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Category: Universities

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: New Permanent Representative of Kenya Presents Credentials to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    Fancy Chepkemoi Too, the new Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented her credentials to Tatiana Valovaya, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    Prior to her appointment in Geneva, she served as the Chairperson of Kenya’s National Environmental Complaints Committee.  She has experience holding senior positions within the Kenyan Government, including Director of the Kenya Revenue Authority, and was awarded the distinguished Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear for her service in 2023.

    A seasoned lawyer, Ms. Too is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.  She has also served in several senior academic positions, including Director of Postgraduate Law Programmes at Strathmore University, Kenya, and Dean at the School of Law, Kabarak University, Kenya.

    Ms. Too obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Laws and a Master of Laws from Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Laws from Moi University, Kenya.

     

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

     

     

    CR24.037E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Limestone and iron reveal puzzling extreme rain in Western Australia 100,000 years ago

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Barham, Associate Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University

    Limestone pinnacles of the Nambung National Park karst. Matej Lipar

    Almost one-sixth of Earth’s land surface is covered in otherworldly landscapes with a name that may also be unfamiliar: karst. These landscapes are like natural sculpture parks, with dramatic terrain dotted with caves and towers of bedrock slowly sculpted by water over thousands of years.

    Karst landscapes are beautiful and ecologically important. They also represent a record of Earth’s past temperature and moisture levels.

    However, it can be quite challenging to figure out exactly when karst landscapes formed. In our new work published today in Science Advances, we show a new way to find the age of these enigmatic landscapes, which will help us understand our planet’s past in more detail.

    Flowstones, stalactites and caverns within Jenolan Caves, NSW, Australia.
    Matej Lipar

    The challenge

    Karst is defined by the removal of material. The rock towers and caves we see today are what is left after water dissolved the rest during wet periods of the past.

    This is what makes their age hard to determine. How do you date the disappearance of something?

    Traditionally, scientists have loosely bracketed the age of a karst surface by dating the material above and beneath. However, this approach blurs our understanding of ancient climate events and how ecosystems responded.

    Geological clocks

    In our study, we found a way to measure the age of pebble-sized iron nodules that formed at the same time as a karst landscape.

    This method has the technical name of (U/Th)-He geochronology. In it, we measure how much helium is produced by the natural radioactive decay of tiny amounts of the elements uranium and thorium in the iron nodules. By comparing the amounts of uranium, thorium and helium in a sample, we can very accurately calculate the age of the nodules.

    How iron nodules can reveal their age.
    Milo Barham

    We dated microscopic fragments of iron-rich nodules from the iconic Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, Western Australia.

    This world-famous site is renowned for its otherworldly karst landscape of acres of limestone pillars towering metres above a sandy desert plain. The Pinnacles form part of the most extensive belt of wind-blown carbonate rock in the world, stretching more than 1,000km along coastal southwestern WA.

    The Western Australia ThermoChronology Hub (WATCH) ultra-high vacuum gas extraction line for measurements of radiogenic helium.
    Martin Danišik

    We examined multiple microscopic shards of iron nodules that were removed from the surface of limestone pinnacles. These nodules formed in the soil that lay on top of the limestone during the period of intense weathering that created the karst. As a result, they serve as time capsules of the environmental conditions that shaped the area.

    A scanning electron microscope image of iron-rich cement (lighter grey in centre) binding darker grey, rounded quartz sand grains within an analysed nodule.
    Aleš Šoster

    The big wet

    We consistently found an age of around 100,000 years for the growth of the iron nodules. This date is supported by known ages from the rocks above and beneath the karst surface, proving the reliability of our new approach.

    At the same time as chemical reactions caused growth of the iron-rich nodules within the ancient soil, limestone bedrock was rapidly and extensively dissolved to leave only remnant limestone pinnacles seen today.

    From examining the entire rock sequence in the area, we think this period of intensive weathering was the wettest time in this part of WA over at least the past half a million years.

    We don’t know what drove this increased rainfall. It may have been changes to atmospheric circulation patterns, or the greater influence of the ancient Leeuwin Current that runs along the shore.

    Such a humid interval is in dramatic contrast to the recent droughts and increasingly dry climate of the region today.

    Implications for our past

    Iron-rich nodules are not unique to the Nambung Pinnacles. They have recently been used to track dramatic past environmental change elsewhere in Australia.

    Dating these iron nodules will help to better document the dramatic fluctuations in Earth’s climate over the past three million years as ice sheets have grown and shrunk.

    Understanding the timing and environmental context of karst formation throughout this time offers profound insights into past climate conditions, environments and the landscapes in which ancient creatures lived.

    Dark iron-rich nodules attached to the side of the base of a limestone pinnacle in the Nambung National Park.
    Matej Lipar

    Climate changes and resulting environmental shifts have been crucial in shaping ecosystems. In particular, they have had a profound influence on our ancient hominin and human ancestors.

    By linking karst formation to specific climatic intervals, we can better understand how these environmental changes may have affected early human populations.

    Looking forward

    The more we know about the conditions that led to the formation of past landscapes and the flora and fauna that inhabited them, the better we can appreciate the evolutionary pressures that shaped the ecosystems we see today. This in turn offers valuable information for preparing for future changes.

    As human-driven climate change accelerates, learning about past climate variability and biosphere responses equips us with knowledge to anticipate and mitigate future impacts.

    The ability to date karst features with greater precision may seem like a small thing – but it will help us understand how today’s landscapes and ecosystems might respond to ongoing and future climate changes.

    Milo Barham has previously received research funding from the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia.

    Andrej Šmuc, John Allan Webb, Kenneth McNamara, Martin Danisik, and Matej Lipar 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. Limestone and iron reveal puzzling extreme rain in Western Australia 100,000 years ago – https://theconversation.com/limestone-and-iron-reveal-puzzling-extreme-rain-in-western-australia-100-000-years-ago-238801

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: More consumption, more demand for resources, more waste: why urban mining’s time has come

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie, Lecturer in Sustainability| Business and Accounting Discipline, Charles Darwin University

    Lynda Disher/Shutterstock

    Pollution and waste, climate change and biodiversity loss are creating a triple planetary crisis. In response, UN Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen has called for waste to be redefined as a valuable resource instead of a problem. That’s what urban mining does.

    We commonly think of mining as drilling or digging into the earth to extract precious resources. Urban mining recovers these materials from waste. It can come from buildings, infrastructure and obsolete products.

    An urban mine, then, is the stock of precious metals or materials in the waste cities produce. In particular, electronic waste, or e‑waste, has higher concentrations of precious metals than many mined ores. Yet the UN Global E‑waste Monitor estimates US$62 billion worth of recoverable resources was discarded as e‑waste in 2022.

    Urban mining can recover these “hidden” resources in cities around the world. It offers sustainable solutions to the problems of resource scarcity and waste management. And it happens in the very cities that are centres of overconsumption and hotspots for the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.

    What sort of waste can be mined?

    Materials such as concrete, pipes, bricks, roofing materials, reinforcements and e‑waste can be recovered for reuse. Urban waste can be “mined” for metals such as gold, steel, copper, zinc, aluminium, cobalt and lithium, as well as glass and plastic. Mechanical or chemical treatments are used to retrieve these metals and materials.

    Simply disposing of this waste has high financial and environmental costs. In Australia, about 10% of waste is hazardous. Landfill costs are soaring as cities run out of space to discard their waste.

    The extent of this fast-growing problem is driving the growth of urban mining around the world. We are then salvaging materials whose supply is finite, while reducing the impacts of waste disposal.

    Many plastics can be recycled and turned into new products.
    MAD.vertise/Shutterstock

    What’s happening globally?

    In Europe, the focus is largely on construction and demolition waste. Europe produces 450 million to 500 million tonnes of this waste each year – more than a third of all the region’s waste. Through its urban mining strategy, the European Commission aims to increase the recovery of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste to at least 70% across member countries by 2030.

    In Asia, urban mining has focused on e‑waste. However, the region recovers only about 12% of its e‑waste stock. Rates of e‑waste recycling vary greatly: 20% for East Asia, 1% for South Asia, and virtually zero for South-East Asia. China, Japan and South Korea are leading the way in Asia.

    Australia is on the right track. Our recovery rate for construction and demolition materials climbed to 80% by 2022 — the highest among all types of waste streams. However, we recover only about a third of the value of materials in our e-waste.

    Africa has also recognised the growing value of urban mining resources. Regional initiatives include the Nairobi Declaration on e‑waste, the Durban Declaration on e‑Waste Management in Africa and the Abuja Platform on e‑Waste.

    Urban mining solves many problems

    The OECD forecasts that global materials demand will almost double from 89 billion tonnes in 2019 to 167 billion tonnes in 2060. The United Nations’ Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 shows the amount of waste and costs of managing it are soaring too. It’s estimated the world will have 82 million tonnes of e‑waste to deal with by 2030.

    These trends mean urban mining is becoming ever more relevant and important.

    Urban mining also helps cut greenhouse gas emissions. Unlocking resources near where they are needed reduces transport costs and emissions. Urban mining also provides resource independence and creates employment.

    In addition, increasing recovery and recycling rates reduce the pressure on finite natural resources.

    Urban mining underpins circular economy alternatives such as the “deposit and return” schemes that give people financial incentives to return e‑waste and containers for recycling in cities such as Singapore, Sydney, Darwin and San Francisco. By 2030, San Francisco aims to halve disposal to landfill or incineration and cut solid waste generation by 15%.

    What more needs to be done?

    Governments have a role to play by adopting and enforcing policies, laws and regulations that encourage recycling through urban mining instead of sending waste to landfill. European Union laws, for example, mandate increased recycling targets for municipal waste overall and for packaging waste, including 80% for ferrous metals and 60% for aluminium.

    In Australia, 2019 legislation prohibits landfills from accepting anything with a plug, battery or cord. Anything with a plug is designated as e-waste.

    Product design is an important consideration. A designer must balance a product’s efficiency with making it easy to recycle. Products with greater efficiency and easy-to-recycle parts are more likely to use less energy, lead to less waste and hence less natural resource extraction.

    Our urban mining research documents a more sustainable approach to product design. Increasing product stewardship initiatives are expected to encourage better product design and standards that promote reuse and recycling, producer responsibility and changes in consumer behaviour.

    Good information about the available resources is essential too. The Urban Mine Platform, ProSUM and Waste and Resource Recovery Data Hub collect data on e‑waste, end-of-life vehicles, batteries and building and mining waste. These centralised databases allow easy access to data on the sources, stocks, flows and treatment of waste.

    Traditional mining is not the only method for extracting raw materials for the green transition. Waste is set to be increasingly recycled, reducing demand for virgin materials. A truly circular economy can become a reality if governments develop and apply an urban mining agenda.

    Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie receives funding from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR).

    Matthew Abunyewah receives funding from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) and Northern Western Australia and Northern Territory Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (Northern Hubb)

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah receives funding from Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. He is a member of Planning Institute of Australia.

    – ref. More consumption, more demand for resources, more waste: why urban mining’s time has come – https://theconversation.com/more-consumption-more-demand-for-resources-more-waste-why-urban-minings-time-has-come-232484

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: The Marshall Star for October 2, 2024

    Source: NASA

    By Serena Whitfield
    “Safety Woven Throughout the Fabric of Marshall” was the theme for Safety Day at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Sept. 26.
    Kickoff activities were held in Building 4316 and other sites around the center.
    “It is crucial to ensure that each of us weaves safety into everything we do, not only at work, but in our daily lives,” Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey said.

    NASA started the Safety Day tradition following the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003. Centers across the agency dedicate a day each year for team members to pause and reflect on keeping the work environment safe. 
    This year’s Safety Day began with a breakfast for employees, which was sponsored by Jacobs and Bastion Technologies. After breakfast, Bill Hill, director of the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate at Marshall, welcomed center team members before introducing Pelfrey.
    “Over the past year, Marshall’s leadership and workforce have highlighted that transparency is an essential cultural attribute of our workforce and center,” Pelfrey said. “It is also important to our core value of safety. Transparency fosters an environment where employees feel comfortable in reporting potential risks or safety concerns without fear of retribution. This openness ensures that issues are addressed early. It builds trust and accountability within our workforce, center, NASA, and external stakeholders.”

    Guest speaker Marceleus Venable, a purpose coach, trainer, and author, followed Pelfrey’s remarks, telling team members to be safe by taking care of their physical and mental health. He encouraged them to take the time to pat themselves on the back for all their hard work and to appreciate their fellow workers at Marshall.
    NASA astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei was the keynote speaker, encouraging employees to be team players in NASA’s safety mission.
    “We need a lot of talented team players to meet the challenges that we have for future space flights,” said Vande Hei, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009 and most recently served as a flight engineer on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 65 and 66. “Always try to do your best, but make sure that other people around you are doing their best as well and help them do that rather than you standing out as always being the best.”

    Micah Embry, the Safety Day 2024 chairperson, presented Vande Hei with a certificate for his participation. 
    Also during the event, Hill awarded the Golden Eagle Award to Peter Wreschinsky, a Jacobs Space Exploration Group employee. The award is part of the Mission Success is in Our Hands safety initiative, a collaboration between Marshall and Jacobs.
    More than 400 civil servants and contractors participated in Safety Day, with organizational and vender booths providing information to employees across a variety of safety topics, including Emergency Management Services, fire protection, storm shelters, and more.
    “As Marshall continues to be a leader at NASA and across the aerospace industry, … we must always be looking forward to improve our procedures and anticipate potential hazards,” Pelfrey said. “Safety is directly tied to our mission success. Without safety, we cannot achieve the goals we set for ourselves in space exploration, research, and innovation.”
    Whitfield is an intern supporting the Marshall Office of Communications.
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    The featured business unit for the month of September at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was Lander Systems. Marshall leads the development of the systems needed to safely land humans on the Moon and, eventually Mars. This includes the Human Landing System Program (HLS), which manages the development of commercial lunar landing systems that will transport astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.
    For Artemis III and Artemis IV, NASA has selected SpaceX’s Starship HLS, while Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander will be used for Artemis V. Having two distinct lunar lander designs, with different approaches to how they meet NASA’s mission needs, provides more robustness while ensuring a regular cadence of Moon landings.
    NASA works closely with its industry partners to mature the landers, exercising insight and offering collaboration to ensure astronaut safety and mission success. Through Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface while advancing key science and discovery for the benefit of all.
    Learn more about HLS and meet some of the NASA Marshall teammates below who are working on the lunar landers:

    Amy Buck has been working with Artemis systems since she first came to Marshall 10 years ago. Previously part of the cryogenic insulation team for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, Buck is now the materials discipline lead for HLS. In her role, she has the chance to work on nearly every piece of hardware for the two landers as she and her team work with each of the HLS providers to ensure compliance with NASA’s requirements.
    “The NASA HLS materials team is vital in supporting the design, testing, and manufacturing of the landers,” Buck said. “Landing on the Moon is central to the larger Artemis mission, and I’m super excited to be part of the Artemis Generation.”
    Buck is most excited to see the first woman land on the Moon under Artemis and says she hopes it will inspire young girls – the next generation of engineers and scientists – to go into science and engineering.

    Mission success is all in the details for Sean Underwood, the thermal discipline lead for HLS. The Georgia native works with a team responsible for ensuring that the lunar landers can operate in the Moon’s harsh environment.
    “There are unique thermal challenges associated with the Artemis III, IV, and V missions,” Underwood said. “Our primary objective is to manage thermal energy and heating rates, ensuring that HLS components and systems remain within thermal limits across all mission environments.”
    Underwood joined Marshall in 2020 and sees his role with Artemis as one that will shape the future of space exploration – and Marshall. “Marshall Space Flight Center has been at the forefront of monumental space projects since its inception,” he said. “Through Artemis, we are ensuring that the legacy of past missions continues to inspire and drive us forward.”
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    By Rick Smith
    As any home or business owner in the Southern United States knows, maintaining energy costs while trying to keep cool in the sweltering summer months is no simple challenge.
    But one “cool” new infrastructure upgrade at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will reduce the center’s utility costs by approximately $250,000 a year, shrinking Marshall’s environmental footprint and streamlining long-term infrastructure maintenance costs.

    It’s called a thermal energy storage tank – 60 feet high, 60 feet in diameter, each unit capable of holding approximately 1.125 million gallons of chilled water – and it represents another milestone for facilities engineers in Marshall’s Office of Center Operations, whose tactics have already reduced center-wide energy expenditure by a dizzying 58.3% since fiscal year 2003.
    Thermal energy storage is not a new process; it’s been used for decades to maximize efficiency in temperature control, particularly among industrial facilities and large public venues from hospitals to indoor stadiums. At Marshall, the chilled water serves a critical purpose center-wide, circulating from a central plant via a network of underground pipes to help keep laboratories and other buildings temperate throughout the summer heat.
    “The average team member might not realize it’s chilled water, not just air, that keeps our labs, offices, and test facilities cool,” said Marshall facilities engineer Angela Bell, who helped oversee the installation of the second tank. “Our tanks operate at night, when utility prices drop and there is less overall demand on the regional energy grid, then send the chillwater out during the day.”
    Marshall’s first tank was built and put into operation in 2008-2009. The second officially goes into service in October, joining its counterpart in creating chilled water overnight. Together, the tanks – situated adjacent to Building 4473 on the corner of Morris and Titan roads – provide an annual energy savings of roughly half a million dollars.
    Marshall facilities engineer Connor McLean, who succeeded Bell as project manager for the new tank, noted that each thermal energy storage tank handles approximately 106,000 kilo-BTUs worth of cooling activity per day – or roughly 1,750 times as much cooling capacity as a central air system in a traditional family home.
    Even with that considerable output, Marshall’s original tank had been hard-pressed to keep up with demand across the entire center over the past decade and a half, as climate change steadily pushed temperatures to sustained extremes.
    “This is a huge stride in critical system redundancy,” McLean said. “Having the second tank enables us to run both concurrently or give one of them some necessary downtime without loss of center-wide functionality. That added capability makes Marshall more resilient and bolsters our confidence in our ability to handle unforeseen challenges.”
    The electricity that powers the storage tanks is a mix – hydroelectric, fossil fuels, nuclear, and an increasing amount of renewable energy sources – provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority via the U.S. Army, from whom NASA leases property on Redstone Arsenal. 
    “The tanks will be tremendous cost-savers for the next 40-50 years,” Bell said. “They allow us to use energy much more efficiently, based on past energy consumption levels – and that allows Marshall to do other things with those dollars.”
    Over the past 20 years, Marshall has reinvested energy savings and facilities cost underruns back into center operations, often to fund new, cost-saving overhauls: upgrading facility HVAC systems or replacing obsolete lighting with more efficient LEDs.
    “If we didn’t reduce consumption, our projected utility costs would be around $30 million per year,” said Rhonda Truitt, Marshall’s energy and water manager. “Thanks to efficient strategizing, encouraged and championed by Marshall and NASA leadership, we typically operate in the range of just $16-18 million per year.”
    Such strategies have enabled Marshall to effectively keep its infrastructure budget flat since the early 2010s – reducing overall energy consumption and replacing outdated facilities with more cost-conscious, environmentally friendly modern buildings, a program known among facilities engineers as “repair by replacement.”
    The U.S. Army at Redstone doesn’t employ a central chiller plant of its own, but the Marshall facilities team works “very closely” with their counterparts on the military side.
    “We have a great working relationship,” Truitt said. “The real advantage of our system is that by reducing our peak energy demand, it reduces it for all of Redstone – which benefits the rest of the Arsenal and the lower Tennessee Valley.”
    The new tank goes into operation just in time for the start of National Energy Awareness Month in October – and Truitt and her team encourage the Marshall workforce to continue to practice sensible energy conservation tactics even as sweat-inducing temperatures subside.
    “Turn off lights and computer monitors wherever possible, don’t leave doors or windows propped open, and be mindful of all the small things that can add up over time,” Truitt said. “Our goal is always to help team members do their jobs in the most efficient way possible, to accomplish Marshall’s objectives and conserve our energy budget without impeding the mission.”
    Thanks to the center’s new thermal energy storage tank, that should be no sweat.
    Smith, an Aeyon employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
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    Rae Ann Meyer, front right, deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, is joined by members of the NASA Advisory Council and NASA Headquarters staff Oct. 1 at Marshall. The group toured various areas across the center during their visit Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Council members are appointed by the NASA administrator to provide advice and make recommendations on programs, policies, and other matters pertaining to the agency’s mission. (NASA/Charles Beason)
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    NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center continued the tradition of honoring engineers for their exceptional efforts on Commercial Crew Program (CCP) missions to the International Space Station on Sept. 4, with a plaque hanging for Expedition 70 at the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC). Holding their plaques are, from left, Shelby Bates, Ali Reilly, Chris Buckley, Mandy Clayton, Elease Smith, Sara Dennis, Stephanie Stoll, John Griffin, Kylie Keeton, and Blake Parker. Team members are nominated from Marshall, Johnson Space Center, and Kennedy Space Center to hang the plaque of the mission they supported. Expedition 70 – which ended April 5 – researched heart health, cancer treatments, space manufacturing techniques, and more during their long-duration stay in Earth orbit. The HOSC provides engineering and mission operations support for the space station, the CCP, and Artemis missions, as well as science and technology demonstration missions. The Payload Operations Integration Center within HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. (NASA/Charles Beason)

    Buckley, left, signs an Expedition 70 plaque as Dennis looks on. (NASA/Charles Beason)

    Dennis hangs the Expedition 70 plaque inside the Huntsville Operations Support Center. (NASA/Charles Beason)
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    NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov arrived at the International Space Station on Sept. 29 as the SpaceX Dragon Freedom docked to the orbiting complex at 4:30 p.m. CDT, joining Expedition 72 for a five-month science research mission aboard the orbiting laboratory.

    The two crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission launched at 12:17 p.m. CDT Sept. 28 for a science expedition aboard the International Space Station. This is the first human spaceflight mission launched from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the space station.
    The duo joined the space station’s Expedition 72 crew of NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Don Pettit, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner. The number of crew aboard the space station increased to 11 for a short time until Crew-8 members Barratt, Dominick, Epps, and Grebenkin depart the space station early this month.
    The crewmates will conduct more than 200 scientific investigations, including blood clotting studies, moisture effects on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts during their mission. Following their stay aboard the space station, Hague and Gorbunov will be joined by Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth in February 2025.
    With this mission, NASA continues to maximize the use of the orbiting laboratory, where people have lived and worked continuously for more than 23 years, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low Earth orbit and explore farther from Earth. Research conducted at the space station benefits people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration missions to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign, and beyond.
    Learn more about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission and the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Follow the space station blog for updates on station activities.
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    A costumed gorilla pacer leads a group of runners during “Racin’ the Station” duathlon, a run/bike/run event where the participants “raced” the International Space Station. The event was Sept. 28 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which is on Redstone Arsenal. “Racin’ the Station” is an annual event where participants try to complete the course faster than it takes the space station to complete one Earth orbit, which is every 91 minutes, 12 seconds. Organizers track the starting location of the space station at the race start, and a costumed pacer keeps up with the station time on the course as a visual marker for participants to stay ahead of.  Before the race, organizers drew a to-scale SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1 rocket in chalk onto the Activities Building parking lot near the race transition area. The opening ceremonies featured a video of the Artemis 1 launch, with the race starting with the launch of a model rocket. “The rain was a first for race day since we started this event in 2012,” said Kent Criswell, race organizer for Marshall. “But we still had a safe race with 106 individuals and 13 relay teams finishing.” The event is organized by the Team Rocket Triathlon Club in Huntsville and by the Marshall Association, a professional employee service organization at the Marshall Center whose members include civil service employees, retirees and contractors. Proceeds from the registration fee for the event go to the Marshall Association scholarship fund. Race results can be found here. (NASA/Charles Beason)

    Participants take off in the bike portion of the “Racin’ the Station” duathlon. (NASA/Charles Beason)
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    By Savannah Bullard 
    A new NASA competition, the LunaRecycle Challenge, is open and offering $3 million in prizes for innovations in recycling material waste on deep space missions. 
    As NASA continues efforts toward long-duration human space travel, including building a sustained human presence on the Moon through its Artemis missions, the agency needs novel solutions for processing inorganic waste streams like food packaging, discarded clothing, and science experiment materials. While previous efforts focused on the reduction of trash mass and volume, this challenge will prioritize technologies for recycling waste into usable products needed for off-planet science and exploration activities.  

    [embedded content]

    NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge will incentivize the design and development of energy-efficient, low-mass, and low-impact recycling solutions that address physical waste streams and improve the sustainability of longer-duration lunar missions. Through the power of open innovation, which draws on the public’s ingenuity and creativity to find solutions, NASA can restructure the agency’s approach to waste management, support the future of space travel, and revolutionize waste treatments on Earth, leading to greater sustainability on our home planet and beyond. 
    “Operating sustainably is an important consideration for NASA as we make discoveries and conduct research both away from home and on Earth,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive for NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program. “With this challenge, we are seeking the public’s innovative approaches to waste management on the Moon and aim to take lessons learned back to Earth for the benefit of all.” 
    NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge will offer two competition tracks: a Prototype Build track and a Digital Twin track. The Prototype Build Track focuses on designing and developing hardware components and systems for recycling one or more solid waste streams on the lunar surface. The Digital Twin Track focuses on designing a virtual replica of a complete system for recycling solid waste streams on the lunar surface and manufacturing end products. Offering a Digital Twin track further lowers the barrier of entry for global solvers to participate in NASA Centennial Challenges and contribute to agency missions and initiatives.  
    Teams will have the opportunity to compete in either or both competition tracks, each of which will carry its own share of the prize purse. 
    The LunaRecycle Challenge also will address some of the aerospace community’s top technical challenges. In July, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate released a ranked list of 187 technology areas requiring further development to meet future exploration, science, and other mission needs. The results integrated inputs from NASA mission directorates and centers, industry organizations, government agencies, academia, and other interested individuals to help guide NASA’s space technology development and investments. This list and subsequent updates will help inform future Centennial Challenges.  
    The three technological needs that LunaRecycle will address include logistics tracking, clothing, and trash management for habitation; in-space and on-surface manufacturing of parts and products; and in-space and on-surface manufacturing from recycled and reused materials. 
    “I am pleased that NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge will contribute to solutions pertaining to technological needs within advanced manufacturing and habitats,” said Kim Krome, acting program manager for agency’s Centennial Challenges, and challenge manager of LunaRecycle. “We are very excited to see what solutions our global competitors generate, and we are eager for this challenge to serve as a positive catalyst for bringing the agency, and humanity, closer to exploring worlds beyond our own.” 
    NASA has contracted The University of Alabama to be the allied partner for the duration of the challenge. The university, based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will coordinate with former Centennial Challenge winner AI Spacefactory to facilitate the challenge and manage its competitors.  
    To register as a participant in NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge, visit: lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu. 
    NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge is led by the agency’s Kennedy Space Center with support from Marshall Space Flight Center. The competition is a NASA’s Centennial Challenge, based at Marshall. Centennial Challenges are part of NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.  
    Bullard, a Manufacturing Technical Solutions Inc. employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
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    Technicians completed loading propellants in the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft Sept. 22, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

    Housed in the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, Europa Clipper’s propulsion module is an aluminum cylinder 10 feet long and 5 feet wide, and it holds the spacecraft’s array of 24 engines and 6067.6 pounds of propellant in two propulsion tanks, as well as the spacecraft’s helium pressurant tanks. The fuel and oxidizer held by the tanks will flow to the 24 engines, creating a controlled chemical reaction to produce thrust in space during its journey to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.
    After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these “gravity assists,” Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030.
    NASA is targeting launch Oct. 10 aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A.
    Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with NASA JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Acting Deputy Administrator Michele Sumilas at a Swearing-in Ceremony for David Thompson as Mission Director for South Sudan

    Source: USAID

    DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR MICHELE SUMILAS: Thank you so much Matt [Rees] for MCing the event today, and thank you to Ambassador [Michael J.] Adler for his kind words. I don’t know, David, if I would take this job based on his admonition, but let me just say I’m really honored to be here. It’s actually my first swearing in as the Acting Deputy Administrator. So, I’m very honored to do that. I know the Administrator wishes she could be here. She’s currently on travel, but she has asked me to pass along her congratulations and to say that she’s thrilled you’re stepping into this role.

    So, I also want to just say, welcome to David’s family, his friends and colleagues. David’s family is spread across, as we know, several continents this morning. We’ve seen them all, and I have watched David point them out to everyone on the screen. He’s so proud of them. 

    And, I also just want to say that it was really my pleasure to have met his mom in my office earlier. We learned that we are both children of federal workers, and I think that really just brings a whole different spirit to why we’re here and what we do. Mary Lou raised her three children after David’s dad passed away. And, she really spent her career in the U.S. government building IT systems and actually worked with USAID for a time, I learned, over in our Rosslyn office – which many of us have fond memories of. So, I just want to say thank you for your service, and thank you for making David’s service possible. 

    Also, welcome to David’s sisters Kathi and Susan, his brother-in-law Scott, and his Uncle Mike and Aunt Barbara.

    David’s daughters, Flora and Celina, who are on the screen there, are joining virtually from the Netherlands, where they’re in college together – David shared that with me yesterday. He’s really proud of them and all the work that they’re doing, and that they are together in the Netherlands. I learned, also, that they’ve inherited their dad’s taste in music – The Who, Pink Floyd, and Lana Del Rey – and that they both will be soon aspiring to do a similar kind of work that their mother and their father do. 

    And, welcome, finally, to David’s wife, Priscila, who’s joining from South Africa. We’ll talk more about Priscila later, but she’s a scholar and a researcher focused on urban policy. 

    So, David grew up in Alexandria, Virginia – across the river – and from the beginning, he made friends with everyone. Some will say that if you walk around Alexandria, even today, it’s like walking around with the Mayor. And, he shared that he just had his high school reunion – I won’t say how many years.

    He studied architecture at the University of Virginia, something we don’t hear often. And, he moved to DC to work at a construction management firm. It was there that he first picked up running. He finished the Marine Corps Marathon and began a hobby that he would carry across many continents and into many relationships. 

    In 1996, he moved to Bosnia after the war there ended to help reconstruct homes and schools so that displaced persons could return to their communities. And, he found that although he loved the architecture part of the job, he loved working with community leaders more. And so, he returned to the U.S., and he enrolled in an international development master’s program at Duke.

    Most of the other students were public administrators or civil servants, but there was one other architect. Luckily, that was Priscila. So, they began to study together. They spent time in groups, and they were soon dating. He spent Christmas that first year with her back home in Brazil, and it was a success. But, upon returning from sunny Brazil, Priscila did find it difficult to adapt to the cold, darkness, and dreariness of the first real winter – today’s weather is probably emblematic of that. And, David would encourage her to join him outside for walks and runs in the Duke forest. “One foot after the other,” she remembers him saying. Step by step, they made it through to spring, and they’ve been together ever since. 

    So, it’s that steadiness – that focus on putting one foot ahead of the other despite whatever is happening – which is what David brings to teams here at USAID, which he joined in 2003. One former colleague described him as “our rock during difficult times.”

    In Honduras, he was the director of the democracy office during the military coup in 2009. His team was at the center of efforts to protect the rule of law and rally support for fair and credible elections. A colleague from the time said that “David guided us through critical tasks and tense communications, but more importantly, he was a supportive friend who genuinely cared about our wellbeing. He provided the calm and the smiles we needed to weather the storm.”

    In Afghanistan, he again was in a high-stress environment when the compound was under attack. And for 24 hours, he kept his 40-person team calm and confined to a secure building near their office. And, he was very adept at lightening the mood with his trademark humor.

    So, when the compound was secure, he went to work again, working with civil society, and he returned to those daily runs, even inviting his colleagues to join him around the embassy perimeter, again, putting one foot in front of the other.

    And then, later in Tanzania, he was Deputy Mission Director at a time when the country’s new president was less oriented toward partnership with the U.S. So, you led an overhaul of the strategy, defining new goals, and you drew attention to unfair policies like one that placed invasive and discriminatory conditions on girls’ participation at school. 

    Most recently, you were the Power Africa Coordinator, returning everyone to the office and helping them begin to work with local partners and helping them start awarding [contracts] – in fact, the first local contract – instead of only to big transnational companies. 

    So, we are very lucky to have David’s experience going to South Sudan. We feel like he’s very prepared for this important and challenging job. And, we know that South Sudan is challenging. The UN has estimated that nine million people in South Sudan, 73 percent of the population, will need humanitarian assistance in 2024.

    To meet this need, USAID has provided more than a half a billion dollars of aid this year. And, we’re providing nutrient-dense foods to fight malnutrition. We’re helping construct and repair boreholes and wells to improve access to clean water. And, we’re funding basic health services while pushing the government to allocate more of its resources to essential services and humanitarian assistance. This is all happening thanks to the great team on the ground, and we look forward to you leading that team to new places. 

    The staggering level of need is a coincidence of several different factors. First, the climate crisis has made seasonal floods more severe, displacing millions and submerging the farmland. By displacing so many and compounding the challenge of scarce resources, the floods have also exacerbated the violence that often happens between communities. And, even though South Sudan has been at peace since 2018, violence continues in many areas of the country, and the political elites have failed to implement most elements of the peace agreement.

    So, the South Sudanese people are anxious and fearful, and they’ve also had to absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring Sudan, which will continue because it’s one of our largest humanitarian emergencies in the world today, and only getting worse. 

    So, we will continue to respond. David will lead us in that response. We will support the South Sudanese people to build a democratic country and mitigate conflict, call for an end to political violence and intimidation, and encourage political rivals to work together. 

    David, to state the obvious, this is not easy work, but we expect that you are the perfect person to take it on. The team on the ground is eager and ready to welcome you to post – there were many in that room waiting for your arrival. And, I’m sure that they will hear you say, step by step. One foot in front of the other. A little bit at a time. And together, the South Sudanese will realize their vision for a brighter future. 

    So, with that, please join me for your swearing in, and your mother as well.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: US Department of Labor announces over $1M in grants awarded to support mine safety, health awareness; education, training

    Source: US Department of Labor

    WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $1 million in grants to seven organizations in five states to support education and training initiatives that will help identify and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation’s mines.

    Administered by the department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety grant program will allow recipients to create accessible, comprehensive training materials in multiple languages, promote and conduct mine safety training or educational programs, and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. 

    In awarding the grants, MSHA gave special emphasis to education and training programs that reach miners at smaller mines and underserved populations in the industry. Training and education supported by the grants align with the Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety grant program’s mission, as well as key MSHA priorities including mine rescue, better protecting miners from exposure to silica dust and powered haulage safety. 

    “As the Biden-Harris administration moves full steam ahead to ensure the implementation of MSHA’s new respirable silica dust standard, the grants awarded today are a valuable tool to make training and resources available to better protect miners from the debilitating and deadly effects of silica dust exposure,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “All miners deserve a safe and healthy work environment and the ability to retire with their dignity and enjoy the fruits of their labor.”

    Established under the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, the grant program honors 25 miners who perished in mine disasters at the Jim Walter Resources #5 mine in Brookwood, Alabama, on Sept. 23, 2001, and at the Sago Mine in Buckhannon, West Virginia, on Jan. 2, 2006.

    “In remembrance of the 25 miners who lost their lives, the Brookwood-Sago grants have historically included awards for mine emergency preparedness and rescue, and this year we are proud to continue that important tradition by supporting those critical programs,” Williamson said. “This year’s grant recipients share our commitment to mine rescue and ensuring miners return home safe and healthy to their families and communities at the end of their shift.”

    The recipients of the 2024 Brookwood-Sago grants are as follows:

    Recipient City

    State

    Amount
    University of Arizona Tucson

    AZ

    $134,999
    Wayne State University Detroit

    MI

    $201,276
    Desert Research Institute Reno

    NV

    $128,233
    UMWA Career Centers Inc  Prosperity

    PA

    $74,810
    Pennsylvania State University University Park

    PA

    $149,465
    West Virginia University Morgantown

    WV

    $173,543 
    West Virginia University Research Corp. Morgantown

    WV

    $151,392

    Learn more about MSHA.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Joker: Folie à Deux as ‘ruin porn’ – how the new sequel plays with duplication and disintegration

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna-Sophie Jürgens, Senior Lecturer in Science Communication (Pop Culture Studies), Australian National University

    Warner

    Like two-headed playing cards, Joker stories are about dual identity, doubles and duplicity.

    Throughout DC comics and films, the Joker turns others into facsimiles of himself, grinning widely. He shares his state of mind through infectious laughter and mass “clownification”, creating copies as he goes.

    Film sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, directed by Todd Phillips and released in cinemas today, participates in this rich tradition. It also challenges it by introducing a Joker haunted by his own lost futures – the glam clown, homicidal entertainer and irresistible lover he could have become.

    What can we learn from the Joker character about our cultural fascination with duplication and disintegration?

    Madness by imitation

    Doubling, split consciousness and double meanings have been ingredients in Joker stories since the character’s creation in the 1940s.

    He offers different origin stories himself in the 2008 movie blockbuster The Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger as the Joker). He is presented as many in the recent comic series Three Jokers. The Joker shuffles his own “selves like a croupier deals cards” in the 2007 Batman comic The Clown at Midnight.

    Within the DC clowniverse, the Joker turns others into Joker copies and clowns, usually through the use of biological or chemical weapons or poisons, virology, hypnotism or sheer charisma. Joker copies include Joker fans and followers in clown costumes and masks, as in the 2019 film starring Joaquin Phoenix. In comics he is described as having an influence that

    […] affects people, on an almost subconscious, primal level. For most people – regular people – he inspires fear. For the less stable people – he simply inspires.

    For more than 80 years, his laughter has spread like a virus and caused mass-clownification countless times.

    ‘The whole world smiles with you.’ The new Joker sequel plays with dual identity and shadow selves.

    Multiplying his potency

    Joker stories tend to revolve around three scenarios of imitation, doubling and multiplication: several people acting as one (that is, the Joker), one person acting as many (as in Batman: R.I.P. when Batman tries to understand the Joker by experiencing his state of mind like a second consciousness), and a number of personalities nestled within the Joker wreaking havoc. All of these scenarios are powerful reminders clown laughter and humour need not be funny.

    The Joker character was inspired by famous films from the 1920s and ’30s, including Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1926), Roland West’s The Bat (1926) and Paul Leni’s The Man Who Laughs (1928). Many of these works feature hapless or unhappy (comic) performers, who all struggle with identity.

    The cultural mould to which the Joker belongs is linked with the more than century-old fascination with doppelgangers, male nervousness, violent and involuntary laughter and the loss of agency and sense of the self.

    The Joker has long played with ideas of duality.
    IMDB/Warner

    Haunting through absence

    The new sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, draws on all these very Joker traditions. Arthur Fleck and his Joker (Phoenix again) struggles with his split identities.

    Set two years after the events of the previous film, Fleck is a patient at Arkham State Hospital, where he meets the dual character Lee Quinzel/Harley Quinn (played by Lady Gaga). She wants him to lean into his Joker self.

    Although she is neither the clown nor a scientist as she’s portrayed in other stories, she also wants to be a Joker version. Arthur himself wants to be the Joker, but for reasons both external and internal he ends up not really becoming the Joker we recognise from the first film.

    The sequel is ultimately a trick played on the audience. “There is no Joker,” Arthur confirms at the end, just Arthur. Folie à Deux is about a broken dream’s loveliness.

    The Joker is a collective dream that fails to come true. He appears in the form of fantasies. He is the past, but at the same time present and absent. This is how the concept of hauntology has been defined – a split between realities. The film glamorises and exploits disillusion as we watch the Joker and his future possibilities disintegrate.

    In this way, Joker: Folie à Deux is a clown version of ruin porn, inviting us to enjoy the “decay” of a character. It gives us glimpses of a post-double version of the Joker, a non-Joker, left in pieces.

    Joker: Folie à Deux is in cinemas now.

    Anna-Sophie Jürgens 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. Joker: Folie à Deux as ‘ruin porn’ – how the new sequel plays with duplication and disintegration – https://theconversation.com/joker-folie-a-deux-as-ruin-porn-how-the-new-sequel-plays-with-duplication-and-disintegration-240311

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley, Advocates Unveil State-by-State Data Quantifying Harm of Project 2025 on Public Service Workers

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    By Eliminating Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Project 2025 Would Force 3.6M Workers to Pay $250B in Additional Student Debt

    In Massachusetts, Eliminating PSLF Would Harm Over 78,000 Workers and Rob Them of Over $5 Billion in Debt Relief Under PSLF

    Press Conference | Analysis

    BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), co-founder of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force, joined the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) and President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten for a virtual press conference unveiling a groundbreaking state-by-state analysis quantifying the harm that Project 2025’s elimination of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) would wreak on millions of teachers, healthcare workers, servicemembers, first responders, and other public service workers. Over the last three years alone, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved more than $69 billion in debt relief to nearly 1 million public service workers under PSLF.

    Project 2025 proposes to eliminate all time- and employment-based student debt relief and specifically calls for the elimination of PSLF and any debt discharge under Income Driven Repayment. According to SBPC’s analysis, Project 2025’s proposal to eliminate PSLF would force 3.6 million public service workers—educators, nurses and other healthcare workers, servicemembers, first responders and others—to pay an additional $250 billion in student loan debt over the next decade. In Massachusetts, eliminating PSLF would harm more than 78,000 public service workers and rob them of more than $5 billion in debt relief under PSLF. 

    “Project 2025 would have a devastating impact on people from all walks of life, including public service workers burdened by the crushing weight of student debt,” said Rep. Pressley. “Project 2025’s plan to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is cruel, anti-worker, and would deny essential relief to millions of people who have given back so much to our communities, our Commonwealth, and our country. As co-founder of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force, I won’t stop pressing to make sure this far-right manifesto does not manifest, and I’ll keep pushing to ensure our borrowers get the student debt relief they demand and deserve.”

    “As our country once again calls on first responders and healthcare workers to confront unprecedented natural disasters in communities across the southeastern United States, the right-wing architects of Project 2025 conspire to strip away their student debt relief,” said SBPC executive director Mike Pierce. “The Biden-Harris administration delivered debt relief for nearly one million public service workers—fragile progress that Project 2025 is determined to erase. We won’t let them drag us back.”

    “Let’s be clear, Project 2025 will be the next chapter of Donald Trump’s relentless attacks on public service workers with student debt. It was not long ago that the AFT was fighting Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump in court for illegally denying educators and other public service workers of PSLF debt relief that they earned,” said Randi Weingarten, President of AFT. “Now, with Project 2025, they want to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program outright which will leave more than 3.6 million public service workers drowning in student loan debt. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, nearly 1 million public service workers have benefitted from life-changing PSLF relief and they are not finished yet. We will not go back and we will not stop shedding light on the dangers of Project 2025.” 

    “Like so many workers, I took on student loans to advance my education, believing it would open doors. Like millions of educators, healthcare workers, and first responders, I relied on PSLF to ease the burden of student debt after years of public service. When you’re in student loan debt, you have to make choices. Can I buy a home? Can I choose to buy a new car? Can I enjoy small parts of my life like visiting my family or taking a girl’s weekend with my friends? The Biden-Harris administration’s recent changes to PSLF have already helped nearly a million workers, including me, to get out from under crushing debt. Loan forgiveness has changed my life!” said Catherine Hutchinson, President, California State University Employees Union, SEIU Local 2579. “If PSLF is eliminated, millions of public service workers, like myself, will be pushed further into debt. This is why we must fight to protect PSLF. Working people everywhere, from a fast-food worker in South Carolina to a nurse in Oregon should be able to thrive regardless of their education. For many of us, student loans were supposed to be a path forward, not something that holds us back. We need leaders that prioritize policies that put working people first.”

    SBPC’s analysis provides a nationwide snapshot of how eliminating PSLF will harm public service workers across each state. The ten hardest-hit states—those that would be home to the most public service workers trapped in debt—include Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Michigan. See the analysis in the form of an interactive map here.

    Pressley and Weingarten were joined by union members who would pay the price should this extremist playbook come to pass. A full transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks is available below and footage is available here.

    Transcript: Pressley, Advocates Unveil State-by-State Data Quantifying Harm of Project 2025 on Public Service Workers
    October 2, 2024
    Boston, Massachusetts

    Good afternoon and thank you all for joining us today.

    As I so often say about Randi, I would follow her anywhere and certainly into any battle or any fight, grateful for her leadership and strength of conviction. 

    It’s an honor to stand alongside all of you, our dedicated public servants, the Student Borrower Protection Center, AFT, borrowers and advocates to further highlight the devastating impact Project 2025 would have for millions of public servants and their families.

    I think it’s important always to make that point, when we talk about borrowers, when we talk about educators, people often think that they’re sort of independent contractors. Borrowers, educators belong to families and those families are a part of communities, and so there is a residual impact felt by everyone.

    I am proud to be an original co-founder of the House Stop Project 2025 Task Force, alongside Congressman Jared Huffman, and we are being very intentional about leveraging every tool at our disposal – from the power of our pen as lawmakers, to the power of our platform, to the power of convening through committee – to shine a light, because sunlight is the best disinfectant, on every aspect of Project 2025 and to give the public as clear a picture as possible of just how harmful Project 2025 is.

    Project 2025, yes it is a blueprint for a far-right wing manifesto that we have to do everything possible to make sure it does not become manifest. But it is in simpler terms, it’s a playbook.

    I have learned in my six years in Congress that these extremist Republicans do not make threats, they make promises. 

    So Project 2025 is a playbook, it is a playbook that means harm to every person that calls this country home. 

    It is wholesale policy violence.

    But today, again, thanks to our partners at SBPC, we now have damning new data that shows how harmful it would be for public service workers.

    So it gives us that sort of disaggregated data to tell in even more detail a picture about the harm that would be caused, very precisely, to public service workers.

    To put it bluntly, Project 2025’s proposal to eliminate Public Service Loan Forgiveness is cruel, it’s anti-worker, and it would deny this life-saving relief to millions of people who have given so much to our country.

    And it is not just an attack on a federal program – it is an attack on the lives and livelihoods of those who strengthen our communities and build up our nation.

    Public Service Loan Forgiveness was designed to provide relief to those who dedicate their lives to public service—our educators, our nurses, our healthcare workers, servicemembers, first responders, and more.

    Our public service workers make many sacrifices to stay in their field, answering what I think is a higher and a deep calling.

    And Project 2025 seeks to gut this program that is essential to retaining dedicated people.

    Now if enacted, this plan, this playbook, would strip away a critical pathway to student debt relief from approximately 3.6 million public service workers and saddle them with over 250 billion dollars in additional student loan debt.

    That’s 250 billion dollars in debt on the backs of those who have already sacrificed so much for so many.

    In my home state, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, roughly 78 thousand public service workers would lose out on more than 5 billion dollars in debt relief.

    These are the people who show up, day in and day out, who certainly did that ten-fold during the pandemic, whether it’s the educator in the classroom teaching our babies, the nurse caring for us at our bedside, or the first responder running towards danger.

    These workers are the backbones of our communities, and they deserve a government that sees them, that centers them, that invests in them. But Project 2025 is telling them that their contributions don’t matter.

    It is as heartless as it is wrong. And again, as I’ve learned with these extremists Republicans, the cruelty is the point. It seems to be the only point.

    You know, there are so many stories and lived experiences that I carry with me in this fight, in this work, specific to student debt and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

    And I’m thinking specifically, in this moment, of Priscilla Valentine – a first generation American, a proud union educator with Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teachers Union, and my guest, it was my honor, my guest at President Biden’s State of the Union Address this year.

    Now, Priscilla, she took out loans to pursue her goal of becoming a teacher. But like so many borrowers, she was saddled with debt that impacted her credit score and her life for years, and that of her family. 

    As a last hope, Priscilla applied for PSLF, and ultimately had her entire student loan balance of over $117,000 wiped out.

    In her words, PSLF, “opened up my family’s world to a life that I could have only dreamed of a year ago. I am now able to save for my children to be able to go to college, and I’m building good credit so my husband and I can refinance our mortgage.” 

    PSLF has given people like Priscilla a pathway to financial stability and allowed them to continue serving our communities.

    When we talk about economic justice, when we talk about economic freedom, it’s a peace of mind that you and yours are going to be okay. 

    And since the Biden-Harris Administration fixed the program in 2021, we’ve seen over $69 billion in student debt cancelled for nearly 1 million public service workers nationwide.

    This is how government is supposed to work. We’re supposed to be responsive to the struggles and the aspirations of everyone who calls this country home.

    But perhaps most importantly, in addition to this critical relief, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has given borrowers hope.

    Under Project 2025, Priscilla and millions of others would be denied that hope, would be denied that relief.

    So stopping Project 2025 is as much about protecting our fundamental freedoms and our democracy as it is about advancing workers’ justice and economic justice, and gender justice, and racial justice.

    So thank you again to everyone for joining us today and thank you to our partners for this important work.

    Together, we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that this far-right-wing manifesto does not become manifest.

    And we are going to keep pushing to ensure that every last borrower receives the student debt relief that they demand and that they deserve.

    Rep. Pressley has been a leading voice in Congress urging President Biden to cancel student debt. Following years of advocacy by Rep. Pressley—in partnership with colleagues, borrowers, and advocates—the Biden-Harris Administration announced a historic plan to cancel student debt that stands to benefit over 40 million people. She has consistently helped borrowers access student debt cancellation resources, including PSLF, and she was proud to welcome a union educator and PSLF recipient as her guest to President Biden’s State of the Union Address in March.

    Rep. Pressley is a founding member of a Congressional Task Force designed to stop Project 2025, a thousand-page blueprint for Donald Trump to seize “supreme” powers and radically undermine reproductive rights, LGBTQIA+ equality, racial justice, free speech, and other democratic institutions and freedoms. The Task Force was announced by Rep. Huffman in June and its members are leaders on many of the issues currently under attack by Project 2025.

    As a member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Pressley has repeatedly sounded the alarm on Project 2025, a bucket list extremist policies that would uproot every government agency and disrupt the lives of every person who calls America home.

    • On September 24, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined House Democratic Leadership and her colleagues on the Steering and Policy Committee to hold a historic hearing on Trump’s Project 2025 and its devastating impact on families across America.
    • On September 19, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Huffman launched a confidential tip line and encouraging members of the public to come forward with any information about the hidden “Fourth Pillar” of Project 2025.
    • On August 6, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Huffman wrote to Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, requesting that he come before Congress to discuss Project 2025 and release its undisclosed “180-Day Playbook.”
    • On July 30, 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on reports that Paul Dans is stepping down from his role as the head of Project 2025.
    • On June 27, 2024, Rep. Pressley discussed the importance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which combats discrimination in the workplace, and sharply criticized the harmful impact that far-right manifesto Project 2025 would have on the Department of Labor, the EEOC, and vulnerable workers.
    • On June 17, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Rep. Jared Huffman on a letter decrying the FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr for crafting part of Project 2025 in his official capacity as an executive-level employee of the federal government.
    • On June 14, Rep. Pressley was announced as a founding member of a Congressional Task Force designed to stop Project 2025 which was founded by Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02).
    • On June 12, 2024, Rep. Pressley outlined the damning link between Project 2025 and the Supreme Court’s corruption.
    • In a May 2024 committee hearing, Rep. Pressley highlighted the harm of Project 2025’s plans to replace tens of thousands of civil servants with partisan sycophants and destroy government infrastructure.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Necropsy confirms sea lion killed with shotgun

    Source: Department of Conservation

    Date:  03 October 2024

    Losing the juvenile female, who was born about 60 km up the Clutha River Mata-au earlier this year, is a significant setback for the local population.

    DOC Murihiku Operations Manager John McCarroll says the necropsy, carried out by Massey University scientists, found the young female sea lion likely died several hours after she was shot.

    “These necropsy results tell us the sea lion was alive when she was shot. She was last seen alive on Monday 16 September and was reported dead to us on the morning of Sunday 22 September.

    X-ray of the sea lion showing shotgun pellets
    Image: Massey University

    “DOC wants to find out who has committed this atrocious act and we’re calling for anyone with information to get in touch on 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).

    “The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust is also offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to a successful prosecution.”

    Although DOC staff are relieved to learn the sea lion did not suffer for more than a week, as initially feared, they are appalled at the extent of the painful injuries inflicted on her by the shooter, John McCarroll says.

    “She appears to have been shot in the back while lying on her stomach, causing a large amount of bleeding in the abdomen and chest and damage to the lungs, liver, spleen, intestine and spine. At least 25 steel shotgun pellets were found in her body.

    “Shooting a protected sea lion and leaving it to a painful death is a disgusting act and completely unacceptable.

    “The loss of this juvenile female is a significant setback to the Catlins sea lion population. Sea lions restarted breeding in the Catlins back in 2006, and so far 45 have been born there, although a number of those have passed away.

    “In the 2023/24 breeding season there were 13 breeding age females and 7 pups born. It takes 4 years for a female to reach breeding age. Given the low numbers, every female is extremely important to the population.”

    Under the Wildlife Act, it is illegal to injure or kill protected native wildlife like sea lions and anyone who does so can face punishments of up to two years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

    The sea lion’s mother Jade was born under a crib (bach) at Kākā Point in 2016. She was named after the late son of the bach owners.

    Pakake have a threat status of “Nationally Vulnerable” and number about 12,000. About 96% of the population is found in the Subantarctic Islands and is in decline. On the Mainland, there are small but growing populations in Rakiura/Stewart Island, Murihiku/Southland, and Otago.

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Pharma company funding for patient advocacy groups needs to be transparent

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Joel Lexchin, Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management, York University, Canada

    As a first step in determining whose interests patient groups align with, we need more transparency about the source of their revenue. (Shutterstock)

    Patient groups should be playing a central role in Canada’s health-care system, advocating for their members by promoting the visibility of their conditions, pushing for more rapid and accurate diagnoses and lobbying for the introduction and funding of new treatments and drugs that may help relieve their members’ symptoms and extend their lives.

    However, all of this requires resources. In the past, groups could turn to the federal government for funding, but that option dried up in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

    Pharmaceutical industry funding

    In response, patient groups looked to the pharmaceutical industry to be able to continue functioning. How much money Canadian groups get from drug companies is largely unknown.

    Neither the federal government nor the major industry association, Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC), require companies to report on payments to groups and similarly there are no rules saying that patient groups must reveal who gives them money or how much. Even if groups are registered charities, that type of granular information is not collected in reports they have to file with the Canada Revenue Agency.

    How much money Canadian patient advocacy groups get from drug companies is largely unknown.
    (Shutterstock)

    There is one source of partial information that has not been investigated until now. Since 2016, six companies have voluntarily released detailed annual statements about which groups they give money to and the value of those payments — GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi and Teva.

    I have analyzed the available reports from these companies. Because pharma companies have a history of trying to buy influence — a topic I’ve researched extensively — it’s important to look at what and who they are funding. All told, from 2016 to 2023, they gave more than $30 million in 671 separate payments to 263 groups. The $30 million figure is a minimum because not all of the six companies report in any individual year. There are also an additional 42 member companies in IMC that don’t file any reports. (Teva does not belong to IMC.)

    The median amount that a patient group received was $26,000 but that number hides the extremes. The Black Health Alliance received a single payment of $250 in 2023 from Novartis whereas the World Federation of Hemophilia, based in Montréal, got over $4.5 million from Roche and Sanofi between 2020 to 2023. Fourteen groups accounted for almost one-half of all payments groups received. Although Novartis only reported in three years (2021-23) it gave the largest amount of money, over $7.5 million.

    Conflicts of interest

    Receiving money creates a conflict-of-interest (COI), where a COI is defined by the U.S. Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) as “a set of circumstances that creates a risk that…judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest.” In this case, that would mean that the patient group was looking out for the interests of the drug company that gave it money as opposed to the interests of its patient members.

    However, just because groups received money from drug companies does not necessarily equate to the positions and actions that they took. There is a wide range of positions taken by patient groups that have received pharma funding, and when their positions align with those of their sponsors, these associations do not establish cause and effect.

    The Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders that received just shy of $450,000 between 2018 and 2023 from a combination of GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi has publicly criticized the legislation that potentially creates the first steps to a universal, first-dollar coverage pharmacare plan.

    Twenty-eight patient groups, including Save Your Skin Foundation and Myeloma Canada, lobbied the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board to try to stop the board from instituting reforms to how it regulated drug prices. Save Your Skin Foundation got just over $750,000 in drug company money and Myeloma Canada got $831,000.

    Pharma companies have a history of offering funding and other resources that have been shown to influence health-care professionals.
    (Shutterstock)

    Some groups that take drug company money do not necessarily align with the interests of their funders. The president of the Canadian Spondylitis Association (CSA) pulled his organization out of a focus-group project organized by Janssen and AbbVie because he refused to sign off on a report claiming that patients were strongly opposed to switching from the medication Humira, sold by AbbVie, to a less expensive biosimilar.

    Arthritis Consumer Experts (ACE) used to receive grants from Janssen and AbbVie until it also came out in favour of switching to biosimilars. (CSA received over $100,000 from Merck and Novartis, while ACE $267,000 from Merck and Novartis as well as Teva.)

    How pharma funds buy influence

    Pharma companies have a history of offering funding and other resources that have been shown to influence health-care professionals, which has extended the reach of pharma companies’ interests into virtually all aspects of health care. Funding patient groups may be another strategy to further extend the reach of those interests, which do not always align with those of patients and the public.

    As a first step in trying to determine whose interests patient groups align with, we need more transparency about the source of their revenue. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) code requires that member companies disclose on their websites a list of patient organizations to which they provide financial support, the amount of the payment and a description of the nature of the support or services provided.

    However, a study of industry payments in Nordic countries concluded that the EFPIA code fails to ensure transparency and compliance. EFPIA allows national industry associations the freedom to determine how its code will be implemented and how much oversight is required, leading to disparate transparency practices. EFPIA has not created a disclosure template to standardize reporting. Finally, EPFIA’s code does not apply to companies that are not members.

    Industry codes are not the answer.

    Before the Ontario election in 2019, the government was finalizing regulations for Bill 160 that required all drug and device manufacturers to disclose payments to patient groups. The legislative process stopped when the government changed post-election. The federal government should pick up the mandate on this issue and pass similar legislation to make reporting mandatory on a national basis.

    Between 2021-2024, Joel Lexchin received payments for writing a brief on the role of promotion in generating prescriptions for a legal firm, for being on a panel about pharmacare and for co-writing an article for a peer-reviewed medical journal. He is a member of the Boards of Canadian Doctors for Medicare and the Canadian Health Coalition. He receives royalties from University of Toronto Press and James Lorimer & Co. Ltd. for books he has written.

    – ref. Pharma company funding for patient advocacy groups needs to be transparent – https://theconversation.com/pharma-company-funding-for-patient-advocacy-groups-needs-to-be-transparent-239197

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: FBI Charges Chinese Nationals with Spying at Camp Grayling

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Moolenaar (4th District of Michigan)

    Headline: FBI Charges Chinese Nationals with Spying at Camp Grayling

    Today, the Detroit News reported the FBI has charged five Chinese nationals who studied at the University of Michigan with espionage related charges. The five individuals are accused of taking photos of military equipment at Camp Grayling. While the students were taking photos, the Michigan Army National Guard was hosting training for the Taiwanese military.

    “This case shows once again that CCP espionage can happen anywhere in America and we must be vigilant. The CCP obviously has an interest in Camp Grayling and this is further evidence it would be a mistake for Michigan leaders to allow Gotion to build in our state. State funding for Gotion’s plan to bring Chinese nationals to Mecosta County is an open invitation for further spying on Camp Grayling. For national security reasons, Governor Whitmer and the legislature must revoke state funding for Gotion immediately,” said Congressman John Moolenaar. 

    “Additionally, as chairman of the Select Committee on China, my committee recently issued a report on research security at our nation’s universities. All of our nation’s universities must shut down their joint institutes with Chinese universities, and enact stricter guardrails on emerging technology research. American universities must realize they are a target for espionage and protect the critical taxpayer-funded research they do,” he continued.

    Last month, Moolenaar along with Chairwoman Virginia Foxx of the Committee on Education and Workforce released a report on research security at American universities. The five Chinese nationals charged with espionage were students at the University of Michigan through the schools joint partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Shaheen, Collins Applaud Senate Passage of Bipartisan Resolution to Establish October 2nd as Energy Efficiency Day

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) announced their bipartisan resolution to designate today, October 2, 2024, as Energy Efficiency Day passed the Senate unanimously. The resolution celebrates and promotes the economic and environmental benefits gained from investing in energy efficiency.
    “Investing in energy efficiency benefits our environment, our businesses and Granite State families,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m proud the Senate passed our bipartisan resolution designating today as Energy Efficiency Day and celebrating the key role energy efficiency programs play in creating jobs, lowering costs for families and reducing our carbon footprint.”
    “The adoption of energy efficient practices saves consumers in Maine and across the country money,” said Senator Collins. “This resolution is an important reminder of the significant advancements we have made in energy efficiency over the past decade, most recently through the bipartisan infrastructure law.”
    The text of the Senators’ resolution can be found HERE.
    Co-sponsoring the resolution are U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Joe Manchin (I-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
    Shaheen has championed work to secure federal investments in clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives and to lower energy costs across New Hampshire. In the FY24 government funding bills, Shaheen helped defend key efficiency programs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from cuts, including securing $366 million for weatherization efforts and $66 million for the State Energy Program, which works to bring down energy bills for families and communities. Shaheen also secured continued support for the annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) that tracks key jobs data in the energy sector.
    Recently, Shaheen, as Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, hosted a field hearing and resource fair at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester on  investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act that can help small businesses lower their energy costs, transition to the clean energy economy and build resilience. Following the field hearing, small businesses participated in a resource fair and met with federal agencies and state business support programs.
    Shaheen was a lead negotiator of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which made huge investments in energy efficiency, including $550 million for Industrial Research and Assessment Centers and assistance for small- and medium-sized manufacturers to implement efficiency upgrades based upon her longstanding bipartisan legislation with former U.S. Senator Rob Portman. Granite Staters looking for energy efficiency resources can check out Senator Shaheen’s Federal Energy Resource Guide.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS: Capito, Archivist of the United States Visit West Virginia University

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
    MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – At the invitation of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dr. Colleen Shogan, 11th Archivist of the United States, joined Senator Capito for a series of visits at West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, W.Va. to highlight the special and historical collections at WVU Libraries. Dr. Shogan’s visit to WVU comes during American Archives Month.
    Senator Capito and Dr. Shogan’s visits included a tour of the Libraries Depository and the Modern Congressional and Political Papers Collection at the WVU Libraries Depository and a roundtable discussion they hosted with WVU students to discuss the work of the Archives, as well as Dr. Shogan’s unique career path and her success as the first woman appointed to lead the National Archives and Records Administration. Additionally, Senator Capito and Dr. Shogan both separately toured the West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC).
    “I appreciate Dr. Shogan for following up on her promise to me that she would come to West Virginia to see the extensive and historical efforts being done by WVU Libraries. We had a productive visit and saw firsthand how the work happening at WVU Libraries will benefit generations of historians, educators, and students for years to come,” Senator Capito said. “The National Archives is home to our nation’s most important documents and the ideas and inspirations that emanate from them. Today’s visit helped shine a light on the significant role academic institutions—like WVU—play in helping preserve our history, while informing the future.”
    “I’m thrilled to have joined Senator Capito in conversation at West Virginia University, and I loved my tour of the incredible work being accomplished at WVU Libraries,” Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan said. “It is always a privilege to speak before tomorrow’s leaders, and especially to discuss the work of the National Archives, where we preserve, protect, and share the stories of all Americans.”
    Dr. Shogan is the 11th Archivist of the United States, and is the first woman appointed to lead the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). A noted author and political scientist, Dr. Shogan is deeply committed to civic education and public engagement, and she has made it a priority to expand the reach of National Archives to a wider audience.
    Following Dr. Shogan’s nomination to serve as Archivist, Senator Capito has strongly supported her. Senator Capito personally introduced Dr. Shogan at her nomination hearing in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in September 2022. With Senator Capito’s support, Dr. Shogan was confirmed by the Senate on May 10, 2023 and sworn in to the position in September 2023, with Senator Capito in attendance at her swearing in ceremony.
    Photos from today’s visit are included below:

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Dr. Colleen Shogan, Archivist of the United States, visit West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, W.Va. on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Dr. Colleen Shogan, Archivist of the United States, visit West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, W.Va. on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Dr. Colleen Shogan, Archivist of the United States, pictured with West Virginia University (WVU) students in Morgantown, W.Va. on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: State of Missouri holds 2024 Show Me Challenge competition, winning team presents idea to expand operations to maximize print efficiencies

    Source: US State of Missouri

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, the State of Missouri announced the winners of the 2024 Show Me Challenge competition. On Monday, nine finalist teams competed in-person before a panel of state government senior leaders to present the best ideas to improve state government.

    Inspired by the hit TV show “Shark Tank,” the Show Me Challenge continues to bring together state team members from across Missouri’s 17 executive departments to pitch solutions that improve systems and processes that serve the citizens of Missouri, cut out unnecessary work, and/or save the State time and money.

    The Show Me Challenge invited all State of Missouri team members in the executive branch to submit an initial pitch outlining their solutions. Nine teams were then invited to participate in the final competition. They had the opportunity to further develop their pitch, receive coaching, and then present their ideas in front of a panel of judges, including department directors and other senior leaders with government, policy, and business expertise.

    The finalist teams represented nine of the 17 executive departments of the Missouri state government and competed in front of a live audience.

    First place went to the team Space Rangers from the Office of Administration (OA) for their request to find additional space for their printing and mailing services team (OA Document Solutions) to maximize print efficiencies by acquiring additional equipment. 

    Winning team members of Space Rangers are:

    Brandon Bailey
    Lance Clingman
    Erin Coles
    Kenneth Cummings
    Aaron Dickey
    Terry Groner
    Bradley Malone
    Maddie Meyer 

    OA Document Solutions (OADS) held a close partnership with University of Missouri Print and Mail Services (MU) for over 40 years. Throughout this collaboration, MU has consistently delivered print services that surpassed OADS capabilities in terms of size or finishing. On August 2, 2023, MU announced that they would be phasing out MU Print Services over the next calendar year. OADS began brainstorming how to acquire and put to use the MU equipment with capabilities that would expand their services, provide substantial return on investment, and minimally impact services to our State Agency customers. With the new equipment, OADS will be able to increase our efficiencies 200-800% in run time and/or finishing, depending on the project.

    “OADS is committed to streamlining operations and maximizing efficiency by consolidating all print equipment into a single, appropriately-equipped facility. This will not only enhance productivity but also provide an opportunity for OADS to meet the printing demands of the state agencies in-house. Furthermore, it allows OADS to have better quality control of production and meeting the customer requested deadlines,” said Erin Coles, OA Document Solutions Program Manager, OA. “Our team appreciated the opportunity through the Show Me Challenge to showcase what we have been working on to senior leaders. The process improvements we continue to make will allow us to better serve our State Agencies and citizens of Missouri.”

    Second place went to Data for All from the Department of Mental Health (DMH), Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Department of Revenue (DOR), Department of Economic Development (DED), and OA for their project that would create a curriculum, checklists, and other resources to educate state team members to help increase accessibility of documents published online by the State of Missouri. 

    Third place went to Team MoVest (Missouri Vital Empowerment for State Teams) from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), DESE, & OA for their idea to create a virtual learning experience that will provide a unique opportunity for all state team members to grow their professional networks, develop new skills, and enhance their abilities.

    A Fourth and Fifth place were also awarded to contestants. Fourth place went to Recovery from MoDOT for their design to help the department recoup money spent repairing MoDOT property by automatically bringing together information from a variety of sources to make it easier to recover outstanding funds. Fifth place went to Hands on Deck from the Department of Social Services (DSS) for seeking to establish in their Children’s Division a pool of experienced retired/former employees to be paid on an hourly basis as they step in to cover workforce gaps when an office or facility experience inadequate workforce numbers, extended absence, or crisis situations. 

    The judges for this year’s competition were Senator Mike Bernskoetter, Representative Dave Griffith; Anna Hui, Director, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR); Valerie Huhn, Director, DMH; Robert Knodell, Director, DSS; Valarie Moseley, Deputy Director, Department of Corrections (DOC), and Tyler Hobbs, Legislative Director, Governor’s Office. 

    The judges considered a pitch’s quality, practicality, and potential for impact.

    “It is incredibly inspiring to see the creativity and dedication of our public servants, who are committed to making state government more efficient, effective, and responsive to the needs of our citizens,” said Rep. Dave Griffith. “By empowering employees to share their insights, we ensure that we are delivering the best possible services to the people of our state.”

    “The Show Me Challenge is an exciting opportunity for our team members to present their best ideas for improving government. Not only does it empower our workforce to take an active role in driving positive change but fosters a culture of innovation for the services we provide to our customers,” said Valerie Huhn, Director, DMH. “The creativity and insight from our team members is one of our greatest assets and I look forward to seeing how their ideas will enhance our operations and make a lasting impact on state government.”

    “This competition showcases the incredible talent and ingenuity of our frontline state team members, giving them a platform to present ideas that can significantly improve how we operate,” said Robert Knodell, Director, DSS. “Through tapping into the creativity of our workforce, we are uncovering innovative solutions that make government more efficient and save valuable time and taxpayer dollars. The Show Me Challenge is a powerful reminder that the best ideas often come from within.” 

    To date, over 600 team members have pitched ideas to improve production and processes across state government. The 2025 Show Me Challenge competition will begin next spring.

    For more on the Show Me Challenge, go here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study of vaping trends among adults in England

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A study published in The Lancet Public Health looks at vaping trends in adults who have never regularly smoked.

    Prof Peter Hajek, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Health and Lifestyle Research Unit, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said:

    “Some people have genes and circumstances leading them to like nicotine products. Traditionally, they ended up smoking, but some are now discovering vaping without becoming smokers first. If vaping did not exist, they would be smoking. The study authors point this out.

    “The just-released figures from the Office for National Statistics show that UK smoking prevalence is under 12%, an all-time low. If much less risky alternatives are allowed to continue to compete with cigarettes, smoking (and heart disease, lung disease and cancers that it causes) will continue to decline as well. 

    “The UK and USA, which allow vaping, have seen significantly faster declines in cigarette sales and in smoking among young and low income people than Australia, which bans vaping.  Sweden, which is the only EU country that allows use of low-risk oral tobacco, has by far the lowest smoking prevalence.  Efforts are needed to limit use of nicotine products in adolescents but if more adults (as well as adolescents) are taking up vaping instead of smoking it may in fact be good news.”

    ‘Vaping among adults in England who have never regularly smoked: a population-based study, 2016-24’ by Sarah Jackson et al. was published in The Lancet Public Health at 23.30 UK time Wednesday 2 October 2024.

    Declared interests

    Peter Hajek: no COIs

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Deputy President Mashatile’s address on South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 in SOAS University

    Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)

    Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivers a Lecture on South Africa’s Presidency of the #G20, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyw7wlr7VDE

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Deputy President Mashatile’s address on South Africa’s Presidency of the #G20 at SOAS University

    Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)

    Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivers a Lecture on South Africa’s Presidency of the #G20, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London

    Checkout more: http://www.thepresidency.gov.za

    Get Social
    Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/PresidencyZA
    Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/presidencyza/?hl=en
    Twitter ► @PresidencyZA

    #ThePresidencyofSouthAfrica #PresidencyZA

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

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New lunar distress system could safeguard future astronauts

    Source: University of South Australia

    03 October 2024

    A team of international scientists has taken a significant step towards making lunar exploration safer, proposing a distress monitoring and rescue system designed for the Moon’s unique and challenging environment.

    As NASA’s Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, astronauts will be exposed to high-risk situations in remote areas like the lunar south pole.

    A project led by the University of South Australia (UniSA), addresses the critical need for an emergency system capable of providing safety alerts, incident reporting, and location tracking of astronauts in distress.

    Researchers from Adelaide and the US are designing a satellite constellation that prioritises communication and geolocation on the Moon’s surface. Using this system, astronauts will be able to send distress signals to a network of satellites that will relay the information back to Earth or other lunar bases.

    The system is based on the COSPAS-SARSAT technology already used for search and rescue on Earth, adapted for lunar conditions.

    Dr Mark Rice, a UniSA adjunct researcher and founder of Safety from Space, says the distress system could allow continuous communication with astronauts for up to 10 hours, even in the most challenging terrain, such as craters or mountains.

    “Our team has also developed a waveform that supports low-power emergency beacons, ensuring that communication remains possible with minimal infrastructure and energy consumption,” Dr Rice says.

    “This innovation is a critical advancement for space exploration. As humans venture further into space, the ability to quickly locate and rescue individuals in distress is vital.

    “By creating a robust search and rescue system for the Moon, this research sets the foundation for similar systems on other planets, potentially revolutionising how we approach human safety in space exploration.”

    Safety from Space was founded in 2018 with the support of UniSA’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre. The startup has recently been awarded $100,000 from the SA Government to help drive the Lunar Search and Rescue project, with an anticipated field trial with NASA in 2025.

    Closer to home, the technology – called Beagle – has been described as a “game changer” for two-way emergency communications when applied to Earth-based search and rescue operations. This would enhance emergency response efforts in remote and hazardous locations, potentially saving countless lives, the researchers say.

    The work, supported by the SmartSat CRC and Flinders University, was presented to a recent International Communications and Satellite Systems (ICSSC) conference. For a copy of the conference paper, please email candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Media contact: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au
    Researcher contact:  Dr Mark Rice E: mark@safetyfromspace.com

    Other articles you may be interested in

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New website shines a light on Australia’s disabled authors

    Source: University of South Australia

    03 October 2024

    Academics from the University of South Australia have unveiled a website dedicated to celebrating the contributions of disabled authors to Australia’s rich literary heritage.

    Finding Australia’s Disabled Authors aims to bring greater visibility to their achievements and experiences, and over the next two years will focus on crafting a searchable index of disabled historical writers before expanding to include contemporary authors.

    Award-winning author and UniSA Creative Senior Lecturer, Dr Jessica White, and UniSA Creative Research Fellow, Dr Amanda Tink, who are both disabled people, aim to ensure that disabled writers are counted in discussions about Australian literature.

    “Little is known of Australian literature about disability, and our project is designed to educate readers and listeners on the contributions of disabled writers to the literary landscape of Australia,” Dr Tink says.

    “We want to share how disabled authors became writers, how their impairments influenced the genre and form of their writing, and how cultural attitudes shaped responses to their work.”

    Dr White says it is crucial to educate people on the lived experiences of disabled authors and how their disabilities have shaped their lives and works.

    “Australian literature has frequently relied on representations of people for narrative intrigue, but these representations cannot substitute for the experiences of Australian disabled authors, who in contrast, are often marginalised or erased,” she says.

    “Our project will allow people to find and learn more about disabled authors who tend to be missing from conversations of Australian literature.”

    The website, funded by the Australian Research Council, will compile an index of Australia’s disabled authors alongside case studies on the impact of impairment on writing processes, and underscore the vibrant literary lineage of disabled writers in Australia.

    Renowned poet Andy Jackson spoke recently at a three-day online symposium for the project, where presenters discussed writing processes and publishing experiences of current and previous Australian disabled authors.

    Note on terminology: Dr White and Dr Tink prefer to use identity-first language rather than person-first language when referring to disability. This is the terminology used on their website and accordingly has been used in this release.

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Contact for interview:  Dr Amanda Tink E: Amanda.Tink@unisa.edu.au

    Dr Jessica White E: Jessice.White2@unisa.edu.au

    Media contact: Candy Gibson M: +61 0434 605 142 E: Candy.Gibson@unisa.edu.au

    Maddie Rawlings E: Maddie.Rawlings@unisa.edu.au

    Other articles you may be interested in

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is stress turning my hair grey?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Theresa Larkin, Associate Professor of Medical Sciences, University of Wollongong

    Oksana Klymenko/Shutterstock

    When we start to go grey depends a lot on genetics.

    Your first grey hairs usually appear anywhere between your twenties and fifties. For men, grey hairs normally start at the temples and sideburns. Women tend to start greying on the hairline, especially at the front.

    The most rapid greying usually happens between ages 50 and 60. But does anything we do speed up the process? And is there anything we can do to slow it down?

    You’ve probably heard that plucking, dyeing and stress can make your hair go grey – and that redheads don’t. Here’s what the science says.

    What gives hair its colour?

    Each strand of hair is produced by a hair follicle, a tunnel-like opening in your skin. Follicles contain two different kinds of stem cells:

    • keratinocytes, which produce keratin, the protein that makes and regenerates hair strands
    • melanocytes, which produce melanin, the pigment that colours your hair and skin.

    There are two main types of melanin that determine hair colour. Eumelanin is a black-brown pigment and pheomelanin is a red-yellow pigment.

    The amount of the different pigments determines hair colour. Black and brown hair has mostly eumelanin, red hair has the most pheomelanin, and blonde hair has just a small amount of both.

    So what makes our hair turn grey?

    As we age, it’s normal for cells to become less active. In the hair follicle, this means stem cells produce less melanin – turning our hair grey – and less keratin, causing hair thinning and loss.

    As less melanin is produced, there is less pigment to give the hair its colour. Grey hair has very little melanin, while white hair has none left.

    Unpigmented hair looks grey, white or silver because light reflects off the keratin, which is pale yellow.

    Grey hair is thicker, coarser and stiffer than hair with pigment. This is because the shape of the hair follicle becomes irregular as the stem cells change with age.

    Interestingly, grey hair also grows faster than pigmented hair, but it uses more energy in the process.

    Can stress turn our hair grey?

    Yes, stress can cause your hair to turn grey. This happens when oxidative stress damages hair follicles and stem cells and stops them producing melanin.

    Oxidative stress is an imbalance of too many damaging free radical chemicals and not enough protective antioxidant chemicals in the body. It can be caused by psychological or emotional stress as well as autoimmune diseases.

    Environmental factors such as exposure to UV, pollution, as well as smoking and some drugs, can also play a role.

    Melanocytes are more susceptible to damage than keratinocytes because of the complex steps in melanin production. This explains why ageing and stress usually cause hair greying before hair loss.

    Scientists have been able to link less pigmented sections of a hair strand to stressful events in a person’s life. In younger people, whose stems cells still produced melanin, colour returned to the hair after the stressful event passed.

    4 popular ideas about grey hair – and what science says

    1. Does plucking a grey hair make more grow back in its place?

    No. When you pluck a hair, you might notice a small bulb at the end that was attached to your scalp. This is the root. It grows from the hair follicle.

    Plucking a hair pulls the root out of the follicle. But the follicle itself is the opening in your skin and can’t be plucked out. Each hair follicle can only grow a single hair.

    It’s possible frequent plucking could make your hair grey earlier, if the cells that produce melanin are damaged or exhausted from too much regrowth.

    2. Can my hair can turn grey overnight?

    Legend says Marie Antoinette’s hair went completely white the night before the French queen faced the guillotine – but this is a myth.

    It is not possible for hair to turn grey overnight, as in the legend about Marie Antoinette.
    Yann Caradec/Wikimedia, CC BY-NC-SA

    Melanin in hair strands is chemically stable, meaning it can’t transform instantly.

    Acute psychological stress does rapidly deplete melanocyte stem cells in mice. But the effect doesn’t show up immediately. Instead, grey hair becomes visible as the strand grows – at a rate of about 1 cm per month.

    Not all hair is in the growing phase at any one time, meaning it can’t all go grey at the same time.

    3. Will dyeing make my hair go grey faster?

    This depends on the dye.

    Temporary and semi-permanent dyes should not cause early greying because they just coat the hair strand without changing its structure. But permanent products cause a chemical reaction with the hair, using an oxidising agent such as hydrogen peroxide.

    Accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and other hair dye chemicals in the hair follicle can damage melanocytes and keratinocytes, which can cause greying and hair loss.

    4. Is it true redheads don’t go grey?

    People with red hair also lose melanin as they age, but differently to those with black or brown hair.

    This is because the red-yellow and black-brown pigments are chemically different.

    Producing the brown-black pigment eumelanin is more complex and takes more energy, making it more susceptible to damage.

    Producing the red-yellow pigment (pheomelanin) causes less oxidative stress, and is more simple. This means it is easier for stem cells to continue to produce pheomelanin, even as they reduce their activity with ageing.

    With ageing, red hair tends to fade into strawberry blonde and silvery-white. Grey colour is due to less eumelanin activity, so is more common in those with black and brown hair.

    Your genetics determine when you’ll start going grey. But you may be able to avoid premature greying by staying healthy, reducing stress and avoiding smoking, too much alcohol and UV exposure.

    Eating a healthy diet may also help because vitamin B12, copper, iron, calcium and zinc all influence melanin production and hair pigmentation.

    Theresa Larkin 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. Is stress turning my hair grey? – https://theconversation.com/is-stress-turning-my-hair-grey-239100

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle: 5 key health priorities for future disaster response

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Gender, University of Waikato

    Getty Images

    “The climate crisis is a health crisis.” So says World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus.

    The World Economic Forum agrees. Its report this year highlighted how climate change is taking a toll on global health due to increasingly frequent extreme weather events.

    These issues are on the official agenda here too, especially since severe tropical cyclone Gabrielle caused extensive damage in the South-west Pacific and northern New Zealand in early 2023.

    Between February 13 and 14 it slammed into Te Tairāwhiti/East Coast and Te Matau a Māui/Hawkes Bay, with disastrous results for the land and its inhabitants. Communities were displaced, homes destroyed, power and telecommunications cut, water systems compromised, and many roads and bridges badly damaged.

    Shortly after Gabrielle hit, Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health commissioned us to investigate the impacts of adverse weather events on health systems and community health and wellbeing.

    Our community research teams interviewed 143 residents in the two affected regions. They included first responders, heath workers, council staff and members of the public. Their stories were emotional, powerful and insightful.

    Our recently published report amplifies these community voices and local knowledge, and offers recommendations about planning for future, inevitable events. Here we offer five key messages.

    1. Prioritise vulnerable people

    Many older people and those with disabilities or existing health conditions were deprioritised or simply forgotten during evacuations and in the days and weeks after the cyclone. As one community responder in Tairāwhiti recalled:

    Some of them couldn’t move out because they were so old and frail. The water was so powerful, they couldn’t move anywhere. Some just stayed in their room until somebody turned up. For instance, there was a lady [who] was stuck in her wheelchair, and by the time people found her, the water was at her neck.

    Our report identified the need for health and social services to work more closely to ensure at-risk, vulnerable older people and those with disabilities or complex needs are prioritised during evacuations, so their medical and physical needs are met during and after an extreme weather event.

    2. Invest in mental health support and trauma recovery

    Those in the most affected communities had high levels of stress, grief and trauma during and after emergencies and evacuations.

    Staff and volunteers in front-line roles during the state of emergency experienced similar mental health effects. Many felt mental health support was not there when they needed it most.

    Almost everyone we spoke to had some negative mental health impacts. These included sleep disruption, rain anxiety and stress from road closures, insurance claims and land instability.

    Māori participants also told of their grief over environmental damage and destruction, highlighting the links between whenua (land) and hauora (health). They described drawing on cultural practices to support whānau recovery. For example, a leader of local volunteer efforts spoke about the personal impact of the cyclone:

    I was not good […] it was seeing the impact on how it was for your own community whānau. I think it hit me quite a bit later on. I fell into depression […] It just built up over time. I’m still in healing therapy for the last probably six to seven months since Gabrielle, just trying to get my wairua [spirit] and my tinana [body] and everything back in place.

    Overall, the research shows a need for greater awareness and investment in weather-related trauma recovery and mental health support.

    3. Ensure medical supplies can reach remote areas

    Rural and isolated communities had heightened health challenges, particularly due to road and communication failures.

    Transporting medical staff into these communities often required creative solutions (driving, using helicopters or hiking through bush and across farmland when roads were damaged, for example).

    Access to medicines was a major concern. It took co-ordinated effort to get pharmaceuticals to such communities. Helicopters were crucial in getting supplies and patients in and out of remote areas. Not everyone who needed attention received it, however.

    The most effective responses involved organisations (such as the NZ Police and Civil Defence) working together with communities. As one police officer told us:

    Our whānau up the coast needed medicine, prescriptions. Getting access from the helicopter to the home was a challenge. So, the police leant in and helped out. We used [an all-terrain vehicle] to get to places and spaces to get medicine in.

    People need to be prepared for power and telcommunications failures.
    Getty Images

    4. Resource and co-ordinate local support networks

    Fiscally challenged health systems were stretched during the emergency and struggled with power and telecommunications outages. But we heard of many health workers going “above and beyond” to care for patients and communities.

    Many continued working even when their own families, homes and communities were directly under threat. Anticipating this and supporting these workers will be important as adverse weather becomes more frequent with climate change.

    We also found marae, schools, local social services and non-profit organisations played key roles after the cyclone, but were often outside the direct ambit of the health system.

    Often the people working in these organisations have strong community relationships and knowledge that is essential to supporting emergency and recovery processes. These connections should be mapped and integrated for future events.

    5. Shift resources and build common will

    Local communities are full of knowledge. Many have learnt from recent events to better prepare their families, workplaces and organisations.

    Whānau told us about the importance of having cash in case of power outages and telecommunications failure. Others identified battery-powered radio as a critical source of information when systems were down. Pharmacists and doctors told of the importance of hard-copy evidence of prescriptions, to be able to dispense when electronic systems are out.

    Checking in on neighbours, sharing resources and making time for a cup of tea were all important for people in the recovery and rebuilding phases. A key lesson is to harness the power of community connections, trust and relationships in climate change resilience and recovery.

    Although knowledge, experience and wisdom lie in the hands of communities, our research highlights how financial resources mostly sit with central government. The challenge is to shift resources and build common will for climate action, before the inevitable next event.

    The report is receiving attention in parliament. We hope local experience can be central to planning around the health impacts of climate change and decision-making at all levels.

    We acknowledge the important contributions of our wider research team and community partners, particularly Manu Caddie (Te Weu Charitable Trust), Josie McClutchie (project lead), Dayna Chaffey, Haley Maxwell and Hiria Philip-Barbara (community researchers) in Tairāwhiti, and Emma Horgan and John Bell (Sustainable HB Centre for Climate & Resilience) in Hawkes Bay.

    Holly Thorpe received support from the Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health funding secured to conduct this research.

    Fiona Langridge received support from the Ministry of Health funding secured to conduct this research.

    George Laking received funding from The Ministry of Health to conduct the research. He is an Executive Board member of OraTaiao, the New Zealand Climate and Health Council.

    Judith McCool receives funding from the Ministry of Health (Polynesia Health Corridors) and the Health Research Council.

    – ref. Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle: 5 key health priorities for future disaster response – https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-cyclone-gabrielle-5-key-health-priorities-for-future-disaster-response-239392

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Forestry Centre of Excellence launched in Mount Gambier

    Source: University of South Australia

    03 October 2024

    An artist’s impression of the Forestry Centre of Excellence, due to be built on UniSA’s Mount Gambier campus in 2025.

    The State Government has today released new artist impressions of the Forestry Centre of Excellence (FCoE) being built in Mount Gambier and officially launched today.

    The Centre is a collaborative project between the State Government, the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the forest industry. It will be built on the same site as the UniSA Mount Gambier campus, the new Mount Gambier Technical College and the Mount Gambier TAFE, providing a unique opportunity to create an education, training and research precinct.

    The design for the facility is due to be finalised in November 2024 with building construction due to commence in April 2025 and an expected completion in January 2026.

    Vital research underway in temporary facilities was showcased at a special launch on site today and includes projects on:

    • structural timber market access
    • improving safety
    • fire detection from cameras and satellites
    • suppression, recovery and analysis of digital forestry data using artificial intelligence
    • immersive data analytics using VR and AR to understand the implications of climate change on plantation growth yield and water use.

    Following a global search, Professor Jeff Morrell has been appointed as the Forestry Centre of Excellence’s inaugural director due to commence in mid-January 2025. Previously, he was Director for the Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life based at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

    The FCoE links to the forest industry and its key attribute of collaboration, connection and partnerships through its research, training education, development, and extension activities, has been reflected in the new FCoE brand of interlocking abstract trees also unveiled today.

    In launching the FCoE, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas described the Green Triangle plantation forest region as “one of the powerhouses of the Australian forest industry”.

    “The South Australian portion of the region contributes more than $860 million to the state’s gross product annually – making it one of our most productive primary industry sectors,” Premier Malinauskas said.

    “We are delivering on our election commitment to establish a world-leading Forestry Centre of Excellence to strengthen this already thriving industry.”

    UniSA Chancellor John Hill, who attended the launch, said the University was honoured to host the new Forestry Centre of Excellence, which has evolved from Forest Research Mount Gambier, established in 2018 by the State and Federal Government, UniSA and the forestry industry.

    “The model of recruiting UniSA researchers into the forestry industry has resulted in a more efficient, safer, progressive, and profitable industry, establishing standards for best practice,” Chancellor Hill said.

    “Together with the State Government, we are proud to continue this partnership and help advance research and development projects to ensure the industry’s economic prosperity committing more than $6 million towards the Centre’s operations and building along with significant in-kind support.”

    For further information on the Forestry Centre of Excellence visit: Forestry Centre of Excellence – PIRSA

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Media contact: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au

    Other articles you may be interested in

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: When even fringe festival venues exclude people with disability, cities need to act on access

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shane Clifton, Associate Professor of Practice, School of Health Sciences and the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney

    Sanit Fuangnakhon/Shutterstock

    It’s about time city councils did more to make our cities accessible. I recently tried to buy tickets to two Sydney Fringe Festival events, only to be told by the box office that the venues were not wheelchair-accessible.

    Sydney remains a place where people with disability feel like they don’t belong. The same is true of other Australian cities. But local councils don’t bear all the blame.

    Event organisers are responsible for selecting venues. In the case of the Fringe Festival, they chose locations inaccessible to wheelchair users and others with mobility challenges. It’s a bitter irony that a fringe festival, which ostensibly empowers artists and creatives on the margins, would exclude people with disability.

    If event organisers (and every one of us) decided never to hire inaccessible venues, then the market might solve the issue. But those of us with disability are realistic enough to know most people don’t care – or don’t give us a thought. The market hasn’t solved the problem, so it’s up to governments.

    The problems go beyond arts venues

    Inaccessible venues are only the tip of the iceberg. Countless restaurants, shops and offices are inaccessible, with steps on entry, inaccessible bathrooms and narrow and cluttered aisles.

    “Spend the day in my wheelchair” programs are sometimes criticised for trivialising the challenge of disability. However, they do unmask how frustrating and alienating our cities and towns can be.

    Google Maps now indicates whether premises are accessible. Those that are bear the universal symbol of disability access – the stylised blue wheelchair. Even then, a person with a disability is just as likely as not to turn up and discover a lift has broken down, a doorway has been blocked off, a bathroom has been used for storage, or a venue is only partially accessible (it’s always the cool spaces that are out of reach).

    The Commonwealth and states brought in disability discrimination laws in the 1990s. These have made some difference, but their many exemptions let businesses off the hook. (See the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendations to amend the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.)

    More than 30 years down the track, our cities and towns remain bastions of exclusion.

    Newtown Hotel is marked as accessible on Google Maps, but the upstairs room used for a Sydney Fringe Festival event was not.
    Slow Walker/Shutterstock



    Read more:
    What does a building need to call itself ‘accessible’ – and is that enough?

    Better access benefits everyone

    Landowners and businesses typically complain providing access for the few affected people is too costly. In reality, making our public spaces accessible often requires little more than determined creative design. The costs are a mere fraction of what we spend on other things we judge as more important.

    We also underestimate the value added by accessible design.

    The Kerb-Cut Effect, for example, describes how designing for people with disability often benefits everyone. The term refers to the impact of activist action in California in the 1970s. Disability advocates in the city of Berkeley poured concrete onto road kerbs to create ramps giving wheelchair users access to footpaths.

    These ramps also proved valuable to parents pushing children in strollers, older people and cyclists. Refined into kerb cuts, they spread rapidly around the world.

    There are many other examples. Television captioning, developed for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, is now widely used by non-disabled people. Audiobooks, developed for people who are blind, are now a common way that many other people enjoy books.

    Accessible venues will not just benefit wheelchair users. Older people, those with impaired mobility and people who push prams and tow suitcases all benefit. Indeed, if we make venues accessible to those on the margins, no one is excluded.

    The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities highlights the importance of universal design. The convention insists on

    the design of products, environments, programs and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design.

    Why use steps that exclude some people when everyone can use a ramp or a lift?

    Kerb cuts are now common since it became obvious how many people benefited from designing ramps into road-crossing points.
    John Robert McPherson/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Why councils must lead the way

    Accessibility in cities is about more than just wheelchairs; it requires a comprehensive approach to urban planning to meet the varied needs of all citizens. This includes providing sensory aids like audio signals, braille signage and visual measures for people who are blind, deaf or hard of hearing. It’s also crucial that information on public services and events is easily available to everyone in formats they can access and understand.

    My focus has been on access to public spaces, but we also need to turn our attention to private homes. Wheelchair users and people with other mobility impairments can’t access most private houses in Australia. There is a drastic lack of accessible housing for people with disability and the cost of retrofitting access is exorbitant.

    New South Wales is yet to follow the lead of other states and territories by signing up to the Silver Liveable Housing Design Standards. These standards are part of the revised National Construction Code. They require new housing developments to offer basic accessibility for all people.

    We can and must do better. Every level of government can contribute to change.

    However, new builds and renovations are often decided upon at the regional level. This means local councils should bear much of the responsibility.

    A determined effort by our mayors and councillors to insist premises are accessible will be better for everyone. From a selfish perspective, it might mean I could go out to dinner or a festival without worrying if I can get in the door.

    Shane Clifton is affiliated with the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney.

    – ref. When even fringe festival venues exclude people with disability, cities need to act on access – https://theconversation.com/when-even-fringe-festival-venues-exclude-people-with-disability-cities-need-to-act-on-access-239937

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship

    Source: University of South Australia

    03 October 2024

    Anticlockwise: Henry Jock Walker (Photo: Bri Hammond); Hannah Gartside (Photo: Illona Nelson); Helen Grogan (Photo: Helen Grogan).

    Henry Jock Walker (SA), Helen Grogan (VIC) and Hannah Gartside (VIC) have been announced as the 2025 Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship recipients.

    Each artist will receive a scholarship that provides institutional fees for one academic year of study, a $70,000 tax-free allowance, and travel expenses to a leading international art school of their choice.

    Erica Green, Director of the Samstag Museum of Art, which administers the scholarships program, congratulates the 2025 scholars on their achievement.

    “The Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship is a life-changing professional opportunity,” Green says.

    “It enables artists to develop their artistic capacities, skills and networks outside Australia through a dedicated period of practice-based learning.

    “We know from experience that it is personally and artistically transformative.”

    This year’s three recipients encompass diverse approaches to making art. Their processes and materials include moving image, wall-based work, collective and socially engaged practice, site specific and installation, as well as kinetic textile objects. 

    The selection committee for the 2025 Samstag Scholarships comprised Erica Green, Director, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia; Michael Kutschbach, 2005 Samstag Scholar and Lecturer, Contemporary Art, University of South Australia; and 1994 Samstag Scholar Dr Megan Walch.

    The selection panel noted:

    “This year the three successful artists each impressed us in their own way. Henry Jock Walker’s work showed maturity, vitality and connected the various strands of his diverse practice with a written application that made a forceful case for further study.

    “Helen Grogan’s site-specific installations comprising of objects and moving image demonstrated intellectual and spatial curiosity, conceptual rigour and a quiet, compelling precision.

    “Hannah Gartside’s sculptural textile and kinetic installations possess a sensual, playful and tactile materiality. Steeped in the history of theatre, wardrobe and fashion, Gartside identified the Netherlands, a historical centre for textiles, as a site of study. We had no difficulty imagining her excelling in this rich cultural environment.”

    In response to the announcement, Samstag has commissioned South Australian writer Melinda Rackham to introduce the artists through texts that distil their respective art practices.

    The announcement coincides with 2024 Samstag Scholars Min Wong, Ash Tower, and Yasmin Smith arriving at their respective institutions of learning across Berlin, Rome and London to begin their studies.

    The competitive national scholarship program, established in 1992, is open to art school students, and graduates. 151 scholarships have been awarded to date.

    Previous Samstag scholars include Sam Mountford and Inneke Taal from 2023; Elyas Alavi from 2019; 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres artists Julian Day and Mikala Dwyer; 2018 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Divided Worlds artists Kristian Burford, Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy, Timothy Horn, Hayden Fowler, Julie Gough and Nike Savvas; 21st Biennale of Sydney artist Nicholas Mangan; 2019 The National: New Australian Art artists Nicholas Folland, James Nguyen and nova Milne; 2020 Adelaide Studios Artist Residency recipient and Madison Bycroft; and Adelaide Film Festival and Samstag Museum of Art 2020 Art & Moving Image Commission recipient Soda Jerk.

    For the full list, visit https://unisa.edu.au/connect/samstag-museum/scholarship/

    Samstag scholarships are awarded by the University of South Australia on behalf of the Trustee of the estate of Gordon Samstag, the celebrated American artist who taught at the South Australian School of Art in the 1960s.

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    For further information, to arrange interviews or high-resolution images, contact:
    Erica Green: M: +61 438 821 239 E: Erica.Green@unisa.edu.au

    Media contact: Annabel Mansfield M: +61 479 182 489 E: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology organizes its Job Fair 2024- “Yuva Rojgar Mela” in Delhi

    Source: Government of India (2)

     National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology organizes its Job Fair 2024- “Yuva Rojgar Mela” in Delhi

    16 companies shortlisted candidates against 1000+ job openings in their respective companies

    Posted On: 29 SEP 2024 7:03PM by PIB Delhi

    National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), an Autonomous Scientific Society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, organized NIELIT Delhi’s Job Fair – “Yuva Rojgar Mela” on 29thof September, 2024. The job fair was held at NIELIT Delhi’s office at Pankha Road, Janakpuri, New Delhi for facilitating placement opportunities for NIELIT’s alumni and students. 16 companies shortlisted candidates against 1000+ job openings in their respective companies. More than 1300 candidates registered for the Job Fair.

    Bridging the skill divide

    The Director General, NIELIT and Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, NIELIT Deemed to be University, Dr. Madan Mohan Tripathi graced the event as the Chief Guest who was warmly welcomed by Shri. Subhanshu Tiwari, Executive Director, NIELIT Delhi. He inaugurated the event by lighting the inaugural lamp followed by address to the attendees.

    In his inaugural address, Dr. Tripathi highlighted the importance of the job fairs organized by NIELIT across India every year. He said that at least 6000 offer letters were given in the job fairs organized by NIELIT across India last year and the number is set to increase this year. The job fairs empower our skilled students to secure fulfilling careers, contribute to the growth of organizations, and fuel economic progress. He appreciated the efforts of team NIELIT Delhi for successfully organizing the job fair in Delhi. He also acknowledged the companies who participated in the job fair.

    An informative technical session on “Soft Skills – CV Building” was also conducted by Shri. Mohammad Junaid, Assistant Manager, Digital India Corporation, MeitY during the Job Fair for the participants.

    During the event, placement desks were set up for companies, such as, Tech Mahindra, PAYTM, Frankfinn (Shavsi Global Services), Axis Bank, Hinduja Housing Finance, Access Health Care, Card Expertise India Pvt Ltd, Ebix Cash, I Process, PNB Metlife, Siddhi Infonet+Sony, The KhushbooConsulting Partners (Professional Recruitment & Consultant), VCOSMOS, Kaidoko, ShrijiEntertainment, and Ritras Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Kanjhawala.

    National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology

    Over the years, NIELIT has firmly established itself as a premier institution in the field of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology (IECT) and emerging technologies. Its extensive PAN India network includes 52+ Own/Extension Centers, coupled with numerous upcoming centers, and 8000+ training partners. As such, the status of Deemed To Be University under Distinct category has been granted to NIELIT Ropar (Punjab) with 11 constituent units located in Aizawl, Agartala, Aurangabad, Calicut, Gorakhpur, Imphal, Itanagar, Kekri, Kohima, Patna, and Srinagar.  

    Job Fair – ”Yuva Rojgar Mela”

    The Job Fair – ”Yuva Rojgar Mela” represents NIELIT’s unwavering commitment to providing holistic support to its students, including but not limited to their capacity building, fostering skill development, and providing placement support.  NIELIT remains committed to organizing more such Job Fairs in the coming years.

    *****

    Dharmendra Tewari/Kshitij Singha

    (Release ID: 2060142) Visitor Counter : 12

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Antarctic-related activities boost New Zealand’s economy

    Source: Antarctica New Zealand

    Antarctic-related activities based in New Zealand contributed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to the New Zealand economy last year.

    Antarctica New Zealand has released a report that analyses the economic impact of Antarctic-related activities on the Canterbury and New Zealand economies. The biennial report, produced by Lincoln University and supported by the Christchurch Antarctic Office, highlights substantial economic benefits and underscores the strategic importance of Antarctica to New Zealand.

    Key findings reveal that Antarctic-related activities based in New Zealand continue to be a significant economic driver, contributing $229.3 million* to the national economy in 2023.

    The study covers five industry sectors: National Antarctic Programmes, tourism, fishing, education and research and Antarctic heritage. In 2020 and 2021, economic contributions from these sectors were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the figures have now surpassed pre-COVID levels.

    Antarctica New Zealand Acting Chief Executive, Jordy Hendrikx says, as one of only five Antarctic Gateway cities around the world, Christchurch serves as New Zealand’s Antarctic hub.

    “Christchurch has been used as a deployment port to Antarctica for more than a century. It’s an important part of the city’s history. It’s also an important part of the economy, with Antarctic-related activities generating $158.3 million in the region.

    “Being a gateway city is part of our DNA. When the US Airforce Globemasters fly into Christchurch in October for the start of the research season, the whole city comes out to see them fly over,” he says.

    David Tayler, head of the Christchurch Antarctic Office, says the city plays a crucial role in Antarctic operations and its connection with Antarctica is an opportunity for innovation, research and climate awareness.

    “The Antarctic community supports over 3,000 full-time jobs in Canterbury, which delivers significant economic impact. Our gateway status is ingrained in Ōtautahi Christchurch. While our geographic location provides a strategic advantage, it is our network of businesses and world-class infrastructure that truly distinguishes us. State-of-the-art airports, ports and specialised services make us a pivotal hub for National Antarctic Programmes and the expertise and support provided by Christchurch’s Antarctic Network sets us apart globally.”

    More than 800 firms were identified as supplying goods and services to the four National Antarctic Programmes based in Christchurch (New Zealand, United States, Italy and South Korea).

    The report’s findings underscore the critical role of ongoing investment and collaboration in Antarctica, positioning New Zealand as a leader in Antarctic research and environmental stewardship.

    For the full report, please visit the Antarctica New Zealand website: http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/

    * Comparative direct impacts of Antarctic-related Activities in New Zealand in 2023

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Lebanon: the killing of Hassan Nasrallah leaves Hezbollah leaderless and vulnerable

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ori Wertman, Research fellow, Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, University of South Wales

    The assassination of Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike on September 28 is a decisive blow – not only to Hezbollah, but also to Iran, which has lost its greatest ally in the Middle East.

    In recent days, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has risen to its most intense level since the end of the second Lebanon war in the summer of 2006. The day after Hamas’ brutal October 7 terror attack, in which 1,200 Israelis were massacred – many of them civilians murdered in their homes in towns near the Gaza border or at the nearby Nova music festival – Hezbollah opened another front against Israel.

    Hezbollah, which has been designated by the US and UK governments as a terror organisation, was quick to express support and solidarity with Hamas and immediately began launching rockets at civilian and military targets in northern Israel.

    Fearing that Hezbollah might carry out a similar incursion in Galilee, resulting in a massacre of the Jewish civilian population, the Israeli government evacuated roughly 100,000 citizens living near the Lebanese border. These people have now been displaced from their homes for a year.

    Until recently, the fighting between the parties was characterised by a relatively low intensity. Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets and drones at Israeli civilian and military targets. These have mainly been in the north of the country, killing dozens of Israelis since October 2023. The IDF has responded with airstrikes and artillery fire against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including rocket depots and other military infrastructure. But to an extent, the exchanges were seen as being below the level that might escalate into all-out war betweeen Israel and Hezbollah.

    In July, a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 children in a football field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. In response, three days later, Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s most senior commander, the head of its strategic unit, Fuad Shukr, in an airstrike in Beirut.

    The violence has steadily escalated since. On August 25, as Hezbollah was preparing a major rocket attack on the north and centre of Israel, the IDF launched a preemptive strike against Hezbollah missile launchers that were poised to strike at targets within Israel. In mid-September, the Israeli security cabinet announced it had added the return of displaced residents from the cuntry’s north to its war goals.

    Days later, in a highly complex operation thousands of Hezbollah pagers exploded, killing dozens and wounding thousands of Hezbollah militants. The following day Hezbollah’s network of walkie talkies was targeted in the same way. Israel has not claimed responsibility for either of these incidents, but what cannot be denied is that they caused considerable damage to Hezbollah’s command and control.

    Two days after that, on September 20, Shukr’s successor, Ibrahim Akil, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, along with dozens of senior commanders of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.

    Operation Northen Arrows

    Yet all these moves were only the prelude to Operation Northern Arrows, which began on September 23. The Israeli air force attacked 1,600 Hezbollah targets, including thousands of rocket and missile launchers that had been stored among the civilian population throughout Lebanon.

    Hezbollah has responded by firing rockets at Israel, most of which were intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems. It is estimated that Hezbollah had an arsenal of 150,000 rockets, including medium and long-range missiles. Many of these have now been eliminated by Israeli airstrikes. Hezbollah still has precision-guided munitions and drones, but recent Israeli strikes have eliminated much of Hezbollah’s chain of command and severely disrupted its operational equilibrium. The assassination of many of Hezbollah’s senior leadership – and now Nasrallah himself – has all but destroyed the group’s military chain of command.

    So far there has been no sign from Tehran that Iran intends to intervene militarily to help Hezbollah. This must call into question the advantage of acting as one of the country’s most important proxies in the region. In this context, many in Beirut, Damascus, Sana’a and Gaza are surely asking themselves now what is the advantage of being Iran’s emissaries, if the latter leaves them alone to face Israel.

    Ceasefire unlikely?

    As a result, the main hope for Hezbollah – and Lebanon itself, into whose economic and political structures Hezbollah has become so firmly embedded – is that the international community will impose a ceasefire on both sides in an effort to avoid this becoming a wider regional conflict. The US and France have pushed for a 21-day ceasefire. But it seems that, like its fight against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is determined to continue the military operation against Hezbollah.

    Now the world is waiting to see whether Israel will send troops into in Lebanon. Already thousands of citizens in the south of the country have fled north. But despite a statement from IDF chief of staff, Maj Gen Herzi Halevi, that the IDF is preparing to launch a ground operation in Lebanon, it is not at all certain that Israel wants to return to Lebanese soil.

    In May 2000 the IDF pulled back from southern Lebanon to the international border after 18 years of occupation and in 2006 it did the same in compliance with UN security council resolution 1701.

    There’s also a good chance that, given the success of its campaign of airstrikes in neutralising the military threat from Hezbollah, an actual ground invasion may be postponed for now.

    The US and other countries, including the UK, have urged Israel to put a hold on any invasion plans and agree a ceasefire. It presents the Biden administration, which is keenly aware of the need to keep both Jewish and Arab voters onside, with a tough choice. But it is hard to believe that Biden, especially during an election campaign and in light of the special relationship between the countries, will put pressure on Jerusalem to stop its fight against Iranian proxy terrorism.

    Ori Wertman 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. Lebanon: the killing of Hassan Nasrallah leaves Hezbollah leaderless and vulnerable – https://theconversation.com/lebanon-the-killing-of-hassan-nasrallah-leaves-hezbollah-leaderless-and-vulnerable-239992

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU team wins opening match of NSHL 2024/2025 season

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    On September 29, 2024, the opening match of the new season of the National Student Hockey League took place at the Sokolniki Ice Palace.

    The league was founded in 2022. All teams are divided by territorial principle into divisions: “Center”, “East”, “West”, “South” and “North”. In the 2024/2025 season, 64 student hockey teams are participating. This is eight times more than two years ago and twice as many as last season.

    The opening match was played by the team of the State University of Management and the team of the Russian University of Transport “Skorostnaya Mashina”. Vice-Rector of the State University of Management Vitaly Lapshenkov gave a welcoming speech to the teams and performed a symbolic throwing.

    The start of the season went just great for the future managers, they won with a score of 10:5!

    Congratulations to our guys and wish them a skating rink this season. We will follow and root for them.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 09/29/2024

    National Collegiate Hockey League.

    The league was founded in 2022….

    ” data-yashareImage=”https://guu.ru/wp-content/uploads/НСХЛ-1.jpg” data-yashareLink=”https://guu.ru/%d1%81%d0%b1%d0%be%d1%80%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%8f-%d0%b3%d1%83%d1%83-%d0%bf%d0%be%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%b4%d0%b8%d0%bb%d0%b0-%d0%b2-%d0%bc%d0%b0%d1%82%d1%87%d0%b5-%d0%be%d1%82%d0%ba%d1%80%d1%8b%d1%82%d0%b8%d0%b8/”>

    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.

    GUU team wins opening match of NSHL 2024/2025 season

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Lebanon’s national identity is exploited to justify violence against it

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Rayyan Dabbous, PhD student, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto

    The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah confirmed on Sept. 28 that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut a day earlier. Nasrallah is the highest-ranking Hezbollah leader to have been killed since Israel began targeting the group’s leadership.

    Several Hezbollah commanders, and hundreds of Lebanese civilians, have been killed in Israeli attacks in recent weeks. On Sept. 20, Israel launched its heaviest aerial bombing on Lebanon since 2006, killing hundreds of civilians. The attack followed the Sept. 17 coordinated explosions of hand-held wireless pagers allegedly carried by members of Hezbollah (but still also carried by many medical professionals). That assault maimed thousands of Lebanese people.

    Israel says the violent strikes were necessary to preemptively thwart Hezbollah from launching rockets into northern Israel. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Lebanese population: “Israel’s war is not with you, it’s with Hezbollah,” which has long “been using you as human shields.”

    The Telegraph in the United Kingdom proclaimed Israel’s war against Hezbollah as a brave move on behalf of the “West” to “uphold civilization.” Other news outlets, both western and Israeli, also framed the conflict as one for civilization. They also mentioned religion.

    Wars have always required these types of false dichotomies: Christian and Muslim, civilization and barbarism, West and East.

    Generations of Orientalists from the “West” constructed the “East” as a place with distinct cultural identities and values, and one over which the West must triumph.

    The way East and West has historically been framed in Lebanon can help us understand the way the conflict there is being discussed in the Global North. To do this, I briefly outline three time periods to attempt to shed some light on how this framing can be used to justify violence against the nation.

    1. Premodern times: Caught between two empires

    Lebanon has frequently been a battleground between West and East. For aristocracies and clergies in France and Italy, Lebanon first became part of the East under Byzantium (the eastern half of the Roman empire). Later, Lebanon became part of the Islamic and Ottoman empires. It was not religion that defined these West/East splits but aspirations for wealth, resources, power and hegemony.

    Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, in which modern-day Lebanon was situated, economic and political power remained in Christian hands but was transferred from Rome to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). After eight major waves of Crusades, notorious for their pillages and “collateral damage” even in Christian cities, Western observers came to regard the East as a “treasure” that had been regained.

    In his seminal book Europe and Islam, first published in French in 1978, pre-eminent Tunisian historian Hichem Djaït showed how Christianity in Europe was, from its inception, a political project aimed to both unite against and catch up to Islamic cultural, scientific and economic advancement.

    The East, Djaït emphasized, was regarded as a deformed West, a “parvenu” and “a primitive newcomer” whose civilization was an aberration in Medieval Christian eyes. They regarded Islam’s prophet Muhammad as an internal traitor rather than an external threat. For example, in Dante’s Inferno Muhammad is punished for contributing to the West/East schism.

    Western interest in the East was also, for Djaït, rooted in an envy for how diverse groups co-existed for centuries in the east but not the west.

    II. Caught within colonial expansion

    Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, Lebanon came under French rule. By this point, the Ottomans had been regarded as “the Sick Man of Europe” since at least the mid-19th century. Global powers exploited this characterization of Lebanon and were activated to send missionaries, build missionary schools, and revamp ports. The French also intervened with the work of sectarian groups. Therefore, especially in the 1920s, the French led a rapid modernizing of Lebanon, characterized as a trade-off between West and East.

    The Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous dramatized this trade-off in The Drunken Days in a dialogue between an old Lebanese man in his Eastern headwear, the tarbush, and a young Lebanese woman urging him to wear a Western hat:

    Him: The tarbush is a symbol of religion.

    Her: The hat is a symbol of urbanization.

    Him: The tarbush indicates devotion.

    Her: The hat indicates civilization.

    Lebanese intellectuals at the time were aware of this dangerous equation of West with civilization. Palestinian-Lebanese writer May Ziadeh actively worked in the 1920s and 1930s to dispel the false dichotomy between West and East. She encouraged her students to “learn Western languages without forgetting their own” and she believed that “not a single nation in the world has been able to create itself without the input of others.”

    Ziadeh belonged to a time referred to as the Nahda, or Arab Renaissance, when Arab writers wanted to revive the human flourishing once experienced in the medieval Islamic world. These intellectuals favoured a balanced approach between West and East and recognized the modernity the West ushered as a continuation of Eastern achievements.

    III. 1975-2005: Caught between civil war and 9/11

    Whereas questioning the West/East divide united a previous generation of Lebanese Christians and Muslims, the generations that went through the Lebanese civil war (1975–1990) affirmed that divide.

    Western media capitalized on the newly divided allegiances of Lebanese Christians and framed them as torn in a West/East clash.

    Some Lebanese political leaders also promoted this narrative and appealed to the West for support. Meanwhile, the emergence of Hezbollah after Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon became synonymous with a resistance against the West.

    But this narrative obscures the realities of how and why these divides were created. These divides are created by Lebanese groups, including Hezbollah, as well as the West. They boosted, hindered and created each other. For example, in 2018, western media ignored claims of election fraud in Lebanon and instead sensationalized Hezbollah’s victory.

    In a 1985 piece for the London Review of Books, Edward Said, author of Orientalism, cautioned against seeing Beirut as the Paris of the Middle East and Lebanon as its Switzerland, comparisons popular since the 1960s. Such comparisons have been recently recirculated and mourned by both Israeli and Lebanese media.

    For Said, this representation of Lebanon threatened solidarity movements with Arabs and Palestinians by characterizing it as something fundamentally different from the rest of the Arab world.

    But two years after the end of the Lebanese Civil War, American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington promoted the simplistic logic Said warned against and declared a clash of civilizations. The aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks saw a resurgence of Huntington’s theory. It revived in the West the Medieval Christian view of the East, and a desire to act as crusaders who export human rights and defend the world against terrorists.

    We need to once and for all dispose of the West and the East as a clash of civilizations. Militaries and militias should not have to race to eliminate either side. They should instead realize that their fate is as intertwined as their past, and that only dialogue can solve conflict.

    Rayyan Dabbous 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. How Lebanon’s national identity is exploited to justify violence against it – https://theconversation.com/how-lebanons-national-identity-is-exploited-to-justify-violence-against-it-239697

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Only the United States benefits from renegotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Blayne Haggart, Associate Professor of Political Science, Brock University

    There is a ticking time bomb at the heart of the North American economy. And this is the year that it begins to detonate.

    Over the past several months, Canadian businesses and analysts have been pressuring the federal government to better prepare for the mandated renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) that regulates trade and economic activity among the three North American countries.

    Article 34.7 of the pact effectively commits the three countries to undertake a review of the new agreement every six years, in 2026 (the agreement went into force in 2020).

    This might not seem like a big deal. Canada has negotiated many trade agreements, and a regular review of our most important trade agreement may seem reasonable.

    But CUSMA is no regular trade agreement, in large part because this highly unusual review process undermines the very security and stability that trade agreements are supposed to provide.



    Read more:
    The winners and losers in the new NAFTA

    Eviscerating Canadian policy autonomy

    In 2018, in the depths of the first Donald Trump presidency, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that had governed continental economic relations since 1994.

    The agreement — called the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the U.S., the Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC) in Mexico and CUSMA in Canada — was largely greeted with relief throughout Canada.

    Negotiated under duress with a Trump administration that was threatening to tear up NAFTA, the three governments seemingly preserved a rules-based approach to managing economic relations with our most important trading partner. Free trade had been saved.

    But there was a twist due to the deal’s requirement that the three countries review the pact every six years.

    Trade agreements are bigger than their specific rules. Their real importance lies in how they provide the smaller partners with certainty and protection from the coercive power of the larger partners.

    The promise of greater market access, and the threat of restricting this access, has always been the American trump card in its international economic relations. American negotiators use this threat/promise to convince partners to adopt, change or eliminate policies in the U.S. interest.

    But once an agreement is signed, the U.S. loses this leverage — which is good for smaller countries’ policy autonomy.

    American interests

    As I detail in my 2014 book Copyfight: The Global Politics of Digital Copyright Reform, Canada demonstrated significant policy autonomy in its 2000s-era copyright reforms. In contrast, Mexico’s 1990s-era digital copyright reforms related to software reflected American interests.



    Read more:
    More means less: Extended copyright benefits the corporate few, not the public

    The difference? Canada’s negotiations took place after NAFTA had been negotiated, while Mexico’s reforms were the result of the NAFTA negotiations, when the U.S. was using market access as a negotiating tactic.

    Having a trade agreement with a renegotiation clause is like having no agreement at all because everyone knows that, once renegotiations start, everything is back on the table.

    As I argued in two 2018 articles for The Conversation Canada, the renegotiation requirement significantly reduces smaller countries’ overall policy autonomy. Knowing that renegotiation is on the horizon will mean that the threat of economic blackmail will hang over all policies as they become pawns to be sacrificed to preserve the Holy Grail: access to the U.S. market.



    Read more:
    Make no mistake: The USMCA is an America-first trade deal

    ‘Regulatory chill’

    Knowing that any policy could be effectively targeted by the U.S. means that Canada and Mexico run the risk of widespread regulatory chill: governments, anticipating retaliation, become excessively cautious in their regulatory efforts.

    These chilling effects can already be seen, two years away from the start of formal renegotiations. In early September, the Business Council of Canada called on the federal government to revoke its new three per cent digital services tax on foreign tech giants for fear it might “imperil” the upcoming talks.

    The implications of the CUSMA time bomb are beginning to be understood in Canada.

    In a recent editorial, The Globe and Mail argued that Canada should make some enormous policy concessions — eliminate the new digital services tax, end the agriculture supply management system and crack down on forced labour in supply chains — in exchange for eliminating regular CUSMA reviews.

    The myth of free trade

    Editorialists are labouring under the belief that free trade is still in play. It’s not.

    Ideologically, the U.S. is no longer the free-trade champion it was.

    More pragmatically, any concessions are highly unlikely to convince the U.S. — regardless of which party is in power — to surrender the most potent weapon it has in its arsenal to pressure its neighbours to adopt its preferred policies. Policy reform, simply put, leads to U.S. market access.

    While the U.S., Canada and Mexico will continue to sign trade and economic agreements, these deals are no longer reliable tools to deliver the certainty and protection enjoyed under NAFTA for three decades prior to 2018. Renegotiated deals will merely restructure Canada’s continental relationship, they won’t preserve Canadian autonomy.

    The 2018 CUSMA didn’t preserve free trade in North America. It signalled its demise and the return of power politics to our most important economic relationship.

    Blayne Haggart has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

    – ref. Only the United States benefits from renegotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal – https://theconversation.com/only-the-united-states-benefits-from-renegotiating-the-canada-u-s-mexico-trade-deal-239170

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –