Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Conference on Diversity and Inclusion in Economics, Finance, and Central...

UPDATE GAO REPORT: Global Media Digital Accountability + Transparency

The U.S. Department of State OIG has recently issued the following report, which is now available.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked by the U.S. Senate to assess whether U.S. Agency Global Media (USAGM) management respected the Firewall and protected editorial independence. 
USAGM is the overseer of VOA and the other networks. 
But as shown in this GAO diagram, the Firewall is supposed to wall off USAGM from the networks.

On October 27, 2021, GAO published its assessment. 

Its report reveals multiple examples where, in 2020, USAGM Trump political appointees improperly inserted themselves into the networks’ editorial processes.  The consequences for VOA, network, and some USAGM employees were dire.  They were fired, transferred, or demoted.  Government Accountability Project represented as whistleblower counsel over 30 affected employees.  Fortunately, they were reinstated in 2021, within days of President Biden’s inauguration.

The GAO report is important because it contains in one document an excellent summary of abuses in the last six months of the Trump administration."

Press Release: Government Accountability Project Applauds Just-Released GAO Report on Management Abuses in 2020 at Voice of America Overseer, the U.S. Agency for Global Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 31, 2021

Government Accountability Project Applauds Just-Released GAO Report on Management Abuses in 2020 at Voice of America Overseer, the U.S. Agency for Global Media

Trump Political Leadership Repeatedly Breached Firewall Designed to Protect the Editorial Independence of Voice of America and Its Sibling Networks

WASHINGTON— The editorial Independence of Voice of America (VOA) and its sibling networks (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Network, Office of Cuba Broadcasting and the Open Technology Fund) is guaranteed by federal law and regulation.  Known as the Firewall, the guarantee is designed to protect the editorial judgment of reporters and editors from political and bureaucratic meddling. . ."

Contact:

Andrew Harman, Government Accountability Project Communications Director
andrewh@whistleblower.org
202.457.0034 x156

Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

====================================================

11/09/2021 11:26 AM EST

Posted On: November 09, 2021
Report Date: November 2021
Report Number: AUD-FM-IB-22-09
Report: application/pdf icon aud-fm-ib-22-09.pdf
Report Highlight: application/pdf icon aud-fm-ib-22-09_-_highlights.pdf

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External links found in this content or on Department of State OIG websites that go to other non-Department websites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein

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Reference: https://www.usagm.gov/news-and-information/press-room/ 

USAGM by the numbers

International operations

6 networks and a system of 3,747 affiliates and over 95 transmitting sites distribute 4,100 hours of original content globally each week.

Global audience

A worldwide unduplicated audience of 354 million from more than 100 countries tune in weekly in 62 languages.

Annual budget

FY22 (requested)$810.4M
FY21 (requested)$637.3M
FY20 (requested)$628.1M
FY19 (requested)$661.1M

Rumors, Myths and Untruths

There are many things people misunderstand about the U.S. international media. Here is a guide to rumors, myths and untruths pertaining to USAGM.

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Tuesday, November 09, 2021

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PSILOCYBIN: Business Magic Solutions for Depression Therapies

Business

Magic Mushroom-Based Therapy for Depression Shows Promise

A mock patient in trial site therapy room.
A mock patient in trial site therapy room. Source: Compass Pathways Plc
By  and 
November 9, 2021, 5:00 AM MST Updated on November 9, 2021, 5:24 AM MST
  •  
    Effects seen day after taking mushroom-like drug, CEO says
  •  
    Some patients showed suicidal and self-harming behaviors

Compass Pathways Plc’s experimental therapy based on psilocybin, or so-called magic mushrooms, showed promise in a midstage clinical trial in patients whose depression didn’t improve from other treatments. 

Nearly a quarter of the people treated with the highest dose of Compass Pathways’ drug candidate, called COMP360, saw the severity of their depression reduced after three months, as measured on a scale used by psychiatrists. COMP360 is a patented formulation of the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms.

ROCKETS AWAY! Japanese Epsilon rocket launches 9 small satellites

NASA Selects New Mission to Study Storms, Impacts on Climate Models. . .and "other Sub-Orbital Investigations"

NASA Selects New Mission to Study Storms, Impacts on Climate Models

NASA has selected a new Earth science mission that will study the behavior of tropical storms and thunderstorms, including their impacts on weather and climate models. The mission will be a collection of three SmallSats, flying in tight coordination, called Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS), and is expected to launch in 2027 as part of NASA’s Earth Venture Program.

NASA selected INCUS through the agency’s Earth Venture Mission-3 (EVM-3) solicitation that sought complete, space-based investigations to address important science questions and produce data of societal relevance within the Earth science field. NASA received 12 proposals for EVM-3 missions in March 2021. After detailed review by panels of scientists and engineers, the agency selected INCUS to continue into development.

“Every one of our Earth science missions is carefully chosen to add to a robust portfolio of research about the planet we live on,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “INCUS fills an important niche to help us understand extreme weather and its impact on climate models – all of which serves to provide crucial information needed to mitigate weather and climate effects on our communities.”

Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) - Market and Technology Forecast to 2029

Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) - Market and Technology Forecast to 2029

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INCUS aims to directly address why convective storms, heavy precipitation, and clouds occur exactly when and where they form. The investigation stems from the 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which lays out ambitious, but critically necessary, research and observation guidance.

“In a changing climate, more accurate information about how storms develop and intensify can help improve weather models and our ability to predict risk of extreme weather,” said Karen St. Germain, NASA’s Earth Science division director. “This information not only deepens our scientific understanding about the changing Earth processes, but can help inform communities around the world.”

Climate change is increasing the heat in the oceans and making it more likely that storms will intensify more often and more quickly, a phenomenon NASA scientists continue to study.

Storms begin with rapidly rising water vapor and air that create towering clouds primed to produce rain, hail, and lighting. The greater the mass of water vapor and air that is transported upward in the atmosphere, the higher the risk of extreme weather. This vertical transport of air and water vapor, known as convective mass flux (CMF), remains one of the great unknowns in weather and climate. Systematic CMF measurements over the full range of conditions would improve the representation of storm intensity and constrain high cloud feedbacks – which can add uncertainty – in weather and climate models.

The principal investigator for INCUS is Susan van den Heever at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. The mission will be supported by several NASA centers including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with key satellite system components to be provided by Blue Canyon Technologies, and Tendeg LLC, both in Colorado. The mission will cost approximately $177 million, not including launch costs. NASA will select a launch provider in the future.

NASA’s Earth Venture Program consists of science-driven, competitively selected, low-cost missions/investigations. This program provides opportunities for investment in innovative science to enhance our capability to better understand the current state of the Earth system and further improve predictions of future changes. The current Earth Venture program include full missions, satellite instruments for flights of opportunity, instruments for Earth science data record continuity, and sustained suborbital investigations.

Source: NASA
Date: Nov 8, 2021