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new By all accounts, the call, which took place over Zoom, was largely cordial. (An exception: At one point, one of the participants told Chew, “I don’t believe I can trust you,” according to someone who was at the meeting). But the group of techies were strong-worded in their concerns over the type and volume of war-related content prevalent on TikTok, and what impact it could have on stoking more antisemitism. The main gist: The tech executives wanted to understand how content on TikTok could lean so heavily pro-Palestinian (the group contends that even in Israel, the ratio of engagement with the top pro-Palestine hashtags to the top pro-Israel hashtags are 2:1). They also wanted to push TikTok to reexamine its community guidelines, arguing that even some posts that aren’t technically in violation of current rules could be leading to harm by spreading highly biased and spurious information that causes users to form antisemitic views or commit antisemitic acts. — Fortune, 8h ago
new A number of countries of focus in our Women’s Rights After War project, like Rwanda, are lauded (to different degrees) as international examples for their gender-progressive legislation instituted as an antidote to future conflict. However, are these laws as progressive as they claim to be? Instead of just looking at the substantive issues around the implementation of women’s rights reforms in war affected counties, through this talk, I question the reforms themselves. I question the framing of the laws and consider whether they are as progressive as claimed. I argue that through their very wording, they package a specific version of rights and the language used in the laws entrench existing inequalities, codify, and structure harm in a way that then becomes reinforced through their implementation. — harvard.edu, 18h ago
new Sadly, I am unable to be present with you, as I had greatly desired. Even so, I am with you, because time is short. I am with you because now more than ever, the future of us all depends on the present that we now choose. I am with you because the destruction of the environment is an offence against God, a sin that is not only personal but also structural, one that greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable in our midst and threatens to unleash a conflict between generations. I am with you because climate change is “a global social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life” (Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, 3). I am with you to raise the question which we must answer now: Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death? To all of you I make this heartfelt appeal: Let us choose life! Let us choose the future! May we be attentive to the cry of the earth, may we hear the plea of the poor, may we be sensitive to the hopes of the young and the dreams of children! We have a grave responsibility: to ensure that they not be denied their future. — Watts Up With That? • The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change, 21h ago
new The suggestion is that relational actors do not seek to merge into a homogenous international society, but aspire for the dialogical management of their differences through interaction so that these do not lead “to conflict and disorder, but on the contrary, can add up to stability” (Qin 2016, 39). Qin’s proposition is that in such a dynamic context power itself is relational. Rather than a material possession or an equation of capabilities, power becomes a contingent reflection of intersubjective and circumstantial relational practices. As a result, the capacity to act transpires as a function of the ongoing ability of social actors to adapt, manage, and navigate the multiplicity of flows animating their “relational circles; an actor is more powerful because she has larger relational circles, more intimate and important others in these circles, and more social prestige because of these circles” (Qin 2016, 42). In this setting, both “relations are power” and “relations always influence [enlarge and/ or constrain] the exercise of power” (Qin 2009, 16-18). — E-International Relations, 1d ago
new Intense, ongoing stress can, at any age, contribute to disease, from psychiatric disorders to obesity and diabetes. But in the first years of life – and also in the womb – such stress can have dramatic ramifications. “The wars in Israel, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and the unprecedented global refugee crisis that is caused, in part, by climate change, alongside an increased understanding of the long-term harm caused by exposure to war and violence at a young age – all these highlight the need for better rehabilitation capabilities,” says Chen. “Our new study identifies a key brain mechanism that is especially sensitive to childhood trauma. But the most exciting part is the prospect of using the plasticity of the young brain to help it recover, avoiding the toll this trauma can exact in adulthood.”... — Weizmann Wonder Wander - News, Features and Discoveries from the Weizmann Institute of Science, 1d ago
new The key risk for Israel – and implicitly the US – is overreach. There is a fine line between display of strength and overreach. It is the task of all legitimate and influential powers to discern and walk that line. Under-projection of strength risks destabilizing allies and regional balances of power while emboldening malicious actors. Over-projection risks the alienation of allies and potential partners in the long run. It is clear to the author that giving free rein to Israeli suppression of Hamas at the cost of Palestinian civilians and the lack of real concern shown for the Palestinian issue will fuel growing dissatisfaction in the Arab world. To establish the foundation for mutually satisfying future cooperation and the long-term stability of the region, the US must take decisive action to restore the delicate balance of interests that make up the complex, heterogeneous, and dynamic Middle East. — Modern Diplomacy, 1d ago

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new Abroad is a large place, but ultimately, Russian propaganda is effective wherever it can latch onto existing prejudices, hopes, fears, and beliefs. The strength of Russian propaganda — indeed, any propaganda — is in finding out which messages work to stir up emotions and shut down critical faculties in a given audience, and then to make those same messages work for you. That is what the Kremlin did at home, playing on historical grievances, traumas, and a sense of deep pride in the great Soviet victory of 1945. And that is a similar approach abroad, albeit since Russian interests are defined differently there than at home, they are of course applied in different ways. So we must not overestimate the power of Russian propaganda in the West, or elsewhere. In Russia, the Kremlin can control the platforms and threaten citizens with persecution in a way it simply cannot replicate in the West, for example. Which means it can only bolster certain messages artificially and play on organic resonance of certain topics that would lead to political outcomes that play in the Kremlin’s favour (e.g. Trump as an anti-elite crusader who should be President; the UK should leave the EU; Scotland should leave the UK; France is a neo-colonial force). But none of these narratives are powerful because of Russia, they are powerful because they resonate with audiences, and then Russia tries to use, or harness, or increase this power for its own interests. If we want to understand Trump, Brexit, or African disdain for the West, then we would do best to listen to the often legitimate complaints of those who align with these positions, rather than seek to delegitimise them, and remove their agency, by ascribing these political positions as Putinist. — E-International Relations, 1d ago
new Jamaicans who live below the poverty line may routinely report that “war a gwaan” or that deadly conflicts between rivals are disrupting community life. People from the wider society often look at these disturbances from a distance, unable to comprehend how people who grew up together in relatively small spaces can be killing each other over turf, drugs, guns or the dubious distinction of “running the place”. Meanwhile, the State and its security apparatus implement states of emergency, the infamous SOEs, as the Band-Aid measure to future-proof the problem. — jamaica-gleaner.com, 1d ago
new The United Nations is not deaf to examples such as those above and has worked towards improving life for women across the world – and this is the point where the mixed picture becomes clearer. Feminists often harness the platforms available through the United Nations and secure progress that would not be possible without the playing field made available by international organisations. Perhaps the best example of this came in October 2000, when the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 – a landmark in emphasising the value of equal participation of women, as well as their increasing involvement in the promotion and maintenance of peace and security. Furthermore, it recognised the disproportionate impact of conflict on women. The United Nations subsequently created several specialised groups, such as the Task Force on Women Peace and Security, as well as the Task Force on Violence Against Women, to uphold its commitment to the protection of women’s rights. Additionally, the United Nations has also provided women in impoverished countries with more access to resources and opportunities they would otherwise not have, for example through initiatives such as the UN Girls’ Education Initiative. Further, a large number of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (explored further in chapters 17 and 18) target issues pivotal to women in ways that are designed to be more nuanced in order to overcome some of the ineffective applications of prior efforts which tended to help some women more than others. — E-International Relations, 2d ago
Watts Up With That? • The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change, 21h ago
new Communist Pope: Global Warming is because of Greedy Nationalists • Watts Up With That?
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new Relational IR Theories with Sinophone Characteristics
Internet Policy Review, 3d ago
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new The chaos inside OpenAI – Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and existential risk explained
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AI and Emotion Recognition in Armed Conflicts: Balancing Privacy and Military Objectives Although with certain possible variations, both LEAs and armed forces must respect IHL and IHRL in the context of armed conflicts. In this field, emotion recognition-based intelligence gathering involves several considerations. With in mind what has been presented so far in terms of possible interferences with IHRL, the fact that IHL does not explicitly address privacy rights as the former is worth highlighting. Only in a few instances, certain provisions such as Arts 27 of the Geneva Convention (IV), 75 AP I, or 14 of the Geneva Convention (III) mention formulations somehow connected to the protection of “honour and family rights”, which partly resemble those IHRL grants to the protection of the “right to private and family life”. More specific to data protection are then those views considering the protection IHL grants to “medical services” extendable to both medical and other kinds of data. On this point, the fact that biometric-derived data are increasingly utilised in health assessments, e.g. to predict the risk of stroke, seems of particular relevance. Similar reflections might more easily bring the association of sensitive biometric-based data to the discipline concerning the protection of medical records and data. Having just simply sketched a few entry points on privacy and armed conflicts, there might be further reasons to consider that privacy concerns should be taken more into account when at war. And these relate to the effects that extensive and intrusive surveillance practices can have on civilians and local populations affected by a conflict. In this sense, possible interferences with privacy rights should also be part of the “legal review” Article 36 AP I requires for the introduction of new weapons, means, or methods of warfare. ERT could be considered as an equipment/system ‘used to facilitate military operations’ – i.e. a means of warfare, whose compatibility with ‘any […] rule of international law’ has to be verified. However, leaving aside these issues for a moment, other reasons could instead justify the deployment of ERT on the battlefield. As suggested by cinematographic advertising videos on advanced Unmanned Vehicles (UVs), the combination of computer vision and a broad array of sensors allows efficiencies in various tasks performed by armed forces. The deployment of UVs equipped with tools capable of analysing the context of a given operational environment, thanks to the detection of human-to-human interactions and other bodily cues, could help in labelling ambiguous situations as impracticable for an attack due to the significant presence of civilians, or simply as “not dangerous”. By way of illustration, in the aftermath of an explosion in an urban theatre of war, the recourse to ERT could allow the label of a group of people running on a street as “frightened civilians”, instead of having them erroneously considered as “an incoming threat”. In the near-future, similar tools could provide valuable help in respecting the basic principles governing the law of armed conflicts. The reference is to the distinction between legitimate military targets and protected person, the principle of proportionality, and that of precautions. If it is true that the protection afforded to civilians is not “absolute” in the sense that civilian casualties are tolerated when proportionate to considerations on the military advantage pursued by a certain action, advanced forms of “emotional intelligence” could catalyse adherence to IHL provisions. Commanders could better perform their obligations of doing ‘everything feasible’ to ‘verity that the objectives to be attacked are not’ subjects protected under IHL, by choosing ‘means and methods of attack with a view to avoiding, and in any event minimi[s]ing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians […]’. The fact remains that the deployment of instruments based on the processing of biometric and biometric-based data would imply significant interferences and possible violations of privacy rights. In addition, not always the specific characteristic of a battlefield would allow commanders to deploy avant-grade devices prior to an attack – this aligns with those interpretations of Article 57 AP I, which see in the expression ‘everything feasible’ a context-dependent and variable due diligence obligation. Most importantly, all that preceded took – once again – for granted the reliability of such instruments, something that, given the implications their deployment could give rise to, ought not to be underestimated. Taking “Emotional Security” Seriously: Conclusions? The use of ERT and similar tools in law enforcement and military operations raises complex legal and ethical issues. Balancing the need for public safety and security with the protection of human rights is crucial in determining appropriate modalities for the legitimate design and deployment of these technologies. Privacy rights must be respected, and potential discriminatory and chilling effects should be carefully considered and prevented. Similarly, in armed conflicts, privacy concerns and the safety of civilians should be prioritised by ensuring compliance with IHL and IHRL. Yet, in the context of military operations the possibility of these tools catalysing adherence to IHL to protect human lives and prevent suffering might override some IHRL considerations. As these technologies continue to advance, to have policymakers, academia, and society as a whole engaged in discussions to establish comprehensive frameworks that uphold human rights while harnessing the potential benefits of ERT seems essential. Currently, even more basic biometric identification systems, such as Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), raise significant concerns – irrespective of their use in peace or wartime. — Opinio Juris, 20d ago
With an understanding that a priori just war theory has some explanatory power, albeit limited in the cases of non-westernized worldview countries, relationality can assist in filling in the postulated gaps in the theory when applied as a heuristic. Within the Aquinas basis of the just war theory model, there are several places within which these proposed ‘relational devices or qualifiers’ might be inserted to assist in the fine-tuning of the heuristic. The Ivorian and Mali example serves as a useful backdrop to highlight these potential qualifiers. Within the characteristic of lawful authority, one should not just view the conflict through constitutional or international authority to wage war, but also include the relationship that the government has with its own populace and with the countries surrounding it. The concept of community being a widespread ideal in SSWA provides a limiting aspect to the authority one country has to wage war on another. The particular interpretations of sovereignty must also be taken into account. Just cause analysis may be assisted by including historical rationalization for warfare versus merely looking at Westernized views and philosophies of morality. Right intention and right means also benefit from caveats such as the community aspect, good human relations, sense of the sacred, and several other SSWA worldview tropes mentioned above. These final two have more explanatory power within conflict (Jus in Bello), and as such cannot really be identified within the case study of the paper. However, adding this region and even country-specific qualifiers will greatly assist in the explanatory power of the model when utilizing it outside of Western states (such as Russia and Ukraine). Further, as a nod towards implications for future research on the utilization of these qualifiers, the impact of colonization on how the states formed and how they function in SSWA should not be discounted. Although a cogent discussion within the complex sovereignty variables mentioned at the onset, the potential impacts of colonization are better applied within these country-specific qualifiers. As is widely known, colonization disrupted the paths socio-political path of SSWA by establishing the states themselves as they are now seen. Without these borders being established at the Berlin Conference of 1884, the issues of sovereignty might not have arisen as the states could have potentially taken different forms. Cursory impacts on socio-political worldviews might be identified as push and pull factors between attempts by the states to develop and maintain their own definitions of statehood that are tied to past narratives and impact contemporary forms of sovereignty concepts as well as their need to work within the westernized state system. For the latter, the impacts of colonization provide for some familiar mechanisms of state, albeit not without conflict with contemporary identity and sovereignty efforts. Indeed, intertwining aspects of the westernization of the SSWA states into the generalized model of state interactions proposed above certainly assists in the application of a relational mode of thinking within the utilization of just war theory in sub-Saharan West Africa. — E-International Relations, 28d ago
...1. Optus is experiencing a very wide outage in mobile communications services, and this is having a tremendous negative impact on many people and businesses -- as these kinds of events almost always do. 2. It is not until these services fail, that we are suddenly reminded of the fragility of many of our modern systems. For example, the inability of folks to pay for services at shops, and thus for those shops to effectively trade. 3. In the past, the work-around was to use cash. But following the COVID pandemic, many people have switched to using non-cash payment methods, whether cards or their digital equivalents on their phones. 4. But all those methods rely on the mobile communications networks to function: The EFTPOS machines in most stores are connected via the mobile phone network, for example. 5. Often these failures are not due to the "phone towers breaking down", but rather, that the back-end billing systems which are very complex are often the cause. 6. If the mobile network operators configured their networks to "fail permissive" rather than a "fail prohibit" mode for basic telephone calls, SMS messages and mobile internet, then many of these events would have greatly reduced impact, as the typical things that people are trying to do, would simply be allowed. 7. This concept of "fail permissive" actually makes sense socially and from a civil liability perspective: You are paying for a service, which is otherwise being interrupted. The carrier should take the (very small risk) of increased cost for themselves by allowing these services to continue whenever possible, rather than causing massive costs on society -- and stress due to inability to contact loved ones etc, including potentially up to unnecessary injury or death due to the inability to access timely medical care, where 000 is not the optimum course of action. 8. Moments like this also give us pause to consider the horrors of living in conflict zones where civilian communications is purposely denied by combatant parties. In theory, the Gevena Convention gives some protection against targeting civilian infrastructure, including communications infrastructure, however, this is very frequently ignored by all sides due to the outsized impact that communications has on the ability to wage war. 9. Further, it reminds us of the challenges that we face during natural disasters, where for example, mobile towers isolated from the rest of the network are not typically configured to allow calls to other phones on the same tower. 10. These omissions by the mobile network operators are because there is no immediate financial incentive to do so. For example, Optus is unlikely to face any significant financial penalties for today's outage compared with the cost to society of the outage. Similarly, the mobile network operators are not mandated to maintain "within cell" communications during disasters, so will not invest in the means to facilitate this. 11. Also, some telecommunications laws make this more difficult to do, such as maintaining compliance with any legally authorised phone taps, when a tower isolates from the rest of the network. However, this is in fact quite easy to solve technically, but again, requires the mobile network operators to have an incentive to implement it. 12. For regional and remote areas the impacts are particularly heightened due to the cost of the alternatives to mobile communications -- the distances that have to be traversed to check on loved ones instead of calling them, or to get to the nearest ATM or bank branch to withdraw cash or make necessary transactions (assuming of course that the bank or ATM aren't also dependent on the mobile network) are much greater than in the city. 13. All of this is part of the broader issue of the fragility of modern society: We have so optimised everything, that everything is now dependent on everything else, and any one failure can cause cascading failures -- that extend well beyond not being able to pay for your smashed avocado toast this morning. Australia would do well to look at every possible means to increase the resilience of our communications networks, as well as other inter-related systems, such as the electricity grid and water supply systems. — Scimex, 26d ago
At the heart of many workplace challenges lies the natural tendency for individuals to prioritize their own needs over the goals, objectives and obstacles of other team members. This self-centered focus can hinder collaboration, prevent teamwork and serve as a detriment to productivity. Common examples of this include emailing colleagues with last-minute requests, expecting them to drop everything to accommodate it, or finding allies in conflicts to justify one’s own stance in a disagreement. — theHRDIRECTOR, 13d ago
Defacing: Attackers often look to deface websites, social media accounts, and digital platforms. They aim to hack the website and convey political messages and ideologies. These attacks are usually done through an SQL injection in which the hacker exploits vulnerabilities in a website’s input fields to manipulate the website’s database. By injecting carefully-crafted SQL queries, an attacker can bypass security measures and gain unauthorized access. This form of attack lets the hacker retrieve confidential user credentials, or take control of the website and deface it. Although these appear to be major incidents, they are not likely to offer the hacker any sensitive data or information because sensitive records are usually not stored on a public-facing website. Usually these credentials are specifically for one area of the website’s administrative panel and, as long as credentials are not reused or shared to access other parts of the network, there’s a lower risk of a serious data breach.The use of cyberwarfare tactics underscores and defines a new reality of conflicts in the digital age and highlights the importance of addressing these cybersecurity challenges. There are no rules in cyberwarfare, which means attackers consider all types of data fair game and valuable targets. Knowing the methods and tactics of cyberwarfare can help protect people, businesses, and government entities. There has never been a more important time for companies to invest in cyber security, encrypt data, and identify vulnerabilities before bad actors exploit them. — SC Media, 28d ago
The geopolitical landscape in the Middle East is shifting in the aftermath of Hamas’ bloody attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s massive retaliatory measures in Gaza. The situation is akin to the consequences of the Yom Kippur war in 1973 when politico-military assumptions were broken and the status quo proved to be very unstable. In recent years the Palestinian issue was portrayed by many within and outside of the Middle East less relevant than it had been in the past. The principled position of peacemaking of the Arab-Israeli conflict—"Land for Peace” under the aegis of two key UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338 has been sidelined for “Peace for Peace” or “Economic Peace,” as evidenced by the Abraham Accords and subsequent efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Arab countries without fully addressing the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These approaches served the interests of those in Israel that did not want to engage in any peace negotiations with the Palestinians that entailed territorial compromises in the occupied West Bank. This is certainly the case for the current right-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Netanyahu which includes extreme ethno-nationalist and messianic members who believe that the biblical land of Israel (Judea and Samaria) should never be ceded in any peace agreement. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories is in it 56th year. Indeed, the prospect for a Two State Solution (TSS) whereby there would be an independent and sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security next to the state of Israel has eroded each year with the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. These settlements are illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Today, there is the argument that the reality resembles a "One State Solution” with unequal rights between the Israelis and Palestinians, which is a form of apartheid. The Palestinian issue is an existential challenge to the state of Israel. If Israel wants to preserve its identity as a “Democratic Jewish State,” it must end the occupation through a negotiated TSS. There are approximately over 7 million Israeli Jews and 7 million Palestinian Arabs between the Jordan River and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Neither one or the other is going anywhere else. Under a One State Solution Israel will lose either its Jewish identity because of the stronger demographic growth factors on the Palestinian side, or its democratic nature because of unequal rights between Arabs and Jews. Israel must decide whether it is to be the State of Israel or the State of Judea and Samaria. What the October 7th attack brought to the fore is that the Palestinian issue will not go away without continued bloodshed, wars and regional instability giving rise to wider conflicts and enhancing the prospects of extremist groups resorting to terrorism. No one can predict the evolution of the war in Gaza and whether or not it will expand regionally, but it will end and the question is what happens the day after. Israel’s policy of deterrence against Hamas has failed. There has also been an intelligence and military failure with Israel’s population in the south undefended. According to some Israeli media reports, IDF units were diverted to the West Bank to deal with the unrest and incidents caused mainly by the Israeli settlers there. Hamas must also have calculated in launching the October 7th attacks that the Israeli government was diverted by the anti-government demonstrations and major divisions in Israeli society. There was also the factor of the reported forward thrust of normalization between Arab states and Israel, especially Saudi Arabia, which was perceived to be against the Palestinian cause and the interests of Iran. In addition, there is the religious factor underlying Hamas’s identity as an Islamist party. Hamas called its October 7th attack the “Al Aqsa Flood.” Al Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam and religious Israeli groups have been pushing the limits of the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where Al Aqsa is located, thereby raising Arab-Israeli tensions. Under the doctrine of self-defense, Israel is determined to do everything possible to defeat Hamas in the wake of October 7th which resulted in the killing, wounding and hostage-taking of many of its citizens. The Israeli military operations in Gaza are taking a huge toll in the life and limb of the Palestinian population and have created a major humanitarian crisis. When this tragic situation has exhausted itself, the question arises what happens the day after. It would be a major mistake to return to anything resembling the status quo ante. 56 years of occupation have taken too much of a toll on Israelis and Arabs alike. When I was the United States ambassador to Israel in 1994 then Prime Minister Rabin told me there is no military solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, only a political solution which he pursued valiantly at the cost of his life. Whereas the Yom Kippur War in 1973 led to the Camp David Accords and peace treaty brokered by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and with President Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Begin of Israel, there is a possibility that October 7th 2023 can be another catalyst to make peace. To do so there would have to be elections for a new government in Israel and a national consensus to make peace with the Palestinians. There have been increasing calls for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resignation. There would also have to be a restructuring of the ossified Palestinian Authority and the PLO with elections to bring forward a credible leadership representing all the Palestinians that would be able to negotiate peace with Israel. There will also have to be strong political determination and demonstrable leadership in the region and in major capitals, especially in Washington, to help broker a peace agreement. It is critical that a political horizon or framework of principles be outlined that provides a pathway toward a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such frameworks have been presented in the past and would enhance the success of peacemaking with Terms of Reference for an acceptable end state for both parties. These are high barriers to overcome but they are not insurmountable. It has been accomplished in the past with the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the Madrid Peace Conference, and the subsequent peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. To do otherwise is to relegate the people of the region to continued bloodshed, suffering, and the loss of hope which will result in regional instability, extremism, and terrorism. Indeed, peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will undercut the geopolitical threat of Iran and its regional proxies, such as Hezbollah and other extremist groups that exploit the Palestinian issue for their own political ends. What is required to address this critical challenge is a renewed sense of strategic direction. Leadership, competence and strong political will on all sides must be demonstrated to address the core issues of this conflict and to make peace. The stakes are too high to do less. Statements and views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by Harvard University, Harvard Kennedy School, or the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. — Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 24d ago

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new Listening is a very important element in the attainment of authentic reconciliation. Listening in this sense is giving ears and attention to the Holy Spirit and to those seeking reconciliation. This calls for listening to the stories, cries, frustrations, pains, and hurts of everyone concerned. Listening helps resolve conflicts and prevents us from missing very sensitive and important details; and when people are able to deeply listen, the other party is able to feel deeply heard and feels that they are cared about and understood. Remember, allowing those offended to express their hurts and pains does not only heal them but pave the way for true reconciliation. Listening in this context can also involve dialogues, town hall meetings, one on one engagements, and prosecution if necessary. — Liberian Observer, 2d ago
new Bondar: The benefit of earning trust may appear to be immeasurable and intangible, but we have found the opposite to be true. Proactively earning trust requires understanding what it is, what the expectations are to earn from stakeholders and how trusted the organisation is in their eyes. Therefore, quantitative insights are needed to evaluate levels of trust, gaps and opportunities for the organisation internally, externally and in the context of its industry peers and benchmarks. Enterprise trust assessment is based on a 360-degree view of an organisation, evaluating performance across domains, ranging from leadership to customer experience, supply chain resilience to cyber posture, and the increasingly important sustainability and climate credentials. Supporting these domains, are 90-plus drivers of trust – underlying organisational actions – that should be executed with a high degree of competence and good intent. The key takeaway is that trust is tangible, measurable and possible to earn even in times of crisis where trust may have been compromised or lost. — Financier Worldwide, 2d ago
new Ralph Ranalli: So we're talking about artificial intelligence, AI, and particularly generative AIs like ChatGPT, and I was hoping we could start with some of your recent writing and thoughts on AI and democracy. There's a saying in the military that the generals are always fighting the last war—meaning that people in charge have a tendency to focus on solutions to past problems instead of ones to the problems that lie ahead. And you've said that when it comes to how AI may soon transform democracy—for better or for worse—that much of the public conversation about it kind of lacks imagination. The public discourse right now is about deep fakes, foreign actors spreading misinformation, astroturfing with fake generated public opinion. But those are all things we've already got, right, although AI will likely exacerbate those things? You've said that we should be thinking more creatively about what comes next and steering our politics towards the best possible ends even as AI becomes entwined with it. Can you start by just talking about that need for imagination a bit?... — harvard.edu, 2d ago
new Some pissfull verses from Quran. That's why all terrorist are Muslim. They are not wrong they are just following religious book.Qur’an:9:88 “The Messenger and those who believe with him, strive hard and fight with their wealth and lives in Allah’s Cause.” Qur’an:9:5 “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.” Qur’an:9:112 “The Believers fight in Allah’s Cause, they slay and are slain, kill and are killed.” Qur’an:9:29 “Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission.” Ishaq:325 “Muslims, fight in Allah’s Cause. Stand firm and you will prosper. Help the Prophet, obey him, give him your allegiance, and your religion will be victorious.” Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.” Qur’an:8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).” Ishaq:324 “He said, ‘Fight them so that there is no more rebellion, and religion, all of it, is for Allah only. Allah must have no rivals.’” Qur’an:9:14 “Fight them and Allah will punish them by your hands, lay them low, and cover them with shame. He will help you over them.” Ishaq:300 “I am fighting in Allah’s service. This is piety and a good deed. In Allah’s war I do not fear as others should. For this fighting is righteous, true, and good.” Ishaq:587 “Our onslaught will not be a weak faltering affair. We shall fight as long as we live. We will fight until you turn to Islam, humbly seeking refuge. We will fight not caring whom we meet. We will fight whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains. We have mutilated every opponent. We have driven them violently before us at the command of Allah and Islam. We will fight until our religion is established. And we will plunder them, for they must suffer disgrace.” Qur’an:8:65 “O Prophet, urge the faithful to fight. If there are twenty among you with determination they will vanquish two hundred; if there are a hundred then they will slaughter a thousand unbelievers, for the infidels are a people devoid of understanding.” Ishaq:326 “Prophet exhort the believers to fight. If there are twenty good fighters they will defeat two hundred for they are a senseless people. They do not fight with good intentions nor for truth.” Bukhari:V4B52N63 “A man whose face was covered with an iron mask came to the Prophet and said, ‘Allah’s Apostle! Shall I fight or embrace Islam first?’ The Prophet said, ‘Embrace Islam first and then fight.’ So he embraced Islam, and was martyred. Allah’s Apostle said, ‘A Little work, but a great reward.’” Bukhari:V4B53N386 “Our Prophet, the Messenger of our Lord, ordered us to fight you till you worship Allah alone or pay us the Jizyah tribute tax in submission. Our Prophet has informed us that our Lord says: ‘Whoever amongst us is killed as a martyr shall go to Paradise to lead such a luxurious life as he has never seen, and whoever survives shall become your master.’” Muslim:C34B20N4668 “The Messenger said: ‘Anybody who equips a warrior going to fight in the Way of Allah is like one who actually fights. And anybody who looks after his family in his absence is also like one who actually fights.” Qur’an:9:38 “Believers, what is the matter with you, that when you are asked to go forth and fight in Allah’s Cause you cling to the earth? Do you prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? Unless you go forth, He will afflict and punish you with a painful doom, and put others in your place.” Qur’an:9:123 “Fight the unbelievers around you, and let them find harshness in you.” Qur’an:8:72 “Those who accepted Islam and left their homes to fight in Allah’s Cause with their possessions and persons, and those who gave (them) asylum, aid, and shelter, those who harbored them—these are allies of one another. You are not responsible for protecting those who embraced Islam but did not leave their homes [to fight] until they do so.” [Another translation reads:] “You are only called to protect Muslims who fight.” Muslim:C9B1N31 “I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and believe in me (that) I am the Messenger and in all that I have brought.” Bukhari:V9B84N59 “Whoever says this will save his property and life from me.’” Qur’an:8:73 “The unbelieving infidels are allies. Unless you (Muslims) aid each other (fighting as one united block to make Allah’s religion victorious), there will be confusion and mischief. Those who accepted Islam, left their homes to fight in Allah’s Cause (al-Jihad), as well as those who give them asylum, shelter, and aid—these are (all) Believers: for them is pardon and bountiful provision (in Paradise).” Tabari IX:69 “Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in the Cause of Allah. Killing him is a small matter to us.” Qur’an:48:16 “Say (Muhammad) to the wandering desert Arabs who lagged behind: ‘You shall be invited to fight against a people given to war with mighty prowess. You shall fight them until they surrender and submit. If you obey, Allah will grant you a reward, but if you turn back, as you did before, He will punish you with a grievous torture.” Qur’an:48:22 “If the unbelieving infidels fight against you, they will retreat. (Such has been) the practice (approved) of Allah in the past: no change will you find in the ways of Allah.” Qur’an:47:4 “When you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle (fighting Jihad in Allah’s Cause), smite their necks until you overpower them, killing and wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making (them) captives. Thereafter either generosity or ransom (them based upon what benefits Islam) until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam.” Qur’an:47:31 “And We shall try you until We know those among you who are the fighters.” Tabari VI:138 “Those present at the oath of Aqabah had sworn an allegiance to Muhammad. It was a pledge of war against all men. Allah had permitted fighting.” Tabari VI:139 “Allah had given his Messenger permission to fight by revealing the verse ‘And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah.’”... — Blind, 2d ago
new That Napoleon is only a movie doesn’t make it better. There are documented cases of films influencing a policymaker’s decisions to go to war. In 1970, for example, then-U.S. President Richard Nixon repeatedly watched the film Patton during the decision-making process to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia, taking inspiration from the movie general’s willpower and single-minded belief in U.S. military power. One academic study found that popular culture, including fictional films, can frame the way we think about a multitude of issues, and there is no reason to believe that military officers and policymakers are exempt from these effects. Movies can help prevent wars, too. Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan was inspired by the television film The Day After and Tom Clancy’s novel Red Storm Rising to push for nuclear arms control. But if decision-makers and military leaders are prone to fighting the wars of their imagination, then a popular culture that reinforces the idea that wars can be short and decisive may incentivize willingness to look for a quick military solution to a political problem. — Foreign Policy, 2d ago
new The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gave the world a surprise on its first day, Thursday. Delegates from more than 160 countries unanimously agreed to formally establish the Loss and Damage Fund, pledging more than $400 million to support the world's particularly vulnerable countries in their efforts to cope with the loss and damage caused by climate change. This groundbreaking progress has brought much-needed good news to the world, raising confidence and expectations for the outcomes of this conference.The issue of funding has been a focal point in recent UN climate conferences, with prolonged and intense debates surrounding the amount of aid and compensation developed countries should offer for their historical emissions, as well as the ways of raising and distributing the funds. However, the urgency of the severe climate change situation has led to significant achievements. Developed countries have committed to mobilizing $100 billion a year to support climate finance. The establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund was a decision made at COP27 in Egypt in 2022, but its implementation has not been easy. Nonetheless, this time, several developed countries have made pledges toward the fund. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), host country of COP28, committed $100 million, Germany, $100 million, the UK, 40 million pounds (about $50.6 million) and 20 million pounds for other arrangements, Japan, $10 million, and the US, known for its grandstanding on climate issues, only $17.5 million. When it comes to paying, some countries revealed their true face. The amount pledged by the US is meager in comparison with its status as the world's largest economy and the responsibility in addressing climate change it should bear given its highest historical cumulative carbon emissions, leading to criticism from attending delegates and experts who deemed it "disappointing," "shocking," and "embarrassing."However, amid this disappointment, there were heartening developments. When the US once again let the world down at the critical moment, other countries stepped up. On the second day of the climate conference, Friday, the UAE announced $30 billion for a new climate finance fund, aiming to mobilize $250 billion by the end of the decade. It also aims to improve the flow of money into projects to reduce emissions, especially in the Global South.Washington should really feel ashamed of this scene. The New York Times bluntly questioned in a September article: How Long Can America's Climate Hypocrisy Last? "It's nothing new for climate ambition and climate hypocrisy to flicker back and forth like the two faces of a lenticular hologram," said the article. Even the American media itself says so, showing how bad the US' performance is on climate issues.Another typical example is the deliberate effort by the US to woo Pacific island nations, establishing new embassies and claiming to help them maintain "maritime security." However, when it comes to the climate issues that these countries genuinely care about, Washington exhibits conspicuous stinginess and parsimony. The true focus of Washington in its diplomacy is becoming increasingly evident to people.At any rate, the US cannot be absent when addressing the issue of climate. Even if other countries are proactive, they cannot fill the irresponsible void left by the US. Conversely, if the US fails to set an example on climate issues, it completely loses its qualification to pursue global leadership. In any case, the US must shoulder its due obligations and responsibilities. The Democratic Party shows a more positive attitude toward climate issues than the Republican Party. The Biden administration should take advantage of its time in office to push for substantive progress on climate issues with greater determination and force.This current climate conference's crucial agenda is the "Global Stocktake," where each contracting party will review progress and gaps in implementing key provisions of the Paris Agreement. The focus will also be on "four paradigm shifts": fast-tracking energy transition and slashing emissions before 2030; transforming climate finance, by delivering on old promises and setting the framework for a new deal on finance; putting nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action; mobilizing for the most inclusive COP ever. These are ambitious goals indeed.In the realm of climate, every step forward is incredibly challenging. It is precisely because of this difficulty that each achievement is so valuable. Regardless, we observe that human society is moving forward step by step, even though the pace is still too slow and lags behind the rate of environmental degradation. How to ensure that this collective effort of all humanity involves less short-term selfish calculations and more long-term vision of shared future, and stronger climate actions, is crucial for the future and fate of humanity. No one can escape or evade this duty, especially for countries with significant responsibilities and obligations. — globaltimes.cn, 2d ago

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At the local level, far-right Christians often mask their rhetoric in secular language, so they are often able to pull off things like taking over school boards without others noticing. JS: It seems to me that the problem of explaining the dangers is sheer disbelief. How do communicators like you address that problem? MS: The beliefs of Mike Johnson and his fellow extremist Christians are so idiotic that the natural reaction for many non-religious people is to point and laugh – not realizing that evil is usually also ridiculous. For those who are Christian but not fundamentalist, a common reaction is to simply roll their eyes. I get where they're coming from. Johnson believes that Noah's ark was real and that humans lived with dinosaurs. These are asinine superstitions. But he also believes homosexuality is a Satan-inspired choice that should be illegal and that birth control should be criminalized. Voltaire's aphorism that believing in absurdities leads one to justify atrocities is absolutely true. The vicious ignorance of Johnson and his fellow Confederate Christians presents a real conundrum for those of us who are committed to pluralistic democracy. People seem to have an easier time recognizing screaming dictator-wannabes like Donald Trump for what they are than they do with folksy authoritarians. That realization is why I decided to launch a comedy news discussion podcast called "Doomscroll" with my friend Lisa Curry. Ridiculing the stupid beliefs of the Christian right is an important thing to do because there are a lot of smart people who were born and raised as fundamentalists who innately know that the beliefs are false and contradictory. But the humorous jabs must always carry the larger truth that these ideas are not only foolish, they are dangerous. JS: On the funding of truly liberal media, you said there's no shortage of money. It's just spent in ways different from rightwing media. MS: As my friend Anne Nelson has documented in her book, Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, there is a lot of money out there for center-to-left activists and causes. Unfortunately, much of this money is not spent with an eye toward public advocacy. From the very beginning of their movement, reactionary elites realized that they were a small minority but that it didn't matter because they could use voter suppression and advocacy media to suppress their opponents' voters and whip up their own. The other crucial advantage of funding advocacy media is that these investments are more durable and can eventually become self-sustaining, as Fox, talk radio, and far-right podcasts have become. There are tens of millions of people who want to hear a progressive message in the media, but Democratic donors seem to prefer wasting their money on advertising that's ineffective and short-lived. This needs to change, especially since rightwing propaganda is beginning to fill in the gaps in local media left by the decay of traditional media outlets. Those who control the information will control the age. People who believe in liberal values need to fund them. JS: You have explored "how American evangelicalism is collapsing on itself." That's a bold statement that I have to hear more about. MS: People often perceive religion and science to be in conflict, but up until the last 100 years or so, they were the same thing. The Bible, Quran, Vedas and other ancient scriptures were not just theological sources. They were also scientific explanations for how things came to be and how they work. But once the disciplines of science, history and linguistics emerged, it soon became evident to educated people that these books were about as accurate as Homer's Iliad. Unfortunately, while the academic world came to accept evolution, the pagan origins of Judaism, and a host of other discoveries, this knowledge did not filter down to religious fundamentalists. The central problem of our age is that religious fundamentalism has been utterly humiliated in the intellectual realm and that its adherents (of any faith) are only now realizing it – to their great consternation. JS: You said: "Hope is the belief that we're capable of something better and the determined desire to make it so." Can you go into that more? MS: The continuously successful efforts of pro-choice advocates to protect abortion rights through ballot initiatives demonstrates that people like us are the majority, but we must use this power to usher Confederate Christianity into the dust-bin of history. Public opinion surveys show that people born after around 1975 are dramatically less likely to believe in scriptural literalism, and that each successive generation of Americans is more supportive of racial justice, bodily autonomy and sound reasoning. The reactionaries who took over the GOP have been aware of this. The minoritarian strategy that they were able to effect for several decades was predicated on manipulating people through religion, sexism or racism into supporting their corrupt and authoritarian candidates. As I discussed recently on my other podcast, "So This Just Happened," the Christian right knows that its time is coming to an end. Far-right former Senator Rick Santorum spoke for many of his compatriots this past Election Day when he lamented that it was a "secret sauce for disaster" that young Americans are interested in supporting abortion access and decriminalization of marijuana. It's important to celebrate victories like we experienced in 2023, but the arc of history will only bend if we make it. Demographics are not destiny. The future belongs to those who can achieve it. — Alternet.org, 13d ago
Supervising Editor: Dan Li (Indiana University, lid@indiana.edu) Deadline for Submission: January 31, 2024 Motivation for the Special Issue Recent special issues (SI) at the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) have highlighted the important roles that digitalization (Meyer, Li, Brouthers, & Jean, 2023) and changing institutional norms and standards (Dau, Chacar, Lyles, & Li, 2022) have for international business (IB) theory and practice. While digitalization is creating new pathways for firms to become involved in foreign markets (Kano, Tsang, & Yeung, 2020; Li et al., 2019; Luo & Tung, 2018; Nambisan, Zahra, & Luo, 2019), impediments to these digitally-enabled pathways are emerging, such as privacy concerns, laws and regulations, perceptions of individuals and groups of MNEs from certain countries of origin. The changing informal institutions and rising geopolitical tensions are becoming the new barriers for multinational enterprises (MNEs) in their global expansion (Alvarez & Rangan, 2019; Buckley, 2020; Contractor, 2021; Liu & Li, 2020; Nambisan & Luo, 2021; White et al., 2022). These concurrent movements are reshaping firm involvement in international markets (Liesch, Buckley, Simonin & Knight, 2012) by simultaneously increasing opportunities and creating new barriers. Changing how established and new firms become involved in IB, these trends and the tensions they create challenge the established view of the theory of the MNE. By international involvement, we refer to a broad spectrum of arrangements taking place within, across, and beyond firm boundaries to enable the firm's participation in foreign markets (Brouthers & Hennart, 2007; Liesch et al., 2012). International involvement is not limited to foreign investments and the traditional modes of entry and operation (e.g., exporting, joint ventures, wholly owned subsidiaries) but includes all means of cross-border value-creating activities, such as outsourcing, licensing, alliances, capital access, innovation outposts, user acquisition via digital channels, and managed ecosystems (Brouthers, Chen, Li & Shaheer, 2022). Traditionally, international involvement has been studied through the lens of international market entry and operation modes (Brouthers & Hennart, 2007; Kirca et al., 2011; Tihanyi, Griffith, & Russell, 2005; Zapkau, Schwens, & Brouthers, 2020), by which firms organize the way they access markets or resources in foreign countries (Erramilli & Rao, 1993). This has been a prominent research domain in IB, with numerous award-winning papers at JIBS (e.g., Agarwal & Ramaswami, 1992; Anderson & Gatignon, 1986; Brouthers, 2002; Kogut & Singh, 1988). International involvement is not only fundamental to the questions of why MNEs exist and how they evolve, but also shapes our collective wisdom on internationalization processes (e.g., establishment chain). However, scholars contend that traditional entry mode research and theorization has seen little progress (Shaver, 2013), and our understanding of how and why firms increase/decrease involvement neglects the processes involved (Autio, Mudambi, & Yoo, 2021; Connelly, Ketchen, & Hult, 2013; Jacobides & Hitt, 2005; Welch, Nummela, & Liesch, 2016). While Hennart and Slangen (2015) advocate for research opportunities on entry mode choices, new pathways of international involvement in the era of digitalization and extremely disrupted (de)globalization are putting our literature at a juncture that may require novel theorization. Shaver's (2013) question becomes more compelling than ever: Is the entry mode literature producing "more of the same" rather than revealing new trends and forms of international involvement, and theorizing their nature and behaviors? Reflecting on recent advances in digitalization and institutional drivers of integration/decoupling, Brouthers et al. (2022) develop a theoretical framework based on the theories of Embeddedness, Exploration and Exploitation (EEE) to better recognize and conceptualize a broader range of non-traditional entry modes that MNEs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and born-global ventures have utilized to involve themselves in foreign markets in today's economy. However, this development is challenged by Hennart (2022), who argues that most 'non-traditional entry modes' constitute changes in kind rather than substance and that a more sophisticated version of transaction cost economics (TCE) can effectively explain the transfer of capabilities and knowledge in these modes. This debate has aroused a broad discussion through a variety of channels, including JIBS and AOM IM Division online research panels. There is compelling interest in rethinking international involvement as well as a widespread recognition of the need for developing, extending, and integrating traditional and emerging theoretical frameworks to explain these transitions. This special issue intends to accelerate the conversation and investigate the question – Do we need new theories, extensions to existing theories, or combinations of new and old theories, to understand how international involvement is evolving in our changing world of complex realities, and if we do, what might these theories entail? Aims and Scope of the Special Issue We seek scholarly contributions that can help advance our understanding of international involvement in the new era of digitalization and globalization with extreme disruptions to the international environment (or ecosystem). We are interested in contributions that can connect debates about the theorization and modality of market entry and involvement to ongoing conversations and practices in the IB field. We welcome submissions using a diversity of research methods including quantitative and qualitative approaches and conceptual/theoretical contributions. Possible topics that would be suitable for this SI include (but are not limited to):... — AOM_CMS, 24d ago
That was bound for a cliffhanger – before, during or after the crucial bilateral involving the world’s top two powers. Already during the introductory remarks, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, sitting on the right side of the mummy, was as terrified as James Stewart afraid of heights in Hitchcock's "Vertigo" - sensing doom would dawn at any second.Then it did - at the final presser. Joe Biden, the actor playing The Mummy, following a proverbial smirk, said Chinese President Xi Jinping is “a dictator”. Because he is the leader of a communist country.All those previous elaborate plans unraveled, in a flash. A tentatively rosy scenario turned into a film noir. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s response was as sharp as a Dashiell Hammett one-liner – and contextualized: this was not only “extremely wrong” but “an irresponsible political manipulation”.All of the above of course assumed The Mummy knew where he was and what he was talking about, “off the cuff”, and not dictated by his ubiquitous earpiece.The White House gives away the plotThe Xi-Biden drama, lasting a little over two hours, was not exactly a remake of “Vertigo”. Washington and Beijing seemed quite cozy jointly promising the proverbial promotion and strengthening of “dialogue and cooperation in various fields”; an intergovernmental dialogue on AI; drug control cooperation; back to high-level military-to-military talking; a “maritime security consultation mechanism”; significantly increasing flights by early 2024; and “expanding exchanges” in education, international students, culture, sports, and business circles.The Hegemon was far from having a priceless Maltese Falcon (“the stuff dreams are made of”) to offer Beijing. China is already solidified as the world’s top trading economy by PPP. China is advancing at breakneck speed on the tech race even under nasty US sanctions. China’s soft power across the Global South/Global Majority increases by the day. China is co-organizing with Russia the concerted drive towards multipolarity.The White House readout , as bland as it might seem, actually gives away the key part of the plot.Biden – actually his earpiece - underscored “support for a free and open Indo-Pacific”; the defense of “our Indo-Pacific allies”; the “commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight”; “adherence to international law”; “maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and East China Sea”; “support to “Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression”; and “support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism”.Beijing understands in detail the context and the geopolitical overtones of each of these pledges.What the readout does not say is that Biden’s handlers also tried to convince the Chinese to stop buying oil from their strategic partner Iran.That’s not gonna happen. China imported an average of 1.05 million barrels of oil a day from Iran over the first 10 months of 2023 - and rising.US Think Tankland, always excelling in misinformation and disinformation, believed in their own childish projection of Xi playing tough guy against the US in Asia, knowing that Washington can’t afford a third love affair, sorry, war front on top of Ukraine and Israel/Palestine.The fact is Xi knows all there is to know about imperial, rotating Hybrid War fronts, plus others that can be powered on at the flick of a switch. The Hegemon continues to provoke disturbance not only in Taiwan but in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, India, and continues to flirt with possible color revolutions in Central Asia.There has been no direct US-China confrontation yet thanks to millenary Chinese diplomatic expertise and long term vision. Beijing knows in detail how Washington is simultaneously in Full Hybrid War mode against BRI (the Belt and Road Initiative) and BRICS – soon to become BRICS 11.Only two options for China and the USA Sino-American reporter, after the introductory remarks, asked Xi, in Mandarin, if he trusted Biden. The Chinese President perfectly understood the question, looked at her, and did not answer.That’s a key plot twist. After all, Xi knew from the beginning he was talking to the handlers controlling an earpiece. Moreover, he was fully aware of Biden, actually his handlers, qualifying Beijing as a threat to the “rules based international order,” not to mention relentless accusations of “Xinjiang genocide” plus the containment tsunami.Not by accident, last March, in a speech to Communist Party notables, Xi explicitly stated that the US is engaged in “comprehensive containment, encirclement and suppression against us.”Shanghai-based scholar Chen Dongxiao suggests that China and US should engage in “ambitious pragmatism”. That happened to be exactly the tone of Xi’s key takeaway in San Francisco:That is as serious as it gets. Xi added context. China is not engaged in colonial plunder; is not interested in ideological confrontation; it does not export ideology; and it has no plans to surpass or replace the US. So the US should not attempt to suppress or contain China.Biden’s handlers may have told Xi that Washington still follows the One China policy – even as it continues to weaponize Taiwan under the twisted logic that Beijing might “invade”. Xi, once again, provided the concise clincher: “China will eventually, inevitably be reunified” with Taiwan.$40,000 for dinner with XiAmid all the barely concealed tension, relief in San Francisco came in the form of business. Everyone and his corporate neighbor – Microsoft, Citigroup, ExxonMobil, Apple – was dying to meet with leaders from several APEC nations. And especially from China.APEC after all accounts for nearly 40% of the global population and nearly 50% of global trade. This is all about Asia-Pacific – not “Indo-Pacific”, an empty “rules-based international order” gambit that no one knows anything about, much less uses anywhere across Asia. Asia-Pacific will account for at least two-thirds of global growth in 2023 – and counting.Hence the sterling success of a business dinner at the Hyatt Regency, with tickets costing between $2,000 and $40,000, hosted by the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) and the US-China Business Council (USCBC). Xi, inevitably, was the star of the show.Corporate honchos well knew in advance that the US opted out of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); and that the new trade gambit, the so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is basically D.O.A. IPEF may deal with supply chain issues but it does not hit the heart of the matter: lower tariffs and wide market access.So Xi was there to “sell” to investors not only China but a great deal of Asia-Pacific as well.One day after San Francisco, the heart of the action moved to Shanghai and a high-level Russia-China conference; that’s the kind of meeting where the strategic partnership formulates paths ahead in the Long March to Multipolarity.In San Francisco, Xi made a point to stress that China respects the “historical, cultural and geographical position” of the US, while hoping that the US would respect the “path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”And here’s where the film noir plot approaches the final shootout. What Xi hopes will never happen with Straussian neocon psychos running US foreign policy. And that was starkly confirmed by The Mummy, a.k.a. Joe “Dictator” Biden.So much for realpolitik practitioner Joseph “soft power” Nye, one of the few realists that believe China and the US, like James Stewart and Kim Novak in “Vertigo”, need each other, and should not be separated.Well, unfortunately, in “Vertigo” the heroine plunges into the void and dies. — Sputnik International, 17d ago
Texas National Security Review, 26d ago
War Is from Mars, AI Is from Venus: Rediscovering the Institutional Context of Military Automation - Texas National Security Review
E-International Relations, 28d ago
The Westphalian Normalization Conundrum in Sub-Saharan West Africa: The Curious Case of Ivorian Soldiers
lesswrong.com, 26d ago
Nuclear war is unlikely to cause human extinction — LessWrong
E-International Relations, 14d ago
Development and Authoritarianism: China's Political Culture and Economic Reforms
London Review of Books, 17d ago
Tom Crewe · Here was a plague

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new During his speech, Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, declared “It is a paradox that, at this table, together with populations that could disappear, there is a country like us, which also depends on oil, and which is committed to endorsing a treaty that implies zero new exploration projects in the world. My own society would say 'how would the President produce such economic suicide?', given that we depend on oil and coal. But this is not economic suicide. We are talking here about an 'omnicide', the risk of extinction of life on the planet. Here we are avoiding 'omnicide' on planet Earth. There is no other way, the rest are illusions. There is a very powerful economic power around oil, coal and gas. And they act to prevent changes, to maintain, in a suicidal way, their possibilities for more years of profit in the short term. Today we face an immense confrontation between fossil capital and human life. And we must choose a side. Any human being knows that we must choose life. I have no doubt which position to take: between fossil capital and life, we choose the side of life."... — The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, 2d ago
new Oakland’s flatlands southeast of downtown are the backdrop of most of the city’s shootings and murders.The area stands in stark contrast to the extreme wealth of the millionaire homes that dot the Oakland Hills and the immaculate, flower-lined streets of downtown. The city’s revived waterfront, named after famed author and local hero Jack London, draws tourists to trendy restaurants.On a Saturday night in August, Shawn Upshaw drove through the flatlands along International Boulevard, past the prostitutes who gather on nearly every corner for at least a mile, and into “hot spots,” where someone is shot nearly every weekend, he said.“When I grew up, women and kids would get a pass. They wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire,” said Upshaw, 52, who was born and raised in Oakland. “But now women and kids get it, too.”Upshaw works as a violence interrupter for the city’s Department of Violence Prevention, which coordinates with the police department and community organizations in a program called Ceasefire.When there’s a shooting, the police department alerts Upshaw on his phone and he heads to the scene. He doesn’t wear a police uniform. He’s a civilian in street clothes: jeans and a black zip-up jacket. It makes him more approachable, he said, and he’s not there to place blame, but rather to offer help and services to survivors and bystanders.The goal, he said, is to stop a retaliatory shooting by a rival gang or grieving family member.Police also use crime data to approach people with gang affiliations or long criminal records who are likely to use a gun in a crime — or be shot. Community groups follow up with offers of job training, education, meals, and more.“We tell them they’re on our radar and try to get them to recognize there are alternatives to street violence,” said Oakland Police Department Capt. Trevelyon Jones, head of Ceasefire. “We give them a safe way of backing out of a conflict while maintaining their street honor.”Every Thursday at police headquarters, officers convene a “shooting review.” They team up with representatives from community groups to make house calls to victims and their relatives.After the program launched in 2012, Oakland’s homicides plummeted and were down 39 percent in 2019, according to a report commissioned by the Oakland Police Department.Then COVID hit.“You had primary care that became an issue. You had housing that became an issue. You had employment that became an issue,” said Maury Nation, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University. “It created a surplus of the people who fit that highest risk group, and that overwhelms something like Ceasefire.”With ever-rising housing prices in Oakland and across California, homeless encampments have multiplied on sidewalks and under freeway bypasses. The city is also bracing for the loss of jobs and civic pride if the Oakland Athletics baseball team relocates after April 2024, following departures by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in 2019 and the NFL’s Raiders in 2020.“Housing, food insecurity, not having jobs that pay wages for folks, all can lead to violence and mental health issues,” said Sabrina Valadez-Rios, who works at the Freedom Community Clinic in Oakland and teaches a high school class for students who have experienced gun violence. Her father was fatally shot outside their Oakland home when she was a child. “We need to teach kids how to deal with trauma. Violence is not going to stop in Oakland.”Homicides in Oakland climbed to 123 people in 2021, police reports show, dipping slightly to 120 last year. Police have tallied 108 homicides as of Nov. 12 this year. Neither the police department nor the city provided statistics on how many of those killings involved firearms, despite repeated requests from KFF Health News.Experts also blame the rise in killings in Oakland and other American cities on the prevalence of gun ownership in the U.S., which has more guns than people. For all the pandemic disruption worldwide, homicide rates didn’t go up in countries with strict gun laws, said Thomas Abt, director of the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction at the University of Maryland.“We saw gun violence, homicides, shootings spike up all around the country. And interestingly, it did not happen internationally,” Abt said. “The pandemic did not lead to more violence in other nations.”... — Governing, 2d ago
new They prevent conflict – A CIPD survey in 2020 found that just over 35% of employees had experienced some form of interpersonal conflict, either an isolated dispute or an ongoing difficult relationship that year. The communication skills that come with CQ enable them to anticipate potential conflicts, difficulties, controversies or cultural misunderstandings and proactively address them with cultural sensitivity to resolve them. They are more likely to effectively navigate these situations by consulting with a variety of sources from DEI leaders to colleagues with diverse backgrounds to obtain valuable insights. — theHRDIRECTOR, 2d ago
new This book is not for those who wish to place everything we have learned during the covid-19 control program in a memory hole. To the contrary, Paul is encouraging those who would pursue the truth to join him in confronting the difficult questions this period raises, including the origin of the covid-19 organism: did it arise naturally and spill over from an animal into the human species, or did it emerge as an accident from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). He further asks what our government has done to conceal its possible funding of the WIV “gain-of-function” research that was being done there. He explores the tangential issues of the nature of the organism’s transmission and the efficacy of such measures as masking, social distancing, and the selective shutting down of the United States economy and the nation’s educational systems. — Mises Institute, 2d ago
new The success of ChatGPT speaks foremost to the power of a good interface. AI has already been part of countless everyday products for well over a decade, from Spotify and Netflix to Facebook and Google Maps. The first version of GPT, the AI model that powers ChatGPT, dates back to 2018. And even OpenAI’s other products, such as DALL-E, did not make the waves that ChatGPT did immediately upon its release. It was the chat-based interface that set off AI’s breakout year.There is something uniquely beguiling about chat. Humans are endowed with language, and conversation is a primary way people interact with each other and infer intelligence. A chat-based interface is a natural mode for interaction and a way for people to experience the “intelligence” of an AI system. The phenomenal success of ChatGPT shows again that user interfaces drive widespread adoption of technology, from the Macintosh to web browsers and the iPhone. Design makes the difference.At the same time, one of the technology’s principal strengths – generating convincing language – makes it well suited for producing false or misleading information. ChatGPT and other generative AI systems make it easier for criminals and propagandists to prey on human vulnerabilities. The potential of the technology to boost fraud and misinformation is one of the key rationales for regulating AI.Amid the real promises and perils of generative AI, the technology has also provided another case study in the power of hype. This year has brought no shortage of articles on how AI is going to transform every aspect of society and how the proliferation of the technology is inevitable.ChatGPT is not the first technology to be hyped as “the next big thing,” but it is perhaps unique in simultaneously being hyped as an existential risk. Numerous tech titans and even some AI researchers have warned about the risk of superintelligent AI systems emerging and wiping out humanity, though I believe that these fears are far-fetched.The media environment favors hype, and the current venture funding climate further fuels AI hype in particular. Playing to people’s hopes and fears is a recipe for anxiety with none of the ingredients for wise decision making. — GovTech, 2d ago
new The nation’s housing crunch has many officials blaming short-term rentals for taking shelter off the market. A 2016 article in the Harvard Law & Policy Review suggested that short-term rentals “[reduce] the affordable housing supply” by removing long-term rentals from the housing market and keeping local residents from moving in.Dozens of localities throughout the United States have regulated short-term rentals.But none has gone as far as New York City.“The law and rules effectively ban short-term rentals in New York City and are a stark contrast to cities around the world that have enacted fair and balanced short-term rental rules,” wrote Theo Yedinsky, Airbnb’s global policy director, in a June letter on the company’s website.Airbnb says it worked for years to find a compromise.“These rules are an outlier and stand in contrast to the approach of other cities around the country, going as far as to prohibit New Yorkers from sharing their homes when they are away for work or travel, hosting more than two guests at the same time, and requiring that they must certify they understand numerous lengthy and complicated city codes,” the company wrote in a prepared statement in response to Stateline.González said policies to regulate the short-term rental market in both domestic and international cities have varied, from capping the length of a rental stay to restricting the number of guests to requiring the host to be on the premises.“If New York City’s policy is successful, it could embolden other cities to follow suit and use this as a way to not only rein in this industry, but possibly address these long-term rental housing crises,” said González. “I think there will be a lot learned in the next few weeks and months on whether this is an effective policy measure.”One of the consequences of the city’s crackdown on Airbnb listings is already taking shape. More than 90% of the city’s current Airbnb rental stock of nearly 40,000 units — of which 3,746 are short-term rentals — is unlicensed, according to Inside Airbnb, a housing activist group that tracks the platform’s data.The fear of rising hotel prices and the dearth of legal rentals are prompting some tourists to turn to short-term rentals listed on Craigslist, part of a burgeoning alternative market of unregistered, unlicensed short-term rentals in the wake of the city’s restrictions.For travelers such as Dustin Smith and his fiancée, Carly Barnes, it’s worth the risk when they visit New York City for the first time on Dec. 21 for a two-week stay.“New York is already stretching our budget just to eat and sightsee, so if we can get a good deal on the internet, without paying an arm and a leg for a hotel, we’ll take that chance,” Smith, who lives in Louisiana, told Stateline.Christian Klossner, executive director of New York City’s Office of Special Enforcement, told Stateline that his office will monitor the short-term rental industry as a whole, including those spaces advertised on Craigslist and other sites. Hosts who violate the ordinance face a possible fine of $5,000, and platforms could face penalties up to $1,500. — GovTech, 2d ago

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In the first segment, Rachel interviewed journalist Sonja Van Den Ende on the recent election in the Netherlands, where initial exit polls show the right-wing Party for Freedom claiming the majority of seats. Sonja talked about possible reasons behind this outcome and what it could mean for the country. Among the issues facing the Dutch people are the farmer protests, a migrant crisis, and the standard of living for the Dutch. Meanwhile, Germany has pledged another $1.4 billion in aid to Ukraine's military, as European countries are becoming increasingly reliant on US foreign policy. But as Sonja explained, it's leading to a decrease in their internal standards of living. If the US is not able to provide financial support for Ukraine moving forward, she predicted a rise in unrest led by those facing poverty could be inevitable.In the second segment, Rachel was joined by David Tawil, CEO of Pro-Chain Capital, to discuss the latest drama in the technology world. It's not every day that we see a record-breaking penalty being issued, but that's what happened to Binance, which received a whopping $4.3 billion fine from the Treasury Department, who found willful negligence in reporting suspicious transactions with sanctioned groups and countries. These decisions are sure to have far-reaching implications for the U.S. crypto community, which has seen a surge in cryptocurrency prices since the news broke. Rachel and David also discussed the OpenAI drama, where Sam Altman's sudden ouster as CEO caused shockwaves in the tech industry—only for him to return as the head of the company less than a week later. He held a level of influence so great that employees were willing to up and leave. David said this was an unprecedented event, and it goes to show the lengths that some companies go to, in order to retain their employees in the fast moving world of AI.Then Rachel and George Szamuely, Senior Research Fellow at the Global Policy Institute, talked about the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas that has been hailed as a significant relief for the people of the region, given its humanitarian implications. George noted, however, that it is too early yet to assess the largest significance of this delicate deal. What is becoming clear though, is that Israel's international standing is rapidly declining. With mounting civilian casualties from their bombardment and a perceived lack of military objectives achieved, public opinion is turning against Israel. George pointed out that even the public in the EU, ordinarily the staunchest supporters of their political elites, are losing patience with the continual repetition of similar messages from the US administration. It is clear that Israel's political and military decisions have serious consequences not only for themselves, but for the wider global community. On the 60th anniversary of the assignation of JFK, Rachel closed with two guests of the open questions that still remain. If you're one of the many Americans who think the official story of JFK's assassination is a total sham, you're in good company. Tyler Nixon, an attorney, media relations specialist, and political analyst, has been studying this event for four decades. Having recently attended a conference in Dallas dedicated to uncovering the truth about Kennedy's death, he said he strongly believes that the Warren Commission was a complete farce. In his view, JFK's assassination was part of an orchestrated coup by a deep state cabal, and the government has been lying and covering up their involvement in the matter ever since. Tyler points out that Clint Hill, a Secret Service agent on the scene, ought to be held accountable for his role in allowing Kennedy to be murdered in broad daylight.Then Rachel spoke to John Kiriakou, a former CIA Officer and Co-Host of Political Misfits, who said there is evidence of a deep state operating outside of government accountability; Indeed. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is campaigning for transparency within government, pushing for the declassification of files surrounding JFK's death. And Kiriakou noted that's for good reason—as it's widely believed that elements within the CIA were involved in the president's assassination due to lingering resentment over his role in the Bay of Pigs incident. Kiriakou also discussed the recent revelation from one of the two surviving Secret Service agents who found an unscathed bullet at the scene. He noted that it raises serious questions about the origin and why it wasn't bagged for evidence. With all of this in mind, Kiriakou said there is no denying that there is much more to the story of JFK's assassination than we have been led to believe.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM... — Sputnik International, 11d ago
The international community commemorates on 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women who are the most vulnerable segment of society. The Day acts as a sad reminder of the egregious and ongoing violation of women’s and girls’ rights that occurs in this world, particularly in areas of conflict. “Investing to prevent violence against women and girls,” this year’s international theme, highlights how important it is to fund preventive measures to stop violence at its source proactively. This time, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reiterates its steadfast dedication to empowering women and putting an end to all forms of violence against them. In a poignant greeting on this significant day, HE Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, OIC Secretary General emphasized the critical role of the OIC in evaluating the advancements made in OIC Member States in their efforts to end violence against women, as this occasion provides a forum for governments, international organizations, and civil society organizations to lay out the policies and tactics needed to address this problem more firmly and thoroughly.Today, this occasion is commemorated while another yet horrific humanitarian crisis is happening due to the brutal Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Women, particularly Gazan women, as well as children, older people, and other innocent civilians, are among the victims of this continuous bombing. The most significant number of victims, who are being slaughtered in the midst of a state of silence, constitute the weakest link in this tragedy. On this occasion, Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha reiterated the OIC strongest condemnation of the continuation of war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and called for the international community to take all measures to stop these crimes and pressure Israel to abide by the international humanitarian law and allow for a ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access to the urgent needs of the people of Gaza and the surrounding regions.In an impassioned plea to all OIC member states, The Secretary General HE Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha emphasized fostering collaboration and implementing joint measures to safeguard women and girls, particularly during crisis, war, and environmental disasters. The OIC has always taken a clear position on important issues relating to the elimination of all forms of violence against women, consistent with the principles of the Islamic noble religion and international covenants, which are in line with the very objectives and principles of the OIC. In this context, the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW), the Ten-Year Programme of Action (POA-2025), and relevant resolutions adopted by the summit and ministerial conferences on women provide guidelines on ways and means of addressing these challenges facing women, including eliminating all forms of violence against them. The most recent was the International Conference on Women in Islam “Status and Empowerment”, hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chair of the Islamic Summit, on 6th to 8th November 2023, in the city of Jeddah, in collaboration and partnership with the OIC General Secretariat. That conference was held in implementation of the recommendation of a resolution adopted by the 49th session of OIC Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers held in Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania in March 2023, in which Saudi Arabia generously offered to organize an international conference to address the issue of women’s rights in Islam and highlight the core teachings of Islam, which honored, served, and protected women. The conference produced a comprehensive document entitled: Jeddah Document of Woman in Islam, that covered aspects of women’s rights in Islam in all spheres of life, in addition to another comprehensive final communique.The eighth session of the OIC ministerial conference on women, held in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt from 6 to 8 July 2021 under the theme: “Preserving the Achievement of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond.”, also came as a continuation of the OIC efforts to achieve proactive solutions to eliminate violence against women. The session adopted important resolutions on women’s protection and empowerment, mainstreaming gender equality in anti-covid-19 pandemic strategies and policies, and promoting economic and social empowerment for women in member states.To further illustrate the Organization’s proactive approach to combating violence against women, the OIC established the Women Development Organization (WDO) as a dedicated specialized institution in the field of women empowerment. On this occasion HE Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, called on OIC Member States that are yet to ratify the WDO statute to accelerate their ratification and accession procedures so that the Organization can play the role expected of it in promoting and empowering women and in advancing their status in the Muslim world.Overall, the OIC is firm in its commitment to ending violence against women and enabling them to make significant contributions to society. The Organization collaborates extensively with OIC Member States, pertinent OIC bodies and institutions, and international partners to fulfill this admirable objective. “It is prudent to acknowledge our shared responsibility for fostering a society in which women and girls can live without fear of violence on this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. By uniting in solidarity and unity, we can put an end to violence against women and girls and create a future in which women’s empowerment and justice between men and women are not just ideals but everyday realities for everyone”HE Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, OIC Secretary-General... — Modern Diplomacy, 10d ago
The fool is wise. The clown is sad. The trickster is honest. These may be cliches, but there is a truth to them. Artists who excel in their field often thrive on contradiction; indeed, their art seems to depend on it. To know what you are, you need to know what you are not. This sense of conflict and tension, of two opposites being true simultaneously, is often where great art is born.The strangest of all the artists may be the magician. Their art can encompass comedy, dance and drama; but there is another dimension to them. They are not quite of this world – the essence of their art is that it violates natural law. Part of what they conjure is a fleeting sense of madness, as they show us things that cannot happen. And yet, of all the artists, it transpires that it is magicians who tend to have the healthiest mind, the firmest grasp of reality.Psychologists at Aberystwyth University reported this week that magicians may be less prone to mental health difficulties than those who work in other art forms. In fact, they go further: the magicians they studied were less likely to experience phenomena such as hallucinations and cognitive disorganisation than the general population.Just as there may be many possible ways to perform an illusion, there are many possible reasons why this may be the case. The magician Sara Crasson suggests a few: that many children turn to magic to confound bullies and build confidence (Paul Daniels, for one, suffered from crushingly low self-esteem in his early years); that the craft requires great deliberation and clarity of thought; that magicians tend to form communities offering support and encouragement. And to be a magician is typically to be a student of magic: they are likely to know much about the history of the art form and to have a sense of their place within it. But perhaps there are deeper reasons, too, relating to the very nature of their art.It can be asserted with some confidence that the magician knows reality better than anyone. The magician needs a keen understanding of the boundaries of possibility. They need to know what cannot be done in order to do it. They must appreciate the human capacity for belief, and the methods by which that capacity can be exploited. The magician must also know wonder; they must have felt it themselves, and want to share that feeling. — the Guardian, 18d ago
There, however, Morgan’s interest in image runs up against the series’s innate deference to the people within Elizabeth’s circle. The Crown is premised on the possibility of getting to listen in on imagined conversations between royals behind closed doors, but its imagination in that area is generally sympathetic. It has depicted great tragedies and royal missteps — like the Aberfan disaster and Elizabeth’s delayed response — but tends to come down on the mildly humanist conclusion that there are real people trapped inside those symbols, stamps, and photographs. The Crown’s portrait of Diana’s ascendance in the fourth season gave the show real conflict because it had a conflict within the rarefied world on which it holds a microscope. That season in particular made some British royalists, and also Judi Dench, very angry, leading to demands for the show, which is obviously fiction, to be labeled as such on Netflix’s site. The fifth came with that disclaimer on its trailer and trod more carefully, approaching Diana and Charles’s breakup in a manner that made even the tampongate scandal seem tame. (It still managed to make John Major mad, which is maybe a point in its favor.) So, as the sixth season takes on one of the most lurid tabloid tragedies ever, it may not surprise you that The Crown is careful to fault. Any number of hacks, fame hunters, conspiracy theorists, and serious journalists have already speculated wildly about the events depicted here. The Crown takes a conservative approach. It sticks to what we know: the images. — Vulture, 18d ago
...tive collaborations. As the energy transition narrative unfolds, this principle assumes paramount importance, underscoring the significance of trust in nurturing part- nerships that catalyse innovation and drive sustain- able change. The application of the ‘Speed of Trust’ principles to energy transition leadership yields mani- fold benefits. It accentuates the pivotal role of trust in both personal and professional relationships – a facet of critical importance in steering the complex and urgent energy transition journey. Trust manifests as the bed- rock of collaboration and co-operation, vital elements that unite diverse stakeholders – governments, indus- tries, communities, and environmental groups – in col- lective action. Trust, in turn, emboldens individuals to share audacious ideas, thereby fostering innova- tion, an imperative in developing the novel technolo- gies, processes, and policies that underpin sustainable change. It thrives on transparency, channelling leaders’ intentions, decisions, and communication toward cred- ibility, a quality that nurtures trust among teams and stakeholders. Particularly in energy transition leadership, trans- parency holds the key to addressing concerns regard- ing resource allocation, environmental impact, and long-term strategies. Navigating the energy transition landscape, rife with technological advancements, reg- ulatory shifts, and market dynamics, underscores the pertinence of trust. Trust empowers leaders to steer teams through uncertainty, embrace novel challenges, and make informed decisions that anchor long-term sustainabil- ity. It engenders accountability, prompting individu- als to embrace ownership of their commitments when nurtured by the trust of their leaders and peers. This sense of trust extends beyond individuals to stake- holder networks, facilitating effective communication, understanding, and collaboration. Trust embodies a commitment to long-term outcomes rather than fleet- ing gains, aligning seamlessly with the overarching mission of the energy transition – the creation of a sus- tainable future for generations yet unborn. As humanistic leadership principles intersect with the tenets of the ‘Speed of Trust’, a potent formula emerges for ushering societies and industries toward a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. Transparent communication bridges gaps between governments, industries, and communities, while trust becomes the cornerstone that bolsters partnerships, expediting the transition to renewable energy sources. Moreover, the resonance between Covey’s trust framework and Enea’s transformative journey, as cap- tured in Andrea Marcolongo’s The Art of Resilience: The Lessons of Aeneas , magnifies the relevance of these principles in the energy transition. Aeneas’ journey: navigating the transition with courage Aeneas’ voyage, brimming with resilience and hope, emerges as an invaluable trove of insights for energy transition leadership. His audacity to confront fear and triumph over uncertainties mirrors the challenges faced by leaders navigating the intricate tapestry of technological and societal transformations. Aeneas’ leadership style, marked by inclusivity and guidance of diverse companions, echoes the imperative of engag- ing stakeholders across the spectrum. Just as Aeneas’ inclusive journey led him to guide not only his peers but also those marginalised, energy transition leaders must similarly bridge divides, work- ing with governments, industries, communities, and underrepresented groups. This inclusive approach mir- rors the spirit of the ‘just transition’, assuring that pro- gress leaves no one behind. As we traverse the energy transition landscape, the initiation of change amidst uncertainties emerges as a central tenet of leadership. Aeneas’ audacious endeavours post-devastation parallel the leader’s res- olute commitment to sustainable energy systems. As Aeneas’ journey embarked on uncharted paths, energy transition leaders, too, must navigate the unknown with courage, spearheading a holistic transformation toward a greener horizon. In this intricate mosaic, geopolitical conflicts cast... — digitalrefining.com, 15d ago
Faced with the heartbreaking humanitarian catastrophe occurring in Gaza every day, confronted with the cruel reality of over 100 Palestinian children losing their lives to the ravages of war each day, and in the wake of the increasingly urgent international calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, it's quite perplexing that the US and the Group of Seven (G7), which consistently emphasizes "human rights" and "humanitarianism," could not utter the word "ceasefire" this time.The joint statement released on November 8 during the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Tokyo extensively discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, it only lightly urged Israel for a "humanitarian pause" in its military actions in Gaza, without mentioning "ceasefire, end hostilities, or resume peace talks." There was also no mention of implementing the UN General Assembly emergency special session resolution or pushing the UN Security Council to take responsible actions. The signal sent appears to be a tacit approval, or even tolerance, of Israel's military actions in Gaza by the G7. The so-called "humanitarian pause" seems more like a perfunctory gesture from the US and the G7 to the international community.Of course, this is not a case of the US or the G7 being genuinely weak. In fact, they possess unique influence over Israel and have the power to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian situation. However, they are unwilling to use this influence and power for the sake of peace and the Palestinian civilians. Their approach to other countries or issues is not the same. It's well known that G7's joint statements often take a moral high ground, meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. But when a true humanitarian crisis unfolds and requires the US and the G7 to take action, their true colors are immediately exposed. In the face of the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians and Washington's political calculations, the US and the G7 unhesitatingly choose the latter, revealing their hypocrisy and blatant double standards.As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pointed out, the nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity. Some UN officials have expressed profound sorrow, stating that the level of death and suffering is "hard to fathom" and "every day, you think it is the worst day and then the next day is worse." It is evident that as long as the war continues, more violations of international humanitarian law will occur. This is not difficult to comprehend.Protests have erupted within the US to call for ceasefire. Within the G7, opinions are also not unified; the US vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council where France and Japan voted in favor. When extended to the UN as a whole, there is an overwhelming desire for an immediate "humanitarian ceasefire." However, regrettably, the will of a small interest group or political faction seems to have hijacked Washington, and Washington's will has hijacked the G7, and it's attempting a similar hijacking of the UN.It's worth noting that in the joint statement of the G7 foreign ministers, besides extensively discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they also mentioned the crisis in Ukraine and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Across all these issues, the statement exhibits a prominent feature of oversimplifying complex problems and taking sides. One could say that the entire declaration is centered around the concepts of "peace" and "security," yet not a single word truly embodies genuine peace or real security. Its effectiveness in addressing regional conflicts and disputes can be easily surmised.As Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the UN, has said, absolute security cannot be achieved by imposing collective punishment on civilians, and violence for violence will only exacerbate hatred and confrontation. Allowing the fighting in Gaza to continue could very well turn it into a military catastrophe that will engulf the entire region. This situation of mutual loss is undesirable for all including the US. The hypocrisy of the US and G7 calling for a "humanitarian pause" instead of a ceasefire is not only unethical but also highly volatile and dangerous for the entire world.Gaza doesn't need a "fake ceasefire"; it needs a "true ceasefire." Only when all conflicting parties immediately cease all hostile activities can genuine peace talks and humanitarian relief efforts unfold. Without a comprehensive ceasefire, any amount of humanitarian aid is like a drop in the ocean. — globaltimes.cn, 24d ago

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new ...“However, the most cruel mistake occurred with the failure to understand the Vietnam war. Some people sincerely wanted all wars to stop just as soon as possible; others believed that there should be room for national, or communist, self-determination in Vietnam, or in Cambodia, as we see today with particular clarity. But members of the U. S. anti-war movement wound up being involved in the betrayal of Far Eastern nations, in a genocide and in the suffering today imposed on 30 million people there. Do those convinced pacifists hear the moans coming from there? Do they understand their responsibility today? Or do they prefer not to hear?”-Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Harvard University Speech, 1978War-Monger War Criminal JewKissinger personally opened diplomatic relations with Communist China, which led to the destruction of the U.S. manufacturing base, the implosion of the middle class and rise of the working poor and zombie hordes, and the transfer of most of the well-paying manufacturing jobs from the U.S. to China. This has led to today’s vulnerable dependence on China for most of its manufactured goods including questionable medical supplies such as dangerous vaccines and much else, and to the appalling “wealth gap” rapidly moving U.S. demographics toward a Hunger Games society of super-rich Oligarchs and destitute slaves. Kissinger further destroyed our middle class and manufacturing power by advocating and supporting NAFTA which transferred any remnants to Mexico and beyond, in cooperation with his fellow Jew Rahm Emanuel. — substack.com, 2d ago
new Among the lowest-hanging fruit for AI in government involves press releases and other forms of communication from agencies to residents. Zencity, for example, debuted a ChatGPT tool that writes what amounts to a first draft of a press release — including potential quotes from public officials. That could save significant time for city managers, among other advantages, according to the company.Municipal budgeting, too, could serve as fertile ground for generative AI.A new AI tool from ClearGov takes in past budgeting data and future estimates to produce what officials sometimes call a budget narrative. Such narratives, which put spending figures into context, often help those officials sell the budget to peers and voters. AI could bring more efficiency to the process, usually the most difficult and contentious work undertaken by local and state governments.Generative AI also gained more of a presence in higher education in 2023. The technology can help with essays, math problems and lesson plans, with work completed within seconds. But fears of plagiarism and other abuses have led to a more cautious welcome for AI in universities and colleges than in city halls, with large school districts such as the one in New York City initially placing restrictions on ChatGPT.College deans and local school boards continue to grapple with the full implications of AI. So are other governmental bodies as the technology hogged more of the spotlight as 2023 progressed. Maine imposed a six-month ban on the use of AI for state employees using state devices or conducting state business. Officials said they needed time to study the privacy, bias and misinformation concerns sparked by ongoing deployment of AI-based products. Executive orders started to emerge at a regular clip as fall rolled around, with Pennsylvania, Virginia, Oklahoma and New Jersey governors all issuing guidance within a few weeks of each other. Their missives were followed within weeks by an AI Executive Order from the White House in late October. Each official action recognized both the potential and the risk, with many calling for outside help to develop appropriate policies for safe use in service of their residents.It’s almost impossible, however, to imagine a gov tech future without much more artificial intelligence. Evidence for that comes from every corner of the industry.For instance, industry giant Tyler Technologies touted its growing ability to use AI for quicker and more accurate court filings, whose complex coding and redaction requirements often force judicial employees to perform manual data entry. Klir’s new AI-backed offering is designed to improve water management and compliance, with what the company calls “holistic” views of utility systems delivered via a chatbot fueled by artificial intelligence.Startups, of course, have also embraced AI, as shown by the most recent cohort from CivStart’s gov tech accelerator program, which provides at least some foreshadowing of the tools public agencies might be using a few years from now. One of the program participants is using artificial intelligence to help local officials — many of them new to the grunt work of government — write and manage legislation. — GovTech, 2d ago
new TikTok, with 150 million US users, predominantly in their teens and 20s, has been subject to global scrutiny amid concerns that user data might be accessible to the Chinese Government. In May, Montana became the first US state to enact a ban, with the law due to take effect on 1 January 2024. TikTok, the short-video-sharing platform owned by China’s ByteDance, swiftly responded with a legal challenge one week after the ban was passed.The legislation aimed to criminalize the availability of TikTok on app stores, imposing fines of up to $10,000 on non-compliant businesses. However, Judge Molloy’s ruling sided with TikTok, safeguarding the rights of its users.TikTok expressed satisfaction with the decision, labelling the ban an “unconstitutional law” that has now been rejected. The platform highlighted that “hundreds of thousands of Montanans can continue to express themselves, earn a living, and find community on TikTok.”Montana’s state attorney’s office, on the other hand, conveyed that it is contemplating its next course of action to defend the law designed to protect citizens from potential data acquisition and utilisation by the Chinese Communist Party.Montana prohibited TikTok on government devices in December 2022. With a population of just over one million, the state’s legal move garnered attention and set a precedent.During a congressional hearing in March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew assured that the app would not engage in espionage against Americans. However, he did acknowledge instances where employee monitoring of journalists’ accounts had occurred.In March, the US Government suggested that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, either sell the platform or face potential bans in the country. Following this trend, Nepal joined other nations, including India, in prohibiting TikTok last month, citing concerns about content adversely affecting social harmony.ByteDance has consistently refuted allegations that it is controlled by the Chinese Government. The ongoing legal battles and international restrictions underscore the geopolitical challenges faced by the popular video-sharing app. — Verdict, 2d ago
Pearls and Irritations, 6d ago
Facing climate catastrophe, secrecy is the last thing we need - Pearls and Irritations
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new Resettlement of the Gaza as a realistic pathway to the two-state solution
sacred-texts.com, 16d ago
Morals and Dogma: Council of Kadosh: XXVI. Prince of Mercy, or Scottish Trinitarian

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new KAREN HAO: I wanna start by unpacking the word "safety" first. And I know we've sort of been talking about a lot of different words with squishy definitions, but safety is another one of those where AI safety as OpenAI defines it, is kind of different from what we would typically think around like engineering safety. You know, there, there have been other disciplines, you know, like when we talk about a bridge being safe, it means that it holds up and it works and it resists kind of collapsing under the weight of a normal volume of traffic or even like a massive volume of traffic. With AI safety, the brand of OpenAI's AI safety, they- it is more related to this, this kind of extreme risk they have. Again, they have started adopting more of this like also focusing on current harms like discrimination, but it is primarily focused on these extreme risks. So the question I guess to to kind of reiterate is sort of like will OpenAI continue to focus on research that is very heavily indexed on extreme risks? I think so, but how are they going to change the structure to make sure that these ideological clashes don't happen again? I don't actually think that's possible, and I also think that part of what we learned from this weekend is that we shouldn't actually be waiting for OpenAI to do something about this. There will always be ideological struggles again because of this fundamental problem that we have, which is that no one knows what AGI is, no one agrees with what it is. It's all a projection of your own ideology, your own beliefs and the AI research talent pool and the broader Silicon Valley talent pool of engineers, product managers, all of those people are also ideologically split on these kind of techno-optimist versus existential-risk divides. So the, even if you try to restructure or rehire or shuffle things around, you're always going to kind of get an encapsulation of this full range of ideological beliefs within the company, and you're going to end up with these battles because of disagreements around what is actually- what are we actually working on and how do we actually get there. So I personally think that one of the biggest lessons to take away is for policymakers and for other members of the general public and consumers to recognize that this company and this technology is very much made by people. It's very much the product of conscious decisions and, and an imprint of very specific ideologies. And if we actually want to facilitate a better future with better AI technologies and AI technologies that are also applied in better ways, and it's actually up to much more than OpenAI it's up to policymakers to regulate the company, it's up to consumers to make decisions that kind of financially pressure the company to continue moving towards directions that we collectively as a society believe are more appropriate. And ultimately what this boils down to is I think like AI is such an important technology and so consequential for everyone that it needs to have more democratic processes around its development and its governance. We can't really rely on a company or a board that is, you know, tiny to represent the interests of all of humanity. — Big Think, 2d ago
new Consequently, it seems that the Sino–Japanese competition in Bangladesh is going to intensify in the near future, presenting Bangladesh with both advantages and disadvantages. Bangladesh has many infrastructural and economic needs, and both countries appear to be positioning themselves to pursue additional investment. On the one hand, Bangladesh can use its growing geopolitical importance to attract further investments from both powers to further its socio-economic development and to modernize its armed forces. On the other hand, facing a choice between China and Japan’s competing investments could result in increased political pressure on Dhaka to pick a side, risking the loss of one or either of these key sources of investment for Bangladesh’s development. For example, when reports emerged that Bangladesh was interested in joining the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, China’s ambassador to Bangladesh warned that the countries’ relationship would suffer “substantial damage” if Bangladesh were to join the U.S.-led alliance. — South Asian Voices, 2d ago
new In early November, a scheduled test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the United States ended in failure as the Air Force was forced to prematurely self-destruct the missile in mid-flight. The Pentagon said it was “due to an anomaly” during the test.The nuclear-tipped missile has been in service since 1970, having its service life extended several times after the end of the Cold War in 1990, which caused the US to de-emphasize strategic missile production. A new system, the Sentinel ICBM, is currently being developed to replace the Minuteman III, but isn’t scheduled to fully replace the older missile for another decade.However, when the Sentinel and other nuclear-capable weapons, such as the B-21 Raider bomber, finally enter service, they’ll already be outclassed by Russian and Chinese counterparts, since those nations have already achieved nuclear superiority over the US, Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, told Radio Sputnik’s The Critical Hour on Thursday. Ritter recently authored an article on Consortium News titled: “The End of US Nuclear Superiority.”“The Minuteman III is a very old missile. It's been refurbished. It's had its fuel scraped out, new fuel put in. But the bottom line is, it's reached the end of its usefulness in this test. You know, it's a test that the Air Force carries out periodically that's designed to show the reliability of the Minuteman III system. Well, it failed. And so what we have here is a Cold War relic that is on life support and it may not be able to do the job that it's supposed to do.“The Avangard is a warhead that's designed to defeat any missile defense system in the world. It was developed by the Russians in response to the decision by President George W. Bush, back in 2002, to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and therefore begin deploying ballistic missile defense systems that the Russians deemed to threaten the notion of strategic parity, meaning that the United States fielded a missile defense system capable of shooting down Russian warheads and fielded systems that could allow for a preemptive first-strike. The United States may believe they can nullify Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent and therefore push Russia around any way they want. That's unacceptable to the Russians.”“And we're doing that: we're spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build a new ground-based missile, I think it's called the Sentinel. It's supposed to be ready sometime in the 2030s, but it never will be. It doesn't work that way in America. The systems always overrun on time, on costs, etc.. We have a new bomber, the B-21, that's been flight-tested, but is it going to be filled in sufficient numbers? We don't know. Has it been accepted for operational service? No. Are there problems that can come up? Probably. And then we have a new class of ballistic-missile submarines that are being built. But everything is on the drawing board. And what we're finding out now is that we don't have any money. I mean, we spend almost $900 billion a year on defense and we don't have any money.”“The military that has failed six consecutive audits, $3.3 trillion in assets, 65% of these assets can't be accounted for, and yet we're going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to try and modernize a Nuclear Triad that, when it's deployed, will already be inferior to that which the Russians have. And here comes the dangerous part: there will be no arms control treaties in place. The only arms control treaty that exists today is the New START Treaty, negotiated in bad faith by the United States in 2010. The Russians say, ‘the hell with you, We're done with you. We're finished. We're tired of your lies, your deceit. We now have achieved nuclear superiority and we're not going to let you go to the negotiating table and take that back at a time when you continue,’ you being the United States, ‘to articulate a policy that says our goal and objective is the strategic defeat of Russia,’” Ritter said.Ritter said that the West had underestimated Russia for decades, pointing to Russia’s performance in the special operation in Ukraine as an example of the tragic consequences of that false sense of superiority.“You know, we just fool ourselves, this is the problem. All of these policies are put out by a Congress that lives off of the ignorance of the American people and the fear that's generated by that ignorance. So all of these policies are not designed to actually address the problem, because they're not. The proof is in the pudding: we didn't stop Russia, we failed, Russia is succeeding on all fronts. The same thing with China. We haven't dented them at all, they're moving ahead full steam. So none of our policies have worked except to do one thing: play off the ignorance of the American people to put fear into them and then to do these policies of these politicians look strong, because the last thing the politicians want to do is be explaining to the American people why the Chinese and the Russians are better than we are.”... — Sputnik International, 2d ago
new Now, this brings me to a different but related topic – Energy Transition. Though Nigeria may have signed the UN mandate on climate goals, it will be foolhardy for us to champion this course or even allow it to distract us. In my opinion, Energy Transition will be the longest and possibly the most inequitable transition of any kind in history. I have no problem with the idea itself, but its implementation is burdened with irrational activism by vested interests. Except I’m missing something, I don’t really see how the world energy is in a transition yet. Most business transitions occur as a result of market disruption. Of the roughly 160,000 TWh of energy consumed globally, Fossil fuel still accounts for over 85%, Nuclear energy is less than 7%, Renewable, though growing, remains expensive and has been stuck in the single digit for over a decade. So, is the world going to transition without disruption? To put it differently, can you replace 90% with 10%?”... — The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News, 2d ago
new Leaders of civil society organizations were allowed to present their views in the plenary sessions along with the government representives. These statements were supplemented by educational sessions on dozens of topics. Most powerful for me were the young students from many countries who condemned nuclear weapons as creating insecurity and violating their right to life, who demanded more inclusion of youth and women in policy making. Scientists reminded us of the climate and agriculture research predicting that even a limited regional nuclear war will darken the earth’s skies enough to cause mass starvation of billions after the blast and fallout kills the first hundred million people. Representatives of the indigenous peoples who were harmed by weapons production and testing in the U.S., Australia, Khazakstan, and the Pacific gave stirring testimony of the loss of their land and multigenerational health, demanding justice for what they have suffered. The parties to the TPNW formally agree to address their concerns for healing and remediation. Several of the remaining Hibakusha (nuclear bomb survivors) from Japan shared their incredible stories and pleas for never again. Lining the hallways were works of beautiful art from the dawn of the nuclear age to the present. Concerts, vigils, prayer services, and protest marches were held at city venues nearby. — World BEYOND War, 2d ago
...2024, 40, a, About, accompanied, achieve, acknowledged, Actually, addressing, admitted, Agency, All, almost, already, also, amid, among, an, and, another, any, ARE, around, around the world, AS, Asserting, Assets, associated, Association, At, attempted, automotive, Automotive industry, back, BE, been, before, behalf, Behaviour, being, belief, believe, benefits, BEST, best practice, between, bid, binary, both, brand, brands, business, business models, businesses, But, Buying, by, CAN, Can't, capital, car, cars, case, Centre, ceo, certain, chain, challenge, challenges, change, characterised, chief, combustion, Competitive, compromised, concern, concluded, Conclusion, confident, Conscious, Consciousness, considerable, consolidation, contemplate, continue, cope, Cost, Costs, course, critical, crucial, currently, customer, Customers, cycles, danger, dealer., dealerships, Death, definitely, deliver, demise, desire, determines, develop, directly, discussed, Discussing, dispose, Disruptors, Distribution, Does, doesn, dramatic, drawing, driven, easy, EDEN, effect, Electric, electric vehicle, electrification, elsewhere, emergence, emphasized, engine, entrants, escalation, established, estate, EV, Every, everybody, evolution, EVs, exchange, exclusively, existing, experience, explored, expressing, faced, facing, fact, factors, Famous, FAR, few, fewer, Flexibility, Focus, For, For Investors, Foreign, foreign investors, Franchise, franchise model, front, further, future, gain, Get, gets, Global, going, good, got, Group, grows, Growth, had, Handling, Have, Haven, Haven't, having, he, heard, here, High, highest, Highlighted, highlighting, highly, hold, horror, huge, i, ICE, if, Impact, importance, important, importantly, in, in-person, Including, Increase, Increasing, increasingly, indispensable, industry, industry’s, infancy, influences, influx, initial, Innovation, input, interest, interface, internal, internal combustion engine, into, inventory, investment, Investors, Is, IT, ITS, just, kid, Last, latest, lead, leading, LeT, Life, likely, Liquidity, Long, long time, long-standing, longer, Look, looming, Losers, lot, make, Makes, managed, Manufacturer, manufacturers, many, margin, mark, Market, market share, Marketing, marketplace, marketplaces, Markets, mass, massively, Matter, mature, May, mean, means, Might, million, minds, model, models, moment, money, more, more money, most, motor, must, mutually, my, My Business, Name, necessarily, necessity, Need, network, networks, new, New business models, new car, New Technology, no, Now, number, of, Of course, on, ONE, ongoing, online, online platforms, operating, Opportunity, or, order, Other, our, ourselves, out, outlined, Over, overall, part, particularly, parties, partnerships, passion, People, people’s, perceived, percentage, Perpetual, persist, person, perspective, physical, piloted, place, Platforms, plato, Plato Data Intelligence, PlatoData, Plenty, political, potential, potential benefits, practice, prefer, price, prices, pricing, promotion, proposition, prospect, purchase, Quote, ranges, RE, reduce, Reduced, reducing, Reflection, RELATED, relevant, Rely, Remain, remains, Reports, Resilience, result, retail, retailer, retailers, revenue, reverse, rewarding, rise, s, Said, say, saying, Scale, scope, seamlessly, seasoned, Sector, seen, sees, segment, seminar, Severe, Share, shift, shifting, Short, significant, Size, skills, slowly, So, solution, some, sometimes, Sophistication, Speaking, speculation, Spoke, spread, stakeholder, stakeholders, standards, standing, stay, still, stock, Stories, strange, Stronger, sure, surrounding, Survival, T, takes, Technology, telling, Than, that, that’s, The, the agency, The Thing, the world, their, Them, There, Therefore, These, they, thing, things, Third, this, those, threat, Through, time, to, touched, traction, traditional, transformations, truly, try, trying, two, Uk, under, us, Used, Used Vehicle, values, ve, vehicle, Vehicles, Versus, very, veteran, viable, View, volume, VRA, want, was, way, we, were, What, where, Which?, WHO, whole, Why, will, winners, with, within, Work, working, Working Capital, world, worth, would, years, Yet, zephyrnet... — Zephyrnet, 3d ago

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Indeed, evidence from a 2020 evaluation of the Global Environment Facility—another major climate fund—indicates that when its projects take place in fragile or conflict-affected countries, they are at higher risk of being dropped or canceled. Moreover, a country’s level of fragility was shown to be directly associated with a negative impact on project outcomes. With the CSPDxCF, project planners will be better placed to tackle these risks head on. — CGIAR, 3d ago
The ripple effects from this incident threaten to delay the new asteroid capture program, destabilize the entire M7 Alliance, and set off the tinderbox of dissatisfaction that underpaid Helios workers are stewing in. Poor Dani has her hands full enough without Ed sticking his single-minded, biased beak in and attempting to undermine her decision-making authority. Once again, why is Ed here? Last week’s sweet scene in the greenhouse between him and Svetlana is not nearly enough to outweigh how annoying he is in every scene this episode. Dani could easily be having similarly tense (but possibly a tiny bit fruitful) conversations with some other significant character at Happy Valley. This is yet another reason to lament the loss of Kuznetsov; Dani is absolutely right in saying he would not have stood for any of what’s going on, but I think she underestimates Irina Morozova’s skillful political maneuvering at Roscosmos. There was no way that Dani’s choice of consequences for Svetlana — removal from flight status and a 60-sol suspension without pay — was going to be acceptable to the new regime, who are exercising their option to recall Svetlana to Moscow to face trial for “crimes against a patriot.” So, a shoving match is treason now? What a cool situation!... — Vulture, 3d ago
Originally, back in 2017, NFTs first rose to fame thanks to the application known as ‘CryptoKitties’, as its sudden explosion in popularity wreaked havoc on the ethereum network for a short time. Since then, the use and awareness of NFTs has steadily risen until the last couple of months when a few high-profile and high-price transactions have taken place, catapulting NFTs into the spotlight again. Some examples of this can be seen in the work of Mike Winkelmann - AKA ‘Beeple’ - a digital artist whose pieces have sold for millions, including one that was sold for $69 million through Christie’s, the London-based auction house. Like a lot of art, this has caused some controversy, with people questioning the value of owning a NFT of a piece of digital art which can simply be viewed online, whereas others point to the difference between owning an original piece of physical art and owning a print. Regardless of your views on art, NFTs are being seen in a range of different applications, from music to sports to gaming - anywhere where something can be defined as collectible or unique has the potential for NFTs to mark and transfer ownership. Now even tweets have been sold as NFTs. This idea of utilising NFTs to allow unique content to be owned, shared and traded online is one of the key reasons why Blockpass was so excited to partner with UREEQA recently. Like most great ideas, UREEQA’s principle is simple yet powerful - allowing anyone to show ownership of their creative works, which in turn enables UREEQA to provide monetization and sharing opportunities for creators. With the goal of expanding and simplifying all forms of identity verification at heart, working with UREEQA to facilitate NFT creation, management and monetization represents a specific interest for Blockpass as the digital and blockchain worlds only become more and more relevant and integrated with the mainstream. Blockpass’ current work is focussed around providing identities for people, particularly for regulatory purposes such as KYC and AML, but Blockpass’ origins and eventual goals are around the provision of an identity for everything - humans, businesses, objects and ‘things’. When anyone or anything can be represented and proved to be who or what they claim to be, new markets and business models can be created. Without verifiable identities, these markets would be open to fraud and scams, so regulatory standards for identity are needed to bring security and legitimacy to such endeavours. Whilst NFTs can be used to show ownership of assets, it is only when each and every entity - living or not, digital or physical - has a verifiable identity, that the true potential of blockchain and NFTs will be unlocked, allowing frictionless ownership, management and trade of anything, anywhere, at any time. Blockpass has begun this process with human identities and by working with others such as UREEQA and developing further solutions, we advance towards a future where simple and effective NFT solutions can be implemented to bring the benefits of blockchain-based ownership certification and marketplaces to everyone. Blockpass provides regulatory compliance services with KYC and AML solutions for users, merchants and businesses. Blockpass already provides KYC and AML to a number of blockchain companies, and can be integrated with blockchains themselves as an ‘identity layer’ to provide a secure and compliant ecosystem for everyone involved. Adhering to regulations is a necessity for any solution that wants to go mainstream or have a wide audience, and, just as in the real world, is essential for keeping legitimate users safe and protected. Blockpass is applicable to any kind of DeFi project and yield farming/liquidity mining is no different. Users will be able to gain certification proving they aren’t in conflict with any regulations and thus are suitable to conduct financial transactions with, ensuring there are no issues with funds or local restrictions. Recently, Blockpass has begun to pioneer the idea of ‘On-Chain KYC®’, bringing simple and effective KYC services to anyone who needs them, embedded into the blockchain. The Blockpass platform is fully automated and hosted in the cloud, with no integration or setup fee. Businesses can sign up to the KYC Connect® console in a matter of minutes, test out the service, and start conducting identity documents verification, KYC and AML checks. Sign up for FREE at console.blockpass.org. — blockpass.org, 3d ago
Newswise — In today's medical landscape, antibiotics are pivotal in combatting bacterial infections. These potent compounds, produced by bacteria and fungi, act as natural defenses against microbial attacks. A team of researchers delved into the intricate world of glycopeptide antibiotics – a vital resource in countering drug-resistant pathogens – to uncover their evolutionary origins. Dr. Demi Iftime and Dr. Martina Adamek headed this interdisciplinary project, guided by Professors Evi Stegmann and Nadine Ziemert from the “Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections” Cluster of Excellence at the University of Tübingen, with support from Professor Max Cryle and Dr. Mathias Hansen from Monash University in Australia.Using advanced bioinformatics, the team sought to decipher the chemical blueprint of ancient glycopeptide antibiotics. By understanding their evolutionary trajectory, the researchers were looking for insights that could steer the development of future antibiotics for medical applications. The team’s study has been published in the latest edition of Nature Communications.Tracing an Evolutionary Path“Antibiotics emerge from an ongoing evolutionary tug-of-war between different organisms, each striving to outmaneuver or curtail the spread of their adversaries,” explains Evi Stegmann. To explore this, the researchers utilized the glycopeptide antibiotics teicoplanin and vancomycin, along with related compounds sourced from specific bacterial strains. These compounds, built from amino acids and sugars, disrupt bacterial cell wall construction, ultimately leading to bacterial death. Notably, teicoplanin and vancomycin exhibit this potency against numerous human pathogens.In simplified terms, scientists often organize species into an evolutionary tree structure to illustrate their relationships. Similarly, the research team constructed a family tree of known glycopeptide antibiotics, linking their chemical structures via gene clusters that encode their blueprints. Employing bioinformatics algorithms, they deduced a putative ancestral form of these antibiotics – which they dubbed “paleomycin.” By reconstructing the genetic pathways they believed to produce paleomycin, the team successfully synthesized the compound, which displayed antibiotic properties in tests. “Recreating such an ancient molecule was exhilarating, akin to bringing dinosaurs or wooly mammoths back to life,” remarks Ziemert.Connecting Evolution to Practicality“One intriguing finding is that all glycopeptide antibiotics stem from a common precursor,” Stegmann says. “Moreover, the core structure of paleomycin mirrors the complexity seen in teicoplanin, while vancomycin exhibits a simpler core. We speculate that recent evolution streamlined the latter’s structure, yet its antibiotic function remained unchanged,” Ziemert adds. This family of antibiotics – though beneficial for bacteria producing them – demand substantial energy due to their complex chemical composition. Streamlining this complexity while retaining efficacy could confer an evolutionary advantage.The researchers meticulously traced the evolution of these antibiotics and their underlying genetic sequences, investigating pivotal steps required for creating functional molecules. In collaboration with Australian scientists, some of these steps were replicated in laboratory settings. “This journey through time revealed profound insights into the evolution of bacterial antibiotic pathways and nature's optimization strategies, leading to modern glycopeptide antibiotics,” says Ziemert. “This provides us with a solid foundation for advancing this crucial antibiotic group using biotechnology.”... — newswise.com, 3d ago
Newswise — University of Bonn study shows where diversified farming also makeseconomic senseWhere and how can diversified farming practices be put to profitable use inorder to boost both productivity and biodiversity? Researchers at theUniversity of Bonn have tackled this question in a study that has now beenpublished in “Communications Earth & Environment.”Agriculture, like other sectors of the economy, is a profit-driven business.Simple cultivation systems such as monocultures have therefore become firmlyestablished, because they promise higher returns. However, they are moresusceptible to diseases and parasites, which can cause total crop failureamong other things. Diversified cultivation practices such as mixed croppingand crop rotation offer a sustainable alternative. It has already beenscientifically proven that they can be profitable, perhaps even more so thanmonocultures. But under what conditions will these diversified farmingpractices turn a profit? And how can they help to intensify agriculturalsystems in a sustainable way?A research team from the Center for Development Research at the Universityof Bonn applied a method taken from ecology and used for modeling speciesdistribution to their study so that they could make predictions about wherein the world diversified farming practices could be profitable. To this end,lead author Hannah Kamau, a doctoral student and member of Junior ProfessorLisa Biber-Freudenberger’s working group in the Innovation and Technologyfor Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area at the University ofBonn, considered over 2,000 locations all over the world that were found tohave profitable diversified farming practices as well as socio-economicconditions that determine profitability: population density, access to localmarkets, electricity supply, gross domestic product per capita andgovernance.Hannah Kamau then predicted which other regions of the world had similarconditions as the observed locations of profitable diversified farmingpractices . Her predictions suggest that the Global North and parts of theGlobal South that are close to urban centers are particularly suitable forprofitable diversified farming practices. “Developed infrastructure played akey role in forecasting suitable areas,” she explains.In addition to identifying potentially suitable regions, Kamau alsodetermined how production in each individual area could be increasedsustainably. “There are two approaches to boosting production,” she says.“The first is extensification, which means expanding agricultural areas.The other is intensification, i.e. ramping up cultivation density. Dependingon the region, diversified farming practices can help make bothextensification and intensification more sustainable. But each approach hasits risks.”Which approach is more promising depends on the region in question.Agricultural land in Western Europe, China, parts of India and Brazil aswell as Eastern Europe that is already being intensively farmed couldbenefit from various forms of extensification such as incorporating mixedplanting and lowering the cultivation density. While areas in sub-SaharanAfrica and parts of Brazil, India,Tajikistan as well as Canada, andAustralia could benefit from intensification according to the study. Otherareas may be suitable for both options, such as most parts of West Africa.Funding: The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Educationand Research (BMBF) as part of the project entitled “At the Science PolicyInterface: LANd Use SYNergies and CONflicts within the framework of the 2030Agenda” (LANUSYNCON) [01UU2002].Publication: Hannah Kamau, Shahrear Roman, Lisa Biber-Freudenberger: “Nearlyhalf of the world is suitable for diversified farming for sustainableintensification,” in “Communications Earth & Environment.” DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01062-3... — newswise.com, 3d ago
Echolocating bats rely heavily on sound information as both a means of learning about their external environment and a factor in determining their own behavior. Bats are social animals that communicate primarily through sound (Chaverri et al., 2018). The social calls of echolocating bats include aggressive calls, warning calls, mating calls, songs and isolation calls; which one is used depends on the context (Bohn et al., 2008; Davidson and Wilkinson, 2004; Fenton, 2003; Gelfand and McCracken, 1986; Pfalzer and Kusch, 2003). For example, distress calls (DCs), a form of social call, are produced by many animals when they are in situations of extreme danger such as being caught by a predator or tangled in a catch net (Carter et al., 2015; Conover, 1994; Lingle et al., 2012; Ruiz-Monachesi and Labra, 2020), and bats express DCs when in a stressful or dangerous situation (Chaverri et al., 2018; Fenton et al., 1976). Previous studies have reported the possible roles of the DCs of bats as direct responses to predators, as warnings to kin or non-kin individuals, and as a means of attracting conspecifics or heterospecifics for mobbing predators (Arnold et al., 2022; August, 1985; Carter et al., 2015; Knörnschild and Tschapka, 2012; Russ et al., 2004; Ryan et al., 1985). In addition, the acoustic structures of such vocalizations may contain information about the caller, such as body size, health status and fear status (August and Anderson, 1987; Gadziola et al., 2012; Hechavarría et al., 2020; Jiang et al., 2017). Besides the acoustic analysis of these social calls and research concerning their functions, it is also important to study changes in the internal states of the bats receiving social calls. For example, it has been reported that DCs evoke changes in neurotransmitters and stress hormones in the amygdala as a fear-related response in bats (Mariappan et al., 2013). Heart rate (fH) is an important parameter in the evaluation of internal states, as it can indicate tense, aggressive or appeasement states evoked via the autonomic nervous system. A previous study reported that the magnitude and duration of elevated fH were correlated with the level of evoked aggression in emitter bats (Gadziola et al., 2012). Some studies have used changes in fH to detect the fear level in social calls, and these studies have reported that aggressive stimuli evoked fH increases as a fear response in receiver bats (Gadziola et al., 2016; Hechavarría et al., 2020; Ma et al., 2010). Thus, the usefulness of fH changes for assessing internal states, such as emotions, has been demonstrated in studies of bats focusing on the recipients of social calls. The presentation of aggressive social calls, such as DCs, is known to increase the receiver bats' fH, but how the fH change is based on the bat's perception and how this leads to a given behavior (i.e. a fear response) have yet to be investigated. Evaluating both behavior as an external state and physiological changes as an internal state is important because internal states profoundly alter perceptions and behavior. Based on this, we hypothesize that the communicative sound-based context changes the receiver's internal state, which, in turn, changes the receiver's behavior. Recent studies have shown that contexts consisting of several vocalization sequences, rather than a single sound stimulus, may be important for bat communication (Amit and Yovel, 2023). Acoustic communication and the context (mentioned above) change the internal state of a receiver. Thus, we expected that, instead of a single DC stimulation, the recognition of a distress context or situation would increase fH as a fear response. In this study, therefore, we investigated whether (1) fear responses (freezing) and fH increases were observed in subject bats when confronted with the stimulus of a donor bat in distress emitting a DC and (2) the acoustic context of the DCs evoked a fear response using the auditory oddball paradigm, which consists of different presentation probabilities of DCs. We examined the fear response and cognitive processes in a distress context through these experiments. — The Company of Biologists, 3d ago

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More to the current point would be his 2005 book The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century. It looks like there are plans to turn this into an updated feature-length documentary film as well. His basic thesis is that the modern world cannot sustain itself. He takes seriously the threat of climate catastrophe manifesting itself first in crises of food production and distribution (though in later works he sees food crises more likely to arise from other causes). There are also various societal dynamics that threaten, from global financial Ponzi schemes to cultural exhaustion. Probably most famously is his idea of ‘peak oil’. The idea here is that given that oil (and other fossil fuels) are finite and that the more of them you consume, the costlier it becomes to access the remaining reserves, there will be a tipping point where there is not sufficient cheap energy to keep our world running as it currently does. Further, cheap energy is the foundation on which the modern world is built and it was a bad wager from the beginning given that it becomes ever more reliant on a finite resource. — substack.com, 3d ago
Alongside the falsity-as-property perspective, another prominent approach focuses on the process by which misinformation comes into being or how truth claims are defined. Such a perspective is particularly promoted by the postmodern critique of truth and knowledge. To this, Foucault's truth and power diagram is a case in point. Foucault's (1980) theorisation of Regime of Truth illuminates the importance of discourse and power contestation in shaping how and why certain information is legitimised as 'truth' while others are sanctioned as 'falsehood'. On the one hand, we acknowledge that the postmodernist impossibility of truth, or a complete rejection of objective truth, has limited merit for many research agendas in contemporary misinformation studies. For example, research efforts to develop debunking strategies, misinformation detection, and understanding its impacts, necessitate a dedication to evaluation and evidence-based analysis for the purpose of distinguishing between accurate information and falsehoods. On the other hand, we echo Marres’ (2018) cautionary note regarding the risks associated with normative demarcation around misinformation and argue that a theoretical lens emphasising the contentious aspects of the falsity/truth dichotomy can be productive. It encourages a non-normative perspective and directs greater attention to the technological and societal contexts in which problematic information emerges. In today's online space, as we will discuss further in the following sections, truth validation and selection are influenced by competing interests between knowledge communities online, as well as by contradicting subjectivities of human and non-human actors (Marres, 2018). Recent years have seen a growing trend of instrumentalising misinformation-related terms as a rhetorical weapon (Egelhofer & Lecheler, 2019). In authoritarian countries where both journalistic and scientific expertise serve as political apparatus and where 'misinformation' is used to prosecute dissidents (Rahimi, 2011; Yadav et al., 2021; Zeng et al., 2017). To problematise misinformation in these aforementioned contexts requires our attention to be shifted from the face value of 'falsehood' to revealing the power dynamics that permeate false arbitration and truth claims. — Internet Policy Review, 3d ago
...“It is crucial to recognize the multitude of threats that impede our response efforts. Climate variability poses a substantial risk, but we must also contend with challenges such as limited healthcare access, ongoing conflicts and emergencies, the lingering effects of COVID-19 on service delivery, inadequate funding and uneven implementation of our core malaria interventions,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa in the press release. “To forge ahead toward a malaria-free future, we need a concerted effort to tackle these diverse threats that fosters innovation, resource mobilization and collaborative strategies.” Adding to the problem is that there's a substantial funding gap. — KSBY News, 3d ago
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If there’s one thing the Australian public is surely entitled to, it is to be treated as citizens who have the right to know the security risks posed by global heating. Shockingly, there remains an alarming absence of information on such matters. As noted earlier this year by Murdoch University’s international relations scholar Tobias Ide in the Australian Journal of International Affairs: “While scholars have explored the human security implications of climate change and climate security discourses in Australia, systematic scientific assessments of climate change and national security are scarce”. In seeking to fill this knowledge gap, Ide draws on numerous studies to map the likely impacts on Australia before 2050, concluding that, “climate change will very likely undermine Australia’s national security by disrupting critical infrastructure, by challenging the capacity of the defence force, by increasing the risk of domestic political instability in Australia’s immediate region, by reducing the capabilities of partner countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and by interrupting important supply chains. These impacts will matter most if several large-scale disasters co-occur or if Australia becomes involved in a major international conflict. By contrast, international wars, large-scale migration, and adverse impacts on key international partners are only minor climate-related risks”. — Pearls and Irritations, 6d ago
To the Board of Directors of OpenAI:We are writing to you today to express our deep concern about the recent events at OpenAI, particularly the allegations of misconduct against Sam Altman.We are former OpenAI employees who left the company during a period of significant turmoil and upheaval. As you have now witnessed what happens when you dare stand up to Sam Altman, perhaps you can understand why so many of us have remained silent for fear of repercussions. We can no longer stand by silent.We believe that the Board of Directors has a duty to investigate these allegations thoroughly and take appropriate action. We urge you to:* Expand the scope of Emmett’s investigation to include an examination of Sam Altman’s actions since August 2018, when OpenAI began transitioning from a non-profit to a for-profit entity.* Issue an open call for private statements from former OpenAI employees who resigned, were placed on medical leave, or were terminated during this period.* Protect the identities of those who come forward to ensure that they are not subjected to retaliation or other forms of harm.We believe that a significant number of OpenAI employees were pushed out of the company to facilitate its transition to a for-profit model. This is evidenced by the fact that OpenAI’s employee attrition rate between January 2018 and July 2020 was in the order of 50%.Throughout our time at OpenAI, we witnessed a disturbing pattern of deceit and manipulation by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, driven by theirinsatiable pursuit of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). Their methods, however, have raised serious doubts about their true intentions and the extent to which they genuinely prioritize the benefit of all humanity.Many of us, initially hopeful about OpenAI’s mission, chose to give Sam and Greg the benefit of the doubt. However, as their actions became increasingly concerning, those who dared to voice their concerns were silenced or pushed out. This systematic silencing of dissent created an environment of fear and intimidation, effectively stifling any meaningful discussion about the ethical implications of OpenAI’s work.We provide concrete examples of Sam and Greg’s dishonesty & manipulation including:* Sam’s demand for researchers to delay reporting progress on specific “secret” research initiatives, which were later dismantled for failing to deliver sufficient results quickly enough. Those who questioned this practice were dismissed as “bad culture fits” and even terminated, some just before Thanksgiving 2019.* Greg’s use of discriminatory language against a gender-transitioning team member. Despite many promises to address this issue, no meaningful action was taken, except for Greg simply avoiding all communication with the affected individual, effectively creating a hostile work environment. This team member was eventually terminated for alleged under-performance.* Sam directing IT and Operations staff to conduct investigations into employees, including Ilya, without the knowledge or consent of management.* Sam’s discreet, yet routine exploitation of OpenAI’s non-profitresources to advance his personal goals, particularly motivated by his grudge against Elon following their falling out.* The Operations team’s tacit acceptance of the special rules that applied to Greg, navigating intricate requirements to avoid being blacklisted.* Brad Lightcap’s unfulfilled promise to make public the documents detailing OpenAI’s capped-profit structure and the profit cap for each investor.* Sam’s incongruent promises to research projects for compute quotas, causing internal distrust and infighting.Despite the mounting evidence of Sam and Greg’s transgressions, those who remain at OpenAI continue to blindly follow their leadership, even at significant personal cost. This unwavering loyalty stems from acombination of fear of retribution and the allure of potential financial gains through OpenAI’s profit participation units.The governance structure of OpenAI, specifically designed by Sam and Greg, deliberately isolates employees from overseeing the for-profit operations, precisely due to their inherent conflicts of interest. This opaque structure enables Sam and Greg to operate with impunity, shielded from accountability.We urge the Board of Directors of OpenAI to take a firm stand against these unethical practices and launch an independent investigation into Sam and Greg’s conduct. We believe that OpenAI’s mission is too important to be compromised by the personal agendas of a few individuals.We implore you, the Board of Directors, to remain steadfast in your commitment to OpenAI’s original mission and not succumb to the pressures of profit-driven interests. The future of artificial intelligence and the well-being of humanity depend on your unwavering commitment to ethical leadership and transparency.Sincerely,Concerned Former OpenAI Employees### Contact We encourage former OpenAI employees to contact us at formerly_openai@mail2tor.com.We personally guarantee everyone’s anonymity in any internal deliberations and public communications. ### Further UpdatesUpdates will be posted at https://board.net/p/r.e6a8f6578787a4cc67d4dc438c6d236e### Further Reading for the General Public... — Gizmodo, 11d ago
In his more recent statement Rudd declared with, what appeared to be vicarious pride, his admiration of America’s capacity to deal with any series of simultaneous challenges. It had already ‘demonstrated its ability to manage these challenges on three fronts at once.’ It is clear from this that he is quite tone deaf to the winds of change whistling across the world. People everywhere are, increasingly seeing the same attributes, applauded by Rudd, as confirmation that America is addicted to war and therefore a prime and ubiquitous source of conflict. Israel’s catastrophic destruction of Gaza has put this assessment beyond doubt. The overwhelming support from the Western powers and most of the mainstream media has done irreparable damage to images carefully curated for generations. The benign mask, having slipped from the face, lies in the dust beside the fallen myth of liberal internationalism. By a hundred actions and statements Western leaders inadvertently display their racial partiality and belief that the death of people of colour matters less than those of fellow whites. And above all, and perhaps more damaging than anything else, is the realisation that Western leaders in governments and media are high priests of hypocrisy. The sermons they have preached all over the world about a rules based international order have little purchase on their own behaviour. They may never recover their shrinking prestige. — Pearls and Irritations, 10d ago
In a Sunday evening internal video conference intended to give educators an overview of the agreement, bargaining team members said that Lancaster had stepped back for “personal reasons” and was “with us in spirit.”The following day, the union’s bargaining team hosted a five hour webinar for members at which they answered more than 600 questions about the tentative agreement, a recording of which was shared with The Oregonian/OregonLive.At the very end, in response to questions about Lancaster’s resignation, Bonilla said, “You need to talk to Steve. We don’t speak for him…. There was a question about, ‘Now that Steve’s gone if we don’t ratify the contract, who’s going to fight for us?’ And I want to make sure that we don’t dismiss the work done by all the women and femmes in the space, who have been fighting for you guys. This has never been something that one person does.”Lancaster is not the only teacher who has raised questions about the strike’s outcome. Bill Wilson, a chemistry teacher at Grant High School who chaired the union’s bargaining team in 2014 and served as a committee member for a decade, wrote on an internal PAT discussion site that the tentative agreement was “a result of a failure of PAT leadership…The revelation last week that 13 percent was the best we could get was nothing short of stunning. It points to a failure of PAT leadership to accurately know district finances. To simply state that the money was there well into the strike without having done the work is a purposeful gaslighting of members.”Screenshots of his comments were shared with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Wilson did not immediately respond to an email seeking further comment.Despite their misgiving, both Lancaster and Wilson publicly urged their colleagues to ratify the tentative agreement, saying that rejecting it wouldn’t lead to better outcomes.At Monday night’s webinar, most teachers heaped praise on Bonilla and the rest of the bargaining team, celebrating them for their persistence during the negotiations including several marathon, 24-hour bargaining sessions.Others acknowledged that the agreement fell short of what the union had hoped to achieve, particularly around reducing class sizes and increasing mental and behavioral health supports for students.Bonilla told members that the school board — particularly Chair Gary Hollands, Vice Chair Herman Greene and member Julia Brim-Edwards, who came to the bargaining table after the union requested board presence during the first week of the strike — regularly blocked the union from reaching its goals.“At this point, I think it is safe to say that the entire board needs to be held accountable,” Bonilla told her members. “This was a traumatic experience for our bargaining team, and it was because of those board members who were not doing what they were elected to do, which is be the accountability check on this district and each other.”Reached Tuesday, Brim-Edwards and Hollands both said they’d tried numerous different strategies to be responsive to the union’s requests.“We were trying to figure out what were their priorities within our fixed budget,” Brim-Edwards said.Hollands said that before the strike, board members were ready to authorize a cost of living adjustment of 6 percent for the first year and 4 percent for each additional year, in exchange for the union agreeing not to walk out. That is very close to where the two sides ultimately ended up. He floated that possibility to Bonilla but it was ultimately rejected, he said.In the three weeks of negotiations that followed, Hollands said, district bargaining team members tried to address the union’s concerns with a variety of strategies, including starting all new teachers at a higher salary and offering to reduce teacher-student ratios by one at all high-needs schools and all schools where any classroom topped 30 students.Those ideas eventually went by the wayside in favor of putting available funding toward a larger cost-of-living raises, he said.The union has emphasized that its negotiators were able to make inroads on key elements of their proposals, including earmarking new funding for weatherizing classrooms and creating new language on sanitary conditions in classrooms that will elevate teachers’ concerns.Union leaders also pointed to time set aside for grading papers and planning lessons, which was increased to 410 minutes per week for both middle and elementary school educators, a breakthrough that came on Nov. 9, after five missed school days for students. That was accomplished by shifting schedules at some middle schools to allow for more enrichment classes and by drastically cutting back the number of staff meetings, a loss for principals and other building administrators.“I value the time to meet with my staff,” said Andrea Porter-Lopez, the principal of Woodlawn Elementary School in Northeast Portland. “There are so many things that need dialogue. All in an e-mail, it becomes a ‘talk-at.’ You don’t get the same feedback and response.”In conversation with members, Bonilla and others have stressed that they see this contract laying the groundwork for future ones, particularly on class size caps, a longtime legislative goal of the Oregon Education Association. The new contract includes language setting up schoolwide “class size committees” that will include parents, which she said would help hold the district accountable and create more transparency around full-to-overflowing classrooms.“Everyone is watching — they now know,” Bonilla said. “Folks are going to be held accountable by not just us, but also parents. So that is another piece that is going to increase the pressure. It is not going to be immediate and that is the frustrating part. But it is the start and it is going to put more eyes on the problem”Low-level discomfort over some of the union’s methods had been percolating among some members even before the tentative agreement was signed on Sunday afternoon. Several hundred educators on Nov. 21 signed a letter to Bonilla and Vice President Jacque Dixon expressing their discomfort with a flier circulated among the membership during a sit-in on the Burnside Bridge that encouraged “cook-outs and camp-outs” at the homes of the seven members of the school board. The flier, which did not have the PAT logo on it, included the board members’ personal phone numbers and addresses.“This targeted action could be perceived, by the targets and by the community at large, as threatening, harming or bullying,” the letter read. “This type of escalation tactic may be something you and some members of PAT believe in, but it marginalizes everyone else…We therefore cannot participate in or condone bullying, even in the name of securing a good contract.”Later on, after Hollands’ car and a home owned by Brim-Edwards were tagged with the words “Shame” — acts that have not been connected to any PAT members — the union issued a statement condemning vandalism.Since the announcement of the tentative agreement, educators have voiced particular concern around the plans to make up for the instructional hours lost during the strike, which include holding classes during what was supposed to be the first week of winter break.Bonilla acknowledged those concerns during the Monday question-and-answer meeting, but said school board members had been hell-bent on making up instructional time with full days, as opposed to adding minutes to the school day and made that a condition of settlement. She reminded members that they are able to take personal time, sick time or unpaid leave during the winter break days and do not have to justify those requests to administrators.“Use your time. It’s yours. The substitutes will probably appreciate the time. Just don’t put up any pictures when you are supposedly sick, please and thank you,” she said.©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. — Governing, 4d ago
But it isn’t always a matter of rural resentment. Last November, voters in San Bernardino County, Calif., population 2.2 million and the third-largest metro area in the state, narrowly approved an advisory ballot measure to explore the idea of seceding and creating a state of their own. The San Bernardino dissidents are frustrated with homelessness, high housing costs, rising crime rates and an overall increase in the cost of living. San Bernardino is angry, but it’s not launching a rural right-wing rebellion. A majority of the registered voters in the county are Democrats, although it voted Republican for governor in 2022.SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY WILL NEVER BECOME A STATE. That’s an easy one. Only states have the constitutional authority to give up territory, and they need a majority vote from Congress even to do that. Threatening to secede is a way to attract some attention. That’s really all it is.What about Idaho and Oregon simply doing a swap? That’s a bit more complicated. If the two states simply wanted to exchange counties, with no new state involved, and the counties wanted to make the switch, it’s possible they could do it without a vote from Congress. Not likely, but possible. The question is what would motivate a pair of states to pull off something like that. The activist members of the Greater Idaho Movement think their state would be a big winner. The Greater Idaho website talks about “the satisfaction of freeing more than 380,000 rural Oregonians from woke progressive blue-state law.” A few months ago, one of the leaders told my colleague Alan Greenblatt that “we would gain enough citizens to give Idaho another congressional seat, plus bring more businesses and innovators into Idaho.”What Oregon would get out of this is hard to fathom. The counties that would like to leave the state have a combined population of about 220,000, about 5 percent of Oregon’s total. If these counties left, Oregon would lose some angry red-state dissidents, but no state wants to give up population and the benefits it brings, notably political representation, a bigger tax base and a larger stake in federal grants tied to population. In exchange for giving up much of its eastern region, Oregon would have to get something in return.I can’t imagine what this would be. A few Idaho legislators have expressed mild curiosity about picking up some of Oregon, but have never mentioned what they would cede in return. Boise is far more liberal than the rest of Idaho and might fit better along Oregon’s Pacific Coast, but it isn’t going anywhere. The deepest-red counties haven’t asked to join Oregon, and it stretches credulity to think they would. If this were baseball, perhaps they could work out a trade for a few counties to be named later, but this isn’t baseball.SO THE WHOLE IDEA HAS ALL THE SYMPTOMS OF A FOOL’S ERRAND. But it does raise the question of how many times these quixotic efforts have popped up in modern history. The answer is, quite a few. In 1969, Norman Mailer ran for mayor of New York City on a promise to promote its secession from the rest of the state. Forty years later, a state legislator from Long Island floated a secession scheme, on the grounds that its counties weren’t getting a fair share of state financial aid.In 2011, a group called Save Our State wanted to get Tucson to break away from the rest of Arizona, the result of a dispute over public works contracts. Two years later, five Colorado counties voted in favor of a new state of Northern Colorado, a statement of discontent with liberal-leaning Denver. Georgia conducted a referendum on making a new state out of the dozens of South Georgia counties. It didn’t do very well, but it pulled a decent vote in some areas of the rural southeast.In Illinois, where I come from, the state has been deeply divided for more than two centuries between a northern half, settled by Yankees who moved west from New York and New England, and a southern half, most of whose residents came from Appalachia or the Deep South. This has been the cause of separation fever since the early 19th century. It still is. In 2011, two state representatives introduced a resolution to make Chicago and surrounding Cook County the 51st state. They weren’t trying to do Cook County any favors. They objected to what they perceived as Chicago “dictating its views” to their downstate counties and constituents. In 2019, three downstate legislators advanced a similar proposal, for similar reasons.YOU GET THE IDEA. The fact that none of this can happen doesn’t prevent disaffected regions from seeking a divorce from their states. What’s intriguing is the fact that this keeps coming up.Perhaps it goes without saying (although I will say it anyway) that separation fever in the United States is simply a variant of the polarization that afflicts every level of the political system, from city councils and school boards to Congress and the Supreme Court. The losing side in all political disputes in the last 250 years has tended to feel that it wasn’t being listened to.Sometimes this was true; more often it wasn’t. Losing an argument doesn’t mean you have been ignored, even if you are convinced that it does. And for most of the nation’s history, the unsuccessful side — individuals, interest groups or outvoted regions of states — have licked their wounds and either given up or tried a different tactic. On balance, ideological diversity, even within individual states, has probably been a healthy component of American democracy. It can serve as a check on majority recklessness. Do we really want our states to be politically homogeneous? I don’t.What’s different now is that regional political losers are far less willing to accept defeat. They vow not to enforce laws they don’t like, refuse to accept settled election results and, as we are increasingly seeing, agitate for separation from the insensitive power brokers they see at the state capital. The fact that secession can’t succeed doesn’t make it meaningless, or trivial. It is a manifestation of real resentments that won’t disappear until we find a way to deal with the larger dysfunctions with which American government has been afflicted. — Governing, 27d ago
China’s use of ASI’s is useful in the context of Europe’s SEP regulation as it shows how China repurposes a western legal mechanism for its own ends—to increase the value of Chinese technology and decrease the value of foreign technology “monopolies.” Mark Cohen and other IP experts point out that China’s ASI practice is a kind of linguistic “false friend” intended to normalize bad behavior by adopting western nomenclature.[50] Courts in the United States and elsewhere also issue ASIs, but unlike common law countries, Chinese ASIs are exclusively extra-territorial in nature. Chinese ASIs are part of a national effort to increase the role of Chinese courts in establishing global judicial norms that have been promoted and endorsed by the highest levels of China’s political and judicial leadership.[51] Western ASIs are rarely intended to promote the role of the courts in international disputes, while China’s use of ASIs have created new causes of action and unique conflict of law. Chinese ASIs have also precipitated other changes in the adjudication of SEPs to accommodate this more aggressive posture through creation of new causes of action, adoption of unique conflicts of law rules, etc., while the disruption caused by Western ASIs on domestic legal systems has been relatively minor. As Mark Cohen states, the United States and others should look at Chinese ASIs exclusively in functional terms—in terms of how they’re used for industrial goals. Using Western nomenclature to describe unfair practices can lead to normalization and inappropriate acceptance of such practices. In the same vein, China will likely use many of the concerns, components, and functions in the EU SEP proposal, but for distinctly industrial development goals. — itif.org, 28d ago

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The fossil fuel industry has already developed a reputation for manipulating climate language and policy and for shifting responsibility for reducing emissions onto individuals, pushing the commonly used term “carbon footprint” to that end.4 Reported plans by the meat industry to influence the debate are also concerning.5 Jaber has argued that we need the fossil fuel industry and climate damaging industries around the table to facilitate an integrated approach to tackling the climate emergency, however this is unconvincing.6 Not only do these conflicts threaten our ability to trust the conclusions and agreements that are generated from the conference, but they challenge our faith in the process of COP28 itself. Inevitably we might consider whether these leaders truly have the best interests of the planet and its citizens at heart. — The BMJ, 3d ago
A strictly legal-constitutional approach, if not properly handled, can become counterproductive. Nigeria needs new federal instrumentalities that will give the constituent units more powers and make them productive centres and thereby reduce the tensions, fears and dangers of an overcentralised arrangement where the health of the federation, its wealth, security, and progress depends only on the viability of the federal government. We need to undo the desecration of subnational viability by the Irikefe Panel in its argument that viability, the principle which requires states to have autonomous fiscal, administrative and productive capacities to qualify to be constituent units was no longer necessary because the central government, having taken over control of the country’s power and resources, was the master government to which everyone should look up to. The master government has run its course as demanded by the nation-centred trajectory of military federalism, but the things have changed, and the demands now are for a state-centred trajectory. Federalism has the answer because it is a responsive system of government, but the answer does not lie only in the constitution. — The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News, 3d ago
Preventing an arms race in outer space must also involve attention to the growing range of orbital capabilities. Such attention might include one or more legal agreements that bar particularly egregious capabilities and activities in space, such as kinetic destruction or targeting Earth. But it must also include a range of other types of agreements, tools, and mechanisms used to form a comprehensive regime for peace and security in outer space. Included should be measures that mitigate the insecurities that drive arms racing by making actions in space more transparent, nurturing communication, and protecting civilian users and other essential capabilities from harm. Also possible are further restraints on missiles. Many of these measures were discussed at the recently concluded Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats (OEWG). While such pieces can be put into place over time, they cannot be treated as afterthoughts. — ploughshares.ca, 3d ago
A key focus of the report addresses the impacts of climate change. In the short-term, we’ve already seen increases in transmission in highland areas that were previously malaria-free and the deadly effects in Pakistan, where floods recently resulted in an unprecedented malaria epidemic. Longer-term, climate change is likely to negatively impact on health system structures and potentially increase conflict and population displacement, putting greater numbers of people at risk of disease. We must future-proof health systems and interventions against the impacts of climate change in order to tackle this aspect of malaria control alongside the other big challenges highlighted in the report. — LSHTM, 3d ago
Getting picked on can have a dramatic effect on an animal's confidence. Vulnerable creatures shrink in on themselves, back down from confrontations and lose the will to explore after suffering continual defeat by more dominant animals. Yet, resilient creatures don't succumb to the effects of bullying. ‘Most studies on chronic social defeat are performed in mammals, such as mice, rats and hamsters’, says Rose Wayne from Louisiana State University, USA. But how does constantly being picked on affect social fish such as cichlids and how does repeatedly encountering defeat mess with their brains? Curious to find out how bullied male Burton's mouthbrooder cichlids (Astatotilapia burtoni) react when forced into a confrontation with a larger male, Ava Karam, Alora McInnis and Catherine Arms from Karen Maruska's lab at Louisiana State University, USA, monitored how the fish responded to constantly losing out and what set resilient males apart from more sensitive souls. — The Company of Biologists, 3d ago
He added: “(I) continue to be concerned about a small segment of the city that lets the perfect be the opposite of good.”Under the agreement approved Wednesday, Axon Enterprise, Inc. will supply 840 body cameras to the city, to account for devices that may break, Benner said. Axon, formerly known as Taser International, also sold Portland the cameras for the pilot.Tammy Mayer, the Police Bureau’s body-worn camera program manager, said Axon cameras and software had “performed very well,” and that the bureau had no concerns with the company. Portland police also worked with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office to provide video footage to use in court, Mayer said.Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler cautioned that it would take “some time” before officers received training so they could implement the technology.“I’m not alone in wanting to roll out body cameras bureau-wide as soon as possible,” Wheeler said.Sgt. Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association union, said officers in the pilot program didn’t report “any real big hiccups” and that union negotiations over the technology’s implementation will not concern substantive matters. Some officers, for example, told Schmautz they faced long upload times for their recordings and said their cameras captured unnecessary footage, such as long stretches of driving to incidents.Also, several officers who responded to a person in crisis each had to tell the person they were recording.“They’re not a panacea, and the video itself is not the recollection of the individual wearing it,” Schmautz said. “But it is an opportunity to ensure, or at least maximize the potential of, having a firsthand account of what occurred.”Wednesday’s vote follows nearly a decade of sometimes contentious discussions and negotiations over the technology. For years, disagreements between the city and its police union – primarily over whether to allow officers who use deadly force to review camera footage before writing reports or being interviewed by investigators – stymied efforts to equip officers with the devices.Under a negotiated policy between the city and its police union, officers who use deadly force won’t get to view their camera’s footage until after they’ve given investigators an audio-recorded statement within 48 hours of the incident.©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. — GovTech, 3d ago

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Thanks for writing this up! I think having more well-researched and well-written dives into things like this are greatA bunch of scattered thoughts and replies to these:Overall I agree with the central idea (Nuclear War is unlikely to cause human extinction), but I disagree enough with the reasoning to want to hammer it into better shape.Writing this I feel like in a "editing/constructive feedback" mood, but I'd welcome you to throw it all out if its not what you're going for. To the feedback!This seems to only consider current known nuclear weapons arsenals. It seems worth including probabilities that different kinds of weapons are built before such a war. In particular, longer-lived species of bombs (e.g. salt bombs, cobalt bombs, etc)I think I want to separate "kill everyone with acute radiation right away" and "kill everyone with radiation in all of the food/water", and the latter seems less addressed by the energy/half life argument. I think the weapon design space here is pretty huge, so ruling these out seems hard to me. (Though I do think if we're assigning probabilities, they should get lower probabilities than conventional weapons)In general I would prefer approximate numbers or at least likelihood ratios for what you think this evidence balances out to, and what likelihood of odds you would put on different outcomes.(For example: "what is the likelihood ratio of the 3.C evidence that nuclear war planners are familiar with ideas like nuclear winter" -- I don't think these are strictly required, but they really help me contextualize and integrate this information)In particular, Toby Ord gives a bunch of excellent quantitative analysis of X-risks, including nuclear war risk, in The Precipice.(In fact, if your main point of the post was to present a different model from that one, adding numbers would greatly help in comparing and contrasting and integrating them)Finally, I think my mental models of case 3) are basically the same as any event that is a significant change to the biosphere -- and it seems reasoning about this gets harder given your premise.A hypothetical: if there are 3 major climate events in the next 100 years (of which one is a bellicose nuclear exchange), and humanity goes extinct due to climate related symptoms, does the nuclear war "cause" the human extinction in a way you're trying to capture?Maybe what I want is for the premise to be more precise: define a time limit (extinct within X years) and maybe factor what it means to "cause" (for example, it seems like this suggests that an economic collapse triggered by an nuclear war, which triggers other things, that eventually leads to extinction, is not as clearly "caused by nuclear war")Also maybe define a bit what "full-scale" means? I assume that it means total war (as opposed to limited war), but good to clear up in any case.That's all that came to mind for now. Thanks again for sharing!~... — lesswrong.com, 26d ago
When a communication is interpreted as a conflict, we tend to perceive it as a threat. Any perceived threat floods our bodies with a cascade of stress chemicals, helping us prepare for fight-or-flight. We have now been "triggered." This reaction interferes with memory and lowers our intelligence for responding in any way other than defensively. Complex decision-making evaporates, our attention narrows, and we become fixated on “I’m right—you’re wrong” in order to respond to a perceived attack and feel safer. We fall back on simplifying and categorizing people, often relying on an “us” and “them” mentality. As with physical threats of danger, our response to potential social threats tends to be defensive, which often prompts anger, aggression, and conflict. — Psychology Today, 28d ago
The rapid spread of attachment styles is arguably a symptom of a larger churn: the alienation of modern societies. The need to categorize, sort, label, and define is an instinct that may have been exacerbated by the growing uncertainties around us, spurring a search for maximum security in relationships with little to no conflict. But knowing one’s attachment style is not a quick fix – the solution, in part, may lie in the work that comes after, under the guidance of an expert. It’s recognizing that one’s ability to improve connection is not governed by any attachment style, that sometimes an unanswered text may be just that, and that absolute labels cannot possibly encompass the whole range of experiences and emotions that make up human beings. — theswaddle.com, 22d ago
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But matters are different in the workplace, where such explicitly aggressive behaviour is frowned upon. We are required to not only be co-operative but must also assume the good faith of our colleagues. We cannot accuse them of insidious motives, however much we might suspect them. In team meetings, conflicts and resentments play out in the language of politeness. Any academic, for example, will know that departmental meetings are festering Petri dishes of passive aggression. — Australian Financial Review, 3d ago
He added: “(I) continue to be concerned about a small segment of the city that lets the perfect be the opposite of good.”Under the agreement approved Wednesday, Axon Enterprise, Inc. will supply 840 body cameras to the city, to account for devices that may break, Benner said. Axon, formerly known as Taser International, also sold Portland the cameras for the pilot.Tammy Mayer, the Police Bureau’s body-worn camera program manager, said Axon cameras and software had “performed very well,” and that the bureau had no concerns with the company. Portland police also worked with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office to provide video footage to use in court, Mayer said.Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler cautioned that it would take “some time” before officers received training so they could implement the technology.“I’m not alone in wanting to roll out body cameras bureau-wide as soon as possible,” Wheeler said.Sgt. Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association union, said officers in the pilot program didn’t report “any real big hiccups” and that union negotiations over the technology’s implementation will not concern substantive matters. Some officers, for example, told Schmautz they faced long upload times for their recordings and said their cameras captured unnecessary footage, such as long stretches of driving to incidents.Also, several officers who responded to a person in crisis each had to tell the person they were recording.“They’re not a panacea, and the video itself is not the recollection of the individual wearing it,” Schmautz said. “But it is an opportunity to ensure, or at least maximize the potential of, having a firsthand account of what occurred.”Wednesday’s vote follows nearly a decade of sometimes contentious discussions and negotiations over the technology. For years, disagreements between the city and its police union – primarily over whether to allow officers who use deadly force to review camera footage before writing reports or being interviewed by investigators – stymied efforts to equip officers with the devices.Under a negotiated policy between the city and its police union, officers who use deadly force won’t get to view their camera’s footage until after they’ve given investigators an audio-recorded statement within 48 hours of the incident.©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. — Governing, 3d ago
..."The scenarios are increasingly complex to account for the changing threat landscape, such as new zero-day vulnerabilities, third-party outages or geo-political conflicts that drive cyber risk," Betz said. "Insurance companies have teams focusing on identifying risks and defining plans based on these practices, as dedicated experts are needed to explain these cyber risks to executive management and the board. New risks can emerge quickly, and cyber teams are always educating their organizations on best practices to ensure they are staying on top of risks."... — Digital Insurance, 4d ago
Microsleeps, the seconds-long interruptions of wakefulness by eye closure and sleep-related brain activity, are dangerous when driving and might be too short to provide the restorative functions of sleep. If microsleeps fulfill sleep functions, then animals faced with a continuous need for vigilance might resort to this sleep strategy. We investigated electroencephalographically-defined sleep in wild chinstrap penguins at sea and while nesting in Antarctica constantly exposed to an egg predator and aggression from other penguins. The penguins nodded off >10,000 times per day, engaging in bouts of bihemispheric and unihemispheric slow-wave sleep lasting on average only 4 s, but resulting in the accumulation of over 11 h of sleep for each hemisphere. The investment in microsleeps by successfully breeding penguins, suggests that the benefits of sleep can accrue incrementally. — interestingengineering.com, 3d ago
This is undoubtedly a welcome step forward, in particular for its highlighting the need for climate finance to be conflict-sensitive. However, the declaration fails to acknowledge the bidirectional relationship between conflicts and the climate crisis. The climate crisis is exacerbating fragility and conflicts across the world but wars are currently emitting the equivalent of whole countries, with alarming consequences for global climate action. Nor does the declaration request endorsing governments to reduce the environmental impacts of their military activities – which can exacerbate vulnerability, or even to pursue peace. — CEOBS, 4d ago
It seems we are in a time warp back to the days where citizen were arguing amongst each other over individual rights. The Anti-Federalists were opposed to the constitution if it did not include the verbiage guaranteeing individual rights. Richard Henry Lee wrote to John Lamb in June 1788 in part” …. “tis really astonishing that the same people who have just emerged from a long and cruel war in defense of liberty should now agree to fix an elective despotism upon themselves and their posterity….”, he was alluding to the Bill of Rights. The Anti-Federalists insisted on freedom of religion, assembly, press etc., be written into founding documents. Lee further wrote “To say that a bad government must be established for fear of anarchy is really saying that we should kill ourselves for fear of dying.” Brutus “the pseudonym” for the Anti’s wrote “”informing a government on its true principles the foundation should be laid by expressly reserving to the people such of their essential natural rights, as are not necessary to be parted with”. Brutus also wrote in essay 1, “In every free government, the people must give their assent to the laws by which they are governed.” Turning to John Locke: “Treatises of Government” Chapter II, Of the State of Nature “Sec. 92” For he that thinks absolute power purifies men’s blood, and corrects the baseness of human nature, need read but the history of this, or any other age, to be convinced of the contrary. He that would have been insolent and injurious in the woods of America, would not probably be much better in a throne; where perhaps learning and religion shall be found out to justify all that he shall do to his subjects, and the sword presently silence all those that dare question it: for what the protection of absolute monarchy is, what kind of fathers of their countries it makes princes to be and to what a degree of happiness and security it carries civil society, where this sort of government is grown to perfection, he that will look into the late relation of Ceylon, may easily see.” I assume that Locke was alluding to the [Uva Rebellion] around 1815+/- where males of fighting age were driven out or killed. — JONATHAN TURLEY, 4d ago

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This leadership doctrine is at such variance from the rest of the Navy that any immediate attempt to apply this model on a fleet-wide scale will fail. The eight-decade absence of deadly conflict with an enemy of equal or superior capability has eroded the warrior ethos in generations of naval officers and senior enlisted leaders. Its absence has caused perverse incentives to metastasize, such as an administratively-obsessed culture that often defines excellence in terms of passing rote inspections, and scripted drills that mask warfighting deficits but make for positive reporting. Although individual commanding officers may strive mightily to create a warfighting focus within their units, the chain of command’s overriding insistence that they check all the superfluous administrative boxes will continue to doom their efforts and overwhelm the time of warfighters on the deckplate. At best, unit leaders can only put warfighting first on the margins of an already thinly-stretched crew and schedule. Whether aviators, submariners, or surface warfare officers, U.S. Navy flag officers are now largely trained, groomed, and selected to perpetuate this bureaucracy that is top-heavy with administration. — cimsec.org, 28d ago
...“Could this apply to make [Rhodesia]’s [counterinsurgency] on [ZANU-PF] proportional? There are roughly [700,000 Whites] living in [Rhodesia] now most of whom seem to feel—based on my own informal discussions with [Whites]—that living with [ZANU-PF] operating [within/around] its border is “intolerable.” I interpret that to mean that the sense of insecurity it induces in them gives them a good reason to wage [counterinsurgency] on [ZANU-PF], aiming to depose it. To take that idea seriously, we have to suppose that they think that avoiding that insecurity is important enough to justify causing the collateral damage that will come from deposing [ZANU-PF]. If we assume that will be around 30,000 deaths, then the implicit ratio the [Whites] are invoking is something like one collateral death for every 200 [Whites] who would otherwise live in a state of profound insecurity. That number needs to be adjusted, however, for those [Blacks] who will necessarily, no matter how the [counterinsurgency] ends, carry a similar, if not greater, psychic burden because of [the counterinsurgency campaign]. Those who lost loved ones in the war presumably fit this description. Let us assume ten [Blacks] will carry that burden for every [Black] who is killed. Let us add to that the number who are injured and who will carry that burden for the rest of their lives. Suppose that number is five times higher than the number killed. If we add those numbers together, we get about half a million. If we offset the number of [Whites] with a claim to avoid a psychic burden by that number, the number of [Whites] whose psychic burden counts will still be close to six million. The ratio would still be something like one collateral death for every 200 or so [Whites] who would otherwise live in a state of profound insecurity. I find that I cannot reject that as an unreasonable balance. In other words, once we count psychic harm, it looks like [Rhodesia]’s [counterinsurgency campaign] might be proportional.”... — Daily Nous - news for & about the philosophy profession, 6d ago
If we skip over a number of doctrines and come to those of more recent vintage, the Kennedy Doctrine is a good place to start. This doctrine is not always included in lists. When it is, it amounts to an update of the Monroe Doctrine for Latin America to involve the excluding, in particular, of the Soviet Union. This concept was cherry-picked out of President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address, in which he called for mass-participation in governance, committed to aiding the poor of the world, and didn’t mention the Soviet Union but rather “aggression or subversion” in Latin America. In the same speech, but apparently unworthy of doctrine status, Kennedy urged support for the United Nations, for peace, and for reconciliation with enemies, while warning of the danger posed by nuclear weapons, and stating “Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms–and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.” Kennedy said the problems to tackle were “tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself” and addressed himself to “citizens of the world,” yet his “doctrine” is somehow an anti-Soviet Monroe Doctrine. Kennedy did indeed act on such a doctrine and explicitly declare his allegiance to the original Monroe Doctrine, but if unelected people can excerpt something from an entire presidency and raise it above the Constitution, I’d rather not, with Kennedy, make it keeping the Soviets out of Latin America. I’d rather make it his entire speech for peace at American University. If we need an excuse to so change the Kennedy Doctrine we could use the fact that the Soviet Union no longer exists. — World BEYOND War, 27d ago
Speculation in Silicon Valley suggests that the board apparently felt Altman was moving too quickly, with too much focus on rapidly deploying consumer products contrary to OpenAI’s non-profit mission of “AGI that benefits of humanity” and widespread concern over safety. There may have been conflict behind Sam’s attempts to achieve AGI. Altman stated to Congress, that he takes existential risk from AI seriously, but his actions may speak louder than words, with government actors perhaps not buying it, leading to political pressure on the board to rein him in. — insideBIGDATA, 12d ago
A terrible irony is that the use of AI to fight decisive tactical engagements, at reduced risk to military personnel, is likely to result in more drawn-out political conflicts, with increased suffering for civilians. This is not simply a problem of bad targeting guidance or failing to incorporate ethical precepts in lethal control systems, which are the usual focuses of conversations about the responsible use of military AI. The problem is rather that the strategic incentives for inflicting violence change together with material changes in the tactical conduct of war. The underlying political problem here is that AI is a product of stable institutions, but war is a product of anarchy. The conditions that make AI performance better also make traditional war less likely. Conversely, the conditions that allow war to persist or escalate also make it harder to use AI systems in reliable ways. Many just-so stories about automated robots engaging in decisive set-piece battles (or even “man in the loop” or “centaur” systems) are based on a political fantasy. Armed conflict — the reduction of political uncertainty through physical violence — is more likely to emerge in areas where AI systems cannot be used effectively, if they can be used at all. — Texas National Security Review, 26d ago
Despite the meeting between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in California this week, at which the two leaders agreed to resume military communications, relations between the US and China remain fraught. Some Americans refer to a new cold war, but China is not like the USSR. The US had no economic interdependence with the Soviets, whereas it has half a trillion dollars in trade with China. While partial decoupling (or "de-risking") on security issues is useful, total economic decoupling would be extremely costly and few allies would follow suit. More countries count China than the US as their leading trade partner. Meeting the China challenge will thus require a more complex strategy. Other aspects of interdependence, such as climate change and pandemics, obey the laws of physics and biology, which also make decoupling impossible. No country can solve these transnational problems alone. For better or worse, the US is locked in a "co-operative rivalry" with China. This is not like cold war containment. Allies and partners such as India are assets that China lacks, and the combined wealth of the democratic allies will far exceed that of China (plus Russia) well into this century. If the US expects to transform China in a way similar to the collapse of the Soviet regime at the end of the cold war, it is likely to be disappointed. China is too big for America to invade or for it to coerce domestic change — and the reverse is true, too. Neither China nor the US poses an existential threat to each other unless we blunder into a major war. The most apt historical analogy is not Europe after the second world war, but Europe before the first. Taiwan could be a flashpoint as the Balkans were then. The US should help Taiwan defend itself, but within the context of the successful “One China” policy that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger created in the early 1970s. We should expect low-intensity and economic conflict, but America's strategic objective should be to avoid escalation.... — Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 15d ago

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Newswise — People in Sweden of non-European descent have almost three times as many eating disorder symptoms as people born in Sweden. But despite this, they have significantly less access to specialist treatment. This is according to new research from Karolinska Institutet published in BJPsych Open.Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia were previously seen as conditions that mainly affect white women from socioeconomically privileged families. In the 1980s, eating disorders were even described as a uniquely Western 'culture-bound syndrome'.Today, it is well established that this stereotype is incorrect and outdated; eating disorders can affect people from all walks of life, regardless of gender, ethnicity or socio-economic background. From a global perspective, eating disorders are becoming increasingly common, especially in East and Southeast Asia.Researchers at Karolinska Institutet can now show that the problems with disordered eating are significantly greater for people born in non-European countries than for people born in Sweden."There is a perception that eating disorders mainly affect white people, but these results show a higher prevalence of symptoms among individuals born abroad, especially among migrants from non-European countries who also tend to be persons of color," says first author Mattias Strand, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Psychiatry Research at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet.The study is based on the 2014 Health Stockholm public health survey, which contained four questions on eating disorders and was answered by more than 47 000 people. The analysis shows that people born in another European country had slightly more symptoms than those born in Sweden, while people born outside Europe had almost three times as many eating disorder symptoms. The researchers can also show that people born in Sweden but with two foreign-born parents have twice as much eating disorder symptoms as people with both parents born in Sweden.The researchers also analyzed who receives specialist treatment at the Stockholm Center for Eating Disorders based on where they live."It turns out that the four residential areas with the highest likelihood of receiving specialist treatment have a fairly low prevalence of eating disorder symptoms and also a low proportion of people with a foreign background," says Mattias Strand.Conversely, residents in the five areas with the highest incidence of eating disorder symptoms (Botkyrka, Skärholmen, Rinkeby-Kista, Spånga-Tensta and Hässelby-Vällingby) have the lowest probability of receiving specialist treatment. Notably, all of these areas also have a high proportion of migrant residents.“There is a strong imbalance between the prevalence of eating disorder symptoms and access to specialized care. In other words, there is a significant gap between those who have problems with disordered eating and those who receive specialist treatment, and this is something that needs to change," says Mattias Strand.“For too long, there has been a misconception that eating disorders mainly affect a certain demographic group. Our findings show that this is not the case in Stockholm. We need to broaden our understanding and ensure that healthcare resources are available to all individuals, regardless of their background.”The research is now continuing with interviews with eating disorder patients from foreign backgrounds to identify possible obstacles and barriers to care.The Center for Psychiatry Research, the Mental Health Fund, and the Fredrik and Ingrid Thuring Foundation funded the research. The researchers declare that there are no conflicts of interest.Facts:The Health Stockholm public health survey is sent out every four years to a large number of Stockholmers. The 2014 survey included four questions on symptoms of eating disorders.1. Do you vomit because you feel uncomfortably full?2. Do you worry that you have lost control over how much you eat?3. Would you say that food dominates your life?4. Where would you place yourself on a scale from 1 to 8 where 1 means no food restrictions (I eat what I want when I want) and 8 means complete food restrictions (I always limit my food intake and I make no exceptions)?... — newswise.com, 4d ago
Countries at the UN’s COP28 climate summit are hoping to secure an early agreement on a new fund to pay for climate-caused damage, reports Reuters. (A transitional committee reached a deal on the fund earlier this month, as Carbon Brief reported at the time.) Parties are aiming to “muster some political goodwill” before talks turn to more divisive topics, including the future of fossil fuels, the newswire continues. A deal on the first day of COP28 would “remove a long-running point of conflict from the conference agenda”, reports Politico. This would then allow delegates to focus talks on the “root cause of the carnage: the burning of fossil fuels”, the article adds. Securing a deal on the creation of an international fund to help communities rebuild from “climate-driven calamities”, would send a positive sign for a conference facing “headwinds from geopolitical upheaval, a bullish fossil fuel industry, and climate activists’ complaints that a major petro-state is hosting the gathering”, says Politico. Meanwhile, campaign group Development Finance International is pushing for a new comprehensive and deep debt cancellation as COP28 opens, to free up “much-needed investment in climate emergency adaptation”, reports the Guardian. Climate efforts are being hampered by the debt crisis, the article notes, adding: “the world’s poorest countries [are] paying more than 12 times as much to their creditors as they are spending on measures to tackle the impact of global heating”. — Carbon Brief, 4d ago
Schools and school boards have been cultural battlegrounds dating back over a hundred years to when evolution was a hotly contested, controversial subject that was deemed inappropriate to teach students. That tradition has extended well into the present. The recent Nov. 8 elections show that the latest cultural wars and clashes that take place at schools and school boards around so-called wedge issues are still going strong. Ballotpedia notes several main topics broadly fueling conflicts around these elections, pinpointing pandemic responses, race in education and sex/gender in schools as tipping points for candidates entering school board elections.These wedge issues are where groups like the Florida-based Moms for Liberty (M4L) focused their energy. A conservative “parents’ rights” organization that concentrates on “empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government,” M4L has used the two years since its founding to engage in school board politics and elections at the state and local levels nationwide. In 2022, 55 percent of their 500 candidates won their elections and the group has stayed at the front line of conversations around what’s being taught at schools and what rights parents have to control that.In 2023, however, that percentage of successful candidates seems to have dropped, with the AP noting that groups like M4L and the 1776 Project lost about 70 percent of their races nationally. In this round of elections, more voters seem to have chosen moderate and liberal candidates in local school board races over conservatives with extreme stances on what should be allowed in schools. Most notable is the way that voters in several high-profile school board races turned in favor of more moderate candidates once parents did more research about M4L and their candidate’s goals. While “parents’ rights” are on the ballot, there is a potential disconnect between the movement and public opinion. — Governing, 4d ago
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Regulating Nuclear Weapons

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Librarians often have to be mediators in moments of high tension. This course will equip you with tools to respond to security issues, file incident reports, resolve conflicts, intervene as a bystander, and more to ensure you are prepared in these moments. You will also learn how to establish restorative justice practices so that you can approach safety from an equity lens. — Library Journal, 4d ago
The focus of this paper is on efforts to stretch the bready supply in Germany during the First World War through adulteration and government mandates requiring the milling of whole grain flour. This was a progressive process which saw higher extraction rates and increased levels of adulteration throughout the course of the war, eventually resulting in war bread which was baked using a combination of wheat, rye, and potato flour. Extraction rates for the grain flour used in this bread increased from prewar extraction rates of between 50 and 70 percent of the bread grain, to a wartime high of 94 percent. This darker, denser bread sparked anxiety amongst nutritionists, physicians, and physiologists who had limited understanding of the role played by dietary fibre, fearing that the undigested fibre would not only impede the body’s ability to absorb nutrients during digestion, but also that it may cause injury or damage to the digestive organs themselves. This outdated belief was reflective of the limited contemporary understanding of human nutrition, which had only just begun developing as a field of study in the later decades of the 20th Century. Despite this, historians of the First World War have been slow to account for advances in nutritional science which would cast doubt on the arguments of these contemporary experts, often uncritically reproducing their arguments concerning the “indigestibility” of war bread. This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach, using current understandings of nutrition to interrogate the sources and draw new conclusions about the nutritional viability of war bread. Marieke M.A. Hendriksen (NL Lab, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences): The Dutch and their love for liquorice: a post-WWII tale of food technology and identity building... — School of Advanced Study, 4d ago
Support for research and development in wind, solar, and next-generation nuclear technologies signals that people in the U.S. favor moving to a cleaner energy future. The results also indicate a notable decline in concerns related to nuclear energy. As the country navigates its energy future, this new research by ecoAmerica emphasizes the importance of continued education and awareness around renewable energy and climate change. The U.S. is pro-nuclear, and respondents want more investment in nuclear When asked about energy choices to address climate disruption, most respondents support nuclear power because it reliably generates a lot of our electricity (71 percent), helps grow our economy while reducing pollution to our climate and health (71 percent), and keeps the U.S. competitive and energy independent (69 percent). They also want nuclear power plants to be kept running until lower-cost renewable energy becomes available (69 percent), are in favor of nuclear because it does not emit pollutants that harm our health or climate compared to alternatives (68 percent), and thousands of years of uranium and thorium are available to power nuclear plants for sustainable energy (60 percent). People in the U.S. across all age cohorts and political affiliations want more investment into improved nuclear designs, such as advanced molten salt reactors (MSRs). Support for nuclear research and development has risen, with 73 percent of the population now wanting more focus on developing nuclear energy technologies such as MSRs. Concerns about nuclear continue to decline ecoAmerica's polling was on traditional mainstream criticisms of nuclear power that have dominated popular debates for many decades. It did not include scientists and nuclear experts whose opinions may vary from popular opinion. Across the six years of the survey, concerns about nuclear energy have dropped in the U.S. Concerns about waste disposal dropped (currently 73%, down from 84% in 2018) and concerns about health and safety also declined to 73%, slowly trending toward the scientific and technical evidence. Concerns about nuclear power use related to security and weaponization are down to 68%. 61% of people surveyed (down from 74% in 2018) are still worried about nuclear power use causing overpopulation or over development, which might reduce critical natural habitat. Support for nuclear grows around the world For the first time in six years, ecoAmerica polled respondents in Ontario, Canada, where 58% of electricity production comes from nuclear energy, and Japan, which plans to maximize nuclear energy generation. In Ontario, respondents want more research and development in next-generation nuclear energy (64 percent); support traditional nuclear power plants (63 percent); want existing nuclear power plants to be kept running as long as they are cost-effective (72 percent); say nuclear power plants keep Ontario competitive and energy independent (76 percent); want nuclear because it does not emit pollutants that harm our health and climate compared to other alternatives (73 percent); and say nuclear power plants reliably generate a lot of electricity (77 percent). In Japan, where 72 percent of respondents are very concerned or somewhat concerned about climate change, nuclear power plants are favored because they reliably generate a lot of energy (55 percent). "We are already facing the consequences of a changing climate, geopolitical pressure on the fuel supply, and rising prices. At the same time, hundreds of millions of people worldwide do not have access to electricity. It is imprudent to ignore the role of nuclear technology as part of the solutions we already know how to use and deploy," said Frank Hiroshi Ling, Ph.D., chief scientist, Anthropocene Institute. "Populations and leaders are turning toward nuclear energy because it has an excellent track record and can provide dispatchability. Countries like France have long recognized that nuclear power is a carbon-free baseload energy source that provides supply stability — it is vital to solving climate disruption." About Anthropocene Institute Anthropocene Institute comprises scientists, engineers, communicators, marketers, thought leaders, and advocates — all pulling together toward a common goal: make the Earth abundant for all and sustainable for decades to come. For more information, visit www.anthropoceneinstitute.com. — altenergymag.com, 4d ago
.... It is a moment to reflect, recommit, and rejuvenate the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future.’ As we undertook this responsibility last year, the global landscape grappled with multifaceted challenges: recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, looming climate threats, financial instability, and debt distress in developing nations, all amid declining multilateralism. In the midst of conflicts and competition, development cooperation suffered, impeding progress.Assuming the G20 Chair, India sought to offer the world an alternative to status quo, a shift from a GDP-centric to human-centric progress. India aimed to remind the world of what unites us, rather than what divides us. Finally, the global conversation had to evolve - the interests of the few had to give way to the aspirations of the many. This required a fundamental reform of multilateralism as we knew it.Inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive—these four words defined our approach as G20 president, and the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration (NDLD), unanimously adopted by all G20 members, is testimony to our commitment to deliver on these principles. — Business Insider, 4d ago
This doesn’t diminish Heffernan’s fundamental insight—that imaginative writing is especially well suited to examine a range of human experience ignored by conventional historical narratives. There may be no hard-and-fast rules of punctual literature, but there are no hard-and-fast rules of any other sort of literature either. Literature is a democracy, and not an especially law-abiding one. A writer has the freedom not to take anything seriously, even global war. A writer also has the freedom not to settle on a single perspective, moral, or conclusion. Such settling, though often the stated ambition of a work of scholarly history, is anathema to literature that takes as its subject the influence of history, politics, and philosophical thought on the lives of its characters—the so-called “novel of ideas,” which describes most of the works discussed by Heffernan. In these novels dramatic tension arises from the opposition of contradictory values, each expressed with their full strength. Without this conflict, Saul Bellow wrote, a novel of ideas “is mere self-indulgence and didacticism is simply ax-grinding. The opposites must be free to range themselves against each other and they must be passionately expressed on both sides.” Contradiction, nuance, high emotion, irrationality—in all these qualities, literature has the edge over history, though its lead is not insurmountable. — The New York Review of Books, 4d ago
Henry Kissinger – longtime scholar and diplomat – died on Wednesday, November 29. Several Belfer Center foreign policy and security experts share their thoughts on the impact Kissinger has had on the U.S., the world, and on themselves. GRAHAM ALLISON, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government “Henry Kissinger was America’s greatest living statesman, Harvard’s most accomplished living graduate, and the model practitioner of statecraft as Applied History. For me personally, he was the most generous and tolerant continuing education professor for a student who first enrolled in his legendary course at Harvard 58 years ago. Over the last several years, I’ve had the good fortune to Zoom with him every couple of weeks and never left a session without having been further enlightened. Many commentators have celebrated—and criticized—Kissinger as a master practitioner of realpolitik, which of course he was. But for Henry, the much more important lesson he attempted to teach successive generations of those seeking to follow in his footsteps was the moral idealism of realism. For him, realism was not just about raw politics advancing the interest of a single state. The larger purpose was the construction of a viable order to prevent catastrophic war. That was the focus of his first book, A World Restored. That was his aspiration in finding a path to victory over the Soviet Union without hot war. That was his aspiration in searching for ways in which the U.S. and China can compete peacefully while coexisting. As we mourn his passing, we can fortunately be inspired by the lessons he taught us and the writings he’s left for us from which we can continue to learn.” FREDRIK LOGEVALL, Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs and Professor of History “It’s a mixed legacy in policy terms. On the one hand, Kissinger understood the vital importance of negotiating with adversaries, something that U.S. policymakers historically have often been reluctant to acknowledge, much less undertake. The result was notable achievements, above all détente with Soviet Union and the opening to China. As well, his shuttle diplomacy after the 1973 Yom-Kippur War yielded real and lasting results. On the other side of the ledger, Kissinger’s absolute emphasis on great-power politics and tendency to see smaller countries as mere pawns led him to espouse policies with often disastrous consequences. Here I would point as an example to the massive carpet-bombing campaign in Cambodia, launched in early 1969 in the forlorn hope of eradicating enemy sanctuaries and sending a message to Hanoi and Moscow of America’s unyielding resoluteness. The bombing was kept secret from the American press and public, but not from the Cambodians who were on the receiving end.”... — Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 4d ago

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Measuring purchasing power eliminates these distortions, which is why nobody measures purchasing power: once we calculate costs in terms of hours worked, we recognize that a much larger percentage of our labor / earnings is devoted to paying for essentials. Simply put, we're getting less value for our labor.Pundits tend to overlook the fundamental sources of declining purchasing power. These include:1. Decay of gains reaped from globalization. Stripped of corporate PR, globalization is the ruthless exploitation of as-yet unexploited pools of cheap labor and resources. This exploitation yields enormous gains at first and then these gains decay as wages rise and the easy-to-get resources are depleted.The dependence on foreign sources for essentials has also been revealed as a national security threat, and so the catch-phrase is "de-risking," which means developing multiple sources of essentials.2. Capital demanding higher returns due to soaring global risks. In the conventional view, the Federal Reserve chair waves a magic wand and lowers interest rates at will. It's not quite that simple. All new debt--for example, Treasury bonds--must be purchased by capital, and if risks are rising, capital demands a risk premium to offset the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns, both of which are proliferating rapidly.If capital is no longer willing to accept low yields, yields have to rise regardless of central bank policy, and this drags interest rates higher. Yes, central banks can create currency out of thin air and use this free money to buy Treasury bonds, but ballooning the money supply has its own consequences:3. Increasing the money supply to maintain a sclerotic, unproductive status quo generates a decline in the purchasing power of currency. Throwing trillions of new units of currency around doesn't magically mean production of goods and services increase, or the quality and quantity of items increase. It just diminishes the value of existing units of currency.4. Global scarcities crimp supply, pushing up costs. Humans have a very high opinion of themselves, but fundamentally we're like rabbits (or rats, if you prefer) let loose on an island without predators. Like rabbits, we proliferate and consume more per rabbit until the resources have been consumed. Then we wonder why scarcities arise. But AI, blah-blah-blah. AI can't restore depleted soil or reverse droughts.5. Soaring entitlements must be paid for with higher taxes. Promises made decades ago in different conditions require ever greater resources must be skimmed by governments. Creating money out of thin air isn't a solution (see #3 above) and so the government must collect a greater share of income and wealth. The more taxes we pay, the less we have left to spend on essentials and discretionary purchases.This is a global dynamic. Global entitlements and debt are both soaring. — substack.com, 4d ago
I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and short break! It is hard to believe that the semester is coming to a close. Each year, I rent a house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to spend the break with my two sons. Sometimes, it’s just us. Other times, friends come along and fill the house. This year, it was just us. On one of the days, it rained – not in the way it rains in Colorado, but a 14-hour soaking rain. The day opened space to contemplate the future of public health how we make strides toward improving the health of our society.The COVID-19 pandemic was, and may continue as, one of the most substantial infectious disease threats in modern times that required an immediate public health response. However, the United States alongside other nations, was slow to provide widespread and convenient testing, distribute masks, and effectively communicate about safe practices and the changing scientific landscape. Nonetheless, the United States invested in new technology and developed an efficacious vaccine in record time. While its distribution, deployment, and uptake could have been improved, the scientific community achieved remarkable breakthroughs by sharing data and tissue samples at a pace not previously seen. Researchers openly collaborated at an international level. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare an inadequate public health infrastructure especially around inconsistent communication between federal, state, and local policies that prevented a cohesive response to the pandemic.What can we learn from the public-private partnerships that brought us exciting new treatments but also highlighted some of the shortcomings of public health? How can we use these lessons to reimagine the public health infrastructure? As the new dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, I’ve reflected at length as to why and how our nation rapidly responded to developing a new treatment, but large scale, transformational public health investments such as access to health care, new models of care delivery, and data integration across systems for policy development have been slower to come. In my first State of the School address, I suggested that public health, as a field and practice, is plagued by three myths that must be overcome. These myths are: public health isn’t sexy; public health isn’t a science; and public health is invisible until it fails.Myth #1: Public health isn’t sexy.As a society, we are drawn to new treatments and promises for a cure. The technology is exciting; the breakthroughs are breathtaking. What government or individual donor does not want to invest in an early-stage treatment that may cure or slow the progress of a disease that affects millions of people? The motivation for financial support is higher if this disease affects them or their loved ones. This enthusiasm remains high, almost without regard to a treatment’s chances of success, costs, and possible risk. How do we make the case for public health to be as equally exciting and breathtaking? Public health breakthroughs (e.g., clean water, sanitation practices, food inspection) have changed the course of history for civilization and have prevented countless deaths. Yet, the achievements of public health are not widely promoted as life-saving interventions. Public health interventions have a high chance of success, often come at low costs relative to the development of pharmaceutical interventions, and are generally associated with few downside risks. Tobacco companies made smoking sexy, a habit that is deadly, stinky, costly, and turns its users’ teeth yellow. Surely the case for public health’s ‘sex appeal’ is easier to make than the case made for tobacco products. We must be creative in how we change the narrative for public health.Myth #2: Public health isn’t a science.A quick google search defines science as “the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.” Public health professionals produce research that is grounded in theory, data driven, and evidence-based. Our papers are subject to rigorous review and our researchers compete for incredibly scarce resources—it is public health after all. Yet, the message of “science” often gets lost in the work we do and has even come under attack in recent years. “Science” is sometimes lost when we disseminate our evidence to colleagues in basic, translational, and clinical science who may not appreciate the complexity of our work. The average person understands that microbiology is a science but is unaware that public health research and practice is also a science and is guided by economic, social, and behavioral theories, among others.As a public health community, we must take responsibility for this perception and communicate more effectively about the thought and rigor that goes into what we do. Public health science uses data from complex tracking systems assembled for public health purposes, and often enhances those data with additional data that were assembled for other purposes but can inform our models and subsequent decisions. These data are stress tested with varying assumptions and sensitivity analyses and then frequently updated with new data. Furthermore, our scientists develop new methods to handle the ensuing complex analyses. Public health science exists at the intersections of human behavior, environmental forces, policy, society at large, and health. Therefore, our landscape is continually changing, and our scientists have to be nimble in response. A good example is how well our faculty worked together to produce evidence for Colorado’s governor to make data-driven and evidence-based decisions. We must do much more to educate everyone within and outside of our field about the science of public health and that our process is no different than basic, translational, and clinical science.Myth #3: Public health is invisible until it fails.Despite public health’s struggles with sex appeal and perceptions about its science, much of public health is “invisible” because it works so well. We take for granted that our food and drinking water are safe and that smoking is prohibited on airplanes. Most of us instinctively reach for the seatbelt when we settle into a car – all because of public health. However, when these measures were first introduced, they were met with resistance. We owe it to our field to point out the areas where public health continues to save lives. It is in these examples where we regain trust and convince the population, including policymakers, to adopt new measures that make our world a safer place where we can all thrive.How is public health not sexy when it saves so many lives? How is it not science when public health is theory grounded, data driven, and evidence-based? And how is public health invisible when there are so many examples of public health in action all around us, every day? Public health is visible, but it needs to be clearly understood.There are not enough resources in our society to treat each individual who has a health need. Because of this, societal level interventions are needed to make us safer, saner, and stronger. It is public health where such interventions are developed – and it is worthy of repeating that they are grounded in theory, data driven, and evidence-based, or simply put, science. — cuanschutz.edu, 4d ago
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — A delegation of climate experts from RTI International, a nonprofit research institute and leading international development organization, will participate in the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. COP28 will convene leaders and representatives from more than 190 countries, as well as a wide-ranging mix of climate stakeholders with the aim of accelerating urgent action to address the climate crisis. For the first time, the UN Climate Conference will have a day devoted to understanding and addressing the health implications of climate change, such as exacerbating water quality issues and heat-related illnesses and death. “After a year full of extreme climate conditions, from the deadliest wildfires and catastrophic floods to record-breaking global temperatures, the growing toll on human health demands a greater commitment to urgent, collaborative climate action,” said Robyn Camp, director of energy and climate at RTI’s Center for Climate Solutions. “RTI is working across health, education, food, water, energy, environment and governance sectors and in over 85 countries to improve the human condition. RTI experts will share insights and solutions -- from our research and program implementation -- that are working now and can be scaled up to reduce emissions and create a more resilient world.” COP28 comes at a critical juncture, as nations around the world strive to implement and enhance the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. RTI has been conducting research related to climate change for more than 60 years. As a leading advocate for sustainable practices and environmental change, RTI is committed to contributing meaningful solutions to the complex issues discussed at COP28 by providing evidence-based learnings that will help innovate, catalyze actions, and scale up climate solutions. RTI’s priority at COP28 involves raising awareness in four key areas linked to climate change and the intersections between them: agriculture, water, energy and health. RTI experts will join industry, academia and public and private sector participants in panel discussions, speaking engagements and events, centered around taking action to address climate change and the associated inequities. “In order to address COP28's goals, it is critical for the public and private sector to rapidly accelerate investment to address climate while promoting equitable growth," said Daniel Lapidus, senior economist and RTI Center for Climate Solutions liaison. “A new paradigm must ensure that the most vulnerable populations throughout the globe can effectively adapt, but also that they are prioritized to benefit from investments in a low carbon economy. RTI is focused on promoting equitable and inclusive solutions for all." COP28 is taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12, 2023. RTI experts are available for interviews on a wide range of climate research topics including green ammonia, sustainable agriculture, the health impacts of climate change and more. COP28 is the world’s largest international meeting focused on tackling climate change. Since the first COP in 1995, countries have met regularly to discuss how to stabilize and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere to avoid human-induced climate disasters. COPs are an opportunity for climate scientists, researchers, implementers and other stakeholders from around the world to come together to collaborate, share best practices and advance solutions for achieving the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. — rti.org, 4d ago
Governments around the world frequently restrict access to information, especially during times of political contention such as elections or social unrest. While political scientists have extensively researched the impact of increased internet access and, in particular, access to social media on protest behavior, there remains uncertainty regarding the consequences of a sudden loss of internet access on mobilization. This paper systematically examines how online censorship influences offline protest behavior using a comprehensive dataset from Virtual Private Network (VPN) usage covering 26 authoritarian African countries from 2017 to 2021. To assess the impact of sudden censorship events during politically contentious periods, we employ a differences-in-differences approach with multiple time periods, analyzing how protest behavior is affected in the days and weeks following such events. Preliminary findings suggest that censorship alone does not directly impact protest behavior. Instead, the effect of censorship on protest behavior is conditioned by the number of individuals able to bypass censorship. In summary, this paper introduces an innovative method for quantifying various types of online censorship and offers a systematic evaluation of their consequences for offline mobilization. — Hertie School, 4d ago
The reported tension between Toner and Altman may smack of personal politics, but it is also a microcosm of a broader tension in the world of AI research as to the field’s goals and the best—or least dangerous—ways to get there. As I wrote recently in this newsletter, there are, broadly, two schools of thought when it comes to the potential dangers of AI research. One focuses on the risk that people will unwittingly give birth to an all-powerful artificial intelligence, with potentially catastrophic results for humanity. (Many believers in effective altruism fall into this camp.) Geoffrey Hinton, seen by many in the field as the godfather of modern AI research, said recently that he left Google specifically so that he could raise the alarm about the dangers of super-intelligent AI. Last month, President Biden issued an executive order in an attempt to set boundaries for the development of AI; this week, sixteen countries including the US agreed to abide by common research standards. — Columbia Journalism Review, 4d ago
We develop a new framework to study the development and autonomy of national scientific enterprises. Our method applies machine learning models to author information on 4.4 million scientific articles involving international collaboration to identify the project leaders (as opposed to the supporting actors) of each article. Aggregating leaders to their countries-of-residence allows us to determine the hierarchical position of power of each country in the global collaboration network. We use our framework to analyze recent changes in the hierarchical position of Chinese science. We begin by focusing on the hierarchical nature of collaborations between Chinese and U.S. scientists, and find that China substantially narrowed its gap behind the U.S. in scientific leadership between 1995 and 2021. Extending this trend, we predict that China will reach parity with the U.S. in terms of scientific leadership in 2033. Next, we show that China is achieving scientific leadership more quickly in other parts of the world. Delving into administrative documents, we uncover how China is extending the reach of its scientific enterprise beyond its territorial borders by investing in and training young scientists in regions that have been relatively neglected by Western science, particularly in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. As a consequence, China now enjoys a strong leadership position in collaborations with scientists from these regions, and engages scholars from these regions to produce research that advances China’s own strategic interests. We conclude that the narrowing of the China-U.S. leadership gap and the strong leadership position China has established in much of Asia and Africa indicate that China’s scientific enterprise is sophisticated and territorially distributed. As a consequence, policymakers in the U.S. and other Western countries have less leverage in affecting China’s scientific development than is commonly believed. — utoronto.ca, 4d ago

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There was no single cause for this dismal record, and Parmet doesn’t try to assign one. Donald Trump was a contributor, certainly, with his administration’s garbled and often misleading messaging and his embrace of the pandemic as culture-war fodder. The country’s notorious lack of a social safety net added not only to the raw numbers but to the disparate outcomes between rich and poor, white and black; without paid sick leave, blue-collar workers often had no choice but to remain on the job with little protection from the virus. The political scientist Jason Blakely, in a recent issue of Harper’s, argued that the scientific establishment was partly to blame, having undermined its own authority and alienated large segments of the public by insisting that science had all the answers when so much, like school closings, struck ordinary people as open to question or at least in need of discussion. As the months passed and public discourse grew more toxic, it was not easy to remember that protecting a society’s health is, as Parmet puts it, “one of the reasons we have governments.”... — The New York Review of Books, 4d ago
There is no doubt that environmental activism inconveniences the public and the businesses it targets. Leveraging disruption to create public pressure is inherent to the movement. Yet, if states restrict their citizens’ civil liberties, they must prove that it is a proportional measure that fairly balances protecting democratic rights and the common good. Given that environmental defenders employ largely peaceful tactics to advocate for the long-term common good – a planet to live on – it seems that this balance has been falsely struck. As such, the pretexts of upholding public order and preventing terrorism only offer a veneer of legitimacy to disproportionate restrictions on the Freedom of Association and Assembly of environmental defenders. This is a deeply troubling trend that weakens democracy at its core, by curbing opportunities for democratic participation, decreasing state accountability and stifling public discourse. At a time of broad democratic decline, it is crucial that governments act to safeguard democracy, rather than undermining it. Instead of criminalizing environmental defenders, whose contributions are vital to ensuring greater state responsiveness and environmental protection, governments should work to mitigate the fallout of the climate crisis, which will likely disrupt public life more than environmental defenders ever could. — idea.int, 4d ago
...#rescue, 1, 2020, 2022, 2024, 21st, 21st century, a, About, above, accordingly, accountability, Act, Action, actions, active, Adjust, ADvantage, after, Age, ahead, All, Alphabet, also, Amazon, amount, an, Analyze, and, announced, another, any, Apple, Applying, ARE, around, article, AS, At, audience, Authority, avoiding, aware, Bad, Banking, banking sector, BE, became, because, becoming, been, before, Beginning, behavior, behaviors, being, beneficial, benefit, benefits, BEST, best way, better, between, BIG, Big Data, Biggest, Billion, Bit, border, brains, breach, breaches, break, break through, Bringing, Building, business, business owner, business world, businesses, But, buy, by, bytedance, CAN, case, Cause, caution, century, ceo, changes, channels, check, clients, closely, closer, Collect, Collecting, come, comes, Companies, competition, compliance, comply, concerns, conflict, consent, consumer, Consumers, control, cooperate, correctly, could, COUNT, countries, country, create, 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needs, negative, net, new, Newest, news, Next, no, November, Now, number, of, old, on, ONE, ones, online, Online Business, online platforms, online presence, online world, only, openly, operates, Opinion, Opposite, or, order, organizations, Other, Others, our, our data, OUR LIVES, out, Over, owner, personal, personal information, personalization, personalized, phenomenon, Pieces, place, platform, Platforms, plato, Plato Data Intelligence, PlatoData, play, players, policies, Portability, position, Positive, power, practice, practices, preferences, presence, present, prevent, prioritizes, privacy, privacy concerns, probably, Problem, processing, Products, promising, promoting, protect, protected, Protecting, protection, protection regulation, purchase, put, questionable, rather, RE, reach, Reading, reasons, received, refers, regarding, region, regions, Regulate, regulates, Regulation, regulations, Regulators, relax, relevant, Relevant Information, relies, Rely, remained, reputation, responsibly, Reviews, Right, rights, Risk, rules, s, safer, Safety, Said, same, same time, say, Search, Search engines, searching, Sector, Secure, see, sense, Service, Services, set, sets, sharing, simpler, since, Sites, SIX, Six Major, small, small businesses, So, some, something, Sounds, Space, standards, started, stated, States, stay, Stay Informed, still, success, Such, Suppose, T, tailored, Take, task, Than, that, that’s, The, The Game, the Law, The Wild, the world, their, Their Data, Them, There, These, they, think, this, Thorough, those, thousands, three, Through, time, to, Today, top, trail, trails, Transparency, Trust, trustworthy, turbulent, two, unfair, Unfair Competition, union, United, United States, Unless, up, Upgrade, us, use, Used, using, usually, valuable, valued, Various, very, Visit, visits, want, wants, was, way, ways, we, web, Website, WELL, were, West, What, What To Expect, When, where, whether, Which?, while, WHO, Why, wild, wild west, will, with, within, without, Work, world, worth, would, yesterday, You, Your, your business, your marketing, zephyrnet... — Zephyrnet, 4d ago
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Ioana Cismas, Professor at York Law School and Co-director of the Centre for Applied Human Rights, who leads the Consortium, said: “The research is grounded in and responds to the reality of war. Working co-productively with humanitarian organisations and the FCDO, we aim to generate new ways of thinking that translate into practical, effective tools that policy-makers, operational actors, and civilian communities themselves can employ in their humanitarian efforts.”Rebecca Sutton, University of Glasgow, said: “The urgent challenges that communities caught up in armed conflict are facing right now cannot be met by any single actor, nor by one body of law. This academic-practitioner collaboration will focus on the everyday lived experience of armed conflict, with the shared ambition of better understanding – and addressing – the drivers of humanitarian need and civilian harm in war”.Katharine Fortin, Utrecht University, said: “There is still much to be learnt on how international humanitarian law and other legal regimes applicable in armed conflict capture the lived experiences of civilians in armed conflict, and the potential of different actors, including civilian communities to contribute to a compliance ecosystem which is defined not only by restraint but also protection.”Ezequiel Heffes, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, said: “By delving into the nuances of compliance and restraint in armed conflict, the programme will provide invaluable insights to everyone trying to understand how States and non-State armed groups operate. Understanding these dynamics is paramount, as it can serve to mitigate the devastating impact conflicts have on civilian populations around the globe.”... — University of York, 7d ago
Since the American general elections in 2016, the fake news rhetoric has gained a new platform in both the press and societal mainstreams, because of the significant compromise the same has caused not only on democratically independent institutions but also on the legitimacy of the American presidency. While there is nothing new about the present day misinformation and the falsehood experienced decades and centuries ago, it has become apparent that social media and the related technological platforms that are highly sophisticated have escalated the level and impact of fake news in an international arena. Consequently, the effect of fake news had not only affected the US, but its adverse impact cuts across significant democracies in Europe and the West alike, like Canada, Germany, Italy, and France. In the case of the US, there have been evidence-based arguments that fake news propelled president Trump to his win in the American pols in 2016, and that much traction on social media characterized by fake news outperformed the certified and truthful news in the national press. Nevertheless, a critical examination of the faker news propagated on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter barely confirms more than 30 percent of Americans who got influenced by fake news. Experts have consequently argued that the fake news rhetoric was meant to send tremors of fear and to confuse in either camp of Democrats and Republicans, without necessarily influencing the pols directly. As such, this stance casts doubt as to whether fake news dictated the outcome of the US 2016 Presidential polls or otherwise. On the other hand, fake news has compromised the independence of critical institutions in the country. For instance, the press has been attacked in many occasions in social media, and most Americans hardly believe in media houses that have certified and credible newsfeeds but have instead chosen to depend on social media for information. Furthermore, the judiciary has faced much controversy from the executive, because of the determined efforts to reveal the truth or fiction in the Russian interference rhetoric. As such, institutions like the CIA, and the FBI which are directly linked to law protection and enforcement have compromised legal platforms to intervene in the volatile issues that directly attach the presidency to fake news and hence expressly curtail the America democracy. — writinguniverse.com, 21d ago
In these situations, humanitarians are the main – or only – actors responding to crises in both the short and long term, and so they are often seen to be responsible for a much broader range of issues than they can possibly address. Discussions usually centre around the inability of humanitarian action – in the absence of other forms of action – to provide direct physical protection or meet people’s ‘safety needs’, substantially contribute to conflict resolution, stability and security, or to sustainably substitute for or ensure (state) service provision, guarantee self-sufficiency or achieve any other ‘development’ gains, all of which require different kinds of responses. Nevertheless, if humanitarians are perceived as the main actors responsible for addressing these issues, then they are held accountable when no substantial improvements to a situation are achieved, to some degree absolving other actors (such as politicians), who should equally be held to account for their share of responsibility, and reducing pressure on them to act. Most importantly, with humanitarians being unable to address a large part of people’s needs in crises and no other response being implemented, many of these needs remain perpetually unaddressed. — Humanitarian Practice Network, 10d ago
My second is to note that behavioral issues are a core part of the problem – SROs aren’t arresting well-behaved children. It may be (its super likely) the officers knew this wasn’t the right way to handle things, but even if they had had been provided training to handle nuerotypical behavioral issues, they are unlikely to have good training on neurodivergent behavior and the conflicts that presents. The training they receive should pay dividends for all students, not just the neurodiverse, but the focus on neurodiverse behavior targets the largest groups likely to display disruptive behavior, thereby maximizing the benefit of that training (good for the budget), and far from distracting from the purpose of the lawsuit, it targets benefits toward those who are most likely to be harmed when the fact pattern repeats itself. — Techdirt, 5d ago
According to the complaint, NewsGuard uses software to tag targeted sites with warning labels that describe the content as “disinformation” or “false content.” In the case of Consortium News, its site was labeled as an “anti-U.S.” media organization, even though NewsGuard only took issue with six of its more than 20,000 articles and none of its videos. According to Consortium News:“The complaint seeks a permanent injunction declaring the joint program unconstitutional; barring the government and NewsGuard from continuing such practices and more than $13 million in damages for defamation and civil rights violations.”The U.S. government has also been caught bankrolling the now discredited Global Disinformation Index (GDI), which selectively targeted conservative and non-liberal media. According to the Washington Examiner, the GDI sent blacklists to advertising companies “with the intent of defunding and shutting down websites peddling alleged ‘disinformation.’”NewsGuard’s Task Is to Silence Alternative MediaThe CIA’s Mockingbird enterprise may have been officially cancelled in 1976, but that doesn’t mean its control over the media ended. If the last three years have shown us anything, it’s that all of mainstream media are now completely controlled.If you want any variation of opinion from the prevailing narrative, you have to seek out independent news sources, and these sources are what NewsGuard is trying to destroy. Caitlin Johnstone addressed this in a January 2019 article:“A report seeded throughout the mainstream media by anonymous intelligence officials back in September claimed that US government workers in Cuba had suffered concussion-like brain damage after hearing strange noises in homes and hotels with the most likely culprit being ‘sophisticated microwaves or another type of electromagnetic weapon’ from Russia.A recording of one such highly sophisticated attack was analyzed by scientists and turned out to be the mating call of the male indies short-tailed cricket … The actual story, when stripped of hyperventilating Russia panic, is that some government workers heard some crickets in Cuba …These are just the latest in a long, ongoing pattern of terrible mass media debacles as reporters eager to demonstrate their unquestioning fealty to the US-centralized empire fall all over themselves to report any story that makes Russia look bad without practicing due diligence.The only voices who have been questioning the establishment Russia narrative … have been those which the mass media refuses to platform. Alternative media outlets are the only major platforms for dissent from the authorized narratives of the plutocrat-owned political/media class.Imagine, then, how disastrous it would be if these last strongholds of skepticism and holding power to account were removed from the media landscape. Well, that’s exactly what a shady organization called NewsGuard is trying to do …A new report by journalist Whitney Webb for MintPress News details how NewsGuard is working to hide and demonetize alternative media outlets like MintPress …”As Johnstone points out, NewsGuard is “led by some of the most virulently pro-imperialist individuals in America,” and that “its agenda to shore up narrative control for the ruling power establishment is clear.”NewsGuard Linked to Anti-American Council on Foreign RelationsIndeed, one of NewsGuard’s CEOs, Louis Gordon Crovitz, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a key player behind The Great Reset. The CFR is financed in part by the Gates, Rockefeller, Ford and Carnegie foundations, and has influenced U.S. foreign policy ever since its inception 95 years ago.Almost all U.S. secretaries of defense have been lifetime members, as have most CIA directors. This is of crucial importance, considering the CFR’s goal, from the start, has been to bring about a totalitarian one world government, a New World Order (NWO) with global top-down rule.Since its inception, the CFR’s goal has been to undermine U.S. sovereignty and national independence in order to usher in an all-powerful one-world government.In 1950, the son of one of the CFR’s founders, James Warburg, said to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “We shall have world government whether or not you like it — by conquest or consent.”26 Similarly, in 1975 CFR insider Admiral Chester Ward wrote that the goal of the CFR was “submergence of U.S. sovereignty and national independence into an all-powerful one-world government.”According to Ward, the desire to “surrender the sovereignty and independence of the United States is pervasive throughout most of its membership,” and “In the entire CFR lexicon, there is no term of revulsion carrying a meaning so deep as ‘America First.’”With Ward’s last comment in mind, published in 1975, it’s interesting to contemplate who has opposed President Trump’s America First agenda, and why. Many Americans, even if they don’t like or support Trump personally, agree that taking care of America and Americans’ interests first is a rational decision for any leadership, and they’ve been hard-pressed to rationalize how an anti-America First policy can be good for the nation.Well, Ward gives us the answer. Those who oppose “America First” policies do so because they’re working on behalf of a network that seeks to eliminate nationalism. The idea of government waging war on its own citizens seems completely irrational and inexplicable — until you realize that the CFR has controlled U.S. foreign relations for nearly a century, and its primary goal has always been to undermine U.S. sovereignty and abet the creation of a one-world government.NewsGuard’s advisory board is also loaded with neocon think tank members, including Tom Ridge (George W. Bush’s secretary of Homeland Security), Michael Hayden (an intelligence community insider), and Richard Stengel (Obama’s under secretary of state for public diplomacy and pubic affairs and a former editor at Time Magazine).Tellingly, Stengel has publicly stated that he supports the use of domestic propaganda against U.S. citizens. As noted by Johnstone:“Whoever controls the narrative controls the world. Ruling power’s desire to regulate people’s access to information is so desperate that it has become as clumsy and ham-fisted as a teenager pawing at his date in the back seat of a car, and it feels about as enjoyable.They’re barely even concealing their desire to control our minds anymore, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to wake everyone up to their manipulations. We need to use every inch of our ability to communicate with each other before it gets shut down for good.”‘Middleware’ — The Latest Plan to Shut Down Free Speech... — Think About It Online, 22d ago
SEO: Thomas Hobbes took a pretty pessimistic view, not only of disagreements, but the kinds of people we become, when we engage in disagreements. He believed that these petty disputes can grow into a conflagration that brings down, not only relationships, but also nations. And this was a man who lived through periods of war, and so he saw the destructive force that arguments can be. And looking at all that damage, he concluded that the appropriate response was to take on a posture of civil silence towards one another. That we wouldn't engage in these disagreements, that we would grin and bear to tolerate one another's differences. The problem with that is our commonalities are only one part of the fullness of our relationship with one another. A life built just around agreement is an impoverished life, because it requires taking away, and ignoring that variety is a source of challenge. It's the way in which we piece together truth from different perspectives. It's the way in which we go beyond ourselves. Arguments are easy to start and hard to end, because difference is the natural state of things. How do we disagree better? Every disagreement should start with a little bit of agreement. There are any number of differences between two people, and when one of those issues comes to the fore, you can have a disagreement. But unless you are selective about the kinds of arguments that you pick, and unless you are careful to say, "We're having this disagreement at this moment, and not all the other disagreements we could be having," all of the differences between two people can start flooding in and the argument becomes this unruly mass, and you're not making progress on any given one. — Big Think, 17d ago

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Issue 11 2023

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...“Whether it’s a hunger crisis and people forced to move because of drought, a health emergency exacerbated by heat, killer flooding caused by exceptional rain, disputes over diminishing tracts of arable land or an uptick in malaria deaths due to warmer temperatures, climate change plays a role in exacerbating the impact of so-called ‘natural’ disasters. The climate and environmental crisis is the biggest global challenge the IFRC faces. Addressing its impacts means addressing the base issues that turn hazards into disasters and doing that at the base level where people are most affected. If we want to tackle humanitarian disasters, it really is ‘All About That Base’.”... — ifrc.org, 4d ago
These current conversations may serve as a conduit for cultivating ‘topic trust’ between nations in conflict. Perhaps the U.S. and China can agree that AI is a powerful tool that if not utilized properly, could have serious consequences. AI stands as a potent instrument capable of faster data processing, augmenting educational experiences, and disseminating information. However, similar to numerous technological innovations, this power is accompanied by the ability for instigating fear, obscurity, and disinformation. Consequently, a pertinent question arises: Can the United States and China effectively harness such technological prowess without precipitating mutual destruction?... — Modern Diplomacy, 4d ago
Though star John Wayne famously never served in the military, many of those involved in making John Ford’s They Were Expendable had seen World War II firsthand in one form or another. That helps account for the dutiful but often grim tone of the film, in which a pair of Navy men (Wayne, Robert Montgomery) try to convince the higher-ups that their small, maneuverable PT boats have a place in battles others believe will be dominated by larger vessels. Set in the early days of America’s involvement in World War II, when one setback followed another, the film never lets viewers forget the human costs of war, how soldiers’ lives become means to an end, and how service means living with that knowledge at every moment. Naturally, the “they” of the title refers to more than boats. — Vulture, 5d ago
This presentation presents findings from a qualitative study involving a thematic analysis of the contents of 590 customer-reported complaints and 494 driver-reported incidents, all of which were provided by an accessible taxi brokerage in Toronto, Canada that is under contract to the city’s paratransit service. Our analysis draws upon a critical disability studies perspective informed by phenomenological and critical ableist studies. Findings underscore the temporal experiences of disability while highlighting ableist aspects of accessible taxi services that produce barriers for disabled riders relating to service quality, safety concerns, and inflexible taxi service policies. Findings also consider problematic driver communications, limitations in driver training and disability awareness, and inadequate driver-rider conflict management. We identify several areas where accessible taxi services can be improved. These include flexible policies that better account for the needs of disabled riders, improved communication protocols, and greater engagement with disabled people when developing policies and operational changes. We also present recommendations for a three-pronged disability training program for accessible taxi drivers and other paratransit drivers. — School of Cities, 5d ago
In 2019, the city of Buffalo selected BusPatrol America, a Virginia tech company, to install a system of cameras on every First Student school bus in the city to automatically snap images of license plates of vehicles whose drivers pass a bus with stop lights flashing and arm extended. BusPatrol developed an artificial intelligence system called AVA, which its leaders say is "11 percent better than a human being at detecting stop sign violations." The Covid-19 pandemic, however, slowed progress on the project.Video of an infraction is reviewed by a local law enforcement official, then confirmed to the tech company, which mails notices of violations on the city's behalf. Vehicle owners may appeal the citation, which provides details such as registration information, time and location of the violation, and directions for how to appeal.Not everyone was thrilled by the partnership. Rasheed N.C. Wyatt was the lone Council member to vote against the bus cameras, fearing the city might appoint a program manager to drive up revenue. Council President Darius G. Pridgen, who voted in favor of BusPatrol, was initially concerned the program might increase inequities."If it's perceived to be only in poor neighborhoods, then it will be a problem," Pridgen said.The city will determine the start date for the bus cameras; the contract allows up to six months for equipment to be installed. BusPatrol has committed to an awareness campaign and a warning program that does not fine offenders for the first 30 days after cameras are installed."Communities are best receptive to a change in enforcement when they get a little bit of a grace period," BusPatrol representative Steve Randazzo told the Council in September.Randazzo said the system is effective in reducing violations and discouraging repeat offenders. Because AI technology will be on every school bus and identifies vehicle license plates, Randazzo said, it does not prey on the poor and does not discriminate."The secret sauce to changing behavior is that anywhere in the city of Buffalo where someone passes a school bus and endangers a child's life, they are held accountable," Randazzo said.The program is of no cost to the city of Buffalo or the school district. BusPatrol installs and operates the camera systems, pays for a city employee to manage the program, and troubleshoots problems — all using money collected from fines paid by violators. The safety company receives roughly 60 percent of the revenue, while the city of Buffalo receives 40 percent.In the MOU's draft, the city was guaranteed a minimum of $2.5 million in the program's first year, even if its revenue share percentage did not reach that level. That amount was predicated on the previous size of Buffalo's bus fleet, which was 634 when the MOU was drafted.Because First Student now operates about 470 buses to transport prekindergarten through eighth-grade students, Buffalo's revenue minimum falls to roughly $1.8 million proportionally. Buffalo high school students use public transportation.Neither Buffalo Schools nor First Student, its transportation partner, receives any revenue, but they also cannot be held liable, the MOU reads. Photographs taken by the bus cameras cannot be used in any disciplinary proceeding prompted by the school district or First Student, according to the MOU.North Tonawanda and Niagara Falls school districts already partner with BusPatrol, while Erie County briefly considered a partnership in 2021.Suffolk County on Long Island equipped about 5,000 of its buses with BusPatrol stop-arm cameras beginning in 2021. According to a county report, the program reduced violations significantly: For the first four months — September through December of 2021 — there were 517 violations per day, which decreased to 317 violations per day in 2022.Program revenue for noncontested violations in 2022 was $14.8 million, the report said, which was split roughly equally between the county and BusPatrol. An agreement between BusPatrol and Suffolk County said the county was required to spend its revenue share toward school safety measures.The School Board approved the resolution 7-0, with Board President Sharon Belton-Cottman abstaining and Terrance Heard excused due to an illness. Belton-Cottman said she was not against transportation safety measures but was frustrated by the school district's financial history with the city."Moving forward, I believe that our school district, our children, should be appreciated a little bit more and since this is an income-generating item for the city, I think that the city needs to have conversations with us about making sure the money we receive is increased every year, that we receive some benefits from our money being held in reserves by the city, and that we make sure Buffalo Public Schools gets what it's entitled to in addition to what it's been receiving — the same money for the last 20 years, except for one year," she said.©2023 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. — GovTech, 5d ago
...“Recent energy and climate policy trends reflect a shift towards protectionism, with a growing emphasis on sovereign energy. This shift focuses on promoting domestic industry, reducing reliance on international trade, attracting investments and creating local jobs, as well as controlling the supply chain. To navigate this transition effectively, it is essential for the global community to avoid moving further down the energy pyramid due to conflicts that may arise from energy security concerns,” says Lars Nitter Havro, senior clean tech analyst at Rystad Energy. — OilPrice.com, 5d ago

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The report reveals that APAC maintains a strong foothold in the top 10 of its Global Cities Index (GCI), claiming five coveted spots. Kearney's 2023 Global Cities Report also finds that social, geopolitical, and technological transformations are actively disrupting the traditional hierarchy of global cities, creating a more widely distributed geography of opportunity. It finds that global city leaders face ever-greater competition from emerging hubs, with those taking a regenerative approach poised to lead in the attraction of talent, innovation, and investment. This is particularly the case for South Asian cities that have surged notably in rankings. Specifically, Mumbai (+7), New Delhi (+7), Dhaka (+7), Lahore (+5), and Hyderabad (+4) have shown significant improvements. Global Cities Index The GCI seeks to quantify the extent to which a city can attract, retain, and generate global flows of capital, people, and ideas. Cities are measured against five key dimensions: Human Capital, Information Exchange, Cultural Experience, Political Engagement, and Business Activity. Average GCI scores have leveled off following several years of decline; the Human Capital dimension witnessed a significant rise due to the return of the international movement of people to pre-pandemic levels, counter-balancing the continued decline of the Business Activity dimension as a result of persistent economic challenges. New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Beijing retained the top five spots respectively. Brussels, Singapore, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Hong Kong complete the top 10. "This year, our study indicates that the world has entered a phase of globalization that is less uniform and more networked. The resilience of overall scores highlights the perennial significance of global cities as essential hubs of flexible connectivity and concentrated global diversity in a shifting geopolitical landscape," comments Arjun Sethi, APAC Region Chair at Kearney. He adds: "But this year's study also shows how balanced geopolitical and geoeconomic positioning has made emerging hubs, including those in South Asia, increasingly attractive to capital, trade, and people. Overall, cities in APAC have been able to narrow the gap between themselves and more established global city leaders, with those taking a regenerative approach leading in the attraction of talent, innovation, and investment." Global Cities Outlook While the GCI captures the current state of global city leadership, the Global Cities Outlook (GCO) aims to identify those cities most likely to achieve global prominence in the future. Here, the emergence of a distributed geography of opportunity was also present. While European cities maintained a strong presence in the top 30 rankings, Asia's global hubs including Seoul, Osaka, and Chennai made significant strides. As the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies continues, the intersection of this trend with the already-underway shift toward remote work is expected to further reduce the significance of physical proximity in domains traditionally linked to major cities, potentially causing even greater disruption to global cities. "In this shifting global landscape of distributed opportunity, top-tier global cities cannot take their positions for granted. The traditional hierarchy of leading cities will only become more fluid in the future as opportunities for growth and enhanced productivity become less concentrated during the coming waves of AI-driven innovation," Arjun Sethi posits. "Those cities that adopt a regenerative model – one that moves beyond resilience and thinks proactively – will have a competitive advantage," he concludes. Hashtag: #Kearney #GlobalCitiesReport #Regenerative... — SME Business Daily Media, 13d ago
I strive to be objective and fact-driven when making a particular argument or testing a particular theory. The study of human behavior which includes state behavior and societal undertakings is a subjective enterprise, so keeping ones focus in research closest to reality, to the extent possible, is useful, and can have a deep impact in your field. This shift in thinking occurred when I started working on policy issues, especially decisions of life and death in trying to make sense of armed ethnic conflicts in Northeast India. I was very theory driven during my graduate program, but when I took my research hypotheses and methods to the conflict affected areas, I was shocked at how such theoretical frameworks sometimes did not explain the ground reality at all. I realized then that the most critical thing to strive for in my work was to find that meeting point between theory and practice, if you want your work to have an impact on society and be meaningful in your own life. I strive to achieve that in my work on space policy now. I utilize fact-based methodology which includes field work, for example, to analyze and explain the American, Chinese and Indian space programs. — E-International Relations, 23d ago
There may also be a distinct opportunity to capitalize on sweeping public anger at Netanyahu’s fanatical, ultranationalist government, which Israelis of all stripes have come to revile for its failures on October 7, a finding reinforced by numerous polls published since the attacks. This rage is the culmination of an unprecedented civic movement that racked Israel for nearly forty weeks in response to Netanyahu’s plans to eviscerate the judiciary. Israelis have already been asking fundamental questions about the vulnerabilities of democracy in their country. Perhaps October 7 will cause more of them to question the right’s approach to conflict, too, including its obsession with territorial expansion and permanent, authoritarian military rule over the Palestinian nation. This is unlikely to happen on a grand scale, if at all, but for the left even small shifts matter. — The New York Review of Books, 22d ago
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