NewzIntel.com

Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Haitian Mayor and Human Rights Violator Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Lying about Past Involvement in Political Violence

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Note: See indictment here.

    Jean Morose Viliena, the former Mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, was sentenced today to nine years in prison followed by three years of supervised release by Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV for the District of Massachusetts for possessing and using a Permanent Resident Card he had fraudulently obtained by falsely stating that he had not ordered, carried out, or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people. A federal jury convicted Viliena in March 2025 of three counts of visa fraud.

    “In Haiti, Jean Morose Viliena was involved in the violent killings, beatings, and assaults of whomever he believed threatened his power as mayor,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “His lies to U.S. immigration authorities allowed him to unlawfully enter this country and obtain lawful permanent resident status. Individuals who commit violent crimes in their home countries should take note: we do not tolerate human rights abusers who lie to take refuge here. We will find you, investigate you, and prosecute you to ensure that you are held accountable to the maximum extent of U.S. law for your heinous criminal conduct.”

    “Jean Morose Viliena built a life in the United States by burying the truth about his violent past – a past marked by political persecution, bloodshed and the silencing of dissent in Haiti,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortably in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain. Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe haven for human rights abusers. Lying to gain entry into this country and then lying again under oath to avoid accountability strikes at the heart of our immigration and legal systems. I commend the tremendous courage of the victims and witnesses who stood up and spoke the truth despite the risks and made this outcome possible.”

    “Today’s sentencing underscores the commitment of Homeland Security Investigations to ensuring that individuals who commit heinous acts of violence and fraud are held accountable, regardless of where those crimes were committed,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England. “Jean Morose Viliena’s actions were not only a gross violation of human rights but also a betrayal of the trust placed in him by his community. HSI will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to bring justice to victims and protect the American people from foreign criminals seeking to escape justice in their home countries.”

    Viliena, 53, was the Mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. As a candidate and as mayor, Viliena was backed by Korega, a political machine that used armed violence to exert power throughout the southwestern region of Haiti. Viliena personally supervised his mayoral staff and other armed supporters aligned with Korega and directed them to engage in armed violence to quash opposition to his authority.

    According to evidence presented at trial, on July 27, 2007, Viliena violently retaliated against an activist who had previously spoken at a judicial proceeding on behalf of a neighbor whom Viliena had assaulted. In a brutal act of reprisal, that evening, Viliena led an armed group to the activist’s home, where Viliena and his associates shot and killed the activist’s younger brother and then smashed the brother’s skull with a large rock before a crowd of bystanders.

    Viliena committed another act of violent retribution in April 2008, when he and his associates attacked community members who had founded a radio station that Viliena opposed. According to multiple witnesses’ testimony, Viliena mobilized armed members of his staff and supporters to forcibly shut down the radio station and seize its broadcasting equipment. Viliena distributed firearms to his men, some of whom also carried machetes and picks. According to the evidence presented at trial, during this incident, Viliena beat one man and ordered an associate to shoot him when he tried to flee. As a result, the man’s leg was later amputated above the knee. Viliena also beat a student who was at the radio station; when the student tried to flee, a bullet struck his face, leaving him permanently blind in one eye.

    Less than two months after the radio station attack, Viliena presented himself at the U.S. Embassy Consular Office in Port au Prince, Haiti, where he applied for a visa to enter the United States. The visa application specifically requires an applicant to state whether they are a member of any class of individuals excluded from admission into the United States, including those who have “ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.” Viliena falsely responded “no,” indicating that this category did not apply to him. Viliena thereafter swore to and affirmed before a U.S. Consular Officer that the contents of the application were true and signed the application.

    Based on Viliena’s false representations, the United States approved his visa application and permitted him to enter the country. The United States later granted Viliena lawful permanent resident status and a Permanent Resident Card, also known as a “Green Card.” For years, through the use of his fraudulently obtained Green Card, Viliena enjoyed a job; sufficient income; a comfortable home; a safe community; the ability to visit his family in Les Irois at any time; and the privilege of raising and educating a son who is now a U.S. citizen by birth.

    The HSI Boston Field Office investigated the case, with coordination provided by the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate, and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. Invaluable assistance was also provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection from Boston Logan Airport.

    Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case, with assistance from HRSP Historian/Analyst Dr. Christopher Hayden.

    Members of the public who have information about former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or its online tip form at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: LEADER JEFFRIES STATEMENT ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST 

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

    Know Your Immigration Rights

    If you or a loved one encounter immigration enforcement officials, it is essential that you know your rights and have prepared your household for all possible outcomes.

    Ask for a warrant: The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects you from unreasonable search and seizure. You do not have to open your door until you see a valid warrant to enter your home or search your belongings.

    Your right to remain silent: The Fifth Amendment protects your right to remain silent and not incriminate yourself. You are not required to share any personal information such as your place of birth, immigration status or criminal history.

    Always consult an attorney: You have a right to speak with an attorney. You do not have to sign anything or hand officials any documents without speaking to an attorney. Try to identify and consult one in advance.

    The New York City Office of Civil Justice and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) support a variety of free immigration legal services through local nonprofit legal organizations. To access these resources, dial 311 and say “Action NYC,” call the MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365 Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or visit MOIA’s website.

    Learn more here: KNOW YOUR IMMIGRATION RIGHTS  – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Erie County Botanical Gardens’ Expansion & Renovation

    Source: US State of New York

    arlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens broke ground on its long-anticipated expansion and renovation project. The $31 million project will include much-needed visitor amenities to meet the demands of the community, further the organization’s mission, and provide generational growth and stability. It is anticipated to be completed in early 2027.

    B-ROLL of the Governor at the groundbreaking for the Botanical Gardens is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

    VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

    AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

    PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

     Wow. First of all, this is a homecoming for me. No I mean, I was born right there — across the street. I was born at Our Lady of Victory Hospital, and this neighborhood is just part of my story. And as a little girl, I would take my naps when I was about three or four years old in my parents’ bed, and on their dresser was a picture of their wedding right in front of this building.

    So to me, this is always a magical place where mom and dad had their wedding pictures. And so as they brought us here as children, because when you grow up, and dad had worked at the steel plant down the road, the trailer park — still there, this is where you came for vacation, right? You didn’t have a lot of money to go on fancy trips. You came here, you thought you were going to the tropics, you thought you were going to a desert.

    I mean, you could use your imagination to just think of all the places around the world that you probably were never going to get to in person, but your mind was activated, and I know that dream is still there for so many people, and I want to thank the people who brought us here.

    Erin Grajek, who’s doing an extraordinary job as the President and CEO, I want to commend you for your leadership. It’s a good day. Probably the only person happier than you, Erin, is your 10-year-old son, Miles, who got out of school today. Right, Miles? You must be really proud of your mom. Tisha Luciani, our Board Chair. Let’s give her a round of applause as well.

    And we have a very special guest here, traveled some distance. Our former CEO and President, Dave Swarts. If you do not know him, he has been gone a little while, not too long, but he spent a decade of his life as the Chairman and CEO of this institution. Before that, he had been in public life and we worked closely together. But literally, I think my first trip home, after going to Albany, after I became Governor, Dave wanted me to come here, sit in his office, look at some plans.

    He showed me the plans, and I was hooked. And I knew that we could, with support from the State — which I would actually have a little more say over as the Governor — that we could make some real magic happen here. And so I was proud in April of 2022, my very first budget to announce significant funding to implement a vision here. So Dave, I want to give you a lot of credit for having the vision and the connections to be able to get this over the finish line. So welcome to you and Susan, your wife, who’s been at your side for such a long time.

    But it’s also a chance to thank our elected officials. This is something that I know our County Executive is enormously proud of. This is also his hometown and a place that he gathered often as a child, and I want to thank Mark Poloncarz for the county stewardship for this great project. Our Mayor, Chris Scanlon, has joined us as well. Mayor Scanlon, thank you for being here and all your support for this.

    The representatives of this area — the two elected officials of this particular property in Albany — Senator April Baskin, Assemblymember Pat Burke, thank you for getting your enormous support for this. Senator Sean Ryan, Assemblymember Jon Rivera, neighboring elected officials, but also this is a regional asset. This is for the entire region. Indeed it’s an incredible jewel for the State of New York, and I’m proud to be here.

    It’s hard to think about this place, though, without recognizing the life and legacy of Mark Mortenson, who really just drove this so hard and would’ve liked nothing more I’m sure than to be here on this day. And our thoughts go out to him, his family and what a loss for all of us.

    But also this is a place beloved by so many. And a $31 million investment signals that this community matters. And sometimes people who live here all their lives, they overlook how extraordinary this community is. This place — you have one of the most beautiful basilicas in the country right across the street, and we have to make Father Baker a saint someday. Right?

    Can we keep that going, everybody? Please keep that going. So I put out there we have an American Pope. We’re going to go have a little chat.

    I know he knows where Lackawanna is on a map — that’s a place that my dad — my mom went to school right there. My grandpa was the track coach at Father Baker. We always saw my uncles running around this beautiful property, and it’s such a tight-knit community here.

    And those who either live in Lackawanna, live in Western New York, or just true lovers of the extraordinary presentation of God’s greatest gift to us — nature and plants and flowers right here. All of you are part of something quite extraordinary.

    For 125 years — 125 years this place has been here. So people who came long before and people long after us, will take note of what we did when we were the stewards of this place.

    Didn’t just let it stay, but had to fix many of the deteriorating structures. The Conservatory is so beautiful now, and I remember the light shows we used to see before the pandemic struck. But a 120,000 square foot expansion so we can have a better gathering space and more programming for children and just welcome generations to come.

    Not even kids born yet. It’ll be coming to this place because we cared enough to make an investment and say, “This community matters. The botanical gardens matter, and the future for this community matters as well.” So I look at this, you welcome over a hundred thousand people every year. That’s extraordinary.

    We have many other assets in the state that don’t claim that many people who are drawn to this place of comfort and solace, especially when the weather’s bad outside. I loved coming here during snowstorms with my kids, right? Let them walk around a little and pretend they’re outside. And so this is always going to such a significant part of our community and it has an economic impact over $5 million. Don’t underestimate that.

    That’s me every time I come to the gift shop. I walk out with all kinds of loot but I know we can double those numbers, right? We can hit 200,000. Why not, and I’ll help promote this. The State of New York will help promote this even more. That’s my commitment to you. And we can double the economic impact.

    So right up there with places like Kleinhans, who we invested in, and Fort Niagara and the aquarium, and children’s museums and other places this is part of what makes this place so incredibly special? So I just want to tell you, I’m so glad it worked out that I could be here for this celebration. As Marv Levy used to say, “Where would you rather be than right here, right now?” Right, Bills fans?

    So this is a humbling experience for me to come back as Governor, as someone who’s born over there, raised in this community. Treasure this institution and be able to help with $12 million from the state. So, congratulations to everyone involved. I cannot wait to come back.

    December 18th, 2026. That’s the day. That’s the day I will proudly come back as your Governor to say we’ll be cutting the ribbon on the next chapter for the Botanical Gardens. So thank you everybody.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Erie County Botanical Gardens’ Expansion & Renovation

    Source: US State of New York

    arlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens broke ground on its long-anticipated expansion and renovation project. The $31 million project will include much-needed visitor amenities to meet the demands of the community, further the organization’s mission, and provide generational growth and stability. It is anticipated to be completed in early 2027.

    B-ROLL of the Governor at the groundbreaking for the Botanical Gardens is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

    VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

    AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

    PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

     Wow. First of all, this is a homecoming for me. No I mean, I was born right there — across the street. I was born at Our Lady of Victory Hospital, and this neighborhood is just part of my story. And as a little girl, I would take my naps when I was about three or four years old in my parents’ bed, and on their dresser was a picture of their wedding right in front of this building.

    So to me, this is always a magical place where mom and dad had their wedding pictures. And so as they brought us here as children, because when you grow up, and dad had worked at the steel plant down the road, the trailer park — still there, this is where you came for vacation, right? You didn’t have a lot of money to go on fancy trips. You came here, you thought you were going to the tropics, you thought you were going to a desert.

    I mean, you could use your imagination to just think of all the places around the world that you probably were never going to get to in person, but your mind was activated, and I know that dream is still there for so many people, and I want to thank the people who brought us here.

    Erin Grajek, who’s doing an extraordinary job as the President and CEO, I want to commend you for your leadership. It’s a good day. Probably the only person happier than you, Erin, is your 10-year-old son, Miles, who got out of school today. Right, Miles? You must be really proud of your mom. Tisha Luciani, our Board Chair. Let’s give her a round of applause as well.

    And we have a very special guest here, traveled some distance. Our former CEO and President, Dave Swarts. If you do not know him, he has been gone a little while, not too long, but he spent a decade of his life as the Chairman and CEO of this institution. Before that, he had been in public life and we worked closely together. But literally, I think my first trip home, after going to Albany, after I became Governor, Dave wanted me to come here, sit in his office, look at some plans.

    He showed me the plans, and I was hooked. And I knew that we could, with support from the State — which I would actually have a little more say over as the Governor — that we could make some real magic happen here. And so I was proud in April of 2022, my very first budget to announce significant funding to implement a vision here. So Dave, I want to give you a lot of credit for having the vision and the connections to be able to get this over the finish line. So welcome to you and Susan, your wife, who’s been at your side for such a long time.

    But it’s also a chance to thank our elected officials. This is something that I know our County Executive is enormously proud of. This is also his hometown and a place that he gathered often as a child, and I want to thank Mark Poloncarz for the county stewardship for this great project. Our Mayor, Chris Scanlon, has joined us as well. Mayor Scanlon, thank you for being here and all your support for this.

    The representatives of this area — the two elected officials of this particular property in Albany — Senator April Baskin, Assemblymember Pat Burke, thank you for getting your enormous support for this. Senator Sean Ryan, Assemblymember Jon Rivera, neighboring elected officials, but also this is a regional asset. This is for the entire region. Indeed it’s an incredible jewel for the State of New York, and I’m proud to be here.

    It’s hard to think about this place, though, without recognizing the life and legacy of Mark Mortenson, who really just drove this so hard and would’ve liked nothing more I’m sure than to be here on this day. And our thoughts go out to him, his family and what a loss for all of us.

    But also this is a place beloved by so many. And a $31 million investment signals that this community matters. And sometimes people who live here all their lives, they overlook how extraordinary this community is. This place — you have one of the most beautiful basilicas in the country right across the street, and we have to make Father Baker a saint someday. Right?

    Can we keep that going, everybody? Please keep that going. So I put out there we have an American Pope. We’re going to go have a little chat.

    I know he knows where Lackawanna is on a map — that’s a place that my dad — my mom went to school right there. My grandpa was the track coach at Father Baker. We always saw my uncles running around this beautiful property, and it’s such a tight-knit community here.

    And those who either live in Lackawanna, live in Western New York, or just true lovers of the extraordinary presentation of God’s greatest gift to us — nature and plants and flowers right here. All of you are part of something quite extraordinary.

    For 125 years — 125 years this place has been here. So people who came long before and people long after us, will take note of what we did when we were the stewards of this place.

    Didn’t just let it stay, but had to fix many of the deteriorating structures. The Conservatory is so beautiful now, and I remember the light shows we used to see before the pandemic struck. But a 120,000 square foot expansion so we can have a better gathering space and more programming for children and just welcome generations to come.

    Not even kids born yet. It’ll be coming to this place because we cared enough to make an investment and say, “This community matters. The botanical gardens matter, and the future for this community matters as well.” So I look at this, you welcome over a hundred thousand people every year. That’s extraordinary.

    We have many other assets in the state that don’t claim that many people who are drawn to this place of comfort and solace, especially when the weather’s bad outside. I loved coming here during snowstorms with my kids, right? Let them walk around a little and pretend they’re outside. And so this is always going to such a significant part of our community and it has an economic impact over $5 million. Don’t underestimate that.

    That’s me every time I come to the gift shop. I walk out with all kinds of loot but I know we can double those numbers, right? We can hit 200,000. Why not, and I’ll help promote this. The State of New York will help promote this even more. That’s my commitment to you. And we can double the economic impact.

    So right up there with places like Kleinhans, who we invested in, and Fort Niagara and the aquarium, and children’s museums and other places this is part of what makes this place so incredibly special? So I just want to tell you, I’m so glad it worked out that I could be here for this celebration. As Marv Levy used to say, “Where would you rather be than right here, right now?” Right, Bills fans?

    So this is a humbling experience for me to come back as Governor, as someone who’s born over there, raised in this community. Treasure this institution and be able to help with $12 million from the state. So, congratulations to everyone involved. I cannot wait to come back.

    December 18th, 2026. That’s the day. That’s the day I will proudly come back as your Governor to say we’ll be cutting the ribbon on the next chapter for the Botanical Gardens. So thank you everybody.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: HUMAN TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY SPANNING FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA DISMANTLED

    Source: United States Department of Justice (Human Trafficking)

    TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Kimberly Robinson Gandy, 47, of Gulfport, Mississippi, was found guilty on Wednesday afternoon, June 18, 2025, by a federal jury, of: Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; and Money Laundering. Her codefendant, Chad Cornelius Seymore, 49, of Dothan, Alabama, pled as charged, on Monday, June 9, 2025, immediately prior to the scheduled trial, to: Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Receiving Benefits From Sex Trafficking; Interstate Travel In Aid of Racketeering; and Money Laundering. The guilty plea and verdict were announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

    U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Thanks to the tireless efforts of our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners who investigated this case, and the tenacious work of the federal prosecutors and support staff in my office, we have dismantled this sex trafficking conspiracy and obtained justice on behalf of its victims.  My office is committed to fulfilling the promise of President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to aggressively prosecute those who prey upon and profit from human trafficking victims. This outcome is a testament to the outstanding collaborative work of the Capital City Human Trafficking Task Force.”

    Court documents reflect that over a four-year period Seymore conspired with others to bond adult women out of county jail and then force them to commit commercial sex acts in Alabama and North Florida. Seymore recruited women suffering from drug addictions at hotels and through online advertisements. He threatened and physically abused his sex trafficking victims.  Gandy conspired with Seymore to traffic women in Panama City Beach and Destin. They used online money exchange platforms to transfer funds received from commercial sex acts.  

    Sentencing for Chad Seymore is scheduled for August 15, 2025, at 2:00 p.m.  Kim Gandy will be sentenced on September 15, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.   The defendants will be sentenced at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Chief United States District Judge Alan C. Winsor.

    The convictions were the result of a joint investigation by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Dothan, Alabama Police Department, the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Panama City Police Department, with assistance from the United States Marshal’s Service, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama. The case is being prosecuted by First Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Spaven.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: HUMAN TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY SPANNING FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA DISMANTLED

    Source: United States Department of Justice (Human Trafficking)

    TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Kimberly Robinson Gandy, 47, of Gulfport, Mississippi, was found guilty on Wednesday afternoon, June 18, 2025, by a federal jury, of: Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; and Money Laundering. Her codefendant, Chad Cornelius Seymore, 49, of Dothan, Alabama, pled as charged, on Monday, June 9, 2025, immediately prior to the scheduled trial, to: Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Receiving Benefits From Sex Trafficking; Interstate Travel In Aid of Racketeering; and Money Laundering. The guilty plea and verdict were announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

    U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Thanks to the tireless efforts of our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners who investigated this case, and the tenacious work of the federal prosecutors and support staff in my office, we have dismantled this sex trafficking conspiracy and obtained justice on behalf of its victims.  My office is committed to fulfilling the promise of President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to aggressively prosecute those who prey upon and profit from human trafficking victims. This outcome is a testament to the outstanding collaborative work of the Capital City Human Trafficking Task Force.”

    Court documents reflect that over a four-year period Seymore conspired with others to bond adult women out of county jail and then force them to commit commercial sex acts in Alabama and North Florida. Seymore recruited women suffering from drug addictions at hotels and through online advertisements. He threatened and physically abused his sex trafficking victims.  Gandy conspired with Seymore to traffic women in Panama City Beach and Destin. They used online money exchange platforms to transfer funds received from commercial sex acts.  

    Sentencing for Chad Seymore is scheduled for August 15, 2025, at 2:00 p.m.  Kim Gandy will be sentenced on September 15, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.   The defendants will be sentenced at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Chief United States District Judge Alan C. Winsor.

    The convictions were the result of a joint investigation by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Dothan, Alabama Police Department, the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Panama City Police Department, with assistance from the United States Marshal’s Service, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama. The case is being prosecuted by First Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Spaven.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Members Of Drug Conspiracy Distributing Fentanyl And Methamphetamine Are Sentenced To Prison

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two members of a drug conspiracy that distributed fentanyl and methamphetamine were sentenced to prison yesterday, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Ashton Durrell Farley, 32, of Hickory, N.C., was sentenced to 235 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Thomas Eugene Ikard, 46, of Lenoir, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Farley and Ikard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.

    U.S. Attorney Ferguson is joined in making the announcement by Alicia Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, Sheriff Donald G. Brown II of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Reed Baer of the Hickory Police Department.

    Two other members of the drug conspiracy were previously sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Dustin Eric Wilson, 35, of Charlotte was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Harold Marquis Wilfong, 37, of Hickory, was sentenced to 84 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

    According to court documents and court proceedings, federal charges were filed against the defendants following a 10-month investigation led by the ATF and the Hickory Police Department (HPD), aimed at reducing drug distribution and drug-induced criminal activity in Catawba County and surrounding areas. The drug trafficking ring operated out of Hickory and distributed large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the area. To identify the drug conspirators and their operations, ATF agents and HPD officers utilized controlled drug purchases, conducted physical surveillance, and executed search warrants. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that members of the drug ring used several residences either as “stash houses” to store drugs and/or guns, or to conduct drug sales and other drug trafficking activities. One of the alleged stash houses was located two blocks from the federal courthouse in Charlotte.

    According to court records, during the investigation, law enforcement seized multiple kilograms of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Law enforcement also seized multiple firearms used by some of the traffickers to support their drug distribution, including an AR-15 rifle and a privately made firearm or “ghost gun,” and ammunition.

    In making the announcement U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended the ATF, HPD, and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office investigation of this case and thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for their invaluable assistance.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Waterbury Woman Pleads Guilty, Admits Multiple Fraud Schemes

    Source: US FBI

    David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARLENIN VITO, 46, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to an offense stemming from multiple fraud schemes.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, Vito was employed as Medicaid Coordinator at an assisted living facility (“Company A”) located in Stamford.  Vito’s responsibilities included assisting the residents in applying for nursing home level Medicaid reimbursements, monitoring the residents’ patient trust accounts, and ensuring compliance with Medicaid regulations.  She was also responsible for keeping journal entries for the residents’ trust accounts and to credit their accounts when funds were received, and for debiting patient accounts when payments were made on behalf of the residents or when cash was given to residents for incidental expenses.

    Between approximately December 2019 and May 2021, Vito defrauded Company A and its residents by generating checks from Company A’s system, forging a fellow employee’s signature on the checks, negotiating the fraudulent checks purportedly to give the cash proceeds to certain residents, and keeping the cash for her own use.  Vito then made false entries into Company A’s accounting ledger by debiting the fraudulently obtained cash from the residents’ respective trust accounts.  Many of the residents were not healthy enough or mentally capable of tracking their own expenses or monitoring the balances of their own trust accounts.

    In certain instances, Vito cancelled residents’ supplemental health insurance coverage, but continued to deduct funds from the trust accounts and took the funds for herself.  Also, when certain residents’ trust accounts were credited with Economic Impact Payments (“COVID-19 stimulus payments”), Vito took the funds for herself and then debited the residents’ accounts at a rate of approximately $60 a day until the stimulus funds were depleted.

    During the scheme, Vito fraudulently negotiated approximately 500 checks, stealing approximately $310,820.  When she was confronted by family members of certain residents, Vito created and provided to those family members false account statements that misrepresented the balances in the residents’ trust accounts.

    After she was terminated by Company A, Vito obtained employment as a bookkeeper and scheduler at an alarm company (“Company B”) located in White Plains, New York.  Vito stole from the company by making false representations about overtime for herself and her daughter, and by using company funds to order more than $10,000 worth of products to be delivered to her Waterbury residence.  Company B was defrauded of approximately $23,558 through these schemes.

    After she was terminated by Company B, Vito was employed as a bookkeeper at a law firm in Hartford (“Company C”).  Vito took fraudulently generated checks drawn on Company C’s bank account and issued as “Pay to the Order of ‘Petty Cash, ’” forged the signature of an authorized employee on the checks, cashed the checks, and kept the funds for herself.  She then recorded the fraudulently negotiated checks in Company C’s books and records as “Petty Cash.”  Vito stole approximately $27,179 from Company C.

    Vito pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10.

    Vito is released on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing.

    This investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Stamford Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Ridgefield Police Department, and the Putnam County (N.Y.) Sheriff’s Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. McGarry and Nathan J. Guevremont.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Nebraska Private Nonprofits Affected by July Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Nebraska of the July 21 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding occurring July 31, 2024.

    The disaster declaration covers the Nebraska counties of Cass, Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy and Saunders.

    Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to PNPs providing non-critical services of a governmental nature who suffered financial losses directly related to the disaster. Examples of eligible non-critical PNPs include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

    EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    “SBA loans help eligible small businesses and private nonprofits cover operating expenses after a disaster, which is crucial for their recovery,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “These loans not only help business owners get back on their feet but also play a key role in sustaining local economies in the aftermath of a disaster.”

    The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 3.25% and terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    The SBA encourages applicants to submit their loan applications promptly. Applications will be prioritized in the order they are received, and the SBA remains committed to processing them as efficiently as possible.

    Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than July 21.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jayapal Announces Community Project Funding Requests for FY26

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

    SEATTLE, WA — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) is today announcing the Community Project Funding (CPF) requests that she will be advocating to include in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations bills.

    “Delivering for the Seattle area is the most important part of my job, and I am so proud to be working to bring home this money for innovative and critical projects across our community,” said Jayapal. “This funding will make our community safer, more affordable, more resilient to the climate crisis, and overall a better place to live. As Republicans in Congress and the Administration work to cut funding in every corner of the country, including for UW, and make life more expensive for all of us, I will continue working to get these projects across the finish line.”

    Jayapal is submitting the following funding requests:

    • $3 million for the City of Burien’s Public Market
    • $3 million for the City of Lake Forest Park’s Lakefront Park Community Center
    • $10 million for the City of Seattle’s Fort Lawton Redevelopment 
    • $4 million for the City of Seattle’s Lake City Community Center and Affordable Housing Redevelopment
    • $3.75 million for the City of Seattle’s Third Avenue Revitalization 
    • $3 million for the City of Seattle’s Seattle Waterfront Elliott Bay Seawall Project, Phase 2
    • $4 million for the City of Shoreline’s Trail Along the Rail
    • $1.7 million for the Port of Seattle’s Pier 86 Grain Terminal Switcher Locomotive Replacement
    • $1 million for the Port of Seattle’s Seattle Waterfront Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment
    • $3 million for Sound Transit’s Link Reliability Improvements 
    • $5 million for Southwest Suburban Sewer District’s Sewer Rehabilitation Project, Phase One
    • $5 million for the University of Washington’s Cold Lab
    • $2 million for the University of Washington’s Critical Campus Building Access Fixes 
    • $281,000 for the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Evaluating Shoreline Restoration Effectiveness on Vashon and Maury Island 
    • $7 million for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Seattle Ferry Terminal Shoreside Electrification 

    In the FY24 budget, Jayapal secured $7,566,000 for affordable housing and emergency shelters, which is expected to build or renovate nearly 300 housing units throughout the district and maintain emergency shelter for 200 individuals. 

    However, in the FY25 budget process, Republicans eliminated non-profits from eligibility for certain funding streams, disqualifying multiple previously eligible housing projects in WA-07. The FY25 cycle resulted in a full-year continuing resolution where no projects were funded. For FY26, House Republican Leadership has announced they will limit Democratic projects to 37 percent of total CPF spending despite the nearly 50-50 makeup of the House of Representatives. 

    More detailed information on each of these projects can be found here. Since the reinstatement of CPF by the Democratic House leadership in the 117th Congress, Jayapal has secured $57,626,089 for 39 community projects in WA-07. The full lists from FY22 can be found here, FY23 here, and FY24 here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Read More (U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Announces Veterans History Project Interview Featuring Private First Class David Endean, United States Army)

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17)

    June 20, 2025 | Press Releases

    View the Video Here
    SARASOTA – U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R‑Fla.) today released the latest installment in the Veterans History Project Series, honoring the service and sacrifice of veterans from Florida’s 17th District. The interview features Private First Class David Endean, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Army from September 25, 1968, to September 25, 1970.
    “Private First Class David Endean’s service during the Vietnam War is a testament to the courage, perseverance, and camaraderie of our men and women in uniform,” said Rep. Steube. “Through intense combat and heartbreaking loss, his reflections are a moving account of a soldier’s experiences in war. We are honored that he shared his journey so that his fellow citizens may pay tribute to his legacy. Sadly, not all who served in Vietnam were met with the respect and care they deserved when they returned home. PFC Endean’s story reminds us why honoring and preserving the history of our veterans is so important.”
    In his interview, Endean reflects on the physical and emotional toll of combat, the lasting brotherhood forged with fellow soldiers, and the challenges of returning to a country that didn’t always understand or appreciate their service. “Try going to work one day and carry a 70-pound backpack,” said Endean.“Now imagine walking around with it all day, knowing at any moment you could step on a booby trap or be ambushed. Try doing that for a year. That was our life.”
    He also shares how his service deepened his faith and taught him lifelong lessons in discipline, respect, and commitment—values that carried over into his civilian life and career in electrical engineering.
    Please click here to watch the full interview.
    Be sure to check Congressman Steube’s YouTube channel in the future for upcoming interviews.The Office of Congressman Greg Steube will submit the interview to the Veterans History Project, an initiative of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center to collect and retain the oral histories of our nation’s veterans.Initially started in 2000, the Veterans History Project aims to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of the United States military veterans and Gold Star Families so that future generations may hear directly from the veterans and better understand their service. Researchers, scholars, and educators rely upon VHP collections as a primary source. The oral histories, photographs, manuscripts, and other original materials supplement historical texts and valued cultural resources. Veterans from all branches and ranks of the United States military who served in World War I through the more recent conflicts are eligible to participate. For more information on the VHP, please visit https://www.loc.gov/vets/.If you live in Florida’s 17th Congressional district, please visit https://steube.house.gov/services/vhp to participate.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Arrests Cleveland Homicide Suspect While Riding a Bike

    Source: US Marshals Service

    Cleveland, OH – Today, the U.S. Marshals led Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) arrested Jacob Hughes, 61. Hughes was wanted by the Cleveland Division of Police for aggravated murder.

    It is alleged that on May 30, 2025, Hughes stabbed and killed Kenneth Moore, 52 at an address near the 10500 block of Elk Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. It is also alleged that Hughes attempted to destroy evidence by setting a fire at the residence. Today, members of the NOVFTF arrested Hughes on E. 109th Street and he was riding down the street on a bicycle.  

    U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “Several hours of investigative work by our task force were dedicated to this arrest. The team had developed information that this fugitive was potentially homeless and getting around the city on a bike. Today, they found him on the bike and made a safe arrest.”

    Anyone with information concerning a wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can submit a web tip. Reward money is available, and tipsters may remain anonymous.  Follow the U.S. Marshals on Twitter @USMSCleveland.  

    The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force – Cleveland Division is composed of the following federal, state and local agencies:  U.S. Marshals Service, Cleveland Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department, Euclid Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Independence Police Department, Parma Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Solon Police Department, Cleveland RTA Police Department, Westlake Police Department, Bedford Police Department, Middleburg Heights Police Department, Newburgh Heights Police Department and the Metrohealth Police Department.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • PM Modi inaugurates projects worth ₹18,600 crore in Odisha to mark one year of BJP govt

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over ₹18,600 crore in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, commemorating the completion of one year of the state’s first BJP-led government. The projects span critical sectors such as drinking water, irrigation, agriculture, health infrastructure, rural roads and bridges, highways, and a new railway line.

    Addressing a state-level event marking the anniversary, PM Modi hailed June 20 as a historic day, celebrating not just a government’s milestone but the embodiment of good governance focused on public service and trust. He congratulated Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his team for their work, which he said has injected fresh momentum into Odisha’s development.

    Describing Odisha as a “shining star” of India’s cultural heritage, PM Modi highlighted the state’s historical contribution to Indian civilization. He noted that the combination of development and preservation of heritage has become the cornerstone of India’s growth, with Odisha playing an increasingly vital role.

    Coinciding with preparations for the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, the Prime Minister said that spiritual reverence and development are progressing hand in hand. He praised the state government’s prompt action in opening all four gates of the Jagannath Temple and initiating access to the Ratna Bhandar, underscoring the act as a respectful gesture toward millions of devotees. PM Modi also revealed that he declined an invitation from the US President to visit the United States post the G7 Summit in Canada, opting instead to be present in Odisha on this spiritually significant day.

    In a sharp critique of previous governments, PM Modi said that earlier models of governance lacked transparency and development was often delayed, obstructed, or derailed. Contrasting that with the BJP’s approach, he stated that the past decade has seen states like Assam and Tripura—formerly riddled with instability and neglect—undergo social and economic transformation. He added that Odisha, too, had long struggled with corruption, poor infrastructure, and neglected rural areas, but is now on a promising developmental path.

    The Prime Minister emphasized the strength of a dual model of governance where both Union and state governments work in synergy. Citing the health sector, he noted that nearly 3 crore people in Odisha now benefit from the combined coverage of the Ayushman Bharat and Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojanas, making free treatment accessible even outside the state. Similarly, over 23 lakh senior citizens are now eligible for free treatment up to ₹5 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana.

    For farmers, he stated that Odisha’s agricultural community now receives dual benefits under both central and state schemes, including improved procurement prices for paddy. Earlier, many central government initiatives failed to reach the state’s population, but the current administration has ensured their successful implementation across various sectors.

    A key focus of PM Modi’s address was the empowerment of Odisha’s tribal population. He lamented that for decades, tribal communities were politically exploited, marginalized, and trapped in cycles of poverty and violence. He noted that in 2014, over 125 tribal-majority districts in the country were affected by Naxal violence, a number that has now dropped to fewer than 20. He credited this to strict action against violence and development initiatives in tribal regions.

    PM Modi outlined two major national schemes dedicated to tribal development. The Dharati Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan is bringing infrastructure and services to over 60,000 tribal villages nationwide, including the construction of 40 residential schools in 11 districts of Odisha. The second, the PM Janman Yojana, inspired by Odisha and guided by President Droupadi Murmu, targets the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), funding development across remote tribal hamlets.

    The Prime Minister also highlighted the government’s attention to Odisha’s fishing communities. For the first time, fishermen are benefiting from the Kisan Credit Card facility under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana. Additionally, a special ₹25,000 crore central fund will support coastal communities and youth entrepreneurship in the state.

    Calling this the era of Purvoday, PM Modi said Eastern India will power 21st-century India’s growth. He pointed to rapid industrial expansion from Paradip to Jharsuguda and large-scale infrastructure investments to boost Odisha’s mineral and port-led economy. Mega projects like a dual-feed cracker unit in Paradip, an oil storage facility in Chandikhole, and an LNG terminal in Gopalpur are turning Odisha into a future petrochemical hub. He noted that nearly ₹1.5 lakh crore has already been invested in these sectors.

    PM Modi emphasized the government’s long-term vision beyond five-year targets. He mentioned that a special “Vision 2036” plan has been drafted, marking 100 years of Odisha as India’s first linguistic state, alongside “Vision 2047” for India’s centenary of independence. He expressed confidence in the youth of Odisha to achieve these ambitious goals.

    Among the key announcements made during the event, the Prime Minister flagged off new train services connecting Boudh district to the national railway network for the first time and launched 100 electric buses under the CRUT urban transport system. He also released the Odisha Vision Document and launched the ‘Baraputra Aitihya Gram Yojana’ to preserve the heritage of iconic Odia personalities through living memorials.

    Modi also honored several women achievers from Odisha, celebrating more than 16.5 lakh “Lakhpati Didis” as symbols of prosperity and self-reliance.

    The event was attended by the Governor of Odisha, Hari Babu Kambhampati, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Ministers Jual Oram, Dharmendra Pradhan, and other dignitaries.

  • MIL-OSI: Senvest Capital Inc. Announces Voting Results from its 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MONTREAL, June 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Senvest Capital Inc. (the “Corporation”) (TSX: SEC) is pleased to announce the voting results from its annual meeting of shareholders held on June 20, 2025 (the “Meeting”).

    Election of Directors

    The following six director nominees, proposed by management, were elected at the Meeting:

    Name of Nominee   Votes For   Percent   Votes Against   Percent
    Victor Mashaal   1,438,146   99.98 %   246   0.02 %
    David E. Basner   1,438,266   99.99 %   126   0.01 %
    Eileen Bermingham   1,438,266   99.99 %   126   0.01 %
    Frank Daniel   1,438,146   99.98 %   246   0.02 %
    Jeffrey Jonas   1,438,366   99.99 %   26   0.01 %
    Richard Mashaal   1,438,146   99.98 %   246   0.02 %

    Appointment of Auditors

    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were reappointed as the Corporation’s auditors.

    About Senvest

    Senvest and its subsidiaries have business activities in merchant banking, asset management, real estate and electronic security.

    For more information, please contact Mr. George Malikotsis, Vice President, Finance of Senvest Capital Inc., at (514) 281-8082.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Ilie Bolojan appointed Prime Minister of Romania

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    BUCHAREST, June 20 (Xinhua) — Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Friday appointed Senate (upper house of parliament) President Ilie Bolojan as the country’s new prime minister, following weeks of coalition talks among key political parties.

    “I appoint Mr. Ilie Bolojan as Prime Minister,” N. Dan announced at the Cotroceni Palace. “I want to thank the parties that make up the parliamentary majority for these weeks of discussions. It is in Romania’s interest for the government to enjoy the support of an overwhelming majority, and the parties understand this,” the president said.

    Describing I. Bolojan as “the most suitable person to carry out the necessary reforms in the state apparatus,” N. Dan noted his track record in public administration: “He knows how to reduce and optimize costs, and has a vision for development. He will have a partner in me,” said the head of the Romanian state.

    I. Bolojan, for his part, expressed gratitude for the appointment and acknowledged the full burden of responsibility on his shoulders in the context of economic tension.

    The prime minister stressed that his attention will be focused on restoring financial order, ensuring effective public administration and “showing due respect to the Romanian people” as he continues negotiations to finalize the cabinet and his government program.

    According to local media, the new government will be formed by a coalition of the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: $10 Million to Expand Food Access for All New Yorkers

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today announced $10 million through the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant Program to increase food access for New Yorkers living in areas with limited options for affordable, fresh food. The program provides funding to nine organizations across the state to support the development and expansion of supermarkets, food cooperatives, permanent farm stands, mobile markets, and other retail food stores in underserved regions while also increasing markets for New York farmers. This announcement follows Governor Hochul’s warning to New Yorkers regarding the impact of federal cuts to the SNAP program on New York’s agricultural industries and vulnerable families. Funding for the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant program was included in the 2024 Enacted Budget and builds on Governor Hochul’s goal to enhance affordability for New York families, boost demand for New York agricultural products, bolster New York’s food supply chain, and ensure all New Yorkers have access to fresh, local foods.

    “I am committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers, especially those in underserved areas, have access to affordable, healthy, local foods,” Governor Hochul said. “I know that the projects awarded through our Food Access Expansion Grant Program will make a significant impact in this space and ensure that our families can put fresh, New York made foods on the table, while supporting our agricultural community at the same time.”

    Administered by the Department of Agriculture and Markets, funding through the Food Access Expansion Grant Program was available to eligible entities for projects aiming to increase the availability of food, whether through construction of a new retail store, the purchase of equipment to improve food and meals offered, the creation or expansion of mobile markets, and more. The program was developed following a Request for Interest (RFI), which gathered input from stakeholders to guide the Department on how best to shape the program.

    Below is a list of awarded projects:

    • The Adirondack North Country Association (North Country) – $468,576 to partner with The ADK Food Hub and Whitten Family Farm to increase the availability and distribution of food throughout the North Country. The project will construct a new processing kitchen and retail store in St. Lawrence County. This will help to expand a permanent farmstand, allowing for food processing and sale of processed products from other farms, including milk, yogurt, cheese, salads, frozen vegetables, baked foods, pickles, and jams. The Real Food Hub will result in a building that offers climate-controlled storage, a processing kitchen, loading dock, and retail storefront.
    • Broome County Council of Churches Inc. (Southern Tier) – $1,553,688 to partner with members of their task force including the City of Binghamton, Broome County, Eden Food for Changes, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and others to renovate an existing building to include a new commercial kitchen, and to purchase and customize a new Mobile Market Bus. The new kitchen will be used to produce SNAP-eligible prepared meals for retail sale at the Greater Good Grocery and in the Mobile Market Bus.
    • Buffalo Go Green Inc. (Western New York) – $809,932 to implement building renovations for a market, commercial kitchen, and juicery, including dry and cold storage and a loading dock to be used by their mobile market. The project will result in a commercial kitchen, juicery, food retail space, and 3,500 square feet of cold and dry storage on Buffalo’s Eastside to expand and support their mobile markets.
    • The City of Schenectady (Capital Region) – $2,100,000 to partner with Electric City Community Grocery, Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority, and National Co+op Grocers to open a new grocery store and co-op in downtown Schenectady. The project will result in the renovation of an existing building into a cooperative food store. The City of Schenectady is providing a $1 million grant toward project costs.
    • Foodlink Inc. (Finger Lakes) – $291,420 to expand its Curbside Market program in Monroe County through the construction of a commercial warehouse for loading and unloading Curbside Market vehicles with storage space for product. The project will additionally fund the purchase of a new Curbside Market vehicle.
    • The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (Western New York) – $265,973 to expand critical infrastructure for the UB Veggie Van mobile market by purchasing and customizing a new market vehicle and expanding cold and dry storage infrastructure. The project will result in shared infrastructure that addresses food insecurity across the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State campuses.
    • Riseboro Community Partnership Inc. (New York City) – $2,134,720 to partner with the Central Brooklyn Food Coop to lease 10,000 square feet of a new development project for grocery retail and food storage. Funds will be used for excavation costs and the retail fit-out of the co-op. Riseboro will partner with Brooklyn Packers to source food from New York farms.
    • Syracuse Economic Development Corporation (Central New York) – $1,719,000 to partner with the City of Syracuse, Ellicott Development Company, Super Imperial Market, and Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now to renovate and reopen the Valley Plaza Grocery Store on the Southside of Syracuse that has been vacant since 2018. The project will result in 22,000 square feet of retail food space bringing fresh produce, meats, and prepared foods to the neighborhood and grocery delivery for seniors.
    • Tri Corner Food Equity, Education & Distribution (Mid-Hudson) – $656,690 to purchase and renovate an existing building that includes walk-in refrigeration, refrigeration and freezer displays, and bakery display cases. The new Fair Food Grocery Store will result in 2,080 square feet of retail space, a commercial kitchen, and café space.

    New York State State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “Connecting the dots between New Yorkers and our farmers, and addressing gaps in the food supply chain, are key priorities here at the Department. Thanks to Governor Hochul’s dedicated support, we’ve implemented a number of initiatives that aim to support our farmers, strengthen our food system, and get fresh, local foods to our families. The Food Access Expansion Grant Program is one more piece of that puzzle, and will make a tremendous impact on many of our underserved communities. I congratulate all the organizations receiving funding today and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”

    State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “Every New Yorker deserves to eat healthy, locally-grown food, and the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant Program is a lifeline in our effort, especially in underserved areas where access to fresh food is scarce. By investing in new grocery stores and farm stands, we’re creating more demand for New York-grown products and connecting the dots between local food and local communities. I’m proud to have helped champion this funding and thrilled to see Tri-Corner FEED receive state support to open the Fair Food Grocery Store in Millerton—a project that will bring fresh food, a café, and a commercial kitchen into the village. Congratulations to Tri-Corner FEED and all the awardees working to expand food access across New York.”

    Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, “I am thrilled that Broome County Council of Churches will be receiving such a sizable grant from our Food Access Expansion Program. The program was established to expand access to fresh and local food in underserved areas, while also increasing opportunities for NY’s farmers. Communities like mine, and so many across the state, are desperately in need of these resources, especially at a time when federal support is at risk. This is one of numerous initiatives we have advanced in the state budget connecting NY agriculture with NY consumers.”

    Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said, “SEDCO’s award from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets is a huge win for Syracuse and the Southside neighborhood. Having access to fresh and healthy food is critical in every neighborhood in this city, and now an area with limited access will have a grocery store once again. I am thankful to our City staff, Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now, and other community advocates who are working diligently to address food desert concerns in our neighborhoods, and to Governor Hochul and New York State for this significant investment to help support these efforts.”

    Schenectady County Legislature Chair Gary Hughes, “We’re grateful to Governor Hochul and the Department of Agriculture and Markets for supporting efforts to expand access to healthy food. This funding moves us closer to opening a community-owned grocery store in Downtown Schenectady. Together with the $3 million committed by the County Legislature, it marks a significant step toward making this long-standing vision a reality.”

    Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said, “We are very thankful to Governor Kathy Hochul for providing a huge boost to our efforts to launch the new food co-op by providing this State grant. This is a pivotal step forward for our efforts to establish a new grocery store downtown.”

    Foodlink President & CEO Julia Tedesco said, “The need for equitable food access in our community has never been greater. Rising costs of food and persistent barriers continue to make it difficult for too many families to access fresh, affordable food. This investment from Governor Hochul allows us to expand our Curbside Market with additional operating space and purchase a new vehicle. We can reach more neighborhoods, more efficiently, ensuring that nutritious food is not a privilege, but a right for all Monroe County residents.”

    The Food Access Expansion Grant Program is one initiative in an array of programs implemented by New York State to build a more resilient food system. New York continues to support several groundbreaking programs that focus on improving access to locally grown foods including through its 2026 Budget, including the Nourish NY program, the 30 Percent NYS Initiative for school meals, and the Farm-to-School program. Additionally, this year’s Budget included the third round of funding as part of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program, which provides $50 million over five years to support regional cooking facilities that will facilitate the use of fresh New York State farm products in meal preparation for K-12 school children.

    These investments build on the Governor’s commitment to boost demand for New York agricultural products, bolster New York’s food supply chain, and ensure all New Yorkers can access fresh, local foods. This includes the Governor’s Executive Order 32 directing State agencies to increase the percentage of food sourced from New York farmers and producers to 30 percent of their total purchases within five years. The Governor has also committed $25 million toward the New York State Grown & Certified Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Development Grant Program to assist food producers, processors, distributors, and others using New York ingredients to bring innovative NYS Grown & Certified products to market.

    New York State continues to prioritize increasing access to food for all New Yorkers through a number of programs and initiatives, including the enhanced FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative, the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs, the Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grants Programs, and more. Governor Hochul recently announced $13.7 million in funding for 19 projects statewide through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant Program to provide capital and technical assistance to farmers and food businesses operating at the middle of the supply chain, helping to enhance coordination throughout the food system and improve access to markets for farmers. This investment will help connect the dots between our state’s food producers and retail operations.

    According to a report from the Office of the State Comptroller, between 2019 and 2021, approximately 10 percent of New Yorkers, or approximately 800,000 households, experienced food insecurity and struggled with food affordability.

    Earlier today, Governor Hochul sounded the alarm on how the Republican budget reconciliation bill will affect the Nation’s largest food assistance program, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), undermining a program that millions of New Yorkers rely on to put food on the table every single day. Estimates indicate the reconciliation bill would shift exorbitant costs to states across the country, including New York, where an additional $2.1 billion would be imposed on State and local county governments that administer the program.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: $10 Million to Expand Food Access for All New Yorkers

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today announced $10 million through the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant Program to increase food access for New Yorkers living in areas with limited options for affordable, fresh food. The program provides funding to nine organizations across the state to support the development and expansion of supermarkets, food cooperatives, permanent farm stands, mobile markets, and other retail food stores in underserved regions while also increasing markets for New York farmers. This announcement follows Governor Hochul’s warning to New Yorkers regarding the impact of federal cuts to the SNAP program on New York’s agricultural industries and vulnerable families. Funding for the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant program was included in the 2024 Enacted Budget and builds on Governor Hochul’s goal to enhance affordability for New York families, boost demand for New York agricultural products, bolster New York’s food supply chain, and ensure all New Yorkers have access to fresh, local foods.

    “I am committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers, especially those in underserved areas, have access to affordable, healthy, local foods,” Governor Hochul said. “I know that the projects awarded through our Food Access Expansion Grant Program will make a significant impact in this space and ensure that our families can put fresh, New York made foods on the table, while supporting our agricultural community at the same time.”

    Administered by the Department of Agriculture and Markets, funding through the Food Access Expansion Grant Program was available to eligible entities for projects aiming to increase the availability of food, whether through construction of a new retail store, the purchase of equipment to improve food and meals offered, the creation or expansion of mobile markets, and more. The program was developed following a Request for Interest (RFI), which gathered input from stakeholders to guide the Department on how best to shape the program.

    Below is a list of awarded projects:

    • The Adirondack North Country Association (North Country) – $468,576 to partner with The ADK Food Hub and Whitten Family Farm to increase the availability and distribution of food throughout the North Country. The project will construct a new processing kitchen and retail store in St. Lawrence County. This will help to expand a permanent farmstand, allowing for food processing and sale of processed products from other farms, including milk, yogurt, cheese, salads, frozen vegetables, baked foods, pickles, and jams. The Real Food Hub will result in a building that offers climate-controlled storage, a processing kitchen, loading dock, and retail storefront.
    • Broome County Council of Churches Inc. (Southern Tier) – $1,553,688 to partner with members of their task force including the City of Binghamton, Broome County, Eden Food for Changes, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and others to renovate an existing building to include a new commercial kitchen, and to purchase and customize a new Mobile Market Bus. The new kitchen will be used to produce SNAP-eligible prepared meals for retail sale at the Greater Good Grocery and in the Mobile Market Bus.
    • Buffalo Go Green Inc. (Western New York) – $809,932 to implement building renovations for a market, commercial kitchen, and juicery, including dry and cold storage and a loading dock to be used by their mobile market. The project will result in a commercial kitchen, juicery, food retail space, and 3,500 square feet of cold and dry storage on Buffalo’s Eastside to expand and support their mobile markets.
    • The City of Schenectady (Capital Region) – $2,100,000 to partner with Electric City Community Grocery, Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority, and National Co+op Grocers to open a new grocery store and co-op in downtown Schenectady. The project will result in the renovation of an existing building into a cooperative food store. The City of Schenectady is providing a $1 million grant toward project costs.
    • Foodlink Inc. (Finger Lakes) – $291,420 to expand its Curbside Market program in Monroe County through the construction of a commercial warehouse for loading and unloading Curbside Market vehicles with storage space for product. The project will additionally fund the purchase of a new Curbside Market vehicle.
    • The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (Western New York) – $265,973 to expand critical infrastructure for the UB Veggie Van mobile market by purchasing and customizing a new market vehicle and expanding cold and dry storage infrastructure. The project will result in shared infrastructure that addresses food insecurity across the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State campuses.
    • Riseboro Community Partnership Inc. (New York City) – $2,134,720 to partner with the Central Brooklyn Food Coop to lease 10,000 square feet of a new development project for grocery retail and food storage. Funds will be used for excavation costs and the retail fit-out of the co-op. Riseboro will partner with Brooklyn Packers to source food from New York farms.
    • Syracuse Economic Development Corporation (Central New York) – $1,719,000 to partner with the City of Syracuse, Ellicott Development Company, Super Imperial Market, and Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now to renovate and reopen the Valley Plaza Grocery Store on the Southside of Syracuse that has been vacant since 2018. The project will result in 22,000 square feet of retail food space bringing fresh produce, meats, and prepared foods to the neighborhood and grocery delivery for seniors.
    • Tri Corner Food Equity, Education & Distribution (Mid-Hudson) – $656,690 to purchase and renovate an existing building that includes walk-in refrigeration, refrigeration and freezer displays, and bakery display cases. The new Fair Food Grocery Store will result in 2,080 square feet of retail space, a commercial kitchen, and café space.

    New York State State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “Connecting the dots between New Yorkers and our farmers, and addressing gaps in the food supply chain, are key priorities here at the Department. Thanks to Governor Hochul’s dedicated support, we’ve implemented a number of initiatives that aim to support our farmers, strengthen our food system, and get fresh, local foods to our families. The Food Access Expansion Grant Program is one more piece of that puzzle, and will make a tremendous impact on many of our underserved communities. I congratulate all the organizations receiving funding today and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”

    State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “Every New Yorker deserves to eat healthy, locally-grown food, and the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant Program is a lifeline in our effort, especially in underserved areas where access to fresh food is scarce. By investing in new grocery stores and farm stands, we’re creating more demand for New York-grown products and connecting the dots between local food and local communities. I’m proud to have helped champion this funding and thrilled to see Tri-Corner FEED receive state support to open the Fair Food Grocery Store in Millerton—a project that will bring fresh food, a café, and a commercial kitchen into the village. Congratulations to Tri-Corner FEED and all the awardees working to expand food access across New York.”

    Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, “I am thrilled that Broome County Council of Churches will be receiving such a sizable grant from our Food Access Expansion Program. The program was established to expand access to fresh and local food in underserved areas, while also increasing opportunities for NY’s farmers. Communities like mine, and so many across the state, are desperately in need of these resources, especially at a time when federal support is at risk. This is one of numerous initiatives we have advanced in the state budget connecting NY agriculture with NY consumers.”

    Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said, “SEDCO’s award from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets is a huge win for Syracuse and the Southside neighborhood. Having access to fresh and healthy food is critical in every neighborhood in this city, and now an area with limited access will have a grocery store once again. I am thankful to our City staff, Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now, and other community advocates who are working diligently to address food desert concerns in our neighborhoods, and to Governor Hochul and New York State for this significant investment to help support these efforts.”

    Schenectady County Legislature Chair Gary Hughes, “We’re grateful to Governor Hochul and the Department of Agriculture and Markets for supporting efforts to expand access to healthy food. This funding moves us closer to opening a community-owned grocery store in Downtown Schenectady. Together with the $3 million committed by the County Legislature, it marks a significant step toward making this long-standing vision a reality.”

    Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said, “We are very thankful to Governor Kathy Hochul for providing a huge boost to our efforts to launch the new food co-op by providing this State grant. This is a pivotal step forward for our efforts to establish a new grocery store downtown.”

    Foodlink President & CEO Julia Tedesco said, “The need for equitable food access in our community has never been greater. Rising costs of food and persistent barriers continue to make it difficult for too many families to access fresh, affordable food. This investment from Governor Hochul allows us to expand our Curbside Market with additional operating space and purchase a new vehicle. We can reach more neighborhoods, more efficiently, ensuring that nutritious food is not a privilege, but a right for all Monroe County residents.”

    The Food Access Expansion Grant Program is one initiative in an array of programs implemented by New York State to build a more resilient food system. New York continues to support several groundbreaking programs that focus on improving access to locally grown foods including through its 2026 Budget, including the Nourish NY program, the 30 Percent NYS Initiative for school meals, and the Farm-to-School program. Additionally, this year’s Budget included the third round of funding as part of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program, which provides $50 million over five years to support regional cooking facilities that will facilitate the use of fresh New York State farm products in meal preparation for K-12 school children.

    These investments build on the Governor’s commitment to boost demand for New York agricultural products, bolster New York’s food supply chain, and ensure all New Yorkers can access fresh, local foods. This includes the Governor’s Executive Order 32 directing State agencies to increase the percentage of food sourced from New York farmers and producers to 30 percent of their total purchases within five years. The Governor has also committed $25 million toward the New York State Grown & Certified Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Development Grant Program to assist food producers, processors, distributors, and others using New York ingredients to bring innovative NYS Grown & Certified products to market.

    New York State continues to prioritize increasing access to food for all New Yorkers through a number of programs and initiatives, including the enhanced FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative, the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs, the Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grants Programs, and more. Governor Hochul recently announced $13.7 million in funding for 19 projects statewide through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant Program to provide capital and technical assistance to farmers and food businesses operating at the middle of the supply chain, helping to enhance coordination throughout the food system and improve access to markets for farmers. This investment will help connect the dots between our state’s food producers and retail operations.

    According to a report from the Office of the State Comptroller, between 2019 and 2021, approximately 10 percent of New Yorkers, or approximately 800,000 households, experienced food insecurity and struggled with food affordability.

    Earlier today, Governor Hochul sounded the alarm on how the Republican budget reconciliation bill will affect the Nation’s largest food assistance program, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), undermining a program that millions of New Yorkers rely on to put food on the table every single day. Estimates indicate the reconciliation bill would shift exorbitant costs to states across the country, including New York, where an additional $2.1 billion would be imposed on State and local county governments that administer the program.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Who is Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sahar Maranlou, Lecturer in Law and Socio-legal Studies, Royal Holloway University of London

    Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran, in 1939, as the second son of a local religious leader, Javad Khamenei, and he grew up in relative poverty.

    He learned to read the Qur’an in early childhood before attending a theological seminary school in Mashhad. At 18, he travelled to Najaf in central Iraq to study Shia jurisprudence, but was later asked by his father to return. He was a student of Ayatollah Hossein Borujerdi and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

    There is not much known about Khamenei’s family life, except that he is married and has six children. Khamenei’s interest in poetry is a well-known part of his public persona. He often cites poems in his speeches and hosts poetry gatherings where pro-government poets gather to read their poems to receive his comments. Khamenei’s interest in literature is quite rare among religious clerics. The same goes for his interest in gardening.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    In the 1960s and 1970s Khamenei was involved in protests against the US-backed monarchy (the shah), and was an ardent supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then living in exile, and against the “westernisation” of Iran. This led to his arrest by the shah’s secret police and intelligence operation, the Organisation of National Security and Information (Savak), which suppressed opposition to the shah.

    Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the monarch who ruled Iran until 1979, was backed by western powers including the US and the UK. After a decade of economic growth in Iran, mainly based on oil revenues, did not lead to an improvement in the standard of living for ordinary Iranians, a combination of students, intellectuals and clerics created combined support for a revolution.

    After the shah was overthrown in the 1979 revolution, Iran became an Islamic republic. Khamenei was appointed as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Council, which was put in place to manage the revolution, and served as deputy defence minister and led Friday prayers in Tehran, which was considered highly prestigious.

    The new republic adopted an anti-western “imperialist” foreign policy. This is known as “global arrogance” (Estekbar Jahani) in Iranian post-revolutionary discourse.

    In 1982, he was elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, winning 95% of the vote, after the previous president, Mohammad Ali Rajai, was killed in a bomb attack in Tehran. Khamenei had been the target of an assassination attempt two months earlier, leaving him with serious injuries and paralysis in his right arm.

    Iran’s supreme leaders reacts to air strikes by Israel and US rhetoric.

    Iran’s war with neighbouring Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, lasted from 1980 to 1988 and is known in Iran as the “sacred defence”. The war began after an invasion by Iraqi troops on Iranian territory and resulted in around one million deaths across both countries.

    This was another significant period in Khamenei’s career. He was active in managing Iran’s defence as the chairman of the supreme council of war support during this period. The council was formed to make sure the country was as prepared as possible during the war and to take measures to mobilise forces and to meet the needs of the war at the battlefront.



    Read more:
    Why Israel’s air strikes signal a shifting relationship with the US and a weakening Iran

    He also commanded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite part of the Iranian armed forces, from 1981. At the end of the war, Khamenei claimed Iran had won a “luminous victory”.

    He praised Khomeini for his tactics in the war and said that the supreme leader had realised from the very beginning that it was not an ordinary conflict between two neighbours. “He recognised the enemy and realised that the main enemy is not present in the war, and he recognised that Saddam is just a tool.”

    He went on to suggest that this was a war about US regional power and that Saddam Hussein would continue to receive US support.

    Rising to supreme leadership

    Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989 after the death of Khomeini. He was designated as the new leader by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of Islamic clerics. He ruled in the same style, and with the same type of foreign policy, as his predecessor; looking for allies to offset US power in the region.

    The duties designated for the rahbar (supreme leader) are listed in Article 101 of the constitution and range from determining the political direction of the government (in consultation with an advisory committee) to commanding the armed forces to declaring war, peace, and the mobilisation of armed forces to pardoning or commuting sentences upon recommendation of the head of the judiciary.

    Khomeini’s conception of Islamic government was centred on the doctrine of the guardianship of “the jurist”, known as velayat-e faqih, and this continued at the heart of the government that followed under Khamenei. This gives the supreme leader extensive powers, including control over the military, judiciary and media.

    This doctrine plays a vital role in legitimising theocratic power in Iran, linking religious authority with the state. Discussion about velayat-e faqih continues within Iranian society as part of an ongoing dialogue between traditional religious authority and civil society.



    Read more:
    Trump’s unpredictable approach to Iran could seriously backfire

    The question of who might come to power after Khamenei was raised during the grassroots uprising and pro-democracy protests around Iran in 2022 and 2023. It was expected that any transition would take a considerable amount of time, especially if the aim was for a more democratic form of government.

    The current war might suggest a different outcome. Even though the Israeli attacks on Iran have again sparked discussion of a possible change of leader, the public is focused now on their own safety, and defending Iran, not on political change.

    Any external war or threats coming from outside Iran has historically united Iranians against aggressors. This means that the path to democratic change is not likely to be created, or helped, by Israeli air strikes or US threats.

    Sahar Maranlou 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.

    – ref. Who is Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? – https://theconversation.com/who-is-irans-leader-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-259424

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Hidden gems of LGBTQ+ cinema: celebrating the wonderful slippery queerness of Penda’s Fen

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Benedict Morrison, Senior lecturer in Film, Television, Literature, and Queer Studies, University of Exeter

    I was not around in 1974 to witness the first television outing of Alan Clarke’s Penda’s Fen. Broadcast only seven years after sex between men was partially decriminalised in England and Wales, this enigmatic film was beamed into the nation’s living rooms with an audacity that remains giddying today.

    Some commentators have suggested that the film “seems a world away” from the gritty social commentary of Clarke’s Scum (1977) and The Firm (1989). But Penda’s Fen recognises that unruly desire – manifested within the film in Blakean visions of angels, demons and the pagan King Penda – is political.

    Stephen, a classical music-loving, left-wing-despising rector’s son, lives among the green and pleasant Malvern Hills, where he plays at being an impeccably uniformed cadet and struggles to suppress his delirious sexual desire for other boys.

    This article is part of a series highlighting brilliant films that should be more widely known and firmly part of the canon of queer cinema .

    In his visions, the path of least resistance – that of being the young man everyone wants him to be – is championed by the sinister figures of the Mother and Father of England (modelled on conservative activist Mary Whitehouse and social critic Malcolm Muggeridge). This path would offer him “the right to inherit power”.

    But playing the role of the straight, conventional boy weighs heavily on Stephen, and he slips further from the narratives he longs to believe in. Haunted by a series of real and imagined encounters with angels, demons and England’s pagan past, Stephen begins to questions all he knows about himself – his religion, politics and sexuality.

    When I finally saw Penda’s Fen after its re-release by the BFI in 2016, it was uncannily familiar. Like Stephen, I grew up as the gay son of a rector in the rural West Midlands, torn between the lures and impossibilities of sexual convention.

    The political rhetoric of the LGBT+ community in the 1990s created social impact by speaking in very clear terms about non-straight identities. This rhetoric, for the sake of clarity, often offered narrow definitions of the characteristics and attributes that made someone definitively LGBT+.

    But it did lead to progress, featuring in campaigns for the repeal of section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which banned any affirmative presentation of homosexuality by local authorities, including schools. It also was used in campaigns that led to the lowering of the age of consent for gay sex to 16, in line with heterosexual sex.

    However, this narrow view left me with an uncomfortable sense that my inconsistencies and contradictions meant that I was never quite, never just, gay. Despite being a valuable term as I came out and claimed a social identity and a community, it failed to capture the complexities of my experience in a single word.

    These inconsistencies and complexities shine in queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s not-quite-definition of “queer”: “The open mesh of possibilities, gaps, overlaps, dissonances and resonances, lapses and excesses of meaning when the constituent elements of anyone’s gender, of anyone’s sexuality aren’t made (or can’t be made) to signify monolithically.”



    Read more:
    Hidden gems of LGBTQ+ cinema: Saving Face is a complicated romcom that tenderly depicts the experiences of queer Asians

    Sedgwick suggests that queerness is a kind of structural messiness; far from being a neat summing-up of someone’s identity, it is where the desires and behaviours which make up a person’s sexuality don’t quite add up, and so escape full understanding.

    Loving your own strangeness

    For me, the greatest queer films are not those which seek to confirm the myth of stable identity but, instead, open these meshes of possibility. I know of no film which does this better than Penda’s Fen.

    When the film begins, Stephen stamps out all his flickering desires. He clings to clear-cut notions of gender, sex and nation, the three pillars that will secure his power as a man in society.

    By the end, he has encountered the ghost of the composer Elgar, fantasised about schoolmates in homoerotic rugby scrums, and discovered that he is adopted and less English than he imagined. In this “Gnostic anarcho-punk anti-pastoral visionary work of English art”, as the writer Gary Budden calls it, all Stephen’s certainties shatter.

    As he ultimately stands in the hills’ high places, tempted by the Mother and Father of England to repress confusion and embrace their idea of normality in a folk-horror echo of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness, his rejection becomes a radiant queer manifesto:

    “I am … nothing pure. My race is mixed. My sex is mixed. I am woman and man. Light with darkness … I am mud and flame!”

    Mud and flame is what I was as a teenager living in the shadow of those same hills: the earthy and the fiery, the tangible and the transcendent, the banal and the radical, the secure and the lost. This was – although I didn’t realise it at the time – queerness, a word theorist Lee Edelman writes “can never define an identity; it can only ever disturb one”.

    No film that I know captures this sense of slipping, sliding, desiring self so well as Penda’s Fen. Everyone who has ever felt the constituent parts of their own sexuality refusing to align should watch the film and fall in love with their own strangeness.

    Penda’s Fen, like queerness, resists specific interpretation. It is telling that the visionary commissioning editor David Rose, who oversaw the BBC Birmingham drama department and greenlit Penda’s Fen, confessed that he “didn’t understand it at all, but that’s as it should be”. This attitude is unimaginable in commissioners today.

    Clarke’s film is a blend of folk horror motifs, the politics of society and character-driven drama that cracks open meaning just as the church floor fractures when Stephen plays the organ discordantly.

    Viewers new to the film should experience its extraordinary final sequence without spoilers, but I will say that the closing images of Stephen – that
    “strange, dark, true, impure, and dissonant” protagonist – offer me the thrill of queerness’s unsettled, unsettle-able politics.

    Benedict Morrison 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.

    – ref. Hidden gems of LGBTQ+ cinema: celebrating the wonderful slippery queerness of Penda’s Fen – https://theconversation.com/hidden-gems-of-lgbtq-cinema-celebrating-the-wonderful-slippery-queerness-of-pendas-fen-257299

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Government Supports Expansion Of Hope’s Home for Children with Complex Medical Needs

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on June 20, 2025

    The Government of Saskatchewan, in partnership with Hope’s Home, is expanding services for children and youth in care with complex medical needs through the opening of a new group home in Saskatoon.  

    “Every child deserves the chance to live in a safe, caring and supportive environment,” Social Services Minister Terry Jenson said. “This new home is a reflection of our commitment to building stronger communities with services that support children and families in need.”  

    Located in Saskatoon’s Westview neighbourhood, the new four-space group home provides 24/7 care for children in care up to the age of 18 who are medically fragile, require end-of-life care, or have developmental needs. The new group home supports children with complex medical needs to reside close to specialized medical services available at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.   

    Hope’s Home is a valued partner of the Government of Saskatchewan and has been providing supportive living and daycare services across the province since 2013. It currently operates four group homes and multiple daycare programs in communities across the province including Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Warman.   

    “I am proud to announce the opening of our third Supportive Living Home in Saskatoon for children with complex medical needs,” Hope’s Home CEO Lisa Wyatt said. “This house will be more than a place for these children to live, it will be a home! In this home every child will find love, support, and the opportunity to thrive. Together with the Ministry of Social Services, we are creating a nurturing family-like environment where these children can experience the joys of childhood while receiving the medical care they need.”  

    The home officially opened on June 20, 2025, with an annual operating budget of $1.16 million, which will be funded by the province. The development of the new group home fulfills a funding commitment from the 2023-24 Provincial Budget and demonstrates the Government of Saskatchewan’s commitment to supporting medically complex children through integrated and compassionate care. 

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Missouri Private Nonprofits Affected by March Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Missouri of the July 22 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset physical damage caused by severe storms, straight‑line winds, tornadoes and wildfires occurring March 14–15.

    The disaster declaration covers the Missouri counties of Bollinger, Butler, Callaway, Carter, Dunklin, Franklin, Howell, Iron, Madison, New Madrid, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Phelps, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne.

    Under this declaration, PNPs providing services of a governmental nature are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans. Eligible PNPs may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

    Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements might include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by any disaster. 

    “One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “I encourage businesses and homeowners to work with contractors and mitigation professionals to improve their storm readiness while taking advantage of SBA’s mitigation loans.”

    PNPs are also eligible to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the PNP suffered any physical property damage. 

    Interest rates can be as low 3.62% with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    The SBA encourages applicants to submit their loan applications promptly. Applications will be prioritized in the order they are received, and the SBA remains committed to processing them as efficiently as possible. 

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The deadline to return applications for physical property damage is July 22, 2025. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Feb. 23, 2026.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Arkansas Private Nonprofits Affected by April Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Arkansas of the July 21 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset physical damage caused by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding occurring April 2–22.

    The disaster declaration covers the Arkansas counties of Clark, Clay, Craighead, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Fulton, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Izard, Jackson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lee, Little River, Lonoke, Marion, Miller, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Pike, Poinsett, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Scott, Searcy, Sevier, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone and Woodruff.

    Under this declaration, PNPs providing non-critical services of a governmental nature are eligible to apply for business physical damage loans. Eligible PNPs may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

    Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements might include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by any disaster. 

    “One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “I encourage businesses and homeowners to work with contractors and mitigation professionals to improve their storm readiness while taking advantage of SBA’s mitigation loans.”

    PNPs are also eligible to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the PNP suffered any physical property damage. 

    Interest rates can be as low 3.62% with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The deadline to return physical damage applications is July 22, 2025. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Feb. 23, 2026.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: High-Ranking Member of Violent Mexican Drug Cartel Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for His Role in an International Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

    Source: United States Attorneys General 12

    A Mexican national and violent member of Los Zetas cartel was sentenced today to 35 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $792 million for conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana knowing that the drugs would be unlawfully imported into the United States.The United States Department of State designated Los Zetas, now known as Cartel del Noreste, as a foreign terrorist organization on Feb. 20, 2025.

    According to court documents, Jaime Gonzalez-Duran, also known as Hummer, 49, was personally responsible for importing into the United States more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and 90,000 kilograms of marijuana, engaging in acts of violence against rival drug trafficking groups for control over drug plazas and trafficking routes, storing and transporting weapons, explosives, and ammunition, and bribing law enforcement officers to ensure drug loads would not be disturbed.

    Gonzalez-Duran was an original member of Los Zetas, a drug trafficking organization comprised of former Mexican military officers that began as an armed militaristic wing for the Gulf Cartel. Gonzalez-Duran later served as a regional commander in the Mexican cities of Matamoros, Reynosa, and Miguel Aleman, after Los Zetas formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel known as “The Company.” Gonzalez-Duran personally maintained a warehouse in Reynosa from which, in November 2008, authorities seized 540 rifles, 165 grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, and 14 sticks of TNT that were used to secure drug territory and shipments. Gonzalez-Duran also was intercepted in a phone call in May 2007 coordinating the transportation of almost $1.5 million in cash from McAllen, Texas, into Mexico.

    “Jaime Gonzalez-Duran employed violence and intimidation tactics to maintain Los Zetas’ reign over key drug trafficking routes, especially on the U.S.-Mexico border, used to send vast quantities of narcotics into the United States,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence is a forceful reminder to Mexican terrorist organizations that the Department of Justice is committed to bringing to justice those who threaten the wellbeing and safety of the American people for their own personal gain.”

    “For decades, DEA agents have tirelessly pursued justice to bring down one of Los Zetas’ most violent leaders, Jaime Gonzalez-Duran,” Said Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of the DEA Houston Division. “Today, those relentless efforts by our agents have paid off, and Duran will now be held accountable for years of bringing deadly drugs into American communities and killing those who stood in his way. No matter the distance of a violent drug trafficking organization or the rank of its leader, DEA will track down anyone who threatens our national safety and security.”

    On Feb. 28, Gonzalez-Duran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine and marijuana for unlawful importation into the United States from Mexico.

    The DEA Houston Division investigated the case.

    Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth and Trial Attorneys Kirk Handrich and Jayce Born of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and October 2022 extradition of Gonzalez-Duran.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and other transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: High-Ranking Member of Violent Mexican Drug Cartel Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for His Role in an International Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

    Source: United States Attorneys General 12

    A Mexican national and violent member of Los Zetas cartel was sentenced today to 35 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $792 million for conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana knowing that the drugs would be unlawfully imported into the United States.The United States Department of State designated Los Zetas, now known as Cartel del Noreste, as a foreign terrorist organization on Feb. 20, 2025.

    According to court documents, Jaime Gonzalez-Duran, also known as Hummer, 49, was personally responsible for importing into the United States more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and 90,000 kilograms of marijuana, engaging in acts of violence against rival drug trafficking groups for control over drug plazas and trafficking routes, storing and transporting weapons, explosives, and ammunition, and bribing law enforcement officers to ensure drug loads would not be disturbed.

    Gonzalez-Duran was an original member of Los Zetas, a drug trafficking organization comprised of former Mexican military officers that began as an armed militaristic wing for the Gulf Cartel. Gonzalez-Duran later served as a regional commander in the Mexican cities of Matamoros, Reynosa, and Miguel Aleman, after Los Zetas formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel known as “The Company.” Gonzalez-Duran personally maintained a warehouse in Reynosa from which, in November 2008, authorities seized 540 rifles, 165 grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, and 14 sticks of TNT that were used to secure drug territory and shipments. Gonzalez-Duran also was intercepted in a phone call in May 2007 coordinating the transportation of almost $1.5 million in cash from McAllen, Texas, into Mexico.

    “Jaime Gonzalez-Duran employed violence and intimidation tactics to maintain Los Zetas’ reign over key drug trafficking routes, especially on the U.S.-Mexico border, used to send vast quantities of narcotics into the United States,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence is a forceful reminder to Mexican terrorist organizations that the Department of Justice is committed to bringing to justice those who threaten the wellbeing and safety of the American people for their own personal gain.”

    “For decades, DEA agents have tirelessly pursued justice to bring down one of Los Zetas’ most violent leaders, Jaime Gonzalez-Duran,” Said Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of the DEA Houston Division. “Today, those relentless efforts by our agents have paid off, and Duran will now be held accountable for years of bringing deadly drugs into American communities and killing those who stood in his way. No matter the distance of a violent drug trafficking organization or the rank of its leader, DEA will track down anyone who threatens our national safety and security.”

    On Feb. 28, Gonzalez-Duran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine and marijuana for unlawful importation into the United States from Mexico.

    The DEA Houston Division investigated the case.

    Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth and Trial Attorneys Kirk Handrich and Jayce Born of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and October 2022 extradition of Gonzalez-Duran.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and other transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Elio: Disney’s enjoyable new animation may be an original story – but it’s also a forgettable one

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Laura O’Flanagan, PhD Candidate, School of English, Dublin City University

    In a summer cinema release schedule filled with sequels, remakes and franchise instalments, Disney’s latest animation Elio is a rare original story.

    Recently, much has been written and hands been wrung about the lack of original films in Hollywood. Indeed, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in 2024 that the studio’s output would primarily be sequels, saying: “There’s a lot of value in the sequels obviously because they’re known and it takes less in terms of marketing”. At least he’s honest.

    Elio is an unknown entity for the studio and indeed for 2025’s cinema goers. Fittingly, the film tackles the most unknown entities of all: outer space and life beyond Earth. What does this new story have to offer today’s cinema audiences who are accustomed to characters they already know and onscreen worlds that they have already visited?

    Elio tells the story of Elio Solis (Yonas Kibreab), a lonely newly orphaned boy who is fascinated with space and aliens. He lives in California with his Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana), a major in the US Air Force.

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    When aliens make contact one night, Elio secretly answers their call and is brought to the “Communiverse” in outer space, a brightly coloured world that is populated with aliens. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio is tasked with solving an intergalactic crisis in this new alien world – a world in which he increasingly feels he belongs. Elio needs to decide whether to leave Earth forever, or if there is no place like home.

    Characteristic of Disney (Pixar), the film’s visuals are audaciously stunning. Space is depicted as a twinkling magical canvas upon which Elio can dream, and sweeping, majestic images of Earth beg to be seen on a large cinema screen. The Communiverse is depicted beautifully in iridescent colours. But, against this spectacular setting, the characters ring a little hollow.

    Elio is given little emotional depth, and in the Communiverse there are simply too many aliens for an audience to connect with. Elio’s new friend Glorgon is the exception here, and his open-hearted comedic wonder will certainly appeal to younger viewers. Aunt Olga is disappointingly underdeveloped and her status as a military major is presented as at odds with her new role as Elio’s caregiver.

    The film forgoes much of Olga’s story in favour of a zany subplot between Glorgon and his alien father who need to reconnect. This feels like a missed opportunity and a superficial effort to depict a female character of high military rank that falls short of giving her any real agency or power in the film.

    Strikingly, the filmmakers use audio clips of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos to amplify the film’s message about life and connection. These are accompanied with spectacular visuals of space and constellations. But these audio clips have a solemnity that seems out of place alongside an alien blob called Glorgon who has daddy issues.

    This oddness of tone is woven throughout the film, laced with peril that feels unthreatening, comedic moments which stop before the belly laugh, and sentimental scenes that cut before the tears flow. Characters and plotlines are plentiful but consequently, the film spreads itself too thin, leaving the entire story feeling underdeveloped and somewhat shallow.

    There is a lot of everything in this film, and certainly something for everyone. And maybe that’s the point. In the past two decades, we’ve moved from a shared cultural canon to a stratified ecosystem of personalised content streams.

    In this entertainment landscape, a film like Elio could appeal to everyone a little bit, rather than become anyone’s firm favourite. Everyone in the family will enjoy a part of this film, albeit different parts. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where Elio’s clone is living on Earth.

    This may well be Disney’s strategy: to release an original story with broad appeal in order to mitigate the risks associated with untested stories and characters. This may prove financially viable initially, but will it create films with enduring legacies that generate franchises and spawn sequels?

    I fear Elio will not. The film provides little more than a passable afternoon at the cinema. It is pleasant, forgettable and safe – unlikely to live in the memory to “infinity and beyond”, like previous Disney releases.

    Laura O’Flanagan 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.

    – ref. Elio: Disney’s enjoyable new animation may be an original story – but it’s also a forgettable one – https://theconversation.com/elio-disneys-enjoyable-new-animation-may-be-an-original-story-but-its-also-a-forgettable-one-259213

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Trump’s first term lies at the heart of escalation between Iran and Israel

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christian Emery, Associate Professor in International Politics, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL

    The US president, Donald Trump, is weighing up whether to join Israel in attacking Iran. The fact he is even contemplating such a move is, in my opinion, a direct consequence of his 2018 decision to tear up the agreement negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency that limited Iran’s nuclear capabilities in return for sanctions relief.

    Trump not only squandered the opportunity to constrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions severely. He also shut the door on showing Iran that diplomacy and economic development could offer a more promising path than proxy warfare.

    The Obama administration’s core strategic rationale behind the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, or joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), was that amid several devastating regional wars and an American public weary of costly military interventions, a war with Iran would be disastrous. This was especially true given the growing US desire to pivot toward containing China.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Obama challenged opponents of the deal to propose a credible alternative. And Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed US Congress to make the case against the JCPOA. He argued that it would not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

    But Obama ultimately succeeded in persuading the American public that the only real alternative to a negotiated agreement with Iran was yet another war in the Middle East.

    Trump believed that exiting the JCPOA and crushing the Iranian economy would either force the regime to accept major restrictions on its nuclear programme and moderate its regional behaviour, or cause the entire theocratic system to collapse.

    What followed instead was a sharp escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf. Iran exercised greater reliance on its regional proxy network, with attacks on US personnel increasing. It simultaneously increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

    When Trump took office in 2017, the JCPOA had already eliminated 98% of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. It also capped enrichment at 3.7%, well below the level required for a nuclear bomb.

    The situation has changed since Trump’s withdrawal. Israel’s central justification for launching its attack against Iran on June 15 was the International Atomic Energy Agency’s determination that Iran had now amassed over 408kg of uranium enriched up to 60%. Netanyahu claimed that Iran could be “within a few months” of producing a nuclear weapon.

    However, even with these serious violations, US intelligence has consistently stated that Iran is not actively pursuing such a weapon. It recently assessed that, even if Iran decided to do so, it was up to three years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon that it could deliver to a target of its choosing.

    Netanyahu may have wanted to attack Iran anyway. He has repeatedly claimed over the past 15 years that immediate military action was needed to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

    But it would have been harder to justify an attack on Iran if it possessed no highly enriched uranium and was verifiably complying with the JCPOA. Iran had stuck to the JCPOA for four years, including one year after the US withdrew, and there is no evidence to suggest it wouldn’t have kept to a deal that Iran clearly saw as being in its interests.

    Maximum pressure campaign

    Iran’s developing nuclear programme may be the immediate pretext for the current escalation. But Iran’s proxy warfare strategy, using regional militant groups to fight Israel and serve as pressure points it can activate when threatened, forms the other essential backdrop.

    This strategy pre-dates the Trump administration. But Trump’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign clearly escalated tensions in the Middle East, making direct confrontation between Israel and Iran more likely.

    When Trump enacted sanctions aiming to eliminate Iran’s oil and gas exports, Tehran retaliated by using its strategic position in the Strait of Hormuz to harass Gulf shipping. In September 2019, an Iranian drone attack on a Saudi oil processing facility temporarily took out 50% of Saudi oil production.

    Iran would normally have zero interest in disrupting Gulf shipping. This is because its own gas and oil must travel through the Strait of Hormuz. But its strategy was to deter Trump’s economic warfare by showing that it would not be the only one to suffer.

    Tehran unsurprisingly viewed Trump’s policy as an attempt to deliver regime change and responded by doubling down on its “forward defence” strategy. Iran increased its military, financial and political backing of proxy groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. And it also continued development of its ballistic missile programme.

    Before 2018, the US estimated that Iran was sending about US$200 million (£148 million) annually to the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah. By 2020, it was sending US$700 million.

    Trump’s repudiation of the JCPOA also critically damaged more moderate voices in Iran. In 2017, the success of the JCPOA helped propel reformist president Hassan Rouhani to a second term in office. However, in 2021, the regime prevented key moderate figures from standing.

    Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner who had lost against Rouhani in 2017 and was already under US sanctions, was elected as Iran’s president. Raisi and his faction demanded tougher terms for any future nuclear deal – more sanctions relief upfront and binding guarantees against another US withdrawal.

    This frustrated attempts to revive the agreement under Joe Biden’s presidency, as only Congress could offer such guarantees. This was an improbable prospect amid escalating tensions with a more hostile, nuclear-advanced Iran that was increasingly aligning with Russia.

    None of this absolves Iran of its own intransigence, support for terrorism or brutalisation of its own citizens. Nor does it free the Islamic Republic of criticism over its decision to abandon the nuclear limits agreed under the JCPOA – even if it was the US that first broke the deal.

    Ultimately, though, the conditions that led to this war would almost certainly not have arisen without Trump’s mishandling of Iran policy in his first administration. It was a precursor to the abysmal leadership he’s demonstrating in this war.

    Christian Emery 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.

    – ref. Trump’s first term lies at the heart of escalation between Iran and Israel – https://theconversation.com/trumps-first-term-lies-at-the-heart-of-escalation-between-iran-and-israel-259199

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How mice ‘listen’ with their whiskers

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tommi Anttonen, Postdoctoral research associate, University of Oxford

    Bilanol/Shutterstock

    Oh no! You dropped your keys on the ground, and it is too dark to see them. You might have to feel the ground with your hands, but a mouse could use its whiskers to find the keys.

    Mouse whiskers, also known as the vibrissa system, are long facial hairs which are sensitive to touch and allow mice to feel around their environment. As a whisker touches something, the sensory neurons at the hair follicle activate. These neurons send electrical signals to the animal’s central nervous system, which interprets them into information about the features of the environment.

    But a recent study by neuroscience PhD candidate Ben Efron and his colleagues suggested that mice may use their whiskers to explore their surroundings in ways other than the sense of touch.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    The sensory system of mice is especially useful for nocturnal animals like mice that navigate in lightless burrows and in the dark corners of our houses. Mice can use specialised muscles to move their whiskers in patterns. They can also do this by turning their head. This behaviour is called whisking. Rodents use various whisking patterns depending on whether it is running, turning or examining an object. The faster the mouse runs, the faster the whisker movements are.

    The researchers behind the new study noticed that mouse whiskers make subtle sounds when they touch surfaces. They measured the electrical activity of neurons in the auditory cortex (a brain area that processes sound) of whisking mice and discovered that these sounds induce brain activity.

    This happened even when the nerve connection that conveys touch sensation from the whiskers to the brain was cut, suggesting that mice can detect these sounds as a separate sensory input with their auditory system. The researchers also trained mice to recognise specific surfaces solely based on the sounds that their whiskers produced.

    Scientists generally have believed that whiskers only help mice explore their surrounding via touch. But these results indicate whiskers provide sound information to mice too. Whether other animals with whiskers can do this too remains to be studied.

    Integrating information from several senses in this way may help animals make a more accurate interpretation of the world around them. Like mice with their whiskers, you can acquire multisensory information about the location of your lost keys with your hands. You might not identify them based on how they feel when you tap them but the familiar sound of the keys jingling would tell you that you have found them.

    Every animal perceives the world differently through the unique combination of the senses that they have. There is a secret world of sounds and vibrations around us that we cannot experience.

    The way mice in the recent study identified objects based on sounds resembles, in part, echolocation that some bats and aquatic mammals like dolphins use for navigation. Echolocating bats produce ultrasounds – meaning that they are too high in frequency for humans to hear them – which reflect from surrounding surfaces. Bats can navigate their way in total darkness and detect prey such as moths by listening to these echoes.

    Moths in turn have evolved acoustic defenses against echolocating bats which include the ability to detect ultrasounds, acoustic camouflage (wing scales that reduce ultrasonic echoes), decoy structures (elongated wingtips that misguide the bats to attack away from the body of the moth) and emitting ultrasounds that compromise bat echolocation.

    Lunar moth tails make an acoustic signal that seems to make bats zero in on the tail rather than more vital body parts.
    Jay Ondreicka/Shutterstock

    Elephants make vocalisations known as rumbles that are infrasonic, meaning that they are too low in frequency for humans to hear them. Elephants, however, seem to use rumbles for long distance communication. Rumbles travel through air as sound signals and through the ground as seismic signals which can travel up to 6km.

    It’s not completely clear how elephants detect seismic signals. Detection may happen through vibration-sensitive organs in their feet and/or through bone conduction hearing. During bone conduction hearing, vibrations do not enter the inner ear as airborne sounds but as vibrations of bones and tissues. You can experience this by placing a vibrating tuning fork on the bony part of your head behind your ear or on your tooth. Suddenly, you can hear the tuning fork vibrating loudly.

    Why should we be interested in this secret world that cannot be detected by human senses? First, human-generated environmental change, which includes noise pollution, poses significant threats to many species and ecosystems.

    For example, maritime noise interferes with sound communication of whales and dolphins while human-made noise on land disturbs nesting birds. To protect animals from these harmful effects, we need to understand how their sensory systems are affected.

    Secondly, bio-inspired innovations are waiting to be discovered. So keep in mind next time when parking a car with ultrasound-based parking sensors that echolocating bats have had access to this navigation technique for more than tens of millions of years.

    Tommi Anttonen 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.

    – ref. How mice ‘listen’ with their whiskers – https://theconversation.com/how-mice-listen-with-their-whiskers-257650

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Mrvan Honors Nominees Accepted into the U.S. Military Service Academies

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank J. Mrvan (IN)

    Washington, DC – Rep. Frank J. Mrvan is pleased to announce the nominees that have accepted their appointment to the U.S. Military Service Academies from Indiana’s First Congressional District.  

    Military Service Academy Nominations are recommended to Congressman Mrvan by his Military Service Academy Board, which includes veterans, community leaders, and active duty and retired servicemembers from across Indiana’s First Congressional District.

    Members of Congress may nominate candidates for appointment to four of the five U.S. service academies: U.S. Military Academy (USMA), West Point, NY; the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), Annapolis, MD; the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado Springs, CO; and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), Kings Point, NY.  The fifth service academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), New London, CT, does not require a congressional nomination for appointment.

    Congressman Mrvan stated, “It is my honor to nominate these brave and selfless individuals from Indiana’s First Congressional District to join the United States Military Service Academies for the Class of 2029.  I thank all the members of the Military Service Academy Board for their thoughtful participation in this process, and encourage all students who are interested in being part of the Class of 2030 to contact my office for additional information.”  

    The following students received a nomination from Congressman Mrvan and have accepted their appointment: 

    Grant Best, Mount Carmel High School – U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School

    Cooper Burton, Wheeler High School – U.S. Air Force Academy

    Talina Cisneros, Hammond Central High School – U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School

    Shane Conroy, Portage High School – U.S. Naval Academy

    Luke Granzow, Hobart High School/Air Force Prep – U.S. Air Force Academy

    Maverick Markos, Westville High School – U.S. Military Academy at West Point

    Brayden Mercier, Chesterton High School – U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

    Damian Resendez, Mount Carmel High School/West Point Prep – U.S. Military Academy at West Point

    Madalyn Richardson, Washington Township High School – U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

    Students in Indiana’s First Congressional District who are interested in seeking a nomination to the U.S. Military Service Academies can find more information on Congressman Mrvan’s website at https://mrvan.house.gov/services/military-academy-nominations or by calling (219) 795-1844. 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Information sessions for people affected by Scott Street fire

    Source: Scotland – City of Perth

    Running from 1pm to 7pm, the drop-in session on Tuesday 24 June will allow residents or employees of local businesses directly or indirectly impacted by the blaze and subsequent road and building closures to meet Council staff and those from partner agencies who will be able to answer questions and provide advice.

    Fifty-five families have been displaced because of the blaze, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning.

    Residents should arrive at the main entrance to the Council offices at 2 High Street, Perth.

    Information will be available on a range of issues including:

    • Housing
    • Welfare Rights
    • Local taxes
    • Access to properties
    • Donations
    • Mental Health and Wellbeing support
    • Social work
    • Community Support and engagement and more

    Councillor Eric Drysdale, Deputy Leader of Perth and Kinross Council and ward member for Perth City Centre, said: “The devastating consequences of last weekend’s tragic fire will be felt for months to come.

    “Our thoughts remain with those affected, not least the friends and relatives of the man who sadly lost his life in the blaze.

    “People who lived at 41 Scott Street lost everything and now face the challenge of rebuilding their lives. Residents and nearby businesses also face being unable to access their homes and premises for weeks or months. Whatever we can do to help them, we will.

    “The response from the people of Perth and Kinross to this emergency has been humbling. The generosity people and businesses have shown has been exemplary.

    “But we know that those affected will still have many questions as they begin to move forward. We want to do everything we can to help them and Tuesday’s event will, I believe, help provide some of those answers.

    “We know it is a long road ahead but will continue doing all we can to support those in their hour of need.”

    Follow-up residents’ event (insurance focus) – Friday 27 June 2025, 11am-2pm

    Following on from the resident drop-in session arranged for Tuesday 24 June, a follow-up information event for residents impacted by the fire in Perth city centre has been organised for Friday 27 June 2025 at the Council Buildings, 2 High Street, Perth. Hosted by Perth and Kinross and supported by Pete Wishart MP and John Swinney MSP, the event will also be attended by representatives of Perth-based insurance firm Aviva and the Association of British Insurers. This is an opportunity to share challenges people are facing with their household insurers and understand more about the industry’s approach in such cases. As insurance is a UK Government regulated industry, Mr Wishart’s office may be able to take up cases on individuals’ behalf directly with their respective insurance companies/ UK Government ministers.
     
    Council teams and support services will also be on hand to provide information and advice on a range of other issues being experienced by residents impacted by the fire.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: At Chelsea Town Hall, Pressley Reaffirms Solidarity with Immigrant Neighbors, Condemns Minnesota Lawmaker Assassinations

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Pressley Also Condemned Trump’s March Toward Authoritarianism, and More

    “I come here today to reaffirm my commitment to protect and to support our immigrant neighbors, and to do that work with my colleagues at every level of government.. You are not just constituents. You are family, and I will never stop fighting for you like that.”

    Video (YouTube) | Photos (Dropbox)

    CHELSEA – At a town hall in Chelsea, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) reaffirmed her solidarity with immigrant families under threat from the Trump Administration and condemned the harrowing assassination and assassination attempts targeting elected officials and their families that took place over the weekend in Minnesota. Congresswoman Pressley also denounced Donald Trump’s march toward authoritarianism, including his North Korea-style military parade in Washington, DC, and more.

    Joined by community leaders at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, including La Colaborativa leadership, Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez, the Chelsea Black Community, and elected officials from across the Massachusetts 7th, Rep. Pressley addressed constituents impacted by the Trump Administration’s cruel and unlawful mass deportation agenda.

    A transcript of the Congresswoman’s opening remarks is available below and the video is available here. Photos from the town hall are available here.

    Transcript: Rep. Pressley’s Opening Remarks at Chelsea Town Hall
    La Colaborativa, Chelsea, MA
    June 16, 2025

    Good evening, Chelsea. It is so good to be home. 

    It is so good to be in Chelsea, the city that I often refer to as tiny but mighty, a city that models community in every way, that leads with love and with solidarity. 

    …

    Before I go any further, I just want to address the violence that we witnessed this past weekend in Minnesota. The targeted shootings of Minnesota Senator John Hoffman, Representative Melissa Hortman and their spouses, the tragic deaths of Rep. Hortman and her husband. Truly devastating that we find ourselves at a time simply because people disagree, that we are seeing an escalating political violence. 

    These are public servants, people who dedicated their lives to building stronger, safer communities. And there must be outcry, there must be outrage, and strong condemnation for what happened to them.

    That being said, these horrifying acts are not occurring in isolation and because of the moment we find ourselves in, and their strategy is to flood the zone and overwhelm us. It can be difficult to keep up with the injustices, but let me just do a quick recap. 

    In the last week, Donald Trump unlawfully deployed the National Guard to attack peaceful protesters in California, then a sitting United States Black Congresswoman was indicted simply for doing her job and conducting federal oversight of an ICE detention facility in her district. Then, a Latino United States Senator was manhandled, thrown to the floor and handcuffed for daring to ask a question of this administration. And then, a North Korea-style military parade marched through our nation’s capital in an appalling display of authoritarianism. 

    These events are not disconnected. They are just the latest in a pattern of violent escalation and assaults on our democracy designed to intimidate and to silence. I remember when I went to conduct oversight and traveled to rural Louisiana to check on the well being of Mahmoud Khalil, and when I met with Mahmoud, and it’s important that we tell the truth– there are not mass deportations happening, there are mass kidnappings happening.

    That is what happened to Mahmoud Khalil, and when I met with him, he said, “I grew up in Syria under Assad. I know what it is to live under an authoritarian regime, and this is it.”

    Donald Trump wants a country where its people are ignorant and uninformed. Donald Trump wants a country where its people are indifferent to the suffering of their neighbors. Donald Trump wants a country where its people are inactive. 

    The fact that you chose to be here tonight is in opposition to all three of those things. You are choosing to be informed, you are choosing to be empathetic, you are choosing to be active. 

    I’m so grateful for the courageous people of Chelsea that are here tonight. Because remember, courage is not the absence of fear. Truth be told, we’re all carrying some fear in this moment, but the courage is that you are pushing beyond and through that to show up here today and every day, and we need to just acknowledge that. So clap for yourselves, the courageous people of Chelsea.

    You know, in Donald Trump’s America, again, we’re in the midst of this extremist march towards fascism, it’s an America where anyone who he disagrees with is criminalized. 

    I have to remind those who think that they might be exempt from the harm of a fascist state. It is coming for everyone. True enough, this is discriminate harm. So some of us are bearing these harms more than others in this moment. 

    But your wealth will not protect you from fascism. Whiteness will not protect you from fascism. This is a harm coming for everyone. 

    And when people asked me, why would I journey all the way to Louisiana to check on my constituent, Rumeysa Ozturk, and to fight for her freedom, I said it is Rumeysa today for co-authoring an op-ed, and it will be you tomorrow for reading a banned book. It will be you tomorrow for teaching Black history. It will be you tomorrow for suffering a miscarriage. It could be you tomorrow for practicing diversity, equity, and inclusion and accessibility. That includes that, yes. 

    So he wants anyone that he disagrees with to be criminalized. He wants the work of oversight to be punished. He wants peaceful protest to be met with military force and political violence to be encouraged. 

    So we have to condemn these acts, and we have to call out — this is the season of call a thing a thing. We have to call out Donald Trump’s dangerous march towards authoritarianism for what it is. It is a threat to our freedoms. 

    Republicans like to talk a good game about freedom, but this is the anti-freedom agenda when people want to control your body and what you can do with it. They want to control your free speech. They want to control what books you can read. They want to control where you go. That is an anti-freedom agenda. 

    Those are the actions of a dictator, and the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance, and we must because this authoritarianism is a threat to our freedoms, our rights, and our democracy itself, and to the people in Massachusetts and everywhere across this country and our world. 

    But I do want to take a moment to speak directly to the crisis being felt right here in Chelsea, where our immigrant neighbors are being terrorized by this administration, and the community is carrying deep fear and trauma. 

    People have had their homes raided, property destroyed, families torn apart, rights trampled on by racist rogue ICE agents. Well, we think they’re ICE agents. We don’t really know, because they’re masked, but they’re operating with little to no accountability. 

    Community members have spoken to me of being targeted without warrants, detained without due process, and living every day in fear that they or their loved ones could be taken without warning from the only home they’ve ever known. 

    What is the point of all of this? The cruelty is the point. 

    The cruelty experienced by our Chelsea neighbor Kenia and her three children driving to a Mother’s Day church service with her husband Daniel, when ICE agents in unmarked vehicles ambushed them, broke the passenger side window, forcefully pulled Daniel from the car, and slammed his face on the sidewalk while their children watched on in horror. 

    High school students, children like Belizario Benito Vasques and recent graduate Geovani de la Cruz Catalan are being abducted and detained without due process, despite having no criminal records. 

    Children, real people, children and adults alike, traumatized whose lives have been disrupted and forever harmed.

    Donald Trump and ICE claim that they are committing these assaults on our communities in the name of safety — laughable that the most lawless occupant of the Oval Office would say anything about law and order. 

    This is not what safety looks like, but this is what terror feels like, and terror makes no one safe. It does the opposite. It shows chaos. It breeds fear and it fosters unrest. 

    This administration has openly vowed to bring hell to our immigrant communities and for too many of our neighbors, they already have. 

    In my opinion, these actions are godless, lawless and a complete violation of our constitutional rights to due process, void of common sense and compassion. And what this moment demands is solidarity, resistance and rejection of these attacks on our immigrant communities, because an attack on our immigrant neighbors is an attack on all of us.

    That’s why I’ve been unapologetic and calling for the end of ICE’s unchecked power, for the closure of these for-profit detention centers and these policies rooted in cruelty. Because no matter your immigration status, your zip code, or your country of origin, you deserve to live in dignity and freedom without fear. 

    So I come here today to reaffirm my commitment to protect and to support our immigrant neighbors, and to do that work with my colleagues at every level of government. That means pushing for real accountability. That means providing legal protections and a pathway to citizenship. 

    That means investing in communities instead of criminalizing them. I really do believe that we’re one human family, and our destinies are tied, and when one of us is targeted, all of us must rise in defense. So to our neighbors, know that I see you today and every day. 

    Donald Trump has made it clear that his election was never about improving your quality of life or lowering the cost of groceries or your rent. He’s coming after Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, this Big, Ugly Bill would rip away healthcare, food assistance and other essential needs from 16 million people. Donald Trump is not cutting costs. He’s cutting lifelines. 

    They’re coming after our neighbors in the LGBTQ community. Black folks, they’re coming after us. This administration is anti-Blackness on steroids. They’re coming after our bodily autonomy. 

    And even though we live in Massachusetts, do not for one second believe that we are completely safe as a result. They are coming after our federal workers who administer these essential services and programs to our communities. They are coming after NIH funding and our schools. 

    They want to overwhelm us and my Republican colleagues across the aisle in the House, they are not operating as a party at all. They are operating as a cult of cowards, complicit in wholesale harm, more concerned with keeping a job than doing it. 

    The but family, you know, I’ve given the occupant enough oxygen. Know that I get up every day compelled and fueled not to fight Donald Trump, but to fight for, with and alongside you,

    Because the fact of the matter is that this is not about how do we survive the next four years. Truthfully, some days it feels like we’re just trying to survive the next four minutes. But this moment, I believe, will determine and shape the next 100 years. It’s not about surviving four it’s about shaping the next 100. 

    And so that work, because when we get to the other side, and we will, we’ll have to do the work of reconstruction. It’s a lot easier to tear down than it is to rebuild, and it is going to take all of us in the resistance and in the rebuilding. 

    Now, you don’t have to be a congresswoman, you don’t have to head a nonprofit, you don’t have to be a council president or a school board member. You just need to bring your gift, whatever it is, because some of us are going to speak on the mic, and someone else is going to make sure it works. Somebody’s going to read the speech, but someone else is going to write it.

    Someone is going to march and hold a sign, and someone else made that sign. Someone else is going to march and have the stamina to do so because they’re well fed, because somebody made sure they were. Someone else is going to send a prayer up. 

    You just need to bring your gift, but you need to bring it and summon the courage in this moment. 

    So before I close, I want everyone here to know that myself and my office are here to serve you. Please use us as a resource. We are ready to support with federal casework on everything from immigration to housing to Social Security checks and more. 

    So if your neighbor or your loved one is detained, do not hesitate to reach out to my office please. We have one-pagers. Take one or more with you and pass them along. Stay in touch with me and my staff. We are also here to help you with any federal agency. 

    This is a time when we must show up for each other, where we double down on mutual aid, where we keep each other safe. I am my brother’s keeper. I am my sister’s keeper. 

    It is truly the honor of my life to serve the Massachusetts 7th, a district that reflects the best of who we are. And know this, you are not just constituents. You are family, and I will never stop fighting for you like that.

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