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Category: Universities

  • MIL-OSI Global: Medieval Women: In Their Own Words at the British Library is unmissable

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Diane Watt, Professor of English, University of Surrey

    The British Library’s breathtaking new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, brings to life the experiences, stories and voices of women from the distant past.

    The show covers the period from 1100 to 1500, and a range of mainly western countries and cultures. Many of the women featured are from the elite ranks of society: queens, princesses, noblewomen and nuns.

    On first entering the gallery, visitors encounter a striking late 13th-century carved stone figure of Eleanor of Castile, who was queen of England from 1274 until her death in 1290. It’s one of a series of 12 memorials commissioned by her bereft husband, Edward I, to mark the sites where her body was temporarily set down on its funeral procession from Lincolnshire to Westminster.

    Also on display near the entrance are examples of the work of Hildegard of Bingen and Christine de Pizan. Hildegard was a German abbess, mystic, composer and scholar, and de Pizan was the first professional woman writer in France.

    Both were exceptional, highly educated and privileged women, but the exhibition doesn’t limit itself only to the most famous medieval women.

    These lovely illuminated manuscripts contrast with the next item, a much more mundane – if touching – missive from a woman named Alice Crane. Crane is only known to historians because she corresponded with her friend Margaret Paston during the 15th century. Paston was a Norfolk gentry woman and prolific letter writer. This is one of the few letters we have from the time that testifies to friendship between women. Alice writes: “Thanking you for the great cheer that I had of you when I was last with you with all my heart.”

    This first part of the exhibition is titled “Private Lives” and explores topics such as cosmetics and perfume and women’s medicines and healthcare. Visitors are introduced to women medical practitioners and wet-nurses and find out about education and domestic piety.

    There are displays about pregnancy and pregnancy loss, love and marriage, adultery and divorce and property ownership and inheritance. Margery Brews’s Valentine letter (believed to be the oldest example of a Valentine’s day note) and Gwerful Mechain’s poem in praise of the “cunt” are both displayed – and recited.

    One of the most striking items on display is a birthing girdle – a parchment covered in prayers and illustrations that was believed to have talismanic properties. Birthing girdles were intended to protect both mother and baby during labour.

    The public lives of medieval women

    Powerful women visually dominate the second part, “Public Lives”. It includes an arresting portrait of Henry VIII’s grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, founder of two Cambridge University colleges, and the skull of a lion thought to have been owned by the Margaret of Anjou, leader of the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses.



    Read more:
    How Henry VIII’s grandmother used a palace in Northamptonshire to build the mighty Tudor dynasty

    Military conflict is an important theme – there is a book chronicling the history of Shajar al-Durr, Sultana of Egypt, who defeated a crusader army. Nevertheless, several documents provide insight into lives less known.

    There’s the chancery bill of Maria Moriana, whose name suggests she was a woman of colour. A record of a debt owed to the Jewish businesswoman Licoricia of Winchester who was subsequently murdered in what was very likely a hate crime is displayed. As is a Venetian contract for the sale of an enslaved Russian called Marta. And the record of the interrogation of Eleanor Rykener – a sex worker we would likely recognise today as a trans woman.

    Books produced or sold by women scribes, notaries, printers and booksellers lead the visitor into the main display of manuscripts of works by women writers, from Marie de France, a secular poet in the court of Henry II, to Juliana Berners, the probable author of a treatise on hunting, fishing and heraldry.

    “Spiritual Lives” introduces nuns, mystics and heretics. There are records relating to Joan of Arc, the peasant French military leader of the hundred years war, who was captured and executed by the English. A letter bearing Joan’s signature is exhibited for the first time outside her mother country (in the land of her persecutors, to boot).

    Here visitors also encounter the manuscripts of The Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich and The Book of Margery Kempe. These are two of the earliest works by women to have been written in English and have been brought to life by the artist Tasha Marks in an arresting scent installation. Julian’s satanic torments are conjured up by the stink of sulphur. Kempe’s scent of angels is evoked by notes of honey, strawberry and caramel.

    The curators have done an extraordinary job in making this material accessible to a wide audience. Information panels provide context and correctives. They reveal that the gender pay gap was around 25% at the end of the 15th century, and that only around 1% of women became nuns.

    There are interactive displays that can tell you if you would have grounds for medieval divorce, or if you’d have been vulnerable to witchcraft charges (warning: don’t keep a box of stolen penises).

    The exhibition draws attention to the sheer diversity of the lives and experiences of medieval women in England and beyond, from the quotidian to the sublime. Providing abundant evidence of their learning and scholarship, skills and ingenuity and creativity and artistry, it is, quite simply, unmissable.

    Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is at the British Museum from October 25 2024 to March 5 2025.


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

    Diane Watt has received funding from the AHRC, British Academy and Leverhulme Trust.

    – ref. Medieval Women: In Their Own Words at the British Library is unmissable – https://theconversation.com/medieval-women-in-their-own-words-at-the-british-library-is-unmissable-242258

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Dahomey: timely repatriation documentary gives a literal voice to Benin’s stolen objects

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Njabulo Chipangura, Anthropologist and Curator of Living Cultures at Manchester Museum, University of Manchester

    Dahomey, a new documentary film from the award-winning French director Mati Diop, follows the unconditional restitution process of 26 cultural heritage objects in 2021. The items were looted by French troops during an invasion and subsequent colonial occupation of the kingdom of Dahomey, now the present-day Republic of Benin, in November 1892.

    Prior to its return, the collection was kept in the basement at Quai Branly Museum in Paris. Stored under lock and key, they existed as static and lifeless anthropological objects, that only served as war “trophies” and representations of the cultures of the vanquished and colonised. They had once been exhibited under the classification of “devil, idol, fetish, kaffir, charm, evil spirit and amulet” objects.

    Dahomey is timely. It comes as debates rage on the urgent necessity of repatriating the African cultural heritage objects that were appropriated by French, British, Germans, Portuguese, Spanish and Belgian forces during 18th and 19th century colonial conquest and expansion projects.

    In her film, Diop has managed to restore the agency of the objects at the heart of the Dahomey restitution case by transforming them into living cultures. She gives a literal voice, for example, to object number 26 – a human-sized wooden statue that is an allegorical portrait of King Ghezo, depicting him as half bird, half man. The real King Ghezo ruled Dahomey from 1818 until 1958. In the documentary, the statue recounts his “loss of life” when he was dislocated from his place of birth by French troops in 1892.



    Read more:
    Why stolen objects being returned to Africa don’t belong just in museums – podcast

    The trailer for Dahomey.

    Just as King Ghezo was depicted as his symbol – half man, half-bird – two other royal statues that feature prominently in the documentary are also kings of Dahomey sculpted as their symbols: King Béhanzin who ruled from 1890 to 1894 is a shark-man and King Glele who ruled from 1858 until 1889 is a lion-man. Each of these kings reigned over Dahomey and resided at Abomey, which was the kingdom’s capital.

    I see the choice to give voice to these objects as a call for museums to rehumanise collections that were acquired as a result of colonial violence. This would mean taking a proactive approach to acknowledge how both objects and ancestors from the colonised country were dehumanised by different colonial collecting practices, from looting to grave robbing.

    King Ghezo’s journey

    Dahmoey follows the statue of King Ghezo as he journeys back home from France’s Jacques Chirac Museum of Branly Quay to the Republic of Benin. He wonders what his new life will be like in the country he was ripped from 129 years ago.

    Upon the collection’s arrival in Benin, there was pomp and jubilation in the modern capital city of Cotonou, but the critical question remained – who now owns this heritage? Is it the state, the community or direct descendants of King Ghezo?

    The staging of the return was well-choreographed, and its politicisation clearly visible. The 26 objects lay in state, heavily guarded and protected as national heroes. However, in Diop’s film, King Ghezo reflects that he felt like a foreigner, far removed and detached from the country he imagined when he was still an ethnographic museum object in Paris.

    This crisis of belonging and identity can be interpreted as a consequence of how African museums were established during the colonial period. Their history mirrored the colonial practices of ordering, categorisation and classification of objects of the western museums where King Ghezo was imprisoned for more than a century. African museums are by products of colonisation and are, in many ways, still exclusionary and elitist.

    Therefore, placing King Ghezo in a museum in Benin can end up reinforcing ideals similar to colonial classifications. Instead, King Ghezo needs to have his life restored by giving agency to community ways of doing and knowing, and to the heritage management systems established in Benin long before colonisation.

    Repatriation debates

    The film also shows students at the University of Abomey-Calavi in the south of Benin debating the repatriation. Many express dissatisfaction in view of the fact that only 26 objects were returned out of the 7,000 which were looted by the French at Abomey in 1892.

    Many students dismiss the return as a non-event, without any historical significance. They see it, instead, as a charade for political mileage by the president of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon. Listening to the students made me reflect on the political nature of restitution, and how most European museums still hold power and authority in setting the conditions for or against returning.

    These 26 objects were returned to Benin unconditionally, meaning France no longer has any claims to ownership. In conditional repatriation, however, European museums decide which objects should be given back to their countries of origin, and in most cases within the premises of short to long-term loans

    For example, in June 2024, the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology conditionally returned 39 objects to Uganda on three-year negotiated loan deal. Ownership of these objects is still in the hands of Cambridge University. On the contrary Manchester Museum, where I work, unconditionally returned 174 objects to the Anindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt in northern Australia in September 2023.

    As a practical decolonial strategy, unconditional repatriation means that museums must not prescribe conditions of caring for cultural heritage objects to communities of origin upon their return. This is part of the process of giving communities agency to use their own heritage objects in ways that they deem necessary.

    The 26 objects at the heart of Dahomey were not made to be imprisoned in museum storage. They still have potency and can be viewed by communities as living beings which they can use, touch, smell and taste. Although these “objects” may appear stagnant within ethnographic classifications in museums, they have individual biographies and carry with them important meanings connected to their ritual and cultural functions located in societies of origin.

    One student succinctly captures this sentiment in the film by recounting how she cried for 15 minutes on seeing the returned sculpture of King Ghezo, who she considered her ancestor. In the end, the restitution of cultural heritage objects by European museums back to Africa must not regarded as loss but rather as a means towards building practical relationships of care with their communities of origin.


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

    Njabulo Chipangura 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. Dahomey: timely repatriation documentary gives a literal voice to Benin’s stolen objects – https://theconversation.com/dahomey-timely-repatriation-documentary-gives-a-literal-voice-to-benins-stolen-objects-242324

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: USDA’s Agricultural Research Technology Center Breaks Ground in Davis, CA

    Source: US Agriculture Research Service

    USDA’s Agricultural Research Technology Center Breaks Ground in Davis, CA

    Contact: Amaani Lyle
    Email: Amaani.Lylew@usda.gov

    DAVIS, Calif., Oct. 29, 2024 — Advances in crop production and preservation are poised for new digs as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) broke ground today for a modernized facility to consolidate labs that are currently located at the University of California, Davis.

    The Agricultural Research and Technology Center (ARTC) is a cutting-edge facility that will include customized laboratories, greenhouses and capacity for scientists as part of the ARS’s ongoing efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, water scarcity, emerging pests, and increasing global need in support of a resilient agricultural production system.

    The two-story 59,000 square foot building will house four ARS research units: Crops Pathology and Genetics, Invasive Species and Pollinator Health, National Clonal Germplasm Repository – Tree Fruit and Nut Crops and Grapes, and Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems.

    Collectively, these units improve the health, sustainability, and profitability of agricultural production and natural resources in California and the Western United States.

    “The building will be a nexus for scientists to investigate plant diseases, plant genetic resources, conventional and advanced plant breeding methods, soil health, invasive species management and myriad other areas driven by long-term agricultural research and climate-informed decision-making strategies,” said Dr. Simon Liu, ARS Administrator.

    A rendering of the new Agricultural Research and Technology Center in Davis, California. (Image courtesy of Burns & McDonnell)

    Collaborations between ARS, USDA’s chief in-house research agency, and UC Davis began in 1956 with the location of the Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit (CPGRU) led by ARS Plant Pathologist, Dr. Austin Goheen, on campus to research grape viruses.

    ARS scientists have since fanned across several UC Davis departments, including Plant Pathology, Viticulture and Enology; Entomology and Nematology; Plant Sciences; and Land, Air and Water Resources, which has facilitated many collaborations that have benefited various stakeholders in industries that include almond, walnut, rice, and grapes.

    ARS’s presence on campus has since grown to over 30 scientists with supporting staff across the four research units and the Western Human Nutrition Research Center.

    Strong collaborative research efforts between university extension specialists, farm advisors, and faculty will continue with the move to the ARTC.

    “This research will benefit growers, commodity groups, agricultural businesses, and U.S. consumers who rely on ARS to find solutions to agricultural and environmental problems,” said Dr. Amisha Poret-Peterson, CPGRU Acting Research Leader. “It’s incredible to celebrate current and future cooperative research among ARS, groundwater sustainability agencies, UC Davis researchers, and stakeholders in diverse specialty realms such as tree nut, rice, and beekeeping industries.”

    ARS remains committed to nationwide infrastructure modernization, empowering researchers to address agricultural challenges from animal science and crop production to climate change and sustainable farming practices.

    Notable speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony included:

    • Dr. Simon Liu, ARS Administrator
    • U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, California 4th Congressional District
    • Dr. Tara McHugh, ARS Pacific West Area Director
    • Dr. Amisha Poret-Peterson, Acting Research Leader, CPGRU
    • Dr. Glenda Humiston, Vice President, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources 
    • Dr. Helene Dillard, Dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis

    The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Carissa Arillo: Testing Spacecraft, Penning the Owner’s Manuals

    Source: NASA

    Flight operations engineer Carissa Arillo helped ensure one of the instruments on NASA’s PACE mission made it successfully through its prelaunch testing. She and her group also documented the work rigorously, to ensure the flight team had a comprehensive manual to keep this Earth-observing satellite in good health for the duration of its mission.

    Name: Carissa M. ArilloFormal Job Classification: Flight Operations EngineerOrganization: Environmental Test Engineering and Integration Branch (Code 549)
    What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
    I developed pre-launch test procedures for the HARP-2 instrument for the Phytoplankton, Aerosol, Cloud and Ecosystem (PACE) Mission. HARP-2 is a wide angle imaging polarimeter designed to measure aerosol particles and clouds, as well as properties of land and water surfaces.
    I also developed the flight operations routine and contingency procedures that governed the spacecraft after launch. It is interesting to think about how to design procedures that can sustain the observatory in space for the life of the mission so that the flight operations team that inherits the mission will have a seamless transition.
    What is your educational background?
    In 2019, I got a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. I am currently pursuing a master’s in robotics there as well.
    Why did you become an engineer?
    I like putting things together and understanding how they work. After starting my job at NASA Goddard, I became interested in coding and robotics.
    How did you come to Goddard?
    After getting my undergraduate degree, I worked at General Electric Aviation doing operations management for manufacturing aircraft engines. When I heard about an opening at Goddard, I applied and got my current position.
    What was involved in developing pre-launch test procedures for the HARP-2 instrument?
    I talked to the instrument manufacturer, which is a team from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and asked them what they wanted to confirm works every time we tested the instrument. We kept in constant communication while developing these test procedures to make sure we covered everything. The end product was code that was part of the comprehensive performance tests, the baseline tests throughout the prelaunch test campaign. Before, during, and after each prelaunch environmental test, we perform such a campaign. These prelaunch environmental tests include vibration, thermal (hot and cold), acoustic and radio frequency compatibility (making sure that different subsystems do not interfere with each other’s).
    What goes through your head in developing a flight operations procedure for an instrument?
    I think about a safe way of operating the instrument to accomplish the goals of the science team. I also think about not being able to constantly monitor the instrument. Every few hours, we can communicate with the instrument for about five to 10 minutes. We can, however, recover all the telemetry for the off-line time.
    When we discover an anomaly, we look at all the history that we have and consult with our contingency procedures, our failure review board and potentially the instrument manufacturer. Together we try to figure out a recovery.
    When developing a fight operations procedure, we must think of all possible scenarios. Our end product is a written book of procedures that lives with the mission and is updated as needed.
    New cars come with an owner’s manual. We create the same sort of manual for the new instrument.
    As a Flight Operations Team member, what else do you do?
    The flight operations team runs the Mission Operations Center — the “MOC” — for PACE. That is where we command the spacecraft for the life of the mission. My specialty is the HARP-2 instrument, but I still do many supporting functions for the MOC. For example, I helped develop procedures to automate ground station contacts to PACE. These ground stations are positioned all over the world and enable us to talk with the spacecraft during those five to 10 minutes of communication. This automation includes the standard things we do every time we talk to the spacecraft whether or not someone is in the MOC.

    How does it feel to be working on such an amazing mission so early in your career?
    It is awesome, I feel very lucky to be in my position. Everything is new to me. At times it is difficult to understand where the ship is going. I rely on my experienced team members to guide me and my robotics curriculum in school to equip me with skills.
    I have learned a lot from both the flight operations team and the integration and test team. The flight operations team has years of experience building MOCs that serve the needs of each unique mission. The integration and test team also has a lot of experience developing observatory functional procedures. I wish to thank both teams for taking me under their wings and educating me on the fly to support the prelaunch, launch and post-launch campaigns. I am very grateful to everyone for giving me this unbelievable opportunity.
    Who is your engineering hero?
    I don’t have one hero in particular but I love biographical movies that tell stories about influential people’s lives, such as the movie “Hidden Figures” that details the great endeavors and accomplishments of three female African-American mathematicians at NASA.
    What do you do for fun?
    I love to go to the beach and spend time with family and friends.
    Who is your favorite author?
    I like Kristen Hannah’s storytelling abilities.
    What do you hope to be doing in five years?
    I hope to be working on another exciting mission at Goddard that will bring us never-before-seen science.
    By Elizabeth M. JarrellNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

    Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Connecticut Technology Council Honors 11 From UConn

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    An impressive 11 members of the University of Connecticut community were honored as part of the 19th annual Women of Innovation Awards, hosted by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and held on October 22 at the Woodwinds in Branford.

    Fumiko Hoeft, Dean and Chief Administrative Officer of UConn Waterbury, speaks at the CTIC awards ceremony on Oct. 22 (Photo courtesy of J. Fiereck Photography)

    The honorees included faculty and students from four different schools and colleges across UConn Health, UConn Storrs, and UConn Waterbury.

    “I could not be more proud of the extraordinary group of UConn women who received these well-deserved honors,” says UConn President Radenka Maric. “From undergraduate students to senior faculty, they exemplify the innovative spirit and passion for discovery that make our University such a special place.

    The CTC recognizes women who have achieved remarkable success and are empowering other women and girls in scientific research, education, manufacturing, and business. Formed in 1994, the organization is the voice of all technology companies in Connecticut.

    “Since the first Women of Innovation event that I attended, I have been extremely impressed with the great contribution these outstanding women – including this 2024 WOI group – have had and continue to have on the technology ecosystem and our society,” says Giovanni Tomasi, President/Chief Technology Officer of RSL Fiber Systems and Board Chair of CTC.

    All honorees are currently working or studying in Connecticut, demonstrating strong leadership abilities, and have served as a mentor – either short or long-term, peer, career or life mentor.

    The following are the UConn honorees from the event with the category that they were recognized in.

    (Photo courtesy of J. Fiereck Photography)

    Research Innovation and Leadership

    Xiuling Lu , Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy

    Zongjie Wang , Associate Director, Eversource Energy Center/Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Yanjiao Zhou, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, UConn Health

    Community Innovation and Leadership

    Jennifer Pascal, Associate Professor in Residence and Associate Department Head, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

    Academic Innovation and Leadership

    Sama Abdulmalik, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, UConn Health

    Caroline Dealy, Associate Professor, Departments of Orthodontics and Biomedical Engineering, School of Dental Medicine; and Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Cell Biology, School of Medicine.

    Fumiko Hoeft, Campus Dean and Chief Administrative Officer, UConn Waterbury

    Jasna Jankovic, Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Department, College of Engineering

    Collegian Innovation and Leadership

    Patricia Hare, DMD-Ph.D. Candidate, School of Dental Medicine

    Tvesha Parikh, Ph.D. Graduate Student, Biomedical Sciences, UConn Health

    Laxmi Vobbineni, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering major

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Tenth Annual Richard Goode Lecture: International Lending in War and Peace

    Source: International Monetary Fund

    The International Monetary Fund will hold its tenth annual Richard Goode Lecture on November 5, 2024. The Richard Goode Lecture is an annual event hosted by the Fiscal Affairs Department for top academics to present their cutting-edge research on topical policy issues before a broad audience of policymakers, thinktanks, and staff of international organizations.

    The theme of this year’s seminar is “International Lending in War and Peace” presented by Professor Christoph Trebesch. The lecture will present some key trends in international capital flows across 200 years, focusing on turbulent episodes during war and peace. It will illustrate the crucial role of official finance in helping avert military defeat or financial collapse.

    Professor Trebesch is a professor at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the University of Kiel. His research focuses on international finance and macroeconomics as well as political economy and geopolitics. His research has been published in leading economic journals such as the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy and is regularly cited in international media, including The New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He directs the CEPR Policy Network on “International Lending and Sovereign Debt” and co-directs the CEPR Network on “Geoeconomics,” for which he organizes an annual high-level conference on geopolitics and economics. He is also the creator of the widely referenced “Ukraine Support Tracker” on military and financial aid flows to Ukraine. In 2023, he was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant, one of the most prestigious research recognitions in Europe.

    *Light refreshments will be served.

    Questions for the speaker can be sent before the event to FADRG@imf.org

    Agenda

    10:02 AM – 10:05 AM Welcoming remarks by Vitor Gaspar, Director, Fiscal Affairs Department
    10:05 AM – 10:50 AM Presentation by Professor Christoph Trebesch
    10:50 AM – 11:05 AM Conversation between Vitor Gaspar and Christoph Trebesch
    11:05 AM – 11:25 AM Audience Q&A

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What the Menendez brothers’ case tells us about the moral paradox of true crime

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Michael Arntfield, Associate Professor of Criminology & English Literature, Western University

    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has recommended that a judge resentence Lyle and Erik Menendez almost three decades after the brothers were sentenced to life without parole for murdering their parents.

    The brothers were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder for the 1989 killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. If a judge approves the recommendation, it would make them eligible for immediate parole. Gascón said he believed the brothers have “paid their debt to society.” If a parole board agrees, they could soon be released from prison.

    These extraordinary developments come in the wake of two true crime productions on Netflix: the scripted limited series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and the documentary, The Menendez Brothers. Both revivify the defence strategy used in the brothers’ 1994 and 1996 trials that they murdered their parents as a form of self-defence following years of alleged sexual abuse by their father.

    In these two productions, we see the moral conundrum of so-called “true crime” on full display. That is, whose definition of “true” should viewers rely on when assessing the veracity of a narrative?

    More often than not, there are two kinds of truth. There’s what really happened, and the narrative of what happened. This is a reality that I’ve noted as a criminologist and forensic historian and a police detective before that.

    As a form of historical revisionism, true crime has shown both the willingness and ability to change official narratives, for better or worse.

    In a press conference, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón outlined the reasons he is recommending the Menendez brothers be resentenced.

    True crime and the Menendez case

    The true crime genre has taken off in recent decades, with countless podcasts, documentaries and TV series produced recounting gruesome and often unsolved murders. The genre has garnered criticism for focusing on, and sometimes, exploiting the real suffering of victims and their families.

    The 2022 season of the Netflix Monster series, which told the story of Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, was widely derided as being exploitative and mired in controversy.



    Read more:
    ‘They’re making money off tragedy’ – Netflix’s Dahmer series shows the dangers of fictionalising real horrors

    However, the second instalment, focusing on the Menendez brothers, has become an overnight cause celebre and a bandwagon clarion call to have the evidence in the case reviewed and the brothers’ life sentence reconsidered, if not jettisoned altogether.

    The productions have renewed interest in this infamous case for those old enough to remember while, at the same time, introducing a new generation to the sordid details of the proceedings.

    These details include, most notably, the controversial and ultimately failed defence strategy of depicting the murders as a form of self-defence following years of alleged sexual abuse the boys endured at the hands of their father, patriarchal record mogul Jose Menendez.

    Following mistrials for both brothers in 1994, Lyle and Erik were convicted of the murders in 1996 and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

    A trailer for the Netflix true crime documentary ‘The Menendez Brothers.’

    But now, in the wake of these same series and Gascón’s announcement, the case has been re-opened. “Significant new evidence” has been cited in the form of a potential additional victim of abuse by Jose Menendez. In addition, a letter from Erik to a cousin about the alleged sexual abuse of his father has been disclosed lending credence to the original defence position.

    We might wonder if this evidence would have merited such attention, and the district attorney’s intervention, were it not for the cultural influence of the Netflix productions.

    What we can say for certain is that this is not the first instance of true crime directly influencing the criminal justice system. HBO’s Paradise Lost trilogy of documentaries, along with the 2012 film West of Memphis, are generally credited with enabling the release of the wrongfully convicted West Memphis Three.

    The first season of the Serial podcast in 2014 also led to the 2022 release of Adnan Syed after serving 20 years in prison for the 1999 murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee. That same conviction was reinstated in 2023 as part of an ongoing saga driven by intense public interest.

    That interest is what differentiates the current iteration of true crime from its antecedents: it aims to transcend passive viewers and listeners to promote direct action, advocacy and public participation.

    The four waves of true crime

    While the term “true crime” may be comparatively new, as a cultural phenomenon it certainly is not. The Mystery Writers of America has issued awards for Best Fact Crime books since 1948. True crime in one form or another has arguably existed since the 1850s and was pioneered by Charles Dickens.

    Yet it is still unclear what societal forces drive this trendy, cyclical interest in semi-true retellings or thinly fictionalized treatments of criminality. However, in my book, How to Solve a Cold Case…And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Catching Killers, I argue that, true crime as we now know it can be delineated into four distinct eras, or waves:

    The First Wave, circa 1850-1890, was purely literary. Key works included the likes of On Duty With Inspector Field by Charles Dickens and the Illustrated Police News.

    The Second Wave, between 1965-1975, was also primarily literary. Its most notable works included Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted serial killer Charles Manson.

    In the third wave in the 1980s, true crime stories started to become multimedia, with Ann Rule’s book The Stranger Beside Me about serial killer Ted Bundy, and the semi-interactive NBC docuseries Unsolved Mysteries.

    A trailer for the Netflix show ‘MONSTERS: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.’

    The fourth and current wave began in 2010. The hallmarks of this wave are unfolding before us in the Menendez case. The current wave is immersive, participatory and accessible. Amateur sleuths, advocates, pundits and activists proliferate with each new feature. Podcasts beget further podcasts.

    Viewers and listeners are also keenly self-aware and facetiously self-deprecating. True crime is consistently discussed in the context of — and perhaps even designed to promote — what can only be characterized immoderate consumption. Some true crime fans are, for instance, self-described “junkies” and “addicts” who “binge” content. And yet, depending on the case, these same “junkies” are newly empowered and qualified to demand action.

    The legal and ethical questions that arise are what cases make their way into this ecosystem and whose story are they to tell? How is a series on Dahmer a bridge too far when, two years later, another same series created by the same producers can alter the course of California legal history?

    These are, of course, unanswerable questions. In the meantime, however, the Menendez brothers’ saga is a cautionary tale about how the invisible hand of the true crime market will select certain crimes over others — and prioritize certain victims and offenders alike over other — based on criteria we still don’t fully understand.

    Michael Arntfield 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. What the Menendez brothers’ case tells us about the moral paradox of true crime – https://theconversation.com/what-the-menendez-brothers-case-tells-us-about-the-moral-paradox-of-true-crime-242199

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Freddy Krueger at 40 – the ultimate horror movie monster (and Halloween costume)

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Daniel, Associate Lecturer in Communications, Western Sydney University

    IMDB/New Line Cinema

    Movie monsters have captivated audiences since the days of early cinema. They evoke fascination and terror, allowing audiences to confront their fears from the safety of the movie theatre or living room.

    Arguably one of the most enduring and captivating of these monsters is Freddy Krueger, the villain of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series who celebrates his 40th screen birthday this November.

    Memorably played by Robert Englund, Freddy quickly became a cultural icon of the 1980s and 1990s. Beyond his burned face and iconic bladed glove, Freddy’s dark humour and acidic personality set him apart from other silent, faceless killers of the era, such as Michael Myers in Halloween or Jason Vorhees in Friday the 13th.

    Written and directed by horror maven Wes Craven, 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street garnered positive reviews for its innovative concept: Freddy stalked and attacked his victims in their dreams, making him inescapable and allowing him to tap into their deepest fears. The series (seven films plus a 2010 remake and Freddy vs. Jason spin offs) blended supernatural horror and surrealism with a dark and twisted sense of humour.

    Scary … but funny

    Humour was key to Freddy’s “popularity”. Both sinister and strangely charismatic, Freddy’s psychological torture of his adolescent victims often oscillated between terrifying and amusing.

    A famous kill scene from 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors demonstrates this paradox.

    Aspiring actress Jennifer drifts off to sleep while watching a talk show on TV. In her dream, the host of the talk show suddenly transforms into Freddy, who attacks his guest before the TV blinks out. When Jennifer timidly approaches the TV set, Freddy’s head and clawed hands emerge from the device, snatching her while delivering an iconic one-liner: “This is it, Jennifer – your big break in TV!”

    Freddy turns his victims’ fears or aspirations – their dreams – against them.

    ‘Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.’

    Creating a monster

    Craven has shared how the character of Krueger came to life in Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, an oral history of the series.

    He described a childhood experience of seeing a strange mumbling man walking past his childhood home. The man stopped, he said, and looked directly at him “with a sick sense of malice”. This deeply unsettling experience helped shape Freddy’s menacing presence.

    The character’s creation also emerged from the filmmaker’s interest in numerous reports of Southeast Asian refugees dying in their sleep after experiencing vivid nightmares.

    In the film, Krueger’s origin story reveals him as a child murderer who was apprehended but released due to a technicality in his arrest. Seeking justice, the parents of his victims take matters into their own hands, and form a vigilante mob. They corner him in his boiler room and burn him alive. But Freddy’s spirit survives to haunt and kill the children of his executioners.



    Read more:
    Halloween films: the good, the bad and the truly scary

    Cultural repression, expressed on film

    Film critic and essayist Robin Wood argued horror films often bring to the surface elements society has repressed. These fears, desires, or cultural taboos are not openly acknowledged.

    But movie monsters act as manifestations of what society suppresses, such as sexuality, violence or deviant behaviour. American academic Gary Heba argues Freddy is:

    an example of America’s political unconscious violently unleashed upon itself, manifesting everything that is unspeakable and repressed in the master narrative (perversion, child abuse and murder, vigilantism, the breakdown of rationality, order, and the family, among others), but still always present in the collective unconscious of the dominant culture.

    Actor Robert Englund calls Freddy Krueger ‘the gift that keeps on giving’.

    The monster decades

    The 1970s and 1980s marked a golden era for the creation of horror film nasties like Krueger, Myers, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface and killer doll Chucky.

    Since then, the landscape of horror has shifted, with fewer singular monsters emerging. The diversification of horror sub-genres (zombie virus horror, anyone?), the rise of psychological horror (Hereditary), and an emphasis on human-driven terror (Wolf Creek) or supernatural forces all contribute to this shift.

    While modern horror continues to thrive, few characters have achieved the same iconic status as Freddy – although some would argue Art the Clown from the recent Terrifier franchise and the reinvigorated Pennywise from IT could join this exclusive group.

    ‘Five, six, grab your crucifix.’ A 2010 Nightmare on Elm St reboot failed to fire.

    Happy Halloween!

    Despite a failed reboot in 2010, the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street is strong, having influenced numerous filmmakers with its skilful mix of surrealism and slasher horror.

    However, it’s the orchestrator of the titular nightmares whose legacy is perhaps the strongest.

    With each Halloween, new fans choose Freddy for their costume. All it takes is a tattered striped sweater, a brown fedora hat, and a glove with sharp, finger-lengthening blades. Don’t forget makeup to re-create Krueger’s grisly facial burns. Sweet dreams!

    Adam Daniel 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. Freddy Krueger at 40 – the ultimate horror movie monster (and Halloween costume) – https://theconversation.com/freddy-krueger-at-40-the-ultimate-horror-movie-monster-and-halloween-costume-240905

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What is necro-branding? And what’s it got to do with Elvis, Princess Diana and Taylor Swift?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Baumann, Professor in Business, Macquarie University

    bissig/Shutterstock

    Do you own any memorabilia depicting Elvis, Princess Diana, David Bowie, Prince or Michael Jackson? Perhaps a beloved t-shirt, a favourite mug, a special keyring or a novelty plate? You might not know it, but you are participating in something known as “necro-branding”.

    Necro-branding is where the image of a celebrity is sold to the public, perhaps by their estate or by their fans, long after the celebrity has died.

    These necro-branded items act almost like talismans, helping us preserve the past and remind us of an era long gone.

    Necro-branding is also shaping up to be a multibillion-dollar industry. Even the stars of today – such as Taylor Swift – will inevitably one day become the necro-brands of tomorrow.

    And with the astonishingly rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), we can expect celebrities’ images to be “reincarnated” even more in the future, and their legacies extended far beyond death.

    Necro-branding is everywhere

    As colleagues and I argued in our recent paper in the journal Celebrity Studies, the quintessential necro-branded celebrity is Elvis Presley.

    From Elvis impersonators to countless items of Elvis memorabilia, the Elvis brand has only increased after the star’s death. Elvis-themed postage stamps issued by the US Postal Service reportedly became the top-selling commemorative postage stamps of all time. He’s also appeared on stamps issued by countries all around the world, such as the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.

    As we explain in our recent paper:

    At the time of his death, Elvis was worth an estimated US$5 million dollars ($40  million in today’s terms), but by 2022, it was estimated that Elvis Presley Enterprises has a net worth of between $400 million and $500 million. The use of his image on merchandise and memorabilia contributes to the continuation of his legacy.

    And it’s not just necro-branding marketed to older fans; younger generations are also a target with Elvis marketing.

    Think, for example, of the stratospherically successful early-2000s dance track version of A Little Less Conversation, by Dutch musician Junkie XL. Or, for instance, of the way Elvis tracks are woven throughout the Disney animated movie Lilo and Stitch.

    Of course, Elvis is not the only necro-branded celebrity. David Bowie, Prince, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Johnny Cash are other obvious examples, with countless pieces of merchandise bearing their images. Their brand value has increased once the star has passed away.

    Deceased royals – such as Princess Diana and, more recently, Queen Elizabeth – are another obvious example, especially because living royals already enjoy such massive brand values.

    Necro-branding works because of the deep connection fans feel with celebrities. One study of fans of NBA basketballer Kobe Bryant found that as fans’ grief and shock waned, other stronger emotional responses, such as love, actually increased.

    Another 2024 study analysing fans of Johnny Cash and John Lennon suggested that fans acted “religiously” in honouring the memories of these beloved musicians.

    Marilyn Monroe is another heavily necro-branded celebrity. As we argue in our recent paper

    Her brand has shown strong durability in terms of earnings and is now licensed to the same management group that owns the bulk of the Elvis brand, Authentic Brands Group (ABG). Monroe often made the top ten list of earners in the Dead Celebrities List from 2001 to 2008.

    Necro-branding and AI

    AI already plays a pivotal role in branding of celebrities, alive and dead, and will no doubt be used more in future to extend the marketability of today’s celebrities.

    Think, for instance, of the way some of the recordings from the past are imperfect. Elvis footage from the 1970s often has good sound quality, but the actual video footage reflects the technology of the time.

    While this can be partially rectified with remastering, future AI-powered technology will allow entire reproductions of shows, with all imperfections removed.

    Perhaps, many decades from now, an AI-generated version of Taylor Swift will be performing for fans of that era. Whole personas can be altered to meet the demands of different generations of fans, maintaining their legacy indefinitely.

    Brand new songs can be performed by a necro-celebrity who never actually sang them, or songs from other entertainers (dead or alive) can be performed by the avatar of a dead singer.

    AI has already been used to create a version of the song Barbie Girl sung in the “voice” of Johnny Cash, alongside a medley of other pop hits.

    A whole new frontier

    Even if you’re new to the term, you’re already part of the necro-branding market. And there is more to come once AI advances and consumers can no longer distinguish between fake and real.

    The lines will become blurry, as the branding of necro-celebrities become a whole new frontier for marketing and AI develops ever faster and better.

    Joanne Soviner, a year 12 student at North Sydney Girls High School, contributed to this article.

    Chris Baumann 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. What is necro-branding? And what’s it got to do with Elvis, Princess Diana and Taylor Swift? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-necro-branding-and-whats-it-got-to-do-with-elvis-princess-diana-and-taylor-swift-240989

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Why is my kid using a baby voice? How can I manage it?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Westrupp, Associate Professor in Psychology, Deakin University

    MIA Studio/ Shutterstock

    Pweeeeese! I want cwacker!

    If you’ve ever found yourself cringing when your child suddenly starts talking in a high-pitched, baby-like voice, you’re not alone.

    Many parents and caregivers find this behaviour jarring — and yes, a little bit annoying.

    Why do older children sometimes revert to baby talk? And what can you do to manage it?

    Why do kids use a baby voice?

    Children may revert to speaking like a baby when they are seeking comfort, affection and reassurance.

    For children, being a baby reminds them of a time when they were safe, and all their needs were taken care of. When they revert to using a baby voice, they are signalling to us they’re feeling vulnerable, tired, stressed, uncertain or overwhelmed, and are wanting more connection and practical help from us.

    Most regressions are normal, and very common. In fact, healthy learning and development is never perfectly linear. This is reflected in nature, where there are cycles of rapid growth followed by periods of rest and dormancy. After a burst of development, children can be tired, or miss having the same level of support from us.

    Children are also more likely to use a baby voice when they’re managing a change or stressful life event. For example, the birth of a new baby in the family, starting school, moving house, or parents separating, are common times when children need more support.

    Using baby talk could be a sign your child is feeling stressed or vulnerable.
    Fizkes/Shutterstock

    Help! Why is a baby voice so annoying?

    As parents and carers, it can be confusing and grating when our older, capable child seems to be moving backwards in development, and using a voice they used many years ago.

    Parents might associate a baby voice with neediness, or immaturity, and feel anxious about what this means for their child’s development.

    In the past, this behaviour was viewed as a problem.

    So the advice was to ignore it and only respond when children use their normal voice. However, this can can create shame in our child and make them afraid to express their feelings and needs.

    If your child is using a baby voice, they may need more comforting and attention.
    Media_Photos/ Shutterstock

    Tips for managing baby voice

    Developmentally, there’s no problem with children occasionally using a baby voice, so we don’t need to try to stop this behaviour.

    Instead, we can be curious. What might be happening for our child?

    1. Acknowledge their feelings: we can empathise with, validate and accept our child’s underlying emotions. And then try to meet their need for safety and connection. We might say:

    Oh my love, sounds like you’re finding everything hard today, and can’t manage putting your shoes on? Are you feeling tired?

    2. Meet their needs: if they’re wanting extra help or connection, we should give it. We can think of this as a “refuelling” pit stop – they might need a little extra care as they manage their current stage of development, or cope with a change. We can say:

    I’d love to help you put your shoes on, let’s do it together. How about you do the socks, and I’ll tie your laces?

    Remember, providing extra help doesn’t mean you’ll always have to do so. Children have a natural drive towards skill development and independence. When they have the energy, they’ll want to keep practising their skills.

    3. Be kind to yourself: if your child’s baby voice is getting on your nerves, it’s understandable, and normal. Providing extra care can be taxing, and sometimes it’s hard to find that extra energy. We can remind our child that we all need rest.

    I hear you’re so tired today and want my help. The problem is I’m feeling so tired too! I wonder if we can help each other? Can we start with a big cuddle?

    4. If in doubt, seek help: if your child shows other signs of developmental regression for more than two weeks, talk to your GP.

    Depending on age, this might include lost skills related to language and communication, walking and balance, self-care (such as dressing, toileting), sleeping, or becoming more clingy, having meltdowns and losing interest in interacting or playing with others.

    Elizabeth Westrupp receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. She is affiliated with the Parenting and Family Research Alliance, and is a registered clinical psychologist.

    – ref. Why is my kid using a baby voice? How can I manage it? – https://theconversation.com/why-is-my-kid-using-a-baby-voice-how-can-i-manage-it-240436

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: You can keep your ghosts and ghouls – the ‘Cordyceps’ fungus creates real-life zombies

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne

    annguyen87, Shutterstock

    I have never really been interested in ghosts, mummies or zombies, not even at Halloween. But as October 31 approaches each year I am reminded of a biological tale involving all three. It’s the real-life horror story of a flesh-eating, brain-warping fungus from the genus Cordyceps, which inspired the zombie-apocalypse video game and TV series The Last of Us.

    Worldwide, there are hundreds of species of Cordyceps. Most of them prey on insects. They’re famous for hijacking the brains of some ants. Once the fungus takes over, it directs the ant to climb to a high point on a plant and then bite down on the stem or twig in a macabre death grip. The reproductive structures of this parasitic fungus will soon burst out of the ant’s head, spreading its spores to infect another unsuspecting host.

    But the species with which I am most familiar (Cordyceps gunnii) doesn’t attack ants – it parasitises insects such as rather large “ghost” caterpillars. This species doesn’t force its victims to climb, but takes control when they are buried in the soil.

    You might spot a grotesque-looking dead caterpillar pushing up through the earth as if rising from the grave, with a large fungal growth emerging from its head. Some are about the size of an adult finger, but cream and dark brown in colour. It is truly a thing that could trigger nightmares.

    ‘Zombie’ Parasite Cordyceps Fungus Takes Over Insects Through Mind Control | National Geographic.

    Consuming the ghostly host

    Unsuspecting insects become infected with Cordyceps when they eat them by mistake, or when spores attach to their bodies.

    The caterpillar of the Australian ghost moth (Abantiades labrynthicus) tends to burrow straight down into the soil to graze on roots of gum trees and some other species related to eucalypts. So it probably picks up the fungus as it burrows into the earth. The fungus then penetrates the exoskeleton or digestive tract of the insect with a thin, needle-like tube.

    Once inside the caterpillar, the fungus starts to grow rapidly. It produces very fine threads (hyphae) that spread through the body of the insect, replacing its structure. The fungus expands to fill the available space, assuming ultimate control. Exactly how the fungus takes control of the insect brain is not fully understood, but we know the fungus produces a range of chemicals that influence the brain in a way that meets the environmental and reproductive needs of the fungus.

    The caterpillar is doomed as soon as the fungus starts to grow inside it. After being taken over by another life form, the zombie caterpillar dies. All of this happens out of sight, under the soil surface.

    But Cordyceps is not done with the caterpillar just yet. It consumes all the resources the insect can offer, then pushes antler-like reproductive structures out through the caterpillar’s head. These spore-producing structures can be more than 10cm long. They’re clearly visible above ground, but can be hard to spot as they look a bit like a twig. Wind carries the spores to infect more unwary caterpillars.

    These fungus-filled caterpillars are now fully mummified. Nothing remains of the caterpillar but a brittle exoskeleton.

    As the reproductive structures dry and wither, they gently tug on the mummy to which they are still attached. If the soil is dry, the now empty exoskeleton of the caterpillar emerges from its hole. As it does so, the fungal reproductive structures are often lost and all you see remaining is the empty husk.

    The Last of Us: Could it happen? Infectious disease doctor explains cordyceps (UC Davis Health).

    Half animal, half vegetable

    Members of the genus Cordyceps boast the unusual common name of vegetable caterpillars. This strange name comes from a belief, which persisted until the 1800s, that the caterpillars had somehow transformed from insects to fungi, or from animal to plant.

    This was a much debated and widely written about example of transmutation, a theory that was not uncommon in pre-Darwinian times. It was not until the early 1900s that the true, full and gruesome nature of the relationship between Cordyceps and its insect victims was revealed.

    On the lookout for Cordyceps

    Cordyceps gunnii is the most commonly seen species of vegetable caterpillar in southeastern Australia, found in several states.

    Another less conspicuous species, the fawn vegetable caterpillar, Cordyceps hawkesii, occurs along Autralia’s east coast, often under wattles, but is even harder to see. Naturalists hunting for this vegetable caterpillar often find they have already inadvertently trampled over it before they spot it.

    Yet another species, Cordyceps taylori, can also be regularly seen emerging from large ghost moth caterpillars in Victoria. When the husks of these dead, mummified caterpillars appear to emerge from their holes in the ground, they look particularly striking.

    The classification of these vegetable caterpillar fungi is still being debated by experts. It is likely not all are closely related. Some are now placed in a new genus, Ophiocordyceps, but regardless of the name, they are all capable of making zombies and mummies of their victims.

    You can join in the process of hunting for and mapping these elusive species through citizen science projects such as he Great Aussie Fungi Hunt or iNaturalist Australia.

    Traditional medicines and the vegetable caterpillar

    As Halloween approaches, you may be wondering whether humans need worry about being zombified and mummified by Cordyceps fungi. Could the naturalists hunting the vegetable caterpillars become the hunted? The answer is a resounding no. In fact, the opposite is true – these macabre creatures have a long history in traditional medicine.

    Cordyceps sinensis, a Chinese vegetable caterpillar very similar to C. gunnii, has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Modern research shows there may be benefits from its use (or extracts from it) in treatments associated with autoimmune responses. While the fungus has been cultivated for about 40 years, naturally growing, wild fungi can be very expensive as they are still relatively rare and difficult to find. A kilogram can retail for A$30,000, driving a fungal gold rush across the Himalayas.

    Members of the genus Coryceps, or more correctly the Ophiocordyceps genus, have been around for more than 45 million years. Despite their depiction in The Last of Us, humans have nothing to worry about. The fungi are quite particular about their victims. But if you are a certain species of ant or ghost moth, then Halloween may take on a whole new meaning.

    Gregory Moore 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. You can keep your ghosts and ghouls – the ‘Cordyceps’ fungus creates real-life zombies – https://theconversation.com/you-can-keep-your-ghosts-and-ghouls-the-cordyceps-fungus-creates-real-life-zombies-241901

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Gender is playing a crucial role in this US election – and it’s not just about Kamala Harris

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol Johnson, Emerita Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Adelaide

    Having a female presidential candidate has made gender obvious in this US presidential election, even to many who normally neglect its role. The specific contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, along with the prominence of issues such as abortion, has resulted in a particularly large gender voting gap. Far more women have consistently indicated support for Harris and far more men for Trump.

    However, gender has always been crucial in US presidential elections, not just because of gender voting patterns but because competing performances of masculinity have always played a major role.

    Role of masculinity in 2020 election

    The last presidential election saw Joe Biden’s form of kind and caring protective masculinity being explicitly contrasted with Trump’s divisive, hyper-masculine one.

    Furthermore, strong male leaders are meant to protect the people from physical, social and economic harm. I have argued that one factor that contributed to Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat was a protective masculinity failure, especially in regard to COVID.

    For example, former President Barack Obama argued that, unlike Biden, Trump could not be counted on to protect Americans:

    Eight months into this pandemic, new cases are breaking records. Donald Trump isn’t going to suddenly protect all of us. He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself […]. Joe understands […] that the first job of a president is to keep us safe from all threats: domestic, foreign, and microscopic.

    Trump’s re-energised protective masculinity

    However, since his 2020 electoral defeat, Trump has resurrected himself as a strong masculine protector. He claims that “our enemies” are trying to use legal charges to take away his freedom and silence him because he “will always stand” in the way of their attempt to silence the American people and take away their freedom.

    He will also be a vengeful protector, declaring:

    I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution. I will totally obliterate the deep state.

    Trump has long appealed to men who feel that traditional masculinity, and its related entitlements, are under threat.

    He is currently courting white males, the youth manosphere, “techno bros”, “crypto bros”, conservative male unionists threatened by globalisation and offshoring, and conservative black and Latino men.

    He has been explicitly mobilising misogyny, including by making lewd references to Harris. JD Vance has assisted Trump’s efforts.

    Nonetheless, Trump claims that he will be a strong male protector of women, protecting them from illegal immigrants, crime, foreign threats and other anxieties:

    You will be protected and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free.

    Trump has even promised that, as a result, women “will no longer be thinking about abortion.” This is all despite his own alleged history of sexual assault.

    Harris, gender and the women’s vote

    By 2024, Biden’s apparent physical and cognitive decline meant that he was no longer a convincing masculine protector (or viable ongoing presidential candidate).

    The choice of Harris as his replacement candidate had advantages, but it was also a gamble given the combined roles of gender and race. After all, despite the long history of US racism, it still proved easier to elect a black man (Obama) to the presidency than a white woman (Hillary Clinton).

    However, the women’s vote is particularly important this election. As well as Harris’ appeal to younger and black women, Democrats have emphasised the importance of her appeal to white women, including some who previously voted Republican. Anti-Trump Republicans such as Liz Cheney are assisting Harris in appealing to the latter.

    Issues such as abortion are crucial. The overturning of Roe v Wade abortion rights, enabled by Trump stacking the Supreme Court, also puts IVF at risk by not clarifying when life begins (with implications for frozen embryos). Senate Republicans have twice blocked a vote on a Democrat-led bill designed to protect IVF. Harris has pledged to sign a law protecting abortion rights (if Congress passes it).

    Trump claims he supports IVF, won’t bring in a national ban on abortion and believes in abortion “exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother”.

    However, Trump Republicans are courting, and influenced by, the American religious right on abortion. There aren’t such exceptions in several Republican states, as Harris’s heartrending accounts of the impact on women and their health reveals. Furthermore, Missouri, Kansas and Idaho are also trying to drastically reduce legal access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

    Harris also emphasises other issues of particular significance for women, such as affordable childcare and better pay for care workers.

    Harris and “tonic” masculinity

    Given the role of competing masculinities in US presidential elections, Harris’ campaign has intentionally appealed to a very different form of protective masculinity from Trump’s.

    Vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz’s, “America’s dad” image (of being a warm, caring but sports loving coach, national guard serving, gun owning, hunter) is used to contrast his “tonic masculinity” with Trump’s “toxic” masculinity. Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, is depicted as a supportive “wife-guy” who has “reshaped the perception of masculinity” (while strongly denying allegations he once slapped a woman).

    Despite conservative claims of men being economically left behind, the Biden/Harris administration argues it has revitalised manufacturing and male jobs along with it and Harris will continue to do so. Meanwhile, Obama has urged black men to get behind Harris and the Harris campaign has highlighted its policies benefiting black men.

    Can Harris mobilise protective femininity?

    Given the major role of gender in US presidential elections, a key issue is whether Harris can successfully evoke a caring, motherly, protective femininity that promises security and economic benefits to voters and helps to counter Trump’s protective masculinity.

    Other women politicians have been able to (for example, Germany’s Angela Merkel). Women leaders particularly mobilised protective femininity during the COVID health crisis (for example, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern). However, it always seemed likely masculinist leadership stereotypes would re-emerge once the economy needed rebuilding after the pandemic.

    Harris has pledged she will “create an opportunity economy” and “protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do”. She promises to be the kind of president “who cares about you and is not putting themselves first”. Whether such electoral pitches are successful remains to be seen.

    Why the outcome of this election is crucial for gender equality.

    A woman US president is long overdue after 46 male ones. A Trump victory would have major implications for abortion, IVF and women’s rights generally, including progress on the Biden/Harris National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality. Immigrant and black women will be particularly vulnerable. A Trump victory would also have major implications for which models of masculinity are publicly endorsed.

    A Trump victory would embolden conservative so-called anti-gender ideology campaigns. The Trump campaign has recently spent US $21 million (A$31.9 million) on ads associating Harris with LGBTIQ+ equality, especially transgender rights.

    The Trump campaign asserts that “Kamala’s for they/them. President Trump is for you.” While Trump has also pledged that “we will get critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our schools.”

    A Trump victory will influence the future US economy, including risking increasing gender inequality in an Elon Musk-style unregulated technopoly.

    Finally, academic commentators have drawn attention to the way in which socially conservative views on gender have been mobilised to support new forms of authoritarian regimes in Europe and elsewhere.

    In short, this presidential election is a crucial one for the American people generally, but for the female half of the population in particular.

    Carol Johnson 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. Gender is playing a crucial role in this US election – and it’s not just about Kamala Harris – https://theconversation.com/gender-is-playing-a-crucial-role-in-this-us-election-and-its-not-just-about-kamala-harris-242113

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong rank among top 10 innovation cities globally: report

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong rank among the world’s top 10 innovation cities, alongside other cities from the United States, Britain and Japan, according to a recently released assessment report on sci-tech innovation.
    The report, published on Friday, was compiled by the Shenzhen International Science and Technology Information Center, the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance of Tsinghua University, and research publishing and information analytics company Elsevier, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Saturday.
    The report is based on the collaborative development index of education, sci-tech and talent, and offers an in-depth evaluation of 30 cities around the world. It aims to provide insights into global urban innovation and development trends and highlights the strength of cities in science and technology innovation.
    The top 10 innovation cities are Boston, San Francisco, Beijing, London, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
    In terms of education, Boston, London and Hong Kong rank as the top three, while London, Beijing, Shanghai and New York are cities with relatively balanced development in both basic and higher education.
    From the perspective of innovation, San Francisco, Boston and Beijing are the top three cities. The report suggests that strengthening the innovation ecosystem, including enhancing the economic foundation, promoting the integration of industry, academia and research, boosting scientific infrastructure, and fostering cross-regional cooperation, is crucial for Chinese cities to enhance their innovation capabilities.
    In terms of talent development, five cities from the United States and five from China, which include Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai, rank in the top 10.
    According to the report, Chinese cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai also demonstrate exceptional performance in talent potential, reflecting strong momentum in talent development.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Vanuatu AG condemns Trump’s Paris climate treaty exit as ‘troubling precedent’

    By Harry Pearl of BenarNews

    Vanuatu’s top lawyer has called out the United States for “bad behavior” after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump withdrew the world’s biggest historic emitter of greenhouse gasses from the Paris Agreement for a second time.

    The Pacific nation’s Attorney-General Arnold Loughman, who led Vanuatu’s landmark International Court of Justice climate case at The Hague last month, said the withdrawal represented an “undeniable setback” for international action on global warming.

    “The Paris Agreement remains key to the world’s efforts to combat climate change and respond to its effects, and the participation of major economies like the US is crucial,” he told BenarNews in a statement.

    The withdrawal could also set a “troubling precedent” regarding the accountability of rich nations that are disproportionately responsible for global warming, said Loughman.

    “At the same time, the US’ bad behavior could inspire resolve on behalf of developed countries to act more responsibly to try and safeguard the international rule of law,” he said.

    “Ultimately, the whole world stands to lose if the international legal framework is allowed to erode.”

    Vanuatu’s Attorney-General Arnold Loughman at the International Court of Justice last month . . . “The whole world stands to lose if the international legal framework is allowed to erode.” Image: ICJ-CIJ

    Trump’s announcement on Monday came less than two weeks after scientists confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record and the first in which average temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

    Agreed to ‘pursue efforts’
    Under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015, leaders agreed to “pursue efforts” to limit warming under the 1.5°C threshold or, failing that, keep rises “well below” 2°C  by the end of the century.

    Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday in a brief comment that Trump’s action would “force us to rethink our position” but the US president must do “what is in the best interest of the United States of America”.

    Other Pacific leaders and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) regional intergovernmental body have not responded to BenarNews requests for comment.

    The forum — comprising 18 Pacific states and territories — in its 2018 Boe Declaration said: “Climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific and [we reaffirm] our commitment to progress the implementation of the Paris Agreement.”

    Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka speaks at the opening of the new Nabouwalu Water Treatment Plant this week . . . Trump’s action would “force us to rethink our position”. Image: Fiji govt

    Trump’s executive order sparked dismay and criticism in the Pacific, where the impacts of a warming planet are already being felt in the form of more intense storms and rising seas.

    Jacynta Fa’amau, regional Pacific campaigner with environmental group 350 Pacific, said the withdrawal would be a diplomatic setback for the US.

    “The climate crisis has for a long time now been our greatest security threat, especially to the Pacific,” she told BenarNews.

    A clear signal
    “This withdrawal from the agreement is a clear signal about how much the US values the survival of Pacific nations and all communities on the front lines.”

    New Zealand’s former Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio, said that if the US withdrew from its traditional leadership roles in multilateral organisations China would fill the gap.

    “Some people may not like how China plays its role,” wrote the former Labour MP on Facebook. “But when the great USA withdraws from these global organisations . . . it just means China can now go about providing global leadership.”

    Analysts and former White House advisers told BenarNews last year that climate change could be a potential “flashpoint” between Pacific nations and a second Trump administration at a time of heightened geopolitical competition with China.

    Trump’s announcement was not unexpected. During his first term he withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement, only for former President Joe Biden to promptly rejoin in 2021.

    The latest withdrawal puts the US, the world’s largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, alongside only Iran, Libya and Yemen outside the climate pact.

    In his executive order, Trump said the US would immediately begin withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and from any other commitments made under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

    US also ending climate finance
    The US would also end its international climate finance programme to developing countries — a blow to small Pacific island states that already struggle to obtain funding for resilience and mitigation.

    Press releases by the Biden administration were removed from the White House website immediately after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Image: White House website/Screen capture on Monday

    A fact sheet published by the Biden administration on November 17, which has now been removed from the White House website, said that US international climate finance reached more than US$11 billion in 2024.

    Loughman said the cessation of climate finance payments was particularly concerning for the Pacific region.

    “These funds are essential for building resilience and supporting adaptation strategies,” he said. “Losing this support could severely hinder ongoing and future projects aimed at protecting our vulnerable ecosystems and communities.”

    George Carter, deputy head of the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University and member of the COP29 Scientific Council, said at the centre of the Biden administration’s re-engagement with the South Pacific was a regional programme on climate adaptation.

    “While the majority of climate finance that flows through the Pacific comes from Australia, Japan, European Union, New Zealand — then the United States — the climate networks and knowledge production from the US to the Pacific are substantial,” he said.

    Sala George Carter (third from right) hosted a panel discussion at COP29 highlighting key challenges Indigenous communities face from climate change last November. Image: Sera Sefeti/BenarNews

    Climate actions plans
    Pacific island states, like all other signatories to the Paris Agreement, will this year be submitting Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, outlining their climate action plans for the next five years.

    “All climate actions, policies and activities are conditional on international climate finance,” Carter said.

    Pacific island nations are being disproportionately affected by climate change despite contributing just 0.02 percent of global emissions, according to a UN report released last year.

    Low-lying islands are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather events like cyclones, floods and marine heatwaves, which are projected to occur more frequently this century as a result of higher average global temperatures.

    On January 10, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed that last year for the first time the global mean temperature tipped over 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average.

    WMO experts emphasised that a single year of more than 1.5°C does not mean that the world has failed to meet long-term temperature goals, which are measured over decades, but added that “leaders must act — now” to avert negative impacts.

    Harry Pearl is a BenarNews journalist. This article was first published by BenarNews and is republished at Asia Pacific Report with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Address to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences

    Source: Australian Treasurer

    I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay respect to all First Nations people here today.

    Economist John Crawford started his public service career in the 1940s working under Nugget Coombs in the Department of Post‑War Reconstruction (Miller 2007, Uhr 2006).

    After taking a strong interest in agriculture, tariffs and trade in his academic studies, Crawford became the director of the Department’s rural and regional planning divisions (Powell & Macintyre 2015).

    Those planning divisions evolved into the Bureau of Agricultural Economics which would serve as the Commonwealth agency responsible for examining proposals for settling returned soldiers on productive farms.

    With Crawford as the inaugural director, the Bureau would assess ‘the suitability of climate and soil, the adequacy of the farm areas and likely economic viability of the farms’ (Powell & Macintyre 2015).

    It was a significant task because no one wanted to repeat the costly mistakes of the 1920s where nearly 12,000 soldier settlers abandoned their farms within a few years.

    But Crawford saw greater potential for the Bureau.

    He proposed broader functions such as studies on the outlook for primary industries, land use investigations and research to promote certain commodities (Powell & Macintyre 2015).

    The Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Crawford and its broader functions transferred to the Department of Commerce and Agriculture in 1946.

    Through various departmental leadership roles, Crawford went on to be one of the great public administrators of his generation.

    John Crawford is the only economist ever to be recognised as the Australian of the Year, winning the award in 1981 for his work as ‘one of the foremost architects of Australia’s post‑war growth’ (Australian of the Year n.d) (I can’t help noting in passing that we’re probably due for another economist to take the top gong).

    Meanwhile, the Bureau has broadened its economic knowledge base and has added names to its title over the years as it merged with other research agencies (ABARES n.d).

    Some 80 years and dozens of outlook conferences later, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences continues to uphold John Crawford’s best traditions.

    In his words, providing a ‘fact‑finding service’ and providing ‘the material and critical analyses of problems with which policy can be better made’ (Crawford 1952).

    Recognising the ongoing importance of your work, our government announced additional funding in last year’s Budget to help:

    • improve regional data sources
    • collect information on low‑emissions technology, and
    • examine the effect of emissions policies on agriculture and regions (DAFF 2023).

    Concentrating on competition in agriculture

    As a kid who attended an agricultural high school, I’ve always been fascinated by farming. But competition is my primary reason for being here today.

    Since at least the days of Adam Smith, economists have spruiked the virtues of competition (Leigh 2022).

    Industries with plenty of competitors tend to deliver better prices, more choices and stronger productivity growth.

    Uncompetitive markets tend to deliver higher prices, lower wages, less choice, and less innovation. A lack of competition leads to problems that can be difficult to undo.

    Today, I will talk about one problem that has only become worse in the recent decades: market concentration.

    When I took on the competition portfolio, a friend issued me a challenge: ‘How many Australian industries can you name that are not dominated by a few big firms?’ (Leigh 2024a).

    It’s a tough ask.

    Applying the rule of thumb that a market is concentrated if the largest 4 firms control one‑third or more, research by Adam Triggs and I found over half of the industries in the Australian economy are concentrated markets (Leigh & Triggs 2016).

    Indeed, many people asked to take on my friend’s challenge might well answer ‘farming’. And it turns out that for many commodities – though not all – farming is quite competitive.

    A straightforward source of market concentration data are the annual industry estimates produced by IBIS World. They estimate the market share of the top 4 firms for several hundred industries.

    A round‑up of IBIS World data on the market share of the largest 4 companies in parts of the agricultural supply chain shows farmers are often caught in the middle.

    Upstream, farmers deal with concentrated markets for their inputs.

    The largest 4 companies in fertiliser manufacturing in Australia have a combined market share of 62 per cent (IBIS World 2024a).

    The largest 4 in hardware and building supplies retailing control about 49 per cent of the market (IBIS World 2024b).

    And the market share for garden supplies retailing is about 33 per cent for the largest 4 firms (IBIS World 2024c).

    Downstream, farmers deal with concentrated markets for processing, freight and retailing.

    According to IBIS World industry reports, there is concentration in fruit and vegetable processing, with the largest 4 companies holding about 34 per cent of the market (IBIS World 2023).

    For meat processing, market share of the largest 4 companies is 44 per cent with JBS Australia, Thomas Food International and Teys Australia being the dominant players (IBIS World 2024d).

    For rail freight transport, the 4 largest including Aurizon and Pacific National have a combined 64 per cent market share (IBIS World 2024e).

    For shipping freight transport in Australia, the market share of 2 companies – ANL and Maersk – amounts to about 85 per cent (IBIS World 2024f).

    When it comes to supermarkets and grocery stores in Australia, it is well documented that Coles and Woolworths account for two‑thirds of the market (IBIS World 2024g).

    These figures show that the agricultural supply chain is highly concentrated at the national level.

    However, for many farmers, their options are even more limited than these figures suggest, as transport costs and risk of spoilage further limit the commercially viable options available to them.

    To further illustrate the point about farmers being caught in the middle, today I will draw on case studies from a series of reports where concerns have been raised about market concentration harming farmers.

    And I will finish by outlining our actions to improve competition laws, to revitalise competition policy in Australia and to make the economy more productive.

    Digging in

    First, we should never underestimate the importance and efficiency gains of farm equipment and machinery.

    Historian James Burke argues the entire modern world is the result of the plough (Harford 2017).

    Increasing farm productivity meant communities could build up a surplus of food, people could settle in one place and everyone’s job no longer had to be finding food (Leigh 2024b).

    Knowing where your next meal was coming from allowed craftspeople to specialise, it allowed trade to flourish, and it allowed people to think about improving the world around them.

    Any list of top Australian inventions typically includes Richard Bowyer Smith and his brother Clarence’s invention in 1876 of the stump‑jump plough (Dictionary of Biography n.d).

    These days, we are no longer talking about the humble plough.

    We are talking about a billion‑dollar farm machinery industry consisting of hi‑tech harvesters, tractors and seeding machinery (DAFF 2022).

    John Deere has more software development engineers than mechanical design engineers (Patel 2021).

    For farmers, machinery represents a significant capital investment involving upfront and ongoing costs (ACCC 2021).

    But many Australian farmers feel they have no genuine choice or ability to shop around.

    The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s 2021 market study found farm machinery markets are concentrated at the manufacturer and dealership levels (ACCC 2021).

    Compared to car manufacturers, agricultural machinery makers have greater ability to leverage their market share in new sales to reduce competition in the market for servicing, repairs and parts.

    Warranties restrict the purchaser to a single authorised dealer for servicing and repairs.

    And tech restrictions mean independent repairers or farmers can’t access the parts, manuals and diagnostic software they need to carry out repairs.

    In short, farmers have few choices when buying machinery but even less choice when servicing or repairing that equipment.

    The Productivity Commission further examined difficulties accessing repair data as part of the right to repair inquiry (PC 2021).

    It agreed restrictions harm farmers through higher repair prices, reduced access and choice, and greater financial risks from repair delays.

    The Productivity Commission recommended the government intervene by introducing a repair supplies obligation on agricultural machinery.

    This would require manufacturers to provide access to repair information and diagnostic software tools to machinery owners and independent repairers on fair and reasonable commercial terms.

    As you may know, I have advocated for the need for access to service and repair information over many years.

    In July 2022, I launched Australia’s first right to repair law, the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme.

    The government is currently monitoring how this scheme is operating for the benefit of independent repairers and consumers.

    Extending right to repair to other sectors, such as agriculture, is a good thing for the economy, businesses and consumers.

    I am pleased there have been negotiations between Australian farmers and the farm machinery industry to consider putting in place a voluntary right to repair arrangements for the sector.

    I encourage parties to continue those negotiations as voluntary arrangements are a great opportunity to foster collaboration and flexibility and can often lead to innovative and effective outcomes.

    Seeds of doubt

    Seeds are the next input I want to cover.

    The US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service examined the seed sector as part of its paper on concentration and competition in agribusiness (MacDonald J et al. 2023).

    The 2023 paper found the seed sector ‘has become highly integrated with agricultural chemicals and more concentrated, with fewer and larger firms dominating supply’.

    Using 2021 annual report data, it said Bayer, ChemChina’s Syngenta Group, Corteva and BASF were the biggest players in global sales for seeds and agricultural chemicals.

    The Economic Research Service found seed prices rose significantly as markets became more concentrated but said the evidence was mixed on the influence of other factors.

    Between 1990 and 2020, the average seed price went up by 270 per cent and the average price for genetically modified varieties rose 463 per cent (MacDonald J et al. 2023).

    Despite the higher seed costs, the paper said it could be argued that genetically modified varieties resulted in ‘significant productivity gains to farmers’.

    It also said higher seed prices may have supported research and development with the number of patents for new crop varieties doubling compared to earlier decades.

    Still, there are not many other industries where the price of a key input has grown fivefold in thirty years.

    Mergers have changed the global seed and farm chemical industry in recent years, and questions remain about what it means for prices and innovation in the long term.

    Sour competition grapes

    Wine grapes arrived with the first fleet in 1788 as cuttings collected en route by Captain Arthur Phillip.

    They were planted at Sydney Cove but withered and died without producing any fruit.

    Which is why it’s called the Rum Rebellion, not the Chardonnay Coup.

    Nevertheless, a fledging wine industry struggled to its feet through booms and busts of the 1800s and by the turn of the century had taken root.

    In the most recent year for which statistics are available, Australia exported 621 million litres of wine (Wine Australia 2024). That figure exceeds domestic wine sales, estimated at 444 million litres.

    There are more than 2,000 wineries and approximately 6,000 grape growers across our 65 wine growing regions.

    They have over 160,000 full and part‑time employees.

    But while the terroir may be good, the vineyard not a level playing field.

    A wine grape market study completed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2019 found a highly concentrated industry (ACCC 2019).

    Issues in the supply chain included a lack of competition, potential unfair contract terms, a lack of price transparency, and imbalanced risk allocation in favour of winemakers over grape growers.

    The largest 1 per cent of winemakers accounted for over 80 per cent of wine production.

    Four retailers account for over 80 per cent of sales by value in the domestic retail liquor market.

    The 5 largest winemakers account for an estimated 87 per cent of volume in the Australian wine export market.

    And the trend has been towards even greater consolidation of large winemakers in recent years.

    Change is never easy in agricultural industries subject to boom‑and slump cycles of over production in the good times and consolidation in the bad.

    In 2021 the ACCC found that commercial practices in the wine grape industry had improved since their 2019 report but warned that regulatory action may be necessary without further reforms in payment times and transparency.

    Industry is taking steps to improve transparency but there is still work to be done to ensure a fair and functioning wine, grape and retail market.

    In August, we appointed former competition minister Craig Emerson to lead an independent impact analysis of the wine and grape sector’s regulatory options (Collins 2024).

    Dr Emerson’s report will examine fair trading, competitive relationships, contracting practices and risk allocation.

    Competition beef

    Those problems are not unique to the grape and wine industry.

    In 2023, the National Farmers Federation released an issues paper criticising the lack of transparency and competition across Australia’s agricultural supply chains (NFF 2023).

    The National Farmers Federation said reduced competition meant farmers weren’t receiving the incomes they deserved with long‑term consequences for competitiveness, economic and environmental sustainability and profitability.

    Those concerns echoed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s cattle and beef market study of 2017. That study found evidence that conflicts of interest regularly arise in saleyard transactions when buyers bid for livestock on behalf of multiple clients, and when agents represent both a cattle seller and a cattle buyer in the same transaction (ACCC 2017).

    The report pointed out that cattle auctions have characteristics that make it easier for cartels to develop, including repeated interactions with the same auctioneers, who are often linked by social networks that make it easier to ‘punish’ auctioneers who break away from agreed anti‑competitive bidding practices. Other problematic behaviours included the exclusion of rival agents, and a lack of transparency around saleyard weighing protocols.

    There is a cyclical element to many concerns about competitiveness in the market structure of the Australian cattle and beef industry.

    An ongoing concern is the impact on producers of market concentration and buyer power during tough times, such as droughts.

    Seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in supply can also affect the profitability of meat processors, dampening incentives for new entrants and reducing competition through mergers or acquisitions of incumbents.

    The 2017 report found that the top 5 Australian processors account for around 57 per cent of total cattle slaughter (ACCC 2017).

    A follow‑up report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 2 years later found that the industry had taken some steps towards improving transparency in dealings between processors and farmers, but, again, there was still work to do (ACCC 2019).

    Super concentrated

    Another highly concentrated part of the agricultural supply chain in Australia are supermarkets.

    Coles and Woolworths account for about 67 per cent of national retail sales (Mulino 2024, ACCC 2024 p147).

    Only 2 OECD countries – New Zealand and Norway – have a greater market share of sales controlled by 2 supermarkets (ACCC 2024 p148).

    Earlier this year, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics handed down an excellent report on the inquiry into promoting economic dynamism, competition and business formation.

    The Committee received evidence on the high market share in the supermarket sector, profit margins, and the power imbalance in the relationship between the major supermarkets and farm‑gate producers.

    The report said: ‘Many agricultural suppliers are at risk of that power imbalance being used to negotiate outcomes that affect profitability and, therefore, the capacity and willingness to invest.’

    At the same time as the Parliamentary inquiry, our government is taking action on several fronts.

    Food and Grocery Code of Conduct

    First, we are making sure the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct is working effectively and fairly.

    The voluntary Code was introduced in 2015 to improve behaviour in the way supermarkets deal with suppliers – including growers where they supply directly to supermarkets.

    Dr Craig Emerson’s independent review found the Code is ‘needed to address persistent bargaining power imbalances between supermarkets and their smaller suppliers’ (Emerson 2024).

    Dr Emerson made 11 recommendations for improving the Code and the government announced in June that it will adopt them all (Treasury 2024a).

    The Code will be made mandatory with Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash subject to million‑dollar penalties for serious breaches.

    There will be improvements to the dispute resolution mechanisms. There will be a pathway for anonymous complaints from suppliers and whistle‑blowers, and guards against retribution by supermarkets.

    We released exposure drafts for consultation in September and we aim to introduce legislation into the Parliament later this year.

    Supermarket inquiry

    Second, we understand more needs to be done to achieve a competitive and sustainable food and grocery sector.

    So, we directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to undertake a 12‑month inquiry into supermarket pricing.

    It allows the watchdog to conduct a deep dive into competition and pricing practices in the supermarket sector for the first time in more than 15 years.

    The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s interim report released in September said, ‘Australia’s supermarket industry is changing’ but remains ‘highly concentrated’ (ACCC 2024).

    In the era of online shopping, loyalty programs and data technology, Coles and Woolworths have expanded their share of take‑home food and grocery sales by a combined 3.7 percentage points since 2006–07.

    Supermarkets have also expanded into broader ‘ecosystems’ beyond grocery retailing but in highly complementary areas such as advertising and data analytics, pet products, telco and insurance services (ACCC 2024 p161).

    As well as conducting consumer surveys as part of the inquiry, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission held 7 roundtables to listen to farmers and fresh produce wholesalers.

    Although no conclusions have been made, the interim report highlighted concerns from fresh produce suppliers about information asymmetries, power imbalances and specific practices that have enabled supermarkets to transfer disproportionate risk and cost onto suppliers.

    In the next phase of the inquiry, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will undertake 14 case studies to examine supermarket profit margins and how profits are distributed in the supply chain.

    And it will hand a final report to the government in February 2025.

    CHOICE retail reports

    Third, we announced funding for consumer group CHOICE to produce quarterly reports on retail grocery prices.

    The CHOICE reports will compare grocery prices at different retailers, highlighting those charging the most and the least.

    We have already seen the first 2 ‘basket of goods’ quarterly reports using data from March and June to help consumers make informed decisions about what they’re buying and where they shop (Leigh 2024c).

    Other measures

    Earlier this month, the Australian Government announced around $30 million in additional funding to the ACCC to crack down on misleading and deceptive pricing practices and unconscionable conduct in the supermarket and retail sectors.

    This will strengthen the ACCC’s ability to proactively monitor behaviour and investigate concerns about supermarkets and retailers falsely justifying higher prices.

    In addition to this crackdown, the Treasurer will work closely with states and territories through the Council on Federal Financial Relations to reform planning and zoning regulations, which will help boost competition in the supermarket sector by opening up more sites for new stores (Albanese 2024).

    Strengthening protections against unfair contract terms

    Unfair contract term protections are another area where we have already made improvements.

    Unfair contract terms are terms that are clearly lopsided – for example by allowing the more powerful party to unilaterally change prices, or cancel the contract.

    Under the former government, such terms were unenforceable, but it was not an offence to include them in a contract.

    Fertiliser

    For example, last year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigated complaints about fertiliser companies using contracts in a way that could disadvantage farmers (ACCC 2023).

    Contract terms allegedly gave larger suppliers the right to unilaterally vary the quantity delivered or to terminate the agreement and restricted buyers from raising issues about defects.

    Fertiliser suppliers co‑operated and changed the contract terms to address the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s concerns.

    Potatoes

    In another example, the Federal Court in 2019 declared Mitolo Group, Australia’s largest potato wholesaler, used unfair terms in contracts with growers (ACCC 2019).

    The court declared contract terms that allowed Mitolo to unilaterally determine or vary the price paid to growers as void.

    Terms preventing growers from selling potatoes to other purchasers and terms stopping farmers from selling their property unless the buyer entered into a contract with Mitolo were also declared void.

    Stronger laws

    More broadly, the problem is the laws weren’t stopping the use of unfair terms, which remain prevalent in standard form contracts.

    A court could declare a contract term to be unfair and therefore void and unenforceable, but until our government took office, the law didn’t allow penalties to be imposed.

    We have fixed that. In 2022, we delivered on our promise to strengthen unfair contract term laws (Leigh & Collins 2022).

    We introduced civil penalty provisions outlawing the use of, and reliance on, unfair terms in standard form contracts.

    And we extended the coverage of the protections.

    We lifted the eligibility cap from businesses with less than 20 employees to businesses with less than 100 employees, or annual turnover of less than $10 million.

    The most significant merger reforms in decades

    Merger regulation is one of the key pillars of competition law (Leigh 2024a).

    It acts as the ‘preventive medicine’ against the few mergers that substantially lessen competition.

    But feedback suggests our system isn’t as healthy as it could be.

    The Competition Taskforce found Australia’s ‘ad hoc’ merger process is unfit for a modern economy and said we lag best practice in other countries.

    In response, we have announced the most significant reforms to merger settings in almost 50 years.

    The proposed reforms will make Australia’s merger approval system faster, stronger, simpler, targeted and more transparent.

    Revitalising National Competition Policy

    The Albanese government is working with state and territories to revitalise National Competition Policy.

    There is consensus that pro‑competitive reforms are worth doing and we are aiming for agreement by the end of the year.

    The original National Competition Policy underpinned a generation of growth from the 1990s (Leigh 2024d).

    While it left us in a good position, the economy has changed, and the nation now faces new challenges that the original policy could not have anticipated.

    These include digitalisation, the growth in human services, the net zero transformation and supporting Australia’s most vulnerable (Treasury 2024b).

    Trade opportunities

    We are also looking to improve competitiveness overseas as well as at home.

    Our farmers are internationally competitive with Australia exporting around 72 per cent of the total value of agricultural, fisheries and forestry production (ABARES 2024).

    Historically, Australia’s farmers have been among the strongest advocates of trade liberalisation. The old ‘protection all round’ strategy meant that Australian farmers paid more for imported farm machinery, and faced tariffs from other countries to which they exported their produce.

    Reductions in Australia’s domestic tariffs under the Whitlam, Hawke and Keating governments made farm equipment more affordable. It also bought Australia international credibility – enabling us to spearhead reform through the creation in 1986 of the Cairns Group of Fair Trading Nations, to advocate for liberalisation of global trade in agricultural goods (cairnsgroup.org).

    Today, our government is building on that legacy. Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy said, ‘Australia is already a key partner in helping Southeast Asia meet its food security needs’, and notes that ‘there is strong potential to develop this trade relationship further towards 2040’ (DFAT 2023).

    So, trade forms a significant part of our broader economic agenda.

    And as Trade Minister Don Farrell observes, we are ‘delivering on our commitment to secure new trade and investment opportunities for Australian exporters, producers, farmers and businesses’ (Farrell 2024).

    Closing remarks

    Let me finish by saying, competitive markets matter in all parts of the Australian economy, but especially in the farm sector.

    As the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Mick Keogh crisply puts it: ‘there are many farmers, but few processors or wholesalers, and even fewer major retailers’ (Keogh 2021).

    As my analysis of IBIS World data shows, small‑scale farmers are often the meat in a market concentration sandwich.

    Upstream, there is often no choice about dealing with large‑scale providers on inputs.

    Downstream, there is often no choice about negotiating with larger processors and retailers.

    And through various examples from many reports over several years, we can see that market concentration hurts farmers.

    Higher prices for inputs.

    Less choice for repairs.

    Power imbalances in negotiating contracts.

    A lack of transparency around prices.

    And potentially unfair contract terms.

    I’m pleased to say, as outlined today, the government is focused on practical solutions to improve our competition settings.

    And we appreciate the expertise and insights of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

    Thank you.

    Note: My thanks to officials in the Australian Treasury for invaluable drafting assistance.

    References

    Albanese, A; Chalmers, J. (2024) ‘Helping Australians get fairer supermarket prices through stronger protections and greater competition’, [media release] The Treasury, accessed 1 October 2024.

    Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) n.d About ABARES – Our History, online content.

    Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) (2024) Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2024, ABARES Insights.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2024) Supermarkets inquiry interim report.

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    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2019a), Transparency improving in cattle and beef industry, media release issued 20 August 2019.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2020) Perishable agricultural goods inquiry Final Report.

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    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2023) Fertiliser suppliers amend unfair contract terms after ACCC investigation Accessed 21 August 2023.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2019b) Court penalises potato wholesaler for breaching the Horticulture Code and declares unfair contract terms void, Accessed 2 August 2019.

    Australian of the Year Awards (n.d) Sir John Crawford AC CBE – In Memoriam.

    Cairns Group, The. (n.d) About The Cairns Gro…~https://www.cairnsgroup.org/Pages/Introduction.aspx

    Collins (2024) Supporting Australia’s wine industry [media release] The Treasury, accessed 23 August 2024.

    Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2022) Snapshot – Australian agricultural machinery imports Accessed 4 November 2022.

    Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2023) Boosting capabilities to support a sustainable agriculture sector Budget 2023–2024 fact sheet, Australian Government.

    Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2023) Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, a report for the Australian Government accessed September 2023.

    Dictionary of Biography, Australian. Richard Bowyer Smith entry, Biography – Richard …~https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smith‑richard‑bowyer‑13201

    Emerson C (2024) Independent Review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct Final Report, [final report] Treasury.

    Farrell D (2024) Press conference, Parliament House Accessed 17 September 2024.

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    IBIS World (2024a) ‘Agricultural machinery manufacturing in Australia’, Industry Report, February 2024.

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    IBIS World (2024d) ‘Meat processing in Australia’, Industry Report, June 2024.

    IBIS World (2024e) ‘Rail freight transport in Australia’, Industry Report, September 2024.

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    IBIS World (2024g) ‘Supermarkets and grocery stores in Australia, Industry Report, August 2024.IBIS World 2023, ‘Fruit and vegetable processing in Australia’, Industry Report, August 2023.

    Keogh M (2021) Competition in Australian agriculture Speech to the National Farmers’ Federation accessed 11 June 2021.

    Leigh A 28 November (2022) Look overseas to see the virtues of more competition [opinion piece] The Australian.

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    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Inquiry warns distrustful public wouldn’t accept COVID measures in future pandemic

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

    The government-appointed inquiry into Australia’s COVID response has warned public trust won’t be so high in a future pandemic and people would be unlikely to accept again many of the measures taken.

    “That means there is a job to be done to rebuild trust, and we must plan a response based on the Australia we are today, not the Australia we were before the pandemic,” the report released on Tuesday said.

    The inquiry was conducted by former NSW public servant Robyn Kirk, epidemiologist Catherine Bennett, and economist Angela Jackson. It examined the health and economic responses; while it did not directly delve into the state responses, it did cover the federal-state interface.

    The overall takeout from the inquiry is that “Australia did well relative to other nations, that experienced larger losses in human life, health system collapse and more severe economic downturns”.

    But “the pandemic response was not as effective as it could have been” for an event for which there was “no playbook for pivotal actions.”

    The inquiry said “with the benefit of hindsight, there was excessive fiscal and monetary policy stimulus provided throughout 2021 and 2022, especially in the construction sector. Combined with supply side disruptions, this contributed to inflationary pressures coming out of the pandemic.”

    The inquiry criticised the Homebuilder program’s contribution to inflation, as well as Jobkeeper’s targeting, and said blanket access to superannuation should not be repeated.

    The government – which might have originally expected the inquiry to have been more critical of the Morrison government – quickly seized on the report’s economic criticisms.

    The panel has made a set of recommendations to ensure better preparation for a future pandemic.

    It highlighted the “tail” the pandemic has left, especially its effect on children, who suffered school closures.

    “Children faced lower health risks from COVID-19; however, broader impacts on the social and emotional development of children are ongoing. These include impacts on mental health, school attendance and academic outcomes for some groups of children.”

    The report noted that the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee had never recommended widespread school closures.

    A lack of clear communication about risks had created the environment for states to decide to go to remote learning.

    The impacts on children should be considered in future pandemic preparations, the inquiry said.

    It strongly backed making permanent the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control. The government will legislate next year for the CDC, to start on January 1 2026, as an independent statutory agency.

    The CDC would be important in rebuilding trust, the report said, as well as “strengthening resilience and preparedness”. It would provide “national coordination to gather evidence necessary to undertake the assessments that can guide the proportionality of public health responses in future crises”.

    The report said trust in government was essential for a successful response to a pandemic.

    At COVID’s outset, the public largely did what was asked of them, complying with restrictive public health orders.

    But the initial strengthening of trust in government did not continue through the pandemic. By the second year, restrictions on personal freedom were less accepted.

    Reasons for the decrease in trust included a lack of transparency in decision making, poor communication, the stringency and duration of restrictions, implementation of mandated measures, access to vaccines and inconsistencies in responses across jurisdictions.

    Michelle Grattan 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. Inquiry warns distrustful public wouldn’t accept COVID measures in future pandemic – https://theconversation.com/inquiry-warns-distrustful-public-wouldnt-accept-covid-measures-in-future-pandemic-242383

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s COVID inquiry shows why a permanent ‘centre for disease control’ is more urgent than ever

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jocelyne Basseal, Associate Director, Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute (Sydney ID), Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney

    Christie Cooper/Shutterstock

    The long-awaited independent inquiry into Australia’s COVID response was released today, with lessons on how the nation could better prepare for future pandemics.

    The 868-page report outlined nine guiding recommendations and 26 actions, including 19 set for implementation over the next 12 to 18 months. These form the foundation for future pandemic preparedness.

    With initial strong national solidarity, Australia acted quickly to close national borders, the inquiry found. This bought crucial time, but Australia was not adequately prepared for a crisis of the scale of the COVID pandemic.

    Australia’s response lacked strong central co-ordination and leadership. Communication about public health advice was often conflicting or not appropriately communicated with the most vulnerable groups. Public trust was further undermined by a lack of transparency in decision-making, such as disease modelling, which underpinned important public health responses.

    In hindsight, the inquiry concluded a fully fledged Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) could have made a huge difference. In response, the federal government today committed A$251 milion to establish such a centre in Canberra.

    What did the inquiry find?

    1. Early rapid response and consensus helped keep us safe. As an inland nation, Australia was able to close its borders while preparing for the ultimate inevitable population-wide spread of SARS CoV-2. But it was unprepared for pandemic-related quarantines.

    2. Initially, the communication was clear and consistent. This didn’t last. Huge uncertainties, rapidly changing circumstances, differing opinions among experts and the politicisation of the response undermined communication strategies. Communication with diverse ethnic groups and vulnerable populations groups were often sub-optimal. In future, misinformation and disinformation needs to be addressed through improving health literacy and proactive communication.

    3. Our health-care infrastructure was lacking and couldn’t cope with emergency surge capacity, the inquiry found, although health-care workers “pulled together” remarkably. Aged care facilities were particularly vulnerable and had poor infection-control practices. More broadly, there were supply chain issues and inadequate stockpiles of essential infection prevention and control equipment, such as masks and gloves. Australia was unable to manufacture these and was left at the mercy of foreign providers.

    4. Analysing the genetic material of the virus and widespread testing were critical to tracking viral evolution and spread. Pathogen genomics in New South Wales and Victoria, for instance, allowed accurate tracking of virus variants and local transmission. But there was poor exchange of data between jurisdictions and limited national coordination to optimise data interpretation and response.

    5. Transparent, evidence-based decision-making was lacking. Disease models that informed key decisions were opaque and not open to scrutiny or peer review.

    6. Vulnerable populations, including children, suffered disproportionately. COVID-related school closures were particularly harmful as they affected learning, socialising and development, and disproportionately affected children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Strict social isolation also increased the risk of family violence, along with anxiety and other mental health impacts. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experienced higher risks due to the inequity of service provision and the social determinants of health.

    7. Research is important and should be rapidly scalable. Good surveillance systems for emerging infectious diseases and future pandemic threats should be in place. Patient specimens need to be stored so we can rapidly explore the mechanisms of disease and develop essential diagnostic tests. The inquiry recognised the need for Australia to develop its own vaccines and for access to mRNA technology was recognised as an important health security measure, given challenges in vaccine access.

    8. Global solidarity and co-operation create a safer word for all.
    The stark inequities in COVID vaccine access, opened major fault lines in international relationships and still complicate the drafting of a global pandemic treaty.

    9. Emerging diseases with a One Health focus should be recognised as a ‘standing threat’. In our modern interconnected world, with highly concentrated human and animal populations combined with stressed ecosystems, new diseases with pandemic potential will continue to emerge at an unprecedented rate. This requires a gobal focus.

    How could a CDC make a difference?

    One of the inquiry’s key take-home messages is that the lack of strong, independent, central co-ordination hampered our pandemic response.

    The inadequate flow of data between jurisdictions were major shortcomings that limited the ability to target responses. This is needed to understand:

    • transmission dynamics
    • the vulnerabilities in those with severe disease
    • the circulating viral variants.

    The inquiry also emphasised the need to analyse data in near real time.

    Good data drive evidence-informed and transparent policy. This is a crucial area for a future Australian CDC to address. The CDC will function as a “data hub”, with Canberra offering the ideal location supporting a multi-jurisdictional “hub-and-spoke” model.

    Australia’s new CDC is expected to be launched by January 2026, pending legislation approval. The ongoing challenge will be to ensure it delivers optimal long-term health benefits for all Australians.

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

    – ref. Australia’s COVID inquiry shows why a permanent ‘centre for disease control’ is more urgent than ever – https://theconversation.com/australias-covid-inquiry-shows-why-a-permanent-centre-for-disease-control-is-more-urgent-than-ever-239498

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU held the second strategic session for MBA students in the Republic of Belarus

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    The State University of Management held the second strategic session for students of the professional retraining program “Master of Business Administration (MBA)”, studying within the quota established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

    The event was held at the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in the Republic of Belarus – the Russian House in Minsk.

    The strategic session “Effective tools for analyzing business processes of an organization”, conducted by the head of the department of industrial organizations management of the Institute of Industry Management Victoria Borisova and associate professors of the department of project management of the Institute of Industry Management Natalia Titova and Tatyana Chernova, is dedicated to tools for constructing, analyzing and identifying problems in existing business processes in an organization.

    During the two-day face-to-face session, MBA students also developed recommendations and projects for improving business processes in their organizations. More than 50 students of the program took part in the event.

    Let us recall that the first strategic session for MBA program students was held in April of this year.

    The State University of Management trains foreign citizens in additional professional education programs within the framework of the Eurasian Network University, whose activities are aimed at creating and developing a single educational space of EAEU universities. More than 250 students have already been trained in various additional professional programs in 2024.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/29/2024

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Ghana’s Minister for National Security highlights the important role the country plays in the region The University of Aberdeen welcomed the Minister for National Security in Ghana, the Honourable Albert Kan-Dapaah, in a visit where he shared the important role Ghana plays in upholding democracy and resolving the security challenges in the region.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    The University of Aberdeen welcomed the Minister for National Security in Ghana, the Honourable Albert Kan-Dapaah, in a visit where he shared the important role Ghana plays in upholding democracy and resolving the security challenges in the region.
    The delegation, which also included Emmanuel Dadzie, Technical Director at the Ministry of National Security and Mrs Ann-Marie Ekpale, Head of Human Resource at Ministry of National Security, was given a tour of the University’s 500-year-old campus and met with the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Councillor David Cameron on Monday (October 28).
    Relations between the UK and Ghana are rooted in long-standing economic, political and cultural connections, since Ghana became independent from the UK in 1957. More recent commercial oil exploration and energy transition has led to the exchange of experiences and ideas with the industry in Aberdeen. Mr Kan-Dapaah was presented with a football shirt by Aberdeen Football Club in recognition of the connections between the regions.
    The Honourable Minister spoke during his visit on the political and security situation in the West African region and underscored the urgency for West Africa’s longstanding friends to empower the region to meet ongoing multidimensional challenges.
    He shared his perspectives on the decline in democracy in the region and highlighted the impact of the ongoing great power rivalry as a factor shrinking the space for meaningful regional and international security cooperation. 
    The speech also stressed the role of Ghana in upholding democracy and resolving the security challenges in the region and the upcoming General Elections and the country’s preparedness to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections.
    The University of Aberdeen has a large number of Ghanian students and more than 500 alumni including Hon. Prince Hamidu Armah, MP for Kwesimintsim Constituency, Western Region, who studied for a PhD in Mathematics Education at the University of Aberdeen.
    Many retain strong links with their Alma mater and in 2022 an Alumni Chapter for the University of Aberdeen was established in Accra.
    The Chapter aims to foster connections among graduates living and working in Ghana and serves as a bridge between alumni in Ghana and the broader University of Aberdeen community, helping to maintain and strengthen professional and personal ties beyond graduation.
    The University also has an active Ghana Students Society helping to create a sense of community among students, helping them connect, support each other, and build strong friendships while studying abroad. It promotes cultural exchange and understanding by organising events, workshops, and activities that showcase the traditions, customs, and history of Ghana.
    Dr Manu Lekunze, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, introduced the Minister’s talk by highlighting why European security planners cannot ignore security developments in West Africa.
    He said: “These reasons include West Africa’s proximity to Europe, significant demographic change, strategic resources, and great power meddling that has implications for Europe
    “We were pleased to welcome the Honourable Minister to the University of Aberdeen and to hear first hand his insights into the role Ghana plays in the security challenges of the region.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The results of the 10th All-Russian Prize “For Loyalty to Science” have been summed up

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On October 28, 2024, the Zaryadye Concert Hall hosted the award ceremony of the 10th All-Russian Prize “For Loyalty to Science”.

    The All-Russian Prize “For Loyalty to Science” is one of the key events of the Decade of Science and Technology and the country’s main industry prize, which has been awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of scientific communication and popularization of science since 2015. This year, about 2 thousand applications from 80 regions of Russia were submitted for the prize.

    The International Festival SCIENCE 0 won in the nomination “Russian Science to the World” (nomination named after Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky). The award was presented to its initiator, the rector of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov Viktor Sadovnichy by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

    “It is probably our country’s duty to contribute to the development of world science… We have opened up many new areas where our scientists find new opportunities for interaction and cooperation… Our scientists continue to remain open to the entire world. There is a circulation that provides the necessary energy for the development of science. No science can develop under a glass dome. It must be open, especially such a great science of such a great country,” Dmitry Peskov noted.

    Let us recall that young scientists from the State University of Management took part in the All-Russian campaign “Education in Schools”, held as part of the SCIENCE 0 festival.

    In the nomination “Author of Digital Content”, the award was received by the CEO of OOO “Technologies and Creativity”, co-author of the show “Revuzor” Vadim Bakin. The award was presented to him by Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    “You are doing a great job, one of the most important ones that President Vladimir Putin has ordered to be carried out within the framework of the Decade of Science and Technology – you are popularizing the high title of scientist. We see a good result. This year, the number of applications for the All-Russian Prize “For Loyalty to Science” has increased by 1.5 times – to almost 2 thousand. According to VTsIOM polls, more than half of Russians called the professions of scientist and engineer prestigious,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    The victory in the nomination “Work with experience: protection of historical truth” went to the historiographic study of the activities of scientific and legal centers of Russia and foreign countries over the past 100 years “Chronicle of Russian legal science in five volumes”. The prize was presented to the authors of the project by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, a lawyer by education Valery Falkov.

    “We consciously cultivate a special attitude towards history. Because history is not a set of events, but a valuable experience that is passed down from generation to generation. It forms national consciousness, strengthens spiritual and cultural ties both within the state and at the international level,” said Valery Filkov.

    List of winners of the 10th All-Russian Prize “For Loyalty to Science”:

    Russian: Russian Science to the World Nomination (Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky Nomination) — SCIENCE 0 International Festival; Recognition Nomination — Soviet and Russian zoologist and biogeographer, host of the Animal World program Nikolai Drozdov; Scientific Press Service of the Year Nomination — press service of the Russian Science Foundation; Science Journalist of the Year Nomination — author and host of the scientific travel show Hitchhiker’s Guide to Science Alexander Prudnikov; Special Prize named after Daniil Granin Nomination — FANK Scientific Film Laboratory; Digital Content Author Nomination — CEO of Technologies and Creativity LLC, co-author of the Revuzor show Vadim Bakin; Working with Experience: Protecting Historical Truth Nomination — The Chronicle of Russian Legal Science in Five Volumes; Nomination “Special Prize named after Khristopher Ledentsov” (State Corporation “Rosatom”) — TASS special project “Atomic Age”; Nomination “Special Prize named after Khristopher Ledentsov” (State Corporation “Roscosmos”) — rocket-building championship “Jet Propulsion”; Nomination “Special Prize named after Khristopher Ledentsov” (State Corporation “Rostec”) — information portal “SPbGU in Action”; Nomination “Special Prize named after Khristopher Ledentsov” (PJSC “Gazprom”) — a series of career guidance quests “I am a future oil and gas chemistry engineer!”; Nomination “Science for Children” — competition “Scientific Universe”.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/29/2024

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Legends of Russian Science: Evgeny Antonovich Gailish

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The next issue of the special project “Legends of Russian Science” of the SPbPU Public Relations Department and the Polytechnic History Museum is dedicated to Evgeny Antonovich Gailish, the organizer of the production of high-quality radio equipment, Hero of Socialist Labor.

    Evgeny Gailish was born on September 27, 1914 in Petrograd, into a peasant family. In 1931, he graduated from high school, then entered the physics and mechanics department of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute.

    During his student years, Evgeny Antonovich worked in a radio materials laboratory. There he created a method for calculating antenna insulators, which later found its practical application. After graduating from the university, the polytechnic student was a laboratory assistant, designer, and head of the laboratory at Research Institute-34 of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Radio Electronics. In 1942, he got a job as a chief engineer at the Radio Engineering Semi-Finished Goods Plant No. 436. There, Evgeny Antonovich supervised the creation of elements for the portable transceiver “Sever”, which was widely used during the Great Patriotic War. During the siege of Leningrad, the transmitter was manufactured at the Kozitsky Plant. In 1945, E. A. Gailish joined the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

    After the war, Evgeny Antonovich worked as chief engineer and deputy general director for science at NPO Positron in Leningrad. He was engaged in theoretical research that was of great importance for the development of domestic instrument-making. The results of his work in this area were highly recognized with many state awards.

    Since 1975, Evgeny Aleksandrovich headed the Department of Design and Manufacturing Technology of Radio Components at the V. I. Lenin Electrotechnical University of Leningrad (LETI), and defended his doctoral dissertation.

    In 1949, E. A. Gailish received the Stalin Prize for organizing the production of high-quality radio equipment. On June 17, 1961, he was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor for outstanding achievements in the creation of rocket technology models and ensuring the successful flight of man into outer space. Among his awards are the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and the Badge of Honor.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: View from The Hill: ‘identity politics’ has challenged the Labor Party to define its identity

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

    Saturday’s Queensland result provides the latest evidence of the dual tugs on the modern Labor Party, coming from its different constituencies.

    The smallest swing against the Miles government was in inner Brisbane; the swing became bigger in the outer suburbs, and larger again in the regions. The broad state figures were: south-east Queensland 6.3%; rural/regional Queensland 9.2%. The awings in the city were: inner Brisbane 5.0%; outer Brisbane 7.7%.

    This sort of divide reflects a challenge, first recognised decades ago, that’s highlighted by former Labor senator and minister Kim Carr, in his just-published A Long March. In a scathing critique of Labor’s problems, Carr calls this a “cultural crisis.”

    “The Labor ship has struck the rock of identity politics,” Carr writes, “with too many of its spokespeople adopting a censorious tone to those who fail to embrace their particular social policy agendas”.

    From the left, old school and former factional heavyweight, Carr argues Labor has sought to build a new constituency without paying sufficient attention to its traditional support base.

    Over decades, the once-working class party has taken up causes that appeal to the wealthier, better-educated middle- class voters, and these people have moved their support to it. The cost has been an erosion of outer suburban votes, the people now being aggressively targeted by opposition leader Peter Dutton.

    Meanwhile, in inner urban areas Labor has come under increasing pressure from the Greens. The danger for the ALP, Carr believes, is by trying to compete with the Greens on identity politics it will inevitably be outmanoeuvred.

    “The profound challenge for the Labor Party in the 2020s is to find a way to bind together its more affluent and educated support base in the inner and middle suburbs of the big cities with its less well-off and less formally educated supporters in the outer suburbs and regional cities,” Carr says.

    Political historian Paul Strangio, however, warns that while obviously Labor has to straddle constituencies, “there is no returning to an imagined ‘heartland’. The outer suburbs Carr seems to want Labor to focus upon are themselves radically changing. They are not a repository of old-fashioned working class values and priorities, and nor on their own are they sufficient to provide a basis for the party to hold government.”

    Carr says the issue is how to build Labor’s primary vote in its heartland communities.

    On what we’ve seen in recent politics, this appears a formidable, if not insurmountable, hope for any time soon.

    Voters don’t trust parties, let alone join them. The popularity of “community candidates” has seen a record-sized crossbench in the House of Representatives, with an expanded Greens presence and disillusionment with the Liberals making a strong contribution to the number in 2022. Next year’s election will test whether this trend is entrenched.

    Carr points out that Labor has a party membership that’s wealthier and older than the general community. Its membership is “thin” in the outer suburbs and the regions compared with the inner areas.

    Among the consequences is that the messages coming up through the party may not gell with the preoccupations of the broader community, he says.

    Over the years the ALP rank and file has not just shrunk numerically but been deprived of most of the not-inconsiderable power it once had within the party.

    In terms of clout, Labor’s national conference, which sets the platform, is a diminished beast, though massively swollen numerically. The party membership’s power over preselections has been greatly reduced, thanks to factional deal-making and frequent intervention by the party’s national executive. In just one significant way has the rank and file gained power: it now has a 50% voice in electing the party’s leader, so far exercised once, in 2013, when Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese faced off.

    Given the shrinkage and balkanisation of the party, there is currently not the interest in internal party reform that erupted periodically and often heatedly in earlier years.

    Labor veteran Race Mathews’ career, documented by his wife Iola in Race Mathews: A Life in Politics, has an extraordinarily broad political CV: a staffer for federal and state leaders, MP for the federal seat of Casey (elected on the 1972 Whitlam wave and defeated in the 1975 post-dismissal rout), and a Victorian state minister. An enduring preoccupation for Mathews, who was part of an influx of young, well-educated middle-class activists attracted to Labor in the 1960s and early 1970s, was fighting to make the Labor Party fit for purpose and more internally democratic.

    Serving on Gough Whitlam’s staff in the late 1960s, Mathews was in the thick of the then-opposition leader’s tumultuous battle with the troglodytes of the Victorian party, who preferred political impotence to the power of government. Whitlam knew that unless the ALP organisation was reformed, Labor’s road to office would be obstructed.

    Way back when, the party’s organisation, in which the left flexed a lot of muscle, liked to signal that the MPs were under its thumb. In 1963, then-opposition leader Arthur Calwell and Whitlam, his deputy, were embarrassed when photographed outside a Canberra hotel waiting for the party’s special national conference (to which they were not delegates) to decide Labor’s attitude to the North West Cape joint facility. The ultimate decision was not the problem – the line it was made by “36 faceless men” was.

    Mathews later highlighted the significance of the 1970 federal intervention in Victoria, saying it had led to important reforms in that state and elsewhere. “Good people were brought into parliament and membership was a rewarding experience.” But then factionalism “ossified” the party and “if you weren’t part of the factions, you were marginalised”.

    In his 70s Mathews (who is now aged 89 and suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease) was still fighting for democratisation of Labor’s organisation, which he described as “archaic and decrepit”. While party leaders and others were supportive in principle, the quest for a new wave of change ultimately brought only limited outcomes.

    Iola Mathews quotes her husband’s Facebook answer to those who wondered why he, at 80, he was still in these trenches.

    He wrote: “The fact is that nobody ever changed the party other than from inside it, or ever will. And shaping it closer to our heart’s desire is the only game in town.”

    The truth is, however, it’s a game those who run the Labor Party these days have no serious interest in pursuing. As Strangio observes, “the age of the mass party has passed”.

    Michelle Grattan 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. View from The Hill: ‘identity politics’ has challenged the Labor Party to define its identity – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-identity-politics-has-challenged-the-labor-party-to-define-its-identity-242215

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Another free Wi-Fi network has become available to students of the State University of Management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    Great news for students living in dormitories No. 2 and No. 6 of the State University of Management – a new Wi-Fi hotspot has opened.

    For the additional free opportunity to access the Internet, we would like to thank the Department of Information Technology of the City of Moscow and the digital solutions operator NAUKA.

    Connection instructions:

    Select the Moscow_WiFi_Free network in the list of available networks; Open the browser and log in using your mos.ru account by entering your login and password, or by phone number. The access code will be sent via SMS.

    Stay in touch with your family and friends, follow the news of the State University of Management on all available platforms, study and have fun.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/29/2024

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Supporting food and drink businesses

    Source: Scottish Government

    New funding to promote regional products.

    Projects from across Scotland are being awarded grants of up to £5,000 to help to promote regional food and drink products and open up new markets.

    Food festivals, workshops and markets celebrating produce from shellfish to whisky are among the 17 local and collaborative projects to receive support from the latest round of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Regional Food Fund.

    The Fund, managed by Scotland Food & Drink, supports regional growth by backing projects to promote and sell produce from their areas.

    Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:

    “We have some of the best food and drink in the world – the industry is worth £15 billion to our economy, supports thousands of jobs and businesses and is a success story at home and internationally. The Regional Food Fund is providing much-needed support to local businesses, producers and community groups to showcase the best products that their regions have to offer.

    “Through this fund we have seen more than £750,000 awarded from the available funding to successful projects across Scotland. This round of funding celebrates some incredible produce at some wonderful locations that mean people will benefit from it all across the country, whether taking part in cookery events on Arran, learning about wild food in Glasgow or improving their culinary skills at Fife’s Cambo Snowdrop Festival.

    “I look forward to hearing how each of these exciting projects develops.”

    Scotland Food & Drink Head of Regional Food Fiona Richmond said:

    “It’s truly exciting to support 17 more collaborative food and drink projects through this latest round of the Regional Food Fund. The quality of the applications reflects the passion and commitment to enhancing local food and drink initiatives, which are vital to the continued growth of Scotland’s food, drink, and tourism sectors.

    “We congratulate all this year’s recipients and are eager to watch these projects unfold in the coming months, knowing they will leave a lasting and positive impact on communities across the country.”

    Background

    Regional Food Fund | Scotland Food & Drink (foodanddrink.scot)

    In 2018, the Connect Local Regional Food Fund was launched consisting of 4 funding rounds, which saw more than £350,000 awarded across 78 projects. In 2021, the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Regional Food Fund was launched in place of the previous Connect Local Regional Food Fund. This will be the fifth round of the fund under Scotland Food & Drink which has seen more than £400,000 awarded across 87 projects to date.

    The successful applicants in this round are:

    Bellevue Farm, Arran. Development of Eating Facility          £5,000

    In collaboration with Arran’s Food Journey regional food group, project will create a catering facility within Bellevue Barn which can be used to showcase local produce & offer unique eating experiences.

    Cambo Heritage Trust, Fife. Made in Fife at the Cambo Snowdrop Festival £4,989

    Project builds on success of the café, snowdrop festival and Green Market programme to host market events with cookery workshops featuring ‘root to stalk’ methods and provide a space for other regional food and drink traders with the opportunity to showcase their products in a range of markets called ‘Made in Fife’ at Cambo Gardens.

    Clyde Fishermen’s Trust/Clyde Fishermen’s Association, Glasgow. Festival of the Sea £5,000

    Winter festival of the Sea, building on track record of delivering seafood festivals. Event will provide a collaborative showcase that brings together West Coast fishermen, seafood producers, and culinary experts to celebrate Scotland’s rich fishing heritage and exceptional produce.

    Dornoch BID, Highlands. Food on the Firth £1,300

    Series of out of season, food-focused weeks in Dornoch covering different sectors such as meat and shellfish.

    East Lothian Food and Drink, East Lothian. East Lothian Food and Drink Recipe Book £5,000

    East Lothian  Project will create a recipe book that features East Lothian Food and Drink members. From cocktails from Buck & Birch to non- alcoholic mocktails featuring Brose Oats. From our East coast seas to our rolling hills and farmland.

    Essential Edinburgh, Edinburgh. Eat Out Edinburgh £5,000

    Eat Out Edinburgh will be celebrating all things food and drink at a quieter time of the year, encouraging locals to eat out in the city centre supporting their local producers, suppliers, hospitality businesses and the local economy. Funds will support a promotional campaign to achieve this.

    Falkirk Delivers, Falkirk. Falkirk Producers Market Growth Initiative       £4,725

    Project aims to expand the reach and impact of the market by attracting new food and drink vendors and enhancing their promotional capabilities. Fund will support free stalls for 15 producers and digital campaign.

    Fife Whisky Festival Ltd, Fife. Fife Whisky Festival £4,985

    New Sunday event to showcase smaller, local food and drink producers under the festival umbrella. Event will provide cross-selling and marketing opportunities.

    Food Lochaber (part of Lochaber Environmental Group), Highlands. Food Lochaber £5,000

    Project aims to encourage Lochaber producers to work together to sell to local customers and, where appropriate, increase their production of food by giving them access to an online market place run by the producers.

    Forth Valley Food & Drink. Flavours of Forth Valley £5,000

    Forth Valley  Development project to support growth & sustainability of the group. Activities include strategic review; member showcase and local food film screening events.       

    Galloway Food Hub CIC, Dumfries and Galloway. Galloway Food Hub PR Campaign £5,000

    PR & digital campaign to promote this online marketplace for local producers.  

    Granton Project CIC, Edinburgh. The Pitt Market £5,000

    Creation of first collaborative market with local producers, street food traders and the community. This event will showcase the best of regional produce and local entrepreneurs and startups.       

    Great Perthshire. Perth & Kinross Farmers Markets          £5,000

    Project will bring the existing four Perth & Kinross farmers’ markets together to present a shared proposition to their customers & shoppers, collaborate on good practice & common objectives. Working group, shared information strategy & forum are amongst some of the activities planned.     

    Rosemains Steading CIC, Midlothian. Rosemains Steadings Markets £5,000

    Creation of regular markets at this collaborative hub for entrepreneurs, featuring new stalls, tastings & demonstrations.  

    Scottish Food & Drink Histories Partnership Lab (University of Glasgow), Glasgow. Scottish Food Heritage Symposium: Tea £5,000

    In partnership with Mackintosh at the Willow, project will debut a one-day symposium of history talks, live demonstrations, tasting sessions & panel discussions.     

    Scottish Maritime Museum, Ayrshire. Christmas Market £5,000

    Expansion of Christmas market to include food and drink producers in collaboration with Ayrshire Food An’ A’ That regional food group

    Scottish Wild Food Festival, Glasgow. Wild Food Producers Showcase, £5,000

    Various initiatives to increase promotion & sales of wild food products/wild food tourism experiences such as wild food directory; digital activities & market stalls at events     

    TOTAL         17 Applicants                   TOTAL GRANT CLAIM FUNDING   £80,999

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Second reading speech – Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024

    Source: Australian Executive Government Ministers

    Check Against Delivery

    Introduction

    The digital economy has unleashed enormous benefits for Australians. But it has also increased the privacy risks we face through the collection and storage of enormous amounts of our personal data.

    The Privacy Act 1988 represented the first time that a comprehensive, integrated set of legal rules protecting interests in privacy existed in Australia. On introducing it, Attorney-General Lionel Bowen told the Parliament that “enormous developments in technology for the processing of information are providing new and, in some respects, undesirable opportunities for the greater use of personal information.”

    In that respect, little has changed. Evolutions in technology and the way people use it continue to vex those who share information online, and those charged with regulating it. It is essential that Australians are protected by a legal framework that is flexible and agile enough to adapt to changes in the world around them.

    The Privacy Act has not kept pace with the adoption of digital technologies. The vast data flows that underpin digital ecosystems have also created the conditions for significant harms – like major data breaches that have revealed the sensitive information of millions of Australians, exposing us to the risk of identity fraud and scams.

    Strong privacy laws and protections are critical to building public trust and confidence in the digital economy, and driving the investments needed to keep people’s data safe.

    The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. As Sir Zelman Cowen said in his 1969 Boyer Lectures, a person without privacy is a person without dignity. We must be vigilant in ensuring that evolving technology does not erode our ability to protect information about who we are, what we do and what we believe from being misused.

    The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 is a significant step forward for Australian privacy law. It begins the much-needed work of updating our privacy laws to be fit-for-purpose in the digital age.

    With this Bill, the Australian Government is taking the next step to ensure Australians’ privacy is respected and protected. It implements a first tranche of agreed recommendations of the Privacy Act Review, ahead of consultation on a second tranche of reforms.

    It also delivers on a commitment made by the Albanese Government following the National Cabinet held in May to address gender-based violence, by outlawing the practice of “doxxing”, or the malicious release of personal data online.

    Schedule 1 of the Bill will amend the Privacy Act to enhance its effectiveness, strengthen the enforcement tools available to the privacy regulator and better facilitate safe overseas data flows. It will require the development of a Children’s Online Privacy Code, streamline information-sharing in emergencies and following eligible data breaches, and increase transparency when entities are automating significant decisions which use personal information.

    Schedule 2 of the Bill will introduce a new statutory tort to provide redress for serious invasions of privacy.

    Schedule 3 of the Bill will amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 to introduce new criminal offences to target the harmful practice of doxxing.

    Schedule 1 – Privacy Act amendments

    Schedule 1 begins the work of bringing Australia’s privacy protection framework into the digital age. The amendments re-affirm the Government’s view that entities have a responsibility to protect Australians’ personal information and not treat it merely as a commercial asset.

    Children’s privacy

    While all Australians face privacy risks in the online environment, children are particularly vulnerable. For many Australian children, social media has been part of their lives from the time they were born. They have never lived in a world without it.

    It has been estimated that by the time a child turns 13, around 72 million pieces of data will be collected about them.

    This Bill will require the development of a Children’s Online Privacy Code which will apply to social media and other internet services which are likely to be accessed by children. The Children’s Online Privacy Code will specify how these entities must comply with privacy obligations in relation to children. The Code will align to the extent possible with similar codes in like-minded countries, such as the United Kingdom.

    The Code will be developed by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which will be provided with $3 million in funding over three years to do this important work.

    Information-sharing declarations after data breaches and emergencies

    Cyber incidents are growing in number, speed and sophistication. Data breaches are exposing millions of Australians to risk of fraud, identity theft and scams. This Bill will promote the importance of implementing technical and organisational controls – such as encrypting data and training staff on data protection – to address information security risks.

    It will also support more effective responses to data breaches by introducing eligible data breach declarations. A declaration will permit the sharing of personal information following a notifiable data breach for the purpose of preventing or reducing the risk of harm to individuals.

    Sharing information under these circumstances will enable entities such as banks to act quickly to prevent the misuse of compromised credentials. Safeguards are included to ensure that a declaration can only be made for a purpose that is related to preventing or reducing a risk of harm to individuals arising from a misuse of personal information from the eligible data breach.

    An eligible data breach declaration can be issued quickly and will make clear the kinds of personal information that may be shared, and with whom they may be shared, which may include state and territory agencies.

    Similarly, emergency declarations made under the Act permit personal information sharing following disasters or emergencies to support response efforts, including to assist affected individuals. The Bill will require emergency declarations to specify the kinds of personal information, types of entities permitted to share information and the purposes for which it may be shared. These changes will ensure that individuals’ privacy is protected while also addressing their broader interests, and will support enhanced coordination with states and territories in emergencies and disasters. 

    Overseas data flows

    The flow of information across national borders is critical for international trade and services in a globalised world. To support the free flow of information with appropriate protections, the Bill provides for countries with substantially similar data privacy laws to Australia to be prescribed. Businesses and individuals will be able to have greater confidence that personal information will be kept safe. This will also reduce costs for business when entering into contracts and agreements with overseas entities.

    Enforcement

    Effective enforcement of the Privacy Act is essential to protect Australians’ interests. This Bill expands the suite of regulatory powers available to the Information Commissioner to effectively enforce the Act and provides a broader range of enforcement options available to do so. This will include new civil penalties and infringement notices for less serious privacy breaches.

    To investigate potential privacy breaches in an increasingly complex digital landscape, the Information Commissioner requires modern investigative powers. This Bill provides the Information Commissioner with additional powers, including for search and seizure, which may be exercised under warrant when investigating breaches of the Act, and scalable enforcement options.

    The Bill will empower a court to make appropriate orders where it has determined that an entity has breached a civil penalty provision, which may include compensation for loss or damage suffered.

    Effective privacy protection requires proactive regulatory action. This Bill also strengthens the Information Commissioner’s capacity by expanding monitoring and assessment functions. The Bill also introduces new public inquiry powers which will enable the Information Commissioner to inquire into specified matters as directed or approved. This will enable the Information Commissioner to keep closer oversight of threats to privacy, including issues of a systemic nature, as they emerge.  

    Automated decision making

    The safe and responsible development and deployment of automated decision making presents significant opportunities. These systems have the potential to increase the efficiency, accuracy and consistency of decisions, and they present opportunities for improved outcomes in health, environment, defence and national security.

    The Bill will provide individuals with transparency about the use of their personal information in automated decisions which significantly affect their interests. Entities will need to specify the kinds of personal information used in these sorts of decisions in their privacy policies.  

    Importantly these requirements will apply to decisions that are wholly or substantially automated, ensuring that the new requirements cannot be avoided by ‘tokenistic’ human involvement in a decision-making process.

    Schedule 2 – statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy

    A statutory tort applying to breaches of privacy has been talked about in Australia for a long, long time – as early as 1969, when Sir Zelman Cowen, then Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, endorsed legislation to create an actionable right to seek redress for breaches of privacy.

    There is currently no tortious right of action for invasion of privacy under the Act or any other Commonwealth, state or territory statute. The creation of a statutory tort was recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in its 2014 Report “Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era”, which I commissioned in 2013. It has been recommended by many other inquiries before and since.

    In its 2014 report, the Commission stated the creation of a statutory tort would “fill an increasingly conspicuous gap in Australian law, helping to protect the privacy of Australians, while respecting and reinforcing other fundamental rights and values, including freedom of expression”.

    Schedule 2 to the Bill will provide a new statutory cause of action, or tort, for individuals who have suffered a serious invasion of their privacy. This will include an intrusion on a person’s physical privacy, so the tort will complement the Privacy Act, which focusses on the narrower concept of information privacy.

    There are parts of our lives that we reasonably expect to be able to keep to ourselves. The freedom to enjoy a private and family life, and express ourselves and our beliefs in safety, is critical to our wellbeing and dignity.

    Ensuring that individuals have a clear right to seek a legal remedy against people or entities who seriously invade their privacy is a key part of ensuring that our privacy laws keep pace with community expectations and advances in technology.

    Schedule 2 to the Bill provides that an individual has a cause of action for serious privacy invasions, either by an intrusion upon the individual’s seclusion – for example by physically intruding into their private space – or by misuse of their information, in circumstances where the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

    A plaintiff will have a cause of action without having to prove that any damage arose from the invasion of privacy. The damage or harm a plaintiff suffers will be a relevant factor in assessing the seriousness of the invasion, and the remedies that may be awarded.

    For a claim to succeed, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate the public interest in protecting their privacy outweighs any competing public interest raised by the defendant.

    In addition to the public interest balancing test, a range of defences will apply, including where the conduct of the defendant was required or authorised by law or was necessary because of a serious threat to life, health or safety.

    The Bill will provide specific exemptions from liability under the tort, including for journalism, enforcement bodies and intelligence agencies. These exemptions are important to protect press freedom and ensure that legitimate activities of government can be delivered effectively.

    The journalism exemption provides that invasions of privacy which occur in the course of the collection, preparation or publication of journalistic material, by a journalist, their employer, or someone assisting them, would not be liable under the tort. The Bill requires that to be considered a ‘journalist’, the person must work in that professional capacity and be subject to applicable standards of professional conduct or a code of practice.

    The journalism exemption also operates in addition to the requirement that a court balance the public interest in the plaintiff’s privacy with other public interests. This may involve consideration of the public interest in freedom of the media, or freedom of expression.

    A court will have the flexibility to choose the remedy or remedies that are most appropriate in the circumstances. This may include compensation for non-economic loss or an order requiring the defendant to apologise to the plaintiff.

    Schedule 3 – doxxing criminal offences

    Schedule 3 of the Bill will amend the Criminal Code 1995 to create new criminal offences targeting the release of personal data in a manner that is menacing or harassing—a practice known as ‘doxxing’.

    The prevalence of social media and online platforms has rapidly increased the capacity of malicious individuals to obtain personal data, and to release that online—either to the public at large on social media platforms, or to their associates on forum and messaging platforms.

    Doxxing exposes victims to significant and enduring harm, including public embarrassment, humiliation, shaming, discrimination, stalking and identify theft and financial fraud.  It can lead to threats to a victim’s life and safety, and the lives and safety of their families and friends. It can inflict significant and lasting psychological harm.

    Doxxing is a damaging form of abuse that can affect all Australians but is often used against women in the context of domestic and family violence.

    The creation of this offence also responds to a recent, shocking incident of a group who were targeted with doxxing on the basis of their religion.

    The Bill creates a new offence that applies where a person:

    • uses a carriage service to make available, publish or otherwise distribute the personal data of one or more individuals; and
    • the person does so in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being menacing or harassing towards those individuals.

    The new offence will carry a maximum penalty of 6 years’ imprisonment.

    The Bill also introduces a further offence, with a more serious maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment, where a person or group is targeted because of their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality or national or ethnic origin.

    The Government recognises that there are circumstances in which people legitimately publish and distribute personal data, including individuals’ names, contact details and movements.

    The new offences will apply only where a reasonable person would consider the conduct to be, in all the circumstances, menacing or harassing, to ensure that legitimate conduct is not inappropriately criminalised.

    ‘Personal data’, in the context of these new offences, means information about an individual that enables them to be identified, contacted or located. This includes their name, photograph, telephone number, email address, online account, residential or work address, and place of education or worship. This definition recognises that doxxing can occur in a number of different ways.

    The Albanese Government is committed to the protection of Australians from online harm, and these new offences will ensure that perpetrators of doxxing are held to account.

    These new offences will complement work that is underway across government, to strengthen online safety for all Australians.  This includes the takedown powers of the eSafety Commissioner, the Cyberbullying Scheme and the Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme under the Online Safety Act 2021.

    Conclusion

    This Bill is an important first step in the Government’s privacy reform agenda, but it will not be the last. Over the coming months, the Attorney-General’s Department will develop the next tranche of privacy reform for targeted consultation, including draft provisions. The Government is approaching this important reform work carefully, to ensure increased privacy protections are balanced alongside other impacts, and that we deliver the fairest outcome for all Australians.

    After many years of inaction, this Labor Government is committed to genuine privacy reform. The Australian people expect no less – for themselves and their children.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnic Day at Engineering and Technology School No. 777

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    On the eve of the autumn holidays, Engineering and Technology School No. 777 held a University Day with representatives of the Polytechnic University.

    The event began with a “Dialogue Without Ties” — a meeting of representatives of leading enterprises, universities and other organizations. Together with Natalia Mokhova, an assistant at the Higher School of Automation and Robotics, the schoolchildren discussed modern engineering competencies, the development plan for mechanical engineering, and robotics and safety issues.

    Throughout the day, students of all ages attended a variety of workshops and lectures from university students and teachers.

    For students in grades 1-2, active breaks were organized to create a team spirit. Children from grades 3-4 learned about coding at the “Mathematical ABC” master class, created an embroidery logo of the Polytechnic University, depicted the Hydrotower, created a paint-by-numbers project, and learned about the historical buildings of the Polytechnic University.

    The fifth-graders took quizzes on “Science and Technology”. They also solved logical problems and participated in the training game “Team Power: Together to Success”. The sixth-graders competed in an intellectual game and learned the basics of science.

    Seventh-graders learned about the sociotechnical boundaries of progress from associate professor of the Humanitarian Institute Ivan Kolomeitsev. Teachers of the Higher School of Technosphere Safety held a lesson for eighth-graders with situational tasks on life safety. There were also master classes on financial literacy and intellectual quizzes “Own Game”. Ninth-graders were told about the features of the profession “Cybersecurity Specialist” and how light and heat appear in homes.

    Associate Professor of the Higher School of Biomedical Systems and Technologies Ivan Sukhov presented high school students with the work of specialists in the field of bioengineering, bioinformatics and biophysics. Students in grades 10 and 11 launched the process of managing a “smart home” at a master class from senior lecturer of the Higher School of Engineering and Physics Vadim Panevin and observed the behavior of liquid nitrogen. An interactive lecture by Associate Professor of the Higher School of Software Engineering Alexander Shchukin was devoted to a current review of professions in the field of information technology.

    In addition, the schoolchildren learned about the areas of training in the programs of secondary vocational education, bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate studies, about the conditions of admission and study at the Polytechnic. During the breaks, the children visited an exhibition dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the university.

    The event ended with a concert in which the students performed vocal numbers.

    Such events allow schoolchildren to get to know the educational institution and its specialties better, which will help them decide on their future profession. This is an important step in attracting talented young people to the Polytechnic University and providing it with qualified personnel in the future, – noted Elizaveta Lapshina, manager of the Center for Work with Educational Organizations of SPbPU.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The Power of the Platform. Polytech at the Largest Engineering Forum

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The All-Russian forum “Power of the Platform” was held in Moscow — the main engineering event of the year from Nanosoft, the Russian developer of the nanoCAD CAD platform and a partner of SPbPU. Polytechnic was represented at the conference by the Civil Engineering Institute and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport.

    The event was attended by the ISI Director Marina Petrochenko and Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Psychology and Social Sciences Liliya Talipova. Marina Vyacheslavovna gave a report on the “Role of the University in the Transition to Import-Substituting Software, Training and Independent Assessment of the Qualifications of Specialists”.

    It is worth noting that among the forum participants representing design institutes, construction, development and engineering companies, there were a large number of graduates and students of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Institute of Civil Engineering.

    Nanosoft is the largest Russian developer of engineering software: computer-aided design (CAD), information modeling (BIM) and support for industrial and civil construction projects (ICC) at all stages of the life cycle, as well as end-to-end digitalization of all production processes.

    Therefore, representatives of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport of SPbPU also took an active part in the conference. At the session “Education and retraining of personnel. Cases of import substitution of CAD/TIM in the educational sphere” Pavel Andrienko, Deputy Director of IMMiT for educational and methodological work, and Pavel Kovalev, Deputy Director of IMMiT for educational activities, spoke about the experience of the Polytechnic University.

    Pavel Andrienko gave a presentation on “NanoCAD Mechanics PRO: experience of implementation in educational processes at SPbPU”, in which he presented the achieved results in import substitution of CAD in the educational process and retraining of IMMiT faculty.

    Also at the conference, Oleg Egorychev, Director of Programs for Development of Interaction with Educational and Scientific Organizations at Nanosoft, announced the launch of the development of a multimedia book. Work on it was carried out under the supervision of Anatoly Popovich, Director of IMMiT. The book is dedicated to solving applied problems in the field of mechanical engineering using NanoCAD Mechanics PRO.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnic University held the first regional student Olympiad in management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The Polytechnic University hosted a regional student Olympiad in management. It became the twentieth in the list of subject Olympiads that have been held in St. Petersburg since 2008. The Polytechnic University applied to the city’s Science and Higher Education Committee for the right to hold such an Olympiad and received approval. The Higher School of Industrial Management of the IPMEiT SPbPU took on the organization of the event.

    The Olympiad involved 17 universities of St. Petersburg, conducting specialized training in the discipline “Management”. 134 students competed for winning and prize places in team and individual championships.

    Vice-Rector for Educational Activities of SPbPU Lyudmila Pankova spoke at the opening ceremony of the Olympiad.

    The Polytechnic University is pleased to welcome such a large number of participants who have shown interest in the Management Olympiad. Such city events provide an incentive for the development of students’ scientific activities and contribute to improving the quality of training of university graduates, and provide teachers and student mentors with the opportunity to identify talented young people, those “stars” with whom one can and should work in the future in the senior years of a bachelor’s, specialist or master’s degree, said Lyudmila Vladimirovna.

    Vladimir Glukhov, Advisor to the Rector’s Office, wished the Olympiad participants fruitful work and success.

    Management must be studied always and everywhere: in the classroom, studying the experience of the best managers and companies, from your own experience of organizing events, at various competitions and contests, Vladimir Viktorovich is sure.

    Director of IPMEiT Vladimir Shchepinin noted the importance of holding such events: At our institute, we regularly organize open lectures by practicing teachers, business representatives, hold master classes and practical seminars from industrial partners, as well as events of the IPMEiT scientific student society, which undoubtedly strengthens student educational and scientific activities. Holding a specialized Olympiad is a new format of working with talented students. I wish all participants a successful performance and self-confidence!

    The Olympiad was held with the support of the Directorate of Basic Educational Programs, the Department of Youth Policy and the Priority 2030 program. Subject assignments consisted of three blocks: tests, calculations and cases. The works were assessed by a commission, which included representatives of the participating universities.

    A little less than a year ago, we applied to the Committee for Science and Higher Education of St. Petersburg for the opportunity to hold the Olympiad. It was important for us to hold a city-wide event in a high-quality, professional and interesting way for students. I would like to thank my colleagues from the Higher School of Industrial Management, with whom we prepared assignments for the Olympiad, dealt with organizational issues, promotion, design and methodological support. We worked as a single team, and that is why everything worked out for us! — shared her impressions the director of the Higher School of Industrial Management Olga Kalinina.

    The results of the Olympiad will be officially announced on November 7 at a meeting of the scientific council for approving the winners of subject Olympiads under the Committee on Science and Higher Education of St. Petersburg.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Magic recipes to create hydrogels from viral protein fragments can improve drug delivery

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 29 OCT 2024 3:03PM by PIB Delhi

    A new way discovered to create hydrogels using tiny protein fragments of just five amino acids from the SARS-CoV-1 virus, could help improve targeted drug delivery & reduce side effects

    Due to the increase in chronic and infectious diseases, researchers are for ever on the lookout for new methods of drug delivery to improve the effectivity of treatments. Hydrogels are known to be suitable for drug delivery because of their swelling behaviour, mechanical strength and biocompatibility.

    Short peptide-based hydrogels hold enormous potential for a wide range of applications. However, researchers have found the gelation of these systems very challenging to control. Minor changes in the peptide sequence can significantly influence the self-assembly mechanism and thereby the gelation propensity.

    Following the involvement of SARS CoV E protein in the assembly and release of the virus suggested to researchers from Bose Institute an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in Kolkata that it may have inherent self-assembling properties that can contribute to the development of hydrogels.

    Professor Anirban Bhunia and his team at the Department of Chemical Sciences in Bose Institute, explored this possibility and discovered a new way to create useful gel materials.

    In a paper recently published in the prestigious journal Small (Wiley), Prof. Bhunia and his collaborators from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA and Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata showed that by rearranging just five amino acids of the SARS-CoV-1 virus, one can make gels made up of pentapeptides with unique properties. Some of them gel when heated, others at room temperature.

    This unique discovery could lead to significant medical advancements like customizable hydrogels that can improve targeted drug delivery enhancing treatment efficacy while reducing side effects.

    These materials could revolutionize tissue engineering, potentially aiding in organ regeneration. These gels might also advance wound healing treatments and enable more accurate disease modelling for research.          

     

     

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    NKR/KS/AG

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: IAEA Director General Highlights Agency’s Role in Global Non-Proliferation, Nuclear Security and Safety at Nuclear Law Workshop

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    Mr Grossi also spoke about the immense promise of nuclear science and technology, ranging from small modular reactors (SMRs) to radiotherapy for cancer treatment, in addressing global challenges such as climate change, health and food and energy insecurity.

    Workshop participants attended expert lectures and panels on IAEA safeguards and non-proliferation as well as sessions on the legal frameworks for nuclear safety and civil liability for nuclear damage led by IAEA experts. From protection to prevention and minimization of radiation risks, to the mitigation of consequences in the event of a nuclear accident, nuclear safety is a prerequisite for nuclear power. Mechanisms for compensation and civil liability for nuclear damage provide the legal certainty needed by the public, industry, lenders and investors. 

    IAEA’s Legal Adviser and Assistant Director General Peri Lynne Johnson said: “This IAEA-led workshop under the umbrella of three universities, provides a unique opportunity to address the importance of nuclear law to stakeholders from academia, industry and lawfirms.”

    The final day of the workshop took as its theme “The Law of Nuclear Security in the Midst of World Challenges”. Ms Johnson gave a keynote address on the legal framework for nuclear security and how it can mitigate the risks of nuclear terrorism. A discussion followed on the role of international law in nuclear security and conflict.

    The IAEA applies safeguards in more than 190 States. Its inspectors carry out activities to verify that countries are fulfilling their international commitments not to use nuclear material and technology for nuclear-weapons purposes. The global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and regional nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties entrust the IAEA with these verification responsibilities.

    By ensuring the peaceful use of nuclear material and technology around the world through the implementation of legally binding instruments, the IAEA contributes to the maintenance of international peace and security, including adherence to  international law.

    Question and answer sessions following both of Mr Grossi’s keynote addresses gave participants the opportunity to find out more about nuclear safety and security, safeguards, nuclear law and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. 

    Students and young professionals attending the workshop also had the chance to learn more about career opportunities in nuclear law and humanitarian law, including opportunities at the United Nations and the IAEA, as well as at intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

    MIL Security OSI –