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Augment sailors with predictive maintenance and virtual reality tools.
DVIDS/shutterstock
Better, Faster, Cheaper Ship Maintenance—Now!
By Lieutenant (j.g.) Artem Sherbinin, U.S. Navy; Captain Richard Kuzma, U.S. Army; and Lieutenant Thomas Wester, U.S. Navy
Vol. 148/1/1,427
With annual maintenance budgets falling short and great-power competition increasing operational demands, ships and shipyards have neither the funding nor the time to complete critical upkeep.1 An estimated 60 percent of ships do not get out of maintenance periods on time, says Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael M. Gilday, who attributes 25–30 percent of delays to "bad planning and forecasting."2 Attack submarines awaiting maintenance in 2008–18 "sat idle for 10,363 days," according to the Government Accountability Office.3
During that same period, the naval aviation community experienced a threefold increase in Class C mishaps—$50,000 to $500,000 in damages to aircraft or a nonfatal injury—and the Marine Corps' aviation mishaps more than doubled.4 Then–commander of Naval Air Forces Atlantic, Rear Admiral Roy Kelley, told the House Armed Services Committee most mishaps occurred "during routine maintenance evolutions," largely because enlisted maintainers "lacked sufficient experience and training."5
If unchecked, these failures will leave the Navy unprepared to face a near-peer competitor challenge. Predictive maintenance—the fusion of data from a multitude of sensors paired with advanced analytics capabilities geared to predict equipment breakdowns before they occur—can vastly outperform traditional maintenance techniques. It is sorely needed to reverse the force's slow decay while saving money and man hours fleetwide. Likewise, additive manufacturing (also known as three-dimensional [3D] printing) and augmented reality (AR) are mature technologies that can solve other Navy maintenance problems. The service's Standard Organization and Regulations Manual specifies that "U.S. Navy ships shall be maintained in the highest practical level of material readiness to meet required operational availability needs."6 To achieve this, the Navy must adopt a new approach and use already proven technologies.
Changes Are Needed in Maintenance Scheduling
The surface navy constructs and manages its maintenance around planned scheduling software called SKED. This system directs sailors to schedule and perform preventative maintenance at routine intervals, before specific events, or when they believe it is required. However, SKED does not take into account any of the particularities, including how much the equipment is used during a period of time, the environment, or external factors that may impact lifetime or performance. As a result, without sailor input, a chill water pump for a ship's air conditioning plant that runs for tens of hours per quarter receives the same routine maintenance as another pump that operates for thousands of hours during the same quarter. Context also matters: A pump taking water from the salty, warm waters of the South China Sea receives the same maintenance checks as one that processes water from the less-salty, much colder Bering Sea, even though the two pumps decay at different rates. Sometimes this is effective, but usually it results in either (1) unnecessary maintenance that wastes sailors' time and Navy resources; or (2) ineffective maintenance that does not address underlying issues in the equipment.
In many cases, equipment does not receive sufficient attention unless it breaks or behaves so erratically that sailors notice—which, given the taxing schedule of underway life and manning shortfalls, is increasingly unlikely.7 Ultimately, forecasting maintenance requires both large amounts of usable data and effective analysis. The Navy has systems in place to collect and store data from equipment, but it lacks the sharing and processing capabilities to leverage fully the data to better understand and forecast conditions that result in equipment breakage, and to make smaller corrections before major ones are required.
In an effort to improve data collection, the Navy recently installed the Integrated Condition Assessment System (ICAS) on Machinery Control System–equipped ships.8 ICAS monitors sensor data from various pieces of engineering equipment and even sends the information off ship. Watchstanders take note of "red readings," those that do not meet operating specifications. If a ship experiences consistent red readings on a certain piece of equipment, the engineering officer and main propulsion assistant receive an auto-generated email warning them that a specific system is not functioning properly. But ICAS's major shortfall is that it is limited to monitoring only engineering equipment. Combat systems equipment, which consists mainly of circuit cards and other electronics, is not monitored by the same system. Moreover, the red readings are not used differently from their paper-based alternative. Watchstanders look at the readings, annotate discrepancies, and may request technical support to correct the problem, if they are able to spot it. Often this leaves the burden with ships' crews to determine the root cause and take corrective action.
In other words, ICAS is little more than a series of well-placed sensors—and the current 1970s-era maintenance, material, and management (3M) system has not undergone fundamental changes since its inception. While ICAS represents a major step in the right direction, without constant analysis and feedback to improve maintenance, what the Navy has now is new sensor technology combined with old processes. The 3M system must be updated. A paradigm shift is in order.
Predictive and Preventative Maintenance Differ
Predictive maintenance is predicated on conditions rather than time, making it proactive instead of just preventative. Sensors attached to key components continuously monitor equipment conditions such as temperature, voltage, speed, vibration, and other performance data to ensure they fall within acceptable limits. The sensors feed into a machine algorithm that learns the characteristics of certain faults—overheating, high vibration, slowing rotations per minute—to allow for automated detection of potential equipment failures. This helps maintainers and supervisors anticipate when something will break before it happens, resulting in fewer surprises, red lines crossed, and missed underway days caused by emergent work. Modern ships and aircraft come with sensors preinstalled for monitoring performance, but without analytics, no real advantages are seen or gained.
Augmented reality enables maintenance and repair as if sailors were in the same room with experts. These Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division engineers demonstrate the portable system Augmented Reality Remote Maintenance Support Service. U.S. Navy (Brittany Dickerson)
Machine learning can change this by making sense of the enormous amount of data coming from those sensors. Even with 20 years of experience at sea, a snipe—whether a machinist mate, boilerman, engineer man, hull technician, or other—cannot have 20 years' worth of knowledge for each piece of gear, because hours spent underway are not necessarily spent in the plant monitoring specific equipment. But an effective predictive maintenance system can monitor every piece of equipment, everywhere, all the time. Further, a predictive model can draw data fleet wide, from dozens or hundreds of ships, each with years at sea, ingesting readings from each piece of machinery, in various conditions throughout the world, to better understand and predict where equipment might fail so sailors can more effectively direct their efforts. Augmenting sailors with predictive maintenance in human-machine teams will:
• Improve equipment uptime
• Extend equipment lifetime
• Lower cost
• Allow maintainers to focus their limited time on fixing the most at-risk equipment
• Enable supply departments to order critical parts before breakdowns, or parts to be ordered automatically when the system detects imminent failure
• Identify and remove from circulation deficient or mismanufactured batches of parts
• Provide captains and commodores with a granular understanding of the state of each ship's equipment for better mission planning.9
The Other Services and the Civilian Sector
In industries from manufacturing to transportation, predictive maintenance solutions are being implemented.10 The Navy should exploit commercial technologies rather than build from scratch its own processes and algorithms, following the example of the other services.
The Air Force, taking note of changes in the airline industry, has demonstrated the viability of predictive maintenance and reduced unscheduled maintenance by nearly 30 percent for some platforms.11 With $68 million saved since the inception of its pilot programs, the Air Force planned to triple the amount of aircraft that used predictive maintenance in 2020.12
The Army followed suit with predictive maintenance for the Bradley fighting vehicle, and the Marine Corps invested in predictive maintenance for M88 armored recovery vehicles.13 The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force estimated that scaling predictive maintenance to all Air Force platforms could lead to a 40 percent increase in aircraft uptime.14 The Defense Innovation Unit, a DoD commercial technology acquisition office that helped facilitate the Air Force and Army predictive maintenance contracts, estimated that scaling such maintenance to the entire Air Force could save $15 billion annually.15 By way of comparison, in the 2020 budget, the Navy asked for $23.8 billion in ship procurement and $18.6 billion in aircraft procurement.16 The 2021 requested amount for ships was $19.9 billion.17 Whether the Navy has more or fewer than 355 ships, $15 billion a year in savings would have a substantial impact on procurement and readiness.18
The Integrated Condition Assessment System (ICAS) monitors sensor data from engineering equipment (here on board the USS Hopper [DDG-70]) but not from combat systems—and the corresponding analytical processes are outdated. Credit: U.S. Navy (Kyle Cregge)
While following the Air Force's lead, the Navy should capitalize on its two big advantages: the existing infrastructure of ship-based sensors, and the nearly continuous nature of operations. Unlike the other services, the Navy spends much of its time performing presence missions and protecting sea lanes of communications, meaning that about 20–30 percent of ships and submarines are at sea at any given time. In fact, sailors on surface ships spend 23 percent of their time away from home port.19 Unlike aircraft, with more limited flight hours, ships at sea have equipment running 24 hours a day. Machine learning thrives on large amounts of data. If 20 percent of 300 ships are at sea at any one time, they generate more than half a million hours of monitoring data per piece of equipment each year.
When predictive maintenance combines with the power of big data and artificial intelligence to identify maintenance problems, augmented reality puts that information in the hands of the maintainers. AR, which enhances users' vision of objects with superimposed digital information, is already used for maintenance and production in the private sector to reduce human error, save time and money, and improve competency for complex tasks.20 Boeing invested in an AR company that helped cut production time for complex aircraft wiring by 25 percent.21
In the Navy, AR could translate cutting-edge analytics into actionable tasks. For example, on board a surface combatant, predictive maintenance software would detect a problem such as critical parts in a chill water pump giving readings for temperature and vibration on the edge of acceptable ranges, while others vibrated at levels indicating imminent failure. Instead of one person interpreting this data from a computer, then dispatching a maintainer, an integrated system would send the information straight to the machinist mate (MM) tasked with maintaining the pumps.
The machinist mate's glasses would highlight the different subsystems within the larger air conditioning system, allowing for a view of the critical components. The AR glasses would further display the predicted health ratings of each piece of equipment, as well as past information on temperature or vibration readings, and the equipment's maintenance history. The history would include any digital notes on the system from previous watchstanders. The MM could determine which issue to address on the appropriate piece of equipment, then pull up the corresponding maintenance requirement card on the glasses with a voice command, and have hands-free access to the needed information in a timely manner.22 Now, with the soon-to-be-broken equipment identified, the maintainer alerted, and the necessary information at his fingertips, maintenance could begin.
As for unexpected complications, AR glasses have a camera that can stream video back to central or even off-ship to a technical assist site, where what the MM sees is visible to remote experts. This keeps watchstanders fully aware and enables the most experienced snipes or subject matter experts to guide a sailor through the troubleshooting process. With modern AR software, they could even use the computer to make notes and highlight on the streaming video, allowing for a fluid knowledge transfer in tricky situations in which precision matters most.
AR is also a game-changer for training purposes, particularly valuable in light of the aviation community's recent maintenance problems. The Navy should follow the Army in using AR and simulation by using existing technology for maintenance training.23 Instructional videos displayed on AR glasses will help sailors deepen their hands-on understanding of equipment as they conduct walk-throughs of spaces. Tutorials can demonstrate tricky tasks for infrequent or dangerous maintenance, and videos of sailors performing maintenance can be evaluated for competency, training, and improvement.
3D Printing for Real-time Delivery
Even with novel maintenance tools, parts will still break, some so quickly that they cannot be procured in time to meet mission requirements. The ability to 3D-print parts on demand may alleviate the need for emergency underway replenishments or port visits to receive critical parts. Furthermore, the level of technical maturity of additive manufacturing is high and proven on highly technical, yet fragile systems. For example, Relativity Space, a start-up currently working with the Air Force, has demonstrated the ability to 3D-print an entire large rocket.24 On ships the Navy has already used 3D-printed parts, such as a strainer for the high-pressure steam system on board an aircraft carrier.25 While largely a convenience in peacetime, this capability will quickly become critical in wartime, when the Navy's supply chain will be under attack. Yet only a few ships across the fleet have 3D printers, now seen as neat gadgets rather than vital problem-solving tools. Navy ships of all sizes should be equipped with additive manufacturing technology, and sailors in all Navy warfare communities should be trained in the equipment's use.
Coordinate Technology
The challenge of keeping ships at sea and maintaining them is fiscally and strategically urgent. U.S. adversaries will gain ground if the Navy's readiness lags and operational tempo shows no signs of letting up. In his 2020 fragmentary order, CNO Gilday emphasized improving ship maintenance as his first warfighting line of effort—which is further highlighted by the recent addition to the Battle E list of the Purple E: self-sustainment at sea. While gaining in importance, how maintenance is executed has remained relatively unchanged. Abundant sensors and new technology already exist that can help the Navy; they can analyze vast amounts of data and rapidly implement changes to ensure properly maintained equipment. Likewise, the technology is already here to enable rapid training of personnel and manufacturing of critical parts, even while at sea. Advanced analytics, AR, and 3D printing could be quickly and cheaply implemented today into the Navy's maintenance architecture, with an immediate and tangible impact across the fleet. In the CNO's words, "It is cheaper to maintain readiness than to buy it back."26
1. David B. Larter, "Despite Record Budgets, the U.S. Navy Is Short Hundreds of Millions for Maintenance," Defense News, 19 August 2019; John S. Van Oudenaren, "The Impact of Great Power Competition on the U.S. Navy," National Interest, 10 April 2019; Robert Faturechi, Megan Rose, and Christian Miller, "Years of Warnings, then Death and Disaster," Pro Publica, 7 February 2019.
2. ADM Michael Gilday, USN, remarks at 2019 Naval Institute Defense Forum Washington Conference.
3. David B. Larter, "With the Navy's Submarine Maintenance Woes, There May Yet Be Hope," Defense News, 8 May 2019.
4. Megan Eckstein, "Less Experienced Mariners Contribute to Rise in Naval Aviation Mishaps," USNI News, 22 June 2018.
5. Roy Kelley, "Statement on Aviation Readiness and Safety Before the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Readiness," 21 June 2018.
6. Standard Organization and Regulations of the U.S. Navy, OPNAVINST 3120.23D W CH-1, 29 May 2012.
7. Geoff Ziezulewicz, "No Rest for the Weary: Lack of Sleep Threatens Safety and Readiness," Navy Times, 19 September 2017; Sam LaGrone, "Fleet Forces: Navy Short 6,200 at-Sea Sailors Now to Meet New Manning Requirements," USNI News, 26 February 2019.
8. Mike Diulio, "Revolutionizing Maintenance through Remote Monitoring via ICAS & Distance Support," NAVSEA OSD Great Ideas Program, 28 October 2002.
9. Mark Haarman and Michael Molders, "Predictive Maintenance 4.0 beyond the Hype: PdM 4.0 Delivers Results," Price Waterhouse Cooper, September 2018.
10. Barbara Bukovac, "Transportation and Logistics Deals Insights," Price Waterhouse Cooper, 15 May 2021.
11. John Tirpak, "Smart Sustainment," Air Force Magazine, 1 November 2019. Mark Gruss, "Could Artificial Intelligence Save the Pentagon $15 Billion a Year?" C4ISR Net, 16 April 2019.
12. Rachel Cohen, "USAF Tripling Data Driven Maintenance Efforts in 2020," Air Force Magazine, 26 May 2020.
13. Sonja Jordan, "Army Investing in Predictive Maintenance for Bradleys," National Defense, 26 September 2018. Jordan Harper, "Defense Innovation Unit Shifts into Higher Gear," National Defense, 11 February 2020; Morgan Scott, "U.S. Marine Corps to Use Uptake's Artificial Intelligence Software to Increase Operational Readiness of M88 Recovery Vehicles," Uptake, 4 November 2019.
14. Gruss, "Could Artificial Intelligence Save the Pentagon $15 Billion a Year?"
15. Gruss.
16. Congressional Budget Office, "An Analysis of the Navy's Fiscal Year 2022 Shipbuilding Plan," 16 September 2021.
17. Lara Seligman, "Navy Prepares to Slash Funding for New Warships," Foreign Policy, 10 February 2020.
18. Sam LaGrone, "CNO Gilday Calls for Budget Increase to Reach 355 Ship Fleet; New Battle Force Count Won't Include Unmanned Ships," USNI News, 14 January 2020.
19. Mark Faram, "The Busiest Ships, Subs, and Squadrons—Who's Really Away from Home the Most," Navy Times, 7 March 2018.
20. Kelly Potter, "Augmented Reality Becoming a Focus in Maintenance Technology," Geospatial World, 16 January 2019.
21. Alwyn Scott, "Boeing Forms Venture Group, Invests in Two Tech Startups," Reuters, 6 April 2017; Charlie Fink, "How Boeing Uses Upskill Skylight AR to Boost Productivity," Forbes, 26 February 2019.
22. Lauren Williams, "Army Tests Out Augmented Reality with Training," Federal Computer Week, 13 October 2020.
23. Jen Judson, "U.S. Army's Jumping to the Next Level in Virtual Training," Defense News, 18 May 2019.
24. Michael Sheetz, "3D Printer Relativity Space Is Expanding with Giant New Facility to Build Reusable Rockets," CNBC, 30 June 2021.
25. Tia Vialva, "NAVSEA Approves First Medal 3D Printed Shipboard Component for U.S. Navy," 3D Printing Industry, 12 October 2018.
26. Gilday, Fragmentary Order 01/2019 updating A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority 2.0, 1 December 2019.
Lieutenant (j.g.) Artem Sherbinin, U.S. Navy
Lieutenant (j.g.) Sherbinin is a surface warfare officer stationed in San Diego. He currently leads the team writing the Navy's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy. Previously he established the Hopper Group, the surface navy's AI development and governance team. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he holds a master's degree in security studies from Georgetown University.
Captain Richard Kuzma, U.S. Army
Captain Kuzma (Twitter @rskuzma) is an Army data scientist and former Navy surface warfare officer. His master's degree thesis (Harvard Kennedy School) concerns U.S.-China military AI competition. At the Defense Innovation Unit, he worked on military applications of computer vision.
Lieutenant Thomas Wester, U.S. Navy
Lieutenant Wester is a surface warfare officer stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he holds a master's degree from Stanford University, where he focused on national security and technology policy. He is a plank owner and served as a project manager for the space portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit.
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After teasing a potential collaboration, Chance the Rapper and Childish Gambino will both be playing Governors Ball this year.
Tool will play their first New York City gig in 11 years at the festival in early June. Lorde is slated to perform shortly after stopping by Coachella, meaning that the eagerly anticipated followup to 2013's Pure Heroine could be imminent. Wu Tang Clan and Rae Sreummurd are also part of the lineup.
The festival will take place June 2-4 at Randall's Island Park. Tickets go on sale January 6 at 12 p.m. EST.


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The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
I received a free extract of the first eight chapters of The Fountains of Silence from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. But this intriguing story drew me in so completely from the very first page and I immediately rooted so much for the two main characters, Daniel and Ana, that I couldn't just stop after the extract but needed to read the rest of the book straight away. This is therefore a review of the whole book, which I bought myself, and read in one sitting.
The Fountains of Silence is a beautiful, romantic, sad but hopeful, honest and gripping historic gem by Ruta Sepetys. It is set in postwar Spain, and takes us on a journey into the dark and secret life under the fascist dictatorship of General Franco in the late 1950s. The story is told from several POVs, but with the eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson - the aspiring photographer son of a Texas oil tycoon - and Ana Torres Moreno - who works as a maid at the hotel where Daniel and his parents are staying - as the two main characters.
When Franco opens the door to American business men to invest in his country, the Mathesons take the chance to do oil business and to connect with the country of Daniel's mother. Hoping to win a prestigious photography contest, Daniel tries to discover the real Spain through the lens of his camera, with Ana as his guide. Via his encounters with Ana's family and friends and their interweaving obstacles, Daniel (and we readers) learn more of the fears and hidden horrors and brutality of Franco's Spain, including a parallel story of stolen babies.
I loved all of the characters in this book and the multiple POVs that truly brought the story to life. Daniel was such a sweetheart; so genuinely kindhearted, eager to learn and caring. And I completely rooted for Ana, wanting to rescue her from her hard and brutal reality. But besides Daniel and Ana, there were so many other memorable and real characters in this book as well; Ana's family members who all had at least two jobs each to try and keep the family together after their parents were executed by France, bull fighter Fuga who dared to dream big, journalist Ben who became a mentor to Daniel, and American ambassador son Nick with much more depth beneath his party animal impression and many others.
What I love about Ruty Sepetys's books is that she always mixes the darkness with light, always shows the best and worst of humanity at the same time, always gives you so many wonderful characters you immediately fall in love with and hope and romance in the midst of the horrors. Compared to her previous books, The Fountains of Silence is perhaps not quite as devastating and heart-breaking, but it is nevertheless a powerful and gripping story of love, loss and the hidden violence of silence under a dictatorship. It's a book that deeply touched my heart, and with characters that will stay with me for a long time.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read the extract and find this unforgettable book!
Between Shades of Gray
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is something of a companion book, or prequel, to the heart-breaking, sad and beautiful Salt to the Sea. In this book we get to follow Joanna's (from Salt to the Sea) cousin Lina as she is hauled away by the Soviet secret police from her home in Lithuania and thrown into a cattle car en route to a work camp in Siberia. Up until then, Lina had been just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941, but with an extraordinary talent for drawings. Separated from her father, Lina finds solace in her art, and at great risk documents events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive.
Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea can be read as standalones, but I really enjoyed learning about Joanna's life prior to meeting her in her struggle in Salt to the Sea.
This is a beautiful, gripping story about survival and hope in the darkest of places. It's deeply moving and emotional, but compared to Salt to the Sea, it didn't steal my breath and heart just as much. Perhaps because I read the books in the wrong order? Or perhaps because it was Ruta Sepetys' debut book and she's gotten even better at creating heartfelt characters and plots along the way?
Still, Between Shades of Gray is an amazing, important and highly recommended historical read with loveable characters. And even though the tragic, horrible, historical events it describes, it's a fast and easy-read YA story that in the end gives you hope and shows you the strength of love and compassion.
Ruta Sepetys is an extraordinary writer, always doing thorough research and creating heart-piercing fiction based on historical events that must not be forgotten. I will definitely keep reding more of her books!
Rating:
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Salt to the Sea will make you cry and will haunt you forever, in the best possible way. It's a master piece, a gripping and beautiful story of hardship, humanity, loss, love and survival during WWII. This book is both heart-breakingly sad and hopeful at the same time, showing both the best and worst of humanity, and with so many wonderful characters you immediately fall in love with and want to rescue from the brutality and horror surrounding them.
The book takes place during the Winter of 1945 when four persons paths converge as they try to escape the horrors and survive the war and all the terrible things they have experienced. Joana is a Lithuanian nurse who struggles with demons for leaving her family behind, Florian is a German with secrets of his own and revenge on his mind, Emilia is a Polish teenager running from the betrayal and abuse she has suffered at the relatives who were supposed to keep her safe, and Alfred is a Nazi soldier with something to prove and a mind that works in a not completely sane way. There is also the sweet "shoe poet" Opi and the boy Klaus and other lovable persons in the small group of refugees travelling together, trying to reach the coast and get passage aboard a ship to safety and freedom.
The four main characters alternate in telling the story from their point of view, thereby sharing their secrets, backgrounds, hopes and dreams with us, if not to each other. The different POVs really add to the story and brings an extra dimension to story, spinning it around in all angles, and revealing the ever-changing dynamics between them. Three of the characters, and the side-characters, are lovely and make your heart go out for them and their hardship. I felt so so much for them and their struggles it kept me on needles to find out what would happen to them all. (The fourth, Alfred, is an idiot. Even if he can justify his actions to himself, no one else can. That's all I have to say about him.)
The book is based on a true story, the sea evacuation Operation Hannibal and the sinking of the ship Wilhelm Gustloff. This is the deadliest disaster in maritime history, with Soviet torpedoes destroying and sinking the ship carrying nine thousand people, the majority being civilians (of which, about five thousand were children). The losses dwarf the death tolls of famous ships like Titanic, but yet, this disaster is almost unknown. Ruta Sepetys surely will make that change now. You can tell how much research and thought she has put into this story to inform people about this devastating tragedy.
The writing is exquisite in the face of such brutality. The way Ruta Sepetys told the story was just beautiful, how she created this weave through the different POVs and slowly, slowly revealing their secrets and reasons for their actions.
I finished the book crying my eyes out and my heart aching for the characters in the story, as well as the real lives they mirrored. It is a pretty intense book for being YA, but I cannot recommend it enough! This is one of the best books I've read and definitely the best historical fiction ever! Just be prepared to cry and to be hit by a tornado of emotions.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gucci peut désigner :

Patronyme

 Guccio Gucci (1881-1953), maroquinier et couturier italien ;
  (1905-1990), fils du précédent, propriétaire de Gucci Group de 1974 à 1989.
  (1931-1995), fils du précédent, entrepreneur et designer italien.
 Patricia Gucci (1963-), fille d'Aldo, femme d'affaires italienne ;
 Rodolfo Gucci, dit Maurizio D'Ancora (1912-1983), fils de Guccio, acteur italien, propriétaire Gucci Group de 1974 à 1983.
 Maurizio Gucci (1948-1995), fils du précédent, homme d'affaires italien et chef de l'entreprise de mode Gucci de 1983 à 1993 ;

Entreprises
 Gucci, fondée par Guccio Gucci ;
 Gucci Group, fondé par Guccio Gucci.

Pseudonyme

 Gucci Mane (1980-), rappeur et compositeur américain.

Cinéma
 Gucci, film américain de Ridley Scott prévu pour 2021 et revenant sur l'assassinat de Maurizio Gucci.

Patronyme italien

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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IHT Rendezvous | British Legislators Waver on Afghan War
British Legislators Waver on Afghan War
By Harvey Morris
September 18, 2012 9:01 am September 18, 2012 9:01 am
LONDON – "How many more wasted lives?" asked the rhetorical headline in Britain's Daily Mail on Tuesday, above photographs of the latest two British soldiers to die while serving in Afghanistan.
A rising military death toll, and growing questioning of the strategy of international forces in the 11-year war, appear to be undermining a political consensus in Britain and led to calls in Parliament this week to bring home the troops by Christmas.
The coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron faced a second day of questioning on Tuesday after the decision by NATO to scale back joint patrols with Afghan government forces.
Legislators want to know whether the British government was aware of the NATO order in advance, and where it leaves a strategy that is supposed to be based on training these same Afghan forces.
Despite public misgivings about the Afghan conflict, successive governments have benefited from broad, all-party consensus among members of Parliament and the support of much of the press.
But the conservative Daily Mail, commenting on Tuesday on the deaths of Private Tom Wroe and Sergeant Gareth Thursby, asked: "How many more of the bravest and best of their generation must be sacrificed for a cause that seems increasingly beyond hope."
The two men were the latest British victims of so-called green on blue attacks, in which soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force have been targeted by Afghan soldiers working alongside them.
Philip Hammond, the British defense secretary, told Parliament on Monday that the deaths would not divert international forces from their mission. "Our strategy is clear," he said. "We are mentoring and training the Afghan army and police to deliver security to their own people."
Some politicians are now demanding to know where that strategy stands in the light of the subsequent NATO decision to scale back joint patrols.
William Hague, the British foreign minister, insisted after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that there was no change in strategy. He told a parliamentary committee the NATO decision would have a minimal impact on the operations of British troops.
But parliamentarians want to know if the government knew about the decision in advance. Dennis MacShane of the Labour Party, told the BBC: "In essence the Americans are saying 'It's over. It's drawdown time and pretty soon we'll be out like we got out of Vietnam, like we got out of other colonial wars.'"
He said the defense minister had made no mention of the NATO decision in a statement on Monday.
"Either he knew about it and was hiding it, which I don't think is the case," Mr. MacShane said, "or frankly the Americans aren't even bothering to tell their biggest ally."
John Redwood, a legislator from the right wing of the Conservative party and a former supporter of the war, said: "Why don't we end the combat duties for our troops now, let the Afghans learn the remaining lessons by experience and bring our troops home for Christmas?"
Is it time to call a halt to international intervention in Afghanistan or should the troops remain to finish the job? Tell us what you think.
Germany Making Jews Feel Unwelcome
Media Feed Bias Against Latinos


Breitling continues to impress with more releases for modestly priced watches done well.
We begin with the Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42 Norton. S$11,800 with deployant buckle.
This Premier B01 is new dial execution in Black with gold numerals and a collaboration with Norton Motorcycles.
Next is an almost identical replica of the original of 1959: the Navitimer Ref 806 re-Edition. S$11,750 LE 1959 pieces.
The watch is delivered with a domed hasalite crystal as nod to the original.
And another flight inspired watch- the airline editions for SwissAir, TWA, and PamAm.
Prices range from S$11,600 to S$12,500. B01 in-house chronograph movement, 43mm case size.


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Sharing uncertain science: An investigation into the circulation of COVID-19 preprint research on social media
Alice FLEERACKERS, Scholarly Communications Lab, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Michelle RIEDLINGER, School of Communication, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Juan Pablo ALPERIN, Scholarly Communications Lab, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Ruhksana AHMED, Department of Communication, University at Albany, State University of New York, United States
The public demand for credible, timely health information during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted both the value of digital journalism as a mode of science communication and the challenges journalists face in effectively and accurately conveying evolving health research findings during emergency situations. In the absence of relevant peer-reviewed research, journalistic coverage of COVID-19-related preprints—publicly available research papers that have yet to be peer reviewed—skyrocketed during the pandemic, outstripping media coverage of preprints on other topics.
On one hand, the coverage of this preliminary science can provide timely, relevant insights into prevention and management of COVID-19; on the other hand, the unverified nature of preprint findings, if not clearly communicated, could mislead audiences. The potential for miscommunication is particularly problematic on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, where content can circulate widely and rapidly, sometimes without appropriate context. This presentation focuses on the digital amplification of uncertain science by examining how online news studies citing media coverage of COVID-19-related preprint research circulate on social media.
To do so, we build on our recently published work tracking the online news media coverage of 100 highly-circulated COVID-19-related preprints. We found that only about half of the media stories mentioning preprints accurately portrayed the research as uncertain or preliminary. Extending this work, the present study applies a mixed method approach to analyze the uptake and circulation of those preprints, and their associated media stories, on Twitter and Facebook. Using data from Altmetric, a company that collects mentions of scholarly documents in online news and social media, we used code (Python scripts) to collect tweet details, Twitter user profiles, and follower relationships of those that engaged with the research. On Facebook, we extract publicly available user data from profiles, groups, and pages of those who post links to the preprint articles or media stories using the social media analytics tool Crowdtangle. We then conducted manual content analyses of social media users' bios to answer such questions as: Who is posting about COVID-19-related preprints or media stories reporting on them? And what kind of user engagement do these posts receive?
By identifying the online audiences engaging with COVID-19-related preprint research, this study aims to advance understanding of the influence of various digital actors in an increasingly complex, hybrid social media landscape and shed light on an important but understudied topic: communicating the scientific uncertainty of preprint research.


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Albert Kaltschmidt was a German immigrant who became a wealthy industrialist in the United States. During World War I he was the leader of a pro-German Empire group. This lone wolf group (Independent of Imperial Germany's Spy network) was able to bomb a Canadian factory in 1915. He was arrested for an attempt to bomb Detroit factories, and was convicted of Conspiracy in 1917.

Business career

In Detroit he became the President of the Marine City Salt company. He was also elected secretary of the local Deutcherbund.

WWI
In May 1915 he called a meeting of fellow pro-Germans including Walter Scholz, Charles F. Respa, and his brother-in-law Carl Schmidt. There he told those assembled that it was their duty to the Fatherland to sabotage munition production that was being sent to Allied nations fighting the Central Powers.  On June 21, 1915, Kaltschmidt was able to connect gave Charles F. Respa 156 sticks of dynamite and introduced him to a night watchman, William Lefler, who was employed as security at the Peabody Overall Co factory in Walkerville, Ontario.

On June 21, 1915, Respa was able to bomb the Peabody factory, but a bomb placed at the Windsor Armoury failed to explode, saving the lives of 200 soldiers who were stationed there. On March 7, 1916, Respa was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1917, ring leader and President of the Marine City Salt company, Albert Kaltschmidt, faced charges in America for attempting to bomb the Detroit Screw Works. Others charged were William M. Jarosh, Richard Herman, and Fritz A. Neef, general manager of the Eismann Magneto company.

Sentencing of Kaltschmidt and his Co-conspiracists
Detroit Judge Arthur J. Tuttle sentenced Albert Kaltschmidt to four years in Leavenworth, and $20,000 fine ($ in ). His Co-conspiracists were also sentenced to:
Fritz Neef, two years in Leavenworth, and $10,000 fine.
Ida Kaltschmidt Neff, three years in Detroit house of correction, and $15,000 fine.
Carl Schmidt, two years in Leavenworth, and $10,000 fine.
Mary Schmidt, two years in Detroit house of correction, and $10,000 fine.
Frank Franz Respa was acquitted.

See also

Terrorism in the United States
List of German sponsored acts of terrorism during WWI

Bibliography
Notes

References

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1871 births
20th-century deaths

Year of death missing
1915 crimes in the United States
American spies for Imperial Germany
Bombers (people)
Failed assassins
German emigrants to the United States
Terrorist incidents in the United States in the 1910s
World War I spies for Germany


In this clip Prof. Abiodun Alao shares his perspectives on the response of the African Union on recent events in Zimbabwe. Prof. Abiodun Alao is a Professor of African Studies at King's College London. He is also the author of 'Mugabe and the Politics of Security in Zimbabwe'.
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