SNOW HILL, NC — Congressman Don Davis (NC-01) released the following statement after the decision by Snow Hill commissioners to reinstate the Snow Hill Police Department:
“The Snow Hill Board of Commissioners acted unitedly and decisively, voting 5 to 0 to stand with our police department. The vote reflects a deep commitment to the town’s well-being and will better serve the residents moving forward. By prioritizing public safety, Snow Hill is poised to be recognized not only as one of North Carolina’s most charming towns but also as one of our safest.”
Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today released this statement following his visit to Berlin, Germany.
“I had a very productive visit to Berlin, Germany. I met with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The purpose of the visit was to inform our allies in the European Union about the status of the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that has 82 cosponsors in the U.S. Senate. The bill is designed to incentivize China to push Russia to the peace table — the secondary sanctions and tariffs will come down heavy on those who are propping up Putin’s war machine by buying cheap Russian oil and other products.
“I was incredibly pleased with the meeting with President von der Leyen where she indicated a new set of sanctions was being drafted by the European Commission, focusing on those countries who prop up Putin’s war machine, as well as the Russian energy sector. It was her belief that Russia is playing games when it comes to peace and the only way the change the game for Russia is to increase the consequences of this war for Putin. I agree. She supported lowering the Russian oil price cap, which will hit Putin in the wallet and she believed there was strong support in Europe for that proposal.
“Additionally, I met with Foreign Minister Wadephul and Chancellor Merz, and expressed my appreciation for their commitment to increase defense spending which will make NATO more lethal and create more deterrence at a time of great upheaval in Europe. Germany has a very capable military, and this additional investment will only continue that trend.
“The President of the European Commission and the German government expressed appreciation to President Trump for earnestly and sincerely trying to end this war. It is obvious to all that President Trump has gone the extra mile trying to bring the parties together but it’s also clear that Putin is resisting efforts for peace and is in fact preparing for more war.
“During my meetings with German officials, I was informed that they see a build-up in weapons by Russia, a point that was also echoed in Ukraine and France. Putin is being disingenuous as President Trump works toward peace. Putin is building up his forces and weaponry to engage in more war, with a summer or early fall offensive in the making.
“Time is of the essence to act decisively. The combination of Europe lowering the Russian oil price cap along with enacting additional sanctions focusing on those who would prop up Putin will greatly enhance the efforts of the United States.
“This is the last best chance to avoid an expansion of this war and deter aggression throughout the globe. If we can end the Russia-Ukraine war honorably and in a way that prevents future wars, then the world will become more stable.
“However, if Putin is perceived to be rewarded for his aggression, and Ukraine is abandoned by its allies, it will encourage other bad actors throughout the globe and the consequences will be dire and long-lasting.
“I appreciate Germany’s leadership regarding brokering peace and their steadfast resolve when it comes to supporting Ukraine. Germany is a valuable ally, and the upcoming meeting between Chancellor Merz and President Trump will be one of the most important meetings between any U.S. president and any German chancellor in our shared history. Godspeed to both.
“Finally, recent media reports indicating the hour-long meeting in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine resulted in the same old unrealistic, maximalist demands by Russia, telling us all we need to know about Putin’s desire to end the war. This was also confirmed to me by those participating in the talks.
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
May 15, 2025
A bipartisan pair of senators is reviving a bill to break the grip that tech giants like Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have on the Pentagon’s cloud computing and artificial intelligence contracts.
The Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act is set to be reintroduced on Thursday by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Eric Schmitt of Missouri, according to people familiar with the matter. A version of the bill is also being introduced for the first time in the House, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.
The goal of the legislation is to increase competition for billions of dollars worth of AI and cloud contracts currently dominated by Big Tech firms. If passed, the Department of Defense would be required to hold a competitive bidding process for deals worth $50 million or more. The bill would also direct the agency to “mitigate barriers” that make it harder for startups and nontraditional contractors to compete.
The planned legislation reflects a new balancing act for lawmakers. While many in Washington have expressed greater urgency to bolster US technological competitiveness and deploy more AI across the federal government, there are also longstanding concerns on both sides of the aisle about further entrenching the dominance of Silicon Valley’s largest companies.
“It’s a mistake to let Silicon Valley monopolize our AI and cloud computing tools because it doesn’t just stifle innovation, it increases costs and threatens our national security,” Warren said in statement.
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
May 15, 2025
Senate Finance Committee Democrats say donors to IRS commissioner pick Billy Long’s hibernating campaign fund could have been illegally influencing the former House lawmaker.
“This brazen attempt to curry favor with Mr. Long is not only unethical—it may also be illegal,” the lawmakers led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in one of the letters seen by Bloomberg Tax that were sent Thursday. The letters suggest that the circumstances of the donations raise questions over whether they constitute a violation of federal anti-bribery laws.
Also at issue is the timing and size of the donations that were made to Long, who could soon lead the tax collection agency. Democrats asked donors why they gave, whether their donations were solicited, and whether they had matters currently pending in front of the IRS.
Long, a former Republican House member from Missouri who has a confirmation hearing with the panel May 20, hasn’t been on any ballot for several years but saw nearly $137,000 flow into his dormant campaign committee for a Senate seat in the first quarter of this year. He also used the funds to repay a $130,000 personal loan. Donors to his campaign included people associated with firms that promoted so-called sovereign tribal tax credits that the Treasury Department and IRS say don’t exist.
Warren signed the letters along with Finance ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). The Democrats’ letter is the latest in a string of demands from Democrats pressing Long about his dealings with White River Energy Corp., which has been selling the credits to wealthy investors through a network of promoters.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Joy Cranham, Lecturer in the Department of Education, University of Bath, University of Bath
Like other quirky TV shows that explore coercively controlling groups, Sirens leans into the “wackiness” of cult life. Set on a remote island, an affluent community exists under extravagant rule of Michaela Kell aka Kiki (Julianne Moore). Her devoted followers – many of whom are employed by her – are committed to ensuring her every whim is met.
This carefully curated existence appears bizarre but flawless, until outsider Devon (Meghann Fahy) arrives looking for her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) and begins to illuminate the control and cult-like behaviour being used as tools of oppression.
It is easy to laugh along with Sirens, to get caught up in the eccentric characters and absurd rituals – from assistants being instructed to sext Kiki’s partner to rituals around perfuming her underwear drawer each morning. We shake our heads at the characters’ choices and reassure ourselves: “I would never fall for that, I would just leave.”
But the uncomfortable truth is it’s not that simple.
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What portrayals of cult communities in sitcoms often miss, or gloss over, is the deeply manipulative psychology behind why leaving a cult is incredibly difficult.
Research into cult experiences has shown, cults do not just trap people physically. They entrap them mentally and emotionally too.
I have seen this in my own research into how to help children and their families resist exploitative and coercively controlling individuals and groups. We do see such entrapment in Sirens but it is often obscured by the wackiness of Michaela’s cult-ish community.
Isolation and love-bombing
In the real world, entrapment starts with isolation. New recruits are gradually cut off from their support networks, separated from their friends and family.
We see this in Sirens between Simone, who is Kiki’s assistant, and her outsider sister Devon. In one episode, for instance, Simone makes it clear to Devon that their matching sister tattoos were no longer valuable to her.
What was once a show of love has become viewed as “trashy” by Simone. This is a reflection of how Simone was being manipulated away from her previous values.
Rejecting the importance of familial relationships is a tool often used by cult leaders, enabling them to construct rifts between the person in the cult and their loved one on the outside.
In Sirens, we see a sisterly relationship become ruptured at the instruction of the powerful Kiki, who exploits the vulnerability of Simone to her own advantage.
Then comes the love-bombing – a flood of praise, attention, and affection. It feels amazing, especially to someone who has been overlooked or undervalued.
When the person expresses surprise, the group responds with lines like, “that’s because we truly see you” or they belittle the person’s previous relationships.
The message from the group is clear: only we value you. Only we understand the real you.
Fear and dependence
But the honeymoon phase does not last. Soon, the fear of being cast out takes hold. The group convinces the person that they can only become their best self within the group, that they are fulfilling a higher destiny by being guided by the leader.
Leaders in cults use authoritarian tactics, often portraying themselves as messianic figures with mystical powers. They demand unwavering loyalty and devotion. Questioning their authority is not tolerated. Any concern or question is reframed as a personal failing rather than as legitimate concern.
Punishment for dissent reinforces the leader’s dominance and sends a clear message to the rest of the group: Do not question. The leader and their doctrines are irrefutable.
This sort of control can lead people to do things they never imagined they would.
Take the scene where Simone willingly chews gum that has just been in Kiki’s mouth. We might cringe at this, think it’s gross and abnormal, but it’s symbolic of something much bigger: it depicted total control being exerted over another.
Here we watch as Kiki insults Simone, telling her her breath stinks. Instead of being seen as cruelty it is perceived as care, and Kiki then giving Simone the gum she has just chewed to rectify the problem, is perceived as kindness. Simone is grateful and doesn’t question it at all.
Simone’s mind has been manipulated. Devon asks her: “Does Michaela have her talons so deep in your brain you cannot tell, you are in trouble?” Through using thought reform techniques, cults hack minds. They override critical thinking and replace it with fear and dependency.
The constant sense of danger and fear keeps members in a state of acute stress, impairing their capacity to think clearly or make rational decisions. However, this constant fear is happening in a place they are repeatedly told and are convincing themselves is where they have never been happier.
The cognitive dissonance of this can contribute to the group’s ability to retain members even when exposing them to prolonged psychological and or physical abuse. Even after someone leaves, the effects of this trauma can linger for years – sometimes a lifetime.
Survivors often exit these groups with very few tangible resources. Education and employability may have been restricted and housing and financial independence are often tightly controlled by the group.
Many survivors suffer from mental health issues and other stress induced physical ailments. As a result, survivors require various forms of support and different interventions over the cause of their recovery.
And yet, in pop culture, cults are often played for laughs. The trauma is reduced to punch lines. To be fair, shows like Sirens effectively capture the bizarre nature of cult life and hopefully reading this piece has helped you look beyond the laughs to see the dark nature of how these groups operate. For survivors, cult life is not eccentric or surreal – it is traumatic.
Joy Cranham volunteers for Faith to Faithless, an organisation that supports apostates who are often former members of high-demand religions or cult-like organisations. Faith to Faithless is connected to Humanist UK
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Enrique Gaztanaga, Professor at Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (University of Portsmouth), University of Portsmouth
The Big Bang is often described as the explosive birth of the universe — a singular moment when space, time and matter sprang into existence. But what if this was not the beginning at all? What if our universe emerged from something else — something more familiar and radical at the same time?
In a new paper, published in Physical Review D, my colleagues and I propose a striking alternative. Our calculations suggest the Big Bang was not the start of everything, but rather the outcome of a gravitational crunch or collapse that formed a very massive black hole — followed by a bounce inside it.
This idea — which we call the black hole universe — offers a radically different view of cosmic origins, yet it is grounded entirely in known physics and observations.
Today’s standard cosmological model, based on the Big Bang and cosmic inflation (the idea that the early universe rapidly blew up in size), has been remarkably successful in explaining the structure and evolution of the universe. But it comes at a price: it leaves some of the most fundamental questions unanswered.
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For one, the Big Bang model begins with a singularity — a point of infinite density where the laws of physics break down. This is not just a technical glitch; it’s a deep theoretical problem that suggests we don’t really understand the beginning at all.
To explain the universe’s large-scale structure, physicists introduced a brief phase of rapid expansion into the early universe called cosmic inflation, powered by an unknown field with strange properties. Later, to explain the accelerating expansion observed today, they added another “mysterious” component: dark energy.
In short, the standard model of cosmology works well — but only by introducing new ingredients we have never observed directly. Meanwhile, the most basic questions remain open: where did everything come from? Why did it begin this way? And why is the universe so flat, smooth, and large?
New model
Our new model tackles these questions from a different angle — by looking inward instead of outward. Instead of starting with an expanding universe and trying to trace back how it began, we consider what happens when an overly dense collection of matter collapses under gravity.
This is a familiar process: stars collapse into black holes, which are among the most well-understood objects in physics. But what happens inside a black hole, beyond the event horizon from which nothing can escape, remains a mystery.
The idea helped win Penrose a share of the 2020 Nobel prize in physics and inspired Hawking’s global bestseller A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. But there’s a caveat. These “singularity theorems” rely on “classical physics” which describes ordinary macroscopic objects. If we include the effects of quantum mechanics, which rules the tiny microcosmos of atoms and particles, as we must at extreme densities, the story may change.
In our new paper, we show that gravitational collapse does not have to end in a singularity. We find an exact analytical solution – a mathematical result with no approximations. Our maths show that as we approach the potential singularity, the size of the universe changes as a (hyperbolic) function of cosmic time.
This simple mathematical solution describes how a collapsing cloud of matter can reach a high-density state and then bounce, rebounding outward into a new expanding phase.
But how come Penrose’s theorems forbid out such outcomes? It’s all down to a rule called the quantum exclusion principle, which states that no two identical particles known as fermions can occupy the same quantum state (such as angular momentum, or “spin”).
And we show that this rule prevents the particles in the collapsing matter from being squeezed indefinitely. As a result, the collapse halts and reverses. The bounce is not only possible — it’s inevitable under the right conditions.
Crucially, this bounce occurs entirely within the framework of general relativity, which applies on large scales such as stars and galaxies, combined with the basic principles of quantum mechanics — no exotic fields, extra dimensions or speculative physics required.
What emerges on the other side of the bounce is a universe remarkably like our own. Even more surprisingly, the rebound naturally produces the two separate phases of accelerated expansion — inflation and dark energy — driven not by a hypothetical fields but by the physics of the bounce itself.
Testable predictions
One of the strengths of this model is that it makes testable predictions. It predicts a small but non-zero amount of positive spatial curvature — meaning the universe is not exactly flat, but slightly curved, like the surface of the Earth.
This is simply a relic of the initial small over-density that triggered the collapse. If future observations, such as the ongoing Euclid mission, confirm a small positive curvature, it would be a strong hint that our universe did indeed emerge from such a bounce. It also makes predictions about the current universe’s rate of expansion, something that has already been verified.
This model does more than fix technical problems with standard cosmology. It could also shed new light on other deep mysteries in our understanding of the early universe — such as the origin of supermassive black holes, the nature of dark matter, or the hierarchical formation and evolution of galaxies.
These questions will be explored by future space missions such as Arrakhis, which will study diffuse features such as stellar halos (a spherical structure of stars and globular clusters surrounding galaxies) and satellite galaxies (smaller galaxies that orbit larger ones) that are difficult to detect with traditional telescopes from Earth and will help us understand dark matter and galaxy evolution.
These phenomena might also be linked to relic compact objects — such as black holes — that formed during the collapsing phase and survived the bounce.
The black hole universe also offers a new perspective on our place in the cosmos. In this framework, our entire observable universe lies inside the interior of a black hole formed in some larger “parent” universe.
We are not special, no more than Earth was in the geocentric worldview that led Galileo (the astronomer who suggested the Earth revolves around the Sun in the 16th and 17th centuries) to be placed under house arrest.
We are not witnessing the birth of everything from nothing, but rather the continuation of a cosmic cycle — one shaped by gravity, quantum mechanics, and the deep interconnections between them.
Enrique Gaztanaga receives funding from the Spanish Plan Nacional (PGC2018-102021-B-100) and
Maria de Maeztu (CEX2020-001058-M) grants.
Enrique Gaztanaga is also a Professor at the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC/IEEC) in Barcelona and publishes a science blog called Dark Cosmos.
New evidence has linked physical activity with improved colon health, underscoring the vital role of exercise in cancer prevention and care.
The landmark international trial – the Challenge study – showed that structured exercise programmes can dramatically improve survival rates for colon cancer survivors.
The study was unveiled at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Each June, cancer specialists from around the world convene in Chicago for the conference where new research is announced that pushes the boundaries of cancer treatment and this year’s conference featured a wealth of exciting discoveries.
Conducted across six countries and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Challenge study tracked 889 patients for several years following chemotherapy. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one received standard post-treatment care, while the other took part in a three-year coaching programme that included personalised exercise plans and regular check-ins with fitness professionals.
The results were striking. Those in the exercise group experienced 28% fewer cancer recurrences and 37% fewer deaths.
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In the programme, people slowly built up how much they exercised, with most choosing to go on brisk 45-minute walks four times a week. Ninety per cent of the people who exercised stayed cancer free for five years, compared with just 74% of those who didn’t.
This study provides the first strong evidence that exercise not only correlates with better outcomes but directly improves survival rates in cancer patients. While earlier observational studies found a link between being active and better cancer outcomes, this first randomised controlled trial helps show causation, meaning that exercise can directly benefit the survival of cancer patients.
We don’t know yet if the same goes for other cancers like breast, prostate or lung, but it’s a big step forward.
The programme’s success hinged on consistent support. Participants met with fitness coaches every two weeks at first, then monthly, which helped them stick to their routines even after treatment ended.
While minor injuries such as muscle strains were slightly more common among those who exercised (19% compared to 12% in the control group), researchers emphasised that these issues were manageable and far outweighed by the significant survival benefits.
Potential downsides to exercise?
In contrast to the encouraging findings on structured exercise, a separate study presented in Chicago has raised questions about the potential downsides of extreme endurance training.
Researchers tracking marathon runners found a higher rate of polyps (small growths in the colon that can sometimes develop into cancer) compared with the general population. This unexpected finding has sparked a fresh debate about the effect of high-intensity exercise on long-term colon health.
However, context is needed. The study did not find higher cancer rates among runners, and most of the detected polyps were low risk.
Several possible explanations have been offered: endurance athletes may simply undergo more frequent screenings, leading to increased detection, or intense exercise might temporarily raise inflammation markers. Crucially, the overall risk of cancer remains lower in active people than in those who are more sedentary, reinforcing the well-established protective benefits of regular exercise.
This apparent contradiction highlights the medical community’s evolving understanding of the “dose” of physical activity. While moderate exercise is consistently linked to significant health benefits, emerging data from endurance athletes suggests that extreme, high-intensity training may place different kinds of stress on the body’s systems.
Researchers also suggest that factors such as dehydration during long-distance runs, changes in gut function, or the use of certain nutritional supplements common among endurance athletes could play a role in polyp development. These findings don’t diminish the well-documented benefits of physical activity, but instead point to the importance of personalised, balanced health strategies.
For cancer survivors, the structured exercise study provides a message of practical hope. Participants aimed for the equivalent of about three hours of brisk walking per week, gradually increasing their activity levels over time.
The programme’s social support was key, with fitness coaches helping participants tailor their routines to match their abilities and recovery needs.
Exercise is believed to affect key biological processes – including insulin sensitivity, inflammation and immune function – that play important roles in cancer development and progression. Ongoing research is analysing participants’ blood samples to better understand these mechanisms and eventually create personalised exercise “prescriptions” based on an individual’s genetic profile.
While the findings from marathon runners are less conclusive, they still offer practical takeaways. The research suggests that although vigorous exercise is generally beneficial, high-intensity athletes may face a higher risk of developing polyps and should therefore consider regular colonoscopies as a precaution.
For the general public, these findings reinforce that combining moderate exercise with timely screenings offers the best protection against colon cancer, a disease that remains the fourth most common worldwide and is alarmingly increasing among young people.
For both patients and athletes, these findings highlight a central truth: movement matters, but the right approach is crucial. Colon cancer survivors now have proven tools to reduce recurrence through structured exercise, while endurance enthusiasts gain motivation to pair their training with preventative care.
As science continues unravelling the intricate dance between activity and biology, one message remains clear: whether recovering from illness or chasing personal bests, informed exercise combined with medical guidance is the most reliable path to long-term health.
Justin Stebbing does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
It’s late evening and your phone vibrates with some banter from colleagues. You join the conversation and go to bed feeling part of the work community. You then wake up and have a feeling of apprehension as to how the messages will be perceived.
WhatsApp might have started as a casual messaging app for friends, but it has now firmly become embedded in workplace communication – and increasingly in workplace conflicts, too.
WhatsApp chats have also been used to corroborate or refute claims in employment tribunals. An employee might claim they were promised a pay rise or flexible hours via WhatsApp, for example. But on the other hand, employers have also used WhatsApp logs to prove misconduct. This evidence has included sharing confidential information.
In the workplace, WhatsApp chats have replaced many casual real-life conversations. Colleagues create groups to coordinate work, message each other after hours and vent their frustrations in private messages. Although this feels informal, it can leave employees vulnerable.
But when disputes escalate to legal action, these messages can help judges understand what really happened. Tribunals treat WhatsApp messages like any other document.
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We examined more than 2,000 cases brought to UK employment tribunal’s since 2019 that involved WhatsApp. The findings reveal a surprising range of ways in which these casual chats became evidence.
WhatsApp conversations have increasingly played a crucial role in misconduct and discrimination disputes, being used as evidence of harassment or inappropriate behaviour. The messages are also cited in unfair dismissal and contract claims, especially where informal work communications and digital records were seen as central to the case.
In 2018, 48 cases brought to employment tribunals involved WhatsApp messages. By 2024, that had climbed to 562. The cases span a wide range of jurisdictions, but unfair dismissal, contract breaches, harassment and discrimination were dominant. From the cases we examined, several themes were clear.
1. Removal or exclusion from a WhatsApp group
In the case of Ms B Djagbo v Women’s Health Dulwich Ltd, the claimant successfully brought a claim for unfavourable treatment due to pregnancy and maternity. This followed a series of incidents that took place after she informed her employer of her pregnancy.
Several actions made her feel as though her employment was being prematurely ended, including being removed from the workplace WhatsApp group chat. The tribunal awarded her almost £20,000.
2. Discriminatory messages or harassment via WhatsApp
In the Mr D Robson v NGP Utilities Ltd case, the claimant is a gay man and brought a complaint of harassment. This included a series of inappropriate and offensive incidents at work, notably, a WhatsApp group message from a colleague.
The message was part of a wider pattern of jokes targeting gay colleagues. The employment tribunal awarded him more than £36,000.
3. Termination of employment via WhatsApp
The case of Miss J Hodkinson v B&R Care Ltd highlights a pregnant care worker who was awarded more than £40,000 in compensation after being unfairly dismissed via WhatsApp. The fact the dismissal was carried out informally and insensitively supported the tribunal’s findings of “procedural and substantive unfairness”.
4. WhatsApp communications submitted as evidence
The Mr M D Black v Alain Charles Publishing Ltd tribunal noted that the claimant’s evidence was consistent with WhatsApp message screenshots included in the evidence bundle. As a result, compensation of almost £100,000 was awarded.
Seized WhatsApp messages can provide an insight into workplace culture. Kafka Ibram/Shutterstock
WhatsApp groups can also offer a window into workplace culture. Tribunals have seen examples of co-workers using WhatsApp to share sexist and racist jokes or to gossip about colleagues.
The tribunal cases show just how deeply WhatsApp has become part of working life, blurring the line between personal and professional. Colleagues chat the way friends do.
But when working relationships sour or rules are broken, each of these informal chats carries legal weight. What someone thought was a single throwaway remark in a private conversation can later be dissected as part of a wider body of evidence.
There have been cases where an employer was ordered to hand over work-related WhatsApp exchanges, and others where an employee’s own messages were used against them.
It’s a clear lesson. Privacy in digital communication is never guaranteed. Even encrypted messages can become public in a courtroom.
WhatsApp dos and don’ts
The volume of references to WhatsApp in tribunal cases frames some key lessons for both employees and employers. In a nutshell, if you wouldn’t write it in a company email or say it in a meeting, don’t put it into WhatsApp.
Jokes can be misinterpreted and offensive remarks don’t just go away. Many have learned this the hard way.
Using WhatsApp to share instructions and decisions might seem convenient, but it shouldn’t replace formal process.
And for employers, it’s time to update communication policies, including guidelines on after-hours messaging, the use of group chats and respecting expectations of inclusivity.
Banning WhatsApp might not be practical, but setting out expectations is important. Even a policy stating that any work-related communication on personal messaging apps should adhere to the company’s expected code of conduct is a start.
Many people are unaware that a private chat can reappear as evidence. Knowing that a tasteless joke on WhatsApp could support a harassment claim potentially costing an unlimited fine, or that ignoring a late-night work message might be used as evidence of poor performance, will harden most people to conduct more mindful communication.
Gordon Fletcher receives funding from InnovateUK.
Jonathan Lord and Saad Baset do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Irit Katz, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies, University of Cambridge
At least 27 Palestinians were reported to have been killed on the morning of June 3 amid chaotic scenes at an aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip. This follows a similar incident on June 1 when around 30 civilians were reportedly killed as people scrambled to get food supplies at an aid centre near Rafah in southern Gaza.
The Israeli and US governments and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – the private contractor backed by Israel and the US to take over aid distribution in Gaza – previously denied reports that Israeli troops had fired on civilians queuing for aid. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, criticised what he called “reckless and irresponsible reporting by major US news outlets”.
After the June 3 incident, however, the Israeli military admitted it had fired shots near a food distribution complex after noticing “a number of suspects moving towards them”. A GHF spokesperson said it was believed that the people had been fired upon “after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone”.
The violence at these privately run aid distribution points should come as no surprise, given the situation. For weeks since the Israeli government imposed its aid blockade in early March, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip has become more acute. By April the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification), a collaboration between numerous intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, was already reporting that Gaza’s whole population was experiencing critical levels of hunger.
The aid distribution system put in place by GHF, meanwhile has been widely criticised. On May 25, the day before GHF began operations in Gaza its American director, Jake Wood, resigned. He said he believed the organisation would not be able to fulfil the basic humanitarian principles of “humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence”.
Divide and control
The GHF’s aid distribution plan is similar in character to a plan published in December 2024 by an organisation of many former high-ranking Israeli military officers, Israel’s Defense and Security Forum (IDSF). The group proposed to take control of aid distribution from the UN agency Unrwa, which was the main organisation overseeing aid distribution until it was banned by Israel earlier this year.
The IDSF plan proposes that: “Israel will oversee the aid distributed by international organizations, effectively dismantling the distribution networks of UNRWA and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, guided by the principle: ‘The hand that distributes the aid is the hand that controls it’.”
This would be achieved with the creation of tent cities for internally displaced people (IDP), described as “humanitarian zones”. About 90% of the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza are IDPs. The IDSF plan, acknowledging that “extensive built-up areas have been left destroyed, or are no longer inhabitable”, says that “it is currently neither feasible nor recommended that the IDPs return at the conclusion of the war”.
Under the plan, parts of the Gaza Strip still inhabited by Palestinian civilians, will be divided by a “system of longitudinal and transverse axes”. Each “IDP city” created within these divisions will be managed as a “separate temporary administrative territory” following the principle of “divide and rule”.
The plan calls for responsibility for humanitarian aid in Gaza to pass “to a Humanitarian Directorate based on IDP cities and biometric certificates”. This is called the “Day After Plan” by the IDSF, designed as a way to control Gaza’s population, while driving a wedge between civilians and Hamas in order to destroy it. This despite the fact that a senior Israeli military commander has said it is impossible to eliminate Hamas.
The reality on the ground
The way GHF is currently organising aid distribution fulfils some of the principles of the IDSF plan. It replaces UN aid distribution with a private outfit, backed by both Israel and the US, yet it provides aid through only four sites.
These are located unevenly in the Gaza Strip, three in a small area southwest of Rafah, and the fourth south of Gaza City, in an area dominated by the Netzarim corridor, which is controlled by the Israeli military.
People queuing for access to aid reportedly have to walk along a narrow fenced corridor into a larger aid compound. Once inside they are subject to ID checks and eye scans to further control the distribution for aid.
This has reportedly resulted in long hours of waiting in the heat and led to chaotic scenes were people have broken down fences in a bid to get supplies. Among the people reported to have been killed on June 3 were three children and two women.
The GHF scheme had already been criticised before the violent incidents by both Palestinians and international aid organisations. The placement of the distribution sites means that people sometimes have to travel considerable distances to receive aid.
The UN children’s fund spokesperson Jonathan Crick asked: “How is a mother of four children, who has lost her husband, going to carry 20kg back to her makeshift tent, sometimes several kilometres away?”
As someone who researches urban design, conflict, and displacement, it is clear to me that designing the entire aid distribution system around only four “mega-sites” in limited areas in the Strip leads to the sort of overcrowding and chaos that have made violence all but inevitable.
In my opinion, in concentrating these sites while extensively demolishing habitable areas in the Strip, Israel is effectively weaponising essential civilian mechanisms against Palestinians. The aid scheme appears to prioritise political and territorial issues over the humanitarian distribution of aid.
The GHF system enables Israel to further concentrate civilians into makeshift encampments. Here they face inadequate and unhygienic conditions and shelter. These are particularly unsafe for women and children, while also being vulnerable to attacks by the Israeli military.
Now people trying to access aid are dying. The international community must urgently put pressure on both sides to agree a ceasefire and on Israel to open Gaza up for a rapid large-scale humanitarian operation. To maintain the current GHF system is to invite further tragedy.
The acceleration of federal approvals for “nation-building projects” was the major theme of this week’s first ministers meeting in Saskatoon. A rush to streamline approvals for resource development and infrastructure projects has been central to the Canadian response to United States President Donald Trump’s profound disruptions to longstanding trade and security relationships.
At the provincial level, Ontario’s Bill 5 and British Columbia’s Bill 15 also propose to move aggressively to fast-track mining and infrastructure projects.
These fast-tracking efforts are fuelling debate, particularly in terms of the implications for Indigenous rights and the implicit trade-offs pertaining to the environment and climate change.
Project review and approval processes in Canada have already been aggressively streamlined over the past decade. The 2019 Federal Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69, was largely modelled on Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 2012 Bill C-38 rewrite of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
It’s important to determine why projects are delayed in the first place. Most move through assessment processes with little delay or controversy. Problems emerge when proposals are poorly designed, face serious technical or economic doubts, raise major environmental, climate or safety concerns, and spark significant social, political or legal conflicts over their costs, benefits and impacts.
A recent study on mining approvals in B.C., for example, found that far more mines were approved than ever actually developed. The main cause of delays was changing economic conditions. Regulation was found to be only a minor factor.
While there are always potential ways to improve review processes, the results of previous streamlining efforts suggest the need for caution about the potential for these initiatives to backfire.
Impact assessment and similar processes emerged as more than a way to accurately assess projects and their risks and benefits. They also provided a framework for managing intense social and political conflicts those projects may generate.
If these processes are streamlined too much, the conclusions of these assessments may seem illegitimate. There could be a trade-off between clear, certain outcomes and ensuring the approval process is fair and trustworthy.
Exacerbating conflict
The Harper government’s Bill C-38 reforms were intended to facilitate the construction of more oil pipelines. In the end, they only escalated the spiralling political and legal conflicts around projects like the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipelines.
The accompanying Alberta-to-B.C. Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline was only approved after a tortuous process. That culminated in the federal purchase and completion of the pipeline at a cost to taxpayers of $34 billion.
The political consequences of these efforts at streamlining are noteworthy. The Bill C-38 episode was seen as playing a role in the Harper government’s defeat in 2015. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s loss of his majority government in 2011 was also partly attributed to the rural response to the Green Energy Act.
Checks and balances
Aside from the political aspects, it’s important to recognize the value of thorough reviews for projects that are likely to be high-risk, high-cost and high-impact.
When past reviews have been rushed or cut short, they’ve undermine confidence in the decisions made — especially when even faster processes could increase the risks and costs passed on to taxpayers.
The Muskrat Falls and Site C hydro projects in Labrador and B.C., respectively, stand as testament to those risks. Both projects ran years behind schedule and billions over budget and continue to face major technical, environmental and economic challenges. Review processes can be important checks on poorly conceived, politically motivated projects.
It’s also important to think carefully about the long-term economic rationales being presented for projects. Canada is a relatively high-costfossil fuel producer, making it unlikely to be among the last standing in a decarbonizing world.
That should raise serious questions about major investments in new fossil fuel export infrastructure. The irony of developing such projects as major wildfires, widely attributed to the impacts of climate change, burn in northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba cannot be overlooked.
Global markets for commodities like critical minerals are also uncertain and in deep flux.
Ontario’s Bill 5 represents the most aggressive streamlining proposal seen so far. The legislation would exempt designated “special economic zones” and even trusted proponents — such as mining companies assigned to lead projects — from all applicable provincial and municipal laws and regulations.
The province’s approach has raised fundamental questions about the rule of law, democratic governance and Indigenous rights, and jurisdictional boundaries.
Others have accused Ontario of racing to the bottom in terms of health, safety and environmental standards, respect for the rule of law, Indigenous rights and basic democratic values.
All of this suggests a need for caution in further streamlining review and approval processes for major projects. These are undertakings with risks and costs that could stretch far into the future and must be properly understood before they proceed.
Mark Winfield receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University
The drone attacks by Ukrainian Operation Spider’s Web forces on Russian airfields have called into question Russia’s supposed military strength.
Russian authorities have acknowledged damage from the June 1 attacks — an unusual admission that suggests the strikes were probably effective, given Russia’s usual pattern of downplaying or denying the success of Ukrainian operations.
The operation’s most significant target was the Belaya air base, north of Mongolia. Belaya, like the other bases targeted, is a critical component in the Russian Air Force’s strategic strike capabilities because it houses planes capable of long-range nuclear and conventional strikes.
It’s also in Irkutsk, approximately 4,500 kilometres from the front lines in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s ability to successfully strike Belaya — an attempted strike at the even more distant Ukrainka air base failed — probably won’t have much of a military impact on the war. But along with successful attacks on other Russian airfields and the strike at the Kerch Bridge in Crimea, Operation Spider Web’s successes could play a strategic role in the conflict.
These attacks could shift what has become increasingly negative media coverage and public perception about Ukraine’s chances in the war over the last year. In a war of attrition, which the conflict in Ukraine has become, establishing a belief in victory is a pre-condition for success.
Explosions hit the Kerch Bridge in Russia on June 3, 2025. (The Independent)
Increased pessimism
Policymakers and pundits, instead of recognizing their expectations of a Ukrainian victory in 2023 were unrealistic, have often declared that the war is unwinnable for Ukraine.
This perspective was even more prevalent following United States President Donald Trump’s resumption of power in January 2025. In the Oval Office spat Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late February, he declared Ukraine did not “have the cards” to defeat Russia.
This turned out to be false. Ukraine’s army may possess significantly less military hardware and fewer soldiers than Russia’s, but war is often a continuation of politics. Politically, Russia faces several issues that could derail its war efforts.
Russian vulnerabilities
Russia’s military capabilities are important to Russian nationalists, who make up Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s core constituency. Russian military forces have advanced along nearly all fronts in Ukraine over the last year.
These advances, however, have largely been insignificant. Furthermore, they have emphasized Russia’s military weakness, which is an ongoing affront to Russian nationalists.
Not only have Russian military advances over the last year not changed the war in a strictly military sense, but the pace of advance has been incredibly slow. Over the last year, Russian forces have captured 5,107 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. This territory represents less than one per cent of Ukraine’s pre-war territory.
In exchange for what amounts to negligible gains, Russian armed forces have suffered significant casualties.
Both Russia and Ukraine carefully guard the number of casualties their forces have suffered in the war. The British Ministry of Defence, however, estimates that Russia will have suffered more than a million casualties in the war by the end of this month. The Russian casualty rate is also accelerating, with an estimated 160,000 casualties in the first four months of 2025.
Russia attempts to compensate for this battlefield devastation in two ways.
First, it’s isolated Ukraine by manipulating Trump’s desire for political wins and business deals. Russia, in appearing to seek an end to the conflict while offering no concessions, has stoked tensions between Zelenskyy and Trump, where there was little love lost between the two to begin with.
Second, Russia has increased its attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Large-scale bombing does little to help Russia on the battlefield. The attacks, in fact, put its forces at a disadvantage by redirecting munitions from military targets.
Attacks on civilians
The attacks on civilian infrastructure, however, are more about instilling fear in the Ukrainian population and demonstrating American impotence to a Russian audience.
Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian cities also highlight Russia’s trump card: nuclear weapons. Russia, and specifically former Russian president Dimitry Medvedev, has repeatedlythreatened nuclear war in an attempt to dissuade Ukraine’s supporters.
By bombing Ukrainian cities, albeit with conventional munitions, Russia seeks to demonstrate its ability to deploy even more destructive weapons should the situation call for it.
These Russian military missteps, combined with a Russian economy that is structurally unsound, means that Russia’s war effort is increasingly fragile.
Weakening Asian alliances
Ukraine’s attack on Belaya also signals Russian weakness to its nominal allies in Asia.
Since the start of hostilities, Russia has relied on the tacit consent of China. This support has taken the form of China purchasing Russian crude oil to maintain the Russian economy and Chinese citizens unofficially fighting for Russia.
Belaya has been a vital element of Russia’s deterrence strategy in Asia, which has come to rely more heavily on the Russian strategic nuclear threat. The inability of Russia to protect one of its key strategic assets from a Ukrainian drone attack, combined with the weakness of Russian conventional forces in Ukraine, erodes its ability to position itself as a key ally to China.
In fact, some Russian authorities continue to view China as a major threat.
At the same time, Operation Spider’s Web gives hope to the Ukrainian people. It may also cause Trump — who prefers to back winners — to ponder whether it’s Putin, not Zelenskyy, who lacks the cards to win the war.
James Horncastle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Every year, thousands of Albertans face the devastating impact of family violence. Until June 24, through the Taking Action on Family Violence Grant, eligible organizations can apply for funding to deliver timely, direct services to support families affected by family violence. Successful projects will help reduce the consequences of family violence and ensure victims have access to trauma-informed services that will help them rebuild their lives. Together, we can prevent family violence before it starts, intervene at early signs, respond, and support survivors and families to live safely in their communities.
“Every Albertan deserves to be free from violence and abuse. I’m proud to support the Taking Action on Family Violence Grant Program that will empower local organizations to deliver early, culturally appropriate support to those affected by family violence. By working together, we can help individuals and families find safety, stability and hope.”
Populations at increased risk will be a focus – including Indigenous people, women and children, 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals, rural and remote communities, youth, newcomers and people with disabilities. The grant will also prioritize survivor-focused strategies that promote healthy relationships and programs targeted to men and boys struggling with abusive behaviours.
“The Taking Action on Family Violence Grant Program is a powerful example of our government’s ongoing commitment to supporting critical community programs that prevent gender-based violence from occurring in the first place and making it a rarity in Alberta, not a norm.”
Help is always available for anyone affected by family or gender-based violence. Confidential help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Family Violence Info Line at 310-1818, or Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence at 1-866-403-8000. Anyone in immediate danger should call 911.
Quick facts
Alberta’s government is investing more than $88 million for prevention of family and sexual violence, which includes women’s shelters and sexual assault centres to help individuals and families get the support they need.
The Taking Action on Family Violence Grant Program is included in more than $188 million in prevention strategies and critical programs across government that support survivors and align with Building on our Strengths: Alberta’s 10-year Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence the 10-year, made-in-Alberta strategy.
Albertans can visit the Government of Albert website (see link below) to find out where to turn and learn more about their rights and the law.
Related information
Family Violence – Find supports
Taking Action on Family Violence Grant Program
Building on our strengths: Alberta’s 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence – Open Government
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Alberta takes action: Ending gender-based violence | L’Alberta prend des mesures : mettre fin à la violence fondée sur le sexe | alberta.ca (May 13, 2025)
Nipping family violence in the bud | alberta.ca (Jan. 21, 2025)
Crisis support is available to individuals impacted by the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Crisis Line at 1-844-413-6649 (toll-free).
June 3, 2025 — Ottawa, Ontario, Unceded Algonquin Traditional Territory — Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern and Arctic Affairs Canada
Violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people is a national crisis that must end. Responding to this national crisis requires all levels of government to work in true partnership with Indigenous partners to advance their solutions to improve safety, support healing from trauma, and ensure justice for all, especially those most impacted. Guided by Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, and families and survivors, the Government of Canada is driving meaningful change that reflects Indigenous voices and leadership.
The 2024–25 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report outlines the federal government’s progress to respond to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice. To date, the Government of Canada has taken concrete action on the Calls for Justice and has made significant efforts to advance the National Inquiry’s Final Report.
Examples of progress include:
A Chief Advisor to Combat Human Trafficking was appointed with a mandate to collaborate with Indigenous partners to address the increased risk experienced by Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.
Over 90 Indigenous women’s and 2SLGBQTI+ organizations received federal funding to increase their ability to prevent or address gender-based violence across Canada.
Engagement and co-development of the Red Dress Alert pilot, an emergency response system for missing Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, in a collaborative initiative from Government of Canada, the Government of Manitoba and Giganawenimaanaanig—an Indigenous organization in the province.
52 safety projects received support under the Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative, supporting distinctions-based and 2SLGBTQI+ safety priorities in urban, rural, and Northern communities.
32 healing projects to provide culturally grounded supports for First Nations, Inuit and Métis families experiencing grief and trauma were supported by federal investments.
More than 160 community-based projects were funded, and 14 regional First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations received continued support on the implementation of their long-term strategies to advance Indigenous self-determined priorities and Indigenous control over language revitalization, which is key to healing, identity, and addressing the root causes of violence.
37 new shelters and 36 new transitional homes have been committed for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQI+ people seeking safety.
In the year ahead, Canada will continue working with Indigenous partners to deliver tangible progress and strengthen the systems that keep people safe, as an essential part of collective efforts to build justice, healing, and lasting reconciliation.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and members of the House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee requesting that the committee write and report Fiscal Year 2026 bills in line with President Trump’s goal of fighting waste, fraud, and abuse in federal government programs.
“President Trump and his Administration have led the fight against waste, fraud, and abuse in federal government programs. President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has revealed some of the worst abuses against American taxpayers, most notably within the liberal U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Under the Biden Administration, USAID undermined traditional American policies and core principles across the world through the financing and support of radical leftist priorities. The Appropriations process provides Congress with an opportunity to demonstrate our shared commitment to fighting waste, fraud, and abuse by codifying DOGE cuts and embracing the America First agenda,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter concludes with a request to reduce spending to pre-COVID levels, “In order to meet the budget resolution spending goal in the annual appropriations process, we respectfully request that the Appropriations Committee write and report bills consistent with President Trump’s FY26 budget request that include adjustments initiated by DOGE and reduce non-defense, non-veterans, discretionary spending to pre-COVID levels.”
On the sixth day of the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, visited the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Narayangaon, Pune, where he engaged directly with farmers and agricultural scientists, reaffirming the government’s commitment to farmer welfare, innovation, and modernization in agriculture.
Earlier in the day, Chouhan toured the Narayangaon APMC, the local tomato market, farms, and a cold storage facility, where he interacted with farmers cultivating tomatoes and other crops.
During the interaction, the Minister announced that the government is preparing to enact a stringent law aimed at cracking down on the manufacture and distribution of fake fertilizers and pesticides. “Strict action will be taken against any company or individual involved in such malpractices,” Shri Chouhan said, emphasizing the government’s zero-tolerance approach to harmful agricultural inputs that jeopardize both yields and farmer incomes.
Stressing the importance of practical support, Chouhan urged agricultural scientists to step out of their labs and into the fields. “Scientists must understand local conditions and advise farmers accordingly. Our 16,000 agricultural scientists must work hand-in-hand with farmers to deliver real impact,” he stated.
He also directed scientists to focus on developing tomato and grape varieties with longer shelf life, and emphasized the need for increased research in agri-processing and adaptation to climate change.
Chouhan also outlined the government’s revised Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for TOP crops—Tomato, Onion, and Potato. Under this initiative, the Central Government will bear transportation costs when farmers move their produce to other states offering better market prices. The scheme is designed to ensure farmers get remunerative prices while also helping stabilize retail prices for consumers.
Praising the innovative spirit of Maharashtra’s farmers, the Union Minister noted their contributions to modernized farming practices and increased exports of grapes and bananas. He acknowledged the significant strides made in productivity and development of new crop varieties, affirming Maharashtra’s role as a leader in agricultural innovation.
During the interaction, local farmers shared their views on critical issues such as Minimum Support Prices (MSP), losses due to unseasonal rains, and climate change impacts. They also raised concerns about timely access to seeds, equipment, cold storage, and agri-processing centres. Chouhan assured that these concerns will be addressed through collaborative efforts between the Centre and State Governments, and announced the creation of an area-wise agricultural roadmap.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the Copyright Office, will host a special event on June 4, to mark the 68th anniversary of the Copyright Act, 1957. The event, themed “Reform in Copyright Act in the Digital Era”, will be held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, beginning at 4:30 PM.
The gathering aims to bring together key stakeholders to reflect on the journey of India’s copyright legislation and explore its future trajectory in light of rapid digital transformation. The discussions will focus on how the legal framework can evolve to address emerging challenges and opportunities presented by digital technologies, including AI-generated content, online piracy, and content monetization platforms.
The Copyright Act, enacted in 1957, has been the backbone of intellectual property protection in India, safeguarding the rights of creators across literary, musical, artistic, dramatic, and cinematographic works. Over the years, the Act has been amended multiple times to align with international conventions and accommodate technological advancements.
One of the key highlights shared ahead of the event is the growing adoption of copyright registration in India. Over 3.5 lakh copyrights have been registered since the process was digitized, a significant increase that underscores greater awareness among creators and rights holders about protecting their intellectual property in a digital-first world.
“The upcoming event provides a timely opportunity to assess how the Copyright Act must continue to evolve in the face of digital disruption,” said an official from the DPIIT. “It will also celebrate the Act’s legacy in empowering India’s creative community for nearly seven decades.”
Participants at the event will include legal experts, industry leaders, content creators, academics, and policymakers who are expected to share insights on making copyright laws more robust, inclusive, and adaptable to new media landscapes.
Source: US International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
Community service isn’t something John Beebe does. It’s much more than that. It’s who he is. The Local 374 (Hobart, Indiana) retiree has spent a lifetime giving back, volunteering, helping others, selflessly going the extra mile and stepping up. It’s not a brag. He doesn’t need a pat on the back.
It’s just who John Beebe is.
Beebe is well known as a go-to volunteer and overall champion for the Lake Area United Way; Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana; the town of Highland and Lake County, Indiana, where he lives; the Northern Indiana Area Labor Federation-AFL-CIO, which he served as Boilermaker liaison for 61 years; his Methodist church disaster relief team; and Scouting America. Especially Scouting.
Serving others may have taken root when he joined the Boy Scouts as a kid—and with 73 years of Scouting under his belt, those are some deep roots.
“What intrigued me was the outdoors,” he says of his venture into Cub Scouts in 1952. He also admits, “I didn’t want to stay at home, because my mother would have me washing dishes.”
If avoiding work was part of his motivation, the irony is that Scouts propelled him many years on a path that would hone his dedication to discipline, hard work and service to others. He eventually earned his Eagle Scout, went into the Scout’s Exploring program and was working as a lifeguard when a fellow Scouting enthusiast and Boilermaker recruited him to work a shipbuilding job. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do for a career, and he thought it could be a start. Turns out he had a knack for welding. After working a bit, then a short layoff and callback, he was told he’d be sworn in as a L-374 Boilermaker.
Then came a war. Beebe was drafted and served in Vietnam. When he returned home, he took just a few weeks off before getting back to work. From then on, one job led to another, with his well-earned reputation as a good, hard worker and Eagle Scout serving him through the ranks.
In one instance, he was called by a contractor to interview for a superintendent job he hadn’t applied to at Bethlehem Steele. They had his resume and wanted to talk to him, so he drove out and met with several gentlemen, one who sat against a wall and didn’t speak. At the end of it all, he was told to go get a cup of coffee. The silent man joined him and said, “Congratulations, you’re going to get hired. Those three guys work for me, and you’re getting hired because you’re an Eagle Scout. Eagle Scouts have leadership skills, and I know, because I’m an Eagle Scout.”
Beebe has kept the cycle of goodwill going, volunteering his time with local Scouting throughout his life. Upon his return from Vietnam, he says the local program told him: “Boy we are glad to see you! You’re the new Scout advisor!”
He’s remained close with the five men who earned their Eagle Scouts with him—they still get together once a month. His wife, who passed away in 1995, was an Explorer Advisor for the Scouts, and his kids were all into Scouting. He’s served the local Scouting Council and on the regional board.
“It’s a good way to keep your kids off the street and out of trouble,” he says. “You never hear of an Eagle Scout getting into trouble.”
With his background, it’s no surprise that organizations like United Way, area labor federation and other organizations have eagerly recruited Beebe over the years to fundraise, lend his leadership skills or literally lend a hand.
When areas of Munster, Indiana, flooded in 2010 and destroyed over 3,000 properties, Beebe was among multi-craft union members working side-by-side to clean up neighborhoods. He was also instrumental in assessing and reporting critical needs and where help was most needed. Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana gave him an award for that.
His contributions over decades with the Northern Indiana Area Labor Federation-AFL-CIO earned him the prestigious George Meanie Award. United Way presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s met an astronaut, former First Lady Laura Bush and former Vice President Mike Pence. He’s even been recognized as a “Distinguished Hoosier” by the then-Indiana State Governor Mitch Daniels.
But that’s not why he’s done it all.
“I give back as much as I can,” he says. “This is your home. This is where you live. We all need to take care of our community. Everything I do, I seem to have a lot of fun. I don’t want to be parked in front of a TV in a chair, so I stay busy.”
He has a solid reputation for staying busy helping others.
“Brother Beebe is an example of what brotherhood means. He is someone Local 374, the labor movement and his community can count on—not out of obligation, but because he really cares about helping others,” says IVP-Great Lakes Dan Sulivan.
When Beebe addresses families during Eagle Scout presentations, he encourages the Scouts’ parents to read the definition of the Citizenship Merit Badges and what it takes to earn them. Those badges focus on a person’s responsibility to their nation, the community and society.
“Read them tonight or tomorrow, then go back and read them again in a few days to understand what your child went through,” he says is his advice. “They don’t teach that in school anymore.”
The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Republican Governors Association (RGA) released the following response to Julie Stauch entering Iowa’s gubernatorial race:
“Stauch has been a part of the Democrat establishment for decades, railing against Iowa Republicans’ work to cut taxes, protect girls’ sports, and make government more efficient and effective,” said RGA Communications Director Courtney Alexander. “As the Democrat primary heats up, Iowans will see that Democrats only offer more of the same: higher taxes and a radically liberal, out-of-touch agenda.”
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson today announced a major legal victory in the fight to hold those responsible for the opioid crisis accountable. A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general has reached a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with members of the Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma, Inc., for their role in creating and driving one of the most devastating public health crises in American history.
“South Carolina will stop at nothing to protect its citizens and deliver justice to those who have been harmed. I have fought for years to ensure Purdue and the Sacklers face real accountability, and we will continue to pursue every avenue to stand up for the people of this state,” said Attorney General Wilson. “The Sackler family knowingly drove an epidemic that shattered families and took thousands of lives. This settlement sends a powerful and unmistakable message: if you profit from the suffering and death of South Carolinians, we will hold you accountable, no matter how powerful you are.”
Purdue, under the Sacklers’ leadership, invented, manufactured, and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling waves of addiction and overdose deaths across the country. Their actions led to widespread addiction, suffering, and death in communities across the country including in South Carolina.
The settlement permanently removes the Sacklers from control of Purdue and prohibits them from ever selling opioids in the United States again. South Carolina is expected to receive approximately $72.8 million over the next 15 years as part of this landmark settlement. Funding will go directly to communities across the country to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery programs.
South Carolina joins a coalition of attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.
OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion to dismiss Huntington Beach’s meritless lawsuit challenging Senate Bill (SB) 54 – also known as “the California Values Act” – which limits the use of state and local resources in federal immigration enforcement. The motion to dismiss contends that Huntington Beach lacks standing to challenge SB 54. Following a challenge from the first Trump Administration to SB 54, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2019 upheld the California Values Act, holding that “SB 54 does not directly conflict with any obligations that [federal law] impose[s] on state or local governments.” United States v. California, 921 F.3d 865, 887, 889 (9th Cir. 2019).
“California made a choice when it passed SB 54: To use our resources to protect public safety and to maintain trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.” said Attorney General Bonta. “But instead of focusing on this vital responsibility, Huntington Beach is attempting to relitigate settled law in a misguided attempt to divert its limited resources to federal immigration enforcement. I respectfully urge the court to dismiss this meritless lawsuit.”
In 2017, California enacted SB 54, also known as the California Values Act, declaring that a “relationship of trust between California’s immigrant community and local agencies is central to the public safety of the people of California,” that “[t]his trust is threatened when state and local agencies are entangled with federal immigration enforcement,” and that “[e]ntangling state and local agencies with federal immigration enforcement programs diverts already limited resources and blurs the lines of accountability between local, state, and federal governments.” Under SB 54:
California law enforcement agencies are prohibited from investigating, interrogating, detaining, or arresting persons for immigration enforcement purposes;
California law enforcement agencies may not allow officers to be supervised by federal agencies or deputized for immigration enforcement purposes;
California law enforcement agencies may not enter into new contracts with the federal government to house or detain noncitizens in a locked detention facility for purposes of immigration custody; and
California law enforcement agencies are prohibited from participating in joint law enforcement task forces where the primary purpose of the task force is immigration enforcement.
Nothing in SB 54 prohibits a California law enforcement agency from investigating, detaining, or arresting individuals for criminal activity under state or federal law. SB 54 provides some exceptions for coordination with federal immigration enforcement, including but not limited to, transfers of individuals convicted of certain felonies and misdemeanors.
In 2018, the first Trump Administration filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 54. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that “California has the right, pursuant to the anticommandeering rule [derived from the Tenth Amendment], to refrain from assisting with federal efforts.” United States v. California, 921 F.3d at 873. When the Trump administration subsequently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision, the Court denied the request, leaving the Ninth Circuit’s decision and SB 54 in place.
In the motion to dismiss filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Attorney General Bonta argues that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the case, including because Huntington Beach lacks standing under longstanding Ninth Circuit precedent holding that local governments may not challenge the validity of state statutes under federal law in federal court.
Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting, defending, and enforcing the rights of California immigrants. Following President Trump’s election, the Attorney General hosted a series of regional convenings with immigrant rights groups, elected officials, and others in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Salinas, and San Diego. He also released guidance to help California immigrants better understand their rights and protections under the law and to assist public institutions, law enforcement, and prosecutors in complying with SB 54 and other applicable state laws. More on the Attorney General’s work and the full set of resources are available at oag.ca.gov/immigrant/.
Home Newsroom AG Labrador Announces Arrest of Idaho Falls Man for Alleged Sexual Exploitation of a Child
BOISE — Attorney General Raúl Labrador has announced investigators within his Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force arrested twenty-three-year-old Joel Clarke on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, for possession and distribution of child sexual exploitation material. Clarke was charged with three counts of distribution of child sexual exploitation material and seven counts of possession of child sexual exploitation material. “My office will continue to pursue allegations of child exploitation,” said Attorney General Labrador. “We will continue to work tirelessly to protect children in Idaho and ensure that individuals accused of such heinous offenses are brought before the court to answer for these alleged crimes.” Members of the Idaho ICAC Task Force who assisted with the arrest include the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone with information regarding the exploitation of children is encouraged to contact local police, the Attorney General’s ICAC Unit at 208-947-8700, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. The Attorney General’s ICAC Unit works with the Idaho ICAC Task Force, a coalition of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, to investigate and prosecute individuals who use the internet to criminally exploit children. Parents, educators, and law enforcement officials can find more information and helpful resources at the ICAC website, ICACIdaho.org. The charges listed above are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
SAN FRANCISCO – Esbin Ramirez-Garcia was sentenced today to 90 months in federal prison for committing aggravated sexual abuse while on federal land. Senior U.S. District Judge William Alsup handed down the sentence.
Ramirez-Garcia, 28, a national of Mexico, pleaded guilty on Feb. 25, 2025, to one count of aggravated sexual abuse in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2241(a). According to the plea agreement, Ramirez-Garcia admitted that late in the evening on Aug. 2, 2024, while giving the victim, with whom he had a prior relationship, a ride from her workplace in his truck, he asked her to get back together with him. The victim refused to resume their relationship and asked to be let out of the vehicle, but Ramirez-Garcia grabbed her with his hand and continued driving, forcing her to accompany him.
Ramirez-Garcia deviated from the route to the victim’s home and drove his truck to a parking lot in the Marin Headlands, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Ramirez-Garcia forcibly placed his body on top of the victim’s body while she sat in the passenger seat and sexually assaulted her.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani, and National Park Service Investigative Services Branch Acting Special Agent in Charge Betsy Smith made the announcement.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Alsup also sentenced the defendant to a 10-year period of supervised release and ordered that he participate in a sex offense-specific treatment program, among other conditions. The defendant was immediately remanded into custody.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Chen and Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Wistar Wilson prosecuted the case with the assistance of Sara Slattery, Maureen French, and Fernanda Gonzalez. This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch.
A Metropolitan Police Commander has been dismissed from the service for a second time for refusing to take a drugs test.
A misconduct hearing, led by an independent legally qualified chair, found the allegation proven against Commander Julian Bennett at the level of gross misconduct.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “I am enormously concerned that almost five years since this incident happened we have only now been able to dismiss Commander Bennett.
“This should have been a simple matter. Commander Bennett has never disputed he refused a lawful order to take a drugs test. As a senior officer who had chaired misconduct hearings, Commander Bennett was highly experienced and knew full well what was required of him, yet he made a choice not to co-operate.
“He has been suspended on full pay for an extraordinary length of time. I am sure Londoners will be as outraged as we are at the utter waste of public funds spent paying a senior officer to sit at home suspended and not work.
“In the last few years the Met has been making greater use of accelerated misconduct hearings to fast-track cases where the evidence is irrefutable. This allows us to dismiss officers far more quickly. And while the Met is not responsible for all the delays in Commander Bennett’s matter, we are also working hard to expedite cases and cut bureaucracy.
“I am confident a situation like Commander Bennett’s prolonged case would not happen again.”
Commander Bennett was initially dismissed in October 2023 by a misconduct panel independent of the Met.
The hearing heard that on 21 July 2020 he refused to provide a urine sample for a drugs test, having been informed there was reasonable cause to suspect he had taken drugs. On 24 July 2020 he was suspended from duty.
The panel found that Commander Bennett had breached the standards of professional behaviour to the level of gross misconduct.
Two further allegations were found not proven – that between February 2019 and 21 July 2020, while off duty, Commander Bennett smoked cannabis, and that he gave an untrue explanation for why he refused to take the drugs test.
Commander Bennett then applied to the Police Appeals Tribunal, which is an independent process run by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
In July 2024 the PAT quashed the dismissal decision and ordered a new hearing, on the technical basis that the panel had ruled on a matter that was not part of the allegations they were asked to consider.
The Met considered a legal challenge by way of a Judicial Review but, after careful consideration and legal advice, decided Commander Bennett should face a fresh misconduct hearing.
A date for a new hearing was set as quickly as possible in liaison with all parties.
Commander Bennett has remained suspended throughout this process.
He will be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing. Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by police and a number of police-related bodies.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Murray, DeLauro release updated tally of federal funds Trump is freezing—hurting communities across the country
***VIEW UPDATED TRACKER HERE***
Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, released updated information detailing how President Trump is freezing at least $425 billion in federal funding that Congress has promised to communities across the country.
The updated tracker, which Senator Murray and Congresswoman DeLauro first made public in April, chronicles how President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought are brazenly violating federal laws and choking off critical investments that families, businesses, and local governments across America depend on.
This update comes as Trump and Vought seek to ask Congress to rescind a small fraction of the funding they have been illegally blocking, and as Vought vowed over the weekend to continue illegally impounding funding.
In a statement, Senator Murray and Congresswoman DeLauro said:
“President Trump continues to block hundreds of billions of dollars that have been signed into law, and it is families, farmers, small businesses, and communities in every part of the country who are suffering the consequences.
“While he works to kick millions off their health care and pad his own pockets with new tax breaks for billionaires, President Trump is choking off funding to lower the cost of living for families, create good jobs, and keep our communities safe.
“This administration’s unprecedented assault on our nation’s spending laws is costing the American people dearly. Students have seen critical support ripped away, disaster survivors are waiting on funds to be unfrozen, and cancer patients are seeing their best hope for treatment thrown into a shredder. Communities have suddenly lost resources to protect people from disease, tackle violent crime, and address the substance use crisis. And all across America, people are losing their jobs as President Trump freezes and cancels investments in energy projects, cutting-edge scientific research, community service, and so much else.
“We are going to continue shining a light on how President Trump’s sweeping, illegal funding freeze is hurting working people everywhere.”
As the updated tracker details, President Trump has—through a variety of different means—frozen, cancelled, clawed back, illegally impounded, and slow-walked federal funding for all manner of key priorities. Among much else, this includes investments in:
Critical research into Alzheimer’s disease, women’s health, cancer, diabetes, and much more, throwing research already conducted into the shredder and setting back treatments and cures.
Mental health services and support for students across the country.
Public safety, including COPS grants, Office of Violence Against Women grants, and programs to help victims of crime.
Relief for states and communities responding to and recovering from natural disasters.
Cutting-edge scientific research, which advances breakthrough innovation and boost economic development.
Farmers and local agriculture businesses, making it more expensive for hardworking people to run their farms and cutting off research they count on.
School lunches and food for child care institutions at the detriment of the farmers who rely on these local markets.
Head Start, with unacceptable funding lags leading to program closures and costly uncertainty for providers and parents alike.
Critical investments in transportation projects—for roads and bridges, airports, public transit, ports, and more—and energy projects across the country that are creating new, good jobs and lowering families’ monthly energy bills.
Our national security and efforts to prevent and end global conflicts.
Essential health services like birth control and cancer screenings for over 800,000 patients—and resources to protect people from public health threats.
Since the tracker was last updated, a small number of funds have begun flowing, but new funds have been frozen or cancelled, as well. The upshot remains: the president is blocking over $425 billion in enacted funding.
About the Tracker
The tracker offers a snapshot-in-time look at the vast array of federal funding that should be going out the door, but that President Trump—in an unprecedented scheme—is holding up or actively fighting in court to block.
The tracker is not comprehensive or exhaustive—but it catalogs a wide range of investments that this administration is choking off, in many cases illegally. Compiled by the Democratic staffs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the tracker details the minimum amount of federal funding the Committees believe the administration is currently freezing, cancelling, or fighting in court to block. It does not detail tens of billions of dollars in funding that President Trump has previously frozen but finally allowed to flow—and it cannot measure the incredible cost of President Trump’s illegal funding freezes to American families, businesses, and communities. Additionally, it does not capture the wide range of funding at serious risk of not going out the door because of President Trump’s unprecedented mass firings or the full range of fiscal year 2025 funding that has yet to be awarded or disbursed, but that should be flowing.
In some instances, there are programs and priorities listed in the tracker that courts have ordered the Trump administration to release—rebuking President Trump’s unprecedented assault on our spending laws. Funding for those programs is listed because the Trump administration is actively fighting in court to block it; any relief provided by the courts at this stage is only temporary; and because this administration has over the last several months—whether through intentional defiance or sheer incompetence—repeatedly failed to get funding to its intended recipients even when ordered by a court to do so.
In addition to flagrantly violating our nation’s spending laws, President Trump and Russ Vought are also taking every step they can to hide what they are doing from the American people. Despite repeatedly vowing to have the “most transparent administration in history,” President Trump has led an administration that has systematically obscured its spending actions and the actions of DOGE, failed to provide responses to oversight requests from Congress, refused to answer basic questions from the press, taken down a key website that OMB is required to publicly post spending decisions on in clear defiance of the law, and failed to submit detailed plans to the Appropriations Committees showing how this administration is spending fiscal year 2025 funding, as required by law. The unprecedented lack of transparency and responsiveness makes tracking what funding is being blocked all the more difficult, and it remains the Trump administration’s responsibility to not only begin to follow our spending laws but to explain its actions to date.
The updated database, which captures funding held up as of June 3, can be found on the Senate and House Appropriations Committees’ websites.
An earlier version of the tracker, which captures funding held up as of April 29, is available HERE.
Source: US Whitehouse
HOAX: The One Big Beautiful Bill is “bad for our families.”
FACT: Democrats have totally lost the plot — opposing middle class tax cuts, an expanded child tax credit, border security, and more.
They’re opposing the largest tax cut in history, which will put an extra $5,000 in their pockets with a double-digit percent decrease to their tax bills. In fact, Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 will pay around 15% less in taxes.
They’re opposing NO TAX ON TIPS for the millions of Americans who work in the service industry and NO TAX ON OVERTIME for law enforcement, nurses, and more.
They’re opposing historic tax cuts for senior citizens.
They’re opposing a boost to the child tax credit.
They’re opposing new savings accounts for newborns and the chance for children across America to experience the miracle of compounded growth.
They’re opposing expanded access to childcare for hardworking American families.
They’re opposing historic border security to keep their communities safe.
They’re opposing expanded health savings accounts that give Americans greater choice and flexibility in how they spend their money.
They’re opposing scholarships that empower Americans to choose the education that best fits the needs of their families.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
New JCVI Chair appointed
Professor Wei Shen Lim KBE will become the new Chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation from October.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard will step down as JCVI Chair on 30th September 2025 after 12 years of leadership
During his tenure, Sir Andrew has been instrumental in advising governments on vaccination matters and chaired numerous committees
Professor Wei Shen Lim, KBE, who is currently Deputy Chair of the JCVI and Chair of the COVID-19 sub-committee, will become the new JCVI chair from 1st October 2025
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard will step down as Chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on 30th September 2025, after sitting on the committee for over a decade.
The JCVI is an independent departmental expert committee which has worked for over six decades to ensure that immunisation programmes in the UK are both world-leading and a cost-effective use of public money — optimising the protection of children and adults from serious infections.
Sir Andrew was appointed Chair of the JCVI in 2013, having previously served as a member of the JCVI’s meningococcal sub-committee. During his tenure, he has been instrumental in advising governments on vaccination matters, serving not only as Chair of the main JCVI committee, but also as Chair of the human papillomavirus (HPV), influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) sub-committees. Sir Andrew remains a valued expert on vaccination and immunisation as Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Ashall Professor of Infection and Immunity at the University of Oxford, and a Paediatric Infectious Disease Consultant at Oxford’s Children’s Hospital.
Following an open and competitive recruitment process, Professor Wei Shen Lim, KBE will be appointed as the new Chair of the JCVI from 1st October 2025. Professor Lim, KBE is a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and an Honorary Professor of Respiratory Medicine for The University of Nottingham. He currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the JCVI and Chair of the COVID-19 sub-committee.
Dr Thomas Waite, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England said:
I am deeply grateful for Sir Andrew’s leadership of the JCVI over the last 12 years. Over this time the JCVI has given advice to support the introduction of vaccination programmes to protect the public against a range of infections including meningococcal disease and RSV. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Sir Andrew for his dedication and expertise.
I am delighted to welcome Professor Lim, KBE as the new Chair of the committee. Professor Lim served as Chair during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensured government received timely advice on the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to protect the health of the UK public. I very much look forward to continuing to work with him as the new Chair.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01)
ALBUQUERQUE— This week,Representative Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)wrapped up a Town Hall Tour across New Mexico, reaching more than 15,000 New Mexicans across 10 counties and 12 cities and towns with 15 events.
The Congresswoman traveled across New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, covering a large swath of central New Mexico—holding town halls in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Tijeras, Moriarty, Fort Sumner, Carrizozo, Placitas, Corrales, Roswell, and Ruidoso and Mescalero. She also held virtual and telephone town halls for those who could not make it in person. Rep. Stansbury also consulted and met with a number of Pueblo and Tribal Nations, including those in the district, the All Pueblo Council of Governors and individual Pueblos, the Mescalero Apache Nation, and Navajo Nation Council members.
“The most important thing Members of Congress can do right now is listen to the people they represent and do their jobs,” saidRep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01). “Americans across the country are deeply concerned about what is happening to American democracy, the federal government, and our communities—and they deserve answers. That is why I traveled to every corner of our district to listen to New Mexicans and answer questions. It is my duty to serve the people, and that’s exactly what we’re doing—fighting to protect Social Security, Medicaid, and vital programs our people depend on.”
Across the district, the same questions were asked in rural, tribal, urban, large, and small communities alike. The top five issues raised by New Mexicans at all fifteen Town Halls included:
What Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Trump Administration are doing with Americans’ private data, mass firings, the dismantling of agencies, and how it all can be stopped.
Cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, and other vital programs.
Attacks on American civil liberties, due process, and the Constitution.
Attacks on voting rights, including the potential passage of the SAVE Act, and protecting free and fair elections going forward.
How Congress can protect New Mexicans and continue to fight back.
Congresswoman Stansbury now returns to Washington for a three-week Congressional work schedule that will include Republican-led hearings on a large tax and reconciliation package that could impact millions of Americans on Medicaid and food assistance. Congresswoman Stansbury returns armed with feedback and stories from New Mexicans on both sides of the aisle who are deeply concerned about what is happening in Washington.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01)
22.6% reduction in critical programs threatens millions of American lives, including critical programs for schools, healthcare, the opioid epidemic, clean water, and tribal programs
WASHINGTON D.C. —Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)released the following statement after President Trump delivered a “skinny” version of his Fiscal Year 2026 President’s Budget request to Congress on Friday:
“Today, Donald Trump delivered his first President’s Budget request to Congress, and it should tell you everything you need to know about his priorities: that they are all about gutting vital programs over meeting the needs of the American people,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01). “This is the President’s Great Betrayal once again, following on his massive tax package gutting social programs and ongoing tariffs that are driving economic instability and increased costs for the American people. Trump’s budget would gut vital programs by over 22% across all major federal programs—including those crucial to funding our schools, mental and behavioral health programs, clean water and air, and tribal programs. This is America under DOGE. And, I will continue to fight it every step of the way.”
Today, President Donald Trump transmitted a FY 2026 “Skinny” Budget to Congress, proposing over $163 billion in cuts, totaling more than a 22% reduction in funding for non-defense discretionary spending, representing cuts across vital federal agencies, including, among many others:
$33.3 billion in cuts (a 26.2% decrease) to the Department of Health and Human Services
$33.6 billion in cuts (a 43.6% decrease) to the Department of Housing and Urban Development
$5.1 billion in cuts (a 30.5% decrease) for the Department of the Interior, including hundreds of millions in cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
$4.535 billion in cuts to the Department of Education’s K-12 Programs and billions more to early childhood education and other programs
$1.065 billion in cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
$2.460 billion in cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
Among additional cuts that could significantly impact New Mexico and New Mexico’s First Congressional District include:
$617 million in funding cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) serving Tribal and Pueblo Nations (including $107 million in cuts for BIA Public Safety & Justice programs and 187 million in cuts to the Bureau of Indian Education)
The elimination of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). which helps low-income families with heating and utility costs
$900 million in cuts to the National Park System
Billions in cuts to infrastructure, clean energy, and Department of Energy programs vital to New Mexico’s economy.
This FY 2026 Proposal for agency funding cuts follows on the special tax and spending package Trump and the GOP are trying to pass separately through a Budget Reconciliation package this spring. This disastrous package would havecatastrophic impacts for the country and NM-01. This tax package includes $7 trillion in giveaways to billionaires and big corporations, including a $314,266 average annual tax cut for the richest 0.1 percent, funded through almost $5 trillion in deficit spending and cuts to vital programs like Medicaid and food assistance.
Among its impacts for New Mexico’s First Congressional District include:
Healthcare insurance premiums could increase by 60% – 169%
207,936 people on Medicaid could be at risk of losing health care access and benefits, including 85,960 children under the age of 19 and 22,000 seniors over 65
153,000 people on SNAP could be impacted in their ability to access benefits that help put food on the table.
216,669 children who rely on free school lunches could be impacted
15,721 students in NM-01 on Pell grants could be impacted
For a table with more information on these cuts, clickhere.
