NewzIntel.com

Category: Americas

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Delivers More Than $344,000 of Baby Formula to Bronx Families

    Source: US State of New York

    EW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that her office secured more than $344,000 worth of baby formula from Marine Park Distribution Inc. (Marine Park) for families in the Bronx. The donation is part of the $675,000 worth of baby formula that Attorney General James secured as a result of her settlement with Marine Park and its affiliate Formula Depot Inc. (Formula Depot) for illegal price gouging during the nationwide formula shortage in 2022. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Marine Park and Formula Depot raised prices of formula during the shortage in violation of New York’s price gouging laws. At times, Marine Park doubled the price of a can of formula, charging its customers up to $36 for a can of formula that cost $18 before the shortage. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will work with Roads to Success, a nonprofit in the Bronx, to distribute the formula to families in need.

    “Using a national emergency to raise prices on hardworking families who are struggling to find enough food for their children is despicable,” said Attorney General James. “Marine Park broke the law when they took advantage of a dangerous formula shortage to make even higher profits, and now they have to pay for it. Thanks to my office’s investigation, today we’re delivering essential baby formula to families in the Bronx. I thank Roads to Success for their work to distribute this formula to those in need, and I will continue to go after price gougers who try to cheat New Yorkers during a crisis.”

    “We are deeply grateful to Attorney General Letitia James and her office for their unwavering commitment to supporting families in need,” said Sheila Duke, CEO of Roads to Success. “Access to baby formula is not just a necessity, it is a lifeline for parents striving to provide for their children. At Roads to Success, we witness struggles of families facing food insecurity, and we know how critical this support is for the health and well-being of infants in our community. This generous donation will bring much-needed relief to Bronx families. We are honored to play a pivotal role in distributing these essential resources and remain committed to advocating for the well-being of the families we serve.”

    New York’s price gouging laws prohibit vendors from unconscionably increasing prices on goods that are vital to consumers’ health, safety, or welfare during market disruptions such as the 2022 formula shortage. In May 2022, Attorney General James issued warnings to more than 30 retailers across the state to stop overcharging for baby formula after consumers reported unreasonably high prices.

    Baby formula is a critical food source for the vast majority of infants across the country. Three out of four infants in the U.S. consume baby formula during the first six months of their lives. The 2022 shortage caused by a manufacturing plant closure and recall created significant hardship for families across New York as supplies dwindled and prices rose. An OAG investigation found that Marine Park, which sells baby formula to retailers, and Formula Depot, which sells to consumers online, raised prices over 60 percent more than was allowed under the law during the shortage, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars more in revenue. One consumer, who relied on Formula Depot for formula safe for babies with milk and soy allergies, bought a case of formula for $190, only to be charged $245 for the same case just a few weeks later.

    As a result of OAG’s investigation, Marine Park and Formula Depot must provide $675,000 of baby formula that Attorney General James will donate to New Yorkers in need by November 2025. In addition, the two companies are barred from future price gouging and have paid a $75,000 penalty to the state. In December 2024, Attorney General James made the first formula donation of 3,300 cans of baby formula worth about $140,000 to Foodlink in Rochester. Today’s donation will deliver 7,520 cans of powder formula and 3,510 bottles of liquid formula to families in the Bronx through Roads to Success, a nonprofit organization that runs a DYCD Cornerstone Program for youth and adults at the Boston Secor Community Center.

    Bronx residents face the highest rate of food insecurity in the state, with nearly one in three children lacking consistent access to enough food. Child poverty in the Bronx is higher than in any other county in New York, and Bronx residents use food pantries at a higher rate than residents of any other borough. The OAG’s formula donation will provide much-needed food assistance to families in need.

    “This donation provides necessary relief for Bronx families, ensuring parents don’t have to choose between feeding their children and affording other necessities,” said Senator Nathalia Fernandez. “I applaud Attorney General James for turning a bad situation into meaningful action—taking the greed of price gougers and using it to support the very people they tried to exploit.”

    “No parent should ever have to choose between feeding their child and paying their bills. The price gouging during the formula shortage was not only an exploitation of desperation but a direct attack on struggling families. Today’s victory is a testament to the power of accountability,” said Senator Robert Jackson. “I commend Attorney General James for standing firm against corporate greed and ensuring Bronx families receive the support they deserve. This donation is more than just baby formula—it’s a symbol of our unwavering commitment to economic justice, dignity, and the fundamental right of every child to be nourished and cared for.”

    “No parent should have to worry about how they will feed their child,” said Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz. “This significant donation of baby formula, secured by Attorney General James, will bring vital relief to Bronx families who have faced unnecessary hardship due to price gouging. I applaud Attorney General James for holding bad actors accountable and ensuring our communities receive the support they deserve.”

    “Today’s donation of over $344,000 worth of baby formula is a vital step in ensuring that Bronx families have access to the essential resources they need,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “We applaud Attorney General James for holding those who took advantage of vulnerable families accountable and securing these necessary goods for our community. As we continue to support families in need, we are reminded of the importance of protecting New Yorkers from unfair practices, especially during times of crisis.”

    Attorney General James has been a leader in the fight to protect New York consumers and guard against price gouging. In October 2024, Attorney General James led a multistate coalition urging congressional leaders to support a national ban on price gouging. In March and April 2024, Attorney General James distributed over 9,500 cans of baby formula in Buffalo and New York City from a settlement with Walgreens for price gouging during the formula shortage. In May 2023, Attorney General James secured a $100,000 settlement with Quality King Distributors, Inc. due to unconscionable price increases for Lysol products during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2023, Attorney General James announced price gouging rules to protect consumers and small businesses from corporate profiteering. The rules would strengthen enforcement of New York’s price gouging law. In April 2021, Attorney General James delivered 1.2 million eggs to food pantries throughout the state which were secured as part of an agreement with the nation’s largest egg producers for price gouging in the early months of the pandemic. 

    New Yorkers should report potential concerns about price gouging to the OAG by filing a complaint online or calling 800-771-7755.

    This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Fishman, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Jane M. Azia and Deputy Bureau Chief Laura J. Levine, all of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau. Former Data Scientist Jasmine McAllister also assisted in this matter, under the supervision of Director of Research and Analytics Victoria Khan, Deputy Director Gautam Sisodia, and former Director Megan Thorsfeldt. The Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau is a part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and is overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Keeping Riders and Transit Workers Safe on Subways

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today marked one year since enacting her five-point subway safety plan by highlighting reductions in New York City transit crimes and her administration’s ongoing efforts to expand safety initiatives throughout the transit system. Last year, Governor Hochul announced a surge in State personnel to assist with NYPD bag checks, directing the MTA to accelerate camera installation throughout the system, and also increase the number of Subway Co-Response Outreach (SCOUT) teams throughout the system — which operate in addition to the existing Safe Options Support (SOS) teams. Earlier this year, Governor Hochul announced additional steps to increase law enforcement presence, expand public resources and strengthen mental health policies to make the transit system safer. These new measures included partnering with New York City officials to increase NYPD patrols on subway platforms and trains; installing new protective barriers on subway platforms to protect riders; upgrading fare gates and delaying egress on exit gates to help crack down on fare evasion; adding LED lighting throughout stations to increase visibility; and updating and strengthening key mental health laws to ensure that New Yorkers with severe mental illness are connected with care instead of being left to languish on subway trains and platforms.

    “Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority — and I’ll never stop working to ensure riders can rely on our subways to safely get wherever they need to go,” Governor Hochul said. “By adding uniformed officers to every train, fortifying our transit infrastructure, and expanding mental health outreach, we’ve made real progress in driving down transit crime. Working in partnership with law enforcement, district attorneys and mental health experts, we’re working to make the subways safer for every straphanger.”

    As a result of these initiatives, major transit crimes are down 29 percent and arrests are up 71 percent year to date. When looking at the same time period, major transit crimes are down 28 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. In the first nine weeks of 2025, New York City is experiencing the lowest number of subway crimes in 30 years, outside of the pandemic. Crime is 55 percent lower than in 2001 and 32 percent lower than in 2013.

    MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “It’s not a mystery — more cops, more enforcement, and more effective mental health outreach and treatment directly cuts down on transit crime. Now we need legal changes proposed by Gov. Hochul that will ensure recidivist criminals aren’t free to keep preying on subway riders.”

    Governor’s Five Point Plan to Address Subway Safety

    Governor Hochul’s five-point plan utilizes State resources to protect New Yorkers on the subways. This includes surging State personnel to assist NYPD bag checks, a program bill that permits transit bans for individuals that assault other passengers, the addition of new cameras to protect conductor cabins, increased coordination between District Attorneys and law enforcement and an increased number of Subway Co-Response Outreach (SCOUT) teams throughout the system — which operate in addition to the existing SOS teams. These actions build on the Governor’s unprecedented investment in safety on the subways, from standing up SOS teams to directing the MTA to install cameras in every subway car. Governor Hochul also called on judges to use their expanded discretion to set bail to keep repeat offenders off the streets.

    Increasing Law Enforcement Presence Throughout the Transit System

    Governor Hochul is working in partnership with New York City to increase New York Police Department (NYPD) presence on platforms and trains by temporarily surging patrol levels in addition to the National Guardsmen that have been re-deployed into the transit system. Approximately 750 NYPD officers will be stationed across New York City with an additional 300 in the train cars themselves. The increase in enforcement will prioritize 30 subways stations and transit hubs that account for 50 percent of crime in the transit system.

    The Governor worked with New York City to increase police patrols on every overnight train for a six month time period. NYPD officers are working from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., and there are two uniformed officers onboard every subway train in service during those hours.

    This expansion of law enforcement patrols builds on the Governor’s previous announcement in December 2024 to add an additional 250 members of the National Guard to support subway safety, bringing the total to 1,000 National Guardsmen stationed at subway entrances in points throughout New York City.

    New Public Safety Resources To Protect Riders and Prevent Fare Evasion

    Governor Hochul will provide the funding to install platform edge barriers at more than 100 additional stations by the end of 2025. The selection of stations for the installation process will prioritize feasibility, including stations with standard car-stopping positions in segments of the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, F, M and L trains. Among these train lines, stations with higher ridership levels and island platforms will be prioritized.

    To address fare evasion, Governor Hochul will invest in modern fare gates in more than 20 stations across the system in 2025, and an additional 20 stations in 2026.

    Additionally, exit gates will delay egress at 150 additional stations in an effort to reduce fare evasion. At the Governor’s direction, the MTA will prioritize stations with higher ridership traffic, accessibility features and those with high fare evasion. The piloted design used in the roll-out was solicited through the MTA’s “Request for Information” to qualify the next generation of fare gates across the system. Initial installation is scheduled to begin at 42 St-Port Authority, Delancey St-Essex St and Roosevelt Av-Jackson Heights.

    The Governor will also provide funding to install LED lighting in all subway stations throughout the system which will increase visibility throughout the stations.

    Expanding Mental Health Partnerships and Resources

    Governor Hochul’s SOS initiative has successfully transitioned nearly 850 unhoused individuals into permanent housing and continues to make progress. SOS teams deployed across New York State often encounter individuals experiencing unmet medical and psychiatric needs. To address this gap, Governor Hochul is adding street medicine and street psychiatry providers to SOS teams statewide. These providers deliver timely care directly to individuals during outreach, improving access to psychiatric evaluations and medical treatment without requiring individuals to leave their belongings or seek care in hospitals. This approach is enhancing trust, building rapport and encouraging individuals to accept services and transition indoors, improving outcomes for New York’s most vulnerable residents.

    Additionally — to further help reduce homelessness in the subway system — Governor Hochul is working with the NYC Department of Homeless Services to expand their 24/7 “Welcome Center” model near end-of-line stations and will create spaces within stations that have a large presence of unhoused people for our mobile outreach teams to better connect and coordinate services.

    Governor Hochul previously announced a $20 million investment to expand the SCOUT Teams throughout the system to ten by the end of 2025, as a part of her five-point plan to protect New Yorkers on the subway. SCOUT teams are trained to address the most severe cases of mental health crisis within the subway system and assist New Yorkers in gaining access to mental health treatment and supportive housing.

    The Governor has made strengthening New York State’s mental health system a priority of her administration, landing historic investments in housing for people with mental illness and directing a large increase in inpatient psychiatric bed capacity at state-operated and community-based hospital systems. In addition, her initiatives have broadened prevention services, improved insurance coverage and expanded outpatient services for people with mental illness.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: El Salvadorian National Charged With Illegal Reentry

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jorge A. Guzman-Montano, age 52, of El Salvador, was indicted on March 5, 2025, by a federal grand jury for illegal reentry into the United States by a previously deported alien.

    According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, the indictment alleges that Guzman-Montano was previously removed from the United States on April 21, 2017, through Lorado, Texas, and it is alleged that he was subsequently found in the United States without having first obtained legal permission to reenter the country. The indictment also alleges that on February 12, 2025, Guzman-Montano was encountered in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

    This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations. Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Dukes is prosecuting the case.

    The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is ten years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

    Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Manchester Teacher Named 2025 Rogers Educational Innovation Fund Winner

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Alumna Giselle Ziegler ’22 6th Year has been named the Neag School of Education’s 2025 Rogers Educational Innovation Fund award winner. Ziegler teaches music at Odyssey Community School in Manchester, Connecticut.

    The Rogers Educational Innovation Fund, designated by the late Neag School of Education Professor Emeritus Vincent Rogers and his late wife, Chris, a lifelong teacher, provides a $5,000 annual award to support innovative projects by Connecticut elementary or middle school teachers. The gift is intended to support and expand the innovative, collaborative work of Connecticut’s classroom teachers and the Neag School of Education. This is the sixth year that the award has been bestowed.

    “I look forward to engaging students in musical opportunities outside the classroom in more real-world settings,” Neag School alumna Giselle Ziegler says. (Shawn Kornegay/Neag School)

    Ziegler’s project is titled “Harmony in Diversity: Building Cultural Awareness and Musical Equity,” and aims to enhance cultural awareness and musical equity at Odyssey Community School by expanding access to instruments and culturally responsive experiences. It will fund new instruments for equitable participation as well as diverse performances and guest speakers. This will foster inclusivity, empathy, and a deeper connection to music across cultures. The project also nods to Vincent Rogers’ own passion for music, as he was a jazz musician in high school and with the West Point military band.

    “I look forward to engaging students in musical opportunities outside the classroom in more real-world settings,” Ziegler says. “Imagine taking them to see a live performance of what they’ve studied or bringing in local artists to work with them one-on-one. These experiences could be life changing.”

    “Giselle Ziegler’s project at Odyssey Community School stood out to our selection committee, among the other proposed projects, as we recognized its aim of expanding students’ knowledge and experiences with music in ways that were more culturally expansive and inclusive,” says Todd Campbell, professor and head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Neag School, who chaired the 2025 Rogers Fund selection committee.

    We are excited to see this project making an impact in the lives of students at the Odyssey School. &#8212 Todd Campbell, professor and chair the 2025 Rogers Fund selection committee

    “Giselle’s ambition of getting more instruments in her students’ hands, beyond those they might typically get experiences with, and connecting them with diverse musicians is inspiring,” Campbell says. “We are excited to see this project making an impact in the lives of students at the Odyssey School and showcasing the work of an alum of our celebrated Neag School Music Education program.”

    Ziegler will be formally recognized at the 2025 Neag School Alumni Awards Celebration, which will be held at UConn Storrs in March.

    From the moment she joined Odyssey, Ziegler says she was struck by the school’s diversity. The Title I public charter school draws students from various towns and socioeconomic backgrounds, creating a melting pot of experiences, traditions, and perspectives. What fascinated her most, she says, was how her students came alive when they saw their cultures reflected in the curriculum.

    “I noticed early on that engagement spiked when I introduced music from their heritage, a realization that fueled my passion for creating a more inclusive and culturally responsive program,” Ziegler says. (Shawn Kornegay/Neag School)

    “I noticed early on that engagement spiked when I introduced music from their heritage, a realization that fueled my passion for creating a more inclusive and culturally responsive program,” she says.

    This passion led her to apply for the Rogers award, with the hope that it could help transform her music program from a fledgling endeavor into a thriving, dynamic space for students to explore, create, and connect. With the funding, she envisions expanding the school’s instrumental resources and providing opportunities for her students to experience music in ways they had never imagined.

    Odyssey Community School has already introduced cultural presenters to its students through previous grant funding. Two years ago, Ziegler invited a North Indian Kathak dancer, Rachna Agrawal, to share the rhythms and traditions of her homeland. The following year, Ghanaian musician Iddi Saaka taught students the vibrant beats of West African drumming and dance. Most recently, they hosted Tere Luna, a Mexican folkloric presenter whose lively singing and dancing filled the halls with energy. Each visit had been met with enthusiasm, Ziegler says, but she wanted to take it further — beyond the classroom walls and into the world.

    At Odyssey, music education is still finding its footing. With limited instruments and a single teacher balancing general, vocal, and instrumental music for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students, the challenges are significant. One of Ziegler’s main goals with the Rogers award is to provide equitable access to instruments. Many students can only engage with music during class, but Ziegler dreams of students taking instruments home, practicing, and truly immersing themselves in their craft.

    “It’s about allowing them to practice at home, to develop their skills beyond the classroom,” she says. “Right now, that’s something missing; this award could change that.”

    This grant will change the lives of so many students at Odyssey… And to be able to contribute to the legacy of Professor Rogers, someone who was so passionate about music — it means everything to me. &#8212 Giselle Ziegler ’22 6th Year

    Beyond the instruments, Ziegler’s approach to teaching is deeply rooted in inclusivity. She follows the philosophy of educator and author Alfie Kohn, emphasizing content, community, and choice — three key elements that she believes are essential to student success.

    “If I’m providing them with content that’s engaging and relevant to their cultures, creating a community where they feel safe and respected, and giving them choices in how they learn, then I’m doing my job,” she says.

    As she wrote her Rogers award proposal, these principles were at the front of her mind. She imagined a classroom where every student saw themselves represented; their cultural backgrounds were acknowledged and celebrated; and music was a bridge that connected them all. She knows that when students feel seen and valued, they are more willing to take risks, explore their creativity, and truly invest in their learning.

    Her long-term vision includes integrating the learning bolstered by this grant into Odyssey’s unique “Community Periods.” These Friday sessions involve the whole school and allow students to explore topics of interest beyond the traditional curriculum, and school surveys have shown a strong desire for more engagement with culture through music. Ziegler sees this as the perfect opportunity to use the Roger award’s resources to culminate in a schoolwide event celebrating the diverse musical traditions of their community.

    “One of our trimesters could be dedicated to showcasing what students have learned through this project,” she suggests. “It could be a performance, an exhibition, or even an interactive workshop. The possibilities are endless.”

    When reflecting on the donors who make the Rogers award possible every year, Ziegler says she is filled with gratitude.

    “First and foremost, thank you,” she says. “This grant will change the lives of so many students at Odyssey, not just now but for generations to come. And to be able to contribute to the legacy of Professor Rogers, someone who was so passionate about music — it means everything to me.”

    Read more about the Rogers Educational Innovation Fund at rogersfund.uconn.edu.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Peter Canning Recognized for EMS Role in Stroke Care

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    The UConn John Dempsey Hospital’s emergency medical services coordinator, Peter Canning, is this year’s recipient of the Dr. Richard Simon Excellence in Clinical Neurosciences Award.

    His nominators credit Canning, a paramedic and nurse who’s been UConn Health’s EMS coordinator since 2008, for his instrumental role in stroke care.

    Peter Canning is UConn Health’s emergency medical services coordinator. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

    “He works tirelessly to review any cases sent over for process improvement and communicates with the EMS professionals. He also keeps his ear to the ground to make sure UConn Health is at the forefront of new protocols for patients with stroke,” his nominators write. “His work helps improve the care our ED and stroke program provide. Overall, Peter is an amazing resource for our ED and stroke program.”

    UConn Health’s then Division of Neurosurgery established the award in Simon’s name in 2020, and since has presented it annually to clinicians, staff, or students “who exemplify excellence in any area of the neurosciences at UConn Health.” Simon is the hospital’s chief of medical staff and professor of surgery in what is now the Department of Neurosurgery, and has been a member of the UConn School of Medicine faculty for four decades.

    “It is a true honor to recognize such a powerhouse as the recipient of the Richard Simon Award,” Simon says. “Reading his bio is a humbling experience — Peter is a true Renaissance man, seamlessly blending the roles of athlete, published author, and political advisor. But above all, he is a paramedic — our paramedic. As the EMS coordinator at UConn Health, he has played a pivotal role in shaping EMS operations across our region, leaving a lasting impact on the field and the many lives he has touched.”

    Though he is the first solo recipient of the Simon Award, Canning sees it not only as an honor for him, but also as an acknowledgement of the emergency medical services component of stroke care.

    “I was honored to get this award and accept it on behalf of our EMS providers,” Canning says. “Care at our hospital begins not when the patient arrives through our doors, but when our EMS partners arrive at the patient’s side in their homes, places of work and our community. When every minute counts, their rapid stroke recognition and early notification to our ED through stroke alerts, enables us to provide timely interventions like tPA and thrombectomy that make a critical difference in quality-of-life outcomes. I am proud to be a part of our outstanding stroke program and to be able to work with such wonderful caring practitioners as we strive to improve stroke education and treatment.”

    From left: Dr. Hilary Oniyuke, Dr. Richard Simon, and Dr. Ketan Bulsara (photo provided by Ketan Bulsara).

    Dr. Hilary Onyiuke, professor of neurosurgery, founder and co-director of UConn Health’s Comprehensive Spine Program, and vice chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, chairs the award’s selection committee, which includes leadership from the Department of Neurosurgery, the Department of Neurology, and the neuroradiology section of the Department of Radiology.

    “It is truly a great honor to celebrate Dr. Simon’s countless contributions to UConn Health through this prestigious award,” says Dr. Ketan Bulsara, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. “His singular dedication to UConn Health and its missions over all these years has truly been inspirational. I thank the members of the selection committee, who truly had a formidable task to sort through the outstanding nominations.”

    Learn more about stroke care at UConn Health.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Westland Insurance acquires Saskatchewan-based Loewen Agencies Ltd.

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Surrey, BC/Territories of the Coast Salish (Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen First Nations), March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Westland Insurance, one of Canada’s leading insurance brokerages, has acquired Loewen Agencies Ltd. effective March 1, 2025. With this acquisition, Westland gains Loewen Agencies’ trusted reputation and strong community ties, allowing it to enhance its offerings and serve more clients. 

    Loewen Agencies serves the Radville, Ceylon, and Minton communities with coverage for properties, vehicles, businesses, and farm insurance. Loewen Agencies has been a trusted part of these communities since 1947, built on a legacy of exceptional advice and client service. 

    The integration of Loewen Agencies into Westland’s operations will ensure that clients continue to receive the high level of service they’ve come to expect, while also gaining access to a broader range of insurance products and resources. 

    “I’m extremely pleased to welcome Loewen Agencies to the Westland team,” said Jamie Lyons, Westland’s President & CEO. “This is an exciting step in our growth journey. Supporting rural communities across Canada with their insurance needs is an important part of our business model at Westland. We look forward to welcoming their talented team and to continue providing outstanding service in these new communities that they’ve served for decades.” 

    Westland continues to invest in and grow its business in Canada, both organically and through strategic acquisitions.  

    – 30 –   

    About Westland Insurance Group   

    Westland Insurance Group is one of the largest and fastest-growing insurance brokers in Canada. Trading over $3.5 billion of premium, Westland continues to expand coast to coast. Westland’s brokers provide expertise and advisory-based services across commercial, personal, employee benefits, farm, and specialty insurance segments. Since its founding in 1980, Westland has remained committed to supporting its clients, industry partners and local communities. For more information, please visit westlandinsurance.ca. 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: District 98 Welcomes Military Readiness Heroes at Harrisburg Air National Guard

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    Two groups of Service Contract workers at an Air National Guard Base in Harrisburg, Pa., are now enjoying the benefits of IAM representation.

    After organizing into the IAM, District 98 negotiated a strong first contract for a pilot, combat systems officer and load master who conduct MC-130 simulator training for service members. All three new members are military veterans, and one received a $12 an hour raise.

    In addition, District 98 organized the simulator program’s technicians, who work for Delaware Resource Group (DRG). The IAM is currently working toward a first contract for the workers.

    “We saw an opportunity to support our military and help our community and we took it,” said IAM District 98 Assistant Directing Business Representative Kermit Forbes. “We’re so proud to represent these groups and the critical work they do for our servicemen and women.”

    All the workers support the 193rd Special Operations Wing, which in peacetime bolsters responses to natural disasters and homeland security operations. The unit has been deployed on several foreign combat missions, including throughout the Global War on Terror. 

    “The IAM continues to show why we are the premier union for Service Contract Act workers at military bases throughout the nation,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President David Sullivan. “The men and women who support our military deserve top-notch treatment – and the IAM will always be there to fight for them.” 

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  • MIL-OSI USA: IAM Union Urges End to All U.S. Tariffs on Canada, Cooperation Amongst Both Countries to Grow Worker Prosperity

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    Brian Bryant, International President of the 600,000-member IAM Union, and David Chartrand, IAM Canadian General Vice President, issued the following statement calling for an end to all Canadian tariffs:

    “The IAM Union strongly urges President Trump to end all tariff actions against Canada, one of our closest allies, without delay. Instead of escalating tensions, the President should embrace trade policies that strengthen the economic bond between the U.S. and Canada. This is a critical moment in history that can bring together workers and unions from both nations to craft solutions for the future. “The IAM Union represents 600,000 workers, including tens of thousands in aerospace, defense, and manufacturing—industries that depend on strong U.S.-Canada cooperation. These tariffs destabilize those sectors, putting livelihoods and our nations’ economies at risk.

    “Now is the time for all stakeholders – government, business, and labor – to unite in developing a comprehensive strategy that strengthens and grows critical manufacturing in both the U.S. and Canada. Workers on both sides of the border deserve a seat at the table in shaping policies that affect their jobs, our shared economic prosperity, and national security.” 

    The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada. 

    goIAM.org | @MachinistsUnion

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  • MIL-OSI USA: IAM Veterans Services Class Hosts Training on Mental Health

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    IAM Veterans Services hosted another Veterans Advocate training for members who want to learn about the ways they can support veterans within the union.

    The training, which took place at the IAM William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center, was led by IAM Veterans Services Coordinator Rich Evans and Assistant Coordinator Bryan Stymacks.

    One day of the week-long training is dedicated to the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) class. This class teaches participants to identify people struggling with a mental health crisis and gives them tools to help and resources to direct them to.

    The MHFA class has been a part of the Veterans Advocate Training since its inception.

    “I find it very important to not only train interested members in helping veterans attain their deserved benefits, but also in supporting veterans, and others, through their mental struggles. Mental health has an enormous impact on one’s quality of life, so it’s important for us to learn how to help our veterans in this way,” said IAM Veterans Services Coordinator Rich Evans.

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  • MIL-OSI Video: U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag Raising Ceremony

    Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)

    U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag Raising Ceremony, at the Department of State, on March 6, 2025.
    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

    The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at www.state.gov and on social media!
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6ketci8OI

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: GAO Named Best Place to Work for 5th Straight Year

    Source: US Government Accountability Office

    WASHINGTON (March 6, 2025) For the fifth consecutive year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) ranked number one on the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Place to Work rankings, released today. GAO placed first overall among mid-size federal agencies.

    “It’s an honor to have GAO named the Best Place to Work for the fifth year in a row. And it’s a direct reflection of the strong commitment to collaboration, accountability, and community among our people,” said Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO.

    “The contributions from each member of our professional, multi-disciplinary, and dedicated workforce drives us to continue to provide independent, non-partisan work to help Congress fulfill its constitutional duties and improve the performance of the federal government for the American people. It is also gratifying to me that, in the last year of my 15-year appointment, GAO is again ranked among the top four agencies, as it has been each year of my entire tenure.”

    The Partnership’s rankings, issued annually, are based on responses from employees across the federal government.

    To find out more about GAO’s workforce and GAO career opportunities, visit Careers | U.S. GAO.

    For more information on the award, go to www.bestplacestowork.org. For questions about GAO, please contact Sarah Kaczmarek, Managing Director of Public Affairs, at media@gao.gov or (202) 512-4800.

    #####

    The Government Accountability Office, known as the investigative arm of Congress, is an independent, nonpartisan agency that exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. GAO also works to improve the performance of the federal government and ensure its accountability to the American people. The agency examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO provides Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonideological, fair, and balanced. GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: GRUPO FINANCIERO BANORTE to Present at the Banking Virtual Investor Conference March 6th

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MEXICO CITY, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GRUPO FINANCIERO BANORTE (GBOOY), based in Av. Revolución N° 3000, Col. Primavera, Monterrey, N.L. C.P. 64830 Mexico, focused on Financial Services, today announced that Tania Martinez Lira, Investor Relations Director and that Corina Beltrán Medina, Investor Relations Deputy Director, will present live at the Banking Virtual Investor Conference hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on March 6th, 2025

    DATE: March 6th
    TIME: 2:30 – 3:00 pm ET
    LINK: https://bit.ly/3DhRUj4

    This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.

    It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates. 

    Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com.

    Recent Company Highlights

    • Recognized by The Banker as the Best Bank in Mexico, Most Innovative Bank in Latin America, and Top 200 Banks in Latin America in 2024
    • Recognized by World Finance as the Best Retail Bank and Best Corporate Governance in Mexico in 2024
    • Recognized by Institutional Investor as the Most Honored Company, coupled with Best CEO, Best CFO, Best IRO, Best IR Team, Best IR program, Best ESG, Best Company Board of Directors, and Best Investor Day in 2024
    • Recognized by Global Finance as Best Bank in Mexico 2024 and Best SME Bank 2025
    • Recognized by Euromoney as Best Service-Domestic, Trade Finance in Mexico and Best Banks for SMEs in Mexico in 2024
    • Recognized by TAB Global as one of the 1000 World´s Largest and Strongest Banks in 2024
    • Silver winner at a worldwide level on the “HyperPersonalization” project in the category “Reimagining the Customer Experience” by Qorus-Infosys Finacle
    • Recognized by Best Place to Work 2024, while incorporating our CEO and our CHRO in their “Best CEOs and Best CHROs” list

    About [GRUPO FINANCIERO BANORTE]

    Grupo Financiero Banorte (GFNorte), is a leading financial institution in Mexico, with the largest business diversification and continuously seeking ways to innovate in the financial sector, offering a wide variety of traditional and digital products and services, through its broker dealer, annuities & insurance companies, retirement saving funds (afore), mutual funds, leasing and factoring company, warehousing and recently announcing the inclusion of a digital bank.

    Banorte is the second largest financial group in Mexico in terms of loan portfolio, the number two provider of loans to governments and the second largest bank in mortgage loans. In addition, the retirement fund administrator Afore XXI Banorte, of which GFNorte owns 50%, is the largest in the country in terms of assets under management.

    Banorte is the only commercial bank, among the six largest institutions, whose decisions are made locally without the influence of external parent companies, which has proven to be an advantage in adapting with agility to the changes and alternatives presented by the country.

    About Virtual Investor Conferences®
    Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors.

    Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Aimfinity Investment Corp. I Announces Extension of the Deadline for an Initial Business Combination to March 28, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Wilmington, Delaware, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aimfinity Investment Corp. I (the “Company” or “AIMA”) (Nasdaq: AIMAU), a special purpose acquisition company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company, today announced that, in order to extend the date by which the Company mush complete its initial business combination from February 28, 2025 to March 28, 2025, on February 28, 2025, I-Fa Chang, manager of the sponsor of the Company, has deposited into its trust account (the “Trust Account”) an aggregate of $55,823.8, or for $0.05 per Class A ordinary share held by public shareholders (the “Monthly Extension Payment”).

    Pursuant to the Company’s fourth amended & restated memorandum and articles of association (“Current Charter”), effectively January 9, 2025, the Company may extend on a monthly basis from January 28, 2025 until October 28, 2025 or such an earlier date as may be determined by its board to complete a business combination by depositing the Monthly Extension Payment for each month into the Trust Account. This is the second of nine monthly extensions sought under the Current Charter of the Company.  

    About Aimfinity Investment Corp. I

    Aimfinity Investment Corp. I is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. The Company has not selected any business combination target and has not, nor has anyone on its behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with it. While the Company will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region in its identification and acquisition of a target company, it will not complete its initial business combination with a target that is headquartered in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) or conducts a majority of its business in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). 

    Additional Information and Where to Find It

    As previously disclosed, on October 13, 2023, the Company entered into that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger (as may be amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Merger Agreement”), by and between the Company, Docter Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), Aimfinity Investment Merger Sub I, a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent (“Purchaser”), and Aimfinity Investment Merger Sub II, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Purchaser (“Merger Sub”), pursuant to which the Company is proposing to enter into a business combination with Docter involving an reincorporation merger and an acquisition merger. This press release does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed business combination and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the business combination. AIMA’s stockholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the proxy statement/prospectus and the amendments thereto and other documents filed in connection with the proposed business combination, as these materials will contain important information about AIMA, Purchaser or Docter, and the proposed business combination. When available, the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials for the proposed business combination will be mailed to stockholders of AIMA as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. Such stockholders will also be able to obtain copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), without charge, once available, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or by directing a request to AIMA’s principal office at 221 W 9th St, PMB 235 Wilmington, Delaware 19801.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the pending transactions described herein, and the parties’ perspectives and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the proposed transaction, including the anticipated initial enterprise value and post-closing equity value, the benefits of the proposed transaction, integration plans, expected synergies and revenue opportunities, anticipated future financial and operating performance and results, including estimates for growth, the expected management and governance of the combined company, and the expected timing of the transactions. The words “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan” and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, assumptions (including assumptions about general economic, market, industry and operational factors), known or unknown, which could cause the actual results to vary materially from those indicated or anticipated.

    Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) risks related to the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the pending business combination, including the risk that the transaction may not close due to one or more closing conditions to the transaction not being satisfied or waived, such as regulatory approvals not being obtained, on a timely basis or otherwise, or that a governmental entity prohibited, delayed or refused to grant approval for the consummation of the transaction or required certain conditions, limitations or restrictions in connection with such approvals; (ii) risks related to the ability of AIMA and Docter to successfully integrate the businesses; (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the applicable transaction agreements; (iv) the risk that there may be a material adverse change with respect to the financial position, performance, operations or prospects of AIMA or Docter; (v) risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction; (vi) the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of AIMA’s securities; (vii) the risk that the proposed transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of Docter to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally; (viii): risks relating to the medical device industry, including but not limited to governmental regulatory and enforcement changes, market competitions, competitive product and pricing activity; and (ix) risks relating to the combined company’s ability to enhance its products and services, execute its business strategy, expand its customer base and maintain stable relationship with its business partners.

    A further list and description of risks and uncertainties can be found in the prospectus filed on April 26, 2022 relating to AIMA’s initial public offering, the annual report of AIMA on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2022, filed on April 17, 2023, and in the registration statement on Form F-4/proxy statement (File No. 333-284658) filed by Purchaser on January 31, 2025, as amended (the “F-4”) in connection with the proposed transactions, and other documents that the parties may file or furnish with the SEC, which you are encouraged to read. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date they were made, and Aimfinity, Docter, and their subsidiaries undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made except as required by law or applicable regulation.

    No Offer or Solicitation

    This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of any potential transaction and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of AIMA, Purchaser or Docter, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act.

    Participants in the Solicitation

    AIMA, Docter, and their respective directors, executive officers, other members of management, and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of AIMA’s shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of AIMA’s shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination is set forth in the F-4.

    Contact Information:

    Aimfinity Investment Corp. I
    I-Fa Chang
    Chief Executive Officer
    221 W 9th St, PMB 235
    Wilmington, Delaware 19801

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Death by firing squad set to resume in the US – but no matter the method, all means of execution come with a troubling history

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

    The firing squad chair in which Brad Sigmon will be strapped before three volunteers shoot him dead. South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP

    Barring any late developments, the U.S. is set to see its first execution by firing squad in 15 years on March 7, 2025.

    Photos released by the South Carolina Department of Corrections suggest that the prisoner, Brad Sigmon, will be strapped to a metal seat in the same small death chamber that has been the location of the state’s other executions by means of the electric chair and lethal injection. Sigmon, who was sentenced to death in 2002 for the brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat, chose death by firing squad over other forms of execution under a 2021 law that allows inmates that option.

    According to the state’s firing squad protocol, the condemned man will have a hood put over his head and a target placed on his heart. Three volunteers will then shoot him from a distance of 15 feet. They will stand behind a wall with a small opening.

    But this method of execution has raised concern over the safety of observers of the execution. Meanwhile, others object to the use of a firing squad as a relic of a brutal past not fitting for modern times.

    As someone who has studied execution methods in the U.S., I see the resumption of death by firing squad as part of a morbid search for “better” execution methods. It comes amid concern over botched lethal injection attempts and a scarcity of the drugs needed to carry out such executions.

    In 2020, the first Trump administration expanded how federal execution can be carried out to include ghoulish methods such as hanging, the electric chair, gas chamber and, indeed, the firing squad.

    But revisiting all methods reveals a checkered history. Each has, at one time or other, been touted as humane only to be sidelined because its use was found to be gruesome and offensive. Given that history, there are questions over whether the resumption of death by firing squad can serve any purpose other than continuing a death penalty system deemed to be a cruel outlier among modern societies.

    The noose and the chair

    Let’s start with hanging.

    Hanging was the execution method of choice throughout most of American history, and it was used in America’s last public execution in 1936, when Rainey Bethea was put to death in Owensboro, Kentucky. When done correctly, the noose killed by severing the spinal column, causing near instantaneous death.

    A large crowd watches as attendants adjust a black hood over Rainey Bethea in 1936.
    AP File Photo

    But, all too often, hanging resulted in a slow death by strangulation and sometimes even a beheading. Given this gruesome record and hanging’s association with the lynching of mainly Black men, by the end of the 19th century the search for other execution methods began in earnest.

    The first of those alternatives was the electric chair. At the time it was adopted, it was regarded as a truly modern instrument of death, a technological marvel in the business of state killing. Hailed by penal reformers as a humane alternative to hanging, the electric chair was first authorized in 1888 by New York state following the report of a commission that concluded: “The most potent agent known for the destruction of human life is electricity. … The velocity of the electric current is so great that the brain is paralyzed; it is indeed dead before the nerves can communicate a sense of shock.”

    Yet, right from the start, electrocution’s potency was a problem. Its first use in the 1890 execution of convicted murderer William Kemmler was horribly botched. Reports of the execution say that “after 2 minutes the execution chamber filled with the smell of burning flesh.” Newspapers called the execution a “historic bungle” and “disgusting, sickening and inhuman.”

    In spite of the Kemmler debacle, the electric chair quickly became popular, being seen as more efficient and less brutal than hanging. From the start of the 20th century until the 1980s, the number of death sentences carried out by this method far outstripped those of any other method.

    But electrocutions continued to go wrong, and eventually several dramatic botched executions in Florida helped turn the tide. Included were two executions – one in 1990, the other in 1997 – in which the condemned inmates caught fire.

    The gas chamber

    By the start of the 21st century, states all over the country were abandoning the electric chair. As Justice Carol W. Hunstein of the Supreme Court of Georgia explained, “Death by electrocution, with its specter of excruciating pain and its certainty of cooked brains and blistered bodies,” was no longer compatible with contemporary standards of decency.

    A gas chamber at San Quentin prison from 1959.
    AP Photo/Clarence Hamm

    One alternative to electrocution was the gas chamber, but it too has its own history of problems. First adopted in Nevada in 1922, executions using lethal gas were to take place while the condemned slept. Death row inmates were supposed to be housed in airtight, leak-proof prison cells, separate from other prisoners. On the day of the execution, valves would be opened that would fill the chamber with gas, killing the prisoner painlessly.

    This plan was soon abandoned because officials decided it would be impractical to implement it, and states constructed special gas chambers fitted with pipes, exhaust fans and glass windows on the front and back walls for witness viewing. But deaths by lethal gas were never pretty or easy to watch.

    Inmates regularly fought against breathing the gas as it entered the chamber. They convulsed, jerked, coughed, twisted and turned blue for several minutes before they died.

    Far from solving the problems associated with hangings or electrocutions, lethal gas introduced its own set of horrors to the institution of capital punishment. In fact, by the end of the 20th century, 5% of executions by lethal gas had been botched.

    As a result, states used gas as the sole method of execution only from 1924 to 1977, and it was last used in 1999. By then, the gas chamber had become a relic of the past because of its inability to deliver on its promise to be “swift and painless” and its association with the Nazi use of gas to kill millions during the Holocaust.

    Lethal injection

    Lethal injection was first considered by the state of New York in the late 1880s when it convened a blue ribbon commission to study alternatives to hanging. During deliberations, Dr. Julius Mount Bleyer invited the commission to envision a future in which a person condemned to death “could be executed on his bed in his cell with a 6-gram injection of sulfate of morphine.”

    But it wasn’t until 1977 that Oklahoma became the first state to introduce the method.

    Right from the start, administering lethal injections proved to be a complex procedure that was difficult to get right. In fact, during the first use of lethal injection by Texas in 1982, the team responsible repeatedly failed to insert an IV into a vein in the condemned man’s arm, splattering blood onto the sheet covering his body.

    Part of the problem is that medical ethics do not allow doctors to take part in choosing the drugs or administering them. In the place of doctors, prison officials are responsible for the lethal injection procedure. In addition, dosages of the drugs used are standardized rather than tailored to the needs of particular inmates as they would be in a medical procedure.

    Despite the effort to medicalize executions, the history of lethal injection has been anything but smooth, sterile and predictable. In fact, my research reveals that of the 1,054 executions carried out from 1982 to 2010 using the standard three-drug lethal injection protocol, more than 7% were botched.

    And as states, faced with a scarcity of the drugs needed, have experimented in finding new ingredients, my research shows that botched executions have occurred as much as 20% of the time.

    The firing squad

    Finally, the firing squad. Of all of America’s methods of execution, it has been least often used. From 1900 to 2010, only 35 of America’s 8,776 executions were carried out using this method, and since 1976 just three people have faced a firing squad, with the last one carried out in Utah in 2010.

    The execution chamber at Utah State Prison used in the United States’ last firing squad execution.
    AP Photo/Trent Nelson

    Critics point out that because death by guns evokes images of raw, frontier justice in a society awash in gun violence, this method mimicked something that the law wished to discourage. Nonetheless, Utah revived the firing squad in 2015 due to challenges to the state’s lethal injection protocol.

    While it has some contemporary proponents who claim it is the least cruel of all execution methods, the history of the firing squad is marked by gruesome mistakes when marksmen missed their target. In the 1951 execution of Eliseo Mares, for example, four executioners all shot into the wrong side of his chest, and he died slowly from blood loss.

    A cruel history, revived

    While authorities in South Carolina allow for death by firing squad, it cannot erase the cruelty that marks the method’s history – nor that of other means of execution.

    That history stands as a reminder of America’s failed quest to find a method of execution that is safe, reliable and humane.

    This article contains sections previous published in The Conversation articles from Dec. 4, 2020 and Nov. 30, 2022.

    Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Death by firing squad set to resume in the US – but no matter the method, all means of execution come with a troubling history – https://theconversation.com/death-by-firing-squad-set-to-resume-in-the-us-but-no-matter-the-method-all-means-of-execution-come-with-a-troubling-history-251579

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Stops Trump Administration from Defunding Vital Medical and Scientific Research

    Source: US State of New York

    EW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 21 other attorneys general today stopped the Trump administration from slashing vital medical and scientific research funding. Attorney General James and the coalition secured a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing the Trump administration – including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – from cutting billions of dollars in critical funding that supports cutting-edge medical and public health research at institutions across the country.

    “The president may want to play politics with public health, but we refuse to risk the resources Americans rely on,” said Attorney General James. “Without this lawsuit, New York could have lost $850 million in funding and researchers would have been forced to abandon vital research projects on cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We will always fight back against these harmful, illegal cuts that slow down life-saving medical research, hurt our economy, and take away jobs.”

    On February 7, NIH announced it would abruptly slash indirect cost rates for research grants to 15 percent across the board, significantly less than the cost required to conduct advanced medical research. The NIH also announced that cuts would go into effect the next business day – Monday, February 10 – giving universities and institutions no time to plan for the enormous budget gaps they would face.

    On February 10, Attorney General James and the coalition filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, HHS, and NIH challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut indirect cost reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country. Less than six hours after the attorneys general filed their lawsuit, the court issued a TRO against NIH, barring it from cutting billions in funding for biomedical and public health research. 

    Today’s order extends the protections of the TRO and bars the administration from cutting billions in funding for biomedical and public health research, ensuring this critical, life-saving research can continue nationwide.

    The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United States. Medical research funding by NIH grants has led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types, the first sequencing of DNA, and the development of the MRI. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work. Most NIH-funded research occurs outside of federal government institutions such as public and private universities and colleges.

    In New York, there is currently $5 billion in open NIH grants to institutions throughout the state. If the proposed funding cap was allowed to take effect, approximately 250 institutions in New York would be impacted, encompassing most universities and medical schools in the state. New York institutions stand to lose approximately $850 million from this policy. For example, the State University of New York (SUNY) system – including the University at Albany, Stony Brook, and the University at Buffalo – stands to lose $78 million through the full life of its current grants and would have to abandon groundbreaking research projects on cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease if the cap went forward.

    Joining Attorney General James on this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Join Us on 3/27 for a Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar: Climate-Induced Migration: Responses in the Pacific

    Source: US Global Legal Monitor

    Join us on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at 9 a.m. EDT for our next foreign, comparative, and international law webinar, “Climate-Induced Migration: Responses in the Pacific.”

    Pacific Island nations have sought to increase global awareness of the impacts of climate change in the region and have pushed for greater mitigation of emissions and financing mechanisms to assist countries in adapting to rising sea levels and ocean acidification and to enhance resilience to extreme weather events. They have also highlighted the issue of climate-induced mobility, including displacement, planned relocation, and migration, and the need for this to be considered in discussions and policies at the international level.

    Media stories have referred to low-lying islands in the Pacific as “sinking,” with the rising sea level being an “existential threat” to some countries and creating “climate refugees.” Commentators pose questions about what might happen, including under international law, if a country were to “disappear” – what happens concerning sovereignty, territorial rights, and the citizenship rights of the people? Where would the population move to and what support would be provided to do so? What status would they have in a different country or countries? How would cultures and languages be maintained?

    In our March foreign, comparative, and international law webinar, we will look at some of the responses to the climate-induced migration issue in the Pacific. In particular, in 2023, Pacific Island leaders endorsed the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility, which “recognizes the urgent need to strengthen understanding, coordination and cooperation on climate change-related human mobility; to establish adequate human rights-based response and support mechanisms for people at risk; and to adopt a pro-active and planned approach to address climate mobility and enhance Pacific resilience and well-being.” In addition, the webinar will highlight the November 2023 agreement between Australia and Tuvalu, known as the Falepili Union, which includes an undertaking from Australia to create a “special mobility pathway” for Tuvaluans, with a focus on “mobility with dignity.”

    Please register here.

    The webinar will be presented by Kelly Buchanan, the Law Library’s foreign law specialist for the Pacific region. Kelly holds an LL.B. (Hons) and bachelor of arts degrees from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

    Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: SSRG Completes Majority Acquisition of OHM Security Ltd

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Scarlet Security & Risk Group (SSRG) further advances its vision of adding value in more ways in more places, by its majority acquisition of award-winning Ontario-based systems integrator provider, OHM.

    SSRG has seen significant growth, both organically and through acquisition, over the last five years. This includes its recent purchases of Fusion Security in British Columbia and now OHM Security Ltd in Ontario. The expansion into the Ontario market is the first step of many more to be taken in the coming years.

    All OHM staff and management will join the SSRG team, working alongside SSRG’s executives and subject matter experts. OHM’s founder Maurice Daoust and partner Dan Daoust will continue as shareholders and in leadership roles heading up our Ontario systems integration business.

    Patrick Doyle, SSRG CEO commented, “This mutually beneficial deal creates a formidable partnership; building on and further expanding our integrator capabilities achieved during our Fusion acquisition in April of 2023”. Mr. Doyle went on to say, “Our approach of adding value and focusing on quality first, fits seamlessly with OHM as does our core values and culture”.

    Maurice Daoust of OHM commented “OHM’s longstanding commitment has been to deliver prompt, personalized, and satisfying service above all else, regardless of the circumstances. Our decision to maintain partial ownership and partner with SSRG will only strengthen our continued growth. SSRG’s management expertise and financial backing will empower OHM’s technical department to expand and take on larger projects while maintaining the high quality and service levels we’ve upheld for the past 32 years.”

    SSRG aims to be a major consolidator of the quality firms who bring an intimate understanding of their operating environments but may lack the scale to compete on much larger enterprises and national contracts. SSRG seeks to become the Canadian firm of choice for discerning owners seeking scale, succession, growth and the support and capacity of joining a larger team with a local approach.

    Final Image Inc. were exclusive advisors to the transaction. 

    About Scarlet Security & Risk Group:

    SSRG is one of Canada’s leading security solutions companies. We provide a variety of client-centric security, technology and risk management solutions to our partners and clients. Our diverse, highly qualified team members and relentless commitment to excellence provide superior results for our clients.

    OHM Security Ltd:

    OHM is an established Security Systems Integrator located within the GTA and has been servicing the greater Ontario since 1992. OHM employs a solid team of professionals with an average of 30 years’ experience.

    With a diversified portfolio of products and services, the company has successfully positioned itself as a stable and reliable systems integrator with an impressive list of long-term clients—an impeccable reputation for product quality, solutions, installation, and preventative maintenance programs within the industry.

    For additional information:

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ASUS Announces New “Design You Can Feel” Exhibition for Milan Design Week

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ASUS today announced that, following last year’s success at the London Design Festival, it is bringing an all-new Design You Can Feel exhibition to Milan Design Week 2025.

    Taking place in a historic 1920s gallery in the heart of Milan, the exhibition will build on the success of last year’s Design You Can Feel exhibition during the London Design Festival (LDF). Also titled Design You Can Feel, it will explore the themes of materiality, craftsmanship, and artificial intelligence (AI) to explain the design thinking behind ASUS products, including the latest ASUS Zenbook laptops. The exhibition will also feature an interactive installation by Studio INI.

    Exhibition to showcase design thinking behind ASUS products

    The installation will speak to the design thinking behind many ASUS products by combining sophisticated technology and engineering with material exploration and artistic expression. The exhibition will also showcase these products and the design stories behind them via playful interactive exhibits.

    A highlight of the event will be the ASUS Zenbook laptops – thin and light ultra-portable premium laptops that feature advanced AI tools and are clad in the proprietary ASUS material Ceraluminum™, which combines the lightness of metal with the resilience of ceramics.

    Zenbook’s design approach is grounded in the ideas of Inspired, Immersive, Intuitive, Quiet, and Secure – qualities that are not only seen but felt. This holistic approach to design, which prioritizes both functionality and the user’s emotional connection to the device, is at the heart of the Design You Can Feel exhibition.

    Additionally, the exhibition will showcase other ASUS models, including ProArt, Adol, Vivobook, and ROG ACRONYM laptops, with a hands-on area for visitors to experience them firsthand.

    ASUS Zenbook Ceraluminum™ Limited Edition: A Tribute to Nature

    The Milan exhibition will also debut four limited editions of the ASUS Zenbook laptop featuring special Ceraluminum chassis that draw from natural landscapes. The Ceraluminum Limited Edition collection is inspired by Earth’s most breathtaking landscapes, each representing the raw power and beauty that shape our world. From laptops to sleeves and packaging, each finish is a reminder of the ASUS commitment—not just to design, but to a philosophy—to create tools that are as enduring as the landscapes that inspire them.

    Ceraluminum is a high-tech ceramic that is an industry-first innovation. ASUS invested four years into finetuning the precise colors, texture, and hardness. No pigment is added throughout the entire process, the distinct colors and porosity are precisely controlled by electric current, voltage, and mineral formula. As a result, it offers unmatched scratch resistance and longevity, with a unique look that pays homage to the natural world that inspired its creation.

    Additionally, Ceraluminum is a more sustainable material that is less hazardous to the environment, substituting the acids traditionally employed for aluminum anodization for a new higher voltage method that uses pure water. The process eliminates organic compounds, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals from the wastewater, resulting in 100% recyclable material.

    To learn more about Ceraluminum, please see here:

    https://youtu.be/z1T3HgeX8qU?si=HAHkQM_ZD1try4CX

    https://youtu.be/9cypFEe7-Fg?si=wYXdEVcukQibJ3Nd

    Studio INI to create bespoke installation

    The themes of the exhibition will be encapsulated by a specially commissioned installation by Studio INI, an experimental design and research studio. The installation will combine design, technology, and engineering with artistic expression to create a kinetic, biomimetic sculpture that reacts to visitors’ presence.

    Key to the experience is the stimulation of the senses. Visitors will be invited to touch the installation, encountering the tactility of the ASUS Ceraluminum material. Sensors will track these interactions, with the data used to create AI-generated representations of visitors’ real-world behavior.

    Full details will be announced in the coming months.

    Design You Can Feel exhibition world tour

    The Milan exhibition is the third Design You Can Feel exhibition, following events in Shanghai and London that showcased material innovation, craftsmanship, and AI. The Milan exhibition will expand on the themes of the previous exhibition at the biggest and most influential design event in the world.

    The latest Design You Can Feel exhibition will run from April 8 – 13, 2025.

    It will be open to the public at Galleria Meravigli in Milan. For more information, please see https://www.asus.com/ca-en/content/zenbook/

    NOTES TO EDITORS

    More on ASUS at the Milan Design Week: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/content/zenbook/

    ASUS Zenbook: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-home/zenbook/

    ASUS ProArt: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/proart/

    ASUS Vivobook: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-home/vivobook/

    ASUS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asus/posts/

    ASUS Pressroom: http://press.asus.com

    ASUS Canada Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asuscanada/

    ASUS Canada Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asus_ca

    ASUS Canada YouTube: https://ca.asus.click/youtube

    ASUS Global X (Twitter): https://www.x.com/asus

    About ASUS

    ASUS is a global technology leader that provides the world’s most innovative and intuitive devices, components, and solutions to deliver incredible experiences that enhance the lives of people everywhere. With its team of 5,000 in-house R&D experts, the company is world-renowned for continuously reimagining today’s technologies. Consistently ranked as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, ASUS is also committed to sustaining an incredible future. The goal is to create a net zero enterprise that helps drive the shift towards a circular economy, with a responsible supply chain creating shared value for every one of us.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6f14c07d-b5f0-49c5-9827-edd06c1f4f30

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: SAIC Schedules Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call for March 17 at 10 A.M. ET

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    RESTON, Va., March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Science Applications International Corp. (NASDAQ: SAIC) is scheduled to issue its fourth quarter fiscal year 2025 results before market open on Monday, March 17, 2025. SAIC executive management will discuss operational and financial results in a conference call beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, following the issuance of the company’s earnings press release.

    The conference call will be webcast simultaneously to the public through a link on the Investors Relations section of the SAIC website. The company will only provide webcast access, “dial-in” access will not be available, and a supplemental presentation will be available to the public through links provided on the website.

    After the call concludes, an on-demand audio replay of the webcast can be accessed on the SAIC Investors Relations website.

    About SAIC
    SAIC is a premier Fortune 500® technology integrator focused on advancing the power of technology and innovation to serve and protect our world. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in mission IT, enterprise IT, engineering services and professional services. We integrate emerging technology, rapidly and securely, into mission critical operations that modernize and enable critical national imperatives.

    We are approximately 24,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.4 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Certain statements in this release contain or are based on “forward-looking” information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “guidance,” and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Legal Proceedings” sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at  saic.com or on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAIC’s expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others.

    Media Contact:

    Kara Ross

    703.362.6046 | kara.g.ross@saic.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Anger is a flow of emotion like water through a hose − at work, it helps to know when to turn it up or down and how to direct it

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Laura Rees, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Oregon State University

    Is the anger targeted or blasting everyone in the area? Witthaya Prasongsin/Moment via Getty Images

    Pretty much everyone will sometimes struggle with anger at work. People fear the wrath of abusive supervisors, suppress anger to maintain a façade of professionalism, or vent anger toward co-workers who are, fairly or not, targets. Reactions to anger in the workplace can be strong, but they’re not always effective.

    As scholars who also fall prey to the pitfalls of anger ourselves, we are fascinated by anger. We have studied the causes, underlying processes and consequences of anger from the perspectives of management, psychology, marketing and negotiations.

    We recently reviewed more than 400 research articles across psychology, business and related fields on topics ranging from brain activity to negotiation to race relations. Yet despite the ubiquity of anger in the workplace and the decades of anger research that exists across a number of fields, we found no straightforward way to understand the complexity of the life cycle of anger and how to manage it most effectively.

    As we dived more deeply into the research literature, though, we realized that simply reframing how we think about anger could provide a novel, flexible framework for how to deal with this emotion in daily life. Our suggestion: Think of anger as a flow of emotion, like water through a garden hose.

    By thinking of the flow of anger, you can unpack its key dimensions: its path and strength. Understanding whether the hose is pointed effectively and whether the strength of the stream is appropriate are critical for knowing when, how and why to focus or redirect the anger and amplify or weaken its intensity.

    When tempers flare, sometimes innocent bystanders take the heat.
    RapidEye/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    The direction of anger

    Imagine a co-worker charges into your office, yelling, breathing heavily, face reddened, veins bulging. Even if you are simply an unsuspecting colleague who happened to have your door open, your attention is undoubtedly now fixed on your co-worker.

    Are you the target of their anger for something you did, or merely an observer of their anger at someone else?

    If you are an undeserving target, do you try to reframe the issue so that the angry person will realize the anger is better directed elsewhere?

    If you are the observer, you also have a choice about whether to ignore your co-worker’s anger or help them redirect it to a more effective outlet. You might simply listen empathetically while they let off steam, perhaps pointing out the relative risks and benefits of their taking their complaints to the supervisor.

    You are deciding, in effect, what suggestions to make about the direction of this person’s anger.

    The key to effectively managing the direction of anger is to manage the attention of those in the room. Reshaping how angry people attribute blame, for example, can help people take another person’s perspective or understand the situation in a new way, directing the flow more productively.

    The intensity of anger

    When an angry co-worker approaches you as the target, do you ignore the signal or offer to work with the person so a similar situation doesn’t happen in the future? Both are ways to tamp down the intensity of the emotion coming at you.

    When you are angry, do you try to distract yourself from the anger, let it simmer, or embrace it? You are essentially deciding how you want to manage the intensity of your own angry feelings.

    It is important to recognize that managing the intensity of anger can go in both directions. Sometimes high-intensity anger should be turned down and sometimes subtle anger should be amplified.

    For example, consider an instance in which you feel anger at what you perceive to be an unfair change to a company policy. In this case, simply going for a walk outside to avoid expressing your frustration may result in the leadership not realizing that you and others on the team feel this way, leaving little opportunity to discuss and update the policy to more reasonable standards.

    Learning to self-regulate your thoughts and behaviors can help you manage the intensity of any anger you find yourself feeling. Rather than impulsively reacting, you can practice handling your emotions so you control whether you crank up your expressed anger or dial it down. Part of this process is thinking carefully about the cost-benefit trade-offs of expressing your anger. In these ways, you more effectively manage the strength of the flow without unnecessarily just turning it off.

    The decision whether or how to intervene depends on the specifics of the situation.
    FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images

    Controlling anger

    Knowing when, how and why to shape the direction and intensity of anger is no small feat. Some of this decision is rightly based on the situation. For example, is it safe to step in? Do you feel personally skilled at intervening?

    But it is within everyone’s power to learn how to manage their own and others’ anger more effectively.

    To do so, you need to understand your role and whether the flow is a one-time situation or a persistent problem. Understanding whether you’re holding the hose, standing in its path or observing from a distance is the first step to effectively managing the direction and intensity of the flow.

    Second is deciding whether and how to intervene: Can you reframe the initial trigger so that the faucet is never turned on, or turned on more or less powerfully? If anger is already too strong and you cannot or do not want to avoid it, can you help the angry person regulate the direction and intensity of their anger to overcome the issue in some way?

    You can get better at controlling the flow of anger in ways that can improve rather than harm relationships and outcomes. Research supports working on your emotional intelligence and building belief in your own capability to handle anger. Manage factors that tend to wrest control of the hose away from you, including becoming defensive, feeling shame or even suffering from a lack of sleep.

    Taking these steps and practicing controlling the hose’s path and intensity can help address problems in the short term and prevent anger from becoming a destructive pattern in the long term.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Anger is a flow of emotion like water through a hose − at work, it helps to know when to turn it up or down and how to direct it – https://theconversation.com/anger-is-a-flow-of-emotion-like-water-through-a-hose-at-work-it-helps-to-know-when-to-turn-it-up-or-down-and-how-to-direct-it-243670

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Muslim American nonprofits are taking steps to build trust with donors during Ramadan

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Shariq Siddiqui, Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University

    Nearly 70% of American Muslims report giving Zakat, the obligatory charity, during Ramadan. NickyLloyd/E+ via Getty Images

    As Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, an important aspect of their faith is their role as stewards of God on Earth. One way Muslims do this is through the practice of Zakat, an obligatory kind of charity that’s one of the five pillars of Islam.

    Zakat requires Muslims to give 2.5% of their wealth to eight prescribed categories: the poor; the needy; Zakat administrators; those whose hearts can be reconciled; to free the enslaved; to help those in debt; for travelers; and for the sake of God.

    Muslims, however, worry that they are responsible to God to ensure that their Zakat is used by institutions in ways that would do good, while adhering to the theological requirements of this religious practice. Yet, my research shows that Muslim American nonprofits are taking steps to build trust with donors.

    Zakat as a communal practice

    Muslims see themselves as custodians of whatever they possess as gifts from God.

    During their lifetime, they must use wealth responsibly and for good; upon their death, the Quran prescribes who can inherit their wealth.

    One important aspect of how Muslims are supposed to use their wealth is through charity. Zakat is an obligatory charitable practice in which donations are traditionally channeled through institutions.

    According to research my team conducted, nearly 70% of Muslims in the United States report giving Zakat during Ramadan. Ramadan is thus a critical time for nonprofits to solicit Zakat funds.

    Historically, Zakat was given through central Zakat collection agencies, or “bait-ul-maals.” For example, at the time of the Prophet Muhammad and early Islamic rulers, Zakat collection and distribution was carried out by the government.

    Today, Zakat collection and distribution varies from place to place. In six of the 47 Muslim-majority countries – Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen – Zakat is obligatory and collected by the state. In Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and Bangladesh, Zakat is regulated by the state, but contributions are voluntary.

    Most countries do not have a formal Zakat collection agency and rely upon local nonprofits or individuals for the collection and distribution of Zakat.

    Over time, due to distrust in Zakat collecting institutions and perceived corruption, the practice of Zakat has become more individual and less communal. The vast majority of Zakat across the globe is collected and distributed individually rather than through institutions. Scholars have argued that many fear that Zakat collecting institutions may not be using the funds ethically, impactfully and in accordance with Islamic requirements.

    For example, according to the Hanafi school of thought, a Zakat collection agency can spend up to 12.5% of donation money on administrative costs; other schools of thought argue that Zakat should be administered at no cost.

    Building trust through transparency

    It is important for many Muslims that their contributions are used in compliance with Islamic religious requirements.
    Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

    Nonprofits are taking steps to build trust. For example, Muslim American charities were among the first to embrace Charity Navigator as a way to evaluate their impact.

    Charity Navigator is a U.S.-based nonprofit that rates nonprofits. Many Muslim-led charities in the United States proudly display their “Four Star” Charity Navigator status.

    My team has found that Muslim Americans are more likely to donate to nonprofits that the Internal Revenue Service has granted 501(c)(3) status. This is true even if they don’t claim the charitable deduction on their taxes and therefore cannot get tax breaks for their donations.

    More recently, in my conversations with leading Muslim-led nonprofits, I learned that they are seeking to respond to Muslim concerns about how these nonprofits use Zakat funds. It is important for them that funds are used in compliance with Islamic religious requirements.

    For example, they are looking at how nonprofits interpret what it means to be “needy,” “the poor,” “the enslaved” or “for the sake of God” in the contemporary context.

    Many nonprofits are adopting Zakat policies that explain how they define these terms and how much of their budget covers their administrative costs. These include international organizations that are not led by Muslims, like the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, Save the Children, and the anti-poverty group Oxfam.

    A case study

    The Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at Indiana University, which I lead, convened a group of scholars in November 2024 to discuss challenges of collecting and distributing Zakat in the U.S. This discussion resulted in a report that sums up these conversations and examines the Zakat policy of the largest U.S. Muslim-led nonprofit: Islamic Relief USA.

    Islamic Relief USA’s Zakat policy limits its administrative costs to 12%; it permits funding for both immediate and long-term projects and allows Zakat to be distributed not just as cash payments but also as goods and services. It does not discriminate on the basis of religion.

    While not all scholars at the convening agreed with every aspect of the Islamic Relief USA Zakat policy, they accepted that diversity in Islamic thought permitted various approaches to Zakat. They also concurred that Islamic Relief USA’s process was likely the best framework for how nonprofits should approach the development of Zakat policies.

    Ultimately, there was consensus that nonprofits seeking Zakat should have Zakat policies; should make them available on their websites; should state the process through which it was developed; and name the scholars and other experts who took part in the process.

    Since a majority of American Muslims prefer to donate their Zakat during Ramadan, perhaps this might be the time when nonprofits can build trust through adopting more transparent Zakat policies.

    This article discusses a meeting funded by the the Islamic.. However, Islamic Relief USA is not consulted on any of our scholarly or public facing publications resulting from that convening.

    – ref. Why Muslim American nonprofits are taking steps to build trust with donors during Ramadan – https://theconversation.com/why-muslim-american-nonprofits-are-taking-steps-to-build-trust-with-donors-during-ramadan-251319

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Philly’s street fentanyl contains an industrial chemical called BTMPS that’s an ingredient in plastic

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Karli Hochstatter, Research Scientist in Epidemiology and Health Services, Columbia University

    Adulterants such as xylazine, medetomidine and now BTMPS are common in Philly’s street fentanyl. Juan Pablo Pino/AFP via Getty Images

    As much as half of the fentanyl sold on Philly’s streets contains an industrial chemical used in plastics manufacturing. That’s according to our November 2024 testing of fentanyl samples collected in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, regarded as the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast.

    What’s more, the amount, or concentration, of this industrial chemical in the drug samples often exceeded the amount of fentanyl.

    We are an epidemiologist and anthropologist whose research focuses on substance use disorders and the opioid overdose epidemic. Our team’s findings were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association in February 2025.

    The industrial chemical we found is called BTMPS, which is the common abbreviation for bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate. BTMPS belongs to a class of molecules called hindered amine light stabilizers that manufacturers frequently add to plastics and other polymers to protect against degradation from heat and sunlight.

    Since March 2024, our team has tested 228 street fentanyl samples collected in Kensington. Of these, 39 – or 17% – contained BTMPS.

    We first detected BTMPS in Philadelphia in June 2024. We found it in two of the eight samples – 25% – that we collected that month. By November 2024, 12 of 22 samples – or 55% – contained BTMPS.

    Why BTMPS is being added to the street opioid supply, and at what stage in production or distribution it is being added, remains unknown.

    Researchers suspect that it may be added to stabilize a fentanyl precursor chemical that is susceptible to degradation from heat and oxygen.

    Given its low cost, BTMPS may also be added to dilute other psychoactive substances or more expensive ingredients or both.

    Kensington Avenue in North Philadelphia is considered the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis.
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images

    How toxic is BTMPS?

    Among the 39 samples that contained BTMPS in Philadelphia, the average amount of BTMPS was nearly double that of fentanyl. On average, BTMPS made up 4% of the sample, while fentanyl made up 2.3% of the sample. In one sample tested, BTMPS made up 18% of the sample.

    BTMPS has not been approved for human consumption or been studied in humans.

    However, it has been shown in rat studies to reduce nicotine use and attenuate withdrawal symptoms associated with morphine and cocaine.

    The rat studies revealed several adverse health effects from exposure to BTMPS. They include heart defects, serious eye damage and death.

    These findings raise concerns about the increasing exposure of BTMPS to humans through street drugs. The concentrations up to 18% found in the Philly samples are many orders of magnitude higher than the estimated concentration of 0.1% to 0.5% that people are exposed to through plastic products.

    Some of the street fentanyl samples from Philadelphia contained more BTMPS than fentanyl.
    Joe Lamberti for The Washington Post via Getty Images

    BTMPS appearing in fentanyl across the US

    Our colleagues who are testing street opioid samples in other regions also detected BTMPS in fentanyl samples or paraphernalia residue in Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Washington and California. In Los Angeles, BTMPS was first detected in July 2024 – by September, 56% of samples there contained it.

    The sudden and almost simultaneous appearance of a new adulterant in U.S. street opioids from the East Coast to the West Coast is rare. For example, fentanyl, xylazine and medetomidine became prevalent in the U.S. opioid supply in different regions at different times.

    The recent emergence of BTMPS in street opioid markets nationwide suggests that it may be entering the supply at an early stage in production or wholesale distribution.

    Historically, Philadelphia’s street opioid supply has had strong ties to Puerto Rico. These ties influenced Philly’s early incorporation of the veterinary sedative xylazine into the street drug supply. Since 2021, xylazine has been present in virtually all of Philly’s street fentanyl.

    Given these associations, we are also testing the street opioid supply in Puerto Rico to examine potential similarities and relationships with Philadelphia’s supply. To date, we have detected BTMPS in two out of 49 – or 4% – of street opioid samples in Puerto Rico. We first detected it in a sample in September 2024 and again in December 2024.

    What’s next

    We continue to monitor BTMPS trends in Philadelphia’s street fentanyl. We are also examining whether concentrations of fentanyl and other key compounds such as xylazine in Philly’s street fentanyl have changed as new adulterants such as BTMPS and medetomidine become more widespread – and whether these changes play a role in the declining overdose death rate in Pennsylvania and other parts of the U.S.

    We are also developing plans to study the immediate and long-term effects that BTMPS exposure has on people using drugs.

    Karli Hochstatter receives funding from the NIH.

    Fernando Montero receives funding from the NIH, the Social Intervention Group at Columbia University, and the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at New York University.

    – ref. Philly’s street fentanyl contains an industrial chemical called BTMPS that’s an ingredient in plastic – https://theconversation.com/phillys-street-fentanyl-contains-an-industrial-chemical-called-btmps-thats-an-ingredient-in-plastic-249990

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: As tuberculosis cases rise in the US and worldwide, health officials puzzle over the resurgence of a disease once in decline

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Karen Dobos, Professor of Microbiology, Colorado State University

    A microscopic view of _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. koto_feja/E+ via Getty Images

    An outbreak of tuberculosis, or TB – a lung disease that is often accompanied by a hacking cough – began in January 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas, and two nearby counties and continues as of early March 2025. To date, 147 people have been reportedly diagnosed with TB in the outbreak, with 67 becoming ill. The remaining 80 people diagnosed with TB in Kansas contracted the illness but showed no symptoms, which is called a latent infection.

    TB is the leading infectious cause of death around the world, outpaced only by COVID-19 during the first three years of the pandemic.

    The Conversation asked microbiologists Karen Dobos and Marcela Henao-Tamayo, both from Colorado State University, to explain why this ancient disease seems to be making a comeback.

    What’s the history of TB?

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the organism that causes the disease tuberculosis in humans. The disease has been infecting humans for thousands of years. Researchers found evidence of the disease 9,000 years ago in the excavated remains of people who lived in the Eastern Mediterranean region during that time.

    Reports of TB date back to around 410-400 B.C.E., when the physician Hippocrates termed the disease phthisis, an archaic word that means a progressive “wasting away,” due to the way people with the disease become emaciated.

    TB was also known as consumption for the same reason. Similarly, it was called the white plague or white death – due to anemia from the disease, with people appearing pallid or chalky – leading to near-certain death. Untreated active TB, meaning cases that are symptomatic, is highly lethal.

    About half of all people with untreated active TB die from the disease, whereas treatment reduces the death rate to 12%.

    One of the more colorful phrases describing TB is “the king’s evil.” This is a form of TB that also causes neck swelling and lesions, a condition called scrofula. During the Middle Ages, people believed that the touch of a king could cure a person from this form of TB through miraculous intervention.

    TB infections, which are typically found in the lungs, have risen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

    Finally, TB was most ominously called the “robber of youth” due to its historical propensity to afflict people 15 to 30 years old.

    In 1865, Jean Antoine Villemin, an army physician in Paris, demonstrated that TB could be transmitted from infected animals to healthy ones through inoculation. Before these studies, the cause of TB was presumed to be primarily constitutional, by either an inherent predisposition or from unhealthy or immoral lifestyles.

    The microorganism causing TB was ultimately discovered in 1882 by the German physician Robert Koch. Koch announced his findings on March 24, 1882, a day globally recognized as World TB Day.

    How does TB spread?

    Tuberculosis is spread by small infectious droplets in the air. A TB patient may emit these droplets by coughing, singing and potentially from regular breathing that occurs during sleep or resting.

    One form of TB can be spread through unpasteurized dairy products. While rare, there have been reports of TB transmission through bone graphs, in which healthy, donated bone material is used to replace damaged bones.

    Close-up view of an infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
    Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

    The origin of the TB outbreak in Kansas remains unknown as of early March 2025. The outbreak has disproportionately affected those in low-income communities, and two people have died from it.

    Importantly, a patient with untreated TB can infect 10 to 15 others.

    Could the COVID-19 pandemic be a factor?

    The COVID-19 pandemic has played a pivotal role in the resurgence of TB. Cases increased globally by 4.6% from 2020 to 2023, reversing decades of steady declines in the disease. In the U.S. alone, TB cases rose by more than 15% from 2022 to 2023.

    During mandatory shutdowns, people were less able to access health care centers for early diagnosis of TB or to fill prescriptions for treatment, perhaps due to the fear of contracting COVID-19 while visiting a medical care facility. COVID-19-related disruptions in care resulted in nearly 700,000 excess deaths from TB.

    Access to health care may not be the only factor behind this uptick. Medical supply shortages and delays in shipment may have also played a role. For example, the U.S. experienced shortages of one of the primary TB drugs between 2021 and 2023.

    As illustrated by this 1963 photo, TB is often detected by an X-ray of the chest.
    Smith Collection/Gado/Archive Photos via Getty Images

    What are the main treatments?

    Multidrug treatment is currently the only way to cure TB and stop its spread.

    Prior to the late 1930s, when the first antibiotic for TB treatment was developed, TB treatments included bloodletting and consumption of cod liver oil. The most popular treatment involved isolated sanatoriums in high-altitude areas such as the Adirondacks and the Rocky Mountains, where the cold, dry air was believed to be a cure. Scholars at the time suggested that the potential for cure was due to these environments being more invigorating for the body and providing more restful sleep. There is no evidence to support these beliefs.

    Streptomycin was the first antibiotic treatment to become available for TB, in the 1940s. However, the microorganism quickly became drug resistant. A second antibiotic, called isoniazid, was developed as a first-line treatment against TB in the 1950s. Again, the microorganism became drug resistant.

    Two- and four-drug combinations are now used to treat both latent infections and active disease. Treatment of active TB requires at least six months of uninterrupted therapy. Disruptions in treatment result in further spread of TB and the emergence of multidrug resistant TB, which requires additional drugs and more than nine months of treatment.

    All TB drugs are toxic; the quality of life for TB patients deteriorates during treatment and remains so throughout their lives. Finding cases and treating TB illness early, before symptoms begin, is important because it not only reduces the spread of disease but also greatly reduces drug toxicity.

    What should people be aware of?

    People should be aware that TB is still a public health problem across the globe. Education on the transmission, treatment and need for active work to eradicate TB is the best defense.

    One of the reasons why education and awareness about TB are so important is that a person with latent TB may be unknowingly harboring the microorganism for years. In the absence of symptoms, these people are unlikely to seek care and will not be diagnosed and treated unless identified as part of an outbreak, as was the case for more than half of the patients in Kansas.

    Karen Dobos receives funding from NIAID, NIH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Marcela Henao-Tamayo receives funding from NIAID, NIH and OEDIT.

    – ref. As tuberculosis cases rise in the US and worldwide, health officials puzzle over the resurgence of a disease once in decline – https://theconversation.com/as-tuberculosis-cases-rise-in-the-us-and-worldwide-health-officials-puzzle-over-the-resurgence-of-a-disease-once-in-decline-249450

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What’s that microplastic? Advances in machine learning are making identifying plastics in the environment more reliable

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ambuj Tewari, Professor of Statistics, University of Michigan

    Microplastics are tiny bits of plastic that show up in the environment. Svetlozar Hristov/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Microplastics – the tiny particles of plastic shed when litter breaks down – are everywhere, from the deep sea to Mount Everest, and many researchers worry that they could harm human health.

    I am a machine learning researcher. With a team of scientists, I have developed a tool to make identification of microplastics using their unique chemical fingerprint more reliable. We hope that this work will help us learn about the types of microplastics floating through the air in our study area, Michigan.

    Microplastics – a global problem

    The term plastic refers to a wide variety of artificially created polymers. Polyethylene, or PET, is used for making bottles; polypropylene, or PP, is used in food containers; and polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is used in pipes and tubes.

    Microplastics are small plastic particles that range in size from 1 micrometer to 5 millimeters. The width of a human hair, for comparison, ranges from 20 to 200 micrometers.

    Most scientific studies focus on microplastics in water. However, microplastics are also found in the air. Scientists know much less about microplastics in the atmosphere.

    When scientists collect samples from the environment to study microplastics, they usually want to know more about the chemical identities of the microplastic particles found in the samples.

    Plastic bottles are often made of polyethylene, while food containers usually containe polypropylene.
    Anton Petrus/Moment via Getty Images

    Fingerprinting microplastics

    Just as fingerprinting uniquely identifies a person, scientists use spectroscopy to determine the chemical identity of microplastics. In spectroscopy, a substance either absorbs or scatters light, depending on how its molecules vibrate. The absorbed or scattered light creates a unique pattern called the spectrum, which is effectively the substance’s fingerprint.

    Spectroscopy can match a substance with its unique fingerprint.
    VectorMine/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Just like a forensic analyst can match an unknown fingerprint against a fingerprint database to identify the person, researchers can match the spectrum of an unknown microplastic particle against a database of known spectra.

    However, forensic analysts can get false matches in fingerprint matching. Similarly, spectral matching against a database isn’t foolproof. Many plastic polymers have similar structures, so two different polymers can have similar spectra. This overlap can lead to ambiguity in the identification process.

    So, an identification method for polymers should provide a measure of uncertainty in its output. That way, the user can know how much to trust the polymer fingerprint match. Unfortunately, current methods don’t usually provide an uncertainty measure.

    Data from microplastic analyses can inform health recommendations and policy decisions, so it’s important for the people making those calls to know how reliable the analysis is.

    Conformal prediction

    Machine learning is one tool researchers have started using for microplastic identification.

    First, researchers collect a large dataset of spectra whose identities are known. Then, they use this dataset to train a machine learning algorithm that learns to predict a substance’s chemical identity from its spectrum.

    Sophisticated algorithms whose inner workings can be opaque make these predictions, so the lack of an uncertainty measure becomes an even greater problem when machine learning is involved.

    Our recent work addresses this issue by creating a tool with an uncertainty quantification for microplastic identification. We use a machine learning technique called conformal prediction.

    Conformal prediction is like a wrapper around an existing, already trained machine learning algorithm that adds an uncertainty quantification. It does not require the user of the machine learning algorithm to have any detailed knowledge of the algorithm or its training data. The user just needs to be able to run the prediction algorithm on a new set of spectra.

    To set up conformal prediction, researchers collect a calibration set containing spectra and their true identities. The calibration set is often much smaller than the training data required for training machine learning algorithms. Usually just a few hundred spectra are enough for calibration.

    Then, conformal prediction analyzes the discrepancies between the predictions and correct answers in the calibration set. Using this analysis, it adds other plausible identities to the algorithm’s single output on a particular particle’s spectrum. Instead of outputting one, possibly incorrect, prediction like “this particle is polyethylene,” it now outputs a set of predictions – for example, “this particle could be polyethylene or polypropylene.”

    The prediction sets contain the true identity with a level of confidence that users can set themselves – say, 90%. Users can then rerun the conformal prediction with a higher confidence – say, 95%. But the higher the confidence level, the more polymer predictions given by the model in the output.

    It might seem that a method that outputs a set rather than a single identity isn’t as useful. But the size of the set serves as a way to assess uncertainty – a small set indicates less uncertainty.

    On the other hand, if the algorithm predicts that the sample could be many different polymers, there’s substantial uncertainty. In this case, you could bring in a human expert to examine the polymer closely.

    Testing the tool

    To run our conformal prediction, my team used libraries of microplastic spectra from the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto as the calibration set.

    Once calibrated, we collected samples from a parking lot in Brighton, Michigan, obtained their spectra, and ran them through the algorithm. We also asked an expert to manually label the spectra with the correct polymer identities. We found that conformal prediction did produce sets that included the label the human expert gave it.

    Some spectra, such as polyethylene on the left and polypropylene on the right, look very similar and can easily be confused. That’s why having an uncertainty measure can be helpful.
    Ambuj Tewari

    Microplastics are an emerging concern worldwide. Some places such as California have begun to gather evidence for future legislation to help curb microplastic pollution.

    Evidence-based science can help researchers and policymakers fully understand the extent of microplastic pollution and the threats it poses to human welfare. Building and openly sharing machine learning-based tools is one way to help make that happen.

    Ambuj Tewari receives funding from NSF and NIH. The microplastics project is funded by the “Meet the Moment” initiative of the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. This initiative focuses on impactful research on pressing societal issues.

    – ref. What’s that microplastic? Advances in machine learning are making identifying plastics in the environment more reliable – https://theconversation.com/whats-that-microplastic-advances-in-machine-learning-are-making-identifying-plastics-in-the-environment-more-reliable-249075

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Allison Stanger, Distinguished Endowed Professor, Middlebury

    Elon Musk has simultaneous control of DOGE and his AI company xAI. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

    The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases, including those of the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration. This access has sparked fears about cybersecurity vulnerabilities and privacy violations. Another concern has received far less attention: the potential use of the data to train a private company’s artificial intelligence systems.

    The White House press secretary said government data that DOGE has collected isn’t being used to train Musk’s AI models, despite Elon Musk’s control over DOGE. However, evidence has emerged that DOGE personnel simultaneously hold positions with at least one of Musk’s companies.

    At the Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX employees have government email addresses. This dual employment creates a conduit for federal data to potentially be siphoned to Musk-owned enterprises, including xAI. The company’s latest Grok AI chatbot model conspicuously refuses to give a clear denial about using such data.

    As a political scientist and technologist who is intimately acquainted with public sources of government data, I believe this potential transmission of government data to private companies presents far greater privacy and power implications than most reporting identifies. A private entity with the capacity to develop artificial intelligence technologies could use government data to leapfrog its competitors and wield massive influence over society.

    Value of government data for AI

    For AI developers, government databases represent something akin to finding the Holy Grail. While companies such as OpenAI, Google and xAI currently rely on information scraped from the public internet, nonpublic government repositories offer something much more valuable: verified records of actual human behavior across entire populations.

    This isn’t merely more data – it’s fundamentally different data. Social media posts and web browsing histories show curated or intended behaviors, but government databases capture real decisions and their consequences. For example, Medicare records reveal health care choices and outcomes. IRS and Treasury data reveal financial decisions and long-term impacts. And federal employment and education statistics reveal education paths and career trajectories.

    What makes this data particularly valuable for AI training is its longitudinal nature and reliability. Unlike the disordered information available online, government records follow standardized protocols, undergo regular audits and must meet legal requirements for accuracy. Every Social Security payment, Medicare claim and federal grant creates a verified data point about real-world behavior. This data exists nowhere else with such breadth and authenticity in the U.S.

    Most critically, government databases track entire populations over time, not just digitally active users. They include people who never use social media, don’t shop online, or actively avoid digital services. For an AI company, this would mean training systems on the actual diversity of human experience rather than just the digital reflections people cast online.

    A security guard prevented U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., from entering an EPA building on Feb. 6, 2025, to see DOGE staff working there.
    Al Drago/Getty Images

    The technical advantage

    Current AI systems face fundamental limitations that no amount of data scraped from the internet can overcome. When ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini make mistakes, it’s often because they’ve been trained on information that might be popular but isn’t necessarily true. They can tell you what people say about a policy’s effects, but they can’t track those effects across populations and years.

    Government data could change this equation. Imagine training an AI system not just on opinions about health care but on actual treatment outcomes across millions of patients. Consider the difference between learning from social media discussions about economic policies and analyzing their real impacts across different communities and demographics over decades.

    A large, state-of-the-art, or frontier, model trained on comprehensive government data could understand the actual relationships between policies and outcomes. It could track unintended consequences across different population segments, model complex societal systems with real-world validation and predict the impacts of proposed changes based on historical evidence. For companies seeking to build next-generation AI systems, access to this data would create an almost insurmountable advantage.

    Control of critical systems

    A company like xAI could do far more with models trained on government data than building better chatbots or content generators. Such systems could fundamentally transform – and potentially control – how people understand and manage complex societal systems. While some of these capabilities could be beneficial under the control of accountable public agencies, I believe they pose a threat in the hands of a single private company.

    Medicare and Medicaid databases contain records of treatments, outcomes and costs across diverse populations over decades. A frontier model trained on new government data could identify treatment patterns that succeed where others fail, and so dominate the health care industry. Such a model could understand how different interventions affect various populations over time, accounting for factors such as geographic location, socioeconomic status and concurrent conditions.

    A company wielding the model could influence health care policy by demonstrating superior predictive capabilities and market population-level insights to pharmaceutical companies and insurers.

    Treasury data represents perhaps the most valuable prize. Government financial databases contain granular details about how money flows through the economy. This includes real-time transaction data across federal payment systems, complete records of tax payments and refunds, detailed patterns of benefit distributions, and government contractor payments with performance metrics.

    An AI company with access to this data could develop extraordinary capabilities for economic forecasting and market prediction. It could model the cascading effects of regulatory changes, predict economic vulnerabilities before they become crises, and optimize investment strategies with precision impossible through traditional methods.

    Elon Musk’s xAI company is well financed.

    Infrastructure and urban systems

    Government databases contain information about critical infrastructure usage patterns, maintenance histories, emergency response times and development impacts. Every federal grant, infrastructure inspection and emergency response creates a data point that could help train AI to better understand how cities and regions function.

    The power lies in the potential interconnectedness of this data. An AI system trained on government infrastructure records would understand how transportation patterns affect energy use, how housing policies affect emergency response times, and how infrastructure investments influence economic development across regions.

    A private company with exclusive access would gain unique insight into the physical and economic arteries of American society. This could allow the company to develop “smart city” systems that city governments would become dependent on, effectively privatizing aspects of urban governance. When combined with real-time data from private sources, the predictive capabilities would far exceed what any current system can achieve.

    Absolute data corrupts absolutely

    A company such as xAI, with Musk’s resources and preferential access through DOGE, could surmount technical and political obstacles far more easily than competitors. Recent advances in machine learning have also reduced the burdens of preparing data for the algorithms to process, making government data a veritable gold mine – one that rightfully belongs to the American people.

    The threat of a private company accessing government data transcends individual privacy concerns. Even with personal identifiers removed, an AI system that analyzes patterns across millions of government records could enable surprising capabilities for making predictions and influencing behavior at the population level. The threat is AI systems that leverage government data to influence society, including electoral outcomes.

    Since information is power, concentrating unprecedented data in the hands of a private entity with an explicit political agenda represents a profound challenge to the republic. I believe that the question is whether the American people can stand up to the potentially democracy-shattering corruption such a concentration would enable. If not, Americans should prepare to become digital subjects rather than human citizens.

    Allison Stanger receives funding from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University.

    – ref. DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power – https://theconversation.com/doge-threat-how-government-data-would-give-an-ai-company-extraordinary-power-250907

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kayla Schwoerer, Assistant Professor of Public Administration & Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York

    18F was a group of technology hotshots within the GSA. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

    Healthcare.gov, the government health insurance marketplace website, launched in October 2013 only to buckle under the weight of just 2,000 simultaneous users. As millions of Americans stared at error messages and frozen screens, a political crisis unfolded, but so did a new era of government technology.

    The result was 18F, an in-house digital services consulting agency that brought Silicon Valley expertise to government, challenging decades of outdated procurement practices and introducing a radical new approach to building digital public services.

    Founded on March 19, 2014, by Presidential Innovation Fellows, 18F was housed within the Technology Transformation Services department of the General Services Administration, or GSA. The name 18F was derived from the address of GSA headquarters: 1800 F Street. On March 1, 2025, just a few weeks shy of 18F’s 11th anniversary, the Trump administration eliminated the agency and laid off its staff.

    As a researcher who studies public administration and technology, I have observed the transformational role 18F played in government digital services. The unit’s elimination raises the question of what the future of those services will look like.

    Impact of 18F

    18F served a unique role as an in-house digital consultancy for the U.S. government, drawing on innovative strategies to improve public service through technology. Within 18F, teams consisting of designers, software engineers, strategists and product managers worked together with federal, state and local agencies to not only fix technical problems but to build, buy and share technology that helped to modernize and improve the public’s experience with government services.

    Over nearly 11 years, 18F built an impressive portfolio of successful digital projects that transformed how people interact with the U.S. government. Even if the average person is unfamiliar with 18F, the odds are quite high that they have at least encountered one of its many products or services.

    18F staff describe the group’s mission and work.

    For example, 18F supported the Internal Revenue Service in creating IRS Direct File, a free online tax filing tool that provides taxpayers with a simplified filing process. As of today, IRS Direct File is available in 25 states and is expected to serve 30 million eligible taxpayers during the 2025 tax filing season.

    18F has been pivotal in modernizing and securing digital systems to help create more streamlined and secure user experiences for the public. For instance, Login.gov is a secure single sign-on platform that simplifies access to multiple government services for users.

    Perhaps the most notable of 18F’s modernization efforts that touches nearly every aspect of government today is the U.S. Web Design System. The comprehensive design system was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Digital Service in 2015. It helps support dozens of agencies and makes nearly 200 websites more accessible and responsive to user needs.

    How 18F worked

    What set 18F apart was its approach. Rather than spending years on giant information technology contracts that often failed to deliver, 18F championed agile development. Agile and lean methodologies have been popular in Silicon Valley startups and software companies for decades due to their flexibility and focus on rapid iteration.

    By applying agile development principles, 18F focused on breaking down large projects into manageable pieces with incremental improvements based on frequent user feedback. This approach allowed continuous adaptation spurred by user feedback and changing requirements while reducing risk.

    Another cornerstone of 18F’s innovative approach was its focus on user-centered design. By focusing on the needs of the people who actually used government services, 18F was able to go beyond merely satisfying technical requirements to design digital products that were more accessible and user-friendly. The idea was to understand the end users and the problems they encountered in order to effectively design products and solutions that addressed their needs. It also aimed to provide a consistent user experience and earn the users’ trust in the services.

    By prioritizing open-source development and collaboration, 18F also helped to make government IT more affordable. Making project code transparent meant that agencies could reuse the code and reduce the cost of duplicate development efforts across agencies and levels of government.

    18F also had a hand in helping agencies develop their own technology capacity, whether by teaching them how to build software using open-source development and agile methodologies or by teaching agencies how to hire and oversee technology vendors themselves. This model was especially beneficial for state and local agencies following 18F’s expansion in 2016 to provide services to state and local government agencies that receive federal funding.

    End of an era

    The elimination of 18F marks the end of an era, raising concerns about both current and future technology projects. As of now, there does not appear to be a succession plan, leaving many federal agencies without ongoing support for their digital transformation efforts. Critics also argue that the loss of 18F means the loss of significant technical expertise within the government.

    These changes come at a time when agencies are experiencing substantial personnel shifts, rendering digital services potentially even more critical. As agencies brace for more personnel cuts, the public may need to rely more on digital services to fill the gap amid growing staffing shortages.

    Since the news was announced, current and former 18F team members as well as advocates of the unit have taken to social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, and LinkedIn, to share stories of its successes, honor its legacy and share 18F resources.

    Kayla Schwoerer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters – https://theconversation.com/how-18f-transformed-government-technology-and-why-its-elimination-matters-251333

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Department of State Press Briefing – March 6, 2025 – 2:00 PM

    Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)

    Spokesperson Tammy Bruce leads the Department Press Briefing, at the Department of State, on March 6, 2025.
    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

    The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at www.state.gov and on social media!
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/statedept
    X: https://x.com/StateDept
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    Subscribe to the State Department Blog: https://www.state.gov/blogs
    Watch on-demand State Department videos: https://video.state.gov/
    Subscribe to The Week at State e-newsletter: http://ow.ly/diiN30ro7Cw

    State Department website: https://www.state.gov/
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    Terms of Use: https://state.gov/tou

    #StateDepartment #DepartmentofState #Diplomacy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WhIa1seDdo

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: President Trump Announces Presidential Delegation to Turin, Italy to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    President Donald J. Trump today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Turin, Italy to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics World Winter Games, on March 7, 2025.
    Mrs. Usha Vance, Second Lady of the United States, will lead the delegation.
    Members of the Presidential Delegation:
    Mr. Shawn Crowley, Chargé d’Affaires a.i., U.S. Embassy to Italy and San Marino
    T.H. Trent Michael Morse, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel 
    Mr. Riley M. Barnes, Senior Bureau Official of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State 
    Mr. Douglass Benning, Consul General, U.S. Consulate Milan, Italy 
    Mrs. Rachel Campos-Duffy, FOX News Host and wife of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation
    Mr. Boris Epshteyn, Senior Counsel and Senior Advisor to President Donald J. Trump
    Mr. Richard Walters, Partner at FGS Global

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, January 2025

    Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis

    The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $131.4 billion in January, up $33.3 billion from $98.1 billion in December, revised.

    U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Deficit
    Deficit: $131.4 Billion  +34.0%°
    Exports: $269.8 Billion  +1.2%°
    Imports: $401.2 Billion  +10.0%°

    Next release: Thursday, April 3, 2025

    (°) Statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable. Data adjusted for seasonality but not price changes

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, March 6, 2025

    Exports, Imports, and Balance (exhibit 1)

    January exports were $269.8 billion, $3.3 billion more than December exports. January imports were $401.2 billion, $36.6 billion more than December imports.

    The January increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $33.5 billion to $156.8 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.2 billion to $25.4 billion.

    Year-over-year, the goods and services deficit increased $64.5 billion, or 96.5 percent, from January 2024. Exports increased $10.6 billion or 4.1 percent. Imports increased $75.2 billion or 23.1 percent.

    Three-Month Moving Averages (exhibit 2)

    The average goods and services deficit increased $19.2 billion to $102.6 billion for the three months ending in January.

    • Average exports increased $1.2 billion to $270.0 billion in January.
    • Average imports increased $20.4 billion to $372.5 billion in January.

    Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $37.1 billion from the three months ending in January 2024.

    • Average exports increased $11.4 billion from January 2024.
    • Average imports increased $48.5 billion from January 2024.

    Exports (exhibits 3, 6, and 7)

    Exports of goods increased $2.7 billion to $172.8 billion in January.

      Exports of goods on a Census basis increased $2.8 billion.

    • Capital goods increased $4.2 billion.
      • Civilian aircraft increased $1.1 billion.
      • Semiconductors increased $0.7 billion.
      • Computers increased $0.5 billion.
      • Civilian aircraft engines increased $0.5 billion.
    • Consumer goods increased $1.7 billion.
      • Pharmaceutical preparations increased $0.8 billion.
      • Jewelry increased $0.6 billion.
    • Other goods decreased $1.3 billion. (See the “Notice” for more information.)
    • Foods, feeds, and beverages decreased $1.0 billion.
      • Soybeans decreased $0.8 billion.

      Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.1 billion.

    Exports of services increased $0.6 billion to $97.0 billion in January.

    • Financial services increased $0.2 billion.
    • Telecommunications, computer, and information services increased $0.1 billion.
    • Other business services increased $0.1 billion.
    • Transport increased $0.1 billion.
    • Maintenance and repair services increased $0.1 billion.
    • Government goods and services decreased $0.3 billion.

    Imports (exhibits 4, 6, and 8)

    Imports of goods increased $36.2 billion to $329.5 billion in January.

      Imports of goods on a Census basis increased $36.2 billion.

    • Industrial supplies and materials increased $23.1 billion.
      • Finished metal shapes increased $20.5 billion.
    • Consumer goods increased $6.0 billion.
      • Pharmaceutical preparations increased $5.2 billion.
      • Cell phones and other household goods increased $1.2 billion.
    • Capital goods increased $4.6 billion.
      • Computers increased $3.0 billion.
      • Computer accessories increased $1.2 billion.
      • Telecommunications equipment increased $1.1 billion.

      Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.1 billion.

    Imports of services increased $0.4 billion to $71.7 billion in January.

    • Charges for the use of intellectual property increased $0.2 billion.
    • Other business services increased $0.1 billion.
    • Travel decreased $0.1 billion.

    Real Goods in 2017 Dollars – Census Basis (exhibit 11)

    The real goods deficit increased $30.8 billion, or 27.5 percent, to $142.9 billion in January, compared to a 27.4 percent increase in the nominal deficit.

    • Real exports of goods increased $0.6 billion, or 0.4 percent, to $142.3 billion, compared to a 1.6 percent increase in nominal exports.
    • Real imports of goods increased $31.4 billion, or 12.4 percent, to $285.2 billion, compared to a 12.5 percent increase in nominal imports.

    Revisions

    Exports and imports of goods and services were revised for July through December 2024 to incorporate more comprehensive and updated quarterly and monthly data. In addition to these revisions, seasonally adjusted data for all months of 2024 were revised so that the totals of the seasonally adjusted months equal the annual totals.

    Revisions to December exports

    • Exports of goods were revised down $0.1 billion.
    • Exports of services were revised up $0.1 billion.

    Revisions to December imports

    • Imports of goods were revised up $0.2 billion.
    • Imports of services were revised down $0.6 billion.

    Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (exhibit 19)

    The January figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Netherlands ($4.3), South and Central America ($4.3), Belgium ($0.6), and Brazil ($0.6). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($29.7), European Union ($25.5), Switzerland ($22.8), Mexico ($15.5), Ireland ($12.4), Vietnam ($11.9), Canada ($11.3), Germany ($7.6), Taiwan ($7.5), Japan ($7.4), South Korea ($5.4), India ($4.2), Italy ($3.5), Malaysia ($2.5), Australia ($2.0), Hong Kong ($1.4), France ($1.0), Singapore ($1.0), Israel ($0.6), United Kingdom ($0.5), and Saudi Arabia ($0.1).

    • The deficit with Switzerland increased $9.8 billion to $22.8 billion in January. Exports increased $0.6 billion to $1.8 billion and imports increased $10.3 billion to $24.6 billion.
    • The deficit with Ireland increased $6.2 billion to $12.4 billion in January. Exports increased less than $0.1 billion to $1.2 billion and imports increased $6.2 billion to $13.6 billion.
    • The surplus with South and Central America increased $0.7 billion to $4.3 billion in January. Exports increased $0.3 billion to $18.0 billion and imports decreased $0.5 billion to $13.7 billion.

    Goods and Services by Selected Countries and Areas: Quarterly – Balance of Payments Basis (exhibit 20)

    Statistics on trade in goods and services by country and area are only available quarterly, with a one-month lag. With this release, fourth-quarter figures are now available.

    The fourth-quarter figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($19.1), Netherlands ($18.6), Australia ($7.1), Singapore ($7.0), Brazil ($7.0), United Kingdom ($4.9), Hong Kong ($4.3), Saudi Arabia ($3.4), and Belgium ($1.5). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($68.8), Mexico ($48.0), European Union ($38.5), Vietnam ($32.7), Germany ($21.1), Taiwan ($18.9), Japan ($17.0), Switzerland ($15.7), India ($13.2), South Korea ($12.5), Italy ($11.1), Canada ($10.5), Ireland ($7.8), Malaysia ($7.4), France ($4.5), and Israel ($2.1).

    • The deficit with Switzerland increased $12.1 billion to $15.7 billion in the fourth quarter. Exports decreased $1.6 billion to $18.8 billion and imports increased $10.6 billion to $34.5 billion.
    • The deficit with India increased $3.4 billion to $13.2 billion in the fourth quarter. Exports decreased $0.2 billion to $20.6 billion and imports increased $3.2 billion to $33.8 billion.
    • The deficit with the European Union decreased $5.8 billion to $38.5 billion in the fourth quarter. Exports decreased $0.9 billion to $164.8 billion and imports decreased $6.7 billion to $203.3 billion.

    All statistics referenced are seasonally adjusted; statistics are on a balance of payments basis unless otherwise specified. Additional statistics, including not seasonally adjusted statistics and details for goods on a Census basis, are available in exhibits 1-20b of this release. For information on data sources, definitions, and revision procedures, see the explanatory notes in this release. The full release can be found at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/index.html or www.bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment/international-trade-goods-and-services. The full schedule is available in the Census Bureau’s Economic Briefing Room at www.census.gov/economic-indicators/ or on BEA’s website at www.bea.gov/news/schedule.

    Next release: April 3, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
    U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, February 2025

    Notice

    Impact of Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) Release of CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM)

    The CBSA introduced a new accounting system (CARM) on October 21, 2024. As a result, importers in Canada have experienced delays in filing shipment information. These delays affected the compilation of statistics on U.S. exports of goods to Canada for September 2024 through January 2025, which are derived from data compiled by Canada through the United States – Canada Data Exchange. A dollar estimate of the filing backlog is included in estimates for late receipts and, following the U.S. Census Bureau’s customary practice for late receipt estimates, is included in the export end-use category “Other goods” as well as in exports to Canada. This estimate will be replaced with the actual transactions reported by the Harmonized System classification in June 2025 with the release of “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, Annual Revision.” Until then, please refer to the supplemental spreadsheet “CARM Exports to Canada Corrections,” which provides a breakdown of the late receipts by 1-digit end-use category for statistics through 2024. This spreadsheet will be updated as late export transactions are received to reflect reassignments from the initial “Other goods” category to the appropriate 1-digit end-use category. Any 2025 impacts will be revised in June 2026.

    If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, International Trade Macro Analysis Branch, on 800-549-0595, option 4, or at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov.

    Upcoming Changes to the Real (Chained-Dollar) Series

    Effective with the release of the February 2025 statistics on April 3, 2025, the Census Bureau will continue to use the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes to calculate the chained-dollar series (exhibits 10 and 11). The BLS will be implementing changes to the indexes with the release of the February 2025 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes on March 18, 2025. The changes to the indexes could impact the chained-dollar values. Please refer to the BLS notice for additional information on the Upcoming Change to Data Source for Import and Export Price Indexes: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic Statistical Methods Division, International Trade Statistical Methods Branch, on 301-763-3080.

    Upcoming Updates to Goods and Services

    With the releases of the “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services” report (FT-900) and the FT-900 Annual Revision on June 5, 2025, statistics on trade in goods, on both a Census basis and a balance of payments (BOP) basis, will be revised beginning with 2020 and statistics on trade in services will be revised beginning with 1999. The revised statistics for goods on a BOP basis and for services will also be included in the “U.S. International Transactions, 1st Quarter 2025 and Annual Update” report and in the international transactions interactive database, both to be released by BEA on June 24, 2025.

    Revised statistics on trade in goods will reflect:

    • Corrections and adjustments to previously published not seasonally adjusted statistics for goods on a Census basis.
    • End-use reclassifications of several commodities.
    • Recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments.
    • Newly available and revised source data on BOP adjustments, which are adjustments that BEA applies to goods on a Census basis to convert them to a BOP basis. See the “Goods (balance of payments basis)” section in the explanatory notes for more information.

    Revised statistics on trade in services will reflect:

    • Newly available and revised source data, primarily from BEA surveys of international services.
    • Corrections and adjustments to previously published not seasonally adjusted statistics.
    • Recalculated seasonal adjustments.
    • Revised temporal distributions of quarterly source data to monthly statistics. See the “Services” section in the explanatory notes for more information.

    A preview of BEA’s 2025 annual update of the International Transactions Accounts will be available in the Survey of Current Business in April 2025.

    If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, International Trade Macro Analysis Branch, on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov or BEA, Balance of Payments Division, at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: South Beach, Miami is not the most popular beach destination in the world but ranks 2nd according to the Travel App, Visited

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The travel map app, Visited, publishes the most popular beach destinations as per international beach goers.

    The popular travel app, Visited, which is published by Arriving In High Heels Corporation, has published a list of the top 10 most popular beach destinations in the world. Based on popular beaches, the most popular locations are in Mexico and the Mediterranean. The popular beach destinations around the world include:

    1. Cancun, Mexico
    2. South Beach, Miami, USA
    3. Majorca, Spain
    4. Cannes, France
    5. Tenerife, Spain

    Of the US beach destinations, only South Beach, Miami and Venice Beach made it to the top 20. In the top 50 there is also Waikiki Beach, Santa Monica, Clearwater Beach, Panama City Beach, Atlantic City, Na Pali Coast and Virginia Beach.

    The full beach destination list ranked by popularity is available in the travel map app, Visited, which can be downloaded for free on iOS or Android. The app which once started as a simple way to color in the places users have been on a map, has expanded to include the popular travel list feature. Users can select ‘where I’ve been’ or add it to their ‘bucketlist’ to see personalized travel stats and to help plan future travels. There are over 175 travel lists available including national parks, cruise ports, snorkeling destinations, ski destinations, golf locations and even festivals around the world. The apps other features include a personalized travel map, ability to print a personalized travel poster, see regional information on a map by states visited and see personalized travel stats.

    To learn more about the Visited Map App, visit https://visitedapp.com.

    About Visited Travel App
    Popular travel map app Visited was designed to keep track of all countries, regions and cities that you have been to or want to visit in the future. A new feature of the app allows users to receive professionally printed posts of their travels. To help keep track of all the unique places and experiences users had, they can select destinations by travel categories. There are over 175 travel lists to choose from including ski destinations, golf destinations, national parks and more. For those that have a hard time choosing where to go next, Visited displays countries based on the total places of interest and experiences they want to do in that country, taking away the guess work of where to next. It is the ultimate travel bucket list and travel tracking app.

    About Arriving In High Heels Corporation
    Arriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company with apps including Pay Off Debt, X-Walk and Visited, their most popular app.

    Contact:
    Anna Kayfitz
    anna@arrivinginhighheels.com

    The MIL Network –