaders engaged directly with student activists, resulting in a peaceful resolution and a commitment to bring the students’ divestment proposal to a formal vote in October. It ultimately failed to pass the board of directors.

    Demonstrators unfurl a banner on a lawn after an encampment protesting the Israel-Hamas war was taken down at Brown University on April 30, 2024, in Providence, R.I.
    AP Photo/David Goldman

    3. Involve relevant groups in decision-making

    Most administrators in our survey, as they considered how to engage with protesters, reached out to relevant student groups such as those that focus on Jewish and Muslim students to better understand their perspectives.

    However, only 28% consulted a religious or spiritual life office staff member on campus.

    Religious or spiritual life staff are present on both private and public campuses and may include university-employed multifaith chaplains, interfaith coordinators or directors of spiritual life. Unlike student-led religious groups, these professionals often serve as liaisons to the religious and nonreligious communities represented on campus.

    The focus of such roles on serving students from all worldviews positions them as key resources for deescalation through community outreach, support and two-way communication. Additionally, these professionals have valuable expertise in religious pluralism and community relationships. This experience helps them to advise administrators on policy and potential courses of action in times of tension.

    Consulting with university staff with a focus on religion or spiritual life makes particular sense given the nature of the protests and how religion is intertwined, but our data suggests they may be underutilized more broadly for their expertise in navigating tensions related to competing worldviews.

    Proactive engagement with these leaders not only helps campuses navigate an immediate crisis but demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and respect for different groups’ perspectives.

    Leading by example

    Put another way, our research suggests institutions can avoid the negative outcomes of protests by embodying the traits commonly associated with universities, such as showing mutual respect, fostering democratic debate and engaging in critical thinking even on divisive issues. Engaging from a mindset of goodwill with student leaders shows administrators value student voices and are willing to work collaboratively toward solutions.

    But when campuses ignore peaceful protests or refuse to engage with student leaders, they risk turning manageable situations into prolonged crises.

    At a time when divisions run deep, we believe campuses that lead by example by embracing dialogue and engaging student activists before, during and after protests take place are not only likely to see less violence, but are likely to help heal America’s great divides.

    Matthew J. Mayhew receives grant funding for various research projects from the National Science Foundation, the ECMC Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and Pew Charitable Trusts. Currently, Dr. Mayhew leads the College Impact Laboratory at The Ohio State University. He is the Principal Investigator for the INSPIRES Index project and is the current editor of the Digest of Recent Research.

    Renee L. Bowling works for the College Impact Lab at The Ohio State University that produces the INSPIRES Index and serves as Chair of NASPA’s Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community.

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

    ref. How universities can keep protests from turning violent: 3 lessons from the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments – https://theconversation.com/how-universities-can-keep-protests-from-turning-violent-3-lessons-from-the-2024-pro-palestinian-encampments-252278

    MIL OSI

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: When big sports events like FIFA World Cup expand, their climate footprint expands too

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Brian P. McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan

    Lionel Messi celebrates with fans after Argentina won the FIFA World Cup championship in 2022 in Qatar. Michael Regan-FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

    When the FIFA World Cup hits North America in June 2026, 48 teams and millions of soccer fans will be traveling to and from venues spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

    It’s a dramatic expansion – 16 more teams will be playing than in recent years, with a jump from 64 to 104 matches. The tournament is projected to bring in over US$10 billion in revenue. But the expansion will also mean a lot more travel and other activities that contribute to climate change.

    The environmental impacts of giant sporting events like the World Cup create a complex paradox for an industry grappling with its future in a warming world.

    A sustainability conundrum

    Sports are undeniably experiencing the effects of climate change. Rising global temperatures are putting athletes’ health at risk during summer heat waves and shortening winter sports seasons. Many of the 2026 World Cup venues often see heat waves in June and early July, when the tournament is scheduled.

    There is a divide over how sports should respond.

    Some athletes are speaking out for more sustainable choices and have called on lawmakers to take steps to limit climate-warming emissions. At the same time, the sport industry is growing and facing a constant push to increase revenue. The NCAA is also considering expanding its March Madness basketball tournaments from 68 teams currently to as many as 76.

    Park Yong-woo of team Al Ain from Abu Dhabi tries to cool off during a Club World Cup match on June 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., which was in the midst of a heat wave. Some players have raised concerns about likely high temperatures during the 2026 World Cup, with matches scheduled June 11 to July 19.
    AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

    Estimates for the 2026 World Cup show what large tournament expansions can mean for the climate. A report from Scientists for Global Responsibility estimates that the expanded World Cup could generate over 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, nearly double the average of the past four World Cups.

    This massive increase – and the increase that would come if the NCAA basketball tournaments also expand – would primarily be driven by air travel as fans and players fly among event cities that are thousands of miles apart.

    A lot of money is at stake, but so is the climate

    Sports are big business, and adding more matches to events like the World Cup and NCAA tournaments will likely lead to larger media rights contracts and greater gate receipts from more fans attending the events, boosting revenues. These are powerful financial incentives.

    In the NCAA’s case, there is another reason to consider a larger tournament: The House v. NCAA settlement opened the door for college athletic departments to share revenue with athletes, which will significantly increase costs for many college programs. More teams would mean more television revenue and, crucially, more revenue to be distributed to member NCAA institutions and their athletic conferences.

    When climate promises become greenwashing

    The inherent conflict between maximizing profit through growth and minimizing environmental footprint presents a dilemma for sports.

    Several sport organizations have promised to reduce their impact on the climate, including signing up for initiatives like the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework.

    However, as sports tournaments and exhibition games expand, it can become increasingly hard for sports organizations to meet their climate commitments. In some cases, groups making sustainability commitments have been accused of greenwashing, suggesting the goals are more about public relations than making genuine, measurable changes.

    For example, FIFA’s early claims that it would hold a “fully carbon-neutral” World Cup in Qatar in 2022 were challenged by a group of European countries that accused soccer’s world governing body of underestimating emissions. The Swiss Fairness Commission, which monitors fairness in advertising, considered the complaints and determined that FIFA’s claims could not be substantiated.

    Alessandro Bastoni, of Inter Milan and Italy’s national team, prepares to board a flight from Milan to Rome with his team.
    Mattia Ozbot-Inter/Inter via Getty Images

    Aviation is often the biggest driver of emissions. A study that colleagues and I conducted on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament found about 80% of its emissions were connected to travel. And that was after the NCAA began using the pod system, which is designed to keep teams closer to home for the first and second rounds.

    Finding practical solutions

    Some academics, observing the rising emissions trend, have called for radical solutions like the end of commercialized sports or drastically limiting who can attend sporting events, with a focus on fans from the region.

    These solutions are frankly not practical, in my view, nor do they align with other positive developments. The growing popularity of women’s sports shows the challenge in limiting sports events – more games expands participation but adds to the industry’s overall footprint.

    Further compounding the challenges of reducing environmental impact is the amount of fan travel, which is outside the direct control of the sports organization or event organizers.

    Many fans will follow their teams long distances, especially for mega-events like the World Cup or the NCAA tournament. During the men’s World Cup in Russia in 2018, more than 840,000 fans traveled from other countries. The top countries by number of fans, after Russia, were China, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina.

    There is an argument that distributed sporting events like March Madness or the World Cup can be better in some ways for local environments because they don’t overwhelm a single city. However, merely spreading the impact does not necessarily reduce it, particularly when considering the effects on climate change.

    How fans can cut their environmental footprint

    Sport organizations and event planners can take steps to be more sustainable and also encourage more sustainable choices among fans. Fans can reduce their environmental impact in a variety of ways. For example:

    • Avoid taking airplanes for shorter distances, such as between FIFA venues in Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and carpool or take Amtrak instead. Planes can be more efficient for long distances, but air travel is still a major contributing factor to emissions.

    • While in a host city, use mass transit or rent electric vehicles or bicycles for local travel.

    • Consider sustainable accommodations, such as short-term rentals that might have a smaller environmental footprint than a hotel. Or stay at a certified green hotel that makes an effort to be more efficient in its use of water and energy.

    • Engage in sustainable pregame and postgame activities, such as choosing local, sustainable food options, and minimize waste.

    • You can also pay to offset carbon emissions for attending different sporting events, much like concertgoers do when they attend musical festivals. While critics question offsets’ true environmental benefit, they do represent people’s growing awareness of their environmental footprint.

    Through all these options, it’s clear that sports face a significant challenge in addressing their environmental impacts and encouraging fans to be more sustainable, while simultaneously trying to meet ambitious business and environmental targets.

    In my view, a sustainable path forward will require strategic, yet genuine, commitment by the sports industry and its fans, and a willingness to prioritize long-term planetary health alongside economic gains – balancing the sport and sustainability.

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

    ref. When big sports events like FIFA World Cup expand, their climate footprint expands too – https://theconversation.com/when-big-sports-events-like-fifa-world-cup-expand-their-climate-footprint-expands-too-259437

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: When big sports events like FIFA World Cup expand, their climate footprint expands too

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Brian P. McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan

    Lionel Messi celebrates with fans after Argentina won the FIFA World Cup championship in 2022 in Qatar. Michael Regan-FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

    When the FIFA World Cup hits North America in June 2026, 48 teams and millions of soccer fans will be traveling to and from venues spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

    It’s a dramatic expansion – 16 more teams will be playing than in recent years, with a jump from 64 to 104 matches. The tournament is projected to bring in over US$10 billion in revenue. But the expansion will also mean a lot more travel and other activities that contribute to climate change.

    The environmental impacts of giant sporting events like the World Cup create a complex paradox for an industry grappling with its future in a warming world.

    A sustainability conundrum

    Sports are undeniably experiencing the effects of climate change. Rising global temperatures are putting athletes’ health at risk during summer heat waves and shortening winter sports seasons. Many of the 2026 World Cup venues often see heat waves in June and early July, when the tournament is scheduled.

    There is a divide over how sports should respond.

    Some athletes are speaking out for more sustainable choices and have called on lawmakers to take steps to limit climate-warming emissions. At the same time, the sport industry is growing and facing a constant push to increase revenue. The NCAA is also considering expanding its March Madness basketball tournaments from 68 teams currently to as many as 76.

    Park Yong-woo of team Al Ain from Abu Dhabi tries to cool off during a Club World Cup match on June 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., which was in the midst of a heat wave. Some players have raised concerns about likely high temperatures during the 2026 World Cup, with matches scheduled June 11 to July 19.
    AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

    Estimates for the 2026 World Cup show what large tournament expansions can mean for the climate. A report from Scientists for Global Responsibility estimates that the expanded World Cup could generate over 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, nearly double the average of the past four World Cups.

    This massive increase – and the increase that would come if the NCAA basketball tournaments also expand – would primarily be driven by air travel as fans and players fly among event cities that are thousands of miles apart.

    A lot of money is at stake, but so is the climate

    Sports are big business, and adding more matches to events like the World Cup and NCAA tournaments will likely lead to larger media rights contracts and greater gate receipts from more fans attending the events, boosting revenues. These are powerful financial incentives.

    In the NCAA’s case, there is another reason to consider a larger tournament: The House v. NCAA settlement opened the door for college athletic departments to share revenue with athletes, which will significantly increase costs for many college programs. More teams would mean more television revenue and, crucially, more revenue to be distributed to member NCAA institutions and their athletic conferences.

    When climate promises become greenwashing

    The inherent conflict between maximizing profit through growth and minimizing environmental footprint presents a dilemma for sports.

    Several sport organizations have promised to reduce their impact on the climate, including signing up for initiatives like the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework.

    However, as sports tournaments and exhibition games expand, it can become increasingly hard for sports organizations to meet their climate commitments. In some cases, groups making sustainability commitments have been accused of greenwashing, suggesting the goals are more about public relations than making genuine, measurable changes.

    For example, FIFA’s early claims that it would hold a “fully carbon-neutral” World Cup in Qatar in 2022 were challenged by a group of European countries that accused soccer’s world governing body of underestimating emissions. The Swiss Fairness Commission, which monitors fairness in advertising, considered the complaints and determined that FIFA’s claims could not be substantiated.

    Alessandro Bastoni, of Inter Milan and Italy’s national team, prepares to board a flight from Milan to Rome with his team.
    Mattia Ozbot-Inter/Inter via Getty Images

    Aviation is often the biggest driver of emissions. A study that colleagues and I conducted on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament found about 80% of its emissions were connected to travel. And that was after the NCAA began using the pod system, which is designed to keep teams closer to home for the first and second rounds.

    Finding practical solutions

    Some academics, observing the rising emissions trend, have called for radical solutions like the end of commercialized sports or drastically limiting who can attend sporting events, with a focus on fans from the region.

    These solutions are frankly not practical, in my view, nor do they align with other positive developments. The growing popularity of women’s sports shows the challenge in limiting sports events – more games expands participation but adds to the industry’s overall footprint.

    Further compounding the challenges of reducing environmental impact is the amount of fan travel, which is outside the direct control of the sports organization or event organizers.

    Many fans will follow their teams long distances, especially for mega-events like the World Cup or the NCAA tournament. During the men’s World Cup in Russia in 2018, more than 840,000 fans traveled from other countries. The top countries by number of fans, after Russia, were China, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina.

    There is an argument that distributed sporting events like March Madness or the World Cup can be better in some ways for local environments because they don’t overwhelm a single city. However, merely spreading the impact does not necessarily reduce it, particularly when considering the effects on climate change.

    How fans can cut their environmental footprint

    Sport organizations and event planners can take steps to be more sustainable and also encourage more sustainable choices among fans. Fans can reduce their environmental impact in a variety of ways. For example:

    • Avoid taking airplanes for shorter distances, such as between FIFA venues in Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and carpool or take Amtrak instead. Planes can be more efficient for long distances, but air travel is still a major contributing factor to emissions.

    • While in a host city, use mass transit or rent electric vehicles or bicycles for local travel.

    • Consider sustainable accommodations, such as short-term rentals that might have a smaller environmental footprint than a hotel. Or stay at a certified green hotel that makes an effort to be more efficient in its use of water and energy.

    • Engage in sustainable pregame and postgame activities, such as choosing local, sustainable food options, and minimize waste.

    • You can also pay to offset carbon emissions for attending different sporting events, much like concertgoers do when they attend musical festivals. While critics question offsets’ true environmental benefit, they do represent people’s growing awareness of their environmental footprint.

    Through all these options, it’s clear that sports face a significant challenge in addressing their environmental impacts and encouraging fans to be more sustainable, while simultaneously trying to meet ambitious business and environmental targets.

    In my view, a sustainable path forward will require strategic, yet genuine, commitment by the sports industry and its fans, and a willingness to prioritize long-term planetary health alongside economic gains – balancing the sport and sustainability.

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

    ref. When big sports events like FIFA World Cup expand, their climate footprint expands too – https://theconversation.com/when-big-sports-events-like-fifa-world-cup-expand-their-climate-footprint-expands-too-259437

    MIL OSI Analysis

  • MIL-OSI USA: Podcast: The unnatural nature of metamaterials

    Source: US Government research organizations

    Metamaterials are a special class of engineered materials, designed to have properties not found in nature. Glaucio Paulino, a professor at Princeton University, discusses his work on developing modular chiral origami metamaterials, engineering control approaches and the ways they might benefit society.

    [embedded content]

    Listen to NSF Discovery Files wherever you get your podcasts.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Podcast: The unnatural nature of metamaterials

    Source: US Government research organizations

    Metamaterials are a special class of engineered materials, designed to have properties not found in nature. Glaucio Paulino, a professor at Princeton University, discusses his work on developing modular chiral origami metamaterials, engineering control approaches and the ways they might benefit society.

    [embedded content]

    Listen to NSF Discovery Files wherever you get your podcasts.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI: Trupanion Honored with Puget Sound Business Journal’s Excellence in Wellbeing Award

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SEATTLE, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Trupanion (Nasdaq: TRUP), the leading provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs in North America, has been recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal as a recipient of its Excellence in Wellbeing Award.

    This prestigious award celebrates organizations that have made employee well-being a core business priority, embedding physical, mental, and emotional health into their leadership philosophy, benefits, and daily operations.

    “Our team members are the very heart of everything we do,” said Margi Tooth, CEO and President of Trupanion. “We understand that when our team feels healthy, supported, and truly engaged, we can bring our very best to pet parents and veterinarians. This award is a testament to our continued efforts to create a workplace where every team member feels genuinely valued and cared for, both professionally and personally.”

    The Puget Sound Business Journal, in partnership with founding partner Roundglass, launched this award program to highlight employers who are making significant investments in programs that support the holistic health of their employees. Honorees will be celebrated at an awards event on July 24, 2025.

    “At Trupanion, we use ongoing team member feedback to help guide our benefit decisions,” added Brenna McGibney, Chief Administration Officer at Trupanion. “This collaborative process allows us to provide essential support and offer resources that truly empower team members to lead balanced and fulfilled lives. We are honored to receive this award and will continue innovating and investing in the livelihood of every Trupanion team member.”

    Learn more about careers at Trupanion by visiting Careers in Pet Insurance | Join the Trupanion Team!

    About Trupanion

    Trupanion is a leader in medical insurance for cats and dogs throughout the United States, Canada and certain countries within Continental Europe with over 1,000,000 pets currently enrolled. For over two decades, Trupanion has given pet owners peace of mind so they can focus on their pet’s recovery, not financial stress. Trupanion is committed to providing pet parents with the highest value in pet medical insurance with unlimited payouts for the life of their pets. With its patented process, Trupanion is the only North American provider with the technology to pay veterinarians directly in seconds at the time of checkout. Trupanion is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “TRUP”. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Seattle, WA. Trupanion policies are issued, in the United States, by its wholly-owned insurance entity American Pet Insurance Company and, in Canada, by Accelerant Insurance Company of Canada. Policies are sold and administered in Canada by Canada Pet Health Insurance Services, Inc. dba Trupanion 309-1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver, BC V7J 0A2 and in the United States by Trupanion Managers USA, Inc. (CA license No. 0G22803, NPN 9588590). Canada Pet Health Insurance Services, Inc. is a registered damage insurance agency and claims adjuster in Quebec #603927. For more information, please visit trupanion.com.

    Contacts:

    Corporate Communications
    Corporate.Communications@trupanion.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: GraniteShares Launches Three New Leveraged Single-Stock ETFs: PDDL, NOWL, and AVGU

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GraniteShares 2x Long PDD Daily ETF (PDDL), GraniteShares 2x Long NOW Daily ETF (NOWL) and GraniteShares 2x AVGO Long (AVGU) Launch Today.

    GraniteShares, a provider of exchange traded funds (ETFs), today announced the launch of three new leveraged single-stock ETFs:

    GraniteShares 2x Long PDD Daily ETF (NASDAQ: PDDL), 
    GraniteShares 2x Long NOW Daily ETF (NASDAQ: NOWL) and
    GraniteShares 2x Long AVGO Daily ETF (NASDAQ: AVGU).

    An investment in the ETFs provides investors daily leveraged exposure to the three respective underlying stocks: PDD Holdings (NASDAQ: PDD) ServiceNow (NASDAQ: NOW) and Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO).

    GraniteShares’ leveraged ETFs seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to 2 times (200%) the daily percentage change of the respective common stocks. These funds are designed for sophisticated investors looking to capitalize on short-term movements in the underlying stocks.

    New GraniteShares Leveraged Single-Stock ETFs


    Underlying Companies

    • PDD Holdings Inc., established in 2015 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global commerce company managing a portfolio of businesses aimed at integrating people and enterprises into the digital economy. It operates Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform offering diverse products such as agricultural goods, apparel, electronics, and household items, alongside Temu, a global marketplace connecting buyers, merchants, and manufacturers across various categories. The company emphasizes enhancing local communities and small businesses through improved productivity and opportunities, supported by its robust network of sourcing, logistics, and fulfillment capabilities. Formerly known as Pinduoduo Inc., it rebranded to PDD Holdings Inc. in February 2023.
    • ServiceNow, Inc., based in Santa Clara, California, is a global leader in cloud-based Al solutions for business transformation. It’s Now Platform helps organizations digitize workflows using Al, automation, analytics, and low-code tools. The platform supports four key workflow areas: technology, customer and industry, employee, and creator-enhancing IT services, customer and employee experiences, and custom workflows. Its offerings span IT service management, security operations, HR delivery, and more. Serving industries worldwide, ServiceNow partners with providers and resellers to drive digital transformation. Founded in 2004, it remains at the forefront of Al-powered workflow automation.
    • Broadcom Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, California and founded in 1961, is a global technology company specializing in the design, development, and supply of a wide range of semiconductor devices and enterprise software solutions. Operating through two primary segments—Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software—the company delivers complex digital and mixed-signal CMOS-based and analog III-V-based semiconductor products. Its offerings include RF front-end modules, Ethernet switching and routing chips, optical and copper interconnect components, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth SoCs, custom touch controllers, storage adapters, and a variety of industrial and optical solutions. These technologies support applications across data centers, telecommunications, mobile devices, broadband access, factory automation, and more. In software, Broadcom provides tools and platforms for cloud, mainframe, and hybrid environments, focusing on application development, security, automation, and infrastructure management.

    Designed for Tactical Traders

    The new leveraged ETFs provide traders with a tool to gain leveraged exposure to these stocks, making them a potential consideration for those looking to execute short-term tactical trades.

    “We continue to expand our suite of leveraged ETFs to meet the demand for high-conviction trading opportunities,” said Will Rhind, Founder of GraniteShares. “With the launch of PDDL, NOWL, and AVGU, we are providing investors with targeted tools to access some of the most exciting companies in AI, cloud computing, semiconductors and technology.”

    For more information on the new GraniteShares leveraged ETFs, read the Prospectus.

    About GraniteShares

    GraniteShares is an entrepreneurial ETF provider focused on high-conviction investment solutions. The firm offers a range of innovative ETFs spanning leveraged, inverse, and high-yield strategies, empowering investors with differentiated tools for portfolio construction. Founded in 2016, GraniteShares has grown rapidly by delivering cutting-edge solutions tailored to modern market needs. For more information, visit www.graniteshares.com.

    Media Contact:
    GraniteShares Inc.
    Attn: Media Relations
    222 Broadway, 21st Floor
    New York, NY 10038
    844-476-8747
    info@graniteshares.com

    RISK FACTORS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

    This material must be preceded or accompanied by a Prospectus. Carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives risk factors, charges and expenses before investing. Please read the prospectus before investing. The fund does not directly invest in the underlying stock.

    The Fund is recently organized July 15, 2025. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions. There can be no assurance that the Funds will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.

    The Fund is not suitable for all investors. The investment program of the funds is speculative, entails substantial risks and include asset classes and investment techniques not employed by most ETFs and mutual funds. Investments in the ETFs are not bank deposits and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged (2X) investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. For periods longer than a single day, the Fund will lose money if the Underlying Stock’s performance is flat, and it is possible that the Fund will lose money even if the Underlying Stock’s performance increases over a period longer than a single day. An investor could lose the full principal value of his/her investment within a single day.

    The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles. This Fund attempts to provide daily investment results that correspond to the respective long leveraged multiple of the performance of its underlying stock (a Leverage Long Fund).

    Investors should note that such Leverage Long Fund pursues daily leveraged investment objectives, which means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund magnifies the performance of its underlying stock. The volatility of the underlying security may affect a Funds’ return as much as, or more than, the return of the underlying security.

    Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from 200% of the return of the Underlying Stock over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Underlying Stock’s performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Underlying Stock volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Underlying Stock’s performance increases over a period longer than a single day.

    Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the ETF. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for ETF shares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue or remain unchanged. Buying or selling ETF shares on an exchange may require the payment of brokerage commissions and frequent trading may incur brokerage costs that detract significantly from investment returns.

    An investment in the Fund involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The Fund is non-diversified and includes risks associated with the Fund concentrating its investments in a particular industry, sector, or geographic region which can result in increased volatility. The use of derivatives such as futures contracts and swaps are subject to market risks that may cause their price to fluctuate over time. Risks of the Fund include Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk, Leverage Risk, Market Risk, Counterparty Risk, Rebalancing Risk, Intra-Day Investment Risk, Other Investment Companies (including ETFs) Risk, and risks specific to the securities of the Underlying Stock and the sector in which it operates. These and other risks can be found in the prospectus.

    This information is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any Funds to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. Please consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of an investment in Fund shares, including the possible application of foreign, state, and local tax laws. You could lose money by investing in the ETFs. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Funds will be achieved. None of the Funds should be relied upon as a complete investment program.

    The Fund is distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc, which is not affiliated with GraniteShares or any of its affiliates ©2024 GraniteShares Inc. All rights reserved. GraniteShares, GraniteShares Trusts, and the GraniteShares logo are registered and unregistered trademarks of GraniteShares Inc., in the United States and elsewhere. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear Appoints Vice Admiral Charles J. “Joe” Leidig, Jr. (Ret.) as Chairman of its Executive Advisory Board for Naval Nuclear Initiatives

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Former Deputy to the Commander for Military Operations, U.S. Africa Command, to advise NANO Nuclear on potential civilian and defense applications of its advanced nuclear technologies

    New York, N.Y., July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing clean energy solutions, today announced that it has appointed distinguished nuclear submarine leader and Former Deputy to the Commander for Military Operations, U.S. Africa Command, Vice Admiral Charles J. Leidig, Jr. (Ret.), as the Chairman of its Executive Advisory Board for Naval Nuclear Initiatives.

    In his role, Vice Admiral Leidig will guide NANO Nuclear’s initiatives to support United States Naval operations with reliable nuclear power solutions, including the potential use of NANO Nuclear microreactors in development for propulsion, baseload power on operating bases and other programs.

    Leidig served as Deputy to the Commander for Military Operations, U.S. Africa Command from August 2010 to June 2013, capping a 39-year Navy career. Prior to this assignment, Leidig was the 80th Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, and earlier commanded USS Cavalla (SSN 684), where his crew earned two Meritorious Unit Commendations and the coveted Battle “E.” Additional leadership posts included Commander, Submarine Development Squadron Five; Commander, Naval Forces and Region Marianas; Commander, Submarine Group Eight; and Deputy Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet. Across these tours he directed submarine rescue programs, Arctic-warfare initiatives, and allied undersea operations, building a reputation for positive, mission-focused leadership.

    Vice Admiral Leidig’s career also included stints as a material officer for Submarine Squadron 11, senior member of the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, assistant deputy director for Regional Operations on the Joint Staff, and executive assistant to the Director of the Joint Staff. He is a 1978 graduate, with distinction, of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds a master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Professional education later included the National Security Management Program at Syracuse University and the Navy Executive Business Course at UNC Chapel Hill.

    “The U.S. Navy’s long record of safe, reliable nuclear propulsion has shown how compact reactors can deliver consistent power under demanding conditions,” said Charles J. Leidig, Jr., Chairman of NANO Nuclear’s Executive Advisory Board for Naval Nuclear Initiatives. “NANO Nuclear brings that same spirit of innovation to the next generation of microreactors for potential civilian and military use. NANO Nuclear’s rapid progress reflects a focused, highly capable team, and I’m pleased to contribute my naval nuclear experience as we meet growing demand in the marketplace for advanced nuclear technologies.”

    Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Appoints Vice Admiral Charles J. Leidig (Ret.) as the Chairman of its Executive Advisory Board for Naval Nuclear Initiatives.

    His personal decorations comprise the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, among numerous unit awards. He remains deeply engaged with the Naval Academy community and veterans’ organizations, continuing a lifelong commitment to mentorship and national service.

    “NANO Nuclear is moving steadily toward constructing the first U.S. commercial microreactor, the KRONOS MMR Energy System,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear. “As we enter this next phase of development, we are assembling a leadership team equal to the technology’s promise. Vice Admiral Leidig exemplifies the caliber of talent essential to our future, and we are pleased to welcome him to our company.”

    “Vice Admiral Leidig’s appointment further strengthens NANO Nuclear’s roster of leading public- and private-sector advisors,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear. “His firsthand experience directing the Navy’s nuclear-power initiatives will be invaluable as the country looks for efficient, long-life energy solutions. With his guidance, we believe our flexible microreactor portfolio in development can help power the next phase of America’s energy transition.”

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across five business lines: (i) cutting edge portable and other microreactor technologies, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation, (iv) nuclear applications for space and (v) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s reactor products in development include patented KRONOS MMREnergy System, a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that is in construction permit pre-application engagement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in collaboration with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, and the space focused, portable LOKI MMR, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

    Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

    HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

    NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as the LOKI MMR system and other power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.

    For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

    For further NANO Nuclear information, please contact:

    Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
    Business Tel: (212) 634-9206

    PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:

    NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN
    NANO Nuclear Energy YOUTUBE
    NANO Nuclear Energy X PLATFORM

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. In this press release, forward-looking statements include those related to the anticipated benefits to NANO Nuclear of the appointment of Vice Admiral Leidig to the Company’s Executive Advisory Board, as well as the Company’s future development plans in general. These and other forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state or non-U.S. nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology and the acquisition of complimentary technology or businesses, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, regulatory delays, integration issues and the development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations, (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of U.S. and non-U.S. government regulation, policies and licensing requirements, including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the enacted ADVANCE Act and the May 23, 2025 presidential executive orders seeking to support nuclear energy, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the operating an early stage business a highly regulated and rapidly evolving industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Dayforce Research: Taming Friction Key to Simplifying Workplace Complexity

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MINNEAPOLIS and TORONTO, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dayforce, Inc. (NYSE: DAY; TSX: DAY), a global human capital management (HCM) leader that makes work life better, today released a report, Fighting workforce friction to power productivity, that explores types of workplace friction – staffing, agility, change, and technology – and the consequences of them. Findings show widespread organizational challenges are hurting productivity and the bottom line by keeping people from doing the work they’re meant to do.

    With a majority (84%) of respondents saying they have faced organizational change in the past 12 months, this new research dives into how friction is experienced by workers, managers, and executives to help leaders drive simplicity at scale and ensure their people are doing work that drives results. Conducted by Hanover Research, the survey included 6,178 workers, managers, and executives from companies with at least 100 employees. The findings highlight opportunities to enhance speed and agility, while also improving the employee experience.

    “Technology disruption and a fluid operating environment are creating friction across organizations, leading to frustrated employees and wasted time and resources,” said Steve Holdridge, President and Chief Operating Officer, Dayforce, Inc. “Tackling this complexity crisis requires reducing friction caused by poor communication, mismatched technology, and aligning worker skills with defined roles. For leaders, this means creating clear goals, delivering proper skills training, and equipping their people with the tools they need to do the work they’re meant to do.”

    The report identified four types of friction organizations need to address:

    • Staffing friction: Almost two-thirds (65%) of workers said that when someone calls in sick at their organization, there is often no one to cover their work. Meanwhile, middle managers say that workforce scheduling (36%) and accurately forecasting labor needs (31%) are among their biggest workforce planning challenges. Employing workforce planning technology can help managers by improving staffing flexibility and ensuring that schedules comply with relevant regulations.
    • Agility friction: Respondents were clear that in today’s environment adapting and optimizing their workforce with speed is key to competitive advantage, but more than half (51%) said they could add more value to their organization in a different role. At the same time, only 43% said their organization has a structured process of upskilling or reskilling employees. Creating defined career paths and development opportunities can improve agility and retention.
    • Change friction: More than half (52%) of respondents say that organizational changes at their company negatively impact employee efficiency and only 44% say their organization is good or very good at communicating change. Prioritizing communication during change management planning can help employees navigate change and focus on important tasks.
    • Technology friction: More than two-thirds (69%) of respondents say their organization uses too many technology platforms, while nearly the same amount (66%) at least slightly agree that adopting new technologies at work often reduce efficiency instead of improving it. Reducing complexity with fewer platforms and modern technology can make adoption smoother and get people back to focusing on high-value tasks.

    Additional Information

    Survey Methodology

    Hanover Research conducted the organizational friction survey from Dayforce online from April 14 to May 1, 2025. The study included 6,178 respondents aged 18+ who work at companies with at least 100 employees across Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

    Our Organizational Friction Index was calculated based on respondents’ answers to nine questions about organizational changes, organizational complexity, and technological complexity. Each respondent was assigned an Organizational Friction Score, and the Index was created by designating those scores as low, medium, or high friction.

    About Dayforce

    Dayforce makes work life better. Everything we do as a global leader in HCM technology is focused on enabling thousands of customers and millions of employees around the world do the work they’re meant to do. With our single AI-powered people platform for HR, Pay, Time, Talent, and Analytics, organizations of all sizes and industries are benefiting from simplicity at scale with Dayforce to help unlock their full workforce potential, operate with confidence, and realize quantifiable value. To learn more, visit dayforce.com.

    Media Contact
    Nick de Pass
    nick.depass@dayforce.com
    (226) 972-5962

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Franklin Electric Schedules Its Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Release and Conference Call

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORT WAYNE, Ind., July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: FELE) will release its second quarter 2025 earnings at 8:00 am ET on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. A conference call to review earnings and other developments in the business will commence at 9:00 am ET. The second quarter 2025 earnings call will be available via a live webcast. The webcast will be available in a listen only mode by going to:

    https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/eo2jvajq

    For those interested in participating in the question-and-answer portion of the call, please register for the call at the link below.

    https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI1fbffb8f4cf04503b3b3612e494f18a2

    All registrants will receive dial-in information and a PIN allowing them to access the live call. It is recommended that you join 10 minutes prior to the event start (although you may register and dial in at any time during the call).

    A replay of the conference call will be available from Tuesday, July 29, 2025, through 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, by visiting the listen-only webcast link above.

    About Franklin Electric
    Franklin Electric is a global leader in the production and marketing of systems and components for the movement of water and energy. Recognized as a technical leader in its products and services, Franklin Electric serves customers around the world in residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and fueling applications. Franklin Electric is proud to be named in Newsweek’s lists of America’s Most Responsible Companies 2024, Most Trustworthy Companies for 2024, Greenest Companies 2025, Best Places to Work in Indiana 2024, and America’s Climate Leaders 2024 by USA Today.

    “Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein, including those relating to market conditions or the Company’s financial results, costs, expenses or expense reductions, profit margins, inventory levels, foreign currency translation rates, liquidity expectations, business goals and sales growth, involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks and uncertainties with respect to general economic and currency conditions, various conditions specific to the Company’s business and industry, weather conditions, new housing starts, market demand, competitive factors, changes in distribution channels, supply constraints, effect of price increases,  raw material costs, technology factors, integration of acquisitions, litigation, government and regulatory actions, the Company’s accounting policies, future trends, epidemics and pandemics, and other risks which are detailed in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, included in Item 1A of Part I of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, Exhibit 99.1 attached thereto and in Item 1A of Part II of the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made herein are based on information currently available, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

    CONTACT:     Jennifer Wolfenbarger
    Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
    260.824.2900
         

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Franklin Electric Schedules Its Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Release and Conference Call

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORT WAYNE, Ind., July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: FELE) will release its second quarter 2025 earnings at 8:00 am ET on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. A conference call to review earnings and other developments in the business will commence at 9:00 am ET. The second quarter 2025 earnings call will be available via a live webcast. The webcast will be available in a listen only mode by going to:

    https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/eo2jvajq

    For those interested in participating in the question-and-answer portion of the call, please register for the call at the link below.

    https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI1fbffb8f4cf04503b3b3612e494f18a2

    All registrants will receive dial-in information and a PIN allowing them to access the live call. It is recommended that you join 10 minutes prior to the event start (although you may register and dial in at any time during the call).

    A replay of the conference call will be available from Tuesday, July 29, 2025, through 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, by visiting the listen-only webcast link above.

    About Franklin Electric
    Franklin Electric is a global leader in the production and marketing of systems and components for the movement of water and energy. Recognized as a technical leader in its products and services, Franklin Electric serves customers around the world in residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and fueling applications. Franklin Electric is proud to be named in Newsweek’s lists of America’s Most Responsible Companies 2024, Most Trustworthy Companies for 2024, Greenest Companies 2025, Best Places to Work in Indiana 2024, and America’s Climate Leaders 2024 by USA Today.

    “Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein, including those relating to market conditions or the Company’s financial results, costs, expenses or expense reductions, profit margins, inventory levels, foreign currency translation rates, liquidity expectations, business goals and sales growth, involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks and uncertainties with respect to general economic and currency conditions, various conditions specific to the Company’s business and industry, weather conditions, new housing starts, market demand, competitive factors, changes in distribution channels, supply constraints, effect of price increases,  raw material costs, technology factors, integration of acquisitions, litigation, government and regulatory actions, the Company’s accounting policies, future trends, epidemics and pandemics, and other risks which are detailed in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, included in Item 1A of Part I of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, Exhibit 99.1 attached thereto and in Item 1A of Part II of the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made herein are based on information currently available, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

    CONTACT:     Jennifer Wolfenbarger
    Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
    260.824.2900
         

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    Source: Apple

    Headline: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    UPDATE July 15, 2025

    In the first-of-its-kind deal, Apple and MP Materials will launch an all-new recycling facility for processing recycled rare earth elements

    Today Apple announced a new commitment of $500 million with MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the United States. With this multiyear deal, Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance. The commitment is part of Apple’s pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, and builds on the company’s long history of investment in American innovation, advanced manufacturing, and next-generation recycling technologies.

    “American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States. We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of the American people.”

    Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production. Once built, the American-made magnets will be shipped across the country and all over the world, helping to meet increasing global demand for the material. The increased production will support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D. The two companies will provide extensive training to develop the workforce, building an entirely new pool of U.S. talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing.

    When complete, the new recycling facility in Mountain Pass, California will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it for use in Apple products. For nearly five years, Apple and MP Materials have been piloting advanced recycling technology that enables recycled rare earth magnets to be processed into material that meets Apple’s exacting standards for performance and design. The companies will continue to innovate together to improve magnet production, as well as end-of-life recovery.

    Apple pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics, first introducing them in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11 in 2019. Today, nearly all magnets across Apple devices are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements. The collaboration with MP Materials will help secure domestic supply of this critical material, strengthen the U.S. rare earth industry’s capabilities to capture more raw material, and advance environmental progress with innovative recycling methods.

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    Source: Apple

    Headline: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    UPDATE July 15, 2025

    In the first-of-its-kind deal, Apple and MP Materials will launch an all-new recycling facility for processing recycled rare earth elements

    Today Apple announced a new commitment of $500 million with MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the United States. With this multiyear deal, Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance. The commitment is part of Apple’s pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, and builds on the company’s long history of investment in American innovation, advanced manufacturing, and next-generation recycling technologies.

    “American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States. We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of the American people.”

    Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production. Once built, the American-made magnets will be shipped across the country and all over the world, helping to meet increasing global demand for the material. The increased production will support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D. The two companies will provide extensive training to develop the workforce, building an entirely new pool of U.S. talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing.

    When complete, the new recycling facility in Mountain Pass, California will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it for use in Apple products. For nearly five years, Apple and MP Materials have been piloting advanced recycling technology that enables recycled rare earth magnets to be processed into material that meets Apple’s exacting standards for performance and design. The companies will continue to innovate together to improve magnet production, as well as end-of-life recovery.

    Apple pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics, first introducing them in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11 in 2019. Today, nearly all magnets across Apple devices are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements. The collaboration with MP Materials will help secure domestic supply of this critical material, strengthen the U.S. rare earth industry’s capabilities to capture more raw material, and advance environmental progress with innovative recycling methods.

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    Source: Apple

    Headline: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    UPDATE July 15, 2025

    In the first-of-its-kind deal, Apple and MP Materials will launch an all-new recycling facility for processing recycled rare earth elements

    Today Apple announced a new commitment of $500 million with MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the United States. With this multiyear deal, Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance. The commitment is part of Apple’s pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, and builds on the company’s long history of investment in American innovation, advanced manufacturing, and next-generation recycling technologies.

    “American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States. We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of the American people.”

    Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production. Once built, the American-made magnets will be shipped across the country and all over the world, helping to meet increasing global demand for the material. The increased production will support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D. The two companies will provide extensive training to develop the workforce, building an entirely new pool of U.S. talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing.

    When complete, the new recycling facility in Mountain Pass, California will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it for use in Apple products. For nearly five years, Apple and MP Materials have been piloting advanced recycling technology that enables recycled rare earth magnets to be processed into material that meets Apple’s exacting standards for performance and design. The companies will continue to innovate together to improve magnet production, as well as end-of-life recovery.

    Apple pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics, first introducing them in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11 in 2019. Today, nearly all magnets across Apple devices are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements. The collaboration with MP Materials will help secure domestic supply of this critical material, strengthen the U.S. rare earth industry’s capabilities to capture more raw material, and advance environmental progress with innovative recycling methods.

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    Source: Apple

    Headline: Apple expands U.S. supply chain with $500 million commitment

    UPDATE July 15, 2025

    In the first-of-its-kind deal, Apple and MP Materials will launch an all-new recycling facility for processing recycled rare earth elements

    Today Apple announced a new commitment of $500 million with MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the United States. With this multiyear deal, Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance. The commitment is part of Apple’s pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, and builds on the company’s long history of investment in American innovation, advanced manufacturing, and next-generation recycling technologies.

    “American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States. We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of the American people.”

    Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production. Once built, the American-made magnets will be shipped across the country and all over the world, helping to meet increasing global demand for the material. The increased production will support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D. The two companies will provide extensive training to develop the workforce, building an entirely new pool of U.S. talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing.

    When complete, the new recycling facility in Mountain Pass, California will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it for use in Apple products. For nearly five years, Apple and MP Materials have been piloting advanced recycling technology that enables recycled rare earth magnets to be processed into material that meets Apple’s exacting standards for performance and design. The companies will continue to innovate together to improve magnet production, as well as end-of-life recovery.

    Apple pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics, first introducing them in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11 in 2019. Today, nearly all magnets across Apple devices are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements. The collaboration with MP Materials will help secure domestic supply of this critical material, strengthen the U.S. rare earth industry’s capabilities to capture more raw material, and advance environmental progress with innovative recycling methods.

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Egypt Values President Trump’s Statement to Resolve Conflicts & End Wars

    Source: APO


    .

    Egypt values the statement by President Donald Trump, which demonstrates the seriousness of the United States—under President Trump’s leadership—in exerting efforts to resolve conflicts and end wars.

    Egypt reaffirms its confidence in President Trump’s ability to address complex challenges and to advance peace, stability, and security across the globe, whether in Ukraine, the Palestinian territory, or Africa.

    Egypt also appreciates President Trump’s keenness on reaching a just agreement that safeguards the interests of all parties regarding the Ethiopian Dam, as well as his recognition of the Nile as a source of life for Egypt. 

    Egypt reaffirms its support for President Trump’s vision of establishing just peace, security, and stability for all countries in the region and around the world.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

    MIL OSI Africa

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How 1860s Mexico offered an alternative vision for a liberal international order

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tom Long, Professor of International Relations, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick

    The Execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, June 19, 1867 Edouard ManetWikimedia Commons

    In 1867, the world’s most powerful statesmen, including Austria’s Emperor Franz Josef, France’s Napoleon III and US secretary of state, William H. Seward, petitioned the Mexican government to spare the life of a condemned man.

    Mexico’s ragtag army and militias had just humbled France, then Europe’s preeminent land power. The costly six-year campaign drained the French treasury and eroded Napoleon III’s domestic support. Napoleon’s ambition to transform Mexico into a client empire under a Vienna-born, Habsburg archduke, crowned Maximilian I, ended in spectacular failure.

    After his defeat, Maximilian was brought before a Mexican military tribunal. European monarchs regarded the prisoner as their peer, but Mexican liberals convicted him as a piratical invader, usurper and traitor. Despite indignant appeals from European courts, President Benito Juárez refused to commute his sentence. The would-be emperor was executed by firing squad.


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


    The controversy went beyond one monarch’s fate. It crystallised a clash between opposed visions of global order — as Peru’s president Ramón Castilla said at the time, it was a “war of the crowns against liberty caps”.

    Today, world politics are in flux. The so-called liberal international order, nominally grounded in multilateralism, open markets, human rights and the rule of law, is facing its gravest crisis since the second world war. Former advocates such as the United States now openly flout international law and undermine the very norms they once championed. China remains ambivalent, while Russia unabashedly hastens the order’s unravelling.

    More broadly, the old post-second world war order appears out of step with the global south and with widespread anger over double standards exposed by the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran.
    Amid today’s crises, a world order arranged for and by the great powers looks both insufficient and doomed to lack legitimacy. Reordering will require support from diverse actors, including states across the global south.

    1860s: a turbulent decade

    The 1860s were a turbulent, although often overlooked, moment of global reordering. Technological shifts – the telegraph, electricity, steamships and railways – appeared as disruptive then as AI does today. Combined with shifting power dynamics, these transformations accelerated imperial expansion. Yet the rules of the emerging order remained uncertain, even among the imperial powers themselves.

    In Europe, networks of dynastic rule still carried weight in international politics. Under growing pressure, the ancien régime sought to reinvent and reassert itself. The old empires often justified their expansion by promising to bring order and progress to supposedly backward peoples. But that “civilising mission” clashed with a worldview emerging from Spanish America – where countries had thrown off colonial rule to establish independent republics.

    As we wrote in a recent article in American Political Science Review, Spanish American diplomats articulated a republican vision of international order centred on the protection of weaker states from domination by great powers.

    Fending off Europe’s empires

    Divided by civil conflict, Mexico became an easy target for European empires. Mexico’s Liberal party had regained power but faced internal dissent and crippling foreign debt. Britain, France and Spain formed a coalition to invade and demand repayment. France, however, had more ambitious designs.

    Exploiting the distraction of the US civil war, Napoleon III dreamed of transforming Mexico into a Latin stronghold against Yankee expansion. Best of all, Napoleon thought the scheme would turn a profit. A stable Mexican empire could repay the costs of the intervention – with interest – by increasing production from the country’s famed silver mines. Meanwhile, France would gain a receptive market for its exports and a grateful geopolitical subordinate.

    Maximilian, a young Austrian prince of the house of Hapsburg, somewhat naively accepted the offer to rule a distant and unfamiliar land. He dreamed of regenerating Mexico through a liberal monarchy while reviving his family’s declining dynasty.

    Led by Juárez, Mexico’s liberals fiercely resisted Maximilian’s rule. While militarily Juárez was consistently on the defensive, he remained diplomatically proactive. The Juaristas encouraged US sympathies that proved decisive after the end of the civil war. They also enjoyed solidarity – though limited material support – from other Spanish American republics. Although the monarchies of Europe all recognised Maximilian as Mexican emperor, Juárez’s defiance became a rallying point for liberals and republicans in Europe.

    Hero to the liberals: a monument to Juárez in central Mexico City.
    Hajor~commonswiki, CC BY-ND

    Vision of a new order

    Beyond stoking sympathies, Juárez and his followers offered trenchant critiques of unequal international rules and practices cloaked in liberal guise.

    First, the “republican internationalism” of Mexico’s Juaristas stood in direct opposition to European liberals’ “civilising mission”. Latin American republicans rejected the notion that progress could be imposed on their countries from abroad – though some echoed civilising rhetoric toward their own non-white populations, who like in the US were subject to campaigns of violence and dispossession that stretched from northern Mexico to the Patagonia. Many Latin American liberals likewise remained silent about empire elsewhere.

    Second, the Juarista vision placed popular sovereignty, not dynastic ties, at the heart of legitimate statehood. These ideas drew on Mexico’s independence tradition and the principles enshrined in the 1857 constitution. European intervention, in this view, aimed to suppress popular rule in the Americas and extend the reaction against the failed revolutions of 1848, which had seriously threatened the old order when they raged across Europe.

    Third, popular sovereign states were equal under international law, regardless of power, wealth, or internal disorder. Sovereign equality also underpinned Latin America’s strong commitment to non-intervention. Liberal writer and diplomat Francisco Zarco, a close confidante of Juárez, condemned frequent European economic justifications for intervention as the work of “smugglers and profiteers who wrap themselves in the flags of powerful nations”.

    Finally, Mexican liberals called for an international system premised on republican fraternity, drawing on aspirations for cooperation that went back to liberator Simón Bolívar. The independence leader and committed republican convened a conference in 1826, hoping that a confederation of the newly independent Spanish American states would “be the shield of our new destiny”.

    Similar arguments for an international order that advances non-domination still resonate in the global south today. The Mexican experience also underscores that the architects of international order have never come exclusively from the global north – and those who shape its future will not either.

    Tom Long receives support from UK Arts and Humanities Research Council grant AH/V006622/1, Latin America and the peripheral origins of the 19th-century international order.

    Carsten-Andreas Schulz receives support from UK Arts and Humanities Research Council grant AH/V006622/1, Latin America and the peripheral origins of the 19th-century international order.

    ref. How 1860s Mexico offered an alternative vision for a liberal international order – https://theconversation.com/how-1860s-mexico-offered-an-alternative-vision-for-a-liberal-international-order-260228

    MIL OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Newsom signs tribal-state gaming compact 7.14.25

    Source: US State of California 2

    Jul 14, 2025

    SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has signed a tribal-state gaming compact with the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria.

    A copy of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria compact can be found here

    Press releases, Recent news

    Recent news

    News SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has signed the following bills:AB 78 by Assemblymember Phillip Chen (R-Yorba Linda) – Attorney’s fees: book accounts.AB 223 by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco (D-Downey) – Jury selection: acknowledgment and…

    News What you need to know: Clean energy reliably powered California to levels never seen before – 67% in 2023 – as renewable energy and clean resources continue to advance the state’s world-leading energy transition while fueling the nation’s largest clean energy…

    News Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today on the court’s decision in Vasquez Perdomo, et al. v. Noem to temporarily stop federal immigration agents from unlawful suspicionless stops in California:  Justice prevailed today…

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Newsom signs tribal-state gaming compact 7.14.25

    Source: US State of California 2

    Jul 14, 2025

    SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has signed a tribal-state gaming compact with the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria.

    A copy of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria compact can be found here

    Press releases, Recent news

    Recent news

    News SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has signed the following bills:AB 78 by Assemblymember Phillip Chen (R-Yorba Linda) – Attorney’s fees: book accounts.AB 223 by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco (D-Downey) – Jury selection: acknowledgment and…

    News What you need to know: Clean energy reliably powered California to levels never seen before – 67% in 2023 – as renewable energy and clean resources continue to advance the state’s world-leading energy transition while fueling the nation’s largest clean energy…

    News Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today on the court’s decision in Vasquez Perdomo, et al. v. Noem to temporarily stop federal immigration agents from unlawful suspicionless stops in California:  Justice prevailed today…

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS RELEASE: STATE RELEASES FORECAST FOR JOBS AND INDUSTRIES THROUGH 2032

    Source: US State of Hawaii

    NEWS RELEASE: STATE RELEASES FORECAST FOR JOBS AND INDUSTRIES THROUGH 2032

    Posted on Jul 14, 2025 in Latest Department News, Newsroom

     

    STATE OF HAWAIʻI

    KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

     

    JOSH GREEN, M.D.

    GOVERNOR

    KE KIAʻĀINA

     

    DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

    KA ʻOIHANA PONO LIMAHANA

    JADE T. BUTAY

    DIRECTOR

    KA LUNA HOʻOKELE

    STATE RELEASES FORECAST FOR JOBS AND INDUSTRIES THROUGH 2032

    Hawai‘i Projects 41,000 New Jobs by 2032, Led by Health Care and Food Services

     

    News Release 2025-07

     

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    July 14, 2025

     

    HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Research and Statistics Office has released its latest statewide employment projections for industries and occupations. The projections are based on 2022 employment data and forecast trends through 2032. Statewide projections are published in even-numbered years, while county-specific projections are issued in odd-numbered years.

    Key Highlights:

    Hawai‘i’s total employment is projected to grow by 6.1% over the next decade, increasing from 671,010 jobs in 2022 to 712,200 by 2032 — an addition of 41,190 jobs. Each year, the state is expected to see approximately 83,050 job openings. These openings will primarily result from workers changing jobs (55%) and exiting the labor force (40%), while just 5% will stem from actual job growth. This breakdown highlights the importance of workforce replacement and job mobility in the state’s labor market.

    Top Growing Industries:

    • Health care and social assistance is forecast to be the fastest-growing and largest contributor to job creation, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all new positions.
    • The sector is projected to grow by 12.7%, with particularly strong demand in social assistance services.
    • The food services and drinking places industry will follow closely, with an 11.9% growth rate, driven by Hawai‘i’s strong hospitality sector.
    • The accommodation industry is also forecast to increase by 10.2%, while creating 3,750 positions.
    • The self-employed sector, bolstered by the post-pandemic gig economy, is expected to reach 58,150 workers by 2032.

     

    In contrast, government and retail trade employment are projected to decline, influenced by federal policies and continuing shift toward e-commerce.

    The projections are a valuable tool for:

    • Students and jobseekers exploring career options
    • Education and training providers developing programs
    • Job placement specialists and career counselors guiding individuals toward employment
    • Program managers and policymakers shaping workforce strategies
    • Employers planning for growth or relocation

    Key highlights, comprehensive data tables and other Labor Market Information (LMI) tools — such as Best Job Opportunities to 2032 — can be accessed on the Employment Projections page of the Hawai‘i Workforce Infonet (HIWI): www.hiwi.org.

    Detailed narrative reports will be available by the end of July.

    This effort is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, through the Workforce and Labor Market Information Grants to States (WIGS) program, with a total award of $321,585 for Program Year 2024.

    # # #

    Equal Opportunity Employer/Program
    Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.
    TDD/TTY Dial 711 then ask for 808-586-8842

    View DLIR news releases:

    http://labor.hawaii.gov/blog/category/news/

    Media Contact:

    Chavonnie Ramos

    Public Information Officer, State of Hawai‘i

    Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

    Phone: 808-586-9720

    Email: [email protected]

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Tech4DRR: democratizing innovation to reduce disaster risk

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    At a time when the discourse on technology and disaster risk reduction seems dominated by costly and sophisticated solutions, the new Special Report on the Use of Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction (Tech4DRR), published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), brings “low-tech” solutions to the forefront—highlighting them as effective, accessible, and, above all, life-saving tools.

    The report, developed in collaboration with the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE USA), and the Regional Scientific and Technical Advisory Group for the Americas and the Caribbean (RSTAG), also draws attention to a critical gap: developing countries are rarely involved in the design of the technologies they later end up purchasing and using.

    Rather than promoting an exclusively high-tech vision of innovation, the report advocates for useful, context-specific technologies co-developed with the people living in hazard-prone areas. From early warning systems rooted in Indigenous knowledge to community-based data collection tools, the experiences documented in this report demonstrate that simple solutions can saves lives too.

    Tech4DRR emphasizes that technology is not neutral. Tools developed using data, assumptions, and models from industrialized countries are not always applicable in Global South contexts. Constraints related to connectivity, budgets, and basic infrastructure demand customized approaches—not one-size-fits-all adaptations.

    The analysis also notes that countries in the Americas and the Caribbean face significant challenges in accessing robust technologies, many of which were designed in contexts that do not reflect their realities. Instead of shaping the development of technological tools, countries in the Global South often end up purchasing off-the-shelf solutions that fail to reflect their local needs or structural constraints.

    “Technology alone cannot solve the complex challenges of disaster risk reduction. We need inclusive approaches that combine innovation with capacity-building, community engagement, and demand-driven development,” the report states. This call includes the urgent need to democratize access to risk information and promote co-creation models that integrate diverse knowledge systems and respond to specific contexts.

    Nahuel Arenas, Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean, explains that the report is a call to rethink innovation through the lens of local relevance, equity, and purpose. “Technology has the potential to transform how countries address disaster risk—but that potential is only realized when it is accessible, context-specific, and useful to those who need it most. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we must close not only the technology gap but also the breach in participation in its development,” he said.

    “This report demonstrates how global collaboration and strong local partnerships are key to understanding and addressing the challenges faced by vulnerable communities around the world,” says Shanna McClain, NASA Disasters Program Manager. “When we align Earth science and technology with real-world needs, we can better reduce disaster risk and ensure our tools truly serve those most affected.”

    Key topics covered in the report include:

    • Use cases of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the Americas and the Caribbean, with a critical analysis of their limitations.
    • The importance of designing technologies that account for local capacities, languages, and cultural diversity.
    • The growing role of social media and digital communication in disaster risk reduction and emergency response.
    • Successful examples of simple technologies used in community-based early warning systems.

    Tech4DRR will be launched on July 23 during a public virtual event, with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. The program includes the presentation of all five chapters of the report and a high-level panel featuring representatives from international agencies, the private sector, and development partners. The event aims to spark an urgent conversation about how to democratize technology for disaster risk reduction, empowering communities and ensuring that no voice is left out of the innovation process.

    This report comes during the final five years of implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, in a context where hazards are intensifying and impacts are becoming increasingly costly. As the report underscores, technology can and must be a tool to transform how we prevent and confront disaster risk—but only when it serves people and their realities. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News

  • MIL-OSI: Hut 8 Rebrands to Align External Positioning with Power-First, Platform-Driven Business Model

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIAMI, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hut 8 Corp. (Nasdaq | TSX: HUT) (“Hut 8” or the “Company”), an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing, today announced a corporate rebrand that aligns the Company’s external positioning with its strategic focus on energy and digital infrastructure through an integrated platform model focused on disciplined capital allocation, operational rigor, and relentless performance optimization.

    “Our new brand enables us to more clearly express what has always set Hut 8 apart: a power-first, innovation-driven approach to developing, commercializing, and operating next-generation digital infrastructure,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “Since our merger of equals, we have scaled with discipline across each layer of our platform, institutionalized the broader business, and executed with the rigor we believe is required to deliver outsized long-term value for our investors. Our new brand embeds our platform-driven strategy into our external positioning and sharpens how we articulate our business model, structural advantages, and approach to long-term value creation to the market.”

    The Company’s rebrand follows over a year of disciplined strategic, operational, and capital markets execution under new leadership, which has solidified Hut 8’s position as a power-first, innovation-driven developer of energy and digital infrastructure. Since the merger of Hut 8 Mining Corp. with U.S. Data Mining Group, Inc. (“US Bitcoin Corp”) in November 2023, the Company has:

    • Expanded its energy infrastructure platform to 1,020 megawatts (“MW”) under management across 15 sites as of March 31, 2025, which includes scaled behind-the-meter operations at King Mountain (280 MW) and Vega (205 MW)
    • Built a high-velocity, utility-scale power origination pipeline spanning ~10,800 MW of capacity as of March 31, 2025, a more than threefold increase from 3,000+ MW as of the end of Q2 2024, including ~2,600 MW under exclusivity, anchored by a power-native team led by former executives and team members from some of North America’s largest generation owners, utilities, energy investment firms, infrastructure developers, and trading desks
    • Advanced AI data center development opportunities comprising 430 MW of total capacity, including River Bend, a 592-acre campus in Louisiana where sitework is underway
    • Designed and commercialized a next-generation Tier I data center form factor for ASIC compute at Vega, which features a proprietary, rack-based, direct-to-chip liquid cooling system designed by Hut 8 to support ASIC deployments at densities of up to 180 kilowatts (“kW”) per rack, with initial customer discussions supporting the viability of this architecture for future iterations of liquid-cooled infrastructure to meet emerging HPC workloads and next-generation AI data center design
    • Restructured its Bitcoin mining business into a standalone entity through the launch of American Bitcoin Corp. (“American Bitcoin”), creating a dedicated Bitcoin accumulation vehicle that can scale independently without diverting capital from the Company’s core Power and Digital Infrastructure businesses
    • Scaled lower volatility, contracted businesses, executing an ASIC Colocation agreement with BITMAIN at Vega, ASIC Colocation and Managed Services agreements with American Bitcoin, and five-year capacity contracts with the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (“IESO”) for 310 MW of Power Generation assets
    • Executed innovative, dilution-sensitive financings, including: (i) an upsized Coinbase credit facility, increased from $65 million to $130 million, with a fixed interest rate of 9.0%, compared to a stated interest rate ranging from 10.5% to 11.5% between the quarter ended December 31, 2023 and the quarter ended March 31, 2025; (ii) a Bitcoin-backed call option structure used to fund the Company’s purchase of machines from BITMAIN; (iii) a covered call program that generated more than $20 million in net proceeds from premiums on Bitcoin held in reserve in fiscal year 2024; and (iv) an at-the-market (“ATM”) equity offering program through which $275.5 million in net proceeds has been raised at a weighted average price of $28.23 per share as of March 31, 2025
    • Deepened institutional alignment, supporting growth in institutional ownership from approximately 12% at the end of Q1 2024 to approximately 55% at year-end 2024, marked by milestones like a strategic investment from Coatue, the conversion of the Company’s Anchorage loan to equity, the onboarding of a Big 4 audit firm, and the hiring of seasoned veterans from the power and digital infrastructure sectors
    • Realigned its reporting structure to provide a clearer, more comprehensive view of how each layer of the Company’s platform—Power, Digital Infrastructure, and Compute—contributes to growth, profitability, and value creation in the context of the overall business

    The Hut 8 name remains unchanged, reflecting the Company’s continued alignment with the legacy of technical innovation that defines its namesake. Named for the building at Bletchley Park where Alan Turing led foundational work in computer science and artificial intelligence during World War II, the Company carries forward that legacy today at the intersection of energy and technology.

    The rebrand does not impact Hut 8’s existing relationships, agreements, and operations. The Company’s updated website is now live at hut8.com.

    About Hut 8 

    Hut 8 Corp. is an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing. We take a power-first, innovation-driven approach to developing, commercializing, and operating the critical infrastructure that underpins the breakthrough technologies of today and tomorrow. Our platform spans 1,020 megawatts of energy capacity under management across 15 sites in the United States and Canada: five Bitcoin mining, hosting, and Managed Services sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas, five high performance computing data centers in British Columbia and Ontario, four power generation assets in Ontario, and one non-operational site in Alberta. For more information, visit www.hut8.com and follow us on X at @Hut8Corp.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward–Looking Information

    This press release includes “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and United States securities laws, respectively (collectively, “forward-looking information”). All information, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events, or developments that Hut 8 expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including statements relating to the Company’s strategic focus on energy and digital infrastructure through an integrated platform model focused on disciplined capital allocation, operational rigor, and relentless performance optimization, the viability of the Company’s proprietary system to support future iterations of liquid-cooled infrastructure to meet emerging HPC workloads and next-generation AI data center design, the ability of American Bitcoin to scale without diverting capital from the Company’s core Power and Digital Infrastructure businesses, and other such matters is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words “may”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “allow”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “predict”, “can”, “might”, “potential”, “predict”, “is designed to”, “likely,” or similar expressions.

    Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts, but instead represent management’s expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events based on certain material factors and assumptions at the time the statement was made. While considered reasonable by Hut 8 as of the date of this press release, such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, failure of critical systems; geopolitical, social, economic, and other events and circumstances; competition from current and future competitors; risks related to power requirements; cybersecurity threats and breaches; hazards and operational risks; changes in leasing arrangements; Internet-related disruptions; dependence on key personnel; having a limited operating history; attracting and retaining customers; entering into new offerings or lines of business; price fluctuations and rapidly changing technologies; construction of new data centers, data center expansions, or data center redevelopment; predicting facility requirements; strategic alliances or joint ventures; operating and expanding internationally; failing to grow hashrate; purchasing miners; relying on third-party mining pool service providers; uncertainty in the development and acceptance of the Bitcoin network; Bitcoin halving events; competition from other methods of investing in Bitcoin; concentration of Bitcoin holdings; hedging transactions; potential liquidity constraints; legal, regulatory, governmental, and technological uncertainties; physical risks related to climate change; involvement in legal proceedings; trading volatility; and other risks described from time to time in Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see the Company’s recent and upcoming annual and quarterly reports and other continuous disclosure documents, which are available under the Company’s EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov and SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

    Hut 8 Corp. Investor Relations
    Sue Ennis
    ir@hut8.com

    Hut 8 Corp. Public Relations
    Gautier Lemyze-Young
    media@hut8.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Hut 8 Rebrands to Align External Positioning with Power-First, Platform-Driven Business Model

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIAMI, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hut 8 Corp. (Nasdaq | TSX: HUT) (“Hut 8” or the “Company”), an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing, today announced a corporate rebrand that aligns the Company’s external positioning with its strategic focus on energy and digital infrastructure through an integrated platform model focused on disciplined capital allocation, operational rigor, and relentless performance optimization.

    “Our new brand enables us to more clearly express what has always set Hut 8 apart: a power-first, innovation-driven approach to developing, commercializing, and operating next-generation digital infrastructure,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “Since our merger of equals, we have scaled with discipline across each layer of our platform, institutionalized the broader business, and executed with the rigor we believe is required to deliver outsized long-term value for our investors. Our new brand embeds our platform-driven strategy into our external positioning and sharpens how we articulate our business model, structural advantages, and approach to long-term value creation to the market.”

    The Company’s rebrand follows over a year of disciplined strategic, operational, and capital markets execution under new leadership, which has solidified Hut 8’s position as a power-first, innovation-driven developer of energy and digital infrastructure. Since the merger of Hut 8 Mining Corp. with U.S. Data Mining Group, Inc. (“US Bitcoin Corp”) in November 2023, the Company has:

    • Expanded its energy infrastructure platform to 1,020 megawatts (“MW”) under management across 15 sites as of March 31, 2025, which includes scaled behind-the-meter operations at King Mountain (280 MW) and Vega (205 MW)
    • Built a high-velocity, utility-scale power origination pipeline spanning ~10,800 MW of capacity as of March 31, 2025, a more than threefold increase from 3,000+ MW as of the end of Q2 2024, including ~2,600 MW under exclusivity, anchored by a power-native team led by former executives and team members from some of North America’s largest generation owners, utilities, energy investment firms, infrastructure developers, and trading desks
    • Advanced AI data center development opportunities comprising 430 MW of total capacity, including River Bend, a 592-acre campus in Louisiana where sitework is underway
    • Designed and commercialized a next-generation Tier I data center form factor for ASIC compute at Vega, which features a proprietary, rack-based, direct-to-chip liquid cooling system designed by Hut 8 to support ASIC deployments at densities of up to 180 kilowatts (“kW”) per rack, with initial customer discussions supporting the viability of this architecture for future iterations of liquid-cooled infrastructure to meet emerging HPC workloads and next-generation AI data center design
    • Restructured its Bitcoin mining business into a standalone entity through the launch of American Bitcoin Corp. (“American Bitcoin”), creating a dedicated Bitcoin accumulation vehicle that can scale independently without diverting capital from the Company’s core Power and Digital Infrastructure businesses
    • Scaled lower volatility, contracted businesses, executing an ASIC Colocation agreement with BITMAIN at Vega, ASIC Colocation and Managed Services agreements with American Bitcoin, and five-year capacity contracts with the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (“IESO”) for 310 MW of Power Generation assets
    • Executed innovative, dilution-sensitive financings, including: (i) an upsized Coinbase credit facility, increased from $65 million to $130 million, with a fixed interest rate of 9.0%, compared to a stated interest rate ranging from 10.5% to 11.5% between the quarter ended December 31, 2023 and the quarter ended March 31, 2025; (ii) a Bitcoin-backed call option structure used to fund the Company’s purchase of machines from BITMAIN; (iii) a covered call program that generated more than $20 million in net proceeds from premiums on Bitcoin held in reserve in fiscal year 2024; and (iv) an at-the-market (“ATM”) equity offering program through which $275.5 million in net proceeds has been raised at a weighted average price of $28.23 per share as of March 31, 2025
    • Deepened institutional alignment, supporting growth in institutional ownership from approximately 12% at the end of Q1 2024 to approximately 55% at year-end 2024, marked by milestones like a strategic investment from Coatue, the conversion of the Company’s Anchorage loan to equity, the onboarding of a Big 4 audit firm, and the hiring of seasoned veterans from the power and digital infrastructure sectors
    • Realigned its reporting structure to provide a clearer, more comprehensive view of how each layer of the Company’s platform—Power, Digital Infrastructure, and Compute—contributes to growth, profitability, and value creation in the context of the overall business

    The Hut 8 name remains unchanged, reflecting the Company’s continued alignment with the legacy of technical innovation that defines its namesake. Named for the building at Bletchley Park where Alan Turing led foundational work in computer science and artificial intelligence during World War II, the Company carries forward that legacy today at the intersection of energy and technology.

    The rebrand does not impact Hut 8’s existing relationships, agreements, and operations. The Company’s updated website is now live at hut8.com.

    About Hut 8 

    Hut 8 Corp. is an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing. We take a power-first, innovation-driven approach to developing, commercializing, and operating the critical infrastructure that underpins the breakthrough technologies of today and tomorrow. Our platform spans 1,020 megawatts of energy capacity under management across 15 sites in the United States and Canada: five Bitcoin mining, hosting, and Managed Services sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas, five high performance computing data centers in British Columbia and Ontario, four power generation assets in Ontario, and one non-operational site in Alberta. For more information, visit www.hut8.com and follow us on X at @Hut8Corp.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward–Looking Information

    This press release includes “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and United States securities laws, respectively (collectively, “forward-looking information”). All information, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events, or developments that Hut 8 expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including statements relating to the Company’s strategic focus on energy and digital infrastructure through an integrated platform model focused on disciplined capital allocation, operational rigor, and relentless performance optimization, the viability of the Company’s proprietary system to support future iterations of liquid-cooled infrastructure to meet emerging HPC workloads and next-generation AI data center design, the ability of American Bitcoin to scale without diverting capital from the Company’s core Power and Digital Infrastructure businesses, and other such matters is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words “may”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “allow”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “predict”, “can”, “might”, “potential”, “predict”, “is designed to”, “likely,” or similar expressions.

    Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts, but instead represent management’s expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events based on certain material factors and assumptions at the time the statement was made. While considered reasonable by Hut 8 as of the date of this press release, such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, failure of critical systems; geopolitical, social, economic, and other events and circumstances; competition from current and future competitors; risks related to power requirements; cybersecurity threats and breaches; hazards and operational risks; changes in leasing arrangements; Internet-related disruptions; dependence on key personnel; having a limited operating history; attracting and retaining customers; entering into new offerings or lines of business; price fluctuations and rapidly changing technologies; construction of new data centers, data center expansions, or data center redevelopment; predicting facility requirements; strategic alliances or joint ventures; operating and expanding internationally; failing to grow hashrate; purchasing miners; relying on third-party mining pool service providers; uncertainty in the development and acceptance of the Bitcoin network; Bitcoin halving events; competition from other methods of investing in Bitcoin; concentration of Bitcoin holdings; hedging transactions; potential liquidity constraints; legal, regulatory, governmental, and technological uncertainties; physical risks related to climate change; involvement in legal proceedings; trading volatility; and other risks described from time to time in Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see the Company’s recent and upcoming annual and quarterly reports and other continuous disclosure documents, which are available under the Company’s EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov and SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

    Hut 8 Corp. Investor Relations
    Sue Ennis
    ir@hut8.com

    Hut 8 Corp. Public Relations
    Gautier Lemyze-Young
    media@hut8.com

    The MIL Network