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Category: policy – Page 48

The path forward begins with admitting the nation has a bomber shortfall. Retiring more aircraft exacerbates the problem. Nor is this just an Air Force problem. Bombers are national assets essential to our security strategy and must be prioritized accordingly. If other services have excess funds to invest in ideas like a 1,000-mile-range cannon when thousands of strike aircraft, various munitions and remotely piloted aircraft can fill the exact same mission requirements, it is time for a roles and missions review to direct funding toward the most effective, efficient options. Bombers would compete well in such an assessment. Ultimately, the solution demands doubling down on the B-21 program.

There comes a point where you cannot do more with less. Given the importance of bombers to the nation, rebuilding the bomber force is not an option — it is an imperative.

Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem served as a fighter pilot and held various command positions. He concluded his service as the director of plans, policy and strategy at North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. He is currently the director of studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, where Douglas Birkey is the executive director. Birkey researches issues relating to the future of aerospace and national security, and he previously served as the Air Force Association’s director of government relations.

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Talk being ahead of the curve;

Event 201 was a 3.5-hour pandemic tabletop exercise that simulated a series of dramatic, scenario-based facilitated discussions, confronting difficult, true-to-life dilemmas associated with response to a hypothetical, but scientifically plausible, pandemic. 15 global business, government, and public health leaders were players in the simulation exercise that highlighted unresolved real-world policy and economic issues that could be solved with sufficient political will, financial investment, and attention now and in the future.

The exercise consisted of pre-recorded news broadcasts, live “staff” briefings, and moderated discussions on specific topics. These issues were carefully designed in a compelling narrative that educated the participants and the audience.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, World Economic Forum, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation jointly propose these recommendations.

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Of the spread of COVID-19 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the subsequent relief of its Commanding Officer has highlighted the tension that exists between maintaining military readiness and the need to safeguard the health of members of the armed forces in the face of a pandemic.

The disease has been a feature of war for the vast majority of human history – from the plague that ravaged Athens early in the Peloponnesian War, killing the Athenian strategos Pericles; to the diseases that European settlers brought with them to the New World, devastating local populations; to the host of tropical diseases that caused appalling casualties in the China-Burma-India and Southwest Pacific theaters in World War II. The fact that we were surprised by the emergence, growth, and spread of COVID-19 reflects the false conceit of 21st century life that we have “conquered” disease.

In fact, pandemics are but one class of low-probability but high-impact contingencies that we could face in the coming years, including an earthquake or other natural disaster in a major urban area, regime change in an important state, and the collapse of financial markets leading to a global depression. When I served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning between 2006 and 2009, we explored a series of such “shocks” as well as the role the Defense Department could play in responding to them as a way of helping the Department’s leaders address such contingencies. During my time in the Pentagon, we also held a series of wargames with members of Congress and their staff, governors of several states and their cabinets, and the government of Mexico, to explore in depth the consequences of a pandemic. Much of what we found then resonates with what we are experiencing now.

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The widespread perception that it was once official British policy to let the novel coronavirus spread until the population reached herd immunity is false; the government was just overly optimistic about how easy flattening the curve would be. But the idea has gained so much traction in some circles, fueled by speculation that we might already be much closer to it than we think, that it’s worth understanding why it’s not a viable policy according to the evidence to date.

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Interventions that may slow ageing include drugs (e.g., rapamycin, metformin), supplements (e.g., nicotinamide riboside, nicotinamide mononucleotide), lifestyle interventions (e.g., exercise) and diets (e.g., fasting)

Thanks to advances in modern medicine over the past century, the world’s population has experienced a marked increase in longevity. However, disparities exist that lead to groups with both shorter lifespan and significantly diminished health, especially in the aged. Unequal access to proper nutrition, healthcare services, and information to make informed health and nutrition decisions all contribute to these concerns. This in turn has hastened the ageing process in some and adversely affected others’ ability to age healthfully. Many in developing as well as developed societies are plagued with the dichotomy of simultaneous calorie excess and nutrient inadequacy. This has resulted in mental and physical deterioration, increased non-communicable disease rates, lost productivity and quality of life, and increased medical costs. While adequate nutrition is fundamental to good health, it remains unclear what impact various dietary interventions may have on improving healthspan and quality of life with age. With a rapidly ageing global population, there is an urgent need for innovative approaches to health promotion as individual’s age. Successful research, education, and interventions should include the development of both qualitative and quantitative biomarkers and other tools which can measure improvements in physiological integrity throughout life. Data-driven health policy shifts should be aimed at reducing the socio-economic inequalities that lead to premature ageing. A framework for progress has been proposed and published by the World Health Organization in its Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health. This symposium focused on the impact of nutrition on this framework, stressing the need to better understand an individual’s balance of intrinsic capacity and functional abilities at various life stages, and the impact this balance has on their mental and physical health in the environments they inhabit.

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As China begins to reopen its factories and return back to work, what they are returning to will not be the same…

Despite China being the worlds economic darling for the last 40 years, the balance of the worlds economic power has begun to shift to some places that you might not expect.

In fact, we are already starting to see some signs of other nations around the world, rising up in order to take away some of China’s manufacturing prowess away from them.

And who knows, we might be witnessing the creation of the next generation of economic superpowers, right infront of our very eyes.

But the reason that this is happening is a little complex. it started a few decades ago in 1970’s China when the country began shifting its economic policy away from communism, and more towards capitalism.

They soon began building specific economic zones where massive ports and factories could be built that would maximize productivity and efficiency. And once these economic zones were opened up to foreign trade and investment, China’s economy began exploding.

Continue reading “There’s A Crisis That Is Quietly Creating New Economic Superpowers…” | >

👏Europe’s largest economy is looking to make its post-virus recovery compatible with its ambition of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

The EU has similarly pledged to make its stimulus plan aligned with its climate commitments.

Germany’s green energy shift may get a financial shot in the arm when the impact of the coronavirus ebbs, according to a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet.

When the virus’ acute phase is over, the government plans a stimulus package that advances the nation technologically and helps the economy’s move toward climate neutrality, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe. Such a package “makes sense,” said the Social Democrat without adding details.

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The global race to make a vaccine and treatment for the Covid-19 coronavirus is well underway as the epicenter of the pandemic is now shifting toward the United States.

Many of the vaccine and drug development efforts are building on past efforts to deal with other viral outbreaks, including coronaviruses like MERS and SARS — which means researchers had a head start with Covid-19. In the US, a phase 1 clinical trial of a vaccine is already underway.

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The military branches are requiring troops to make their own cloth face masks after the Pentagon’s latest policy directed face coverings for all personnel during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Defense Department announced Sunday that troops, DoD civilian employees, contractors and family members are encouraged to make simple coverings out of clean T-shirts and other household materials. The do-it-yourself face coverings are mandatory whenever people cannot maintain six feet of social distance in public areas or places of work, according to the policy, signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

The DIY masks will help preserve much-needed N95 and surgical masks for health care workers, the policy states.

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Dr. Derek Yach, Founder, President, and Board Member of The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW), joined me on ideaXme (http://radioideaxme.com/) to discuss his group’s work in the core areas of Agriculture and Livelihoods, Industry Transformation, and Health, Science, and Technology (Disclosure — FSFW is funded ~$US1 Billion by Philip Morris International, but take a listen to full story…) — #Ideaxme #Smoking #Vaping #Tobacco #Cessation #AlternativeUses #HarmReduction #WHO #CDC #Health #Wellness #Longevity #Biotechnology #LifeExtension #Aging #IraPastor #Bioquark #Regenerage World Health Organization (WHO) CDC CDC Global United Nations Philip Morris International.

Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador and founder of Bioquark, interviews Dr. Derek Yach, founder, president, and board member of The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, and passionate advocate for health promotion and disease prevention. Dr Yach’s objective is to end smoking in this generation. We investigated to see how that might be achieved.

Disclosure: The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World has received its initial funding pledge of $80 million USD annually for 12 years, beginning in 2018 from Philip Morris International (PMI) — The Foundation has a nonprofit status as a US 501c3 organization, and by law and policy must operate completely independently from PMI, and cannot engage in activities designed to support PMI’s interests. Further, PMI can have no involvement or say in their work.

Ira Pastor Comments:

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that we currently have over 1.1 billion smokers on earth, and that tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Continue reading “ENDING SMOKING In This Generation” | >