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Category: Universities

  • MIL-OSI Global: Rivals: the highs and lows of adapting a 1980s ‘bonkbuster’ for a 21st-century TV audience

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Amy Burge, Associate Professor in Popular Fiction, University of Birmingham

    To much media fanfare and growing public anticipation, the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals (1988) begins on October 18. Cooper’s novel, first published in 1988, is a key “bonkbuster” text – a largely forgotten genre of women’s writing from the 1980s.

    Bonkbusters have three key components: they’re full of sex (the bonking) and wildly over the top in terms of storylines and characters, and they were extraordinarily popular (the buster part).

    However, like its televisual sister genre, the soap opera, the bonkbuster receded into the background of popular culture in the 21st century. So why is the bonkbuster having a cultural moment in 2024? What is the appeal of adapting a text like Rivals?

    We have been researching the bonkbuster genre for a couple of years, looking at its authors, themes and publishing history and talking to readers about their experiences with the genre, both at the time and now.

    Also known as the “sex-and-shopping” novel, the bonkbuster was a phenomenally popular genre of women’s writing in the 1980s and 1990s. Besides Cooper, authors like Jackie Collins, Shirley Conran, and Judith Krantz wrote about sex, marriage, friendship and scandal, against a luxurious backdrop of 1980s commercial excess.

    ‘A Milky Way when you’ve got a fridge full of posh chocolate’

    Cooper’s Rivals is fairly typical of the genre – one of the readers in our study, Samantha, aptly described it as: “a full-fat, fun, frothy novel set around class, privilege and horses”. It’s the second in Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles, following Riders (1985).

    Rivals follows two competing television consortiums: Corinium, run by the villainous Tony Baddingham (played by David Tennant); and Venturer, set up by handsome Irish TV star Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner), plucky Cockney businessman Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer), and notorious lothario Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell), as they bid for the local TV franchise.

    They are helped (and hindered) along the way by American TV executive Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams), Declan’s actress-wife Maud (Victoria Smurfitt) and unhappily married author Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson).

    This might sound like fairly dry fare, but amid all the clandestine meetings and boardroom bust-ups, the characters fall in and out of love, have gleeful, adulterous affairs, and host lavish dinner parties, balls and naked tennis matches. Tory Rupert even finds time to be minister for sport – until Labour win the election.

    Great fun and very funny, Cooper’s books are famously tongue-in-cheek. However, the bonkbuster is also a product of its time – its references and values are, as study participant Samantha observed, “so 1980s”. What, then, is the appeal of books (and now TV shows) like Rivals?

    For some readers, the attraction is familiarity. Another reader, Hazel, said: “I don’t have that sense of ‘I cannot put this book down’ because I know exactly what’s coming. They’re so well thumbed, and all wrinkled at the edges because they’ve all fallen in the bath a few times.”

    Readers love the fantasy and escapism offered by the genre. As Hazel remarked, “It’s like still wanting a Milky Way when you’ve got a fridge full of Godiva chocolate … Sometimes you just want the sugary fluff.”

    There are much-loved characters: Declan O’Hara remains a firm reader favourite, and there is still a lot of affection for Freddie, the rough-diamond industrialist who has lots of money and a terrible wife. Readers also remember the romance between Rupert and Declan’s daughter Taggie (Bella Maclean) fondly, even as they raise an eyebrow at their age gap (Rupert is 37, Taggie 19).

    There’s also pleasure to be found in the setting. Cooper sets her novels in the cheekily named county of Rutshire, a fictionalised version of the Cotswolds, with vivid descriptions of stately homes and lush rural landscapes.

    The problematic 1980s

    But there are some aspects of the text that readers feel differently about, reading now, decades later. Some are simple: fashions have definitely changed, for instance, and the golden era of regional TV franchises has long passed.

    More complex, though, are some of the attitudes. While many readers still dearly love these books, they also note some elements that have not aged well: “The class issues … the sexism, racism, homophobia”, says Samantha. Cooper herself once noted that serial womaniser Rupert would probably be “locked up in prison”, post #MeToo.

    Readers in our study have particularly commented on the role of Cameron Cook in Rivals, a ruthlessly ambitious and occasionally unlikeable female American TV executive who is “caricatured as this ball-breaking go-getter,” according to Hazel. They wondered if the book were to be published today, whether Cameron would be written as a softer, more relatable character – and, perhaps, treated better by the men around her.

    Our readers were also acutely aware of the domestic violence in the book, which they found uncomfortable on rereading. Rivals has several instances of male violence against women, including one so severe the victim requires stitches afterwards – but still defends her attacker.

    While readers still find great pleasure in Rivals and other bonkbusters, they simultaneously negotiate some of these more problematic elements as they read the book again, trying to hold the 1980s and the 2020s in their minds at the same time.

    It seems likely that the Rivals adaptation will be a commercial success: not only does it build on an audience of loyal readers, but it is also receiving lots of positive early reviews as a hilarious escapist romp.

    Directed by Ted Lasso director Elliot Hegarty, and produced by soap director Dominic Treadwell-Collins, the series seems to be aiming for a blend of high-drama soap and quality production values. This is bolstered by the ensemble cast, including many well-known British actors.

    Yet, the novel remains inescapably a product of the 1980s, from its second-wave feminist values to characters’ concerns about Aids. As can be seen from the trailer – joyfully belting out Robert Palmer’s 1986 hit Addicted to Love – the adaptation is proudly retaining the 1980s setting. It will be interesting to see just how much of its 1980s values and attitudes remain.


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    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. Rivals: the highs and lows of adapting a 1980s ‘bonkbuster’ for a 21st-century TV audience – https://theconversation.com/rivals-the-highs-and-lows-of-adapting-a-1980s-bonkbuster-for-a-21st-century-tv-audience-241536

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA Selects Crew for 45-Day Simulated Mars Mission in Houston

    Source: NASA

    NASA selected a crew of four research volunteers to participate in its last simulated mission to Mars in 2024 within a habitat at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
    Obaid Alsuwaidi, Kristen Magas, Tiffany Snyder, and Anderson Wilder will step into the 650-square-foot HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) facility on Friday, Nov. 1. Once inside, the team will live and work like astronauts for 45 days. The crew will exit the facility on Monday, Dec. 16, after simulating their return to Earth. Jordan Hundley and Robert Wilson also were named as alternate crew members.
    Scientists use HERA studies to examine how crew members adapt to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions before NASA sends astronauts on deep space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The studies provide data about human health and performance in an enclosed environment over time with crews facing different challenges and tasks.
    The four volunteers will carry out scientific research and operational tasks throughout their simulated mission, including raising shrimp, growing vegetables, and “walking” on the surface of Mars using virtual reality. They will also experience communication delays lasting up to five minutes as they “near” Mars, allowing researchers to see how crews may respond to the type of delays astronauts will encounter in deep space. Astronauts traveling to the Red Planet may encounter one-way communication delays lasting as long as 20 minutes.
    As with the previous HERA missions, crew members will conduct 18 human health studies during the mission through NASA’s Human Research Program. Collectively, the work helps scientists understand how a spaceflight-like environment contributes to the physiological, behavioral, and psychological health of crew members. Insights gleaned from the studies will allow researchers to develop and test strategies aimed at helping astronauts overcome obstacles on deep space missions.

    Primary Crew

    Obaid Alsuwaidi
    Obaid Alsuwaidi serves as captain engineer for the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Defense. In this role, he provides guidance in civil and marine engineering and addresses challenges facing the organization. Previously, Alsuwaidi worked as a project manager for the defense ministry, helping to streamline productivity, establish high standards of professionalism, and build a team of experts to serve the UAE’s needs.
    Alsuwaidi earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Western Sydney University in Australia, followed by a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from George Washington University in Washington.
    In his free time, Alsuwaidi enjoys horseback riding, swimming, and running.
    Kristen Magas
    Kristen Magas is an educator and engineer, currently teaching at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin, Massachusetts. She also mentors students involved in a NASA design and prototyping program, helping them develop and fabricate products to improve life in space on both International Space Station and Artemis missions. Magas was a finalist for the 2025 Massachusetts State Teacher of the Year.
    Magas received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She also holds a master’s degree in Vocational Education from Westfield State University in Massachusetts. She has worked as a community college professor as well as a design engineer in municipal water and wastewater treatment.
    In her spare time, Magas enjoys coaching robotics and track and field, hiking, biking, and staying connected with her community. She has two children and resides in North Attleboro, Massachusetts with her husband of 25 years.
    Tiffany Snyder 
    Tiffany Snyder is a supervisor for the Cybersecurity Mission Integration Office at NASA, helping to ensure agency missions are shielded against cybersecurity threats. She has more than 20 years of information technology and cybersecurity experience, working with the Air National Guard and as a special agent with the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency. She joined NASA in 2018 as an IT specialist, and later served as the deputy chief information security officer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, providing cybersecurity oversight.
    Snyder holds a bachelor’s degree in Earth Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s degree in Digital Forensics from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
    In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her dogs — Artemis and Apollo, gardening, running, and visiting the beach with her family.
    Anderson Wilder
    Anderson Wilder is a Florida Institute of Technology graduate student working on his doctorate in Psychology. His research focuses on team resiliency and human-machine interactions. He also works in the campus’s neuroscience lab, investigating how spaceflight contributes to neurobehavioral changes in astronauts.
    Wilder previously served as an executive officer and engineer for an analog mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. There, he performed studies related to crew social dynamics, plant growth, and geology.
    Wilder received his bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and in Psychology from Ohio State University in Columbus. He also holds master’s degrees in Space Studies from International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and in Aviation Human Factors from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is completing another master’s degree in Cognitive Experimental Psychology at Cleveland State University in Ohio.
    Outside of school, Wilder works as a parabolic flight coach, teaching people how to fly in reduced gravity environments. He also enjoys chess, reading, video games, skydiving, and scuba diving. On a recent dive, he explored a submerged section of the Great Wall of China.

    Alternate Crew

    Jordan Hundley
    Jordan Hundley is a senior consultant at a professional services firm, offering federal agencies technical and programmatic support. Prior to his current position, he focused on U.S. Department of Defense clients, performing model-based system engineering and serving as a subject matter expert for related operations.
    Hundley was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. While on active duty, he served as an intercontinental ballistic missile operations officer. He later joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Currently, he is a space operations officer with experience in space battle management and electromagnetic warfare.
    Hundley earned a master’s degree in Engineering Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in Systems Engineering at the university.
    Hundley holds a private pilot license and is a certified rescue diver. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and camping, researching theology, and learning musical instruments.
    Robert Wilson
    Robert Wilson is a senior researcher and project manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. He leads work enhancing human-machine collaborations, developing human prediction models, and integrating that technology into virtual reality and robotic systems designed to operate in isolated, constrained, and extreme environments. His human-machine teaming expertise also extends into responsible artificial intelligence development. He recently participated in a United Nations Roundtable discussion about artificial intelligence in security and defense.
    Wilson received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University in 2013 and 2015, respectively. He earned his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2020.
    Outside of work, Wilson is an avid outdoors enthusiast. He enjoys scuba diving, winter camping, backcountry skiing, and hiking through the woods or mountains throughout the year. At home, he also likes to tinker in computer networking and self-hosted systems.
    ____
    NASA’s Human Research Program pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, and the International Space Station, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research continues to drive NASA’s mission to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as human space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
    For more information about human research at NASA, visit:
    https://www.nasa.gov/hrp

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pair Face Charges In Overdose Death of Northern Virginia Teen

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Bessy Jimenez Mejia and Liam Conway Distributed Fentanyl that Killed Cayden Foster in 2023

    CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A pair of individuals responsible for distributing the fatal dose of fentanyl that killed an 18-year-old high school student in 2023 have been criminally charged with the teen’s death.

    In separate court proceedings, the United States Attorney’s Office charged two people for the January 2023 overdose death of Cayden David Foster, a resident of Centreville, Virginia.

    On August 28, 2024, a grand jury sitting in Charlottesville, returned a one-count Indictment charging Bessy Jimenez Mejia, 26, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, with distribution of fentanyl resulting in the death of Foster. If convicted, Mejia faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

    The following day, Liam Conaway, 22, of Harrisonburg, Virginia pled guilty to a one-count Information charging him with distribution of fentanyl.

    Mejia was arrested this week and made her initial court appearance.

    According to court documents, in January 2023, Foster was an 18-year-old high school student living in Northern Virginia. Foster contacted Conaway, who was then a student at James Madison University (JMU), to purchase fentanyl pills. Conaway and Foster had previously consumed pills together during Conaway’s recent academic winter break from JMU.

    On January 27, 2023, Foster sent Conaway $105 through Venmo to pay for the drugs. Conaway purchased approximately ten pills from his supplier, Jimenez, in Harrisonburg. The pills Conaway purchased from Jimenez were designed to appear as though they were 30 mg Percocet pills but were in fact counterfeit and contained fentanyl.

    Two days later, a friend of Foster’s delivered three pills, sourced from Jimenez through Conaway in Harrisonburg to Foster in Northern Virginia.

    On January 30, 2023, Foster consumed a portion of one of the pills purchased from Conaway. That night, Foster died from fentanyl poisoning. 

    First responders arrived at Foster’s home the next morning and pronounced Foster dead on arrival.

    United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Washington Division made the announcement today.

    The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Fairfax County Police Department investigated the case.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Sally J. Sullivan and Melanie A. Smith are prosecuting the case for the United States.

    An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Talk to help navigate the new AI-powered world

    Source: Anglia Ruskin University

    Published: 18 October 2024 at 15:51

    Chelmsford Science Festival event aims to help us make sense of rapid changes

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the world we live in, and a talk at the Chelmsford Science Festival is aimed at helping people make sense of these rapid changes, and how they will affect them.

    During the talk at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) on Thursday, 24 October, ARU expert Dr Chris Callaghan will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a new world driven by AI, and how governments, financial markets and society will need to adapt.

    In the interactive talk he will highlight some of his unique findings from work in leading journals, especially his recent focus on AI and technological change and its profound societal impacts. 

    Dr Callaghan will draw on research published in European Management Review, where it is argued that in the face of the climate emergency and other existential threats, academic fields need to work together more closely.

    He will discuss how AI allows different areas of academia such as biology, physics and economics, which previously had operated in silos, to complement each other and work together to create rapid changes in the way we live and work.

    Dr Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Management at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said:

    “AI is new to us and there have been dire warnings about how it will replace jobs or create extreme unwanted consequences like overtaking human intelligence and causing an existential threat to our existence. 

    “The truth is AI has potential to be all-encompassing, cutting across all scientific disciplines and completely changing how we live. As a result, there will be some negatives but also lots of positives, and just like the way we live today, there will be winners and losers.

    “No one area of science ‘owns’ AI and that is potentially very exciting because experts from all different areas of science will be able to collaborate more freely, potentially driving significant, rapid improvements to how we live.

    “These changes are happening extremely fast and it can be overwhelming for people. This talk will explain what is happening, and how we can navigate the rapid changes coming our way.

    “We need to be proactive and ensure our voices are heard, so that we can have some input into a future that is unfolding right now.”

    The talk will take place at Anglia Ruskin University’s Chelmsford campus at 6.30pm on Thursday, 24 October. Places are free but must be booked in advance. Visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/navigating-the-tech-revolution-understanding-ais-impact-on-our-future-tickets-1027113814067 to book.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: Defense Ministry Spokesperson’s Remarks on Recent Media Queries Concerning the Military 2024-10-18 On the afternoon of October 15th, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense Senior Colonel Wu Qian answered recent media queries concerning the military.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – Ministry of National Defense 2

    On the afternoon of October 15th, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense Senior Colonel Wu Qian answered recent media queries concerning the military.

    Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), answers recent media queries concerning the military on the afternoon of October 15, 2024. (mod.gov.cn/Photo by He Youwen)

    (The following English text is for reference. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the Chinese text shall prevail.)

    I have four pieces of information at the top.

    The first one.

    At the invitation of China’s Ministry of National Defense, defense attachés from more than 60 countries including Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Jordan, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Canada and Argentina went to the PLA Eastern Theater Command area on October 14th for a five-day visit. This visit will help them better understand the Chinese path to modernization, especially the great achievements made by the people’s military in the new era, and will advance the friendly cooperation between the PLA and their militaries.

    The second one.

    According to the annual plan and the consensus reached between China and Thailand, the Commando 2024 joint army training will be held in Yunnan Province from mid- to- late October. The training focuses on joint counter-terrorism operations, including manned/unmanned coordination, special blasting, helicopter fast-roping, and joint search and clearing. It aims to improve interoperability between the Chinese and Thai armies and bolster regional stability.

    The third one.

    The PLA Army Engineering University will host the 11th International Army Cadets Week (IACW) in Nanjing from October 28th to November 3rd. Officer cadets from military academies of countries including Argentina, Egypt, Italy, Pakistan, and Singapore will participate in the event. Under the theme of “Enhancing the Capability of Junior Officers for Future Warfare”, this year’s IACW will have themed discussions, leadership challenges, live-fire shooting training, cultural exchange and other activities. The IACW is a platform for officer cadets to communicate and learn from each other.

    The fourth one.

    The PLA Army Command College will host the Zhongshan International Forum in Nanjing from October 21st to 25th. Army representatives from over ten countries including Laos, Cambodia, Iran, Tanzania and Kazakhstan will participate in the event. Under the theme of “Future-oriented and New Type Modern Army”, the forum will have themed discussions on such topics as “objectives and trends in army development”, “theoretical innovation for army combat and training”, “army deployment in MOOTW”, and “cultivation of army commanders and staff officers”. The forum will facilitate exchanges and mutual learning among the participants, and promote theoretical innovation for army development.

    Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), answers recent media queries concerning the military on the afternoon of October 15, 2024. (mod.gov.cn/Photo by He Youwen)

    Question: It is reported that the recruitment of naval pilot cadets for 2025 has started. Please tell us more about it.

    Wu Qian: The PLA Navy recently launched the naval pilot cadet recruitment for 2025. As usual, eligible high school graduates and fresh graduates from universities either with a bachelor’s or master’s degree could apply. In reference to the recruitment standards in major naval powers, the PLA Navy has loosened the criteria on eye sight, widening the scope of applicants to include those who have received vision correction surgery. To meet takeoff/landing requirements for carrier-borne aircraft in complex sea conditions, the Navy has added such testing items as stereoscopic vision, visual contrast sensitivity, magnetic resonance imaging and chest CT scanning, as well as a 15-hour airborne ability screening, to make the recruitment more science-based and precise.

    Pursue your dream to fly in the Navy, and serve the country with dedication and loyalty. The recruitment of naval pilot cadets for 2025 started on October 15th. We welcome young people to join this cause for the brave and become dancers on the blade. For more details, please log on to http://www.hjzf.mil.cn.

    Question: Naval forces from the United States, Japan, India and Australia conducted Exercise Malabar in the Indian Ocean on October 8th. Some reports say this exercise is directed at China and can enhance the Quad mechanism among the four countries in security areas. What’s your comment?

    Wu Qian: China believes that security cooperation among relevant countries should not harm the interests of any third party or undermine regional peace and stability. The so-called Quad mechanism has become a sheer political tool for the United States to contain China and maintain its hegemony. We firmly oppose relevant parties to use China as an excuse to stir up confrontation and escalate regional tensions. A small circle bloc will not make any big difference. The Asia-Pacific should be a grand stage where countries join hands to cooperate, rather than an arena for geopolitical competition. We require relevant countries to give up their obsession with zero-sum mindset and put more efforts on protecting regional security, instead of doing the opposite.

    Question: It is reported that the Japanese Defense Ministry recently released reports and photos about the movements of the PLA Navy’s Liaoning aircraft carrier task group, which sailed around the Philippines, and was then joined by the aircraft carrier Shandong in Hainan. Please comment on that.

    Wu Qian: We have noticed the media hype by the Japanese side. The Japanese photographer is trying to catch headlines, and is showing off his or her techniques again. Recently, the PLA Navy sent the Liaoning aircraft carrier task group to conduct training in waters of the South China Sea. This is a routine arrangement within the annual plan that is aimed to enhance the task group’s combat capability. The PLA will routinely organize similar training activities in the future.

    Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), answers recent media queries concerning the military on the afternoon of October 15, 2024. (mod.gov.cn/Photo by He Youwen)

    Question: According to media reports, the US Government Accountability Office recently accused Raytheon of fraud in selling expensive weapons to Taiwan, which procured the Patriot missile system in 2013 and radar systems in 2017 from that company. A public opinion representative from the Kuomintang criticized US arms dealers as fraud dens. Do you have any comment?

    Wu Qian: We firmly oppose US provision of weapons to China’s Taiwan region. I believe what the reports revealed is only a tip of the iceberg. The Democratic Progressive Party Authorities have been doing everything to court their masters in the US to buy weapons, which only wasted the hard-earned money of people in Taiwan. It is evident that what they bought are pieces of junk that only benefited corrupted officials and arms dealers. There are growing opposition and dissatisfaction from the local people.

    Sky-high price and obsolete functions are two hallmarks of US arms sales to Taiwan. From mouldy bulletproof vest to expired ammunition to expensive missiles and radars, we can see that the Americans only care about American interests. “Taiwan Independence” is a dead end and outsiders are never reliable. Those who try to rely on US support for independence will only court their own destruction.

    Question: Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba once suggested establishing an “Asian version of NATO” and working with Western countries in containing China. Officials from the Japanese Defense Ministry said China and Russia’s infringement upon Japan’s airspace is a regional and international concern. Please comment on that.

    Wu Qian: In disregard of fact on the ground, the Japanese side often hypes-up the non-existent “China threat” to divert the international community’s attention from its military expansion. China is strongly opposed to this approach. It is known to all that Japan has broken away from its pacifist constitution and “exclusively defense-oriented” policy in recent years, and largely enhanced its military preparedness, such behavior has put its Asian neighbors and the international community on high alert.

    We urge the Japanese side to stop forming exclusive military alliances and “cliques”, be very cautious with its words and deeds regarding military security, and do more for regional peace and stability.

    Question: The Israel Defense Force recently attacked the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). What’s your comment? Are Chinese peacekeepers safe?

    Wu Qian: China is seriously concerned about and strongly condemns the Israeli military’s attack on the UNIFIL. China firmly opposes any attack on UN peacekeepers. We require a thorough investigation on the incident and hold those responsible accountable. We urge relevant parties to take real actions to prevent such an incident from happening again. The parties involved in the conflict must ensure the safety of the personnel and assets of the UNIFIL.

    The Chinese peacekeeping units in Lebanon are safe now. China is closely monitoring the security situation in Lebanon, and will take additional measures to strengthen security protection of our troops.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Hispanic Heritage Month: Capt. Guillermo Pimentel’s Story of Cultural Pride and Military Service

    Source: United States Navy (Medical)

    As we close out Hispanic Heritage Month across the country through food, family and culture, Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC) reflects on stories of the Hispanic Americans who have shaped our country through service and dedication.

    One such story comes from the director for NMRC’s Biological Defense Research Directorate (BDRD), Capt. Guillermo Pimentel.

    Pimentel, born in Manhattan and raised in Puerto Rico, began his career in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a hospital corpsman in 1988.

    “We lived in the Guánica, the poorest town in Puerto Rico. It is the friendliest town, and a beach-lovers paradise,” Pimentel recalled. “During my senior year of high school, I was approached by a Navy recruiter. I ‘failed’ the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery by 2 points.”

    Nevertheless, that same recruiter went on to explain the benefits of joining the Navy.

    “It was very appealing, since I come from a low-income family, and I would be fully independent, so I joined the Navy at 17.”

    Following his time as a reservist in the Gulf War, Pimentel left the service to earn a bachelor’s degree in industrial microbiology and a master’s degree in biology from the University of Puerto Rico.

    Pimentel then braved the cold climate of Pullman, Washington to earn a doctoral degree in plant pathology from Washington State University (WSU), focusing on mycology and population genetics. Following his graduation from WSU, Pimentel, now a lieutenant, became head of the microbiology department at the U.S. Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.

    From 2003 to 2010, Pimentel served multiple leadership positions at the Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) 3 (now NAMRU EURAFCENT), then located in Cairo. In these roles, he managed research projects with the mission of implementing and strengthening laboratory-based disease surveillance capabilities in the Middle East, Central Asia, former Soviet Union, North Africa and West Africa. Pimentel led research and surveillance efforts to understand the epidemiology of infectious diseases of public health importance in the EUCOM, CENTCOM and AFRICOM Areas of Responsibility. He went on to provide laboratory support during several H5N1 flu outbreaks in West Africa and Central Asia. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, Pimentel led the NAMRU-3 outbreak support to forces deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and 20 partner nations.

    In August of 2015, Pimentel reported to the NAMRU-6 (now NAMRU SOUTH) in Lima, Peru as executive officer. In March 2017, he became commanding officer of the NAMRU.

    Before returning to NMRC as BDRD director, Pimentel served as the Chief of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance Branch at the Defense Health Agency from 2019 to 2022, leading the DoD global infectious disease surveillance network in support of Force Health Protection for the Geographic Combatant Commands.

    Pimentel shared thoughts on these experiences in the Navy, and on growing up in Puerto Rico, as part of NMRC’s recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.

    ‘We should absolutely recognize Hispanic Heritage Month,” Pimentel commented at a recent command gathering. “As humans, we tend to forget history and past contributions of our personnel pretty quickly. I see Hispanic Heritage Month program as a mechanism to reflect on the past and to learn from the history of an organization.

    “We all learn and experience differently across our lives. This it is what make us unique as individuals. When we bring all this unique and diverse knowledge to an organization, it makes us stronger.”

    Pimentel also spoke on the Hispanic leaders that inspire him.

    “I love to learn about past contributions of our military and civilian personnel to the mission,” Pimentel said. “A good example is how Dr. Martinez-Lopez, a Puerto Rican just like me, was a general for the Army, commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, and now is Assistant Secretary of Health Affairs.

    “As a Puerto Rican, it gives me lot of pride, and sometime hope, because less than 1% of all admirals and generals come from a truly Hispanic background. I love to listen from where they came, how they fought challenges, how they apply their experiences and their impact to the mission.”

    Throughout Hispanic Heritage month, NMRC aims to recognize the contributions of our sailors, scientists and civilian personnel with roots in countries and cultures with Spanish-speaking heritage.

    NMRC is engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fantastic fossils and where to find them

    Source: US Government research organizations

    U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers recently found a fossil that led to the discovery of a brand-new dinosaur species, Lokiceratops rangiformis. This horned dinosaur, an earlier relative of the triceratops, has asymmetric horns on top of its head but lacks the typical nose horn found in other relatives.  

    Fossils are the preserved remains, impressions or traces of any once-living thing from a past geologic age. Fossils can loosely be classified into two categories: body fossils and trace fossils. Body fossils, such as preserved bones, are preserved parts of the living creature. Trace fossils, such as footprints, record the activity of a living creature. 

    Lokiceratops rangiformis was discovered in northern Montana by a research team from the University of Utah. The team uncovered skull bones of Lokiceratops, which places this specimen in the body fossil category. These individual skull bones were painstakingly placed into a reconstruction of a complete skull. As more pieces were placed, the team began to see confirmation that they had discovered a whole new species of dinosaur.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: African Development Bank appoints Dr Kennedy Mbekeani as Director General for East Africa

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —

    The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has appointed Dr Kennedy K. Mbekeani as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country Manager for Kenya, effective from 16 October 2024.

    Mbekeani, a citizen of Malawi has over 25 years of senior experience in development finance, project management, policy advisory services, and knowledge generation at national and regional levels.

    Prior to this appointment, he served as deputy director general for the Bank’s Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office. In this  role  he led the Bank’s business development and delivery for sovereign and non-sovereign investments, and provided advisory services to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Mauritius. His efforts contributed to the Bank’s reputation as a trusted partner for high impact development projects in the region. He also managed relationships with governments and the private sector.

    Mbekeani joined the Bank in 2009 as Chief Trade and Regional Integration Officer. Subsequently he has held various roles including lead regional economist, officer in charge and acting regional director respectively of the Bank’s South African Resource Centre. While serving as country manager for Uganda, he successfully expanded the Bank’s portfolio to over $2 billion.

    Before joining the Bank, Mbekeani worked for  the United Nations Development Programme as a trade, debt and globalisation advisor for East and Southern Africa. He also served as senior research fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis, and senior economist at the National Institute for Economic Policy in South Africa.

    He holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Economics and Statistics) degree from the University of Malawi, an MPhil in Monetary Economics from the University of Glasgow, and both an MA and PhD in International Economics from the University of California. He has authored numerous publications focusing on trade, regional integration, and infrastructure development in Africa.

    Commenting on his appointment, Mbekeani said: “I am grateful and feel honoured by the confidence President Adesina placed in me through this appointment, as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office and country manager for Kenya. I look forward to working with the president, the Board of Directors, senior management, our teams and stakeholders to enhance the Bank’s operational efficiency, effectiveness and drive impactful developmental outcomes across the region.”

    President of the African Development Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr Akinwumi Adesina said: “I am delighted to appoint Dr. Kennedy Mbekeani as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country manager for Kenya. Kennedy brings extensive experience in managing operations, policy dialogue, coupled with astute diplomacy and well-tested ability to work effectively with countries and development partners. His knowledge of the Eastern Africa region and well-proven experience in delivering robust operations for the public and private sectors will strongly benefit the work and operations of the African Development Bank Group in East Africa and all countries in the region.”

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Black Myth: Wukong – how China’s gaming revolution is fueling its tech power

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Shaoyu Yuan, Dean’s Fellow at the Division of Global Affairs, Rutgers University – Newark

    Black Myth: Wukong has enthralled gamers around the world with its rich visuals and vigorous fight sequences. Courtesy Game Science

    It may sound far-fetched, but the future of global technology supremacy could hinge on a video game.

    Black Myth: Wukong, China’s latest blockbuster, isn’t just breaking gaming records – it could be driving a critical shift in the global balance of technological power. What seems like just another action-packed video game is, in reality, a vital component in Beijing’s larger strategy to challenge Western dominance in the tech industry.

    The game, released by Chinese company Game Science on Aug. 19, 2024, is based on the legendary 16th century Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” The novel tells the story of a monk, Xuanzang, who journeys to India in search of Buddhist scrolls. The monkey Sun Wukong protects the monk by confronting and battling various demons and spirits.

    Black Myth: Wukong has captivated millions with its stunning visuals and storytelling. It quickly became a cultural sensation in China and abroad, attracting widespread attention and praise for its graphic fidelity and technological sophistication.

    As global affairs scholars, we see that the game’s success goes beyond the number of downloads or accolades. It’s what this success is driving within China’s technology sector that has far-reaching consequences.

    Video games and global power

    For years, China has been playing catch-up in the tech race, particularly in the production of semiconductors – the tiny microchips that power everything from smartphones to advanced artificial intelligence systems. The United States has maintained its dominance in this field by limiting China’s access to the most advanced chip-making technology.

    As of 2024, China has shifted away from its aggressive “wolf warrior” diplomacy to a more cooperative approach in order to rebuild international ties. The government has also issued mandates for companies like Huawei to develop domestic chips. However, China’s success in boosting semiconductor development and production using these approaches has been limited.

    Historically, video games have played a significant role in driving technological innovation in the semiconductor industry. From the early days of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System to the modern PlayStation 5, gaming has always pushed chipmakers to develop faster, more efficient processors and graphics processing units, or GPUs. The intense graphical requirements of modern games – high resolutions, faster frame rates and real-time rendering – demand the most advanced semiconductor technology. The development of advanced GPUs by companies like NVIDIA was directly influenced by the gaming industry’s needs.

    Gamers require advanced processors to enjoy Black Myth: Wukong’s high-end visual and gameplay experience. Built using the state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 5 video game development tool, the game is a visual spectacle featuring lifelike graphics, seamless open-world environments and complex combat systems. The game is available for PlayStation 5 and PCs, and Game Science plans to release an Xbox version.

    Black Myth: Wukong features rich visuals and intricate gameplay.
    Courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC

    As Black Myth: Wukong sweeps across gaming platforms, it not only puts pressure on China’s semiconductor makers to build more and better chips, but it also reveals the vast market potential for high-performance hardware, especially for gaming PCs equipped with powerful GPUs. The game’s success showcases just how big the demand is.

    Market analysts expect the Chinese video game industry to reach revenues of US$66.13 billion in 2024, compared with $78.01 billion in the U.S. Analysts predict the game will have annual sales of 30 million to 40 million copies in 2024.

    China’s gaming industry has surged into a global powerhouse, yet it remains dependent on foreign-made chips. Coupled with the West’s restrictions on chip exports, Wukong has become a key catalyst for China’s semiconductor development, and domestic companies now face growing pressure to innovate.

    This pressure aligns with Beijing’s broader technological ambitions. The government’s “Made in China 2025” plan calls for technological self-reliance, particularly in sectors like semiconductors, where China lags behind. And advanced GPUs haven’t been confined to the entertainment industry. They have become integral to advances in AI, including deep learning and autonomous systems.

    Flexing China’s cultural muscle

    While it might seem strange to link video games with geopolitics, Black Myth: Wukong is more than just entertainment. It’s a tool in China’s soft power arsenal. Soft power is nations influencing each other through cultural exports. For decades, the West, particularly the U.S., dominated global culture through Hollywood, music and video games.

    Now, China is flexing its cultural muscle. The success of Black Myth: Wukong abroad, where it has been hailed as a game-changing title, is part of Beijing’s strategy to export its culture and technological prowess. Millions of gamers around the world are now being exposed to Chinese mythology, art and storytelling through a highly sophisticated digital medium.

    ‘China Stay Winning’ American YouTubers react enthusiastically to Black Myth: Wukong. (Audio NSFW)

    But Black Myth: Wukong isn’t just a cultural triumph for China; it’s a warning shot. The country is taking advantage of its booming gaming industry to drive advances in a field that will define the future of technology. This game not only exports Chinese culture but also strengthens its tech base by accelerating the demand for domestic semiconductors.

    While Black Myth: Wukong entertains millions, it also shows China’s growing influence in the digital realm. In the future, we might not look back at Black Myth: Wukong as just a successful video game, but as a catalyst that helped China close the technological gap with the West. Beijing is playing a long game, and video games like Black Myth: Wukong are turning out to be effective weapons.

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

    – ref. Black Myth: Wukong – how China’s gaming revolution is fueling its tech power – https://theconversation.com/black-myth-wukong-how-chinas-gaming-revolution-is-fueling-its-tech-power-239998

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Bouncing between war-torn countries: Displacement in Lebanon and Syria highlights cyclical nature of cross-border refuge

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jasmin Lilian Diab, Assistant Professor of Migration Studies; Director of the Institute for Migration Studies, Lebanese American University

    Displaced people crossing a hole on the road caused by an Israeli airstrike near the Masnaa crossing. Bilal Jawich/Xinhua via Getty Images

    The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah since September 2024, and Israel’s bombing of civilian areas across Lebanon, have unleashed a profound humanitarian disaster.

    The mass displacement of over 1 million people, including Lebanese citizens, migrant workers and Syrian and Palestinian refugees, has created a crisis within Lebanon. Yet an equally significant phenomenon is occurring away from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel: the movement of people who have been displaced within Lebanon into Syria.

    An estimated 400,000 Lebanese and Syrians have reportedly fled into Syria through overcrowded border crossings.

    Not to be confused with return, this movement represents a reversal of the refugee flow that followed the descent of Syria into civil war in 2011. It is also emblematic of a broader pattern of cyclical displacement crises in the region.

    The complex and intertwined histories of Lebanon and Syria – where each has at various points been a refuge for citizens of the other – challenge the simple binaries often associated with the refugee experience.

    The exchange of roles between Lebanon and Syria highlights not only the fragility of regional stability but the fluidity of displacement – and the deeper implications that cross-border movement has on the sociopolitical dynamics of both countries.

    A history of reciprocal refuge

    The relationship between Lebanon and Syria has long been complex, oscillating between cooperation and tension. Despite Syria’s official withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 after decades as an occupying force, the two countries remain connected due to shared borders, economic ties and security concerns. Cooperation exists in areas such as trade, but there is significant tension, especially over the presence of over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

    Yet, throughout their modern histories, one of the most enduring bonds has been the shared experiences of displacement and refuge, dating back to Lebanon’s civil war. From 1975 to 1990, thousands of Lebanese fled to Syria to escape the sectarian-driven conflict that engulfed their homeland.

    The post-war period, however, was marked by a shift in the dynamics between the two countries. The 2005 withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon marked a new chapter in their relations.

    Tensions rose as Lebanon sought to rebuild and assert its sovereignty after nearly 30 years of Syrian occupation. Yet, the region’s tendency for upheaval soon saw the roles reversed again decades later, when an estimated 180,000 Lebanese took refuge in Syria during the 2006 July war.

    With the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, it was Lebanon’s turn to serve as a refuge. By 2015, 1 million Syrians fleeing violence made the journey into Lebanon.

    Despite being one of the 44 countries never to have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, Lebanon is the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita globally.

    Because Lebanon didn’t sign the convention, it doesn’t formally recognize refugee status, which gives the country what it views as more control over its refugee policies. While Lebanon receives humanitarian support from the United Nations’ refugee agency, refugees remain in a precarious legal status, with limited rights.

    For many Lebanese, this most recent influx of fleeing Syrian refugees has rekindled memories of their own displacement, while for others, it has fueled anti-refugee sentiments.

    Bouncing between 2 war-torn countries

    With the latest escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, history is again repeating itself. Lebanese citizens, primarily from Hezbollah strongholds in South Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, are seeking refuge in Syria, a country still grappling with its own economic collapse, violence and internal strife.

    While the conflict on Lebanese territory has gone on for more than a year, movements into Syria only picked up in late September 2024 as people have become more desperate to flee.

    As one displaced person forced to flee from Beirut explained to me: “Syria was certainly not a ‘better’ option than Lebanon six months ago, but in the last week, since the attacks on Beirut and political assassinations, Syria is safer – despite everything it is going through. That’s how unsafe we feel in Beirut – we are bouncing between one war-torn country and another.”

    Implications for refugee-host dynamics

    The cyclical nature of displacement between Lebanon and Syria overturns the prevailing political narrative of host-refugee dynamics being fixed and unidirectional.

    Syrian displacement to Lebanon has been portrayed by some Lebanese politicians as one-directional. This appears to be in order to frame Syrian refugees as the sole recipients of aid – as opposed to Lebanese citizens – as well as burdens on Lebanon.

    When displacement occurs in both directions, however, this narrative begins to break down.

    Syrian refugees who once sought safety in Lebanon now see their home country as a safer haven – albeit a fragile and temporary one. Meanwhile, Lebanese citizens face the same kinds of vulnerability and desperation that their Syrian counterparts experienced over the past decade.

    Importantly, testimonies from those who are making the trip from their ‘temporary’ home in Lebanon back to Syria highlight that these movements should not be mistaken for return. Rather, they are in themselves a temporary solution.

    As one Syrian who had fled his Lebanese home explained to me: “No, I am not returning. I am rather leaving one foot in Lebanon and one in Syria. Syria is in no way a safe place. As men, we are at risk of arrest and forced conscription. However, Lebanon is momentarily, at this point in history, much less safe. We do this assessment week by week. I sent my wife and my children first. I will follow.”

    For their part, internally displaced Lebanese entering into Syria insist that these movements are “absolutely temporary.” One told me: “Syria is not foreign to us. It feels close and familiar. But most importantly, it feels temporary and is the right proximity to Lebanon. As soon as things calm down we will come back to our homes. Many of us have nothing to go back to, but even in this case, we will not remain in Syria.”

    The strain of displacement

    Both Lebanon and Syria are, in many ways, ill-equipped to handle the new wave of displacement.

    Syrian children at a refugee camp in Lebanon’s frontier town of Arsal on Feb. 18, 2014.
    Ratib Al Safadi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    By 2023, Lebanon’s economic collapse had driven 80% of its population into poverty, making it nearly impossible to absorb the additional strain of mass internal displacement.

    Government paralysis, compounded by political deadlock, leaves internally displaced people with little to no state support, mostly relying on aid and community networks to survive.

    Syria, though in the position of “host” in this current migratory flow, is similarly constrained. The country’s infrastructure remains devastated from more than a decade of civil war. Basic services are stretched thin, and the economy has not recovered. Humanitarian organizations coordinating the response are working amid overextended resources and dwindling support.

    A region in perpetual chaos

    As the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, the displacement crisis in Lebanon and Syria will, I fear, likely worsen.

    The recent wave of Syrian refugees and Lebanese into Syria reveals the cyclical nature of refuge in the region. Ultimately, the ongoing displacement crisis in Lebanon and Syria serves as a reminder that refuge is often temporary, contingent on the shifting geopolitics of the region.

    The histories of these two countries, where both have served as havens for the other’s displaced populations, underscore the complexity of displacement in the Middle East.

    The fact that Lebanese citizens are now seeking shelter in Syria, a country from which over 1 million refugees fled just over a decade ago, underscores the volatility of regional displacement patterns. It also raises critical questions about the sustainability of international refugee systems that too often rely on static, one-directional models of migration and don’t account for the fluid and often reversible nature of displacement.

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

    – ref. Bouncing between war-torn countries: Displacement in Lebanon and Syria highlights cyclical nature of cross-border refuge – https://theconversation.com/bouncing-between-war-torn-countries-displacement-in-lebanon-and-syria-highlights-cyclical-nature-of-cross-border-refuge-241168

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Overseas US voters get ignored by political campaigns − but could be crucial supporters

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, Honorary Reader in MIgration and Politics, University of Kent

    Election workers prepare to mail absentee ballots to Americans, including those living overseas. Allison Joyce/Getty Images

    One group of American voters is being largely ignored in the closely watched polling leading up to the Nov. 5 elections: U.S. citizens living abroad, whether as civilians or as members of the military. We know from governmental data that the number of ballots cast by overseas Americans has been greater than the margin of victory in races in the past – and may be again in 2024.

    But that one potentially crucial group of American voters – U.S. citizens living abroad – does not get much attention, from pollsters or campaigns.

    We are scholars of political science whose research shows that overseas voters can make a difference in elections – and that there is potential for campaigns to mobilize these voters, despite a more complex process of voting than for domestic voters.

    Who are overseas Americans?

    Though there is not an exact count of American citizens living abroad, we do know they number in the millions. Estimates from the Federal Voter Assistance Program and the Association of Americans Resident Overseas placed this number between 4.4 million and 5.3 million in 2023.

    But those are likely undercounts. It’s almost impossible to account fully for dual citizens, naturalized U.S. citizens who have returned to the country of their birth or people who split their time between the U.S. and other countries.

    Research that we and others have conducted indicates that Mexico and Canada are home to the largest numbers of Americans outside the U.S., followed by the U.K., France, Israel and Germany. The three most common reasons Americans move abroad are family connections, employment and quality of life, although there are others.

    Overseas Americans tend to be highly educated: More than three-quarters have a college degree, double the percentage within the U.S. Most overseas Americans do not move from country to country but rather stay in one country, often for a decade or more. But our surveys have found they remain interested in U.S. politics – not least because they pay U.S. income taxes, whether they work for a U.S. or foreign employer. IRS data shows that the vast majority are not ultra-wealthy.

    Voting from abroad

    Military members and U.S. citizens living abroad have had the right to vote in federal elections since 1976. This right was further consolidated in the 1986 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, while the right for Americans living abroad to vote in local and state elections depends on state law.

    Some people have recently expressed concern that overseas voting could be used to cast fraudulent ballots, but there is no evidence of illegal voting by noncitizens abroad.

    Overseas voters’ absentee ballot requests and their returned ballots are carefully scrutinized by local officials in the state where they last lived in the U.S., making abuse very unlikely. But it is complex for overseas voters to vote: The paperwork is complicated, and there is comparatively little outreach from political parties and candidates.

    Barriers to voting from overseas

    In 2020, the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which is supposed to help overseas voters exercise their voting rights, estimated that just shy of 8% of eligible American voters overseas cast ballots in that year’s presidential election. Using program numbers to calculate a percentage another way finds that no more than 20% of overseas Americans cast ballots in the 2020 election.

    That’s far lower than the 67% national turnout rate that year.

    Federal law requires local election officials in the U.S. to mail absentee ballots 45 days before an election to overseas Americans who request them. Poor mail service in the U.S. and elsewhere can mean that voters don’t always get the ballots in time, and the ballots mailed back to election officials face similar delays.

    Some states allow voters to receive or return their ballots electronically, which is faster; an overseas voter casting a ballot in Massachusetts can request a ballot, receive a blank ballot and return it all by email, while an overseas voter from Pennsylvania must return it by mail or courier, following exact procedures for enclosing their ballot in multiple envelopes.

    In 2023, the Federal Voting Assistance Program estimated that as many as 150,000 U.S. citizens overseas did not cast ballots in the 2022 elections because of administrative hurdles, such as slow or irregular mail service and difficulties in communicating procedural changes to prospective voters abroad.

    Interest in US politics

    Another possible reason Americans abroad don’t vote is that they have lost interest in U.S. politics. But our own research, and the work of others, finds that not to be true.

    Even given the logistical challenges, U.S. citizens living in Canada, as one example, have very similar levels of interest in American politics compared with citizens back home.

    During the 2020 and 2022 campaign seasons, two of us surveyed American citizens who had moved north of the border. In 2020, 55% indicated they were very interested in American politics, as did 44% in the midterm year of 2022. This is comparable with levels of attention to politics within the U.S. during those campaigns, as gauged by the Cooperative Election Study.

    So although Americans in Canada indicated interest levels as high as those in the U.S. during the past two national election cycles, the vast majority of them did not cast a vote. Administrative barriers play a role, but they’re not enough to explain such low turnout among citizens overseas.

    Ignored by campaigns

    Another key factor driving low turnout from abroad is a lack of communication from campaigns and parties. Research demonstrates that contacts by campaigns and parties significantly increase a person’s likelihood of voting.

    In the U.S., parties and campaign organizations can help streamline the voter registration process, reinforce the stakes of an election and bolster a sense of camaraderie among citizens.

    U.S. citizens living abroad are unlikely to hear from campaigns, even in nearby Canada. When asked in 2020 or 2022 whether they had been contacted by American political campaigns, most potential voters in the U.S. had. But our surveys of Americans living in Canada show less than one-third reported contact from parties or candidates.

    Because overseas citizens vote in their last state of residence in the U.S. but are not physically resident there, campaigns find it harder to identify them as swing-state residents or members of favorable demographic groups.

    Overall, Americans living overseas are as eligible to vote as citizens in the U.S. They are as attentive to politics as Americans living in the U.S. On the other hand, they face major administrative hurdles and are generally not contacted by American parties or campaigns.

    James A. McCann has received support for his research on migration from Purdue University, the US Fulbright Program, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

    Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels and Ronald Rapoport do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Overseas US voters get ignored by political campaigns − but could be crucial supporters – https://theconversation.com/overseas-us-voters-get-ignored-by-political-campaigns-but-could-be-crucial-supporters-240184

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: 4 ways AI can be used and abused in the 2024 election, from deepfakes to foreign interference

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Barbara A. Trish, Professor of Political Science, Grinnell College

    The American public is on alert about artificial intelligence and the 2024 election.

    A September 2024 poll by the Pew Research Center found that well over half of Americans worry that artificial intelligence – or AI, computer technology mimicking the processes and products of human intelligence – will be used to generate and spread false and misleading information in the campaign.

    My academic research on AI may help quell some concerns. While this innovative technology certainly has the potential to manipulate voters or spread lies at scale, most uses of AI in the current election cycle are, so far, not novel at all.

    I’ve identified four roles AI is playing or could play in the 2024 campaign – all arguably updated versions of familiar election activities.

    1. Voter information

    The 2022 launch of ChatGPT brought the promise and peril of generative AI into public consciousness. This technology is called “generative” because it produces text responses to user prompts: It can write poetry, answer history questions – and provide information about the 2024 election.

    Rather than search Google for voting information, people may instead ask generative AI a question. “How much has inflation changed since 2020?” for example. Or, “Who’s running for U.S. Senate in Texas?”

    Some generative AI platforms such as Google’s AI chatbot Gemini, decline to answer questions about candidates and voting. Some, such as Facebook’s AI tool Llama, respond – and respond accurately.

    AI’s response to an election query on Facebook.
    Screenshot from Facebook, CC BY-SA

    But generative AI can also produce misinformation. In the most extreme cases, AI can have “hallucinations,” offering up wildly inaccurate results.

    A CBS news account from June 2024 reported that ChatGPT had given incorrect or incomplete responses to some prompts asking how to vote in battleground states. And ChatGPT didn’t consistently follow the policy of its owner, OpenAI, and refer users to CanIVote.org, a respected site for voting information.

    As with the web, people should verify the results of AI searches. And beware: Google’s Gemini now automatically returns answers to Google search queries at the top of every results page. You might inadvertently stumble into AI tools when you think you’re searching the internet.

    2. Deepfakes

    Deepfakes are fabricated images, audio and video produced by generative AI and designed to replicate reality. Essentially, these are highly convincing versions of what are now called “cheapfakes” – altered images made using basic tools such as Photoshop and video-editing software.

    The potential of deepfakes to deceive voters became clear when an AI-generated robocall impersonating Joe Biden before the January 2024 New Hampshire primary advised Democrats to save their votes for November.

    After that, the Federal Communication Commission ruled that AI-generated robocalls are subject to the same regulations as all robocalls. They cannot be auto-dialed or delivered to cellphones or landlines without prior consent.

    The agency also slapped a US$6 million fine on the consultant who created the fake Biden call – but not for tricking voters. He was fined for transmitting inaccurate caller-ID information.

    While synthetic media can be used to spread disinformation, deepfakes are now part of the creative toolbox of political advertisers.

    One early deepfake aimed more at persuasion than overt deception was an AI-generated ad from a 2022 mayoral race contest portraying the then-incumbent mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, as a failing student summoned to the principal’s office.

    Blink and you’ll miss the disclaimer that this campaign ad is a deepfake.

    The ad included a quick disclaimer that it was a deepfake, a warning not required by the federal government, but it was easy to miss.

    Wired magazine’s AI Elections Project, which is tracking uses of AI in the 2024 cycle, shows that deepfakes haven’t overwhelmed the ads voters see. But they have been used by candidates across the political spectrum, up and down the ballot, for many purposes – including deception.

    Former President Donald Trump hints at a Democratic deepfake when he questions the crowd size at Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign events. In lobbing such allegations, Trump is attempting to reap the “liar’s dividend” – the opportunity to plant the idea that truthful content is fake.

    Discrediting a political opponent this way is nothing new. Trump has been claiming that the truth is really just “fake news” since at least the “birther” conspiracy of 2008, when he helped to spread rumors that presidential candidate Barack Obama’s birth certificate was fake.

    3. Strategic distraction

    Some are concerned that AI might be used by election deniers in this cycle to distract election administrators by burying them in frivolous public records requests.

    For example, the group True the Vote has lodged hundreds of thousands of voter challenges over the past decade working with just volunteers and a web-based app. Imagine its reach if armed with AI to automate their work.

    Such widespread, rapid-fire challenges to the voter rolls could divert election administrators from other critical tasks, disenfranchise legitimate voters and disrupt the election.

    As of now, there’s no evidence that this is happening.

    4. Foreign election interference

    Confirmed Russian interference in the 2016 election underscored that the threat of foreign meddling in U.S. politics, whether by Russia or another country invested in discrediting Western democracy, remains a pressing concern.

    Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 U.S. election concluded that Russia had worked to get President Donald Trump elected.
    Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP

    In July, the Department of Justice seized two domain names and searched close to 1,000 accounts that Russian actors had used for what it called a “social media bot farm,” similar to those Russia used to influence the opinions of hundreds of millions of Facebook users in the 2020 campaign. Artificial intelligence could give these efforts a real boost.

    There’s also evidence that China is using AI this cycle to spread malicious information about the U.S. One such social media post transcribed a Biden speech inaccurately to suggest he made sexual references.

    AI may help election interferers do their dirty work, but new technology is hardly necessary for foreign meddling in U.S. politics.

    In 1940, the United Kingdom – an American ally – was so focused on getting the U.S. to enter World War II that British intelligence officers worked to help congressional candidates committed to intervention and to discredit isolationists.

    One target was the prominent Republican isolationist U.S. Rep. Hamilton Fish. Circulating a photo of Fish and the leader of an American pro-Nazi group taken out of context, the British sought to falsely paint Fish as a supporter of Nazi elements abroad and in the U.S.

    Can AI be controlled?

    Acknowledging that it doesn’t take new technology to do harm, bad actors can leverage the efficiencies embedded in AI to create a formidable challenge to election operations and integrity.

    Federal efforts to regulate AI’s use in electoral politics face the same uphill battle as most proposals to regulate political campaigns. States have been more active: 19 now ban or restrict deepfakes in political campaigns.

    Some platforms engage in light self-moderation. Google’s Gemini responds to prompts asking for basic election information by saying, “I can’t help with responses on elections and political figures right now.”

    Campaign professionals may employ a little self-regulation, too. Several speakers at a May 2024 conference on campaign tech expressed concern about pushback from voters if they learn that a campaign is using AI technology. In this sense, the public concern over AI might be productive, creating a guardrail of sorts.

    But the flip side of that public concern – what Stanford University’s Nate Persily calls “AI panic” – is that it can further erode trust in elections.

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

    – ref. 4 ways AI can be used and abused in the 2024 election, from deepfakes to foreign interference – https://theconversation.com/4-ways-ai-can-be-used-and-abused-in-the-2024-election-from-deepfakes-to-foreign-interference-239878

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Philly hospitals test new strategy for ‘tranq dope’ withdrawal – and it keeps patients from walking out before their treatment is done

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kory London, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University

    Patients suffering withdrawal from fentanyl and xylazine can require intensive care. SDI Productions/E+ Collection via Getty Images

    Unimaginable pain and restlessness. Vomiting so frequent and forceful that it can perforate the esophagus. Blood pressure and heart rate so high that they damage the heart. Sweating that drenches clothing and sheets. Nerve sensitivity that makes even the softest touch agonizing. A prolonged panic attack that is provoked and worsened by even mundane activities and conversations.

    The withdrawal symptoms from “tranq dope” – the combination of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and the animal tranquilizer xylazine that dominates Philadelphia’s street opioids supply – tend to be far worse than those experienced by even the most severe heroin users of the past.

    So it’s no surprise that people will do whatever they can to forestall them. That includes walking out of the hospital before their care is complete.

    I’m an associate professor of emergency medicine who has spent a decade as an emergency physician working in Center City and South Philadelphia. I’ve spent most of that time directing projects to improve care for people who use drugs.

    Beginning in 2022, our team – a group of emergency and addiction physicians – began experimenting with new approaches to treating tranq dope withdrawal.

    We were able to reduce the likelihood of these patients leaving the hospital before treatment was complete by more than half – from 10% to just under 4%.

    We also reduced the severity of their suffering, lowering their withdrawal scores – or how they rate their pain and other symptoms – by more than half.

    Traditional treatments don’t work

    Before tranq dope, treating opioid withdrawal in the emergency department was relatively straightforward, with well-studied, conventional protocols.

    For patients without chronic pain, health care providers started buprenorphine, known by its brand name Suboxone, when patients showed signs of withdrawal.

    Buprenorphine works by partially, rather than fully, stimulating opioid receptors in the body. This subtle difference relieves symptoms of withdrawal but reduces the risk of overdose if patients continue to use other opioids. It quite literally saves lives.

    Tranq dope, however, created a much larger set of challenges.

    Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are dozens to hundreds of times more powerful than heroin. Xylazine, meanwhile, adds symptoms of sedative withdrawal to the mix: restlessness, adrenaline activation and agitation.

    As synthetic opioids became pervasive in Philadelphia’s drug supply over the past decade, overdose deaths in the city tripled. Those numbers are beginning to decline, for reasons that remain unclear.

    Fear of withdrawal can even prevent people with serious medical conditions from going to the hospital.
    Jeff Fusco/The Conversation US, CC BY-ND

    Meanwhile, tranq users started to share buprenorphine horror stories. They refused the medication due to a phenomenon called “precipitated withdrawal.” Precipitated withdrawal is a condition in which taking buprenorphine paradoxically makes withdrawal symptoms worse, rather than improving them. Due to the severity of their symptoms, some patients who precipitate severely even require treatment in the intensive care unit.

    Furthermore, when patients did accept buprenorphine, their withdrawal symptoms were no longer being effectively controlled, even with very high doses. We were adrift.

    Patients demand discharge

    When people with severe substance use disorders are hospitalized, even compassionate staff members sometimes lose patience.

    Being confined to a stretcher in a loud, chaotic environment, in withdrawal, with prior traumatic health care experiences, can lead patients to act out. They might repeatedly hit call bells, use inappropriate language, make impulsive decisions or sneak drugs into the hospital.

    This creates a lot of stress for nurses and staff, and distracts from the care of others.

    So when patients demand to leave before treatments are complete, exhausted care teams often quickly acquiesce. Traditionally, this was termed leaving “against medical advice,” but is now called “patient-directed discharge.”

    Patient-directed discharge is associated with higher rates of mortality, permanent disability and rehospitalization.

    Rates of patient-directed discharge can be 10 to 50 times higher in people with an opioid use disorder compared with the general public.

    A cycle of mistrust can also form, where the expectation that a patient may leave again leads to a less engaged care team, which in turn can make patients more likely to leave.

    At staff meetings, some compared the challenges of caring for these individuals to those experienced in the hardest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    New approach needed

    Many physicians have been reticent to consider other options for treating opioid withdrawal. I believe there are two key reasons for this. One is the lack of Food and Drug Administration approval for alternative treatments. The other is that federal regulations consider addiction a behavioral rather than medical condition, effectively separating most doctors from the addiction care of these individuals.

    As fentanyl and xylazine became ubiquitous in Philadelphia’s street dope, local hospitals reported astronomical rates of patient-directed discharge among these patients. This was happening despite the best efforts of hospital staffs that are deeply experienced in conventional opioid withdrawal treatment.

    In 2021, an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal advocated for the use of short-acting opioids for some patients’ opioid withdrawal – which is already common practice in Canada. Short-acting opioids are medications doctors traditionally use to treat acute pain.

    Philadelphia hospitals started experimenting with using these previously verboten medications. That included our team at Jefferson Health.

    Overdose deaths in Philadelphia spiked as fentanyl and xylazine became more prevalent.
    Jeff Fusco/The Conversation US, CC BY-ND

    Oxycodone, hydromorphone and ketamine

    By using short-acting opioids such as oxycodone or hydromorphone, combined with a low-dose version of buprenorphine, we prevented precipitated withdrawal and treated opioid withdrawal and pain in our patients.

    The low-dose bupenorphine can be increased over time to steady doses. This shows patients that the medication is safe and provides them a bridge to long-term treatment.

    The short-acting opioids replace the opioids that their bodies are frantically searching for. They reduce their pain and misery, and are decreased when their symptoms are controlled.

    Patients with opioid use disorder will often do whatever they can to stay out of the hospital due to fear of withdrawal. Asking how withdrawal symptoms are managed, therefore, is often their first priority when hospitalized. We see this even when they have conditions that require complicated and time-sensitive treatments.

    Owing to the vast amounts of opioids many of our patients use, we also give them additional strong medications, or “adjunctive therapies,” to supplement the effects of the short-acting opioids and low-dose buprenorphine. One is ketamine, an anesthetic that affects nerve impulses and is increasingly being used to treat depression, post-traumatic stress discorder and substance use disorders.

    Ketamine is also an effective pain medication that can extend the effects of opioids and reduce the number of doses needed.

    We additionally add muscle relaxants – which work similarly to xylazine – along with nausea medications and IV fluids, to help give patients a chance at healing.

    Side effects and future problems

    In patients who received our medications, the risks of serious side effects were minimal. The few patients who suffered serious adverse effects had other acute medical problems that could have contributed to the side effects. Almost all the side effects we saw were mild and resolved on their own.

    As powerful synthetic opioids and other contaminants become pervasive in more U.S. cities, more emergency departments will need to figure out how to care for patients in withdrawal so that they don’t leave treatment.

    It is our hope that this work will inspire others to do a better job of providing relief to patients suffering from this complicated and severe condition.

    Kory London received funding from the City of Philadelphia to support the work related to caring for individuals with substance use disorder. He is on the board of the nonprofit Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, dedicated to helping those in need of behavioral health care and support.

    – ref. Philly hospitals test new strategy for ‘tranq dope’ withdrawal – and it keeps patients from walking out before their treatment is done – https://theconversation.com/philly-hospitals-test-new-strategy-for-tranq-dope-withdrawal-and-it-keeps-patients-from-walking-out-before-their-treatment-is-done-239915

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What is Temporary Protected Status? A global migration expert why the US offers some foreign nationals temporary protection

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Karen Jacobsen, Henry J. Leir Chair in Global Migration, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University

    Haitian students use mobile phones to record an exercise during an English class in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 13, 2024. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

    Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, have criticized the Biden administration’s decision to allow Haitian nationals who are in the U.S. to apply for permission to stay under a legal classification called Temporary Protected Status. Here is what this designation means and how it’s made:

    TPS permits foreign nationals who are already in the United States – even if they did not enter the country through an official or legal means – to remain for six, 12 or 18 months at a time if the situation in their home country is deemed too dangerous for them to return. Threats that prompt TPS designations include ongoing armed conflict, natural disasters, epidemics and other extraordinary and temporary conditions.

    The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security designates a foreign country for TPS when conditions there meet requirements spelled out in federal law. Once the secretary determines that the foreign country is safe for its nationals to return, their protected status expires and people who have been granted it are expected to return to their home country.

    Congress created TPS as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. Since then, administrations have used it to protect thousands of people from dozens of countries. The first nations to be designated, in March 1991, were Kuwait, Lebanon and Liberia.

    As of March 2024, there were 863,880 people from 16 countries under Temporary Protected Status in the U.S. Another 486,418 people had initial or renewal applications pending. An estimated 316,000 people may also be eligible under two new extensions since that date.

    TPS beneficiaries may not be detained by federal officials over their immigration status or deported from the United States. They can obtain work permits and apply for authorization to travel outside the U.S. and return to it.

    People who receive TPS don’t automatically become legal permanent residents. But they can petition for an adjustment of their immigration status, such as applying for permanent residency, a student visa or asylum. Applying for a change of immigration status does not necessarily mean their application will be approved.

    Humanitarian measures

    TPS is not the only tool administrations can use to protect people from countries facing disaster or conflict.

    For example, a Haitian person currently living in the U.S. is eligible for TPS under a designation that lasts through Feb. 3, 2026. In contrast, a Haitian who travels through Mexico and applies for entry to the U.S. at the border is not likely to be admitted.

    However, there is a third possibility for Haitians, known as parole. The federal government can give certain groups permission to enter or remain in the U.S. if it finds “urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit reasons” for doing so.

    People who enter through parole programs must have an approved financial supporter in the U.S., undergo a robust security vetting and meet other eligibility criteria. They typically can stay for one to two years, and may apply for authorization to work.

    One current parole program is for people from Latin American countries that are TPS designates. The U.S. government can grant advance permission to enter the U.S. to up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans each month. People fleeing these countries – all of which have been designated for Temporary Protected Status – can seek authorization to travel from their homes to the U.S. for urgent humanitarian reasons, and then stay for a temporary period of parole for up to two years.

    Immigrant rights groups rally at the U.S. Capitol following a federal court ruling that threatened the legal standing of thousands with Temporary Protected Status, Sept. 15, 2020.
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    I’ve studied global migration and asylum policy for 25 years. I see both TPS and parole as legal and carefully considered ways to support people from countries experiencing wrenching conflict, disorder and disaster who are seeking safety in the U.S. Doing away with these programs, as Trump sought to do during his term in office, would make it extremely difficult for people in great danger to escape.

    Neither TPS nor parole programs are automatic roads to citizenship or permanent residence. They are ways to provide humanitarian assistance to people in appalling circumstances, such as rampant gang violence in Haiti and economic hardship and political repression in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

    Certainly, cities need more resources to support large numbers of immigrants. But offering temporary protection to people whose home countries are not safe places to live is a long-standing – and, in my view, crucial – element of U.S. immigration policy.

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

    – ref. What is Temporary Protected Status? A global migration expert why the US offers some foreign nationals temporary protection – https://theconversation.com/what-is-temporary-protected-status-a-global-migration-expert-why-the-us-offers-some-foreign-nationals-temporary-protection-240525

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Presidential elections provide opportunities to teach about power, proportions and percentages

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Liza Bondurant, Associate Professor of Secondary Math Education, Mississippi State University

    The complex voting system in the U.S. requires a sophisticated understanding of math. bamlou/DigitalVision Vectors

    To American voters, the process of electing a president and other officials may be difficult to explain and understand. For America’s math teachers, the system represents a gold mine for real-life lessons on ratios, statistics and data.

    And by basing the lessons on elections, teachers can help put students on the path to becoming informed and engaged voters later in life, according to a 2020 survey of 2,232 young adults ages 18-21.

    Americans don’t vote directly for the president. Instead, a group of electors vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote in that state. In most states, whoever wins the most votes wins all the state’s electors, or “electoral votes.”

    Not all states have the same number of electors. Each state starts with two electoral votes, based on the two U.S. senators in each state. States receive additional electors based on the number of representatives they have in the House of Representatives, which depends on a state’s population. The number of representatives in the House, however, has been set at 435 since 1929, despite a huge and varied increase in the population. This means the number of people represented by each member of the U.S. House – the ratio of people to representative – varies considerably, as shown in a table from the U.S. Census Bureau.

    Armed with this background, math teachers can use the census data on population and ratios to teach students the following math – and voting – topics.

    Topic 1: Ratio

    To calculate a state’s representative ratio, the number of people for every one representative, divide the population by the number of the state’s representatives in the U.S. House. In 2020, for example, Montana had two congressional representatives and a population of 1,085,407. The representative ratio was 542,704:1 – 1,085,407 divided by 2 – or 542,704 residents for each representative.

    Topic 2: Minimum and maximum

    In any set of numbers, the minimum is the smallest number in the set and the maximum is the largest number. For example, using the representative ratios from the 2020 census data, Montana’s ratio of 542,704:1 is the smallest – the minimum – and Delaware’s ratio of 990,837:1 is the largest, or the maximum.

    Topic 3: The shape, center and spread of data

    Shape means how data, such as the ratios of residents to representatives, looks on a chart or graph. Teachers can use a histogram, a kind of graph used to illustrate how data is distributed: evenly, skewed to one side, or with some numbers as outliers, at a distance from the other numbers.

    The ratios can also be used to explain how to find the “center” of data, its mean or median. The mean is the average, found by adding all the numbers in the set and dividing by how many there are. For example, adding the ratios for all the states and dividing by 50. The median is the middle number when all numbers are placed in order from minimum to maximum. Simple spreadsheet formulas are available online to help students find both.

    Students can examine ratios of residents to representatives for all 50 states.
    iofoto via Getty Images

    The “spread” of a set of numbers tells how much the numbers are different from the center. One measure of spread is called the range, which is the difference between the maximum and the minimum. For example, the range in representative ratios among the states is 448,133: the maximum, Delaware’s 990,837, minus the minimum, Montana’s 542,704.

    When students understand how ratios – and elections – work, teachers can ask questions such as, “Montana has fewer people per representative than Delaware. Where would your vote count more?” Answer: Montana, because fewer people per representative means each vote counts more.

    Topic 4: Gerrymandering

    Each state is divided into districts; residents of each district vote for their state and federal representatives. Gerrymandering occurs when the borders of voting districts are drawn to favor one party at the expense of another. The political party in power often draws these district lines to make it easier for that party to win in the future.

    Imagine a state has 10 representatives, and Party X gets 60% of the votes. With 60% of the votes, it seems fair that Party X should get 6 of the state’s 10 seats for representatives.

    There is no rule that says the percentage of votes cast for a party in a state has to line up with the number of seats the party wins. And Party X wants more. To keep control of as many seats as possible, the politicians in Party X would like to manipulate – or gerrymander – each of 10 districts to make sure it would win 60% of the vote in each. With a majority in each district, Party X would win all 10 seats. Gerrymandering to this extreme is not always possible because districts must consist of adjoining areas, and voters who favor one party might not live in areas that can be easily connected.

    Lessons on gerrymandering can vary by grade level. For example, elementary students can get hands-on experience manipulating borders with the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival “puzzles” tool. The puzzle, which can be tied to lessons about shapes, percents and area, allows children to change boundaries on a graph to increase or decrease the number of yellow or green squares – representing voters – in each “district.” There are fewer green squares than yellow squares in each puzzle. Students win when they successfully gerrymander, changing the borders so the green voters are in the majority in most, or all, of the districts.

    High school students, who already understand the basics of gerrymandering, can use a tool called Districtr to draw real voting districts. The site uses actual data about where voters live and which political party won in which area. Using this tool, students cannot only try to gerrymander districts, they can also try to create districts that are more fairly balanced. After trying to draw their own “fair” districts, students might be interested in some states’ use of independent groups to draw fairer district lines.

    By using elections as a learning tool, students can gain a better understanding of ratios, means and range, and they might also start thinking about what they can do to improve the process.

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

    – ref. Presidential elections provide opportunities to teach about power, proportions and percentages – https://theconversation.com/presidential-elections-provide-opportunities-to-teach-about-power-proportions-and-percentages-238152

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to be a boss at giving performance reviews

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kip Holderness, Associate Professor of Forensic and Fraud Examination and Accounting, West Virginia University

    When you’re a manager, delivering feedback can feel like walking a tightrope. Whether you’re praising an employee’s accomplishments or addressing a shortfall, how you communicate can have a big impact on how your words are received and acted upon.

    As business school professors, we’ve done research into how to make the assessment process as painless as possible. And we’ve found three essential strategies for delivering feedback that’s both effective and constructive.

    Using these strategies will help you elevate the feedback process, fostering a more positive and productive work environment:

    1. Keep your emotions out of it

    Have you ever noticed that saying things like “I’m disappointed” or “I’m proud of you” can change a feedback conversation completely? That’s because the language you use – particularly emotionally charged words – can shift how employees interpret the feedback.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, our research shows that using negative emotional language – like “I’m disappointed” – can reduce employee motivation and effort. This happens because employees shift their focus away from their performance and toward how you, the manager, see them as a person.

    At the same time, using positive emotional language such as “I’m pleased” can sometimes backfire. That’s because it can make employees feel complacent.

    The key takeaway here is that using emotionally neutral language, especially when giving negative feedback, helps employees stay focused on their tasks without getting sidetracked by what the feedback says about them personally.

    Instead of saying, “I’m disappointed with your sales numbers,” try a more neutral approach, like “The sales numbers are below the target we set. Let’s discuss some strategies for improvement.”

    By keeping a lid on the emotions in your language, you keep the conversation focused on performance. That helps employees better understand what they need to work on, without the additional emotional burden.

    2. Let workers customize their experience

    Not all employees want the same type of feedback, and that’s perfectly OK. Giving employees the ability to choose the type and frequency of evaluations can boost performance.

    Workers who have a say in how often they are evaluated are more likely to use the process productively and feel less micromanaged, our research has found.

    Consider creating a feedback menu where employees can select areas for assessment, such as communication skills, leadership development or project management. An additional strategy is to let workers set the frequency of feedback sessions – whether they be weekly check-ins or more comprehensive quarterly reviews.

    When employees have ownership over the evaluation they receive, they are more open to it, perceive it as more valuable and are more likely to act on it.

    3. Choose the right messenger

    Who delivers the feedback can be just as important as the information itself. Our research has shown that some employees respond better to feedback from their peers, while others respond better when it’s from a manager.

    Specifically, we found that people with a greater sense of entitlement do better with feedback from a supervisor, while less entitled people respond better to peer feedback.

    That’s why it can be a good idea to use personality profiles to determine the best messenger for feedback. For instance, consider situations where a co-worker’s feedback could be reasonably delivered and from whom, like a peer mentor or team lead.

    By aligning the feedback source with the content and context, you ensure that the feedback resonates more deeply and is perceived as constructive rather than critical.

    Applying the principles in real life

    Managers may find that using these three strategies might require adjusting their current feedback approach, but the benefits are worth it. Here’s a quick example of how to apply these strategies:

    Imagine you have an employee, Mark, whose performance has recently dropped. In your feedback conversation, you might start with a neutral statement like “Mark, I’ve noticed that your recent projects have been missing their deadlines. Let’s discuss why this might be happening.” This language will help Mark focus on the issue without taking it as a personal attack.

    Next, offer Mark the option to set up regular biweekly check-ins or monthly reviews to see what works best for him. Finally, if Mark has a strong rapport with a team member who excels at time management, consider arranging a peer feedback session where they can share tips and strategies.

    The result? Mark feels supported rather than scrutinized, and the feedback is framed as an opportunity for growth rather than a reprimand.

    As researchers who’ve studied management communication and feedback strategies for years, we know that these approaches can transform the way people interact with their teams. By being intentional about giving feedback, managers can create environments where employees feel respected, valued and motivated to succeed.

    Kip Holderness has received funding in the past from the Institute of Management Accountants and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

    Kari Olsen received funding from the Institute of Management Accountants Research Foundation.

    Todd Thornock has received funding from the Institute of Management Accountants Research Foundation.

    – ref. How to be a boss at giving performance reviews – https://theconversation.com/how-to-be-a-boss-at-giving-performance-reviews-233428

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU is among the leaders of the M-rating in social networks

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    Based on the results of work for September, the State University of Management took a leading position in the official rating of media activity of Russian universities in the section “Social Networks”.

    The GUU channel on Rutube became the undisputed leader of the month, having overtaken the channels of other universities in terms of indicators. In September, about 50 horizontal and vertical video materials were published on the channel, which gained a total of almost 95 thousand views.

    On the Zen platform, the GUU channel took 3rd place among more than 140 university channels, improving its own indicators several times. The most popular article of the month was “Why is there a mass rebranding of Russian companies?”, which was read by over 18 thousand users.

    As a result, in general, in terms of the “Social Networks” indicator, our university entered the top leaders and took 10th place.

    Thank you, our beloved subscribers and readers, this is our common achievement! Subscribe to our channels, tell us what topics you would like to see in future materials and remember: we are all a GUU family!

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/16/2024

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    https://guu.ru/guu-in-the-leaders-rating-on-social-networks/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia donates 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine

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

    Defence Department Supplied Photo

    The Albanese government is giving 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, despite earlier this year apparently playing down the prospect of the donation.

    The latest Australian package is worth A$245 million. It brings the total Australian military aid to Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 to A$1.3 billion, and overall Australian support to A$1.5 billion.

    When asked about a possible gift of the tanks in February, Defence Minister Richard Marles said it was “not on the agenda”.

    Government sources say donating the tanks required US approval since Australia had purchased them from Washington, so there had been a process to go through.

    Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy, who is on his way to the NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels, announced the decision in London. In Brussels, Conroy will meet with the Ukraine defence minister.

    Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea form the “Indo-Pacific Four” group of non-NATO countries attending the meeting.

    The 49 tanks are near the end of their life, so a small number will have to be repaired before they are delivered. Alternatively, they could be used as spare parts if Ukraine wants them delivered more quickly. Ukraine will decide which option to pursue.

    The Australian army is retaining a handful of the M1A1 Abrams to help the transition to the M1A2 fleet of tanks.

    Conroy said: “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in their fight against Russia’s illegal invasion. These tanks will deliver more firepower and mobility to the Ukrainian armed forces, and complement the support provided by our partners for Ukraine”.

    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. Australia donates 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine – https://theconversation.com/australia-donates-49-abrams-tanks-to-ukraine-241485

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: University Grants Committee welcomes “The Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address”

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
     
         The Chairman of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Mr Tim Lui, said today (October 16) that he welcomed the Chief Executive’s announcement of several relevant measures in the 2024 Policy Address, which aim at nurturing future talent and establishing the “Study in Hong Kong” brand. The UGC will join hands with the eight UGC-funded universities to optimise Hong Kong’s competitive advantages under “One Country, Two Systems”, as well as the highly internationalised and diversified characters of the higher education landscape, thereby pressing ahead with the development of Hong Kong into an international hub for post-secondary education and high-calibre talent.
     
         The Government announced in this year’s Policy Address that it will establish the Hong Kong Future Talents Scholarship Scheme for Advanced Studies (SSAS) starting from the 2025/26 academic year, under which up to 1 200 local students enrolling in designated taught postgraduate programmes will receive a scholarship each year.
     
         Mr Lui said, “Over the past five years, the UGC has implemented the Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme on a pilot basis, which incentivised local students with aspirations for advanced studies to pursue over 100 master’s programmes within our priority areas. They have fuelled Hong Kong’s impetus for development as they equip themselves for the future. We welcome the establishment of the SSAS by the Government with reference to the experience and achievements of the pilot scheme. This clearly demonstrates the Government’s commitment towards the nurturing of high-calibre local talent and the development of new quality productive forces.”
     
         The Policy Address also announced that Hong Kong will strive to host international education conferences and exhibitions, as well as encourage local post-secondary institutions to enhance collaboration and exchanges with their counterparts around the world in promoting the “Study in Hong Kong” brand on a global scale. In this regard, the UGC will further strengthen collaboration with the Heads of Universities Committee’s Standing Committee on Internationalisation to actively enhance external promotion efforts targeting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other Belt and Road countries, and strive to foster closer partnerships with institutions worldwide in student mobility and research collaboration. The UGC also welcomed the Government’s introduction of a series of new measures to improve hostel facilities, including a pilot scheme to encourage the market to convert hotels and other commercial buildings into student hostels on a self-financing and privately funded basis. This will increase the supply of student hostels and facilitate the recruitment of more non-local students to pursue their studies in Hong Kong.
     
         In terms of research promotion, the UGC extended its gratitude to the Government for providing $1.5 billion to launch a new round of the Research Matching Grant Scheme (RMGS), which will incentivise more organisations to fund research activities by institutions. The inaugural round of the RMGS was concluded with resounding success in July 2024, which effectively expanded research funding sources of the higher education sector. The UGC also welcomed the introduction of a series of measures to facilitate close collaboration among the Government, industry, academic, research and investment sectors. Mr Lui is confident that the new round of the RMGS as well as various measures will deepen the collaboration between higher education and other sectors, thereby raising Hong Kong’s research capabilities as well as enhancing the local ecosystem for innovation and technology.
     
         Mr Lui continued, “Looking ahead, our higher education sector can tap into the immense opportunities presented by the Northern Metropolis University Town to leverage our distinctive advantage of having strong support from the motherland and close connection with the world, thereby enabling Hong Kong to scale new heights. Together with our UGC-funded universities, we will devote ourselves relentlessly to cultivating local talent, attracting elites from all over the world and reinforcing our global reputation, so as to contribute positively to Hong Kong’s development into an international hub for post-secondary education.”

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NSU presented the program of the upcoming scientific and production forum “Golden Valley” at the TASS press center

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    Today, a press conference dedicated to the upcoming Golden Valley forum was held at the TASS press center in Novosibirsk.

    Rector of NSU, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Fedoruk, speaking about the reasons for holding the forum, noted:

    — Now, due to the development of the university, due to the fact that it has significantly expanded in scale and in the number of faculties, students and the projects that it carries out, it plays the role of a center of attraction on the territory of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center. This is facilitated by the university’s participation in all key federal development programs, such as “Priority 2030”, Advanced Engineering Schools, Creation of a Network of Modern Campuses, etc. The university is beginning to more actively position itself as a leading educational and scientific-technological center. Therefore, we are holding the second forum, which brings together large enterprises and scientific organizations. The goal of the forum is to strengthen and develop the university’s interaction with industrial partners and in the future to attract them to joint developments and technologies already based on the university.

    Next, Alexander Lyulko, Director of the Center for Interaction with Government Authorities and Industrial Partners of NSU, spoke in more detail about the forum program. This year it includes a business part – these are plenary sessions and sections on various topics; an exhibition of projects, technologies and developments; negotiations (a platform for signing agreements and contracts between forum participants); and a cultural and entertainment program with a scientific twist.

    There will be two plenary sessions within the framework of the “Golden Valley”: on the first day – on the topic “Requests of the real sector of the economy for the creation of new technologies”; on the second day – on the topic “Scientific developments for industry”. Within the framework of the second session, developments of NSU and scientific organizations of Akademgorodok, which may be of interest to industrial partners, will be presented.

    The forum will have 8 sections: Aviation; Unmanned systems; Mechanical engineering. Instrument making; Artificial intelligence in industry and robotics; Energy; Smart city technologies. Construction; Agriculture; Medicine; and a round table “Personnel for industry” will also be held.

    Among the key speakers from government and business: Sergey Semka, Deputy Governor of the Novosibirsk Region; Vadim Vasiliev, Minister of Science and Innovation Policy of the Novosibirsk Region; Sergey Tsukar, Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the Novosibirsk Region; Anna Korotchenkova, Vice President for Technology at AFK Sistema; Viktor Slavyantsev, Head of Highest Category Innovative Development Projects at Rostec State Corporation; Evgeny Pavlov, Head of Innovative Development Department at United Engine Corporation; Konstantin Kotlyarov, Head of R&D at AvtoVAZ, etc.

    On behalf of the scientific community: Aleksandr Rumyantsev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, State Duma Deputy; Sergey Alekseenko, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Director of the Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Mikhail Voevoda, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Chairman of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Federal Research Center for Fundamental and Translational Medicine; Aleksandr Latyshev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Semiconductor Physics; Dmitry Markovich, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, First Deputy Chairman of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Sergey Netyosov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Virology, NSU Natural Sciences Department; Sergey Abin, Director of the Institute of Automation and Electrometry, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Dmitry Kudlai, Vice President for the Implementation of New Medical Technologies at Generium JSC, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and others.

    This year, the forum program will be expanded with satellite events. This is primarily a technology exhibition, where NSU will present its developments, as well as a tour of the university’s innovation centers and laboratories. Also, over the course of three days, the NSU career forum will be held, which will bring together major employers interested in collaborating with the university.

    The Golden Valley will host strategic sessions on the following topics: “Digital Transformation: Artificial Intelligence in Solving Public Sector Problems”, which will be chaired by Sergey Tsukar, Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the Novosibirsk Region; “Chemical Technologies and Deep Processing of Raw Materials” (organized by the Interregional Association “Siberian Agreement”); “Development of Entrepreneurship Technologies in Universities in the Interests of Industry”.

    The forum is expected to see the signing of a number of agreements between NSU and industrial partners on joint developments, the implementation of projects in the field of introducing new technologies, including artificial intelligence, and the creation of consortiums and associations to solve industry problems.

    We remind you that the forum is held with the support of the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District, the Interregional Association “Siberian Agreement”, the Government of the Novosibirsk Region, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Council of Rectors of Universities of the City of Novosibirsk and the Technopark of the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok.

    The Forum’s Program Committee is headed by the Rector of NSU, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences M.P. Fedoruk. It includes the Chairman of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician V.N. Parmon, ministers of the Novosibirsk Region government, heads of leading institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, directors of industrial enterprises, the Chairman of the Council of Rectors of Universities, representatives of the largest state corporations – Rostec, Rosatom, UEC, government bodies, academic institutes, development institutes of Novosibirsk and other Russian cities.

    All information about the forum, current program, news are presented on the website: http://zd.nsu.ru/

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://vvv.nsu.ru/n/media/nevs/science/ngu-presented-the-program-of-the-upcoming-scientific-production-forum-golden-valley-in-press-ts/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnicians at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    Last week, the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum 2024 (SPIGF-2024) was held at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre, in the exhibition and scientific-business programme of which the Polytechnic University traditionally takes an active part.

    The forum visitors were able to get to know the university better in the Polytechnic’s unified catalogue. More than eight pages were devoted to the main areas of activity of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport.

    SPIGF is one of the key global events in the gas industry. The participation of Polytechnic divisions in the exhibition program of the forum opened up a wide range of opportunities for meeting potential customers and exchanging experience, says Anatoly Popovich, Director of IMMiT.

    Specialists from the Laser and Additive Technologies Research Laboratory (LIAT) at IMMiT presented their developments at the Polytechnic stand: components of the hot tract of gas turbine engines repaired by laser cladding, 7 and 10 mm thick samples welded in one pass without edge preparation using laser welding and hybrid laser-arc welding, and the mobile laser cladding complex “Nomad”, designed to restore large-sized products on the customer’s premises.

    If for some reason the enterprise cannot bring the product to the laboratory, then its specialists go to the site with a mobile complex. At the moment, they have already restored four rotors of the GTK-10-4 gas pumping units. In the laboratory itself, the “Nomad” is also used for laser welding and restoration of smaller products.

    The forum’s rich program brought together all the most advanced and significant areas of the industry. The opportunity to present the developments of the research laboratory at the forum made a significant contribution to determining the optimal scenarios for the further development vector of the division, – shared Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the Scientific Research Laboratory “LiAT” of IMMIT SPbPU.

    The Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade presented educational programs created and implemented in partnership with PJSC Gazprom and its subsidiaries at the SPbPU exhibition stand: two master’s programs and two programs of additional professional education. The master’s program “IT Economics and Business Analysis” is a corporate master’s program of the university and Gazprom Neft, aimed at training specialists in the field of business analysis. This master’s program is reinforced by modules of specialized focus and project activities within the framework of research work built on business cases of Gazprom Neft. At the forum, we productively discussed with our partners strategic plans for the development of new corporate educational programs and other areas of joint activity taking into account current changes in the economy, – said Irina Rudskaya, Director of the Scientific and Educational Center for Information Technology and Business Analysis of Gazprom Neft.

    The Master’s program “Human Resources Management and Organizational Development”, created and implemented jointly with Gazprom Gazifikatsiya with the information and status support of the presidential platform of the ANO “Russia – Country of Opportunities”, was presented by the Higher School of Industrial Management of IPMEiT. The program was developed based on practical tasks and requests of the university’s corporate partners and is aimed at training specialists capable of implementing organizational design at all stages of the company’s life cycle, forming the company’s HR brand, developing and implementing a human resource management strategy based on building individual personnel development trajectories.

    This year, together with our partners Gazprom Gazifikatsiya, Gazprom Pitanie and the Russia — Land of Opportunities platform, with grant support from Gazprom, we created six online courses that we modularly integrated into the program’s curriculum, explained Olga Kalinina, Director of the Higher School of Industrial Management.

    Based on the created online courses, IPMEiT also presented two continuing education programs on motivation, personnel selection and personnel branding, developed for specialists in the field of HR management and heads of structural divisions of the oil and gas and energy industries. The presentation of the continuing education programs was attended by a student of the master’s program “Digital Business Management”, specialist of the personnel efficiency support group of Gazprom Neft exploration and production Ekaterina Khodarkevich, and a student of the bachelor’s program “Oil and Gas Enterprise Management”, an employee of the marketing department of Gazpromneft-SM Daniil Guryev.

    Professor of the Higher School of Industrial Management Alexander Ilyinsky took part in the round table of the Energy Initiative “International Business Congress” on the topic “Promising technologies for monetizing natural gas and ensuring energy security”. Alexander Ilyinsky also held business negotiations with the General Director of Gazprom Flot Yuri Shamalov, where they discussed promising areas of cooperation in the field of educational and scientific activities.

    Aleksandr Volkov, a practicing teacher, associate professor at the Higher School of Industrial Management, and CEO of the Grand Media Service communications agency, moderated the conference “Gas Industry Companies in New Realities: How to Be Most Effective in PR and Digital Communications?” and gave a presentation on a proven tool for comprehensive promotion in the gas industry, Public Performance. Among the audience were students from the Higher School of Industrial Management studying in the educational programs “Marketing” and “Oil and Gas Enterprise Management”.

    Students of the Higher School of Engineering and Economics took part in the round table “Distributed generation as a solution to the problems of energy-deficient regions”, where the prospects for implementing innovative solutions for distributed generation were discussed: own generation of electricity and heat supply.

    Students of the Higher School of Administrative Management, led by the head of the IPMEiT Directorate, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Administrative Management Maxim Ivanov, attended the conference “New Technologies for the Oil and Gas Industry”, the panel session “Technological Leadership: New Horizons” and the round table “Current Issues of Legislative Support for the Oil and Gas Industry”. They got acquainted with samples of modern equipment and advanced technologies at the RosGazExpo exhibition, an exposition of the subjects of the Russian Federation, which presented projects demonstrating their potential in the oil and gas sector.

    Such forums captivate with their scale and friendly, but at the same time businesslike atmosphere. The stand of the Polytechnic University stood out from the rest and attracted many visitors, it was impressive. We went around the stands that were related not only to the oil and gas industry, but also to the agricultural, transport industry and to the specialization of various regions of Russia. We learned that many representatives of large companies are graduates of the Polytechnic University, and, of course, they were happy to tell us about their work, – the students of the Higher School of Economics shared their impressions.

    Students of the Higher School of Industrial Management of the educational programs “Industrial Management (Energy)” and “Management of Oil and Gas Enterprises” together with teachers Olga Konovalova and Vyacheslav Melekhin participated in the round table “Union of Science and Industry in the Transformation of the World Energy Market”, where current issues and trends in the development of the international energy market, transformation of the gas market, the role of international cooperation and joint educational programs were discussed.

    The Gas Forum is certainly a large-scale event that has become a platform for demonstrating the technological and innovative capabilities of the domestic industry. For our students, this is an invaluable experience of participating in one of the most important events in the Russian economy, says Olga Konovalova, associate professor at the Higher School of Management and Management.

    Students of IPMEiT demonstrated significant results in the Virtual Academy from Gazprom. From June 3 to July 15, as part of the preparation for the SPIGF-2024 Youth Day, an educational program and selection round of the Virtual Academy project were held. This year, more than 130 candidates from 30 countries representing 45 universities participated in it. The Virtual Academy program included lectures in English by leading experts and scientists in the field of energy and information technology. Participants completed individual tasks and submitted them for expert assessment. As a result of the competitive selection, only 30 candidates with the best results received an invitation to the Youth Day. Among them, three students of the Higher School of Industrial Management: Nikita Kuznetsov and Leonid Alkhimovich (Bachelor’s program “International Business”) and Arab Yusof Abad Mohammad (international program “Development of International Business”). Moreover, Nikita Kuznetsov’s team, where he was the captain, took first place based on the results of participation in the case.

    This year, our institute made its small contribution to the work of the Polytechnic University at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum. We prepared for individual events in advance, planned the participation of both adult colleagues-teachers and students. We paid special attention to the preparation of those students who already work in oil and gas and energy companies, undergo practical training or internships there, – noted the director of IPMEiT Vladimir Shchepinin.

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    https://vvv.spbstu.ru/media/nevs/partnership/polytechnics-at-the-Petersburg-international-gas-forum/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: We respond to your thoughts on nature

    Source: City of Plymouth

    We’re reflecting on a fabulous Summer of Nature.

    From the end of July to the beginning of September, we delivered over 50 events alongside many different communities and partner organisations and engaged with over 1,000 people.

    We ran youth projects; we played Minecraft; we planted trees; we went swimming; we met the Poole Farm animals and all the while, we asked you how you felt about nature in Plymouth.

    We had an incredible response and nearly 500 of you gave your views on the places you love and how they should be cared for in the future.

    Below, we’ve drawn out some of the key themes and provided a response to your suggestions.

    Image by Chris Parkes Photography
    You said… you wanted us to plant more trees

    Of course we will.

    Did you know that in the last three years, we have planted over 17,204 trees across 135 different sites as part of our involvement in the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest? That’s an area equivalent to 85 football pitches! And it is something that we are proud of, with our team winning a national local government award for their efforts on this.

    Each year we make sure that we plant the right tree in the right place by careful consideration of the location including talking with local people about the plans. We also know about the challenges a changing climate will bring and the need to diversify the types of trees in the city and so we consider the tree species in this.

    We plant whips – young and slender trees, often just a few feet tall at the time of planting, maidens, which are smaller, usually three to five foot tall and standards, large trees that at the time of planting is already six to ten feet tall.

    This autumn we’ll be announcing our plans for the tree planting season ahead, with plenty of chances to get involved in planting and caring for trees throughout the year.

    You said… we need to educate young people about the benefits of nature

    Many people who fed back to our survey suggested that more could be done to educate young people about the natural world and how very important it is to look after it. We absolutely agree – we’d love to do even more outreach with young people!

    But did you know that we already run several programmes across the city?

    At Poole Farm, we run regular youth clubs focussed on outdoor skills and we run Junior Ranger sessions where young people can earn digital badges for set programmes of work.

    We run the Forest Rising programme, a youth forum which allows young people to feed into the delivery of tree planting across the city.

    Our Green Communities team is delivering a programme of nature education sessions in primary schools, secondary schools, and with youth groups, too.

    Our Climate Connections team regularly provide resource for schools and appoints Young Climate Ambassadors for carbon-conscious volunteers.

    Meanwhile, this year our National Marine Park are inviting all key stage two classes across the city to take part in the Sea in our Schools programme.

    Do we want to do more? Absolutely, and we will continue to work with partners and funding bodies to explore as many education options as possible, and give young people the chance to gain employment and build careers in looking after and improving nature sites across the city.

    You said… that the water quality of the Sound and rivers needs improvement

    It’s a hard agree from us – the water quality around Plymouth is not good enough. And although the issue is not of our making, we are determined to support improvements in the Tamar Catchment, in the Sound and along the Plym.

    Earlier this year, we held and hosted a Water Quality Select committee, which was supported by partners from the Environment Agency and South West Water.

    Representatives from the National Marine Park, University of Plymouth, Tamar Catchment Partnership, Ocean Conservation Trust and a local swimming group were also in attendance to provide insight and answer questions.

    Amongst the actions for the Council were an increased drive in education (see above!) as to what communities can do to improve water quality and to lobby government to allow Plymouth to be a pilot for an area of water quality improvement.

    South West Water, meanwhile, were tasked with ensuring their existing drainage infrastructure investment plans align with the city aspirations while the Environment Agency were asked to make water quality data from a new pilot monitoring scheme available more quickly.

    The partners involved in the select committee will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise their commitments and actions to water quality for the next ten years.

    You said… you wanted us to take better care of grass in the city.

    We hear what you’re saying on grass-cutting and we know that this year, we didn’t quite get it right. The very wet weather at the start of the year meant we couldn’t start on time and then when we did start, the rain continued to fall, and we couldn’t keep on top of the growth.

    Full disclosure; 60-40, our policy of cutting most of our grass regularly, but managing the minority for nature, is here to stay. If we want to make a difference to the biodiversity crisis; if we want nature to thrive in our city, then we have to do what we know is right.

    But what we can do is manage it differently. One of things that you said to us was that there was too much grass and not enough colour. Fair challenge. Over the winter, we’re going to look to fix that by improving a whole range of sites across the city.

    We are also going to look at how the cutting schedules are managed, how we can do more regular cuts on areas we know are prone to quick growth. This year, despite the issues, we doubled the regularity of cuts on roadside verges and playgrounds. This is something we can build on.

    You said… that litter can spoil some of our best green and blue spaces

    We agree. Littering really is the pits and the only people to blame for litter are the litterers themselves. Litter annoys us too and takes resource away from other services.

    We do carry out litter picks where we can, particularly in our larger parks and there are also some amazing local volunteer groups who help out, too, and we do our best to support them to do that. But the fact is, none of these would be needed if people took responsibility for their own waste.

    Did you know that there are 1,078 litter bins across the city and that 381 of those are in our parks or green spaces?

    You said… we need more dog poo bins in our parks and nature reserves

    Whilst we think we have generally got the right balance of bins in our parks right for the level of demand we will always listen to feedback and review provision at specific locations where concerns are raised.

    Did you know that dog poo can be put in any public litter bin?

    You said… you wanted more opportunities to get involved

    Good news in this department… we’ve got more opportunities to get involved than you can shake a stick at!

    Green Communities
    Regular opportunities to get involved across Central Park, Devonport Park and Keyham.
    Find out more: Green Communities webpage

    Plymouth Sound National Marine Park
    Get involved in a full range of volunteering programmes across Plymouth’s varied waterfront.
    Find out more: National Marine Park website

    BRIC
    Sign up a voluntary Community Flood Responder role, and our Adopt a Drain scheme. We provide training and/or equipment for the voluntary activities.
    Find out more: BRIC webpage

    Community Forest
    Regular Community Tree Nursery Volunteering every Thursday at Poole Farm.
    Community tree planting days within the city across the winter.
    Forest Rising winter programme open for registration now for young people aged 16 – 28 years old.
    Find out more: Community Forest website

    Plymouth Natural Grid
    Regular volunteer opportunities across reserves and greenspaces in the city. Practical conservation work and infrastructure/ access improvement work.
    Find out more: PNG LinkedIn

    Poole Farm
    Weekly volunteering opportunities at the farm
    Find out more: Poole Farm Facebook page

    Climate Connections
    Adults can join the Climate Ambassador volunteers programme. There is also a youth version to join as well.
    Find out more: Climate Connections website

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: NAMRU San Antonio highlights Olivia Cruz during National Hispanic Heritage Month

    Source: United States Navy (Medical)

    JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (Oct. 15, 2024) – National Hispanic Heritage Month marks a time to showcase and honor the many contributions Hispanic Americans have made to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the nation.

    Possessing a diverse workforce is important to NAMRU San Antonio as it acknowledges individual strengths of each Sailor, Soldier, civilian and contractor, and the potential they bring to accomplishing the command’s mission.

    Olivia Cruz, a budget analyst lead assigned to the command’s Resource Management and Acquisitions Directorate (DRMA), is a representation of the highly professional and diverse civilian workforce within Navy Medicine.

    A 2014 graduate of Texas A&M University at San Antonio, Cruz directly supports the allocation and execution of all Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funding received by NAMRU San Antonio. This includes performing or advising on work in any of the phases or systems of budget administration of funds required for command programs. Additionally, she serves as the command’s Time and Attendance clerk.

    A San Antonio native, Cruz began her Navy civilian career in 2021 with Naval Medical Forces Development Command serving as the regional labor and budget analyst.

    “At my previous command, I was the only person on board who was born and raised in San Antonio,” said Cruz. “Most of the times, the comptroller would refer newly arriving personnel to me for places in the city to visit and eat. Eventually, I joked with telling people that I was the unofficial San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.”

    According to Cruz, who has been maintaining and executing government budgets for 15 years, there are countless opportunities to serve locally, out of state and even overseas within Navy Medicine.

    “Working for NAMRU San Antonio has provide me with insight on the numerous opportunities available for my son in science research as he begins his journey in biology,” said Cruz, whose goal is to complete her career at the federal level. “When I initially came on board with the command, I didn’t realize that I would be working directly with some of the Navy’s smartest research scientists.”

    “As analysts, we don’t see the type of research that is being conducted. Usually, all we see is the money side,” added Cruz. “Is there funding? Are the funds committed? The list goes on, but we never see the scientists at work.”

    Cruz feels that being able to observe some of the work being done at NAMRU San Antonio enables her to understand how important her role is in the command.

    “Being able to know how my job directly supports research has motivated me to be a more knowledgeable analyst which allows our scientists to efficiently research projects that will essentially save countless lives,” said Cruz. “Our DRMA team doesn’t allow setbacks and limited staff to stop us from hindering our scientists from their research mission.”

    Perseverance is one of Cruz’s strengths.

    “I have always persevered; however, working for the Navy has instilled in me the motivations to keep going even if I feel that I am not performing to my personal standards,” said Cruz. “However, I have the great opportunity of working with so many diverse personalities and professionals from whom I continue to learn from. They have shown me that there is more for me to learn and how to overcome challenges.”

    Continuing to listen, learn, and apply shared knowledge from others has enhanced Cruz’s importance of her role as an analyst with NAMRU San Antonio. In the future, she wants to share her knowledge with others to guide and help make them better in their profession.

    NAMRU San Antonio’s mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations.

    NAMRU San Antonio is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the DoD and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Command in Silver Spring, Md.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: PRESS RELEASE – LAUNCH OF NEW BOOK ON SAMOAN WOMEN AND RELIGION at NUS

    Source: Government of Western Samoa

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    Apia, Samoa – Wednesday 9th October 2024

    The National University of Samoa invites the public to a Special Seminar presentation by Dr. Maureen Sier, Director of Interfaith Scotland (https://interfaithscotland.org) on Thursday 10th October at 12pm in the CSS Seminar Room (Niule’a Building).

    Dr. Sier is a graduate of Aberdeen University where she earned First-Class Honors in Cultural History and a PHD in Theology. While undertaking her doctoral research in Samoa, she taught Sociology at the National University of Samoa’s Faculty of Arts. It was during her time in Samoa that she developed her love of community engagement and interfaith dialogue.

    Dr. Sier’s doctoral research explored women’s lives in Samoa through the complex interplay of religion, history and culture. During 4 years in Samoa (1997-2001) the research question was asked: ‘What is it about religion in Samoa that empowers women and what constrains them?” The initial answers to this question open doors to rich, engaging, challenging and enlightening lives. They also demonstrate Samoan women’s resilience the way of life.

    As part of the Seminar. Dr. Sier will also launch her published thesis, “Women and Religion in Samoa: Empowerment and Constraint”. Copies will be available for purchase directly from the Author. Dr. Sier is in Samoa to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia later this month and will facilitate two interfaith services during the event.

    END

    SOURCE – The National University of Samoa

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The regional program of the VII youth forum “Heritage” was launched in partnership with the HSE

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    © Higher School of Economics

    On October 11, the opening ceremony of the regional program of the VII Youth Forum “Heritage” was held in the White Hall of the Durasov House of the HSE campus on Pokrovka. Starting from the second forum, educational institutions from all over the country joined the capital’s universities in this educational project of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage. This year, teams from ten regions of Russia are taking part in “Heritage” – Vladimir, Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, the Republic of Crimea, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk.

    The goal of the forum is to stimulate interest in the history and traditions of their native land among young people, to instill a careful attitude towards ancient monuments and to show that this is not just a valuable fragment of history, but a part of modern life and culture. Each student team must submit a project-concept for the competition for the development and adaptation to modern realities of any architectural monument of their city or region. The most successful ideas can be used in a real restoration project.

    The opening ceremony of the forum was attended by the First Deputy Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the City of Moscow, the city’s chief archaeologist Leonid Kondrashev. Welcoming the participants of the forum, he said: “The Youth Forum “Heritage” has become the largest educational project of the department. Even compared to last year, when representatives of eight cities took part in the regional program, this year ten joined us. The number of participants is growing, the quality of the projects that students are working on is growing. On behalf of myself, the head of our department and our entire team, which is organizing this forum for the seventh time, I wish everyone success. We expect an honest, fair fight. And of course, all this is beneficial to cultural heritage.”

    The partner of the regional program of the forum, which this year was again the Higher School of Economics, was represented by Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Irina Martusevich. “We are happy to once again act as partners of this wonderful event. Our university is located in four cities of Russia. We actively participate in the development of the territories where we are present, and, in addition, we consult and provide expert assistance to dozens of different regions,” said Irina Martusevich. “In the current regional program, as in the last one, the Higher School of Economics will be represented by the St. Petersburg campus. Naturally, I wish good luck not only to our students, but also to all participants. It is pleasant to see that the competition has brought together universities representing cities from various parts of Russia, and each of these cities can boast of a glorious history, culture, heritage.”

    The forum was created as a platform for exchanging ideas, experiences and best practices among young people who care about the preservation of cultural heritage. In addition, the organizers have prepared an extensive educational and business program, within the framework of which the best Russian and international experts in the field of urban studies, architecture, restoration, as well as representatives of government bodies and the media will speak to the participants. They will hold master classes, round tables and professional consultations designed to help the competition participants improve their project and achieve victory. In the final, five finalist teams will go to Moscow. Here, the winners will be offered the most intense program in terms of cultural heritage.

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://vvv.hse.ru/nevs/edu/975605631.html

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Vincenzo Mascioli appointed new State Secretary for Migration

    Source: Switzerland – Department of Justice and Police

    The Federal CouncilBern, 16.10.2024 – At its meeting on 16 November, the Federal Council appointed Vincenzo Mascioli as the new State Secretary for Migration. Vincenzo Mascioli is currently Vice Director of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). He will take up the post on 1 January 2025, succeeding Christine Schraner Burgener, who is moving to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
    Vincenzo Mascioli, who is 54, has been working in the Federal Administration since 2005, initially as a research assistant for the Control Committee of the Federal Assembly, and between 2007 and 2010 as an advisor on Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger’s personal staff at the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). From 1 November 2011, Vincenzo Mascioli worked as the personal assistant to Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga in the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP), where he was also responsible for the migration dossier and in particular the reform of the Asylum Act, which was adopted by a clear majority at the popular vote in 2016.
    At the beginning of 2017, he was appointed Vice Director of SEM, where he took charge of the International Affairs Directorate, which includes the Returns, International Cooperation and European Cooperation Divisions. Switzerland is currently one of the leading European states in terms of cooperation with the countries of origin of asylum seekers. In addition, Switzerland’s consistent return policy is internationally recognised. Vincenzo Mascioli also served as Vice Director of SEM for several years under Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter and for one year under Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider.
    Before joining the Federal Administration, he worked for a number of years as an editor at a publishing house and as a lecturer at Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich) after graduating from the University of Zurich with a degree in education.
    Migration expert with extensive management experience at SEM
    Vincenzo Mascioli is as familiar with the international dimension of migration as he is with Swiss domestic policy. He is an expert in migration issues and, in addition to proven leadership skills, brings with him strong social skills, extensive diplomatic and political knowledge, and strong communication and negotiation skills. The Federal Council is confident that he can credibly represent SEM at home and abroad.
    As State Secretary for Migration, Vincenzo Mascioli heads an administrative unit with around 1,300 employees. He is responsible for developing strategies and implementing and further developing Switzerland’s asylum, immigration and integration policy, as well as its foreign policy on migration. His tasks include liaising with Parliament, cantonal, communal and other federal authorities, non-governmental organisations in the field of migration, international organisations and foreign counterparts.
    State Secretary Christine Schraner Burgener is to step down as head of SEM at the end of the year at her own request to take up a new role at the FDFA. She took over as state secretary on 1 January 2022. During her time in office, Switzerland has had to respond to the largest refugee movement since the Second World War as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, SEM has been confronted with a large number of new asylum applications in recent years.
    The Federal Council thanks Ms Schraner Burgener for her services.
    Address for enquiries
    GS-FDJP Communications Services, T +41 58 462 18 18, info@gs-ejpd.admin.ch
    Publisher
    The Federal Councilhttps://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.htmlFederal Department of Justice and Policehttp://www.ejpd.admin.chState Secretariat for Migrationhttps://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home.html

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Pobol y Cwm: BBC’s longest running TV soap celebrates 50 years on air

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jamie Medhurst, Professor of Film and Media, Aberystwyth University

    “We had a special kind of audience in mind: the Welsh who have never read Barn or Y Faner (two popular Welsh-language publications written in a scholarly tone) but live their lives every day in the natural sound of the Welsh language.” That’s how dramatist Gwenlyn Parry described the target audience of the new BBC Wales soap opera, Pobol y Cwm, which was broadcast for the first time 50 years ago ago, on October 16 1974.

    Pobol y Cwm – which means “people of the valley” – is set in the fictional village of Cwmderi, in the Gwendraeth valley, south-west Wales. It was originally filmed at Broadway Studios in Cardiff, then on a purpose-built lot at BBC Broadcasting House, also in the Welsh capital. But since 2011, the programme has been mainly filmed at the BBC’s drama studios at Roath Lock in Cardiff Bay.

    BBC Wales’ television service had been in existence for ten years by the time the series was broadcast. Television producer John Hefin felt there was a need for a long drama series in Welsh, which would meet the needs of audiences in the same way as Coronation Street had been doing on ITV since 1960.

    Hefin and Parry’s vision was evident. In planning meetings for the series, it was noted that “the main aim of the series is pure entertainment and from a mathematical analysis it will require 70% easy, humorous lightness, and 30% personal and social problems”.

    Other guidelines for the series were clear from the start – no preaching about the state of the Welsh language, the evils of drugs, the dangers of sex, or theological dogma. The main aim was to “develop a story line full of seemingly insignificant events but conveying a believable whole of Welsh village life”.

    The Welsh language soap first began on BBC One Wales in October 1974 before moving to S4C in 1982, where it continues to this day.

    Soap history

    Soap operas can be traced back to the early days of US radio, when drama series were sponsored by washing powder manufacturers, hence the word “soap”. The BBC launched drama series, or soap operas, on the radio after the end of the second world war. Examples include Mrs Dale’s Diary in 1948 and, of course, The Archers in 1951.

    But audiences had to wait until 1954 until the first soap opera was launched on the BBC’s television service, The Grove Family. But the life of this series was short-lived, ending in 1957.

    In December 1960, ITV Granada launched Coronation Street, a series about everyday street life in the Manchester area. It soon became extremely popular among viewers across Britain. The appeal of the series was in its simplicity. It focused on the normal lives of working class people. The plot was derived from the setting and personalities, especially the strong female characters.

    Tony Warren was the man who sold the idea of Coronation Street to the Granada company. He realised, at the end of the 1950s, that the way of life in that part of England was changing. Warren wanted to capture and preserve traditional spirit and show it to the rest of the country.

    I wonder, then, when proposing an idea for a soap opera to the BBC at the beginning of the 1970s, whether Hefin and Parry had the same feeling. The Wales of the time was changing, after all. The 1971 census showed that the Welsh language was under siege.

    It was felt by many within the BBC that a series reflecting old Welsh values was needed. And yet it also needed to be contemporary, with an element of realism. This is the trick for successful soap opera producers – the series must be “real” enough so that people can believe in the characters, and can identify with them in times of joy and sadness.

    Pobol y Cwm was a success from the outset, and that continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s. When musician John Lennon died in December 1980, a film about the Beatles was broadcast on BBC Wales as a tribute instead of Pobol y Cwm. It resulted in hundreds of loyal soap opera viewers flooding the switchboard of Broadcasting House in Cardiff with complaints.

    The BBC also received complaints that there were too many scenes taking place in the pub because this was not a “Welsh” thing to do. And yet, according to Parry, there were no complaints when a scene was shown with one of the main characters, Reg Harries, having an affair with the schoolmaster’s wife in the early 1980s.

    Famous faces

    Pobol y Cwm has nurtured the talent of several actors who have become more widely known. Among them Ioan Gruffudd, Iwan Rheon and Alexandra Roach. And several other celebrities have made cameo appearances in the series over the years, including actor Michael Sheen, presenter Michael Aspel and wrestler Giant Haystacks.

    In an article in the Welsh newspaper Y Cymro in 1975, Parry said: “The aim was to produce stuff that a natural Welsh person would watch, not because it was in Welsh, but because it was entertaining. The kind of stuff that will be needed to draw viewers to the fourth channel when it comes.”

    Still produced by BBC Wales, the series moved to Wales’ new fourth channel, S4C, in 1982 and the viewers followed. It remains among the channel’s most popular programmes.


    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.

    Jamie Medhurst has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, and the Leverhulme Trust.

    – ref. Pobol y Cwm: BBC’s longest running TV soap celebrates 50 years on air – https://theconversation.com/pobol-y-cwm-bbcs-longest-running-tv-soap-celebrates-50-years-on-air-241390

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Vive L’impressionnisme! at the Van Gogh Museum: a compelling, eco-conscious celebration of impressionism

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Frances Fowle, Personal Chair of Nineteenth-Century Art, History of Art, University of Edinburgh

    Despite its corny title, Vive L’Impressionnisme!, which recently opened at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is well worth seeing. Marking the 150th anniversary of the first impressionist exhibition, the show tells the story of how one of the movement’s founders, Claude Monet, and his contemporaries were supported by a few enlightened Dutch collectors and their pictures absorbed into Dutch institutions.

    It brings together numerous works that are rarely, if ever, seen together, assembled from ten museums and seven private collections across the Netherlands. The result is a fascinating reflection of Dutch taste over the past century and a half.

    Vive L’Impressionnisme! is cleverly curated. The exhibition is arranged thematically, with landscapes on the first floor and modern life paintings on the upper level. The potential monotony of a continuous hang on a long wall is avoided by the introduction of sculpture, as well as aesthetic “ensembles” of paintings or works on paper.

    Upstairs, the normally cavernous exhibition space is divided into discrete rooms, in order to allow the visitor a more intimate viewing experience. Among the most remarkable aspects of the show is the decision to display paintings, sculpture and works on paper side-by-side. It’s a democratisation of art that mimics the way the impressionists themselves exhibited their work.

    On one wall you can see four states of Camille Pissarro’s etching The Old Cottage (1879), three of which were exhibited at the fifth impressionist exhibition in 1880. In each successive state, Pissarro observes the way in which the cottage and surrounding landscape are affected by the changing light and atmosphere, anticipating Monet’s later series paintings. In both oil painting and printmaking, these artists privileged experimental techniques and the analysis of light and colour over academic finish.

    In the second half of the 19th century, Dutch collectors and critics were more attuned to the overcast skies and earthy tones of the local Hague School painters than to the broken brushwork and high-keyed palette of impressionism. The new art was dismissed by critics as the “ravings of madmen, drunks and children”.

    Encouraged by his brother Vincent, Theo van Gogh’s efforts to sell impressionist art via the Goupil Gallery in the Hague were sadly thwarted. However, he did influence his wealthy brother-in-law, Andries Bonger, who became the first Dutch collector to develop a taste for the work of Paul Cézanne. Dutch lawyer Cornelis Hoogendijk also acquired around 25 Cézanne works before 1900, while another pioneer collector, Helene Kröller-Müller, specialised in the work of Van Gogh as well as the impressionists.



    Read more:
    Van Gogh Museum at 50: Vincent van Gogh and the art market – a brief history

    As the exhibition unfolds, visitors learn that, while Monet’s landscapes were greatly admired by the Dutch, the figurative work of Edgar Degas was less appreciated.

    Monet, a pupil of the Dutch artist Johan Jongkind, travelled more than once to the Netherlands. In 1871, he painted the Windmills Near Zaandam on an overcast day, and was delighted to make a sale. His Portrait of Miss Guurtje van de Stadt was acquired by a wealthy timber merchant and became the first impressionist work to enter a Dutch private collection. Returning for a last visit in 1886, Monet painted the more strident Tulip Fields Near the Hague, this time clearly with an eye for the market.

    Early acquisitions

    The first impressionist work to enter a public collection in the Netherlands was, perhaps unsurprisingly, another work by Monet. La Corniche Near Monaco (1884) was donated to the Rijksmuseum in 1900 by Baroness Van Lynden-Van Pallandt.

    Painted at Cap Martin on the French Riviera, it is remarkable for the bold orange scar of road that bisects the canvas, leading the eye towards the brooding blue-and-violet cliffs in the distance. This warm Mediterranean scene is flanked by two Monet canvases evoking the cooler atmosphere of the Normandy coast: Cliffs Near Pourville (1882) and Fisherman’s Cottage, Varengeville (1882).

    While Monet’s paintings are well-represented in the exhibition, along with oils by Pissarro, Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Gustave Caillebotte and others, some artists are represented only by works on paper. Astonishingly not a single oil painting by Degas has found itself into a Dutch collection, either private or public. Édouard Manet, too, is virtually absent from the exhibition.

    Female artists were predictably underappreciated, or perhaps unavailable on the market. In recent years, the Van Gogh Museum and other Dutch institutions have tried to rectify that imbalance, though the market price for impressionism continues to rise, making new aquisitions a challenge.

    The exhibition includes recent purchases of works by pioneering female impressionist painters Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt. And there are also several gems from private collections, such as an exquisite Little Bowl with Parsley by Eva Gonzalès and decorative plates by Marie Bracquemond.

    The exhibition is aesthetically beautiful and intellectually compelling. It also delivers a sound environmental message, demonstrating that it is possible to create world-class exhibitions without flying works of art across the globe.

    Those pictures that were once in Dutch hands but later left the country are reproduced virtually, and lamented in the final section of the exhibition, titled Boulevard of Broken Promises. It provides a fascinating and thought-provoking coda to the show.

    Vive L’impressionnisme! Masterpieces from Dutch Collections will be on show at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam until January 26 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.

    Frances Fowle 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. Vive L’impressionnisme! at the Van Gogh Museum: a compelling, eco-conscious celebration of impressionism – https://theconversation.com/vive-limpressionnisme-at-the-van-gogh-museum-a-compelling-eco-conscious-celebration-of-impressionism-241395

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Agricultural Research Service Develops Long-Term Roadmap for PFAS in U.S. Agriculture

    Source: US Agriculture Research Service

    Agricultural Research Service Develops Long-Term Roadmap for PFAS in U.S. Agriculture

    Multi-Agency Workshop Forms Solutions to Chemical’s Most Complex Challenges

    Contact: Autumn Canaday
    Email: Autumn Canaday

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2024 —The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) today announced several key outcomes from a workshop to develop a research roadmap that would lead to short and long-term science-based solutions to meet the emerging challenges posed by the discovery of Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural soils and waters. PFAS have become increasingly found in the environment, posing significant challenges for producers, and farming communities, highlighting the need for agricultural researchers to develop innovative and practical solutions.

    ARS, its Center of Excellence for Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation, and the University Maine, collaborated recently during a three-day workshop to bring together more than 150 interagency researchers, state partners, university partners and other subject matter experts to engage in discussion and identify key research and innovative solutions that address the top challenges PFAS poses to agriculture, agroecosystems, food systems, and farming communities.

    Many within the agricultural community are facing new challenges when PFAS chemicals are detected within their farms, resulting in this being a new challenge to farmers’ continued capacity to sustain healthy soil and water on their farms, as well as continued capacity to provide safe and dependable food and fiber supplies to our nation and the world. The suggested long-term roadmap solutions for improving these circumstances include finding new means of detecting when PFAS contamination is a problem, better understanding of how it moves through the agricultural system, and innovating new ways to interrupt that movement or remove the chemicals before they can do harm.

    Other topics of discussion at the workshop included a strategy for data standardization and integration, how to develop scientific solutions to management of municipal biosolids, and ways of effectively removing existing PFAS chemicals from the production environment.

    “The meeting’s focus on the gap between PFAS challenges and solutions has empowered and offered hope to ARS, its partners and sister agencies – to address and resolve agriculture-centric problems arising from the use of PFAS in our communities and everyday consumer products,” said ARS Senior Management Advisor, Dr. David Knaebel. “The workshop’s overarching impact will assist the U.S. agricultural research community and stakeholders to find creative and innovative ways to mitigate and remediate a rapidly growing PFAS challenge in U.S. agriculture and food systems.”

    PFAS is a class of man-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries around the globe, including in the United States, since the 1940s. The chemical has been placed in the category of “forever chemicals’ because they bioaccumulate in animals and plants and do not breakdown naturally in the animals or plants or in the environment. These chemicals in agricultural landscapes can cause food producers numerous challenges that require innovative scientific solutions from agriculture research, research and developments, and strategic partnerships.

    “Currently, our data shows that PFAS is an environmental hazard that does not come from agriculture,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Marlen Eve. “But, producers need efficient, cost-effective ways to deal with the challenges when it is detected in our agricultural soils and waters.”

    Federal and stakeholder workshop attendees plan to move forward with next steps by crafting documents that will communicate solutions to the ag research community – especially in locations where PFAS has critical impacts on agriculture – and to engage in partnerships to realize those research solutions into impactful tools and practices for producers and the agricultural community.

    “The University of Maine is pleased to expand our partnership with USDA ARS to find solutions to this national environmental crisis. With our collective expertise — supported by the ingenuity and resolve of our researchers and students — we can accelerate breakthroughs in basic and applied science that will result in new tools and strategies for protecting food systems in Maine and beyond.” said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation for the University of Maine System and President of the University of Maine.  “Together, we will also expand each other’s research capacities, grant funding efforts and infrastructure, all of which will be essential for mitigating the spread of PFAS and other toxic compounds like it. Thank you to U.S. Senator Susan Collins for securing funding for the Center and for her ongoing support of research informing practical solutions for rural farmers and communities.”

    ARS will continue to expand its PFAS research to address its impact on U.S. agriculture. Future research will ensure that the nation maintains a safe and abundant high quality food supply that is undergirded by sustainable natural resources.

    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: NANO Nuclear Energy Appoints Former Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Energy, John G. Vonglis as Chairman of its Executive Advisory Board for Strategic Initiatives

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York, N.Y., Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing portable, clean energy solutions, is proud to announce today that it has appointed The Honorable John G. Vonglis, former Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Acting Director of DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, as the Chairman of NANO Nuclear’s Executive Advisory Board for Strategic Initiatives.

    Mr. Vonglis joins a growing, world-class, bipartisan Executive Advisory Board comprised of high ranking and distinguished military, political and scientific leaders which is assisting NANO Nuclear by leveraging their professional networks and relationships to connect the Company with key industry stakeholders, potential partners, clients and other valuable contacts.

    “It is a pleasure to join NANO Nuclear’s advisory team and leverage my expertise in navigating a myriad of DOE and private energy-related projects to advance the development of the Company’s microreactor and other nuclear technology solutions,” said John G. Vonglis, Chairman of the Executive Advisory Board for Strategic Initiatives of NANO Nuclear Energy. “During my time with the Department of Energy, I was exposed to numerous high-impact inventions, and I believe that technologies such as NANO Nuclear’s ‘ZEUS’ and ‘ODIN’ microreactors represent the innovative spirit of the United States at an important moment for nuclear energy.”

    Mr. Vonglis served as the Senate-confirmed Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer of the DOE from 2017 to 2019. As Chief Financia Officer, Mr. Vonglis oversaw all financial matters for the DOE. He was also appointed by the President as Acting Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a federal agency focused on advancing early-stage, high-potential, high-impact energy technologies while minimizing risk to taxpayers.

    Prior to his tenure at the DOE, Mr. Vonglis held several key roles at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2002 to 2009, initially as Director of Management Initiatives for the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness (P&R) and lastly as Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, where he also served as the first Chief Management Officer, performing the duties of the Under Secretary.

    Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. Appoints Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Department of Energy (DOE) John G. Vonglis as its Chairman of its Executive Advisory Board for Strategic Initiatives.

    Mr. Vonglis’ private sector experience includes senior financial and operational roles at prominent advisory, aerospace/defense, financial services, and high-technology firms. Mr. Vonglis is a retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel with 34 years’ experience in Army and Joint special operations, where he also advised ‘SOFWERX’ and the Army Cyber Institute at West Point. He holds a B.S. and M.B.A. from Fordham University and a Master’s in International Public Policy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

    “Attracting an exemplary leader like John to serve on our Executive Advisory Board, with his years of experience on the inside of complex government processes and working on cutting edge innovations, is a validation of our vision and mission for NANO Nuclear,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy. “John’s addition brings credibility, valuable insight and a multitude of important contacts to NANO Nuclear and allows us to better position our company to fully capitalize on the significant momentum within the nuclear energy industry. We are honored to welcome him to the team.”

    “We are confident that John’s contribution as an Executive Advisory Board member for NANO Nuclear will be invaluable as we continue to progress our microreactor and other technology solutions through design, testing, regulatory processes and ultimately to market,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Reactor Development of NANO Nuclear Energy. “Recent natural disaster events, such as the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, highlight the critical need for reliable and portable energy solutions. Our portable nuclear microreactors, ‘ZEUS’ and ‘ODIN,’ are designed to provide power for rescue operations and shelters in the aftermath of such natural disasters. We are committed to advancing these technologies to market and delivering cutting-edge solutions to those who need them most.”

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

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

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s products in technical development are “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

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

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

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

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

    For further information, please contact:

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

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    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

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

    Attachment

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