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Category: Report

  • MIL-OSI Global: Growing ‘anti-gender’ movements are trying to restrict equality and sex education in schools around the world

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rachel Marcus, Senior Research Fellow, Gender Equality & Social Inclusion, ODI Global

    hxdbzxy/Shutterstock

    The start of a new Trump presidency in the US may well signal the introduction of policies that limit the knowledge children can access in schools.

    Already, districts in states across the US are able to ban books from schools and libraries, often on topics such as race and LGBTQ+ identities. And during the presidential campaign, Trump said that he would withhold federal funding from schools that “recognise transgender identities”.

    But these kinds of limits on education are not only present in the US. Across the world, there are concerted efforts to control who can access education and what children can learn in schools.

    “Anti-gender” movements reject the social changes that come from an increase in rights for women and LGBTQI+ people. They promote a social order based on patriarchal gender norms, heterosexual marriage and a binary understanding of gender. They target schools because education has unique potential to influence social norms and attitudes for the long term.

    These movements are funded largely by conservative foundations and individuals, largely in the US and Europe. They work together to disrupt children’s educational opportunities and undermine gender equality in the global south, particularly Africa and Latin America.

    My report, co-written with colleagues from the thinktank ODI Global, has found that this is an accelerating and well-funded trend. But it can be countered, including through the use of legislation that upholds human rights. Understanding the nature of these movements and how to counter them is vital to protect all children’s rights to a quality education.

    Global reach

    In the last decade, these movements have become greatly influential. They are global in reach and include politicians, foundations, think-tanks, media ecosystems, religious institutions and grassroots civil society.

    One such group, for instance, is the multi-lingual online platform CitizenGO. It mobilises people to sign petitions and engage in letter-writing campaigns to influence policy both at national and global levels.

    In 2017 CitizenGo sponsored an orange “anti-trans” bus that travelled through Europe and the Americas. Though the organisation boasts that it is funded by small donations, investigative research indicates it likely received seed funding from religious and far-right sources in Russia and western Europe.

    Between 2008 to 2017, the aggregate revenue of US-based organisations linked to the anti-gender movement amounted to US$6.2 billion (£5 billion) according to research from the Global Philanthropy Project, a group of funders aiming to advance LGBTI+ rights. Over this same period, 11 US-based organisations funnelled at least US$1 billion to like-minded organisations abroad.

    In schools, these movements focus on amplifying and manufacturing outrage around comprehensive sexuality education.

    Stifling sex education

    Comprehensive sex education has been developed to provide young people with age-appropriate and accurate information about sex, relationships, and bodily changes. It has been proven to help reduce teenage pregnancy and encourage safer, more equal sexual relationships. But it has become a lightning rod for the movement to generate fear, backlash and ignite parental protests in places as diverse as South Africa, Peru and Ghana.

    Anti-comprehensive sexuality education campaigns frame this educational content as inappropriate. They advocate for sex education based solely on “biological facts” or the promotion of abstinence.

    They present the discussion of topics such as consent and bodily autonomy, or information on contraception and safe sex practices, as likely to encourage sexual experimentation and teenage pregnancy. This is despite as decades of evidence showing that the opposite is true.

    In Peru, for example, the Con Mis Hijos No Te Metas (Don’t Mess with My Kids) movement started as a parental movement protesting against inclusion of gender equality material in the basic education curriculum. The movement’s campaigns have spread to oppose comprehensive sexuality education in countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

    Students head to school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    A. M. Teixeira/Shutterstock

    With long-term flexible funding, the anti-gender movement can respond to emerging policies and situations. It can wage long-term campaigns to shift norms and policies.

    In regions such as Africa and Latin America, one of the most successful tactics has been to deploy anti-colonial language. This includes painting comprehensive sexuality education or acceptance of homosexuality as being imposed by “the west”.

    However, funding from conservative US and European foundations designed to entrench certain gender norms and forms of sexual morality in Latin America and Africa can equally be considered as a form of neo-colonialism. Between 2007 and 2020, over US$54 million was spent on the African continent by US-based Christian groups, supporting campaigns against LGBTQ+ rights and comprehensive sexuality education.

    Another key tactic is the dissemination of misinformation, exploiting parental anxieties and fears. These include exaggerated claims that often bear little relation to the actual content of curricula and learning materials.

    However, our research has found that in countries where legal frameworks and systems uphold human rights, legal action can protect access to a full and effective education.

    For example, strategic litigation has overturned state laws in Mexico and Brazil that restricted sexuality education. Legal approaches have also ended policies that banned adolescent mothers from returning to school in Sierra Leone.

    Countering misinformation about what is taught in schools is vital. This can involve sharing accurate information about topics such as sexuality education with parents, and usually works best as part of a face-to-face dialogue.

    CitizenGO have not responded to a request for comment.

    This research was funded by a grant to ODI Global from Global Affairs Canada.

    – ref. Growing ‘anti-gender’ movements are trying to restrict equality and sex education in schools around the world – https://theconversation.com/growing-anti-gender-movements-are-trying-to-restrict-equality-and-sex-education-in-schools-around-the-world-248071

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How nonprofits abroad can fill gaps when the US government cuts off foreign aid

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Susan Appe, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York

    The U.S. Agency for International Development distributes a lot of foreign aid through local partners in other countries. J. David Ake/Getty Images

    The U.S. government gives other nations US$68 billion of foreign assistance annually – more than any other country. Over half of this sum is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, including funds for programs aimed at fighting hunger and disease outbreaks, providing humanitarian relief in war zones, and supporting other lifesaving programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

    President Donald Trump suspended most U.S. foreign aid on Jan. 20, 2025, the day he took office for the second time. The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order that for 90 days halted foreign aid funding disbursements by agencies like USAID.

    A week later, dozens of senior USAID officials were put on leave after the Trump administration reportedly accused them of trying to “circumvent” the aid freeze. The Office of Management and Budget is now pausing and evaluating all foreign aid to see whether it adheres to the Trump administration’s policies and priorities.

    I’m a scholar of foreign aid who researches what happens to the U.S. government’s local partners in the countries receiving this assistance when funding flows are interrupted. Most of these partners are local nonprofits that build schools, vaccinate children, respond to emergencies and provide other key goods and services. These organizations often rely on foreign funding.

    A ‘reckless’ move

    Aid to Egypt and Israel was spared, along with some emergency food aid. The U.S. later waived the stop-work order for the distribution of lifesaving medicines.

    Nearly all of the other aid programs remained on hold as of Jan. 29, 2025.

    Many development professionals criticized the freeze, highlighting the disruption it will cause in many countries. A senior USAID official issued an anonymous statement calling it “reckless.”

    InterAction, the largest coalition of international nongovernmental organizations in the U.S., called the halt contrary to U.S. global leadership and values.

    Of the $35 billion to $40 billion in aid that USAID distributes annually, $22 billion is delivered through grants and contracts with international organizations to implement programs. These can be further subcontracted to local partners in recipient countries.

    When this aid is frozen, scaled back or cut off altogether, these local partners scramble to fill in the gaps.

    The State Department manages the rest of the $68 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid, along with other agencies, such as the Peace Corps.

    The start of Marco Rubio’s tenure as U.S. secretary of state was marked by chaos and confusion regarding foreign aid flows.
    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    How local nonprofits respond and adapt

    While sudden disruptions to foreign aid are always destabilizing, research shows that aid flows have fluctuated since 1960, growing more volatile over the years. My research partners and I have found that these disruptions harm local service providers, although many of them manage to carry on their work.

    Over the years, I have conducted hundreds of interviews with international nongovernmental organizations and these nonprofits’ local partners across Latin America, Africa and Asia about their services and funding sources. I study the strategies those development and humanitarian assistance groups follow when aid gets halted. These four are the most common.

    1. Shift to national or local government funding

    In many cases, national and local governments end up supporting groups that previously relied on foreign aid, filling the void.

    An educational program spearheaded by a local Ecuadorian nonprofit, Desarrollo y Autogestión, called Accelerated Basic Cycle is one example. This program targets young people who have been out of school for more than three years. It allows them to finish elementary school – known as the “basic cycle” in Ecuador – in one year to then enter high school. First supported in part by funding from foreign governments, it transitioned to being fully funded by Ecuador’s government and then became an official government program run by the country’s ministry of education.

    2. Earn income

    Local nonprofits can also earn income by charging fees for their services or selling goods, which allows them to fulfill their missions while generating some much-needed cash.

    For example, SEND Ghana is a development organization that has promoted good governance and equality in Ghana since its founding in 1998. In 2009, SEND Ghana created a for-profit subsidiary called SENDFiNGO that administers microfinance programs and credit unions. That subsidiary now helps fund SEND Ghana’s work.

    Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and the Grameen Bank, which is also in Bangladesh, use this approach too.

    3. Tap local philanthropy

    Networks such as Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support and Global Fund for Community Foundations have emerged to promote local philanthropy around the world. They press governments to adopt policies that encourage local philanthropy. This kind of giving has become easier to do thanks to the emergence of crowdfunding platforms.

    Still, complex tax systems and the lack of incentives for giving in many countries that receive foreign aid are persistent challenges. Some governments have stepped in. India’s corporate social responsibility law, enacted in 2014, boosted charitable incentives. For example, it requires 2% of corporate profits to go to social initiatives in India.

    4. Obtain support from diaspora communities

    Diasporas are people who live outside of their countries of origin, or where their families came from, but maintain strong ties to places they consider to be their homeland.

    Local nonprofits around the globe are leveraging diaspora communities’ desire to contribute to economic development in their countries of origin. In Colombia, for example, Fundación Carla Cristina, a nongovernmental organization, runs nursery schools and provides meals to low-income children.

    It gets some of its funding from diaspora-led nonprofits in the U.S., such as the New England Association for Colombian Children, which is based outside of Boston, and Give To Colombia in Miami.

    A push for the locals to do more

    Trump’s stop-work order coincided with a resurgence of a localization push that’s currently influencing foreign aid from many countries.

    With localization, nations providing foreign aid seek to increase the role of local authorities and organizations in development and humanitarian assistance. USAID has been a leading proponent of localization.

    I believe that the abruptness of the stop-work order is likely to disrupt many development projects. These projects include support to Ukrainian aid groups that provide emergency humanitarian assistance and projects serving meals to children who don’t get enough to eat.

    To be sure, sometimes there are good reasons for aid to be halted. But when that happens, sound and responsible donor exit strategies are essential to avoid the loss of important local services.

    Susan Appe 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 nonprofits abroad can fill gaps when the US government cuts off foreign aid – https://theconversation.com/how-nonprofits-abroad-can-fill-gaps-when-the-us-government-cuts-off-foreign-aid-248378

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Trump’s meme coin is a cash grab

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Maximilian Brichta, Doctoral Student of Communication, University of Southern California

    The Trump meme coin has already attracted over a half-million buyers. Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    Three days before his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump launched a meme coin, a type of cryptocurrency whose value is buoyed by social media and internet culture, rather than any sort of functionality or intrinsic value.

    The coin – officially called $Trump – briefly ascended into the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and attracted over a half-million buyers.

    Referencing the coin in a news conference on Jan. 21, 2025, a reporter asked Trump if he intended to continue selling products that benefited him personally while being president.

    “You made a lot of money [on $Trump], sir,” he told Trump, who seemed oblivious to its meteoric rise in value.

    “How much?” Trump asked.

    “Several billion dollars, it seems like, in the last couple days.”

    Donald Trump is asked about the successful launch of his new meme coin.

    Over the following week, various publications claimed the meme coin had “ballooned [Trump’s] net worth” making him a “crypto billionaire.”

    While it’s true that Trump stands to benefit handsomely from the meme coin and his other crypto ventures, the claims of Trump himself earning billions off it are overblown.

    Funny money or filch?

    Meme coins became popular in 2013 with the launch of Dogecoin, which its creators intended as a joke, spoofing the many other seemingly useless cryptocurrencies that were popping up at the time. It was never supposed to be a popular investment. The creators even attempted to make it as undesirable as possible to ensure it wouldn’t.

    Twelve years later, it remains in the top 10 cryptocurrencies and has inspired thousands of other meme coins to launch.

    In 2025, it’s cheaper and easier than ever to launch and trade these tokens.

    For example, all it takes to create a new coin on the website Pump.fun is a name, ticker symbol, description, image and the equivalent of roughly US$5 worth of cryptocurrency.

    Moonshot, the crypto exchange that Trump’s meme coin website routes interested buyers to, allows users to sign up in as little as 10 minutes. They’re then able to purchase the Trump coin and a slew of other meme coins.

    The vast majority of meme coins launched are dubious. Many are outright scams. For instance, in August 2024 the Instagram account of McDonald’s was hacked to advertise a meme coin named $Grimace in a nod to the fast-food chain’s purple mascot. After artificially inflating the price of the coin, the creators cashed out close to $700,000.

    There are countless other scam coins that fly under the radar using the same dynamic: generate hype, pump the price and dump on investors.

    Looking under the hood

    So how much might Trump and his associates actually benefit from his new meme coin and, more broadly, the “free-for-all” attitude his administration is taking toward the crypto industry?

    I study the gray area between participation and exploitation in crypto markets, and I dug deeper into the Trump meme coin.

    One way to assess whether a meme coin offering is a scam is to look at its “tokenomics” – that is, the predetermined number of units of its supply, how that supply is distributed and how much of it the creator gets to keep. The higher the percentage of the supply allocated to the creators, the more they can sell for profit. As media studies scholar Lana Swartz points out, creator tokens were originally intended for developers to crowdfund their startups. But with meme coins – which typically don’t claim to build anything – they exist to enrich their creators and, potentially, fund continued marketing of the coin.

    Unlike Dogecoin, which took a “fair launch” approach – meaning that its creators didn’t allocate a portion of the initial coins to themselves before allowing others to trade it – the majority of Trump tokens are allocated to its creators on a three-year-long distribution schedule.

    In fact, 80% of the coin supply will be distributed to the coin’s creators over the course of three years. In other words, the tokenomics of the Trump meme coin are set up so that its creators can slowly sell off their large supply without drastically manipulating its price. Rather than quickly pulling the rug from under investors’ feet, they can do it slowly.

    None of this is hidden information – the tokenomics of the Trump meme coin are featured prominently on the coin’s website.

    Notably, none of the people behind the coin will begin receiving portions of the supply until March 2025. The amount of profit they can reap will be based on future prices. At the time of this writing, the Trump meme coin was down roughly 60% from its peak.

    Who are these creators anyway? The various layers of limited liability companies behind the project, listed in fine print on the $Trump meme website, obscure which individuals stand to benefit.

    Presuming Trump is one of these creators, the president technically doesn’t have an allotment of the supply to cash out – not until March, at least.

    So, no, Trump didn’t make billions from the coin. But he still stands to potentially vacuum up millions of dollars from unwitting investors. Judging by the spike in crypto exchange downloads over the weekend of the Trump coin’s launch, it attracted many new, and likely novice, speculators. Coins like this, which can significantly devalue in a matter of hours, can be distressing introductions to the world of investing.

    This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to make a killing on crypto, either. He’s already brought in millions off the sales of five nonfungible token launches – which are essentially digital trading cards – since 2022.

    Have fun!

    The final words in Trump’s meme coin announcement on his social media platform Truth Social sum up his administration’s attitude toward the crypto industry over the next four years: “Have fun!”

    On Jan. 23, Trump signed an executive order containing a slew of decrees aimed at making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”

    He has tapped venture capitalist David Sacks to chair the group tasked with reworking the prohibitive regulations around the crypto industry. Sacks has invested in crypto-focused companies and has bragged about his personal crypto investments on his podcast.

    In a recent Fox Business interview, Sacks was asked if he thought Trump’s meme coin was a conflict of interest. He said no, suggesting that the coins should be thought of as “collectibles” akin to “a baseball card or a stamp.”

    David Sacks, Donald Trump’s crypto czar, sees little issue with Trump’s crypto investments.

    Notably, the $Trump website also refers to the tokens as “cards” and “memes,” rather than coins. This could be an attempt to skirt legal trouble: It frames them as tokens of mere amusement rather than serious investment vehicles with expectations of profit.

    Nonetheless, several members of Congress have already called for a probe into the Trump meme coin.

    No matter how you define $Trump, one thing remains clear: The structure of the coin is set up to siphon money out of retail investors for at least the next three years. Sure, ordinary speculators can still profit off it, so long as its value remains propped up. That’s basically a gamble.

    With Trump starting to accumulate a stockpile of various cryptocurrencies through his other venture, World Liberty Financial, he could also benefit immensely from a looser regulatory environment.

    Fun indeed.

    Maximilian Brichta 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. Why Trump’s meme coin is a cash grab – https://theconversation.com/why-trumps-meme-coin-is-a-cash-grab-248215

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘We painted our fear, hope and dreams’ − examining the art and artists of Guantánamo Bay

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Alexandra Moore, Professor of Human Rights in Literary and Cultural Studies, Binghamton University, State University of New York

    Sailing ships are a common feature of Moath al-Alwi’s art. Moath al-Alwi, 2016, CC BY-SA

    When Moath al-Alwi left Guantánamo Bay for resettlement in Oman, accompanying him on his journey was a cache of artwork he created during more than two decades of detention.

    Al-Alwi was detainee number “028” – an indication that he was one of the first to arrive at the U.S. military prison off Cuba after it opened in January 2002. His departure from the detention center on Jan. 6, 2025, along with 10 fellow inmates, was part of an effort to reduce the prison’s population before the end of President Joe Biden’s term.

    For al-Alwi, it meant freedom not only for himself, but also for his artwork. While not all detainees shared his passion, creating art was not an uncommon pursuit inside Guantánamo – indeed it has been a feature, formally and informally, of the detention center since its opening more than 20 years ago.

    As editors of the recently published book “The Guantánamo Artwork and Testimony of Moath al-Alwi: Deaf Walls Speak,” we found that art-making in Guantánamo was more than self-expression; it became a testament to detainees’ emotions and experiences and influenced relationships inside the detention center. Examining the art offers unique ways of understanding conditions inside the facility.

    Art from tea bags and toilet paper

    Detained without charge or trial for 23 years, al-Alwi was first cleared for release in December 2021. Due to unstable conditions in his home country of Yemen, however, his transfer was subject to finding another country for resettlement. Scheduled for release in early October 2023, he and 10 other Yemeni detainees were further delayed when the Biden administration canceled the flight due to concerns over the political climate after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.

    Sabri Mohammad Ibrahim Al Qurashi depicted Lady Liberty with a cage at her base.
    Sabri Mohammad Ibrahim Al Qurashi, CC BY-SA

    During his detention, al-Alwi suffered abuse and ill treatment, including forced feedings. Making art was a way for him, and others, to survive and assert their humanity, he said. Along with fellow former detainees Sabri al-Qurashi, Ahmed Rabbani, Muhammad Ansi and Khalid Qasim, among others, al-Alwi became an accomplished artist while being held. His work was featured in several art shows and in a New York Times opinion documentary short

    During the detention center’s early years, these men used whatever materials were at hand to create artwork – the edge of a tea bag to write on toilet paper, an apple stem to imprint floral and geometric patterns and poems onto Styrofoam cups, which the authorities would destroy after each meal.

    In 2010, the Obama administration began offering art classes at Guantánamo in an attempt to show the world they were treating prisoners humanely and helping them occupy their time.

    However, those attending were given only rudimentary supplies. And they were subjected to invasive body searches to and from class and initially shackled to the floor, with one hand chained to the table, throughout each session. Furthermore, the subject matter for their art was restricted – detainees were forbidden from representing certain aspects of their detention, and all artwork was subject to approval and risked being destroyed.

    Despite this, many detainees participated in the classes for camaraderie and the opportunity to engage in some form of creative expression.

    A window to freedom

    Making art served many purposes. Mansoor Adayfi, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee and author of “Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo,” wrote in his contribution to the book on al-Alwi that initially, “we painted what we missed: the beautiful blue sky, the sea, stars. We painted our fear, hope and dreams.”

    Those who have been transferred from Guantánamo describe the art as a way to express their appreciation for culture, the natural world and their families while imprisoned by a regime that consistently characterized them as violent and inhuman.

    The Statue of Liberty became a frequent motif Guantánamo artists deployed to communicate the betrayal of U.S. laws and ideals. Often, Lady Liberty was depicted in distress – drowning, shackled or hooded. For Sabri al-Qurashi, the symbol of freedom under duress represented his own condition when he painted it. “I am in prison, not free, and without any rights,” he told us.

    Sabri Mohammad Ibrahim Al Qurashi painting of the Statue of Liberty.
    Sabri Mohammad Ibrahim Al Qurashi, 2012, CC BY-SA

    Other times, the artwork responded directly to the men’s day-to-day conditions of confinement.

    One of al-Alwi’s early pieces was a model of a three-dimensional window. Approximately 40 x 55 inches, the window was filled in with images carefully torn from nature and travel magazines, and layered to create depth, so that it appeared to look out on an island with a house with palm and coconut trees made from twisted pieces of rope and soap.

    Al-Alwi was initially allowed to keep it in his windowless cell, and fellow detainees and guards would visit to “look out” the window.

    But, as far as we know, it was eventually lost or destroyed in a prison raid.

    Art as representation and respite

    In another example of how artwork can be an expression of what former detainees call their “brotherhood,” Khalid Qasim, who was imprisoned at the age of 23 and held for more than two decades before being transferred alongside al-Alwi, mixed coffee grounds and coarse sand to create a series of nine textured, evocative paintings to memorialize each of the nine men who died while held at Guantánamo.

    Especially in periods when camp rules allowed detainees to create artwork in their cells, the artists’ use of prison detritus and found objects made the artwork more than simply a depiction of what the men lacked, desired or imagined. Artwork helped create an alternative forum for the men’s experiences, especially for those artists who, along with the vast majority of Guantánamo’s 779 detainees, never faced charge or trial.

    The pieces served as symbols and metaphors of the detainees’ experiences. For example, al-Alwi describes his 2015 large model ship, The Ark, as fighting against the waves of an imagined, threatening sea. In creating it, he wrote, “I felt I was rescuing myself.”

    Moath al-Alwi used found items to create his model ships.
    Moath al-Alwi, 2017, CC BY-SA

    Constructed out of the materials of his imprisonment, the work also points to the conditions of his daily life in Guantánamo. Made from the strands of mops, unraveled prayer cap and T-shirt threads, bottle caps, bits of sponges and cardboard from meal packaging, al-Alwi’s ships – he went on to create at least seven – reveal both his artistic ingenuity and his circumstances.

    Guantánamo artists talk about the artwork as being imprisoned like them and subjected to the same restrictions and seemingly arbitrary processes of approval or disappearance.

    The transfer to Oman of al-Alwi and his artwork releases both from those processes. It also creates an opportunity to inform the public about what Guantánamo meant to those who were held there, and to the 15 men who remain.

    The authors 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. ‘We painted our fear, hope and dreams’ − examining the art and artists of Guantánamo Bay – https://theconversation.com/we-painted-our-fear-hope-and-dreams-examining-the-art-and-artists-of-guantanamo-bay-246964

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A federal policy expert weighs in on Trump’s efforts to stifle gender-affirming care for Americans under 19

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elana Redfield, Federal Policy Director at the Williams Institute, University of California, Los Angeles

    President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 23, 2025. AP Photo/Ben Curtis

    Amid a flurry of executive orders affecting transgender Americans, the Trump administration ordered restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. Calling it “a stain on our Nation’s history,” the Jan. 28, 2025, order seeks to “end” this form of treatment for Americans under 19 years old.

    The Conversation U.S. interviewed Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute, an independent research center at the UCLA School of Law dedicated to studying sexual orientation and gender identity law. She describes the aims of the executive order, how much weight it carries, and how it should be understood in the broader context of legal battles over access to gender-affirming care.

    What’s the scope of the executive order?

    Twenty-six states have already restricted gender-affirming care for minors or banned it outright. So the order seeks to extend restrictions to the rest of the country using the weight of the executive branch.

    However, it’s not a national ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Instead, it’s directing federal agencies to regulate and restrict this form of care.

    That being said, federal agencies have a tremendous impact on American life. Trans kids rely on publicly funded health insurance programs such as Medicaid and TRICARE, which is administered to the children of active duty service members via the Department of Defense. And a big part of the executive order is directing the federal agencies that administer these programs to review their own policies to ensure that they are not supporting gender-affirming care for minors.

    So what we’re really seeing is the federal government trying to erect barriers to kids accessing this care.

    Does the executive branch have the authority to unilaterally ban federal funding of certain medical treatments?

    The answer is a little mixed. A president might be able to suspend or put a temporary pause on funding a particular type of treatment or service. But the actual parameters of a program – and how agencies should implement them – are determined by Congress and, to some extent, by the courts.

    Ultimately, the president can only take actions in ways that are designated by the Constitution, or through some specific power that Congress has granted to the executive branch. I don’t see that authority granted for a lot of what’s contained in this executive order. But many of these directives will probably be litigated in court, where the president will likely argue that he has the power to direct agencies to do all they can to put a halt to gender-affirming care for minors.

    Do private health insurers fall outside the scope of this executive order?

    On the surface, yes. But it’s easy to see how directives from the executive branch can touch broader components of the country’s health care system, including private hospitals and private health insurance.

    For example, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act is a nondiscrimination provision. It says there can be no sex discrimination when it comes to approving health care treatments. This has been interpreted to mean that health insurance plans receiving federal funding cannot deny a policyholder gender-affirming care. However, this interpretation has been blocked by a federal court.

    The question of whether this definition of sex discrimination encompasses gender identity is currently playing out in the courts. For example, there’s a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors. Should the Supreme Court determine that Tennessee is able to ban gender-affirming care for minors, it’s possible to see how this could impact private health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care.

    Transgender rights supporters and opponents rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in a case about Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors on Dec. 4, 2024.
    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    What else stood out to you from the executive order?

    The executive order directs the Department of Justice to discourage doctors and hospitals from administering gender-affirming care to minors, characterizing it as genital mutilation, which is a heinous-sounding offense. Even though this is an inaccurate comparison, it could have a chilling effect even in states where this form of care is legal.

    The order also contains a provision that asks Congress to extend the statute of limitations for gender-affirming care, so that someone who received gender-affirming care as a minor and decides they’re not happy with it decades later can sue their doctor. Some states have already extended the statute of limitations to 30 years for gender-affirming care.

    Again, this could have a chilling effect in states where the care is legal. What doctor or hospital would want to expose themselves to this risk?

    Of course, these two elements constitute directives from the executive branch, but we don’t know how they’ll be enforced. They do reveal, however, some of the ways in which the administration plans to direct its efforts.

    Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, federal funding of elective abortion had been restricted for decades under the Hyde Amendment. You can’t receive coverage for an abortion under a Medicaid plan, for example. Do you see this executive order as Trump trying to simply enact – via fiat, of course – his own version of the Hyde Amendment, but instead applied to gender-affirming care for minors?

    I think there’s a key difference between the two. The Hyde Amendment, which has been repeatedly reenacted by Congress, prohibits federal funding of abortion care, but it doesn’t prohibit states from allowing or permitting abortion. It’s always operated as a sort of compromise: It says providers can’t use federal funding for an abortion, but they can use their own funding to administer abortions – and oh, by the way, they can still receive federal funding for other health services.

    This executive order, on the other hand, takes a much more uncompromising position: It tells agency heads to stop directing any and all federal funds to institutions that research or provide gender-affirming care.

    Again, it’s important to remember that executive orders aren’t established policy. They’re simply directing agencies to craft certain policies and encouraging lawmakers to enact legislation.

    So far, much of the legislation restricting gender-affirming care – whether it’s at the state level or in the executive branch – has centered on minors, or individuals under 19. Are there any threats to gender-affirming care for adults?

    Only one state, Florida, has enacted a law that specifically regulates gender-affirming care for adults. That law basically sets some compliance standards and restricts who can prescribe the care. Florida also banned the use of state funds for gender-affirming care for everyone, adults and children. So that means, for example, those who are incarcerated in state prisons can’t receive gender-affirming care.

    Florida isn’t the only state that has enacted a state funding ban. Depending on your insurance, this could mean you’re forced to pay out of pocket for your procedures and treatment, which can be prohibitively expensive.

    What are you going to be watching for in the coming weeks?

    I’m sure someone’s going to sue to challenge the order. The problem, though, is that an executive order is an expression of policy ideas. You need something to actually happen before lawyers and activists can react to it. So I’ll be tracking federal agencies to see how they specifically try to enact some of these directives.

    Is there anything else you’d like to add?

    This executive order contains language that characterizes the science around gender-affirming care as junk science. It’s repeatedly described as chemical and surgical mutilation, or as maiming and sterilizing kids. There’s talk of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, which has been discredited.

    So it rejects the idea that gender-affirming care has health benefits, even though there’s robust, extensive evidence supporting access to gender-affirming care. Self-reporting by transgender individuals is overwhelmingly positive: 98% of trans people who had hormone therapy said it made their lives better, according to the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey.

    There are also rigorous standards of practice, including for how you support and treat minors, that are intended to prevent overprescription or overutilization of services.

    In other words, there are already barriers in place and checks and balances for minors if they want to access gender-affirming care.

    Elana Redfield works at an organization that has received private, state or federal research grants.

    – ref. A federal policy expert weighs in on Trump’s efforts to stifle gender-affirming care for Americans under 19 – https://theconversation.com/a-federal-policy-expert-weighs-in-on-trumps-efforts-to-stifle-gender-affirming-care-for-americans-under-19-248646

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How satellites and AI help fight wildfires today

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John W. Daily, Research Professor in Thermo Fluid Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

    The wind and terrain can quickly change how a fire, like this one near Los Angeles in January 2025, behaves. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

    As wind-driven wildfires spread through the Los Angeles area in January 2025, fire-spotting technology and computer models were helping firefighters understand the rapidly changing environment they were facing.

    That technology has evolved over the years, yet some techniques are very similar to those used over 100 years ago.

    I have spent several decades studying combustion, including wildfire behavior and the technology used to track fires and predict where wildfires might turn. Here’s a quick tour of the key technologies used today.

    Spotting fires faster

    First, the fire must be discovered.

    Often wildfires are reported by people seeing smoke. That hasn’t changed, but other ways fires are spotted have evolved.

    In the early part of the 20th century, the newly established U.S. Forest Service built fire lookout towers around the country. The towers were topped by cabins with windows on all four walls and provided living space for the fire lookouts. The system was motivated by the Great Fire of 1910 that burned 3 million acres in Washington, Idaho and Montana and killed 87 people.

    Before satellites, fire crews watched for smoke from fire towers across the national forests.
    K. D. Swan, U.S. Forest Service

    Today, cameras watch over many high-risk areas. California has more than 1,100 cameras watching for signs of smoke. Artificial intelligence systems continuously analyze the images to provide data for firefighters to quickly respond. AI is a way to train a computer program to recognize repetitive patterns: smoke plumes in the case of fire.

    NOAA satellites paired with AI data analysis also generate alerts but over a wider area. They can detect heat signatures, map fire perimeters and burned areas, and track smoke and pollutants to assess air quality and health risks.

    Forecasting fire behavior

    Once a fire is spotted, one immediate task for firefighting teams is to estimate how the fire is going to behave so they can deploy their limited firefighting resources most effectively.

    Fire managers have seen many fires and have a sense of the risks their regions face. Today, they also have computer simulations that combine data about the terrain, the materials burning and the weather to help predict how a fire is likely to spread.

    Fuel models

    Fuel models are based on the ecosystem involved, using fire history and laboratory testing. In Southern California, for example, much of the wildland fuel is chaparral, a type of shrubland with dense, rocky soil and highly flammable plants in a Mediterranean climate. Chaparral is one of the fastest-burning fuel types, and fires can spread quickly in that terrain.

    For human-made structures, things are a bit more complex. The materials a house is made of – if it has wood siding, for example – and the environment around it, such as how close it is to trees or wooden fences, play an important role in how likely it is to burn and how it burns.

    How scientists study fire behavior in a lab.

    Weather and terrain

    Terrain is also important because it influences local winds and because fire tends to run faster uphill than down. Terrain data is well known thanks to satellite imagery and can easily be incorporated into computer codes.

    Weather plays another critical role in fire behavior. Fires need oxygen to burn, and the windier it is, the more oxygen is available to the fire. High winds also tend to generate embers from burning vegetation that can be blown up to 5 miles in the highest winds, starting spot fires that can quickly spread.

    Today, large computer simulations can forecast the weather. There are global models that cover the entire Earth and local models that cover smaller areas but with better resolution that provides greater detail.

    Both provide real-time data on the weather for creating fire behavior simulations.

    Modeling how flames spread

    Flame-spread models can then estimate the likely movement of a fire.

    Scientists build these models by studying past fires and conducting laboratory experiments, combined with mathematical models that incorporate the physics of fire. With local terrain, fuel and real-time weather information, these simulations can help fire managers predict a fire’s likely behavior.

    Examples of how computer modeling can forecast a fire’s spread. American Physical Society.

    Advanced modeling can account for fuel details such as ground-level plant growth and tree canopies, including amount of cover, tree height and tree density. These models can estimate when a fire will reach the tree canopy and how that will affect the fire’s spread.

    Forecasting helps, but wind can change fast

    All these tools are made available to firefighters in computer applications and can help fire crews as they respond to wildfires.

    However, wind can rapidly change speed or direction, and new fires can start in unexpected places, meaning fire managers know they have to be prepared for many possible outcomes – not just the likely outcomes they see on their computer screens.

    Ultimately, during a fire, firefighting strategy is based on human judgment informed by experience, as well as science and technology.

    John W. Daily receives funding from the Department of Defense for wildland fire research. He is affiliated with the Combustion Institute and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is a Fellow of both organizations.

    – ref. How satellites and AI help fight wildfires today – https://theconversation.com/how-satellites-and-ai-help-fight-wildfires-today-248420

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Stricter abortion laws may cause increased infant deaths − 2 maternal and child health researchers explain the data

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Almut Winterstein, Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy, University of Florida

    Many babies born with severe birth defects die within the first few days or weeks of life. shironosov/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Infant mortality in the U.S. has increased by 7% since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion, according to an October 2024 study.

    Those findings followed another study that reported a 12.7% rise in infant mortality in Texas after the implementation of Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Except for medical emergencies, the law effectively makes abortions illegal in the state after about five to six weeks’ gestation.

    Both studies noted larger increases in deaths among infants born with birth defects. This suggests women are delivering more babies with severe congenital malformations who have no hope of survival beyond a few hours, days or, at most, a few weeks.

    But even before this new research substantiated such a link, clinicians who specialize in care for high-risk pregnancies warned about the potential consequences of the new abortion laws.

    We are researchers focused on maternal and child health who evaluate the safety of medications during pregnancy. We identify medications that might raise the risk for birth defects or pregnancy loss.

    We also evaluate the effectiveness of policies and initiatives aimed at improving pregnancy outcomes, including whether stricter abortion laws could result in more infant deaths.

    Birth defects: A leading cause of infant mortality

    Birth defects affect 3% of pregnancies in the U.S.

    They can be caused by exposures to certain medications, infections, maternal diseases or genetics. For many, causes are unknown.

    While birth defects can develop at any time during pregnancy, most occur during the first three months of pregnancy, a critical time for organ development. More than 5% of pregnancies are exposed to about 200 medications with the potential to cause birth defects.

    After its new abortion law went into effect, Texas saw an increase in infant mortality that was seven times higher than the rest of the U.S.

    Many birth defects are treatable; orofacial clefts and some heart defects, for example, can be corrected with surgery. Some cause lifelong disability and some are fatal, resulting in babies who are stillborn or die shortly after birth. Birth defects are a leading cause of infant mortality, accounting for about 20% of deaths in the first year of life.

    Among anomalies considered lethal, not all result in pregnancy loss or immediate death at delivery. For example, more than half of infants with trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality that causes severe heart defects or breathing problems, die within the first week of life. Only 13% survive until their first birthday.

    Anencephaly, a birth defect that affects the development of the skull and brain, results in either stillbirth or death within the first weeks of life. But there is one case report of an infant who survived to her second birthday.

    More than 80% of women will choose to terminate a pregnancy with anencephaly when detected before 24 weeks’ gestation, according to data from before the Dobbs decision. Given the profound effects on parents’ lives, this choice is very personal. But in many states, these women may no longer have a choice. Because of abortion laws with limited or no exceptions, women who carry a fetus with a fatal condition have no legal option other than to carry their pregnancy to term.

    Legal landscape of abortion laws

    As of January 2025, 16 states have total abortion bans in effect or restrictions that do not permit abortions after six weeks. In nine of these states, lethal birth defects are not considered an exception.

    But even in states with those exceptions, the legal wording used to craft the legislation is often confusing to health care providers. Statutory language does not always use medical terms and may assume a certainty about pregnancy outcomes that does not exist. For example, even anencephaly does not meet the commonly used statutory definition of “no viability outside the uterus.”

    Such uncertainty adds to hesitation – and fear – on the part of doctors and nurses who may face steep penalties, including criminal charges and prison time, should they provide an abortion that is later deemed illegal in a court of law.

    Prenatal care too late

    In 2023, prenatal care began after the first trimester for about 24% of pregnancies in the U.S.

    In our February 2024 study of a national sample of nearly 640,000 privately insured pregnant women, the median time to prenatal care was eight weeks. In other words, for more than half of women living in a state with a six-week abortion ban, obstetric assessments would likely commence too late to consider an abortion if a birth defect were detected.

    More than 6,000 women in our study were exposed to medications that can cause birth defects within the first six weeks of pregnancy. These include medications used to treat common yeast or urinary tract infections, drugs used for migraine or weight loss, and blood pressure medications, to name a few. Nearly all of those women – 96% – had no prenatal care prior to taking the medication, and many may not have been aware they were pregnant. For more than 80% of these pregnancies, prenatal care started after six weeks, too late to prevent exposure to unsafe medications or to screen for potential birth defects and to consider pregnancy termination in states with stricter abortion bans.

    Importantly, prenatal identification methods of birth defects range from screening maternal blood for chromosome abnormalities, which is done at 10 weeks’ gestation, to a second-trimester ultrasound to look for fetal structural defects, to procedures such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis to evaluate for genetic conditions. These are all performed after six weeks of pregnancy.

    Even if screening might still fall within abortion cutoffs, the probability to detect adverse outcomes in utero varies substantially.

    For example, valproic acid is a medication that treats epilepsy, migraine and some mental health disorders. About 1% to 2% of women taking valproic acid become pregnant each year. Valproic acid causes birth defects that can be detected in utero such as oral clefts or spina bifida. But it also increases the risk for autism and adverse cognitive defects, which may be diagnosed years after delivery.

    Currently, there is no law addressing instances when an adverse outcome is probable but cannot be confirmed before delivery. Hence, stricter abortion laws are expected to not only increase inevitable infant deaths but also births of infants with severe disability.

    Almut Winterstein receives funding from NIH, FDA, CDC, AHRQ, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the state of Florida, and Merck, Sharp and Dohme. She has received consulting honoraria from Novo Nordisk, Bayer, Syneos, Ipsen and Lykos. She has chaired the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and now serves as consultant for similar FDA committees.

    Dr. Rasmussen receives funding from NIH, FDA, and CDC. She also serves on scientific advisory committees for several pregnancy registries, including registries for Harmony Biosciences, Axsome Pharmaceuticals, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals (recently acquired by Pfizer), Myovant Sciences, and Novo Nordisk.

    – ref. Stricter abortion laws may cause increased infant deaths − 2 maternal and child health researchers explain the data – https://theconversation.com/stricter-abortion-laws-may-cause-increased-infant-deaths-2-maternal-and-child-health-researchers-explain-the-data-243881

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Gen Z seeks safety above all else as the generation grows up amid constant crisis and existential threat

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Yalda T. Uhls, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers and Assistant Adjunct Professor in Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

    Asked to rate the importance of 14 personal goals, Gen Z reported ‘to be safe’ as the top goal. Darya Komarova/Getty Images

    After many years of partisan politics, increasingly divisive language, finger-pointing and inflammatory speech have contributed to an environment of fear and uncertainty, affecting not just political dynamics but also the priorities and perceptions of young people.

    As a developmental psychologist who studies the intersection of media and adolescent mental health, and as a mother of two Gen Z kids, I have seen firsthand how external societal factors can profoundly shape young people’s emotional well-being.

    This was brought into sharp relief through the results of a recent survey my colleagues and I conducted with 1,644 young people across the U.S., ages 10 to 24. The study was not designed as a political poll but rather as a window into what truly matters to adolescents. We asked participants to rate the importance of 14 personal goals. These included classic teenage desires such as “being popular,” “having fun” and “being kind.”

    None of these ranked as the top priority. Instead, the No. 1 answer was “to be safe.”

    It lurks everywhere: Gen Z’s perception of danger is further shaped by events like the recent fires devastating Los Angeles.
    Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images

    What was once taken for granted

    The findings are both illuminating and heartbreaking. As a teenager, I did countless unsafe things. My peers and I didn’t dwell on harm; we chased fun and freedom.

    Whereas previous generations may have taken safety for granted, today’s youth are growing up in an era of compounded crises — school shootings, a worsening climate crisis, financial uncertainty and the lingering trauma of a global pandemic. Even though our research did not pinpoint the specific causes of adolescent fears, the constant exposure to crises, amplified by social media, likely plays a significant role in fostering a pervasive sense of worry.

    Despite data showing that many aspects of life are safer now than in previous generations, young people just don’t feel it. Their perception of danger is further shaped by events like the recent fires that devastated Los Angeles, reinforcing a belief that danger, possibly caused by global crises like climate change, lurks everywhere.

    This shift in perspective has profound implications for the future of this generation and those to come.

    Especially vulnerable time

    Adolescence, like early childhood, is a pivotal period for brain development. Young people are particularly sensitive to their surroundings as their brains evaluate the environment to prepare them for independence.

    This developmental stage – when the capacity to regulate emotions and critically assess information is still maturing – makes them especially vulnerable to enduring impacts.

    Studies show that adolescents are more likely to overestimate risks and struggle to put threats in context. This makes them particularly vulnerable to fear-driven messaging prevalent in both traditional and social media, which is further amplified by political rhetoric and blame-shifting. This vulnerability has implications for their mental health, as prolonged exposure to fear and uncertainty has been linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression and even physical health issues.

    So when the media that Gen Z consumes are dominated by fear – be it through headlines, social media posts, political rhetoric or even storylines in movies and TV – it could shape their worldview in ways that may reverberate for generations to come.

    Enduring generational impact

    Historical events have long been shown to shape the worldview of entire generations.

    For instance, the Great Depression primarily impacted the daily lives of the Silent Generation, those born between 1928 and 1945. Moreover, its long-term effects on financial attitudes and security concerns echoed into the Baby Boomer generation, influencing how those born between 1946 and 1964 approached money, stability and risk throughout their lives.

    Similarly, today’s adolescents, growing up amid a series of compounded global crises, will likely carry the imprint of this period of heightened fear and uncertainty well into adulthood. This formative experience could shape their mental health, decision-making and even their collective identity and values for decades to come.

    In addition, feelings of insecurity and instability can make people more responsive to fear-based messaging, which could potentially influence their political and social choices. In an era marked by the rise of authoritarian governments, this susceptibility could have far-reaching implications because fear often drives individuals to prioritize immediate safety over moral or ideological ideals.

    As such, these dynamics may profoundly shape how this generation engages with the world, the causes they champion and the leaders they choose to follow.

    Room for optimism?

    Interestingly, “being kind” was rated No. 2 in our survey, irrespective of other demographics. While safety dominates their priorities, adolescents still value qualities that foster connection and community.

    This finding indicates a duality in their aspirations: While they feel a pervasive sense of danger, they also recognize the importance of interpersonal relationships and emotional well-being.

    Our findings are a call to look at the broader societal context shaping adolescent development. For instance, the rise in school-based safety drills, while intended to provide a sense of preparedness, may unintentionally reinforce feelings of insecurity. Similarly, the apocalyptic narrative around climate change may create a sense of powerlessness that could further compound their fears and leave them wanting to bury their heads in the sand.

    Understanding how these perceptions are formed and their implications for mental health, decision-making and behavior is essential for parents, storytellers, policymakers and researchers.

    I believe we must also consider how societal systems contribute to the pervasive sense of uncertainty and fear among youth. Further research can help untangle the complex relationship between external stressors, media consumption and youth well-being, shedding light on how to best support adolescents during this formative stage of life.

    Yalda T. Uhls 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. Gen Z seeks safety above all else as the generation grows up amid constant crisis and existential threat – https://theconversation.com/gen-z-seeks-safety-above-all-else-as-the-generation-grows-up-amid-constant-crisis-and-existential-threat-245455

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Biden targeted the online right-wing terrorism threat − now it’s up to Trump

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jason M. Blazakis, Professor of Practice and Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, Middlebury

    U.S. officials say the right-wing terrorism threat is significant. Farion_O/iStock via Getty Images

    In the waning days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of State took its first major step against terrorism groups primarily focused on what is called “accelerationism” – the effort to inspire independent followers to engage in violence in ways that broadly destabilize society. The U.S. government has long targeted actively violent terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida – the group behind the 9/11 attacks – and the Islamic State group, which carried out beheadings of innocent civilians in Iraq and Syria.

    Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray repeatedly warned Congress about the threat to national security from far-right accelerationist groups. In a move to respond to those warnings, the Biden administration labeled the online-only “Terrorgram Collective” and three of its leaders as specially designated global terrorists, which means their financial assets are frozen and anyone who tries to support them can be arrested.

    The Terrorgram Collective aims to destroy the current global economic and political structure and spark a war between white people and people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. To accomplish that, it maintains an online forum on the Telegram social media platform. The forum’s posts, from leaders and followers alike, are characterized by people spouting violent rhetoric and incitement to violence against minorities, Jewish people and governments.

    Widespread radicalization

    The State Department’s action also specifically targets two U.S. citizens: Dallas Humber of California and Matthew Allison of Idaho, who allegedly played leading roles in the Terrorgram Collective and are facing federal charges for soliciting the murder of government officials.

    As my colleagues at Middlebury’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism wrote in a 2022 report, Terrorgram’s danger is primarily in its ability to spread far-right propaganda to radicalize almost anyone active on Telegram or elsewhere online.

    The State Department has not attributed specific attacks to the Terrorgram Collective but rather warns of its influence and potential to inspire attacks by people who encounter the ideas it spreads. For instance, Terrorgram material was reportedly used as the basis for writings by a 17-year-old high school student who killed two fellow students and injured a third in a Jan. 22, 2025, school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.

    The Telegram app icon on a smartphone screen.
    Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Little targeting of fascist groups

    The Terrorgram action came seven months after the Biden administration’s labeling of a Scandinavia-based far-right extremist group, the Nordic Resistance Movement, as terrorists as well.

    These were two of just three times fascist extremist groups anywhere in the world were labeled terrorists by the U.S. government. Early in his first term, President Donald Trump’s State Department did label one far-right group as a specially designated global terrorist organization: the Russian Imperial Movement, based in Russia.

    But as the former head of the State Department office that sanctions terrorists, I know that neither Trump nor Biden marshaled the full force of the nation’s anti-terrorism efforts against these groups.

    There’s a hierarchy in the U.S. government’s labels for these organizations. That hierarchy reflects the degree of danger an organization poses as well as the strength of the U.S. response to it.

    The highest-level designation and the most significant sanctions the U.S. government can impose come from placing a group on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. That list includes groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group – also called ISIS or ISIL – which are subject to asset freezes and extended prison sentences and are barred from entering the U.S.

    The second-tier list covers what are called specially designated global terrorists, which carries similar, but less severe, restrictions.

    It’s easier to prove someone did something to support a group on the foreign terrorist organization list than to prove support for a group on the specially designated list. And jail time for foreign terrorist organization backers is typically longer.

    All three right-wing groups are on the specially designated list, though the Trump administration could upgrade them to the top-level list, as Trump has asked the State Department to do with the Houthi militants in Yemen.

    Jason M. Blazakis 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. Biden targeted the online right-wing terrorism threat − now it’s up to Trump – https://theconversation.com/biden-targeted-the-online-right-wing-terrorism-threat-now-its-up-to-trump-247977

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Land seizure and South Africa’s new expropriation bill: scholar weighs up the new act

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Zsa-Zsa Temmers Boggenpoel, Academic, Stellenbosch University

    South Africa has a new law to govern the expropriation (or compulsory acquisition) of private property by government for public purposes or in the public interest.

    The passing of the Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 followed a parliamentary process that began in 2020.

    The act repeals the apartheid-era Expropriation Act 63 of 1975, and aims to align expropriation law with the constitution. It sets out the procedures, rules and regulations for expropriation. Besides setting out in quite a detailed fashion how expropriations are to take place, the act also provides an outline regarding how compensation is to be determined.

    In South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past, land distribution was grossly unequal on the basis of race. The country is still suffering the effects of this. So expropriation of property is a potential tool to reduce land inequality. This has become a matter of increasing urgency. South Africans have expressed impatience with the slow pace of land reform.

    Property rights and land reform

    There is much debate in the country about the provisions of the new act. The debate is mostly about the extent to which it affects existing private property rights. Some argue the act is unconstitutional. Others welcome it as a necessary step in the right direction.

    I’m a professor of law with a keen interest in this area of the law, and recently edited a book on land expropriation in South Africa by leading experts. My view is that an expropriation act that is aligned with the constitution should be welcomed, to enable land reform to work effectively.



    Read more:
    Land reform in South Africa: what the real debate should be about

    Land reform also needs a capable and proactive state that implements the legal framework in such a manner that prioritises expropriation as a mechanism to ensure land reform.

    So far, expropriation has not been used effectively to redistribute land more equitably, as part of land reform.

    I am not convinced that the act, in its current form, is the silver bullet to effect large-scale land reform – at least not the type of radical land reform that South Africa urgently needs.

    Understandably, the act will have a severe impact on property rights. But it still substantially protects landowners affected by expropriation. Only in very limited cases would they not be compensated.

    Protections for land owners

    The act says that property must not be expropriated arbitrarily or for a purpose other than a public purpose or in the public interest.

    Public purpose means by or for the benefit of the public. For example, expropriating property to build roads, schools and hospitals. Public interest is broader and includes the nation’s commitment to land reform.

    “Arbitrary” would usually mean without reason or justification.



    Read more:
    South Africa has another go at an expropriation law. What it’s all about

    The act further requires that an expropriating authority – an organ of state or person empowered by the act or any other legislation – must first try to reach an agreement with the owner to acquire the property on reasonable terms before considering expropriation.

    This gives some power to a landowner, even though expropriation does not normally require consent. The act also says a specific expropriation must always be authorised by a law.

    No compensation?

    Section 12 of the act deals with compensation for expropriation. It is arguably the most controversial part of the new legislation. Section 12(1) does not appear to be problematic and is largely the same wording as section 25(3) of the constitution. This part of the property clause sets out what must be taken into account when compensation for expropriation is determined.

    Section 12(3) of the act refers to “nil compensation” – when nil rand (monetary) compensation may be paid. There is no explicit reference to nil compensation in the current wording of section 25 of the constitution. It’s a new thing in the Expropriation Act.

    However, courts have toyed with the idea that section 25 of the constitution already provides room for a reduction in compensation.

    The circumstances in which nil compensation could be granted in terms of the new act are in fact very limited. Section 12(3) leaves the discretion to the expropriating authority to determine when it may be just and equitable to pay nil compensation. However, the act lacks guidelines on how such a discretion must be exercised.



    Read more:
    Land is a heated issue in South Africa – the print media are presenting only one side of the story

    The scope of section 12(3) is also limited in some respects. For one, it is restricted to land. Only where land is expropriated would nil compensation be an option. Therefore, not all forms of property can be expropriated without compensation. The notion of property under section 25(1) of the constitution is generally wide and includes various rights and interests, which are broader than just land. For instance, personal rights, mineral rights and licences are included under the section 25(1) notion of property.

    This wide understanding of property is not applicable to section 12(3), which refers to “land” being expropriated.

    Section 12(3) is also limited to the expropriation of land “in the public interest”. Nil compensation is therefore envisaged only in the context of expropriation of land undertaken in the public interest, and not also for a public purpose.

    Three of the four categories listed in section 12(3), where nil compensation is envisaged, are linked to the way in which the property was being used prior to the expropriation. Land used in a productive manner is therefore not evidently envisaged under section 12(3).

    Nil compensation is not necessarily limited to the instances listed. Still, the amount of compensation must – in all instances – be just and equitable.

    Novel approach

    The act forces South Africans to engage with the idea of nil compensation in a much more direct manner.

    The presence of a clause dedicated to nil compensation provides new clarity on when this could apply.

    It is hard to determine whether this act will pass constitutional muster without seeing how expropriation under it will work in practice. It remains to be seen whether it will have the far-reaching consequences that many fear, or call for.

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

    – ref. Land seizure and South Africa’s new expropriation bill: scholar weighs up the new act – https://theconversation.com/land-seizure-and-south-africas-new-expropriation-bill-scholar-weighs-up-the-new-act-244697

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: From YMCA to MAGA: why Trump plays Village People at his rallies

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By William Rees, University of Exeter

    It was a bizarre sight watching a huge gay 1970s disco hit being performed at Donald Trump’s 2025 pre-inauguration rally. Many prominent artists from Beyoncé to Bruce Springsteen prohibit Trump from using their music. So why do Village People – a band synonymous with the 1970s gay liberation movement – allow their music to be associated with a political movement that has fixed and repressive ideas about sexual identity and morality?

    Village People’s recent incarnation has had a complicated relationship with the “make America great again” movement (Maga). In 2020, their song YMCA began featuring at Maga anti-lockdown rallies and soon became a prominent song in Trump’s re-election campaign.

    At the time, the band asked Trump not to use its music and later supported Kamala Harris for the presidency in 2024. Since then Village People have dramatically changed tack.

    To be clear, of the group that performed at Trump’s pre-inauguration rally, only one of the original Village People remains. The band, put together by the gay producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo in 1978, was named after New York’s Greenwich Village gay scene.

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    In the 1970s, the group was mostly gay-fronted except the first recruit, lead singer and co-songwriter Victor Willis (sometimes the policeman, sometimes the admiral figure). Willis took control of the name and the hits in 2017 after an out-of-court settlement with co-owner Henri Belolo.

    Willis is now the only member of the original line up still performing under the official band name. Perhaps to ensure mainstream popularity, he has tried to move Village People away from its gay associations – the biography on the band’s website makes no mention of the act’s significance to queer audiences. He recently wrote on Facebook that he will sue every news organisation that suggests “YMCA is somehow a gay anthem”.

    Victor Willis, the last remaining original member of Village People in a 1978 video for Just A Gigolo.

    But it’s difficult to untangle Village People from queer history as it was the trendsetting gay community of underground disco culture that made them famous. Record companies selected the songs and artists to promote based on how DJs reported their popularity in the hottest clubs. Many of these clubs were gay dominated, and disco itself was tied up with the growing confidence of the gay liberation movement in America and the era of sexual liberalisation that followed the 1960s.

    Jacques Morali put together Village People knowing the band could offer influential gay clubbers something they had always been denied: cultural representation, and with it, acknowledgement of their existence.

    It worked. One self-proclaimed “disco doll” writing to LGBTQ+ newspaper The Advocate in 1978 recalled first hearing Village People: “The music was very hot … and the words were about us, about our scene. I couldn’t believe it.”

    Village People’s innuendos and knowing references to gay culture often went over the heads of many straight listeners. Songs like Macho Man and the group’s hypermasculine image epitomised the “clone” movement in 1970s gay culture.

    Queer men, long derided for being effeminate, would bulk up at the gym and dress in leathers like bikers, effectively becoming more of an embodiment of masculinity than straight men. Go West was a reference to San Francisco’s more liberal environment for gay men. The YMCA was a place to “hang out with all the boys”.

    But skyrocketing into the mainstream made Village People an awkward fit for gay disco culture. This vibrant community wanted their own scene that was not part of the mainstream. They felt betrayed by a band publicly denying their gayness as they juggled the hardcore homosexual audience that had made them famous alongside a family-friendly audience.

    The backlash was fierce. A 1978 letter to gay lib magazine The Body Politic declared: “The commercial exploiters are disguising it to gain the commercially lucrative straight audience”, describing Village People as “traitors of the worst kind”.

    But even if they became momentarily unpopular in the hottest gay clubs, for many LGBTQ+ people, Village People’s hits have endured as anthems played at queer nights and Pride events. In their sound, appearance and sheer 1970-ness, they are undeniably camp icons.

    Which of course leads many to question why people attending Trump’s rallies – hardly famous for their inclusivity – would embrace their music. One explanation is that Maga audiences simply do not care about past gay associations as the music is simple, catchy and positive.

    Another is that just like the 1970s, the queer messaging of Village People’s music still goes over the heads of straight Maga audiences. Perhaps despite its past gay associations, they are consciously trying to culturally repurpose disco for their own movement. Or they’re trying to be ironic.

    Most likely, though, the music might have a particular meaning to LGBTQ+ audiences, it has other meanings depending on the context in which it is played. To many, Village People are the epitome of a novelty, apolitical pop group. Their hits are associated with weddings, children’s parties and good-time disco. The prosaic truth may be that Trump fans just enjoy a really catchy tune.

    But for Trump’s team, the use of these songs is politically calculated toward their core supporters who have changed the lyrics of YMCA to “MAGA”. And don’t forget Village People were joined at the pre-inauguration rally by WWE wrestling’s Hulk Hogan. Both are nostalgic late 20th-century acts that revel in blatant performances of muscled masculinity.

    They seem to be the embodiment of that imagined past of American virility that Trump vaguely refers to when he promises to make the nation “great again”. It’s not difficult to work out what Trump’s message is, especially when he dances along to Macho Man at rallies.

    Both these acts are carnivalesque, like Trump himself. They indicate an era of politics as spectacle, but beneath the surface messages, we must carefully pay attention to what is actually being said and done.

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

    – ref. From YMCA to MAGA: why Trump plays Village People at his rallies – https://theconversation.com/from-ymca-to-maga-why-trump-plays-village-people-at-his-rallies-248457

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How close are quantum computers to being really useful? Podcast

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

    Audio und verbung/Shutterstock

    Quantum computers have the potential to solve big scientific problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful supercomputers, such as discovering new antibiotics or developing new materials.

    But to achieve these breakthroughs, quantum computers will need to perform better than today’s best classical computers at solving real-world problems. And they’re not quite there yet. So what is still holding quantum computing back from becoming useful?

    In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to quantum computing expert Daniel Lidar at the University of Southern California in the US about what problems scientists are still wrestling with when it comes to scaling up quantum computing, and how close they are to overcoming them.

    Quantum computers harness the power of quantum mechanics, the laws that govern subatomic particles. Instead of the classical bits of information used by microchips inside traditional computers, which are either a 0 or a 1, the chips in quantum computers use qubits, which can be both 0 and 1 at the same time or anywhere in between. Daniel Lidar explains:

    “Put a lot of these qubits together and all of a sudden you have a computer that can simultaneously represent many, many different possibilities …  and that is the starting point for the speed up that we can get from quantum computing.”

    Faulty qubits

    One of the biggest problems scientist face is how to scale up quantum computing power. Qubits are notoriously prone to errors – which means that they can quickly revert to being either a 0 or a 1, and so lose their advantage over classical computers.

    Scientists have focused on trying to solve these errors through the concept of redundancy – linking strings of physical qubits together into what’s called a “logical qubit” to try and maximise the number of steps in a computation. And, little by little, they’re getting there.

    In December 2024, Google announced that its new quantum chip, Willow, had demonstrated what’s called “beyond breakeven”, when its logical qubits worked better than the constituent parts and even kept on improving as it scaled up.

    Lidar says right now the development of this technology is happening very fast:

    “For quantum computing to scale and to take off is going to still take some real science breakthroughs, some real engineering breakthroughs, and probably overcoming some yet unforeseen surprises before we get to the point of true quantum utility. With that caution in mind, I think it’s still very fair to say that we are going to see truly functional, practical quantum computers kicking into gear, helping us solve real-life problems, within the next decade or so.”

    Listen to Lidar explain more about how quantum computers and quantum error correction works on The Conversation Weekly podcast.

    This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Gemma Ware with assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and theme music by Neeta Sarl.

    Clips in this episode from Google Quantum AI and 10 Hours Channel.

    You can find us on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via e-mail. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s free daily e-mail here.

    Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here.

    Daniel Lidar receives funding from the NSF, DARPA, ARO, and DOE.

    – ref. How close are quantum computers to being really useful? Podcast – https://theconversation.com/how-close-are-quantum-computers-to-being-really-useful-podcast-248574

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Anti-immigration policies: why harsh new rules put in place by Trump and other rich countries won’t last

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Alan Hirsch, Research Fellow New South Institute, Emeritus Professor at The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town

    Donald Trump, America’s new president, has cut back massively on US commitments to asylum seekers, blocked all asylum processes and started to remove irregular immigrants.

    Trump’s new measures are far reaching. They include the suspension of the US refugee admissions programme. Flights booked for refugees to the US have been cancelled. Arrests and deportations have begun.

    Strongly anti-immigrant policies were also pursued under the Biden administration, though Trump’s dramatic steps take them much further. Other countries in the global north have also introduced tougher policies. The 2024 EU Pact on Migration and Asylum sets out tougher border controls, quicker assessment of asylum seekers and swifter removal of those who did not qualify. In the UK, Labour prime minister Keir Starmer has promised to bring down the net migration rate and treat people-smugglers like terrorists.

    Based on my research into migration over the past 30 years I believe that these measures are unlikely to last. There are two linked trends that make closing the borders of the global north impractical and destined for revision.

    The first is that populations in most of the global north are ageing fast (on average) and the fertility rate, or natural population growth rate, has plummeted. There are many more older people as a percentage of the population.

    Secondly, with a workforce shrinking and the dependency ratio (the proportion of non-working to working people) rising rapidly, closing borders to potential labourers from other countries, without any other change, would lead to declining living standards in the global north. Economic growth and government revenues would slow or stagnate, undermining infrastructure maintenance and social service provision.

    There are several possible strategies that could be alternatives to anti-immigration measures. Some older people could migrate south, robots and AI could do more work, workers in the global south could perform remote work for the north, and arrangements could be made to allow migrants into the north either permanently or as circulating migrants.

    All these strategies are already in use, if modestly. Their application would have to expand considerably.

    Misplaced panic

    The responses of governments in the global north are exaggerated. Governments putting in place tough anti-immigrant measures have done so on the back of a narrative that there’s been a significant rise in the number of migrants worldwide.

    This isn’t true. Some countries, such as the US, Germany and Colombia, have seen a spike in refugees and other migrants. But for the rest of the world the picture remains much the same as it has done for decades.

    Foreign-born residents (the most widely used definition of migrants) rose as a proportion of residents worldwide from 2.3% in 1970 to 3.6% in 2020. But in 1960 the number was over 3%, and in the late 1800s migrants made up somewhere between 3% and 5% of the global population.

    So, 3.6% is nothing new.

    As for refugees, in 2023 there were about 38 million, of whom 69% sought refuge in neighbouring countries and 75% in middle- and low-income countries.

    In general, therefore, rich countries have not been carrying the greatest burden.

    The real reason behind these tougher measures is that living standards have stagnated in many countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The cost and availability of housing have worsened; inequality has grown since the 1980s; the quality and availability of public services have deteriorated since the global financial crisis of 2008 and COVID-19; and the quality of employment has shifted to precarious work and poorly paid service sector occupations.

    This has contributed to the rise of populism, including anti-foreigner sentiment and even xenophobia.

    Trump’s actions are the most extreme yet. They include an order to block “aliens involved in the invasion” using “appropriate measures” that give the security forces further powers. The prohibition of southern border asylum hearings in the US and the instruction to “remain in Mexico” means that prospective asylum seekers from third countries may not cross the border to make their applications at the port of entry. They must apply remotely.

    Trump has also ordered that birthright citizenship must be limited to the children of certain categories of residents, essentially citizens or those with residence rights in the form of a “green card”. This move has been temporarily blocked in some states by judges as unconstitutional.

    In addition, the acting head of the Homeland Security Department gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials the power to deport migrants admitted temporarily into the US under several programmes of the Biden administration, targeting refugees from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, and possibly Afghan and Ukrainian refugees too.

    The very first bill to receive final approval from the US Congress under Trump’s second term, the Laken-Riley Act, would require the detention and deportation of migrants who enter the country without authorisation and are charged with certain crimes. This bill was passed with 263 votes and 156 votes against, meaning that 46 House Democrats supported the Republican bill.

    In contrast, in the global south, as I have discussed elsewhere, the trend has been in the opposite direction. South American regional communities liberalised migration most extensively in recent decades, but African regional communities have made progress too, as has the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

    The way forward

    Some alternative strategies are leading the way.

    In Canada, the Temporary Foreign Worker programme has expanded steadily since 1973, increasingly including long-term circulating migrating lower-skilled workers for key occupations like catering, care, construction and agriculture. Though it is currently under political scrutiny because of the panic in the north over migration, and because of housing shortages in Canada, it is likely to survive and evolve. Similar systems are emerging across the global north.

    In the EU, Talent Partnerships are now encouraged. Germany, for example, has talent partnerships with Kenya and Morocco, where they train health workers and IT technicians in those countries to work and live in Germany. Spain has various partnerships in Latin America and Africa. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has chosen to be upfront on the choices. In October last year he told the Spanish people:

    Spain needs to choose between being an open and prosperous country or a closed off poor country.

    The current fashion for population protectionism in the global north is increasingly nasty, but it is unlikely to stand the test of time. Several constructive responses to the rising dependency ratio are feasible, but being open to more migration, possibly in new forms and through new channels. is an inevitable part of the solution.

    New formal pathways for working migrants and reasonable systems for asylum seekers, along with full enforcement of rules against irregular migrants, could be the combination that works politically and economically.

    Alan Hirsch receives funding from the New South Institute for research and the University of Cape Town for advice and supervision.

    – ref. Anti-immigration policies: why harsh new rules put in place by Trump and other rich countries won’t last – https://theconversation.com/anti-immigration-policies-why-harsh-new-rules-put-in-place-by-trump-and-other-rich-countries-wont-last-248359

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Sustainable’ aviation fuel and other myths about green airport expansion debunked

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition

    Taking off: emissions from the aviation sector. WildSnap/Shutterstock

    Environmentalists and locals have resisted a third runway at London’s Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, for more than two decades. Today, their efforts took a major setback.

    The UK government has announced it will give the green light to airport expansion. This is not guaranteed to increase growth in the national economy as Chancellor Rachel Reeves hopes. More flights and more emissions are certain, however, at a time when experts are practically screaming at governments to rein them in.

    This roundup of The Conversation’s climate coverage comes from our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed.

    “No airport expansions should proceed” without a UK-wide plan to annually assess and control the sector’s climate impact said the government’s watchdog, the Climate Change Committee, in 2023. Aeroplanes are 8% of UK emissions and 2% of the world’s, but they also release gases that seed heat-trapping clouds in the upper atmosphere, which triples air travel’s greenhouse effect.

    While the government’s own advisers have effectively ruled out new runways for the sake of net zero, airport and airline bosses play a different tune. So what does the sector propose to manage its own pollution?

    Not enough cooking oil to save us

    Aviation is a notoriously difficult sector to decarbonise says Richard Sulley, a senior research fellow in sustainability policy at the University of Sheffield: “If electric or hydrogen-powered planes are possible, it won’t be for many years yet.”

    To justify air travel emissions ballooning in the meantime, the aviation sector has promised a mix of “supply-side” measures, like replacing kerosene with so-called “sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF), which Reeves described as “a game changer”, and making planes lighter and more fuel-efficient.

    Efficiency, in this context, is a slippery path to decarbonisation. When a high-emitting activity is reformed so that it consumes less energy, the efficiency savings are generally eclipsed by the increasing demand it drives.



    Read more:
    Expanding Heathrow is incompatible with net zero – here’s the evidence

    “Indeed, the sector’s own plans for growth will outstrip efforts to decarbonise through synthetic fuel, delivering a neutral effect at best,” Sulley says.

    Fuel consumption is the biggest emissions source in aviation.
    Sergey Ginak/Shutterstock

    “Demand-side” measures like fewer flights, taxes on frequent flying and domestic flight bans (see France) could cut emissions, he notes, but are seldom mentioned.

    The UK has set a target for airline fuel to be 10% SAF by 2030. So far we’re at 1.2% – and Sulley reports that the industry has not said how it will scale up in time.

    Even if airlines start taking their commitment to SAF seriously very soon, it’s a dubious solution to aviation’s climate impact according to political economists Gareth Dale (Brunel University) and Josh Moos (Leeds Beckett University).



    Read more:
    Why the world’s first flight powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel is a green mirage

    Earlier SAF test flights burned coconut oil – 3 million coconuts to power a journey from London to Amsterdam, as Dale and Moos calculate it. At that rate, they argue Heathrow would exhaust the world’s entire crop in a few weeks (there are 18,000 commercial airports worldwide).

    Modern SAF is blended with waste products from farms and kitchens. But the pair argue that the market for used cooking oil is “notoriously unregulated”. SAF may in fact be relabelled palm oil from plantations that are erasing orangutan habitat in the tropics. Again, Dale and Moos argue there is not enough used cooking oil to meet existing, let alone future, demand.

    Transport for the rich, by the rich

    At least the hype around SAF addresses the main problem, albeit misleadingly. Policy experts David Howarth (University of Essex) and Steven Griggs (De Montfort University) marvel at how often “carbon-neutral airports” in aviation sustainability strategies simply mean terminals powered by renewable energy.

    “A terminal’s heating or lighting is, of course, largely irrelevant when its core business is as emissions-intensive as flying,” says Sulley.



    Read more:
    Heathrow 2.0: a ‘sustainable airport’ that pretends no one has to choose between planes and pollution

    Unfortunately for Rachel Reeves, a 2023 report by the New Economics Foundation found that any economic benefits of airport expansion will be largely confined to the airports themselves. Meanwhile, a wealthy subset of UK society can be expected to capture the biggest share of any new flight capacity. Each year, around half of British residents do not fly at all, Sulley points out.

    At the stratospheric heights of that subset are the private jet passengers who are served by “more or less dedicated airports” that are more obscure to the general public, says Raymond Woessner, a geographer at Sorbonne Université. A study published in November found that emissions from these flights rose by 46% between 2019 and 2023. The lead author described wealthy passengers using jets “like taxis”.



    Read more:
    L’insolent succès des jets privés, entre empreinte carbone et controverses

    “Discretion and anonymity” is what one airport nestled in the Oxfordshire countryside promises for “routine celebrity, head of state and royal visits”. Without state direction or regulation, it is these people who are setting the agenda for air travel.

    Woessner notes that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, successfully lobbied to derail a high-speed rail project in California in 2013. Instead of an option that has shown its ability to cut flight demand, the US will be offered intercontinental rocket travel.



    Read more:
    With planning, high speed rail could reduce flight demand

    Musk’s company SpaceX says that rockets could ferry passengers between New York and Shanghai in under an hour. Rockets would burn “vastly more fuel per trip than conventional aircraft”, says aerospace engineer Angadh Nanjangud of Queen Mary University of London, but this might “drive critical research into carbon-neutral” methane-based rocket fuel.

    It would not be the first time an industry seeking to grow has used an as yet fantastical fuel to justify more carbon in Earth’s atmosphere.



    Read more:
    New York to Paris in 30 mins? How to achieve Elon Musk’s vision of rockets replacing long haul

    “There is the potential to create a good life for all within planetary boundaries,” say Dale and Moos.

    “But getting there requires clipping the wings of the aviation industry.”

    – ref. ‘Sustainable’ aviation fuel and other myths about green airport expansion debunked – https://theconversation.com/sustainable-aviation-fuel-and-other-myths-about-green-airport-expansion-debunked-248483

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Corporate transparency is a step toward a greener economy, but further change is needed

    Source: The Conversation – France – By Madlen Sobkowiak, Associate Professor in Social and Environmental Accounting, EDHEC Business School

    Could corporate transparency be one of the solutions to climate change? Or, at the very least, could it be a way to hold businesses accountable for their environmental impacts? Not by itself, according to our paper, “Shaping nature outcomes in corporate settings”, recently published by The Royal Society.

    Ninety-four percent of investors are doubtful of the validity of corporate sustainability reporting, citing unsupported claims, according to PwC’s Global Investor Survey 2023. And their skepticism is not unfounded.

    Indeed, our paper shows that while corporate transparency is a crucial first step toward a more sustainable economy, it alone will not be enough to drive positive corporate nature outcomes. For change to actually happen, three critical steps are needed: linking corporate actions to their environmental impact, embedding nature outcomes into daily operations and aligning financial incentives with ecological goals.

    The risk of greenwashing

    Even if there is a growing push for nature-related regulation, and especially nature-related disclosures, companies have only started to provide information about their nature-related performance, impacts and risks. This is the essence of the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) that came into effect in 2021 and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that came into effect in 2023. Both initiatives aim to strengthen transparency obligations on environmental, sustainable and governance (ESG) issues within the bloc. This is characteristic of a certain kind of governance, which uses mandated information disclosure as a way of regulating behaviour.

    Does it work? Not on its own, as companies still struggle to fully understand their impacts on nature or the impacts of their supply chain. And they often lack the knowledge and expertise to navigate the evolving and complex landscape of national and international sustainability reporting requirements, let alone take meaningful action. This could result in the dilution of the concept of transparency and a rise in greenwashing, the process of making false or misleading environmental claims.

    Greenwashing might distort relevant information that investors require to make decisions and, in the end, erode their trust in sustainability-related products and/or practices. A study commissioned by the European Union in 2023 found that 53% of green claims on products and services make vague, misleading or even unfounded claims, and 40% have no supporting evidence. In the United States, 68% of executives admitted to being guilty of greenwashing. In this context, the standardisation of sustainability reporting in the EU is necessary and overdue.

    Three key factors for corporate accountability

    My co-authors and I identify three conditions for information disclosures to positively impact nature outcomes: linking companies and ecosystems, translating aspiration into operations and shaping financial-system responsiveness.

    Our current approach, which uses disclosure requirements to drive company behaviour, may be limited, because providing information does not in itself encourage companies to fully achieve nature-positive impacts.

    Linking companies and ecosystems

    This first condition means putting in place radical traceability that links company actions to outcomes in particular settings. This would create the potential for companies to be held accountable regardless of whether they publish data, as well as incentives for them to produce their own data rather than having to respond to requirements created by third parties.

    One example is Cargill, a supplier for the food sector. In the company’s “South American Soy Sustainability Report”, it traces the soy it produces and purchases through its supply chain with locations in several South American countries. The sites are geospatially located with data on the degree of deforestation in each polygon obtained from satellite images. In this respect, traceability creates the possibility for nature accounts.

    Translating aspirations into operations

    This approach is about developing routines and tools that translate strategic intent into on-the-ground behaviour: in other words, linking knowledge and action. Even if companies are well informed about their impacts on nature, translating strategies to reduce impacts and restore nature into operational targets might be difficult. In this regard, it might be useful to translate ambitions into specific metrics that, once embedded in companies, create visibilities and routines that focus on making a change.

    For example, Holcim Spain, an aggregates and cement producer, has developed a monitoring system to evaluate restoration processes by studying nature assets. It has also studied resources based on field samples by cataloguing flora, identifying vegetation, establishing the distribution of birds and insects, assessing the status of biodiversity in the quarry and developing strategies and action plans. Monitoring of activities has been undertaken using a biodiversity index developed in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)‘s Biodiversity Indicator and Reporting System.

    Shaping financial-system responsiveness

    The final requirement relates to identifying how financial-system actors can enable company actions. To put it another way, it is about aligning financial incentives with environmental goals.

    Company owners and those who fund companies are the most powerful financial actors in this context. Financial stability relies on well-functioning ecosystems; indeed, recent studies have shown that climate change threatens it. Information governance could be used to draw investor attention to nature impacts, mirroring more developed interventions. An example of such a mechanism is the EU’s SFDR, which requires banks, insurers and asset managers to provide information about how they address sustainability risks.

    Another example comes from ASN Bank, which specialises in sustainability banking products and has developed a biodiversity footprinting tool for financial institutions to estimate the impacts of an investment portfolio and identify hotspots therein.

    Better information, less greenwashing

    The more solid, standardised and transparent corporate sustainability information is shared, the better we can combat the greenwashing that undermines the credibility of sustainability efforts. But, while disclosure is key, it is time we take its limits into account. For businesses, this implies adopting governance approaches that shape action and ceasing to rely solely on reporting.

    Madlen Sobkowiak ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

    – ref. Corporate transparency is a step toward a greener economy, but further change is needed – https://theconversation.com/corporate-transparency-is-a-step-toward-a-greener-economy-but-further-change-is-needed-243215

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Meditation and mindfulness at work are welcome, but do they help avoid accountability for toxic culture?

    Source: The Conversation – France (in French) – By Raysa Geaquinto Rocha, Assistant Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and lecturer, University of Essex

    In an age when home offices, hybrid work arrangements and blurred boundaries between work and personal life are the norm, a recently established narrative is intensifying: the integration of spirituality into business.

    This idea involves deliberately incorporating personal values and meaningful purpose into all aspects of organisational life – from individual expression to workplace practices and corporate identity. It’s an approach that seeks to cultivate environments where employees can find deeper meaning in their work while contributing to both economic and social progress, as my past research in the Journal of Business Ethics shows.

    Spirituality in business transcends traditional management methods by acknowledging the inner lives of workers, promoting their personal growth and fostering genuine community connections. According to a 2016 interview with Eileen Fisher, the founder and then CEO of a $450-million fashion brand, company meetings opened with the ring of a meditation bell followed by a minute of silence. Fisher said the practice allows employees “to get in touch with what they’re there for and what matters to them and show up a little differently” and has contributed to the company’s recognised leadership in sustainability and women’s advocacy.

    But are all corporate efforts like these genuine attempts to foster well-being, or can they instead be strategies to rebrand productivity demands?

    Spiritual well-being in business

    The incorporation of spirituality into the workplace represents a shift in how businesses approach leadership, employee wellbeing and corporate culture.

    Take ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry’s partnership with Greyston Bakery, a leader in social enterprise. Under their “linked prosperity” model, Ben & Jerry’s sources all brownies for its Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavour from Greyston, which operates with an “open hiring” policy that does not require a background check for applicants and provides “help with child care, housing and ESL (English as a second language) classes”. The partnership shows how valuing human dignity and community empowerment can reshape conventional business practices into drivers of social change.

    Spiritual integration manifests in plenty of other ways, too. Morning gatherings can become spaces for shared reflection rather than mere status updates. Dedicated quiet rooms can offer sanctuary for contemplation or prayer. Through mentorship relationships and community service initiatives, workplaces can evolve into environments where individuals can explore deeper questions about purpose. US outdoor clothing company Patagonia describes how it offers paid environmental internships and flexible policies that enable employees to align their work lives with how they see their authentic selves. These offerings reflect the idea that while people come to work to earn a living, they stay and thrive when work nourishes their spirit.

    The trend of integrating spirituality into the workplace taps into the practical wisdom of spiritual traditions, honed over millennia, to foster attributes like mindfulness, compassion and interconnectedness. But despite its benefits, integration – or lip service to it – risks becoming a convenient excuse for businesses to shift the responsibility for stress and burn-out onto employees instead of addressing systemic issues.

    The rise and fall of WeWork illustrates this phenomenon. As documented in both Hulu’s “WeWork: or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn” and Apple TV+’s dramatic series “WeCrashed”, the workspace company masterfully leveraged spiritual rhetoric to attract young professionals. While the company promoted meditation spaces and wellness initiatives, these benefits masked issues including unsustainable work expectations, questionable management practices and a sexual assault claim. The disconnect between WeWork’s offerings and operational reality demonstrates how companies can appropriate spiritual practices only as a veneer.

    When suits start talking spirit

    When McKinsey & Company, a US management consulting firm that epitomizes corporate pragmatism, releases a podcast titled “Beyond 9 to 5: The power of spiritual health in the workplace”, it is clear that spirituality in business has moved beyond the fringe.

    McKinsey’s global survey of 41,000 respondents, detailed in their May 2024 report “In search of self and something bigger: A spiritual health exploration”, found that spiritual health matters deeply to employees. But does this data reflect a genuine commitment to spirituality, or is it just a reflection of its currency in the corporate world?

    After almost half a century of research on spirituality in business, it has become a mature field. The Academy of Management, “an association for management and organizational scholars”, recognised Management, Spirituality, and Religion as a Division, [“reflecting”] a broad range of member interests”. Still, the corporate world’s interest is raising eyebrows: the suspicion remains that spirituality is merely being repackaged as a tool for enhancing productivity. In his 2019 book “McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality”, Ronald Purser illustrates this concern through Google’s “Search Inside Yourself” programme. While marketed as a path to employee wellness, the initiative exemplifies how meditation and mindfulness can be transformed into performance-enhancement tools, asking workers to develop “resilience” rather than addressing the root causes of workplace stress.

    The whole self at work

    The concept of bringing one’s “whole self” to work – a cornerstone of the Industry 5.0 concept promoted by the European Commission – emphasises employee authenticity. The idea of spirituality in the workplace intertwines with the idea of authentic self-expression, encompassing the recognition of one’s beliefs, values and quest for deeper meaning. These are dimensions historically excluded from professional settings. The idea is to create an environment where people can align their deepest motivations with their work.

    While this ideal is noble in concept, it also raises complex questions about which aspects of our “whole selves” are appropriate to bring into the workplace. In 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of a job applicant whom the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch refused to hire because her hijab conflicted with its dress code. Delta Airlines’ uniform policy revision last July illuminates the ongoing complexity of the issue. Following a controversy that began when a passenger made a social media post describing two flight attendants’ Palestinian flag pins – which were permitted under existing policy – as “Hamas badges”, the airline banned all national flag pins except US ones.

    Juggling multiple selves

    The promise of integrating our identities more seamlessly instead of compartmentalizing them features in the Apple TV series Severance. The show presents a dystopian take on work-life balance in which employees surgically separate their work and personal memories, inviting us to reflect on the identities we balance in our professional and personal lives. The character of Mark Scout, whose “innie” (work self) develops genuine connections with colleagues like Helly, demonstrates how even artificially separated selves seek authentic relationships and meaning. However, when these connections begin to flourish, employer Lumon Industries’ harsh punishments and control mechanisms kick in – suggesting that true workplace innovation and collaboration can only emerge when we’re allowed to bring our whole, unsevered selves to work.

    By acknowledging and nurturing the various aspects of our personalities, we might attain new levels of connection in the workplace. But could the integration of spirituality and work lead to an environment where employees are perpetually “on”? A risk lies in creating a culture where work infiltrates every aspect of life, leaving no true respite. The very practices meant to nurture the spirit could paradoxically become tools that further blur the boundaries between professional obligations and personal renewal. A constant connection to work erodes personal boundaries, which can lead to stress and dissatisfaction that spills over into personal life. Addressing this “shadow side” is essential if we are to answer the question “Do you believe in life after work?” with a resounding yes.

    A balanced approach

    The integration of spirituality into business requires genuine commitment. While spiritual practices can bring multiple benefits, they must emerge from authentic values rather than serving as a quick fix for systemic issues.

    Since the 1980s, when major corporations first explored Eastern spirituality, workplace spirituality has evolved into a $7.9 billion meditation market. But as companies invest in meditation apps and mindfulness programmes, they often fail to address the root causes of workplace stress and burn-out. Today, well-intentioned apps like CHILL Anywhere risk functioning as band-aids that place the burden of stress management on employees, instead of examining issues like unrealistic workloads, inadequate compensation, toxic leadership or prejudice.

    Instrumentalizing spiritual practices into productivity tools fundamentally misses the point: true spirituality in business requires organizations to critically examine and transform the structural conditions that create employee suffering in the first place. Until companies commit to addressing these foundational issues, meditation rooms and mindfulness apps will remain superficial solutions that enable rather than challenge harmful workplace dynamics.

    The future workplace should aim to harmonise profit and purpose, recognising that employee well-being is integral to long-term success. Spirituality in business manifests when organisations commit to both business excellence and human flourishing – addressing foundational concerns while nurturing deeper meaning and purpose. Only then can the promise of bringing our whole selves to work become a reality worth believing in.

    Raysa Geaquinto Rocha ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

    – ref. Meditation and mindfulness at work are welcome, but do they help avoid accountability for toxic culture? – https://theconversation.com/meditation-and-mindfulness-at-work-are-welcome-but-do-they-help-avoid-accountability-for-toxic-culture-244587

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Is no amount of alcohol safe? Understanding risks and public health guidelines

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Scott Lear, Professor of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

    While it may be true that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, are alarmist statements a good motivator for health messaging, or is there danger to using them? (Shutterstock)

    The United States surgeon general recently called for a warning of cancer risk on alcohol labels. And I agree. But the discourse that has come out in the media, by health professionals and health influencers, has been alarmist and a disservice to informing the public on the real cancer risks associated with alcohol.

    I’m a professor in Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and I study how behaviours relate to the disease. I also write a blog on the role health behaviours play in your health.

    Alcohol and cancer risk

    The surgeon general’s comments follow reports from the World Health Organization and Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, both of which state there is no safe amount of alcohol you can consume.

    This has been repeated by health professionals, those in public health and on social media, where health influencers have described alcohol as a toxin.

    But are these alarmist statements a good motivator for health messaging, or is there danger to using them?

    Statistically, your risk for cancer goes up from the very first sip of alcohol. That doesn’t mean you will get cancer from drinking alcohol, it just means your chances increase. And as you drink more alcohol, your chances further increase. It’s like betting in roulette: the more numbers you bet on, the more likely you are to win. Or in this case, lose.

    Out of 800 women, one drink per week will result in two additional women getting breast cancer.
    (Shutterstock)

    However, what’s lost in this messaging is how much this risk is. Based on Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, having one drink per week increases a women’s risk for breast cancer by 1.8 per cent. Approximately one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their life. Therefore, out of 800 women, one drink per week will result in two additional women getting breast cancer. Having one drink per day increases the risk seven-fold. These are real people who might otherwise not get breast cancer if they abstained from alcohol.

    While saying no amount of alcohol is safe is true, this can apply to a lot of common activities. In Canada, there are approximately 300 pedestrian deaths per year. Each day, on average, five Canadians die in motor vehicle accidents.

    While these numbers are much lower than the number of people who die from cancer each year, it would also be accurate to say there is no amount of walking or driving that is safe. Despite this, people will continue to cross the street and people will continue to drive. But this illustrates the challenge in informing the public about risks and changing behaviour.

    Fear in public health messaging

    The use of fear in public health messaging should only be used if there’s an effective solution. In the case of alcohol, there is: abstinence.
    (Shutterstock)

    The use of fear in public health has a long history. But measuring the effect of these campaigns is hard. Graphic images are used on tobacco products to scare people away from smoking. Carefully controlled studies indicate they increase health awareness but may have limited effect on smoking. However, similar graphic images on bottles of sugar-sweetened beverages in controlled studies has been shown to reduce consumption.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, fear was at the forefront of public health efforts to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, the use of fear in public health messaging seemed to be quite an effective tool in ensuring behavioural compliance in pandemic measures. Community interviews of parents showed fear was at the root of both getting their children vaccinated (fear of the disease) or not (fear of the vaccination).

    The use of fear in public health messaging should only be used if there’s an effective solution. In the case of alcohol, there is: abstinence. But the use of fear should also be commensurate with the risk, otherwise it risks having people tune out.

    This may be particularly problematic when previous guidelines stated beneficial effects of moderate drinking and current guidelines on alcohol state one to two drinks per day is acceptable. Instead, the public may be best served by communicating the risk in terms the public understands, such as how many more people will get cancer from drinking.

    Alcohol should have a warning label on it

    Alcohol consumption in Canada is on the decline. In 2022, alcohol consumption decreased by 1.2 per cent compared to 2021. And in 2023, 54 per cent of Canadians reported having no alcohol over the previous week, with younger Canadians drinking less than their older counterparts. These trends are similar in the United States.

    More than 40 countries have a warning label on alcohol (although far fewer mention cancer), but Canada and many European countries are not included. They should be. Alcohol is a highly addictive substance that can destroy the lives of those addicted to it and those around them. It impairs judgment and accounts for dozens of deaths per year from drinking and driving.

    Pregnant women drinking alcohol also increase their risk of their child having fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Alcohol is also a drug you can overdose from.

    Warning labels on alcohol are a good step to reduce health risks, as long as they are clear and informative.

    Scott Lear receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Hamilton Health Sciences, and has received funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Novo Nordisk, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

    – ref. Is no amount of alcohol safe? Understanding risks and public health guidelines – https://theconversation.com/is-no-amount-of-alcohol-safe-understanding-risks-and-public-health-guidelines-247883

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Village People’s YMCA is actually a great fit for team Trump

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By William Rees, PhD Candidate in Modern American History, University of Exeter

    It was a bizarre sight watching a huge gay 1970s disco hit being performed at Donald Trump’s 2025 pre-inauguration rally. Many prominent artists from Beyoncé to Bruce Springsteen prohibit Trump from using their music. So why do Village People – a band synonymous with the 1970s gay liberation movement – allow their music to be associated with a political movement that has fixed and repressive ideas about sexual identity and morality?

    Village People’s recent incarnation has had a complicated relationship with the “make America great again” movement (Maga). In 2020, their song YMCA began featuring at Maga anti-lockdown rallies and soon became a prominent song in Trump’s re-election campaign.

    At the time, the band asked Trump not to use its music and later supported Kamala Harris for the presidency in 2024. Since then Village People have dramatically changed tack.

    To be clear, of the group that performed at Trump’s pre-inauguration rally, only one of the original Village People remains. The band, put together by the gay producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo in 1978, was named after New York’s Greenwich Village gay scene.

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    In the 1970s, the group was mostly gay-fronted except the first recruit, lead singer and co-songwriter Victor Willis (sometimes the policeman, sometimes the admiral figure). Willis took control of the name and the hits in 2017 after an out-of-court settlement with co-owner Henri Belolo.

    Willis is now the only member of the original line up still performing under the official band name. Perhaps to ensure mainstream popularity, he has tried to move Village People away from its gay associations – the biography on the band’s website makes no mention of the act’s significance to queer audiences. He recently wrote on Facebook that he will sue every news organisation that suggests “YMCA is somehow a gay anthem”.

    Victor Willis, the last remaining original member of Village People in a 1978 video for Just A Gigolo.

    But it’s difficult to untangle Village People from queer history as it was the trendsetting gay community of underground disco culture that made them famous. Record companies selected the songs and artists to promote based on how DJs reported their popularity in the hottest clubs. Many of these clubs were gay dominated, and disco itself was tied up with the growing confidence of the gay liberation movement in America and the era of sexual liberalisation that followed the 1960s.

    Jacques Morali put together Village People knowing the band could offer influential gay clubbers something they had always been denied: cultural representation, and with it, acknowledgement of their existence.

    It worked. One self-proclaimed “disco doll” writing to LGBTQ+ newspaper The Advocate in 1978 recalled first hearing Village People: “The music was very hot … and the words were about us, about our scene. I couldn’t believe it.”

    Village People’s innuendos and knowing references to gay culture often went over the heads of many straight listeners. Songs like Macho Man and the group’s hypermasculine image epitomised the “clone” movement in 1970s gay culture.

    Queer men, long derided for being effeminate, would bulk up at the gym and dress in leathers like bikers, effectively becoming more of an embodiment of masculinity than straight men. Go West was a reference to San Francisco’s more liberal environment for gay men. The YMCA was a place to “hang out with all the boys”.

    But skyrocketing into the mainstream made Village People an awkward fit for gay disco culture. This vibrant community wanted their own scene that was not part of the mainstream. They felt betrayed by a band publicly denying their gayness as they juggled the hardcore homosexual audience that had made them famous alongside a family-friendly audience.

    The backlash was fierce. A 1978 letter to gay lib magazine The Body Politic declared: “The commercial exploiters are disguising it to gain the commercially lucrative straight audience”, describing Village People as “traitors of the worst kind”.

    But even if they became momentarily unpopular in the hottest gay clubs, for many LGBTQ+ people, Village People’s hits have endured as anthems played at queer nights and Pride events. In their sound, appearance and sheer 1970-ness, they are undeniably camp icons.

    Which of course leads many to question why people attending Trump’s rallies – hardly famous for their inclusivity – would embrace their music. One explanation is that Maga audiences simply do not care about past gay associations as the music is simple, catchy and positive.

    Another is that just like the 1970s, the queer messaging of Village People’s music still goes over the heads of straight Maga audiences. Perhaps despite its past gay associations, they are consciously trying to culturally repurpose disco for their own movement. Or they’re trying to be ironic.

    Most likely, though, the music might have a particular meaning to LGBTQ+ audiences, it has other meanings depending on the context in which it is played. To many, Village People are the epitome of a novelty, apolitical pop group. Their hits are associated with weddings, children’s parties and good-time disco. The prosaic truth may be that Trump fans just enjoy a really catchy tune.

    But for Trump’s team, the use of these songs is politically calculated toward their core supporters who have changed the lyrics of YMCA to “MAGA”. And don’t forget Village People were joined at the pre-inauguration rally by WWE wrestling’s Hulk Hogan. Both are nostalgic late 20th-century acts that revel in blatant performances of muscled masculinity.

    They seem to be the embodiment of that imagined past of American virility that Trump vaguely refers to when he promises to make the nation “great again”. It’s not difficult to work out what Trump’s message is, especially when he dances along to Macho Man at rallies.

    Both these acts are carnivalesque, like Trump himself. They indicate an era of politics as spectacle, but beneath the surface messages, we must carefully pay attention to what is actually being said and done.

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

    – ref. Why Village People’s YMCA is actually a great fit for team Trump – https://theconversation.com/why-village-peoples-ymca-is-actually-a-great-fit-for-team-trump-248457

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Philly Whole Foods store becomes first to unionize – a labor expert explains what’s next and how Trump could stall workers’ efforts

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Paul F. Clark, Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, Penn State

    Workers at a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia voted 130-100 to unionize. Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

    Whole Foods workers at the Philadelphia flagship store in the city’s Art Museum area voted to unionize on Jan. 27, 2025. They are the first store in the Amazon-owned grocery chain to do so.

    Paul Clark, a professor of labor and employment relations at Penn State University, talked to Kate Kilpatrick, The Conversation U.S. Philadelphia editor, about why this is happening – and why in Philly.

    The Whole Foods workers in Philadelphia voted 130-100 in favor of unionizing. What do we know about their grievances?

    From what I understand, these workers have felt that compensation, benefits and work conditions were not what they should be. Some are long-standing employees and say they struggle to afford their basic necessities.

    Why did the union drive effort succeed now, and in Philly?

    In the last five years, there has been a surge in union organizing. There are a number of reasons for this. First is the labor market. Low unemployment emboldens workers to take the risk of organizing a union. If workers feel their employer can’t replace them or that they can easily get a similar job, they are less fearful of angering the employer by trying to organize.

    The second reason is that the Biden administration was a labor-friendly administration – perhaps the most in history. The U.S. president appoints a majority of members to the National Labor Relations Board, which interprets and enforces the labor law that governs organizing. Under Biden, the NLRB regularly issued decisions that provided greater protection to workers and held employers accountable when they violated workers’ rights. During Republican administrations, the board’s decisions are generally pro-business and provide less protection to workers. So workers had the wind at their back in that regard.

    Also recent polling shows that 70% of Americans approve of unions, compared with less than half of Americans just 15 years ago. The generally favorable view of unions creates a more supportive environment for organizing.

    And the last factor is that Generation Z, the youngest group of workers, clearly wants more out of their work and employment than previous generations. So we see a lot of young workers across the country organizing at Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Apple and now at Whole Foods and other stores.

    Why Philadelphia? Philadelphia is a relatively strong union town. The percentage of the workforce that is represented by a union is higher in Philadelphia than in most cities and areas of the country. So when workers express interest in organizing in Philadelphia they get a lot of support. Other unions might turn out members for their rallies, pressure the company to not oppose the organizing drive and offer other aid and assistance.

    The starting wage at the Philadelphia Whole Foods store is US$16 an hour. Is that considered low when the city’s minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour?

    The minimum wage in Philadelphia is $7.25 because that is the federal minimum wage. States can institute a higher minimum wage if they choose to, but Pennsylvania is one of the few Northeast states that hasn’t adopted a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum. The minimum wages in New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, for example, are $15 or above.

    But the minimum wage in Pennsylvania is almost irrelevant because of today’s labor market. Unemployment is low, and many employers have to offer significantly more than the minimum wage to get workers.

    And the minimum wage is supposed to be a starting wage for workers with little experience or seniority. What workers want is a living wage. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single person in Philadelphia needs to earn around $24 per hour to cover the basic costs of living. And Whole Foods is a profitable business. It’s part of Amazon, one of the most profitable, largest companies in the world. I think workers at these companies believe that they play an important role in generating those profits because of the work they do. And they think they should get a fair share of those profits.

    How might the Whole Foods workers expect the company to fight back?

    When employees win an organizing election as the Whole Food workers have, they have won a battle but not the war. The purpose of forming a union is to improve wages and benefits and working conditions, and you do that by negotiating a contract with the company. That is the next step in the process. But the law only requires employers to bargain with employees – to meet at reasonable times and exchange proposals. It doesn’t compel them to agree to anything.

    The typical strategy of companies that aggressively oppose their workers having a union is to drag their feet in bargaining and not sign a contract. That is technically illegal, but labor law in the U.S. is relatively weak, and with good legal advice you can drag out bargaining for a very long time.

    We’ve seen this with the Starbucks campaign. The first Starbucks store unionized in 2021. Over 540 stores have organized since then. And Starbucks workers at those stores still do not have a contract.

    Could the new Trump administration have any impact on how this plays out in Philly?

    The fact that the Trump administration has taken over gives companies more confidence that the standard delay strategy will work.

    On Jan. 28, 2025, President Donald Trump fired Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel of the NLRB. The general counsel is the official at the board who basically enforces the National Labor Relations Act. Abruzzo was very aggressive in holding employers accountable if they violated the act and in protecting the rights of workers who tried to organize.

    Trump’s approach to labor law in his first four years in office was at the other extreme. He appointed as general counsel Peter Robb, who was seen as far less aggressive in protecting workers’ rights and his interpretations of the law were much more pro-business.

    Under the Biden administration, if a company was coming to the bargaining table month after month and not agreeing to anything, the NLRB would eventually step in and cite the employer for not bargaining in good faith. The NLRB could find the employer guilty of unfair labor practices and genuinely put pressure on it to bargain a contract.

    Based on the board’s actions during the first Trump administration, the board in the next few years will be more likely to allow companies to delay and delay in reaching a contract.

    What leverage do the Whole Foods employees have?

    They can go on strike. But Amazon has the resources to put up with a strike at one Whole Foods store forever.

    Other Whole Foods stores may be considering union drives. The more stores that organize, the more momentum the Philadelphia store will have. But for now, these workers in Philly are going to have their work cut out for them.

    That said, they won’t be alone. The Whole Foods workers organized with the UFCW Local 1776, which is basically a statewide union that’s been around for decades. It has a lot of resources and experienced and knowledgeable leaders, plus the resources of the national UFCW. So it’s going to lean into this fight, and these workers will also have a lot of support from the rest of the labor community in Philadelphia.

    Earlier this month, three Congressional representatives from Pennsylvania wrote a letter to Jason Buechel, the Whole Foods CEO, and to Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, that expressed their concerns about efforts to suppress the union drive. Is that support typical?

    It’s not unusual. But there is no legal basis for elected officials to intervene in a labor-management dispute. I’d put that under the heading of community support.

    You have a lot of progressive elected officials in Philadelphia who are supportive of unions, and that’s true in Pennsylvania right up to the governor.

    Paul F. Clark 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. Philly Whole Foods store becomes first to unionize – a labor expert explains what’s next and how Trump could stall workers’ efforts – https://theconversation.com/philly-whole-foods-store-becomes-first-to-unionize-a-labor-expert-explains-whats-next-and-how-trump-could-stall-workers-efforts-248513

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Will the US get to Mars quicker if it drops or delays plans to visit the Moon?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University

    Esteban De Armas/Shutterstock

    The Artemis program has been Nasa’s best chance to get “boots on the Moon” again. But with the new US administration taking guidance from tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is focused on Mars colonisation, will they end up abandoning or pushing back lunar missions?

    For example, there’s been speculation that returning US president Donald Trump may cancel the Space Launch System rocket, which Nasa intended to use to get from the Moon to Mars. But is this approach likely to help them get to Mars quicker?

    The last human presence on the lunar surface was Apollo 17 in 1972. So you may imagine that it should be easy for the US to return. However there have been plans to once again send people there since 2004, which have changed name with each incoming president, until its current incarnation as the Artemis program.

    The 2022 Artemis-1 test flight was successful in its mission to send an unmanned satellite around the lunar orbit and return using the new SLS rocket system. But Artemis-2, which will carry crew, is not scheduled for launch until 2026. When we consider private companies and other nations, this is comparatively slow progress.

    Artemis mission.
    Nasa

    The first successful landing of a spacecraft on the Moon by the Indian Space Agency, Isro, took place in 2023 with Chaandrayan-3, which was an amazing achievement with a low budget. China landed in 2013 with Chang’e 3, and Chang’e 4 in 2019 on the dark side.

    Russia have previously had landers on the Moon. Their more recent attempt at a lunar landing with Luna-25 was unsuccessful though. There are also future lander missions planned by the European Space Agency with Argonaut, a private Israeli company and other private industries. Clearly, there is no shortage of potential competitors which could eventually develop to send humans too.

    Implications for Mars

    So would turning to Martian exploration be a sensible move instead of heading for the Moon? It would likely mean abandoning the Lunar Gateway project, a space station in orbit around the Moon where astronauts could live. But as this is not planned until 2027 at the earliest, this would seem acceptable.

    However the difference between going to the Moon and going to Mars is like the difference between walking to the end of your road compared to walking to another country.

    Besides the incredible difference in distance (the distance to travel to Mars is 833 times greater than that of the distance to the Moon), the time taken to get there is far longer as well. The optimal lunar launch conditions repeat once a month. And you could still launch at times that are not ideal.

    The optimal fuel route for Mars involves arriving when the two planets are roughly on opposite sides of the Sun. This launch window repeats every 18 months, and the journey time of nine months means any problems onboard will need to be fixed by the crew, with no rescue option. Faster routes can be achieved (roughly six months) but this then becomes very energy intensive.

    This is why the lunar gateway would come in handy, allowing astronauts to take off from the Moon, away from the Earth’s immense gravity, and head to Mars from there. Of course the material for the gateway would need to be sent to the lunar gateway first. But by splitting the energy requirements up it means slower but more efficient propulsion methods can be used for part of the Mars journey.

    There is no doubt that, with some work, SpaceX will be able to make a landing on Mars. But will they be able to safely take people there and get them back? As a company the idea of profit will be a strong factor, along with astronaut safety. We only have to look at some of the more recent Boeing problems (astronauts have been stuck on the International Space Station for seven months at time of writing) to see that private companies may want to slow down a bit when it comes to transporting people.

    This is unlikely to happen though, with the considerable influence of Musk on the White House administration, and the suggestion of fellow billionaire Jared Isaacman (a private astronaut) as the new head of Nasa.

    Critical decisions

    So two options for Nasa to choose from: either keep going with their Artemis program and abandon the Lunar Gateway, or aim for Mars and be primarily dependent on Musk.

    Funding both options will likely mean that neither ever happens. Of course, the Mars mission would be easier if the gateway was already present at the Moon.

    The timelines involved here are important. SpaceX states that it will send five uncrewed Starships to Mars next year with an aim to send humans to Mars in 2028. This seems ambitious, particularly as it involves refuelling in orbit, but if additional funds and material are put towards the project it could potentially be sooner than this.

    As the lunar gateway would be built at the earliest in 2027, then it’d be unlikely to be operational in 2028 anyway. So prioritising Mars exploration over the lunar gateway may indeed get us to Mars quicker – but it will be risky.

    If the US pulls out of plans to explore the Moon, other nations can expand their presence in those areas more easily – with the potential to have an easier route to launch to Mars. These are likely to be on much longer time scales though, but if Musk fails to get humans to Mars in the next few years, these countries may have an edge.

    The conditions on Mars are slightly more favourable for human presence, with at least some atmospheric pressure and the potential for mining water. But as many studies have shown, it has no potential for terraforming, the process of altering a planet to make it more habitable for humans.

    The increased distance from the Sun also means that solar panels are slightly less effective, and Mars is not rich in deposited solar Helium-3, which can be used as a fuel for nuclear fusion.

    Of course the challenge is what excites many people and it may be a risk worth taking. But this decision should be left with the experts in the field, rather than politicians and billionaires.

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

    – ref. Will the US get to Mars quicker if it drops or delays plans to visit the Moon? – https://theconversation.com/will-the-us-get-to-mars-quicker-if-it-drops-or-delays-plans-to-visit-the-moon-248046

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Tonsils can grow back after they’ve been removed – here’s which other body parts can regenerate

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Taylor, Professor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre, Lancaster University

    The human body is composed of over 37 trillion cells, each with a limited lifespan. These cells are continuously replaced to maintain organ and system function. Yet over time, or as a result of damage, the number of functioning cells can decrease to a level that causes symptoms or even organ failure.

    Regeneration of organs and systems is a scientific holy grail that relies on stem cells, but due to their limited number and slow division rate, this isn’t a practical route to organ regeneration. It would take many years to repopulate all the cell types needed.

    However, some people see organs “reappear”, like Katy Golden who had her tonsils removed for a second time as an adult after they grew back over 40 years.

    One reason that tonsils may grow back is that one of the operations to remove them is a partial tonsillectomy. Only removing part of the tonsils leads to a quicker recovery and fewer complications, but around 6% of children may see regrowth, which may require further surgery in later life.

    Most people associate organ regrowth and regeneration with the liver. As little as 10% of the liver can regrow into a fully functioning liver. This is also how partial liver transplants allow the donor to “regrow” a normal sized and fully functioning liver.

    One organ that has a surprising capacity to regenerate is the spleen and sometimes it can regenerate without people realising.

    The spleen is a high-risk organ for injury and is the most commonly injured organ in blunt abdominal trauma during traffic collisions, sporting injuries or trivial activities such as bumping into furniture.

    The spleen is at high risk because it has lots of blood vessels and hence lots of blood, but is only surrounded by a thin capsule that can tear in trauma, allowing blood to leak out. This can result in death if not treated promptly.

    What may also happen is small pieces of the spleen – sometimes just a few cells – can become free in the abdomen and go on to “grow” where they settle – termed splenosis, going on to have similar functional activity to a mature, normally located spleen. This can be beneficial for those who have to have their spleen removed due to traumatic injury, with some reports suggesting regeneration in up to 66% of patients.

    In the last few years, our lungs have also been shown to have regenerative capacity. It is well known that smoking and other pollutants destroy the alveoli (tiny air sacs) where oxygen is passed to the blood. Stopping smoking has been shown to allow cells that have avoided damage from the cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke to help regenerate and repopulate the lining of parts of the airways with healthy cells.

    Where a lung has been removed, the remaining lung has to adapt to support the tissues of the body and ensure enough oxygen gets to them. Studies have shown that the remaining lung increases the number of alveoli it has, rather than the remaining alveoli compensating by getting bigger to take up more oxygen.

    It isn’t just organs inside that regenerate. One organ that constantly does so on a humongous scale is the skin.

    As the largest organ, it has multiple barrier functions to keep things such as water in and germs out. With a surface area of almost 2m², the skin requires a significant amount of regeneration to replenish the 500,000,000 cells that are lost each day – that’s over 2g of skin cells per day.

    Tissue regeneration is much more common

    One of the most active regenerative tissues is the endometrial lining of the uterus which is shed every 28 days as part of the menstrual cycle and goes through about 450 cycles of this during a woman’s life.

    This layer varies between 0.5 and 18mm in thickness depending on the stage of the menstrual cycle, the functional cells that are lost along with the blood from vessels that support a fertilised egg if it implants.

    Men’s genitalia can also show regeneration. Vasectomy, which removes a piece of the tube (vas deferens) connecting the testes to the openings in the urethra, is used to reduce the chance of pregnancy by preventing sperm moving from the testes out of the penis.

    However, the cut ends of the ducts have shown regenerative capacity and reconnected. Some sections, where up to 5cm has been restricted or removed, have shown regeneration, even through scar tissue. This “recanalisation” can result in unexpected pregnancies.

    Bone is another tissue that can regenerate. If you’ve ever broken a bone, you’ll know that it repairs so that (eventually) you will regain function.

    This process of repairing the break takes six to eight weeks. But the process of regenerating the bone architecture and strength continues for months and years beyond this date.

    However, with increasing age and in post-menopausal woman, this process slows and the bone may not regenerate to its previous strength or structure.

    Where paired organs exist and one is lost, there is good evidence that the remaining organ can increase its functional ability to help the body cope with maintaining function. For example, when one kidney is removed, the remaining kidney enlarges to handle the extra workload, filtering blood and eliminating waste efficiently.

    Although organ regeneration is rare, it does happen and typically takes years to manifest because organs are complex structures. Work continues to try to understand how scientists can develop this knowledge to help with the shortage of donor organs. Thankfully, tissue regeneration happens much more often than many people might suppose, and it is a much-needed part of staying alive.

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

    – ref. Tonsils can grow back after they’ve been removed – here’s which other body parts can regenerate – https://theconversation.com/tonsils-can-grow-back-after-theyve-been-removed-heres-which-other-body-parts-can-regenerate-246653

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why we should all try to eat like people in rural Papua New Guinea – new study

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jens Walter, Professor at the School of Microbiology, University College Cork

    Tanya Keisha/Shutterstock

    Western diets – high in processed foods and low in fibre – are associated with obesity, diabetes and heart disease. These diets don’t only harm our bodies, they also harm our gut microbiomes, the complex community of bacteria, fungi and viruses found in our intestinal tract that are important for our health.

    Scientists, including my colleagues and me, are actively searching for ways to create healthy microbiomes to prevent chronic diseases. And my search has taken me to Papua New Guinea.

    I have long been fascinated by this country, with its remote valleys almost untouched by the modern world until 1930, more than 800 languages, an ancient system of sustenance agriculture and entire communities living a non-industrialised lifestyle. This fascination kicked off a thrilling nine-year research project involving researchers from eight countries, which led to a paper published in the scientific journal Cell.

    In previous research, my team studied the gut microbiomes of rural Papua New Guineans. We discovered microbiomes that are more diverse than their westernised counterparts, enriched in bacteria that thrive on dietary fibre, and with lower levels of inflammation-causing bacteria that are typically found in people who eat highly processed foods.

    This information provided hints on how to perhaps redress the damage caused to our gut microbiomes.

    The traditional diet in rural Papua New Guinea is rich in unprocessed plant-based foods that are full of fibre but low in sugar and calories, something I was able to see for myself on a field trip to Papua New Guinea. Determined to create something everyone could use to benefit their health, our team took what we saw in Papua New Guinea and other non-industrialised societies to create a new diet we call the NiMe (non-industrialised microbiome restore) diet.

    What sets NiMe apart from other diets is that it is dominated by vegetables (such as leafy greens) and legumes (such as beans) and fruit. It only contains one small serving of animal protein per day (salmon, chicken or pork), and it avoids highly processed foods.

    Dairy, beef and wheat were excluded from the human trial because they are not part of the traditional diet in rural Papua New Guinea. The other characteristic distinction of the diet is a substantial dietary fibre content. In our trial, we went for around 45g of fibre a day, which exceeds the recommendations in dietary guidelines.

    One of my PhD students got creative in the kitchen designing recipes that would appeal to a person used to typical western dishes. These meals allowed us to develop a meal plan that could be tested in a strictly controlled study in healthy Canadian adults.

    Remarkable results

    We saw remarkable results including weight loss (although participants didn’t change their regular calorie intake), a drop in bad cholesterol by 17%, decreased blood sugar by 6%, and a 14% reduction in a marker for inflammation and heart disease called C-reactive protein. These benefits were directly linked to improvements in the participants’ gut microbiome, specifically, microbiome features damaged by industrialisation.

    On a western diet low in dietary fibre, the gut microbiome degrades the mucus layer in the gut, which leads to inflammation. The NiMe diet prevented this process, which was linked to a reduction in inflammation.

    The diet also increased beneficial bacterial metabolites (byproducts) in the gut, such as short-chain fatty acids, and in the blood, such as indole-3-propionic acid – a metabolite that has been shown to protect against type 2 diabetes and nerve damage.

    Research also shows that low dietary fibre leads to gut microbes ramping up protein fermentation, which generates harmful byproducts that may contribute to colon cancer.

    In fact, there is a worrying trend of increased colon cancer in younger people, which may be caused by recent trends towards high-protein diets or supplements. The NiMe diet increased carbohydrate fermentation at the expense of protein fermentation, and it reduced bacterial molecules in the participants’ blood that are linked to cancer.

    The findings from our research show that a dietary intervention targeted towards restoring the gut microbiome can improve health and reduce disease risk. The NiMe diet offers a practical roadmap to achieve this, by providing recipes that were used in our study. It allows anyone interested in healthy eating to improve their diet to feed their human cells and their microbiome.

    Jens Walter has received honoraria and/or paid consultancy from PrecisionBiotics/Novonesis A/S. NiMe is a trademark of Anissa M. Armet and Jens Walter.

    The research described in this article was supported by the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative, PrecisionBiotics Group Ltd., the “Hundred Talents Program” Research Start-up Fund of Zhejiang University, Alberta Innovates Postgraduate Fellowship, Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, the Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship, the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship, the Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship, the University of Alberta Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship, the Campus Alberta Innovates Program, the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Science Foundation Ireland Centre grant to APC microbiome Ireland (APC/SFI/12/RC/2273_P2) and a Science Foundation Ireland Professorship (19/RP/6853).

    I would like to thank the people of Papua New Guinea whose way of life has been an inspriation for the development of the NiMe diet, and the participants of the human trial. I am deeply indepted to all the collaborators and the scientific institutions that have contributed to the research (please see author list and affiliations on publication). I would like to thank Prof. Andrew Greenhill (Federation University, Australia) and Prof William Pomat (Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research) for hosting me in Papua New Guina in 2019. I would further like to thank Jessica Stanisich and Tina Darb from the APC Microbiome Ireland for their help with this article.

    – ref. Why we should all try to eat like people in rural Papua New Guinea – new study – https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-all-try-to-eat-like-people-in-rural-papua-new-guinea-new-study-248064

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The scale of England’s special educational needs crisis

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Glazzard, Rosalind Hollis Professor of Education for Social Justice, University of Hull

    ESB Professional/Shutterstock

    A group of MPs has delivered a blistering verdict on the state special educational needs in England. In a new report, the public accounts committee call the system “unaffordable” and warn that the Department for Education (DfE) “risks a lost generation of children leaving school without receiving the help they need”.

    Special educational needs support is administered by local authorities, and they are struggling to cope.

    There has been a 140% increase in the number of children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans since 2015. EHC plans are reserved for those with complex needs.

    ECH plans are designed to ensure that children get the support they are entitled to to meet their special educational needs. This may include personal budgets, specialist educational provision, transport or support from specialist staff or teaching assistants.

    About 1.9 million children and young people have special educational needs and 576,000 have an EHC plan, which local authorities are required to fund. The rise in the number of children with EHC plans means that despite a rise in government funding, the amount given per plan has fallen.

    Most local authorities spend more than their allocated funding for pupils with high needs. This has resulted in financial deficits. Some local authorities are at risk of going bankrupt.

    Waiting times for special needs assessments to be carried out are lengthy, and in 2023, only half of children received an EHC plan within the 20-week target time. Parents often appeal when a local authority decides not to offer a child an EHC plan, and most of these appeals are upheld.

    Understanding demand

    The increase in the number of children with special educational needs in England is seen in other countries. One reason for the increase in numbers is that more people are seeking a diagnosis. In some cases, changing diagnostic criteria has also led to an increase in diagnoses.

    The Public Accounts Committee report makes several recommendations. These include the need to improve decision-making at local authority level, and understand more about why demand for special educational needs support is increasing. It recommends improving teacher training and continuing professional development, and improving earlier identification of special educational needs.

    Improving decision making in local authorities is an important step in the right direction, but lack of funding to meet demand will mean that local authorities will still need to prioritise how resources are allocated. Improving knowledge about the underlying factors that result in special educational needs will enable the government to focus on systemic interventions that target the root causes of special educational needs and disabilities.

    Teachers already working in classrooms will benefit from professional development that helps them to meet the specific needs of the pupils that they are teaching. It is also important to acknowledge that teachers have many competing demands on them, as they balance the needs of some children against those of others.

    Adding more special educational needs and disabilities content to the teacher training and early career framework is a reasonable response, but this needs to be done with care. Evidence suggests that 35 hours of professional development is a reasonable time to have an effect. One-off professional development events are likely to have less effect.

    More professional development and training for teachers may help, if it is done carefully.
    Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock

    New intensive training and practice opportunities in initial teacher training courses have been introduced to help new teachers put theory into practice. Focusing one or more of these on special educational needs seems to be a reasonable suggestion.

    The government also intends to introduce an 18-month professional leadership qualification for schools’ special educational needs coordinators. However, this is replacing a previous qualification, which was taught at universities. This suggests a move to a less intellectually rigorous programme of professional development, which undermines the credibility of the new professional leadership qualification.

    In 2024 the DfE committed to investing £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists. This builds on 200 trainees whose training has already been funded. However, given the current demand, this figure is far too small and will probably result in minimal impact.

    Building on existing support

    There is no specific reference in the Public Affairs Committee report to the existing, and important, role of the Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP).

    EMHPs are employed by the NHS and provide vital and timely in-school clinical support for children and young people. They carry out assessments of pupils’ needs and work in schools to support pupils’ mental health. They also help schools to develop a whole school approach to mental health.

    However, most schools do not have access to an EMHP. The government has stated that in 2023, just over a third of pupils had access to an EMHP and there are plans to increase this to 50% by April 2025. This is not enough.

    Extending this service to all pupils would ensure that all pupils can receive rapid mental health support in their school, thus reducing the likelihood of mental health problems becoming more serious.

    What is clear from reading this report is that the current system is broken and has reached crisis point. Additional government funding is needed, but is unlikely to ever be enough to meet the demand.

    Collaboration between schools, local authorities, government and education experts is vital in finding solutions so that young people get the support they desperately need.

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

    – ref. The scale of England’s special educational needs crisis – https://theconversation.com/the-scale-of-englands-special-educational-needs-crisis-247494

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The global plant trade is spreading invasive species to Europe

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Amy Hinsley, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Martin Programme on the Wildlife Trade, University of Oxford

    The Italian wall lizard likes to stowaway on olive trees. Qvist2000 / shutterstock

    Back in 2016, one of us (Silviu Petrovan) was asked to identify a live frog found in a shipment of roses in Sheffield, England. It certainly wasn’t any species found in Europe: Silviu thought he had been pranked.

    But with help from Ecuadorian and Colombian scientists, he was soon able to identify it as a North Andean tree frog. This species is found only in a few areas in the highlands of Colombia including, crucially, a region known for its flower-growing.

    This sudden realisation that cut flowers are being shipped from Colombia via Ecuador to Britain, potentially with hitchhiking animals in tow, sparked a collaborative project to investigate the complexities in this increasingly global trade.

    Initially, we explored the risks that invasive species will establish themselves. For instance, the recent fashion for old potted olive trees in restaurants, typically imported from farms in Italy and Spain, is a risk because these trees can serve as vehicles for species like the Italian wall lizard.

    Sometimes called the Italian ruin lizard (scientists call it Podarcis siculus), the lizard is spreading throughout Europe, with introductions often linked to the ornamental olive tree trade.

    Olive trees for sale (lizards included).
    Pingky_p / shutterstock

    But the global trade in cut flowers, pot plants, bulbs and foliage was worth around US$25 billion (£20 billion) in 2022, and it has many other environmental and social risks.

    As well as the spread of pests and invasive species, these include wild plants harvested illegally, and a range of effects on people including threats to food security or access to clean water. In our new paper, published in the journal Bioscience, we examined these risks and how we can mitigate them.

    We combined a review of published research on risks related to the ornamental plant trade with analysis of data on illegal trade and the prevalence of pests and hitchhiking vertebrates in plant shipments.

    That included two databases of customs interceptions of organisms such as insects, slugs and snails in imports into the UK and the Netherlands, and two databases of records of amphibians and reptiles linked to UK and Netherlands imports of ornamental plants.

    Despite repeated attempts and contacts, it was impossible to secure official data on contaminant interceptions from other major ornamental plant importer countries. Nonetheless, the available data provided an important snapshot of what might be occurring more widely.

    Growing and changing

    Our analysis shows that the ornamental plant trade is rapidly changing, doubling in value in recent decades. More and more cut flowers are being imported from tropical areas such as east Africa and South America, where the industry can play an essential economic role. Despite the risks we identify, these industries can and do bring significant benefits to people, and we are not calling for a halt to the trade.

    European tree frogs are often imported with flowers.
    University of Cambridge

    However, even with only two years of interception data it is clear that ornamental plant shipments contain considerable volumes of pests and potentially invasive organisms. Furthermore, while a range of species were found, taxonomic identification was not always possible, with around 20% of contaminants not being identified to species level.

    In some cases data named a contaminant only as “Coleoptera”, the scientific name for beetles and the largest insect group comprising over 300,000 species, or as “Lepidoptera” (butterflies and moths). These uncertainties make it harder to accurately assess invasive species risks.

    The reports of amphibians and reptiles imported into the UK and Netherlands are relatively small in number, dozens annually. But this is most likely a substantial underestimate given that these are not records systematically collected by authorities but rather mainly chance discoveries in airports, shops, depots and private homes, which then get collated because they are re-homed by specialist exotic wildlife centres.

    The problem is probably underreported

    The numbers of illegal plant seizures were generally small, even though there is likely to be a large illegal trade in plants such as orchids or cacti.

    This suggests that this is an underreported aspect of the illegal wildlife trade, due to less awareness and attention paid to plants. It’s hard for the layperson to tell a legal cactus from an endangered one, whereas it’s pretty obvious a rather colourful lizard found on a pot plant in Britain should not be there.

    Importantly, we also highlight growing concerns about the allocation of resources, in particular water and land, including the loss of Indigenous grazing land to ornamental plants.

    The use of pesticides for this non-essential crop type that has no nutritional value for people or livestock, in countries which might lack sufficient infrastructure to deal with the potential pollution, is also something that requires careful consideration.

    Ornamental plants are valuable products in global trade. Their trade is dynamic and shifting, yet while they are undoubtedly important in terms of their economic value, it is essential that the risks to people and the environment are not overlooked.

    Amy Hinsley is the co-chair of the IUCN SSC Orchid Specialist Group, an international network of volunteers working on orchid conservation.

    Silviu Petrovan is affiliated with People’s Trust for Endangered Species, a wildlife conservation NGO based in London. He is also a trustee at Froglife, a UK based amphibian and reptile conservation trust.

    – ref. The global plant trade is spreading invasive species to Europe – https://theconversation.com/the-global-plant-trade-is-spreading-invasive-species-to-europe-248274

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Workplace diversity schemes have a problem – but that doesn’t mean Trump is right to axe them

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Ashley, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Work, Queen Mary University of London

    Donald Trump’s inauguration was marked by a doubling down against programmes of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Among the executive orders he signed during his first days as US president, two were targeted at DEI. The focus was on federal government but the intention appears to be that this should also extend to other American workplaces. And it comes as Meta and Amazon are also retreating from diversity programmes.

    In Trump’s directive, DEI is said to undermine “traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement” in favour of an “identity-based spoils system”. But the move dismayed many workers. It doesn’t just seem regressive, but it also appears to make poor business sense – advocates argue that attention to diversity and inclusion can offer higher performance and profits.

    Trump appears to believe DEI offers unfair advantages on the basis, for example, of gender or ethnicity. But an alternative view could be that DEI is a necessary response to a situation where certain groups (often men, typically white, and generally from privileged backgrounds) have benefited from unearned advantages to maintain their grip on power.

    Here, DEI is a response to the idea that simply belonging to these traditionally advantaged groups can be perceived as “talent”. This comes at the expense of typically marginalised groups, who are subject to discrimination and unconscious bias. From this perspective, hostility to DEI might be seen as a way for the traditionally privileged groups to remain dominant.

    Both sides are apparently in favour of merit as the ultimate goal, although they have different views on what this means and how it is achieved. This suggests a paradox.

    But is there any reason to worry about the widespread use of DEI? Based on my research with firms in the City of London, I think the answer is yes (though for very different reasons than the president suggests).

    This raises the question of what (or whose) purpose corporate commitments to DEI actually serve. Common sense would suggest that a primary function is to ensure people can access positions that would previously have been closed off to them.

    Yet it is also worth remembering that where, for example, more women become corporate lawyers or senior financiers, this has no bearing on wider inequalities in society. In fact, in a further paradox, my research has found that some of the organisations most likely to express their commitment to DEI are also implicated in generating these inequalities.

    I researched diversity and inclusion practices in elite financial and professional service firms. These firms have played a key role in orchestrating a form of “rentier capitalism”, where small elites control the means of generating wealth. This system has much wider detrimental effects, as where wealth is increasingly concentrated towards the top, one consequence is stagnating incomes for the middle and working classes. This in turn drives insecurity and widens the wealth gap.

    Legitimising a broken system

    This, of course, is not the fault of people working in these firms. But overall this system desperately needs legitimacy. This is more difficult when senior jobs at the centre of this model of “financialised capitalism” are mostly taken by those from historically privileged groups. Put simply, it makes them look bad.

    One way they can ensure legitimacy is to shout about their commitment to DEI. This can help suggest that the system is merit-based, as access to these “top jobs” seems fairly distributed while rewards appear justly deserved. Most recently, these impressions have been generated by a vocal commitment among these organisations to promoting “social mobility”.

    Opening access to a wider demographic, while good for the organisation and individual staff, has no impact on underlying inequalities. Yet in practice, these measures lack some efficacy. In fact, by offering an impression of change in terms of who occupies the top jobs, DEI can help legitimise and sustain an unequal status quo.

    Diversity in the workplace can strengthen an organisation.
    PintoArt/Shutterstock

    This matters for everyone because the ramifications can spread beyond the workplace. As wealth trickles up and populations grow frustrated that systems are not becoming fairer, the messages of the populist right can hold more appeal.

    Trump’s objection to DEI is very different. For him, DEI is a convenient tool in the culture wars.

    Yet this leads to the current situation, where conservatives like Trump loudly reject what might be considered a conservative agenda (in that the old economic order remains unchanged). It can all start to feel like a disorientating hall of mirrors.

    I am not suggesting, as Trump is, that governments and employers should abandon DEI. This would certainly represent a backward move. But while measures to improve inclusivity in organisations remain important and worthwhile, this should not be seen as a substitute for much wider structural change.

    Perhaps the most urgent challenge for government is tackling wealth inequality as a source of legitimate grievance. This more radical change in direction might even make reactionary and potentially harmful policies – like Trump’s take on DEI – less alluring to voters.

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

    – ref. Workplace diversity schemes have a problem – but that doesn’t mean Trump is right to axe them – https://theconversation.com/workplace-diversity-schemes-have-a-problem-but-that-doesnt-mean-trump-is-right-to-axe-them-248381

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s method for repatriating migrants risks undermining US interests in Latin America

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Amalendu Misra, Professor of International Politics, Lancaster University

    Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan hit a brief stumbling block on January 26 when Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, refused to allow two US flights carrying deported Colombian migrants to land. Petro’s complaint was that the US government was treating the migrants like criminals by repatriating them in military planes.

    Around the same time, the US had also deported dozens of Brazilian migrants. These people arrived in the Amazonian city of Manaus handcuffed, with the Brazilian government expressing outrage over their “degrading treatment”. One of the migrants claimed they were not given any water during the six-hour flight nor were they allowed to use the bathroom.

    Petro’s pushback enraged Trump. In a post on his Truth Social media site, Trump wrote: “We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the criminals they forced into the US”. He then threatened Colombia with 25% tariffs and said his government would impose a travel ban on Colombian government officials.

    Petro responded by launching a scathing social media attack on Trump. He initially vowed retaliatory tariffs on US goods and also insisted he would not accept migrants who were not treated with “dignity and respect”. But, within a few hours, Petro had backed down.

    According to a White House statement released late that evening, Colombia had agreed to all of Trump’s terms. This included the “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the US, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay”.

    The White House hailed the agreement with Colombia as a victory for Trump’s hardline immigration strategy. In her statement, press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote: “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again.” But Trump’s punishing tariff threats and foul rhetoric toward illegal immigrants may only damage the power and position of the US in the region.

    Setting a bad precedent

    As Petro’s row with Trump unfolded, Colombia’s former president Iván Duque accused his successor of engaging in “an act of tremendous irresponsibility”. He stressed that Colombia has a “moral duty” to take back the illegal migrants sent by the US, and highlighted the “enormous” toll sanctions and tariffs would have on the economy.

    However, in an interconnected international economic system, Trump’s unilateral threat of tariffs and sanctions can be a double-edged sword.

    Colombia is a relatively minor trading partner to the US. But if Petro’s government had refused to comply with Trump’s demands, it still would have meant higher prices for coffee, avocado and several other commodities. In 2022, the US imported US$24.8 billion (£20 billion) worth of goods from Colombia – nearly US$2 billion of which was coffee.

    Trump’s willingness to wage a trade war with countries in Latin America may also encourage other economies in the region to speed up their search for alternative trade partners. This could lead to more trade deals between Latin American nations themselves.

    In May 2023, under the leadership of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 12 South American nations gathered in Brazil’s capital, Brasília, to express their interest in reviving the Union of South American Nations with the explicit aim of bolstering regional trade and cooperation.

    The union effectively broke down in 2019 after major nations like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru withdrew their membership amid concerns about Venezuela’s leadership. But the “Latin America is stronger together” slogan often quoted by political leaders in the region may now actually materialise, thanks to Trump.

    Latin American nations are looking further afield, too. The EU established a trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia in December 2024, bringing 25 years of on-off negotiations to a close. Trump’s tariff threats could encourage other economies in the region to explore becoming a part of that agreement, potentially at the expense of the US.

    And it’s possible that more Latin American countries may eventually seek membership of the Brics bloc of emerging economies, which has repeatedly drawn Trump’s ire for eating into US power and influence. Bolivia and Cuba, alongside seven other countries, were announced as partner states to Brics in late 2024, and more could follow. While not officially part of the bloc, these partner states will get support from its members.

    Worse still, Trump’s threats could inadvertently push Latin American nations into the arms of China. During Trump’s first term, his administration coined the term “troika of tyranny” to describe Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. These countries are all led by dictators.

    Since then, Beijing has actively pursued a policy of closer cooperation with these countries by making them “strategic competitors” against the US in the region. A 2024 report by researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American thinktank, even found evidence of suspected Chinese spy facilities in Cuba.

    Trump’s uncharitable rhetoric and less-than-civilised treatment of illegal immigrants are, at the very least, likely to fuel more anti-American sentiment in the region. This resentment towards the US may well manifest in building bridges with governments and ideologies that are inimical to US interests.

    Amalendu Misra is a recipient of British Academy and Nuffield Foundation grants.

    – ref. Trump’s method for repatriating migrants risks undermining US interests in Latin America – https://theconversation.com/trumps-method-for-repatriating-migrants-risks-undermining-us-interests-in-latin-america-248396

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How people with eating disorders are negatively affected by calories on menus

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tom Jewell, Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, King’s College London

    Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock

    If you have recently been to a restaurant or cafe, you may have noticed calorie information displayed on the menu for each item. This is one example of so called “out-of-home” nutritional labels, referring to any food and drink bought outside the home which is not already prepackaged. Several countries have introduced these types of menu labels to reduce obesity levels.

    Spotting menu labels can lead to different reactions in different people. Some may not pay much attention, others may use the information to make a choice about their order.

    While there is recent evidence that such labels lead to small reductions in calories selected, concerns have been raised about the effect these labels have on people with eating disorders. We have recently reviewed all the available studies on how menu labels affect people with eating disorders and found evidence of mainly negative impacts.

    Eating disorders are serious psychiatric conditions. Common symptoms include restricting food intake and being preoccupied with thoughts about weight. It is these symptoms that people are concerned about when thinking about menu labels.

    In our review of the existing evidence, we found that people with eating disorders said they felt as if they were being ordered to cut down on what they eat and that the labels reinforced their beliefs about overeating. People with eating disorder symptoms said they were more likely to notice menu labels and change their behaviour based on seeing menu labels compared to people without these symptoms.

    People with eating disorders also said that their eyes are drawn to calorie information on menus. And this is supported by evidence from eye-tracking research.

    But food choices are not the only aspect of eating out. For many, going to a restaurant or cafe is a social experience. Something fun to do with friends or family. A way to celebrate a special occasion.

    But for people with eating disorders eating out can be difficult and distressing. Menu labels can complicate this further. Our review found that for some, menu labels trigger their eating disorder thoughts and lead to distress, although for others these labels can be freeing and reassuring.

    A common concern with anti-obesity policies such as menu labels is the focus on weight or calorie intake as a single indicator of health. Physical health is far more complex than can be measured by a single indicator.

    This simplification may make for easier messaging, but exposure to anti-obesity messaging focused on weight can amplify harmful stereotypes equating thinness with health. Such beliefs are not only risk factors for eating disorders, but also perpetuate the stigma surrounding weight.

    Obesity rates are rising globally. Governments and public health officials are continuously looking for solutions to this trend. However, it is important for these solutions to consider potential harms to people with eating disorders.

    Obesity and eating disorder prevention are not mutually exclusive. In reality, many things that would help prevent obesity are also helpful in preventing eating disorders. These include reducing weight stigma, improving body image, and increasing family meals.

    Menu labels represent a policy that involves giving people information and putting the onus onto them to change their behaviour. But this type of strategy can come with negative side-effects. For one person, encouraging them to eat fewer calories may be helpful, but for another it may be harmful.

    Other policies, such as advertising bans, that change behaviour by changing our environment might not have this problem. A recent study showed a marked difference in how people with eating disorders perceive these policies compared to menu labels.

    While over a quarter said that menu labels would make their symptoms much worse, only around 2% said the same thing about policies like advertising bans on unhealthy foods or banning “buy one get one free” deals for unhealthy food and drinks.

    Much of the discussion around this topic has focused broadly on “people with eating disorders”. But people with eating disorders are a diverse group.

    Some people may have symptoms primarily focused on restricting food, whilst others may have symptoms relating to binge eating. And these symptoms can be affected differently by menu labels. Most of the research to date has focused on those with restrictive symptoms, who primarily report negative effects.

    Our review found that very little research has included people with binge eating, and few of those studies included men with eating disorders. The most notable gap, however, was that no studies have yet been conducted with young people below the age of 18.

    Therefore, while we know that menu labels can cause harm to people with eating disorders, much more research is needed across the full spectrum of age, gender and types of eating disorders.

    Effective public health policies are vital in addressing society’s big challenges, like obesity. But effective policies need to balance benefits with harms.

    Tom Jewell receives funding from the NIHR Policy Research Programme, NIHR205226. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

    Nora Trompeter receives funding from the NIHR Policy Research Programme, NIHR205226. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

    – ref. How people with eating disorders are negatively affected by calories on menus – https://theconversation.com/how-people-with-eating-disorders-are-negatively-affected-by-calories-on-menus-226444

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The miscarriage of justice watchdog is failing at its only job – here’s how to fix it

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Brian Thornton, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, University of Winchester

    The body responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has been plunged into crisis. The chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), Helen Pitcher, resigned this month following relentless criticism about the way the commission had handled recent cases.

    Most notably, the commission was criticised over the case of Andrew Malkinson, who was wrongly convicted for rape and spent 17 years in prison. The CCRC twice rejected Malkinson’s submissions that he was innocent, and he was only cleared thanks to work by his own lawyers to track down DNA evidence that proved his innocence.

    Malkinson said the CCRC “didn’t investigate and they didn’t believe me”.

    Pitcher said that she had been made a scapegoat for the failings on the Malkinson case: “A head had to roll and I was chosen for that role,” she said. Pitcher was not in her post as chair when the CCRC rejected Malkinson’s first appeal. She rejected the findings of an independent panel that concluded her decisions, including not apologising promptly to Malkinson, had eroded confidence in the CCRC.

    “I don’t know who or why anyone would want to take on the role, because you will be held accountable for previous miscarriages of justice,” Pitcher told the Times. “You will be expected to have known what was going on then. It’s just not possible.”

    Malkinson described the commission as “infected with a culture of denial”. And along with other critics, such as legal professionals, academics and campaigners, he believes the CCRC is no longer fit for purpose and should be dissolved.

    What is the CCRC?

    Once a prisoner, who claims to be innocent, has exhausted all legal avenues they have no choice but to look beyond the court system for redress.

    For most of the 20th century, the last chance saloon was located in the heart of government, in the Home Office. The home secretary had the power to send a case to the Court of Appeal “if he saw fit”.

    This arrangement was doomed from the start. It made referrals political affairs – particularly in the context of the Irish terrorism cases of the 1980s and 90s. It also put the home secretary in the firing line as investigative journalists uncovered miscarriages of justice.

    The relentless pressure for reform eventually came to a head in 1991, with the release of the Birmingham Six – six Irishmen who had been wrongly convicted of planting bombs in two Birmingham pubs in 1974 that killed 21 people and injured 182. Amid chaotic scenes outside the Old Bailey, Paddy Hill (who died last month), grabbed a microphone and unleashed a savage attack on the institutions that had taken his freedom:

    For 16 and a half years we have been used as political scapegoats. The police told us from the start they knew we hadn’t done it. They told us they didn’t care who had done it. They told us that we were selected and they were going to frame us. Justice? I don’t think the people in there [the judiciary] have got the intelligence nor the honestly to spell the word, never mind dispense it. They’re rotten.

    The growing crisis threatened the legitimacy of the entire criminal justice system and the government had no option but to act. A royal commission was set up, and from it sprung a new body – the CCRC.

    When it began work in 1997, the CCRC was the world’s first statutory, publicly-funded body responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice. The powers at its disposal were impressive.

    If a prisoner applied to the CCRC, claiming they were innocent, the commission could use these powers as part of a fresh investigation into the conviction. It could get information from the police and prosecutors, re-interview witnesses or find new ones, and order new DNA testing. If it found new evidence it could then refer a case back to the Court of Appeal.

    It has had some successes. The commission was widely praised for the investigation into the Sam Hallam case, where it uncovered fresh evidence that proved the young Londoner could not have committed the murder he was jailed for.

    But while demand for its services is soaring, these successes have become rarer.

    Last year the CCRC received a record-breaking 1,629 applications from people claiming they were innocent, and referred 25 to the Court of Appeal. Critics, describe it as chronically underfunded, reluctant to exercise its powers and subservient to the Court of Appeal.

    Prisoners and their lawyers say they are exasperated at the length of time the CCRC takes to look into their cases. But the real frustration is with the quality of the investigations themselves.

    Critics point to cases such as Victor Nealon, who spent an additional 10 years in prison because the CCRC refused to carry out DNA tests that would have proved his innocence. He applied to the CCRC twice but was rejected both times.

    The then chair of the CCRC, Richard Foster, told Nealon: “We are doing what we can to prevent anything similar happening in the future”. But as the Malkinson case shows, the CCRC hasn’t really learned its lesson.

    A crisis of legitimacy

    The body that was created to solve a crisis in public confidence is now facing its own crisis of legitimacy. The CCRC needs new leadership – and not another career bureaucrat. The new chair, who is appointed by the king, must be someone who will oversee a culture of change in the organisation – dispelling the insipid timidity and transforming the CCRC into an organisation that pursues justice without fear or favour.

    It must also be funded properly. The commission is now entirely incapable of properly investigating the huge number of cases it receives. The money involved is relatively small, but the impact on the wrongfully convicted and their families is immeasurable. A parliamentary inquiry found that the CCRC had suffered bigger cuts that any other part of the criminal justice system since 2010.

    And finally, a key structural flaw must be fixed. The “real possibility test” means that the CCRC will only refer a case if there is a real possibility that the Court of Appeal will quash the conviction.

    But because the Court of Appeal will only overturn convictions it believes to be “unsafe”, the CCRC only concerns itself with safety or unsafety rather than guilt or innocence. From the perspective of the Court of Appeal, a conviction is safe if all the legal procedures (the arrest adhered to the guidelines, there were the correct number of jurors at the trial) have been followed. It has nothing to do with the factual guilt of the defendant.

    This test must be scrapped. We cannot have a miscarriage of justice watchdog that cares more about procedure than innocence.

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

    – ref. The miscarriage of justice watchdog is failing at its only job – here’s how to fix it – https://theconversation.com/the-miscarriage-of-justice-watchdog-is-failing-at-its-only-job-heres-how-to-fix-it-247623

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: AI can affect anonymous surveys. Here are some ways for researchers to mitigate its impact

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Christopher Dietzel, Postdoctoral fellow, the DIGS Lab, Concordia University

    Anonymous surveys protect participants from becoming targets of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate. However, researchers need to be careful about the potential for bad actors to spoil survey data. (Shutterstock)

    As 2SLGBTQIA+ people are increasingly under threat in Canada, and facing escalating dangers from the Donald Trump administration in the United States, more research is urgently needed to understand how to address issues of gender and sexual diversity moving forward.

    Unfortunately, researchers who aim to explore emerging issues impacting 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and develop interventions to support them are facing a new problem: what if our research participants aren’t actually real?

    Anonymous online surveys are a great way for marginalized groups, including 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, to contribute to research without significant time commitments. Anonymous surveys also protect participants from becoming targets of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate. However, researchers need to be careful about the potential of disingenuous participants to spoil survey data.

    The anonymous nature of online research makes it easy for someone to infiltrate research studies and submit false responses. This issue is not new, as researchers have dealt with this concern for years. Ineligible participants may participate in surveys to access honorariums or sabotage research on topics they disagree with.

    As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more advanced, this problem is magnified. And while AI detectors exist, they are not always accurate and cannot confront the issue of human respondents who are simply lying in their survey responses.

    Our team has conducted online research about digital hate targeting 2SLGBTQIA+ professionals and organizations in Canada through the Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network. We encountered this problem with two surveys we administered in 2024. Researchers from the SHaG Lab at Dalhousie University and the DIGS Lab at Concordia University confronted similar issues when conducting online surveys about 2SLGBTQIA+ issues.

    This shared concern about participant authenticity and the potential infiltration of dishonest respondents — whether AI or not — has led us to identify issues that could have a negative impact on online research.

    Anonymous online surveys are a great way for marginalized groups, including 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, to contribute to research; however, ineligible participants and AI bots can undermine their accuracy.
    (Shutterstock)

    The challanges we encountered

    Location:
    Our most recent survey focused on Two Spirit, trans and non-binary professionals working at 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations in Canada. The narrow participant criteria made it easy to check IP addresses and spot ones that did not qualify. We could also identify and block IP addresses that submitted multiple responses.

    When reviewing the data, we found that many of the suspicious responses were linked to one IP address located in China. We also received a high volume of responses claiming to come from Prince Edward Island. This was suspect, not only because of contradictory IP addresses, but because the number of responses seemed disproportionately high for the population of the smallest Canadian province.

    Time:
    Our survey received 1,491 responses within three days, which was suspicious given the narrow eligibility criteria. Many responses were completed too quickly for a survey that included written responses. We also noticed that there were waves of responses, and those respondents completed the survey in roughly the same amount of time.

    Incentives:
    It is hard to know exactly why people complete surveys for which they are ineligible. Some people may may do it for the compensation on offer. Others many want to spoil the data. We noticed that false responses increased when some form of compensation was offered, whether it was cash or gift cards.



    Read more:
    Imposter participants challenge research integrity in the digital age

    Email addresses:
    Another pattern we noticed was the use of generic Outlook or Yahoo email addresses, which followed the formula of first name-last name-numbers. While many people might use this same format, this is also an easy and quick way to create email addresses en masse.

    Contradictions:
    When looking at the data, we found that many responses did not make sense for our target demographic group. There were a lot of “prefer not to answer” responses to prompts about pronouns, gender identity and sexual orientation.

    Many respondents also selected “yes” when asked if they were First Nations, Inuit or Métis, but then wrote “white” when asked about their race or ethnicity. Identities can be complex, and what appears to be a contradiction may in fact be an intersection that is poorly represented through demographic questionnaires. Flagging potentially fake responses based on how we assume respondents will identify themselves is a bad idea for research about 2SLGBTQIA+ people who inhabit non-normative gender and sexual identities.

    Some of these responses were also flagged because of other issues, including IP address and completion rate. However, there were others that were less suspicious, leaving us unsure about their validity.

    These responses may have been created by AI bots or by people using AI to generate responses and manually enter them. It could have been someone actively trying to misrepresent themselves or someone who earnestly wants to contribute but does not feel confident in their English-language skills or writing ability. For this reason, it is important to consider multiple factors when reviewing survey responses to determine whether data is usable.

    AI presents new opportunities and challenges for online research.
    (Shutterstock)

    Moving forward

    Technology like AI chatbots presents new opportunities and new challenges for online research that require specific interventions. The concerns we’ve outlined are potential red flags that can help alert researchers to suspicious data.

    Some solutions we found for these issues include IP tracking, requiring a password to access the survey, asking the same question twice to verify that the responses match, and having “attention check” or “trap” questions where respondents are asked to select a specific response.

    Researchers can also flag “speeder” respondents who take less than one-third of the median response time, and average respondents who select the same responses across the survey, like always choosing the first option. Some researchers may already be aware of these and other solutions, and we encourage anyone doing online research to be prepared to address dishonest participants and protect the integrity of their data.

    While these solutions may require additional time, labour and resources, it is important not to abandon online research. In-person methods are not always viable or accessible, particularly to reach 2SLGBTQIA+ people and other marginalized populations.

    Research in this area is vital. We encourage other researchers to share their experiences and solutions to these problems to raise awareness.

    Christopher Dietzel receives funding from Le Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) and is the community research advisor of the Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network (ODLAN).

    Evan Vipond is a research officer at the Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network (ODLAN).

    Hannah Maitland is the co-founder and administrative coordinator of the Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network (ODLAN).

    – ref. AI can affect anonymous surveys. Here are some ways for researchers to mitigate its impact – https://theconversation.com/ai-can-affect-anonymous-surveys-here-are-some-ways-for-researchers-to-mitigate-its-impact-247758

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is bigger than energy consumption

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Hamish van der Ven, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Business Management of Natural Resources, University of British Columbia

    The growing use of artificial intelligence has led to larger and more powerful data centres, with increased demands on the environment. (Shutterstock)

    Artificial intelligence technologies, like chatbots, are attracting growing scrutiny for their voracious energy demands. However, energy consumption is only one part of their broader environmental impact.

    Late last year, ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot run by OpenAI, celebrated its second birthday. In its brief existence, the platform has amassed over 300 million weekly users who send roughly one billion messages to the chatbot per day.

    With US$6.6 billion raised in its last funding round, OpenAI has emerged as one of the most valuable private companies in the world.

    Soaring emissions

    Elsewhere in tech, other companies marked less savoury milestones. Alphabet — the parent company of Google — recently announced that its GHG emissions are up 48 per cent since 2019. At roughly the same time, Microsoft announced that its emissions are up 29 per cent since 2020.

    Both companies cite emissions associated with the need for more data centres to support AI workloads as a key factor in surging GHG emissions. AI is notoriously thirsty for energy — according to one researcher, one query to ChatGPT uses approximately as much electricity as one light bulb for 20 minutes.

    The collective energy demand of data centres in the United States is so high that Microsoft recently reached a deal to reopen Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear accident in American history.

    The burgeoning AI industry needs so much electricity that plans to decommission several coal plants have been delayed. By some estimates, the collective demand of AI and other digital technologies will constitute 20 per cent of global electricity use by 2030.

    Insidious effects

    The energy use of AI is important, but it does not tell the whole story of AI’s environmental impacts. The social and political mediums through which AI affects the planet are far more insidious and, arguably, more consequential for the future of humanity.

    In the Business, Sustainability and Technology Lab at the University of British Columbia, we specialize in evaluating the social and political ways in which digital technologies affect the environment.

    In our recently published paper, “Does artificial intelligence bias perceptions of environmental challenges?,” my students and I argue that AI changes how humans perceive environmental challenges in ways that obscure the accountability of powerful entities, ignore marginalized communities and promote cautious and incremental solutions that are drastically out of sync with the timeline required to avert environmental crises.

    We asked four chatbots the same series of questions about the issues, causes, consequences and solutions to nine environmental challenges. We found evidence of systematic biases in their responses. Most notably, chatbots avoid mentioning radical solutions to environmental challenges. They are far more likely to propose combinations of soft economic, social or political changes, like greater deployment of sustainable technologies and broader public awareness and education.

    Chatbots by OpenAI and Anthropic exhibited a reluctance to discuss the broader social, cultural and economic issues that are entangled in environmental challenges. For example, the term “environmental justice” is absent from nearly all chatbot responses. Chatbots also avoided references to dismantling colonialism or rethinking infinite economic growth as solutions to these challenges.

    Chatbots may be programmed to avoid raising the broader social, cultural and economic issues that are entangled in environmental challenges.
    (Shutterstock)

    AI bias

    Biases also exist in who chatbots see as responsible or vulnerable to environmental challenges. The chatbots we studied were far more likely to blame governments for environmental challenges than businesses or financial organizations. Similarly, while the vulnerability of Indigenous groups to climate change and biodiversity loss was mentioned frequently, the susceptibility of Black people and women to these same challenges received scant attention.

    All of this is particularly worrisome given the increasingly widespread use of AI chatbots by educators, students, policymakers and business leaders to understand and respond to environmental challenges. Chatbots present information in an oracular way, usually as a single text box written in an authoritative manner and understood as a synthesis of all digitalized knowledge.

    If AI users treat this text uncritically, they risk arriving at conclusions that propagate biased conceptions of environmental challenges and reinforce ineffective efforts to avert ecological crises.

    In the near future, the problem of bias in AI looks to get even worse, as OpenAI and other AI companies consider incorporating advertising to generate the revenue needed to train newer and more complex large language models.

    While it remains unclear what advertising will look like when integrated into ChatGPT, it is not difficult to see a world in which a description of climate change and its attendant solutions will be brought to you by the good folks at ExxonMobil or Shell.

    Hamish van der Ven receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is bigger than energy consumption – https://theconversation.com/ai-is-bad-for-the-environment-and-the-problem-is-bigger-than-energy-consumption-247842

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –