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Category: Transport

  • MIL-OSI Global: The Phoenician Scheme: a fun watch even though it’s the same journey in a different vehicle

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel O’Brien, Lecturer, Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex

    As someone attuned to the distinct styles of auteur filmmakers, I came to Wes Anderson’s latest offering The Phoenician Scheme intrigued, feeling a mix of distance and familiarity.

    My appreciation for other auteur directors like Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock may have sometimes inadvertently pushed Anderson’s work to the periphery of my viewing habits, but The Phoenician Scheme (his 13th directorial film) provides an opportunity to reassess that omission.

    The cinematic trademarks were all there: deadpan performances, meticulous symmetry, whip-pan camera work (when the camera whips round so fast, everything blurs), ice-cream colour palettes and trains, frequently present in some form throughout Anderson’s
    filmography.

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    And a Bill Murray cameo? Of course – along with other minor roles from Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Richard Ayoade, Riz Ahmed and Benedict Cumberbatch (as well as many others), all appearing briefly across the film’s brisk 90-minute runtime – a fairly typical length for an Anderson feature.

    Although I found The Phoenician Scheme a fairly enjoyable film and one that ardent fans will surely embrace, my issue was perhaps precisely within the formulaic nature of this work. This sense of familiarity makes the viewing simultaneously comfortable, but also a little predictable.

    Aside from a genuinely unexpected explosion in the film’s opening moments, there was little that caught me off guard, making it difficult to gauge just how memorable The Phoenician Scheme will be in the long run. It entertains but rarely surprises and despite the litany of cameos, each one is fairly unmemorable. In fact, while writing this, I’ve only just remembered that Willem Dafoe is in a scene or two as well.

    It’s not that anyone is necessarily giving a bad performance but rather each iteration of wry whimsy results in a kind of stylistic uniformity that renders them indistinct from one another. By contrast, the film’s three leading roles benefit from sustained screen time, allowing for a little more nuance.

    Benicio del Toro leads the cast as Zsa-Zsa Korda, a rich and morally ambiguous industrialist, set within the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Phoenicia during the 1950s. Korda is on the point of political and personal ruin. His life is constantly in danger with ongoing visual and verbal gags from the beginning about his nonchalance towards assassination.

    Korda faces execution threats from shadowy agencies and members of his own board to the extent that his suspiciousness has become a comfortable characteristic. Newcomer Mia Threapleton (daughter of Kate Winslet) stars as Liesl Korda, his estranged daughter who has spent years in quiet devotion as a nun in a remote convent.

    Her sudden appointment as her father’s heir thrusts her back into a world she had long abandoned, continuing Anderson’s other fascination with fractured, complex familial dynamics, as the rest of her siblings look on. Michael Cera portrays Bjorn Lund, a docile yet quietly astute tutor with a fascination for insects, who is brought in to help Liesl adjust to her new responsibilities.

    Without revealing too much, Lund turns out to be more than he initially seems, giving Cera the chance to slip back into that awkward, mock-cool persona –reminiscent of his Twin Peaks: The Return role, in which he channels a Marlon Brando–style rebel straight out of The Wild One.

    In typical Anderson style, visual gags (here in the form of props) propel the film along, from Lund’s bugs to Liesl’s jewel-encrusted rosary and Korda’s weapons, which include grenades that he politely offers to other diplomats as a formal greeting.

    The visually rich and symmetrical arrangement of characters, against a static or sideways moving camera reminded me of how much Anderson is inspired by Peter Greenaway’s work, particularly The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989).

    Anderson draws on this auteur aesthetically and thematically but also through absurdity. While Greenaway’s films take inspiration from canvas painting, the closing credit sequence of The Phoenician Scheme also features well known artworks, serving as inspiration for the content.

    The visuals, which are rich throughout, are also interestingly compacted to a 1.50 aspect ratio, making the frame of the screen quite box like. This is perhaps also relevant to the structure of the film in which most of the events and visitations of external characters are pre-organised into a range of numbered shoeboxes, which is afforded a lengthy sequence, with plenty of overview shots of the boxes neatly arranged.

    Each section of the film that follows pertains to a certain box. Viewers are reminded as to which box they are in through a range of title cards which divides the film into a series of vignettes, not unlike Anderson’s chapter structure in The Royal Tenenbaums.

    This earlier film is perhaps his better-known one about the estrangement and reconnection of dysfunctional family members. This trait can also be found in The Darjeeling Limited aboard a train, or in a submarine in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The Phoenician Scheme echoes these familiar tropes (domestic dysfunction wrapped in whimsical packaging) aboard a number of private plane journeys (with a token train scene in the middle).

    While it may feel like a familiar journey aboard a new vessel, that familiarity will probably be either the reason you enjoy the ride – or the very thing that makes it feel like an exhausting commute, one where you’re tempted to pull the emergency cord.

    While there is much to enjoy, I doubt The Phoenician Scheme will be remembered as one of Anderson’s most essential works. At times, it teeters on the edge of parodying its own auteur style. Despite this I found it compelling enough to spark a renewed interest in his earlier films.

    And any work that can reignite curiosity, even while treading familiar ground, is worth your time, even if it’s only for a chance to play cameo bingo.

    Daniel O’Brien 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. The Phoenician Scheme: a fun watch even though it’s the same journey in a different vehicle – https://theconversation.com/the-phoenician-scheme-a-fun-watch-even-though-its-the-same-journey-in-a-different-vehicle-257658

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Have sanctions against Russia backfired? What apartheid-era South Africa tells us about who may be profiting

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Luiz, Professor of International Management and Strategy, University of Sussex

    There are no longer any golden arches logos in Russia, but is the firm hoping for a return? forden/Shutterstock

    Even as the war in Ukraine grinds on, some multinational companies are quietly positioning themselves for a thaw in relations with Russia.

    Many of those who rushed to divest from the country, selling off assets after the full-scale invasion in 2022, may now be reassessing their options. It’s also becoming clear that some of these companies never completely left to begin with.

    What is apparent is that divestment was, in many cases, provisional rather than permanent – with firms embedding “buy-back” clauses in their sales contracts, or structuring their exits in ways that would make future re-entry simple.

    This should not come as a surprise. Our research into foreign divestment from apartheid-era South Africa shows this is a well-trodden business path.

    In South Africa, sanctions inadvertently strengthened local white business elites aligned with the ruling regime. Multinationals sold their assets under pressure – often at discounts, often to the local companies of politically connected elites – and later bought them back at a premium.

    Today, the same dynamic could be playing out in Russia.

    When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, more than 1,600 multinational enterprises announced they were pulling out of the country. However, reports last year suggested that 2,175 foreign companies, including some who had announced they were pulling out, remained in Russia – and were becoming increasingly open about their operations.

    One CEO stated that investors did not “morally care” about doing business in Russia, and that if they pulled out, rivals would simply take their place.

    Even for those companies that did leave, many of these exits were more symbolic than substantial. Research has shown that even companies that claimed to have fully divested left behind options to return.

    Carmaker Nissan, for example, appears to have sold its Russian subsidiary to state-owned NAMI in 2022 with a six-year buy-back clause. In a statement at the time, the company said the terms allowed it “the option to buy back the entity and its operations within the next six years”.

    And fast-food giant McDonald’s can reportedly reacquire its Russian business within 15 years. A statement from McDonald’s in 2022 said that, for the first time in its history, it was “de-Arching” a major market – but suggested it hoped to return eventually.

    Such arrangements, often quietly written into exit contracts, allow multinationals to comply with sanctions in the short term – while keeping the door open for a future comeback.

    In many cases, the operations have continued seamlessly under new ownership. While the brand names may have changed in Russia, the staff and product designs remain almost identical. And sometimes, the foreign supply chains and intellectual property are still in play too.

    Who profits?

    The South African precedent is instructive. During the 1980s, foreign companies divested under pressure from shareholders, activists and governments over apartheid. But very few truly left. Most sold their operations to local elites – powerful business groups aligned with the ruling regime. They then continued to supply products, license trademarks and support operations through quiet back channels.

    The intention of sanctions is to weaken the sanctioned state. However, our study shows that the economic value created by foreign multinationals in South Africa did not disappear.

    The aim of sanctions against Russia is to weaken the economic position of the Kremlin.
    E.O./Shutterstock

    In Russia, foreign companies have sold assets at big discounts to Russian oligarchs and state-linked entities since 2022. In some cases, the buyers were longstanding local partners or franchisees. In others, they were entities unknown to consumers but which were thought to have close ties to the Kremlin.

    The consequences are predictable. Rather than weakening the regime’s economic base, sanctions may have consolidated it. As in South Africa, the departure of foreign firms appears to have strengthened domestic elites and allowed them to accumulate new assets and market power.

    Some companies that left Russia are reported to be reconsidering their decisions. Negotiations are taking place behind the scenes about how to ree-stablish operations should conditions shift. Their re-entry may be smoothed by structures – buy-back clauses, licensing deals or local partnerships – that firms put in place on their way out.

    This strategy mirrors what we found in South Africa. In the 1990s, once apartheid ended, foreign multinationals returned in large numbers. But they didn’t start from scratch. They repurchased their former assets, often at a much higher price, from the local elites.

    In short, in the case of South Africa at least, the period of supposed withdrawal was often one of careful preparation for re-entry. Meanwhile, our study also found that South African conglomerates used their windfalls to fund international expansion and entrench their power in the new economy.

    Unintended results

    Sanctions remain a key tool of international diplomacy. But our research shows their effectiveness depends heavily on how firms implement them – and who ends up with the assets that are divested. If those assets are consistently transferred to politically connected insiders, the long-term outcome may be to reinforce the very regimes the sanctions were intended to pressure.

    Sanctions policy should not just consider whether firms have divested, but how and to whom. Without that, even the most well-intentioned measures may end up producing unintended results.

    This means that governments should go beyond imposing sanctions and develop mechanisms to ensure transparency, monitoring and accountability in how corporate exits are structured.

    South African sanctions are generally seen as having played a useful role in ending apartheid. But as unemployment and inequality continue to plague the country along old institutional lines, the South African experience offers a clear historical warning. If sanctions are meant to promote accountability and change, it’s vital to pay close attention to what happens after the headlines fade.

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

    – ref. Have sanctions against Russia backfired? What apartheid-era South Africa tells us about who may be profiting – https://theconversation.com/have-sanctions-against-russia-backfired-what-apartheid-era-south-africa-tells-us-about-who-may-be-profiting-257422

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: From soil to slugs to songbirds – how plastic is moving through ecosystems

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Emily Thrift, PhD Candidate and Doctoral Tutor in Ecology, University of Sussex

    Philippe Clement / shutterstock

    For many people, “plastic pollution” calls to mind pictures of turtles and other marine life drowning in single-use plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets. My own research looks at how the same story is playing out on land.

    Plastics are increasingly found in small mammals, insects and the soil. But how it moves through these ecosystems – and the damage it might be doing – is still poorly understood.

    My own research into this started during my masters degree. I wanted to find out if plastic pollution was affecting UK mammals – and the results were startling.

    Colleagues and I first looked at the faeces of a range of small UK mammals. We then used a special machine that detects infrared light to identify different types of plastic.

    We found plastics in the faeces of European hedgehogs, wood mice, field vole, and brown rats. Of the 189 hedgehog samples, 19% contained plastics. In one sample alone I was shocked to find a total of 12 pink and clear fibres of polyester. This is the UK’s most popular wild mammal, and no one knew they were ingesting plastic.

    Where the microplastics came from

    As part of my ongoing PhD, the next step was figuring out how this plastic was getting into the hedgehogs in the first place. Hedgehogs feed on invertebrates like beetles, snails, slugs, earthworms, caterpillars and woodlice. We wanted to see if those creatures could themselves be contaminated by plastic.

    We collected over 2,000 invertebrates and soil samples from 51 sites in Sussex, England. The sites covered farmland, grassland and suburban areas.

    To trace how plastic might move through the food web, we sampled creatures at various different points in the food web (known as “trophic levels”). This meant plant-eaters, like peacock butterfly caterpillars, and earthworms and other animals that feed on dead plants. We sampled omnivores who will eat all sorts, like the red-footed soldier beetle, and carnivores like ladybirds and ground beetles, who eat other animals and are found higher up the food web.

    After we had grouped the invertebrates by both species and location, we had 530 samples to analyse. We recently published our results in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

    Overall, plastic showed up in 12% of the invertebrate samples. Earthworms had the highest rate at 29%, followed by snails & slugs at 24%. Interestingly, the types of plastic found in carnivores didn’t match those in herbivores and dead plant-eaters. That suggests the carnivores are not just getting it from eating contaminated prey – they might also be picking up plastic as they move through the soil or even from airborne particles that land on their next meal.

    Earthworms are particularly plastic pollution-prone.
    VaskePro / shutterstock

    We also found the first evidence of plastic in species of caterpillar like the peacock, powder blue and red admiral butterflies, and in beetles such as ladybirds.

    The most common plastic we found was polyester, probably from clothing and furniture. Other common plastics were those used in single-use packaging, agricultural materials (such as fleece, mulch film, greenhouse films and silage wrap), and even paint.

    So, does it matter if a few slugs or worms are ingesting plastic? Absolutely.

    Invertebrates play important roles within their ecosystems. Earthworms, for example, add air to the soil and help cycle nutrients. Therefore, when they consume plastic, it affects the animals that prey on them, the soil they live in, and even the food we grow.

    In fact, plants grown in plastic-contaminated soil have been shown to take microplastics into their cells. This can stunt their growth and limit the water they can retain, and ultimately reduce our ability to grow the food we need.

    Insect-eating birds like swifts,thrushes and blackbirds are also ingesting similar plastic, likely from their prey. This can stunt their growth, damage organs, and make them less fertile.

    It is too easy to place the responsibility solely on individuals to avoid single-use packaging, recycle more, and avoid synthetic materials. These things make a difference, of course, but big polluters must be held accountable. That means fast fashion companies, drinks giants, supermarket chains and the agriculture sector, which all produce a huge amount of plastic waste and have failed to take responsibility for the damage this causes.

    If we want to protect ecosystems from plastic – on land as well as at sea – we need more than personal action. We need serious accountability, better waste management, and real investment in truly sustainable alternatives.

    Emily Thrift 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. From soil to slugs to songbirds – how plastic is moving through ecosystems – https://theconversation.com/from-soil-to-slugs-to-songbirds-how-plastic-is-moving-through-ecosystems-257685

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Islamic State is expanding its operations in north-eastern Nigeria

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Folahanmi Aina, Lecturer in Political Economy of Violence, Conflict and Development, SOAS, University of London

    Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), one of the most powerful global affiliates of the Islamic State jihadist organisation, is in the middle of its largest offensive against the Nigerian military in years.

    The group has overrun security positions in Borno state, a region of north-east Nigeria, a dozen times in the past few months. Borno state has been the epicentre of a conflict between the Nigerian army and jihadist insurgents for 15 years. The UN Development Programme said in 2021 that the violence had killed more than 35,000 people there directly.

    The latest offensive began in March with a string of attacks. This included an improvised explosive device planted underneath a commercial vehicle in Biu, a town in southern Borno state, which killed four people and injured four others.

    Iswap then launched several more attacks the following month, including an operation on a Nigerian army barracks in Yamtage town. It claimed to have killed three soldiers. The group sustained its campaign into May, with the launch of one of its most sophisticated attacks in recent memory.

    On May 12, suspected Iswap militants stormed the town of Marte, capturing several soldiers and forcing others to retreat. A coordinated dual strike on nearby Rann and Dikwa towns followed hours later. The insurgents now have a strong presence in Marte, which holds immense strategic value due to its access to Lake Chad smuggling corridors.

    Iswap, which was originally formed in 2015 as an offshoot of Boko Haram and has around 5,000 fighters, appears to be adapting to the Nigerian army’s military strategy. Since 2019, the Nigerian army has consolidated its forces in a heavily fortified “super camp” in key towns and cities in the north-east, from which they can respond to reported insurgent activity.

    However, Iswap militants have launched several attacks on some of these camps by using tactics such as nighttime raids. They have also targeted bridges and roads between the camps, as well as launching attacks on nearby positions as a diversion, to prevent reinforcements from reaching targeted bases.

    Iswap has been carrying out a sustained offensive against the Nigerian army since March.
    Institute for the Study of War

    There are several factors that could explain Iswap’s resurgence. The first is that there have been strategic shifts on the ground, including a lull in fighting between Iswap and rival faction Boko Haram over territorial control.

    Niger also withdrew its troops from the region’s counter-terrorism joint task force in March. The security vacuum created by this withdrawal may have further emboldened Iswap to carry out its offensive.

    Nigeria and Niger share a long border, so the reduction in military patrols could have led to an increase in the number of weapons and militants supplied to Iswap from its regional network.

    The second factor is that the authorities have relied too heavily on responding militarily to the threat posed by Boko Haram and Iswap. The joint task force has launched several major offensives against the two groups in recent years, helping to contain the insurgency. This has led to the return of refugees to some parts of the Lake Chad basin.

    But the reliance on military offensives has only prolonged the conflict, allowing the terrorist groups to evolve. Iswap, for instance, is now using sophisticated weaponry including armed drones to stage attacks.

    A recent assault on a military base in Wajikoro in north-eastern Borno state began with the use of four drones armed with grenades. The group had previously used drones almost entirely to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence.

    Dismantling and ultimately defeating terrorist groups such as Iswap in the region will require addressing the root causes and drivers of insecurity. These include poverty, inequality, unemployment, poor governance and weak institutions. Poverty rates in north-eastern Nigeria are estimated at over 70%, almost double the rate in the rest of the country.

    The third factor that could explain Iswap’s resurgence is that it has been using technology effectively to expand its appeal, particularly among young people, and drive recruitment.

    It has intensified its presence on social media, using TikTok to post videos justifying killings, lecture young audiences about extremist ideologies and spreading jihadist propaganda. It is also deploying AI tools to edit videos and written communications.

    At the same time, it is making use of new satellite-based internet services such as Starlink to record footage of prayers and sermons. Starlink launched in 2019 with the aim of providing high-speed broadband internet to people all over the world, especially in remote areas.

    Another factor is that Iswap has expanded its sources of funding. The group collects tax revenue from local populations in areas where it has a strong presence, with farmers in some parts of Borno state reportedly paying about ₦10,000 (£5) per hectare.

    But Iswap is also allegedly tapping into Nigeria’s fast-growing cryptocurrency markets and earns considerable revenue from black market operations. The groups’s ability to rely on multiple revenue sources has ensured its supremacy over other terrorist groups in the region, while enabling it to plan and execute more sophisticated attacks.

    The growing strength of Iswap will undoubtedly have dire consequences for peace and security in Nigeria. It could help coordinate Islamic State’s activity in west Africa, giving it a stronger foothold in the region.

    Emphasis should be placed on addressing the root causes of the insurgency in Nigeria, as well as implementing tighter measures to constrain Iswap’s sources of funding.

    Folahanmi Aina 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. Why Islamic State is expanding its operations in north-eastern Nigeria – https://theconversation.com/why-islamic-state-is-expanding-its-operations-in-north-eastern-nigeria-256935

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: What is AI slop? Why you are seeing more fake photos and videos in your social media feeds

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jon Roozenbeek, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Cambridge

    Pikselstock/Shutterstock

    In May 2025, a post asking “[Am I the asshole] for telling my husband’s affair partner’s fiancé about their relationship?” quickly received 6,200 upvotes and more than 900 comments on Reddit. This popularity earned the post a spot on Reddit’s front page of trending posts. The problem? It was (very likely) written by artificial intelligence (AI).

    The post contained some telltale signs of AI, such as using stock phrases (“[my husband’s] family is furious”) and excessive quotation marks, and sketching an unrealistic scenario designed to generate outrage rather than reflect a genuine dilemma.

    While this post has since been removed by the forum’s moderators, Reddit users have repeatedly expressed their frustration with the proliferation of this kind of content.

    High-engagement, AI-generated posts on Reddit are an example of what is known as “AI slop” – cheap, low-quality AI-generated content, created and shared by anyone from low-level influencers to coordinated political influence operations.

    Estimates suggest that over half of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are written by AI. In response to that report, Adam Walkiewicz, a director of product at LinkedIn, told Wired it has “robust defenses in place to proactively identify low-quality and exact or near-exact duplicate content. When we detect such content, we take action to ensure it is not broadly promoted.”

    But AI-generated low-quality news sites are popping up all over the place, and AI images are also flooding social media platforms such as Facebook. You may have come across images like “shrimp Jesus” in your own feeds.

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    AI-generated content is cheap. A report by the Nato StratCom Center of Excellence from 2023 found that for a mere €10 (about £8), you can buy tens of thousands of fake views and likes, and hundreds of AI-generated comments, on almost all major social media platforms.

    While much of it is seemingly innocent entertainment, one study from 2024 found that about a quarter of all internet traffic is made up of “bad bots”. These bots, which seek to spread disinformation, scalp event tickets or steal personal data, are also becoming much better at masking as humans.

    In short, the world is dealing with the “enshittification” of the web: online services have become gradually worse over time as tech companies prioritise profits over user experience. AI-generated content is just one aspect of this.

    From Reddit posts that enrage readers to tearjerking cat videos, this content is extremely attention-grabbing and thus lucrative for both slop-creators and platforms.

    This is known as engagement bait – a tactic to get people to like, comment and share, regardless of the quality of the post. And you don’t need to seek out the content to be exposed to it.

    AI-generated images like this one are designed to get as much engagement (likes, comments and shares) as possible.
    Microsoft Copilot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

    One study explored how engagement bait, such as images of cute babies wrapped in cabbage, is recommended to social media users even when they do not follow any AI-slop pages or accounts. These pages, which often link to low-quality sources and promote real or made-up products, may be designed to boost their follower base in order to sell the account later for profit.

    Meta (Facebook’s parent company) said in April that it is cracking down on “spammy” content that tries to “game the Facebook algorithm to increase views”, but did not specify AI-generated content. Meta has used its own AI-generated profiles on Facebook, but has since removed some of these accounts.

    What the risks are

    This may all have serious consequences for democracy and political communication. AI can cheaply and efficiently create misinformation about elections that is indiscernible from human-generated content. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential elections, researchers identified a large influence campaign designed to advocate for Republican issues and attack political adversaries.

    And before you think it’s only Republicans doing it, think again: these bots are as biased as humans of all perspectives. A report by Rutgers University found that Americans on all sides of the political spectrum rely on bots to promote their preferred candidates.

    Researchers aren’t innocent either: scientists at the University of Zurich were recently caught using AI-powered bots to post on Reddit as part of a research project on whether inauthentic comments can change people’s minds. But they failed to disclose that these comments were fake to Reddit moderators.

    Reddit is now considering taking legal action against the university. The company’s chief legal officer said: “What this University of Zurich team did is deeply wrong on both a moral and legal level.”

    Political operatives, including from authoritarian countries such as Russia, China and Iran, invest considerable sums in AI-driven operations to influence elections around the democratic world.

    How effective these operations are is up for debate. One study found that Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 US elections through social media were a dud, while another found it predicted polling figures for Trump. Regardless, these campaigns are becoming much more sophisticated and well-organised.

    And even seemingly apolitical AI-generated content can have consequences. The sheer volume of it makes accessing real news and human-generated content difficult.

    What’s to be done?

    Malign AI content is proving to be extremely hard to spot by humans and computers alike. Computer scientists recently identified a bot network of about 1,100 fake X accounts posting machine-generated content (mostly about cryptocurrency) and interacting with each other through likes and retweets. Problematically, the Botometer (a tool they developed to detect bots) failed to identify these accounts as fake.

    The use of AI is relatively easy to spot if you know what to look for, particularly when content is formulaic or unapologetically fake. But it’s much harder when it comes to short-form content (for example, Instagram comments) or high-quality fake images. And the technology used to create AI slop is quickly improving.

    One of these days, these bots are gonna walk all over you.
    Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock

    As close observers of AI trends and the spread of misinformation, we would love to end on a positive note and offer practical remedies to spot AI slop or reduce its potency. But in reality, many people are simply jumping ship.

    Dissatisfied with the amount of AI slop, social media users are escaping traditional platforms and joining invite-only online communities. This may lead to further fracturing of our public sphere and exacerbate polarisation, as the communities we seek out are often comprised of like-minded individuals.

    As this sorting intensifies, social media risks devolving into mindless entertainment, produced and consumed mostly by bots who interact with other bots while us humans spectate. Of course, platforms don’t want to lose users, but they might push as much AI slop as the public can tolerate.

    Some potential technical solutions include labelling AI-generated content through improved bot detection and disclosure regulation, although it’s unclear how well warnings like these work in practice.

    Some research also shows promise in helping people to better identify deepfakes, but research is in its early stages.

    Overall, we are just starting to realise the scale of the problem. Soberingly, if humans drown in AI slop, so does AI: AI models trained on the “enshittified” internet are likely to produce garbage.

    Jon Roozenbeek has received funding from the UK Cabinet Office, the US State Department, the ESRC, Google, the American Psychological Association, the US Centers for Disease Control, EU Horizon 2020, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

    Sander van der Linden has received funding from the UK Cabinet Office, Google, the American Psychological Association, the US Centers for Disease Control, EU Horizon 2020, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

    Yara Kyrychenko receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is supported by the Alan Turing Institute’s Enrichment Scheme.

    – ref. What is AI slop? Why you are seeing more fake photos and videos in your social media feeds – https://theconversation.com/what-is-ai-slop-why-you-are-seeing-more-fake-photos-and-videos-in-your-social-media-feeds-255538

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray, DeLauro Call Out Trump Admin’s Lack of Transparency on Spending, Demand Detailed Agency Spend Plans Be Submitted as Required By Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Full-year continuing resolution (CR) requires each agency to submit a spend plan showing how they are executing FY25 appropriations—many agencies have failed to submit acceptable plans, or to submit one altogether
    Washington, D.C. — Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought calling out the Trump administration’s unacceptable failure to submit detailed spend plans for each agency to the Appropriations Committees, as the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2025 requires by law.
    Agencies’ spend plans should provide more granular details about how they are spending funding appropriated for the fiscal year. The spend plans are critical to congressional oversight and the annual appropriations process, and have long been required by law. But as Murray and DeLauro write, the Trump administration has failed to submit adequate spend plans to Congress—and it has even failed to submit any spend plan for some agencies.
    “Under your direction, the Office of Management and Budget continues to intentionally mislead and obfuscate about how this Administration is spending taxpayer dollars and has demonstrated an inability to effectively and efficiently manage public resources. Your lack of transparency shows disdain for the right of the public to understand how taxpayer dollars are being spent and for the rule of law,” write Murray and DeLauro. Noting how Director Vought has already taken down the OMB website making federal spending allocations public, the top Democrats write: “You have further degraded Congress’s capacity to carry out its legislative responsibilities by overseeing the development of inconsistent and inadequate spending plans for fiscal year 2025 submitted by departments and agencies.”
    Noting that Section 1113 of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2025 requires spend plans for agencies to be submitted within 45 days of enactment of the law, Murray and DeLauro state: “[T]hese spending plans were due to the Appropriations Committees on Tuesday, April 29. Four weeks have now come and gone, and while the Committees began receiving some spending plans from departments and agencies consistent with the 45-day requirement, many agencies’ plans still have yet to be submitted or blatantly omit basic funding details at your agency’s direction.”
    “The widespread failure of departments and agencies to abide by the requirements of section 1113 is unacceptable, and the lack of transparency begs serious questions about what exactly this administration is seeking to hide from the Committees – and the American people,” they continue. “These spending plans are essential to understand how the executive branch is spending taxpayer dollars appropriated by Congress in fiscal year 2025, and they directly inform the legislative responsibilities of the Committees to consider fiscal year 2026 appropriations legislation, a process that is already underway.”
    Murray and DeLauro underscore that some agencies still have yet to submit their fiscal year 2025 spend plan, as required by law, and many others have submitted completely inadequate plans. “For example,” they write, “the spend plan submitted for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the label ‘Hill Version’ in the PDF name, includes only high-level funding amounts and does not provide funding levels for hundreds of specific programs and activities. Instead, it lists 530 asterisks in place of details about how this administration is choosing to fund—or not fund—hundreds of programs that the American people count on every day. We need to see the ‘real version’ of HHS’ spend plan, and we need to see actual funding amounts—not asterisks—for these vital programs.”
    They conclude by demanding spend plans with sufficient information be submitted for each agency by the end of the month.
    The full letter is available HERE and below:
    May 27, 2025
    The Honorable Russell T. Vought                  
    Director
    The Office of Management and Budget                                    725 17th Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20503         
    Director Vought:
    Under your direction, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) continues to intentionally mislead and obfuscate about how this Administration is spending taxpayer dollars and has demonstrated an inability to effectively and efficiently manage public resources.
    Your lack of transparency shows disdain for the right of the public to understand how taxpayer dollars are being spent and for the rule of law.  It is well-documented that you are – by your own admission in your March 29 letter – intentionally violating legal requirements in order to hide OMB’s apportionment decisions from the public and from Congress. This not only deprives the public of information they are entitled to in law but also undermines Congress’s ability to carry out its legislative and oversight functions. You have further degraded Congress’s capacity to carry out its legislative responsibilities by overseeing the development of inconsistent and inadequate spending plans for fiscal year 2025 submitted by departments and agencies under section 1113(a) of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025. That reporting requirement states:
    Sec. 1113. (a) Not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this division, each department and agency in subsection (c) shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a spending, expenditure, or operating plan for fiscal year 2025—
    (1) at the program, project, or activity level (or, for foreign assistance programs funded in the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, at the country, regional, and central program level, and for any international organization); or
    (2) as applicable, at any greater level of detail required for funds covered by such a plan in an appropriations Act referred to in section 1101, in the joint explanatory statement accompanying such Act, or in committee report language incorporated by reference in such joint explanatory statement.
    In accordance with section 1113, these spending plans were due to the Appropriations Committees on Tuesday, April 29. Four weeks have now come and gone, and while the Committees began receiving some spending plans from departments and agencies consistent with the 45-day requirement, many agencies’ plans still have yet to be submitted or blatantly omit basic funding details at your agency’s direction. These spending plans were coordinated through, shaped, and approved by OMB.
    For example, the spend plan submitted for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the label “Hill Version” in the pdf name, includes only high-level funding amounts and does not provide funding levels for hundreds of specific programs and activities. Instead, it lists 530 asterisks in place of details about how this administration is choosing to fund – or not fund – hundreds of programs that the American people count on every day. We need to see the “real version” of HHS’ spend plan, and we need to see actual funding amounts – not asterisks – for these vital programs.
    Similarly, the Department of Education’s spend plan submitted on April 29th completely omitted dozens of specific programs and activities and claimed that almost $13 billion was “unallocated” despite the fact that much of that funding is directed in statute for specific purposes, just as it was in fiscal year 2024.  The Department sent a revised spend plan on May 23rd that still includes $8 billion in “unallocated” funding and continues to lack detail on dozens of programs now with only four months left in the fiscal year.
    The widespread failure of departments and agencies to abide by the requirements of section 1113 is unacceptable, and the lack of transparency begs serious questions about what exactly this administration is seeking to hide from the Committees – and the American people. These spending plans are essential to understand how the executive branch is spending taxpayer dollars appropriated by Congress in fiscal year 2025, and they directly inform the legislative responsibilities of the Committees to consider fiscal year 2026 appropriations legislation, a process that is already underway.
    As the House and Senate Appropriations Committees intend to mark up the fiscal year 2026 bills next month, we demand that by the end of this month you comply with section 1113 and ensure that all spending plans contain sufficient information to demonstrate how each department and agency intends to prudently obligate all amounts provided by Congress for fiscal year 2025 within their period of availability and resubmit them to the Committees.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • Heavy rains lash Mumbai, waterlogging disrupts daily life

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Heavy rain lashed Mumbai on Wednesday, flooding several parts of the city. Thane too saw intense showers, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) having earlier predicted overcast skies throughout the day.

    Parts of Mumbai’s Sion locality were waterlogged following the heavy rain, disrupting normal life and raising concerns about the city’s monsoon preparedness. Earlier on Tuesday, visuals from Swami Vivekananda Road near National College showed streets partially submerged in rainwater, with vehicles and pedestrians navigating through flooded areas. Water accumulation on key roads slowed traffic movement, creating difficulties for commuters during peak hours.

    The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday that the southwest monsoon rainfall over India is expected to be 106 percent of the Long Period Average, which is higher than the 105 percent forecast in April. The Long Period Average rainfall in India is 868.6 mm.

    The IMD further stated that above-normal rainfall is likely over the country as a whole during the monsoon season from June to September 2025. Region-wise, the southwest monsoon rainfall is projected to be above normal over Central India and South Peninsular India, normal over Northwest India, and below normal over Northeast India.

    During the June to September period, normal to above normal rainfall is expected over most parts of the country, except for some areas in Northwest and East India as well as many areas in Northeast India, where below-normal rainfall is likely, the IMD added.

    For June 2025, the average rainfall for the country is forecast to be above normal. Normal to above normal monthly rainfall is expected over most parts of the country, except for some southern parts of Peninsular India and certain regions in Northwest and Northeast India, where below-normal rainfall is anticipated.

    ANI

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Speaker Johnson Makes a Trio of Sunday Show Appearances Touting House Passage of The One Big Beautiful Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

    WASHINGTON — This morning, Speaker Johnson joined CNN’s State of the Union, Fox News’ Fox News Sunday, and CBS News’ Face the Nation to discuss the historic, House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act and outlined the necessity of sending the final bill to President Trump’s desk by July 4.

    Watch Speaker Johnson on CNN here, Fox News here, and CBS here.

    On working with the Senate:

    I’ve been very consistent with our colleagues in the Senate. We worked hand in glove with them all through this process, remembering that the House began this more than a year ago, it was March of last year when we got our committee chairs together and told them to begin to prepare for this massive reconciliation package. We believed at that time, more than a year ago, that we would win the White House and Senate and the House and have unified government and have this, really once in a generation opportunity to do so much in one piece of legislation.

    I met with the Senate Republicans, all my colleagues over there last week on Tuesday at their weekly luncheon. And I encouraged them to do their work, of course as we all anticipate, but to make as few modifications to this package as possible, remembering that we’ve got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House. And I have a very delicate balance here, a very delicate equilibrium that we’ve reached over a long period of time, and it’s best not to meddle with it too much.

    On getting the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by July 4:

    The reason I tried to get this done, and we did get it done, before Memorial Day and send it to the Senate is so the President can be signing this into law by Independence Day on July 4th. Why is that so important? Because we’ve got to get relief to the American people and that we also need to, for political purposes, give a lot of time, enough time for everyone to see that this package actually is what we say. It’s going to help the country, it’s going help the economy, it’s going to help all boats to rise, just as we did after the first two years of the first Trump administration. And so we’re anxious to get this signed into law so people feel it and see it before that midterm election, and they understand it is the Republicans who are doing the best for hardworking Americans, low-income families, and everyone who deserves a better shot.

    On Democrat falsehoods around Republican efforts to strengthen Medicaid:

    We have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP. What we’re doing, Margaret, is working on fraud, waste, and abuse. And everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that that’s a responsibility of Congress. Just in Medicaid, for example, you’ve got 1.4 million illegal aliens receiving those benefits. That is not what Medicaid is intended for. It’s intended for vulnerable populations, for young single pregnant women and, and the elderly and the disabled and people who desperately need those resources. Right now, they’re being drained by fraud, waste, and abuse.

    You got about 4.8 million people on Medicaid right now nationwide, who are able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are not working, who are taking advantage of the system. If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system, you’re cheating the system, and no one in the country believes that that’s right. So, there’s a moral component to what we’re doing. And when you make young men work, it’s good for them. It’s good for their dignity, it’s good for their self-worth and it’s good for the community that they live in.

    On criticism of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:

    Well, I agree wholeheartedly with what my dear friend Rand Paul said. I love his conviction, and I share it. The national debt is the greatest threat to our national security and deficits are a serious problem. What I think Rand is missing on this one is the fact that we are quite serious about this. This is the biggest spending cut, Shannon, in more than 30 years. We’re going to cut one over $1.5 trillion in spending, it’s a big leap forward. The last time we had a spending cut was three decades ago, and it was only $800 billion even adjusted for inflation. This is the biggest spending cut, I think, in the history of government, on planet Earth. Now, is it enough? Of course not. But we have a very delicate balance, and we have to start the process.

    I liken this to an aircraft carrier. You don’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes a mile of open ocean. And so, it took us decades to get into this situation. This is a big step to begin to turn that aircraft carrier. One important point about what he said, it sounds like his biggest objection is the fact that we are extending the debt ceiling. That’s a critically important thing to do. We have to do it. We’re not going to get any Democrats to assist on that. So, to get it through the Senate and make sure we don’t crash the US economy and default on our debts for the first time in history, it has to be part of the reconciliation package. And that’s why the President Trump and all the other Republicans in Congress, House and Senate understand the necessity of this.

    Important point here. It does not mean that we’re going to spend more money. We’re extending the debt ceiling to show to creditors, the bond markets, the stock market, that the Congress is serious about this. President Trump is dialed in 100%. He is a visionary leader. He does not want to spend more money… Russ Vought is the director of the Office of Management and Budget, long seen as a strict fiscal hawk, as I liken myself to be as well. And Rand Paul is one who has applauded and said great things about Russ Vought’s perspective. Russ said about two weeks ago that the criticism on fiscal grounds about this bill is profoundly inaccurate.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Israel must immediately let aid into Gaza and enable the UN to operate: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Israel must immediately let aid into Gaza and enable the UN to operate: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

    I thank Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag and Dr Sidwah for their briefings today, which painted a catastrophic picture.

    Let me pay tribute to you and to your humanitarian and health worker colleagues working tirelessly to alleviate this suffering.

    I will make three points. 

    First, the UK has always supported Israel’s right to defend itself. It suffered a heinous attack by Hamas on 7 October, and hostages have been through an unimaginable ordeal. We reiterate our call for their immediate and unconditional release and accountability for those responsible. 

    But as my Prime Minister has said, we strongly oppose the Israeli Government’s escalating military action in Gaza which is wholly disproportionate. 

    An immediate ceasefire, not more bloodshed, is the way to secure the release of the hostages and stop the endless cycle of violence. 

    Second, as we have heard again today, the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. Civilians face starvation, displacement and trauma. 

    The UN warned of the risks from the Israeli Government’s plan for aid delivery. In Rafah yesterday, we saw this warning become a reality. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation lost control of its distribution centre, with multiple casualties reported and great distress for those desperately seeking aid. 

    In contrast, the UN has a clear plan to deliver lifesaving aid at scale. It contains robust mitigations against aid diversion. Brave humanitarians stand ready to do their jobs. 9,000 trucks wait at the border. 

    Our message to Prime Minister Netanyahu is clear: let aid in and enable the UN to operate, now. 

    We reiterate our support for the UN, OCHA and all its aid agencies.

    We also reject the Israeli Government’s unacceptable intention to take control of the Gaza Strip. Permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law. 

    Third, President, in the West Bank, violent settlers continue to assault and abuse Palestinians, forcing entire communities to flee. In Jerusalem, provocative visits to Holy Sites and inflammatory language by Israeli ministers are adding to the tensions. 

    On 20 May, the UK announced further sanctions on individuals and entities promoting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 

    We will continue to act against those committing these abuses. 

    President, the UK will not give up on a two-state solution, and we will continue to work closely with France, Saudi Arabia and all our partners towards a successful conference in June, which moves us towards this goal. 

    And finally, let me finish by condemning the horrific murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington DC last week, and offering condolences to their families and to their colleagues.

    Updates to this page

    Published 28 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minimum wage increases to $17.85 on June 1

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Employers and workers are reminded that on Sunday, June 1, 2025, B.C.’s general minimum wage increases from $17.40 to $17.85 an hour.

    The 2.6% increase on June 1 also applies to minimum-wage rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based delivery and ride-hail services workers.

    The minimum agricultural piece rates for hand harvesters will increase by 2.6% on Dec. 31, 2025. The Dec. 31 annual increase to the minimum piece rates ensures crop producers will not need to adjust wages in the middle of the harvesting season.

    Government has made regular, gradual increases to the minimum wage to provide certainty for workers and predictability for businesses. This is the fourth year of the government’s ongoing commitment to tie annual minimum-wage increases to inflation.

    In February 2024, government amended the Employment Standards Act so annual increases to minimum rates happen automatically, based on the previous year’s average inflation rate for B.C.

    In 2024, approximately 130,000 employees in B.C. earned minimum wage or less, according to labour-force data from Statistics Canada. 

    Learn More:

    To read the news release on this year’s minimum wage increase, visit:
    https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025LBR0001-000113

    For more information about B.C.’s minimum wages, visit:
    https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards/wages/minimum-wage

    For more information about TogetherBC, B.C.’s poverty reduction strategy, visit:
    https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/initiatives-plans-strategies/poverty-reduction-strategy/togetherbc.pdf

    MIL OSI Canada News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: 05.28.2025 Sen. Cruz, Colleagues Introduce Protect LNG Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) reintroduced the Protect LNG Act. The legislation ensures that a court cannot vacate a previously authorized LNG permit, clarifies the venue for LNG lawsuits before federal courts, and mandates that courts grant expedited decisions in relevant cases.
    Sen. Cruz said, “American energy has the ability to metaphorically and literally power the world, and Texas is the lead exporter of U.S. LNG. Those achievements have been under attack by fringe environmental groups, who use and are enabled by politicized courts. This legislation counters such attacks, and I’m proud to lead the fight to protect energy producers, the jobs they create in Texas, and America’s energy leadership. The Senate should expeditiously take it up and pass it.”
    Sen. Cornyn said, “Oil and natural gas production employs hundreds of thousands of hardworking Texans and is a critical part of the Texas economy, as well as our nation’s energy sector as a whole. I am proud to lead this bill alongside Sen. Cruz to help protect energy projects across our country from lawsuits that far-left climate activists file in an attempt to hamstring American energy.”
    Sen. Wicker said, “The United States has an abundance of LNG, which is essential for establishing American energy dominance and safeguarding our national security. The Protect LNG Act would prevent energy production from being politicized or undermined by far-left environmental groups. I am committed to defending energy job creators and preserving American energy independence.”
    Sen. Scott said, “The Protect LNG Act is about bringing certainty back to American energy. Radical activists are using the courts to block or delay key energy projects that have already been approved—ultimately threatening jobs, driving up costs, and undermining our national security. For South Carolina, this legislation ensures stronger protections for our growing role in energy exports, stability in our port economy, and a clear signal to our allies that America will deliver. I’m proud to support legislation that doesn’t just keep the lights on, but keeps our country strong, competitive, and in control of its future.”
    Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas-38).
    Rep. Hunt said, “Natural gas is the most impactful green initiative on the planet—it has the power to lift entire nations and communities out of poverty. Yet sadly, natural gas and LNG have been weaponized by the radical left and the climate cartel, driving up energy costs for hardworking Americans—just as we’re still reeling from the disastrous effects of Biden-flation. I’m proud to lead Senator Cruz’s effort in the House to strengthen our domestic LNG industry and ensure it provides the energy security and economic strength our nation needs.”
    Read the full text of the bill here.
    BACKGROUND:
    This bill would:

    Ensures that a federal court cannot vacate previously authorized permits for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) facilities.

    Specifies that circuit court jurisdiction for litigation against LNG facilities shall be determined by the location of the facility, not the headquarters location of the federal agency that issued the permits. 

    Sets a 90-day clock for lawsuits challenging a federal permit for an LNG facility and requires expedited review of lawsuits against LNG facilities.

    Sen. Cruz has long been a leader in unleashing America’s energy potential and protecting America’s traditional energy industry. He called out the previous administration for undermining the oil and gas industry and urged them to expedite the permit process for LNG projects.

    In April 2024, Sen. Cruz sent a letter urging for an extension of time to Delfin LNG LLC’s approval to export LNG after the Biden administration’s deference to the radical climate lobby. During the nomination hearing for Sean Duffy to be Secretary of Transportation, Sen. Cruz pointed out the Biden administration’s hostility towards the oil and gas industry, citing the previous administration’s failure to approve Deepwater port licenses and asked Secretary Duffy to expedite review of Delfin’s reapplication in Texas.

    Sen. Cruz issued a statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reinstated approvals for LNG projects for Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG Brownsville. The D.C. Circuit had previously vacated the permits for both projects in an August 2024 decision.

    Sen. Cruz first introduced the Protect LNG Act in 2024, which would ensure that a court cannot vacate a previously authorized LNG permit, clarify the venue for LNG lawsuits before federal courts, and mandate that courts grant expedited decisions in these cases, and was joined by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in introducing the bill.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Reverend Warnock, Ossoff Announce $2 Million in Federal Funding for GA to Cleanup, Revitalize Local Lands

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia

    Senators Reverend Warnock, Ossoff Announce $2 Million in Federal Funding for GA to Cleanup, Revitalize Local Lands

    Georgia cities will use funds to revitalize riverfront properties, a former shopping center, a long-vacant elementary school, and other projects
    The federal funding is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfield Assessment Grant program
    The program helps transform underutilized properties into community assets
    Senator Reverend Warnock: “These federal funds will help our state get back on track by helping assess and eventually transform what are now uninhabitable areas, further strengthening Georgia’s economy” 
    Senator Ossoff: “Above all this is about our communities’ health. No family in Georgia should live in fear of contaminants in their communities” 
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) announced $2 million in federal funding for revitalization projects in Georgia. In total, the projects will receive $2,633,080 in Brownfields Grants to assess, clean up, and revitalize local lands. 
    The Georgia grants are part of $267 million in Brownfields Grants across the nation. Brownfields Grants are a powerful catalyst for local economic growth. Communities have previous used the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) grants to assess, clean up, and attract new development. 
    “These federal funds will help our state get back on track by helping assess and eventually transform what are now uninhabitable areas, further strengthening Georgia’s economy,” said Senator Reverend Warnock.
    “Above all this is about our communities’ health. No family in Georgia should live in fear of contaminants in their communities,” said Senator Ossoff. “That’s why Senator Warnock and I are delivering these historic public health and environmental cleanup efforts across the state.”
    The City of Atlanta will receive a $500,000 assessment grant to conduct seven Phase I and five Phase II environmental site assessments, develop six cleanup plans, and support community engagement activities. Targeted areas are Chattahoochee Riverfront, Proctor Creek, and Jonesboro Road. 
    The Coastal Regional Commission of Georgia will receive a $1.2 million assessment grant for 20 Phase I and 50 Phase II environmental site assessments, reuse assessment, planning, and community engagement activities. Targeted areas are the cities of Darien, Brunswick, and Statesboro. 
    The City of Ideal will receive a $433,080 cleanup grant funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Grant funds will be used to clean up a former elementary school, vacant since 1981, and for community engagement. 
    The City of South Fulton will receive a $500,000 assessment grant for six Phase I and five Phase II environmental site assessments. Targeted areas are the Red Oak and Old National Highway districts. 
    Senator Warnock has an extensive history of securing federal grants to improve the health of Georgia’s communities, clean up the environment, and help bolster the state’s economy. Last year, Senator Warnock announced $45 million in federal funding for clean energy transportation across Georgia. Senator Warnock also announced $25 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help rural and disadvantaged communities throughout Georgia remove PFAS and other dangerous chemicals from their water systems. Earlier in 2024, Senator Reverend Warnock was joined by then EPA Administrator Michael Regan at Stone Mountain Middle School to announce a $1 billion nationwide federal investment in clean energy school buses, including $60 million for Georgia schools.
    EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.9 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. To date, Brownfields investments have leveraged more than $42 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding was able to leverage, from both public and private sources, more than 220,500 jobs.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal Reserve Board issues Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 report

    Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve

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    The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday issued its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 report, which examines the financial circumstances of U.S. adults and their families. Overall, the report shows that financial well-being was similar to the previous two years as concerns about prices persisted and labor market conditions remained solid.
    The report draws from the Board’s annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which was fielded in October 2024. It analyzes a wide variety of topics including financial well-being, handling expenses, employment, and gig work.
    This year’s report finds that 73 percent of adults reported either doing okay or living comfortably financially, similar to recent years but lower than a high of 78 percent in 2021. The share who would cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent was also nearly unchanged from recent years at 63 percent.
    Inflation and prices continued to be the top financial concern. A majority of adults said that changes in the prices they paid over the prior year had made their finances worse, but the share saying so declined from 2023. In response to higher prices, most people reported taking actions such as adjusting their spending.
    Responses indicated that the labor market remained solid. Similar shares of people started new jobs in 2024 compared with 2023. Additionally, the shares of people who were laid off or voluntarily left a job were each unchanged from the prior year. Yet, the survey also found that job changes were less likely to lead to better jobs. In 2024, 62 percent of people who had a different job than a year earlier said that their new job was better overall, which was down from a peak of 72 percent in 2022 and 67 percent in 2023. When asked about specific job characteristics, job changers were less likely to say that pay and benefits, opportunities for advancement, interest in the work, and work-life balance were better in their new job.
    “The financial well-being of American households and businesses is essential to our nation’s overall economic vitality,” said Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael S. Barr. “It is critical for the Federal Reserve to understand the challenges households and businesses face as we work to promote a healthy economy and strong financial system.”
    Survey results also highlighted the risk of financial fraud facing consumers. Twenty-one percent of adults experienced financial fraud in 2024, with credit card fraud as the most common type. The 8 percent of adults who experienced fraud not related to their credit card incurred an estimated $63 billion in total unrecovered losses.
    The report, fact sheet, downloadable data, data visualizations, and a video summarizing the report’s findings are available here.
    For media inquiries, please email [email protected] or call (202) 452-2955.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Second Owner of Local Real Estate Investment Company Pleads Guilty to Role in Fraud Conspiracy

    Source: US FBI

    PORTLAND, Ore.—The owner of a local real estate investment company pleaded guilty today for his role in an $18 million fraud scheme, joining his business partner and co-owner of the company who pleaded guilty in March 2025.

    Robert D. Christensen, 55, of Sherwood, Oregon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

    Previously, on March 11, 2025, Christensen’s partner and co-owner of the investment company, Anthony M. Matic, 55, of Damascus, Oregon, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

    According to court documents, from approximately January 2019 through June 2023, Christensen and Matic devised and carried out a scheme wherein they convinced individual investors to fund the purchase and renovation of undervalued residential real estate properties. After renovating the properties, Christensen and Matic claimed they would rent the properties to generate income and then refinance them to extract their increased value from the renovations. The pair further misled investors into believing they would be repaid their full principal investment along with interest as high as eight to fifteen percent and a large lump sum payout, all within periods as short as 30 to 90 days.

    Christensen and Matic’s scheme failed to generate the promised returns almost immediately and they began using new investments to repay earlier investors to keep their business afloat. When they were unable to raise enough money from new investors, Christensen and Matic devised a separate scheme to defraud commercial lenders. By December 2020, the pair began submitting loan applications with false financial information to different commercial lenders and, based on their misrepresentations, received millions of dollars in loans.

    In total, Christensen and Matic’s two schemes defrauded individual investors out of more than $11 million and commercial lenders out of more than $7 million.

    Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. Money laundering in punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. Both charges may also result in fines of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gains or losses resulting from the offense.

    Christensen and Matic will both be sentenced on October 14, 2025.

    This case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Trisotto.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Portland Gang Leader Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Role in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy and Possessing a Weapon in Prison

    Source: US FBI

    PORTLAND, Ore.—A known leader of Portland’s 18th Street Gang was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Friday for his leadership role in a local drug trafficking conspiracy and for possessing a weapon while in federal prison.

    Noah Herrera, 26, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release.

    According to court documents, Herrera was a second-in-command leader of the 18th Street Gang in Portland, working regularly with the gang’s local leader, Gustavo Torres-Mendez, who was sentenced in May 2024 to 164 months in federal prison. Together, the two men led various gang-driven activities including trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl in the Portland area. During this time, the 18th Street Gang was heavily armed and sold drugs acquired near the Mexico border in California to local buyers in and around Portland.

    The government’s investigation exposed several major episodes in the gang’s activities. In August 2022, agents seized nearly nine pounds of methamphetamine after Herrera organized a transaction in Portland. Only weeks later, in early September 2022, federal agents monitoring the two leaders’ activities learned they and subordinate 18th Street Gang members had collected over $126,000 in cash after which Herrera and Torres-Mendez dispatched two members to California to purchase and pick up drugs. Agents monitored the return of the load vehicle, which was stopped near Grants Pass, Oregon, and over 104 pounds of methamphetamine and a smaller quantity of cocaine were seized. The methamphetamine was packaged in 56 separate plastic food containers.

    On November 17, 2022, agents arrested Herrera and executed a search warrant at his Vancouver, Washington, home, where they found two loaded Glock pistols, ammunition, additional quantities of drugs, two scales with drug residue, a drug ledger, over $5000 in cash and several cell phones.

    Agents also executed a search warrant at a residence in North Portland which had been used by the 18th Street Gang throughout the investigation as a meeting place and stash house. There, agents found and seized ten handguns in locations throughout the main rooms, a short-barreled shotgun, extended magazines, ammunition, body armor as well as additional drug evidence, packaging equipment and scales.

    On September 25, 2023, while housed at FCI Sheridan pending trial, prison guards found Herrera in possession of a shiv (a six-inch sharpened piece of metal) prohibited by federal law.

    On January 10, 2025, Herrera pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine, and possessing a dangerous weapon in a federal facility.

    This case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Thomas H. Edmonds and Nicole M. Bockelman, Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Oregon.

    The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit www.justice.gov/ocdetf.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Four Businessmen and Two Companies Charged in Nationwide Telemarketing Fraud Scheme

    Source: US FBI

    PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the unsealing today of a superseding indictment (“the indictment”) charging four businessmen and two companies with conspiracy and wire fraud offenses in connection with their execution of a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme. The corporate defendants, Bene Market LLC and Seguro Medico LLC, doing business as Quick Health, Q Health, Benefits Now, Express Benefits, and YourBenefits4U (collectively, the “Bene Market Group”), operated a boiler room call center near Reading, Pennsylvania, which peddled discount health and dental plans to consumers through a series of false, misleading, and deceptive sales practices.

    The businesses were controlled and managed by the principal architect of the alleged fraud scheme, defendant Alan Redmond, 42, of Wyomissing, Pa., who was supported by senior executives Arthur Walsh, 65, of West Lawn, Pa., and Jesus Barrera, 32, of Dillsburg, Pa., and head sales agent and manager Albert Groff, 44, of Wernersville, Pa.

    The 44-page indictment returned by the federal grand jury alleges that, from at least January 2018 through December 2022, the defendants collected tens of millions of dollars in commissions by regularly and systematically deceiving and misleading consumers seeking health insurance through bait-and-switch sales tactics, which included tricking consumers into buying limited benefit plans that provided little or no coverage by falsely representing that the plans provided comprehensive health insurance coverage, also known as “major medical insurance,” or provided coverage equivalent to major medical insurance, when they did not. 

    As alleged in the indictment, the Bene Market Group paid lead generators for the transfer of live calls with consumers looking to purchase healthcare insurance. Once transferred over, the Bene Market Group employees falsely told consumers that the company was “the national enrollment center for health insurance” and worked as a third-party broker to search and compare health insurance products across the entire marketplace to find the best coverage at the lowest rate. The Bene Market Group also falsely claimed to “work with over 30 of the top A-rated insurance companies” and to sell comprehensive health insurance policies from well-known, blue-chip insurers. In reality, the Bene Market Group did not search the marketplace, did not work with the touted A-rated carriers, and did not even sell major medical insurance. Instead, the Bene Market Group peddled a limited set of discount plans that had lower and more restricted benefits than major medical insurance. In some instances, the limited benefit plans sold by the defendants were not even insurance.

    The indictment charges further that, as a result of the defendants’ bait-and-switch scheme, tens of thousands of purchasing consumers were left without insurance coverage for the majority of their medical, dental, and prescription costs. For some consumers with serious health care needs, the lack of coverage from the limited benefit plans sold by the defendants caused financial hardship and left them in significant medical debt in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    According to the indictment, in order to keep the fraud scheme going, Redmond and the manager defendants used unlicensed sales employees to sell the limited benefit plans; bundled products together to mimic major medical insurance; trained the sales employees with misleading scripts and sales pitches to use on the phones; used a variety of trade names and aliases when selling plans; engaged in “churning” and “policy-flipping” by reselling and upselling existing consumers; omitted and downplayed material restrictions about the limited plans sold; overbilled and double-billed consumers; told consumers to ignore or disregard the verification disclaimers or disclosures; altered recorded sales calls after the fact to deceive regulators; withheld information about the limited benefit plans from sales employees; ignored complaints from consumers, carriers, and regulators; and refused or delayed refunds to consumers.

    The indictment charges further that Redmond obscured his control of defendant Seguro Medico by using nominees, including his spouse, and used funds fraudulently obtained from victim purchasers to buy personal properties, commercial properties, jewelry, airline tickets, event tickets, private school tuition, and limousine services. The other manager defendants also received significant payments or distributions, as a result of the fraud scheme.

    The indictment further alleges that, between 2019 and 2022, Redmond caused Bene Market and Seguro Medico to withhold over $1.2 million in trust fund taxes from the wages and paychecks of employees, but Redmond did not pay over these withheld amounts to the IRS on behalf of the employees, as required.

    If convicted of the conspiracy, wire fraud, and tax offenses, defendant Alan Redmond faces a maximum possible sentence of 635 years’ imprisonment, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $6,750,000 fine, along with restitution and forfeiture of various properties and money. Defendants Arthur Walsh, Jesus Barrera, and Albert Groff each face 600 years’ imprisonment, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $5,000,000 fine, along with restitution and forfeiture.

    The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel S. Dalke and Mary E. Crawley.

    The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Recidivist Sex Offender Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison on Attempted Enticement, Child Pornography Charges

    Source: US FBI

    PROVIDENCE – A recidivist sex offender has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor and attempting to transfer obscene material to two minor boys, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

    Nicholas Sannicandro, 35, of Warwick, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy, to 360 months of incarceration to be followed by a term of 15 years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty on May 8. 2024, to two counts of attempted inducement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, two counts of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, one count of possession and access with intent to view child pornography, and one count of commission of an offense by a registered sex offender.

    “The lengthy sentenced imposed today ensures that this defendant will not be able to continue his abhorrent conduct of victimizing children,” commented Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. “This office and our law enforcement partners are committed to working together so that individuals who victimize children are held to account and that resources are available to those they harm.”

    “Simply put, Nicholas Sannicandro is a predator,” said Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “This repeat sex offender admitted to devising a twisted scheme to lure children into his clutches so he could sexually abuse and exploit them. Today’s sentence ensures he’ll stay locked up where he can’t victimize anyone else for a good long time. The FBI is committed to finding predators like him and bringing them to justice while also ensuring those they’ve victimized are safe and well-supported.”

    Sannicandro previously admitted to a federal judge that beginning in January 2021, he began separate communications with the two minor boys in Florida whom he met through an Instagram account. The communications turned sexually explicit, and Sannicandro requested that the boys send him sexually explicit videos of themselves.

    Sannicandro attempted to arrange a meeting with someone whom he believed to be one of the boys, proposing that they engage in illicit sexual activity. The communications were, in fact, with an undercover law enforcement officer who had taken over the boy’s account. In those communications, Sannicandro invited the boy to visit him in Rhode Island, discussed sexual acts that Sannicandro wanted to engage in with the boy, and sent videos of himself engaged in sexual activity.

    Sannicandro was arrested in Warwick on June 22, 2021, where he was expecting to meet with the boy. A cell phone seized from Sannicandro was found to contain images and videos of child sexual abuse material.

    Court records document that Sannicandro was convicted on three previous occasions in matters involving child sexual abuse material and attempted dissemination of obscene material to minors. He was a registered sex offender at the time of his arrest in June 2021.

    This most recent case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Denise M. Barton and John P. McAdams.

    The matter was investigated by the FBI and North Port, FL, Police Department, with significant assistance from members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Warwick Police Department for their assistance in the arrest of Sannicandro.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc

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    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Reentry of an Alien after Removal

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Julian Mesino Calletano, 54, an illegal alien residing in Hardeeville, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for illegal reentry of an alien after removal, following a conviction of an aggravated felony.

    Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that on an unknown date Calletano, a native and citizen of Mexico, illegally entered the United States at an unknown location. On June 7, 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers encountered Calletano while he was incarcerated in Georgia, serving a 70-month sentence for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine. Calletano was deported in November 2013 after serving his sentence.

    Following his deportation, Calletano illegally entered the United States again, at an unknown location. He was again discovered by ICE officers, this time in the Jasper County Detention Center in Ridgeland, South Carolina in 2024. Calletano was also convicted in 2023 on a drug charge in Butte County, California.

    United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel sentenced Calletano to 24 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Calletano will be ordered to be deported after serving his sentence.

    This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean H. Secor is prosecuting the case.

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    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Wounded Knee Man Found Guilty by Federal Court Jury of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a jury has convicted Anfernee Rondeau, age 28, of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor following a three-day jury trial in federal district court in Rapid City, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on May 22, 2025.

    The charge carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years up to life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, a minimum of 5 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

    Rondeau was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2024.

    Evidence at the three-day jury trial established on the evening of April 4, 2024, Rondeau, his girlfriend, and his girlfriend’s 6-year-old daughter returned home after an evening of drinking. Both adults were intoxicated. Rondeau and his girlfriend and the child went into a bedroom. A short while later, a 13-year old witness heard the child crying. When the 13-year old went to check on the child, she observed Rondeau on top of the child. Rondeau’s pants were partially unzipped and pulled down. The child’s pants and underwear were pulled down. The 13-year old witness acted heroically and pushed Rondeau off of the child. The 13-year-old wrapped the child in a blanket and carried her to another family member inside the house. Rondeau was arrested the next day by tribal authorities.

    This case was investigated by the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen prosecuted the case.

    A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date will be set. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: KC Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Fentanyl Trafficking, Illegal Firearms

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.

    James Paden, 63, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Tuesday, May 27, to 12 years in federal prison without parole. Paden was sentenced as a career offender due to his prior felony convictions.

    On Nov. 18, 2024, Paden pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

    On Feb. 22, 2024, investigators of the Kansas City, Mo. Police Department executed a search warrant on Paden’s residence after a confidential informant purchased tablets labeled “M30”, which contain fentanyl, from Paden on three occasions.  Investigators found a total of over 60 grams of fentanyl, 22 grams of cocaine, and 1 gram of methamphetamine.  Investigators also found a Smith & Wesson, .38 caliber revolver, a Taurus, G2 Millenium, 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a privately manufactured 9mm semi-automatic pistol with no serial number, with a Louis Vuitton design, and $1,000 in cash.

    This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Jennings.  It was investigated by the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department and the FBI.

    Project Safe Neighborhoods

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Hartford, Connecticut Gang Member Sentenced To 10½ Years’ Imprisonment for Drug and Firearm Crimes

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

    Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on May 23, 2025, Linoshka Barbosa, 25, formerly of Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced by United States District Judge William K. Sessions III to a term of 126 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release. Barbosa previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, crack cocaine and powder cocaine, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. She has been detained since her October 15, 2024, guilty plea.

    According to court records, between March 2020 and October 2023, Linoshka Barbosa, also known as “Lily,” and “Lilz,” was one of the leaders of a drug distribution conspiracy in the Brattleboro, Vermont area, involving cocaine, cocaine base, fentanyl, and numerous firearms. Barbosa, a member of a violent gang in Hartford, Connecticut, called “GMS,” was trafficking large quantities of drugs to Brattleboro, often using a driver from a ride-hailing company to transport the controlled substances. Barbosa enlisted several other gang members from Connecticut to assist her in Vermont and the group dealt drugs from various locations in Brattleboro including, 33 Oak Street #4, 14 Birge Street, 135 Elliot Street, and 84 Linden Street. Barbosa also hired numerous people in Vermont to help her sell the drugs. During the conspiracy, Barbosa and her associates traded drugs for guns, and some of those guns were used in shootings in Hartford, Connecticut, including a double homicide in August 2023. Also, on March 30, 2023, a man was shot during a drug dispute at 14 Birge Street in Brattleboro. Investigation later revealed that Elias Lopez, a member of the conspiracy along with Barbosa, was involved in the shooting. Lopez has since pleaded guilty in state court for his role in the shooting, and will be sentenced in federal court on June 2, 2025 for his role in the drug conspiracy.

    Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Vermont State Police, the Brattleboro Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations.

    “Linoshka Barbosa utilized firearms to protect her drug operations and fueled violence in our neighborhoods. Her narcotics trafficking and illegal firearm activities posed a serious threat to public safety” said James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Boston Field Division. “This case highlights the dangers of illegal firearm and narcotics trafficking. We will continue to stand united with our law enforcement partners to investigate these matters and hold offenders accountable.”

    “This prosecution has removed a dangerous offender from our streets and sent a strong message that Vermont does not tolerate those who prey upon our communities and place them at risk,” said Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police. “Thanks to a united effort from federal, state and local law enforcement to stop the trafficking of narcotics and firearms, Vermont is a safer place.”

    The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy L. Fuller. Barbosa was represented by David Sleigh, Esq.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Claremore Man Convicted of Sexually Abusing a Minor and Abusive Sexual Contact of Two Minors

    Source: US FBI

    TULSA, Okla. – A federal jury yesterday convicted Ryan Duke Haight, 45, of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country and two counts of Abusive Sexual Contact with a Minor in Indian Country, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

    At trial, the jury heard the testimony of the two minor victims, who were 14 and 15 years old at the time of the offenses, as well as other individuals. According to evidence presented at trial, Haight began making sexual comments to the 14-year-old victim in the summer of 2023. Haight also began touching the minor victim on the buttocks, claiming it was an accident, and played with the seam of her panties. He even told the victim that he preferred “butts” over “boobs,” which was why he liked the victim. In the spring of 2024, Haight’s physical contact escalated. On multiple occasions, while driving the victim home, Haight rested his hand on the victim’s leg and touched her underneath her clothing. Then in July 2024, Haight told the victim he wanted to give her a massage as his “prize” for winning a bet. While massaging the victim, Haight sexually abused her.

    Also in July 2024, Haight sought out the second victim at a Fourth of July party at his home. The second victim was 15 years old. During the party, Haight reached under the victim’s clothing to touch her bra strap and purposefully touched the minor’s buttocks. He later called her a “vagina” for being scared of a spider. When Haight testified, he admitted that he called the second victim a “gina,” and claimed that the term was a “buzz word the teens were saying,” that meant vagina, and he was trying to fit in with the teenagers. Haight also told the second victim that she “owed him” because he removed the spider for her.

    While awaiting trial, Haight was allowed to remain on bond. After the guilty verdict was returned, Haight was taken into custody, where he will await sentencing, which will be scheduled for a later date.

    The FBI and the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen Scaife and Kate Brandon prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Tennessee State Representative and His Chief of Staff Convicted of Bribery and Kickback Charges

    Source: US FBI

    NASHVILLE –After a three-week trial,former Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada, 64, and his former Chief of Staff Cade Cothren, 38, of Nashville, were found guilty today by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit theft from programs receiving federal funds; bribery and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds; honest services wire fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering; using a fictitious name to carry out a fraud; theft concerning programs receiving federal funds; eight counts of money laundering; and two counts of bribery and kickbacks, announced Robert E. McGuire, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Cothren was also found guilty on six counts of honest services wire fraud, and Casada was found guilty on four counts of honest services wire fraud and acquitted on two counts.

    “Tennesseans have a right to expect honest services from their elected leaders and their staffs,” said McGuire. “Our office will continue to pursue justice on behalf of our community in cases involving public corruption and fraud committed by elected officials or their staffs. We believe that Tennesseans deserve no less.”

    “Elected officials and their staff members have a duty to act honestly and ethically when serving the public,” said Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “Using public office for personal gain is a crime and the FBI is committed to holding those who abuse power accountable and protecting public resources.”

    According to evidence presented at trial, beginning in late 2019, Casada, while representing Tennessee House District 63, Cothren, and former Tennessee State Representative Robin Smith, 61, of Hixson, Tennessee, engaged in a fraudulent scheme to enrich themselves by exploiting Casada and Smith’s official positions as legislators to obtain funds from the State of Tennessee. Specifically, the conspirators deceived their former colleagues and officials at the State of Tennessee in an effort to obtain State funds for Phoenix Solutions, Cothren’s political consulting business.   In exchange for recruiting legislators and securing the approval of Phoenix Solutions’ invoices by the State, Cothren paid kickbacks to Casada and Smith.

    Smith pleaded guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud in 2022 and testified at trial.

    The evidence showed that Cothren pretended to be “Matthew Phoenix,” supposedly an experienced political consultant who had previously worked for a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm. In fact, Cothren operated Phoenix Solutions, and Casada, Cothren, and Smith knew that “Matthew Phoenix” was a fictitious person.  Casada, Cothren, and Smith concealed their involvement in Phoenix Solutions by submitting invoices to the State of Tennessee in the names of political consulting companies owned by Casada and Smith, for the purpose of secretly funneling money from the State to Phoenix Solutions through the bank accounts of these companies.  In 2020, these companies and Phoenix Solutions received approximately $51,947 from the State in payments associated with the mailer program. Phoenix Solutions also obtained more than $170,000 in payments from political organizations, campaigns, and candidates.

    Casada and Cothren will be sentenced later this year, and each face up to 20 years in prison. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Casada, Cothren, and Smith may also be ordered to forfeit any property which represents or is traceable to receipts obtained as a result of the offenses.

    This case was investigated by the FBI, Nashville Field Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor J. Phillips and Trial Attorneys John P. Taddei and Blake J. Ellison of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.

    # # # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Hundred Ninety-Five New Immigration Cases in Western District of Texas This Week

    Source: US FBI

    SAN ANTONIO – Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 295 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from May 9 through May 15.

    Among the new cases, Mexican nationals Juan Jose Medrano-Escobedo and Rosendo Dominguez-Morales were arrested after allegedly entering the U.S. illegally through the Texas National Defense Area (Tx-NDA) less than half a mile west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso. Medrano-Escobedo has been previously removed from the U.S. to Mexico twice, most recently July 30, 2024. He has been convicted of three felonies, including evading arrest in 2017 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in November 2023. Dominguez-Morales was last removed on Aug. 20, 2024, following an Aug. 18, 2024 felony conviction for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. Medrano-Escobedo and Dominguez-Morales are each charged with two counts related to violating defense property security regulation and one count of illegal re-entry.

    Also in El Paso, two U.S. citizens are charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens after being arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Fabens. Jared Isai Ramirez and Jesus Alberto Soriano, driving separate vehicles, allegedly attempted to flee from USBP. A criminal complaint alleges Ramirez lost control of his vehicle and collided into a rock wall. He and four passengers allegedly exited the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot before being apprehended. The four passengers were determined to be illegal aliens and were transported with Ramirez to the Clint Border Patrol Station for further investigation. Soriano eventually stopped the vehicle he was driving and was also transported to the Clint Border Patrol Station. The criminal complaint alleges that Ramirez admitted that he would be paid $300 for each of the four illegal aliens he was transporting. Soriano allegedly stated that he had agreed to scout the area for law enforcement during the smuggling scheme. 

    A Mexican national was encountered at the Bastrop County Jail and charged with illegal re-entry in Austin. Elisandro Enriquez-Sanchez has been removed from the U.S. to Mexico four times in addition to a voluntary return. He had been arrested in Bastrop and charged with driving while intoxicated with an open alcohol container. Enriquez-Sanchez’s lengthy criminal record includes two convictions for illegal re-entry as well as taking a weapon from an officer, assault causing bodily injury to a family member, and three DWIs in a two-year span.

    In Presidio County, Honduran national Angel Daniel Vasquez was arrested and charged with illegal re-entry. Vasquez has four prior removals, the last one being to Honduras May 27, 2024. He’s also a twice-convicted felon with a criminal record that includes assault causing bodily injury in Nashville, Tennessee in 2023 and a 2015 illegal re-entry conviction in Phoenix, Arizona. He was also convicted of a misdemeanor in Nashville for driving under the influence in April 2024.

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

    These cases are 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).

    Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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    MIL Security OSI –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget Wallet Offers 90% Discount on Game Credits to Drive Everyday Crypto Payments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Bitget Wallet, the leading non-custodial crypto wallet, has introduced a limited-time campaign offering 90% off mobile game credits through its in-app “Shop with Crypto” marketplace. Running from May 28 to June 4, the promotion allows first-time users to purchase credits for Free Fire, PUBG Mobile, and Mobile Legends for $0.10 when paying with crypto.

    The initiative is part of Bitget Wallet’s ongoing efforts to reduce friction in crypto transactions and expand real-world use cases. By offering discounts on familiar digital products, the campaign aims to incentivize first-time purchases and foster repeat usage within the gaming category — one of the most active digital spending verticals globally. According to DappRadar, blockchain gaming accounted for 30% of all decentralized application activity, playing a pivotal role in onboarding new crypto users due to its low entry barriers and familiar digital purchase patterns.

    Launched earlier this month, “Shop with Crypto” enables users to pay directly with digital assets across over 300 merchants spanning gaming, travel, mobile recharges, e-commerce gift cards and more. Popular brands include Amazon, Google Play, Steam, Netflix, Uber, Shopee, T-mall, JD.com, and more. The service eliminates the need for fiat conversion, with transactions processed instantly and redemption codes delivered directly via email, reflecting a user experience similar to traditional online shopping.

    Bitget Wallet currently offers one of the most comprehensive crypto payment experiences on the market, combining in-app shopping, QR code scanning including national and blockchain-based codes, and crypto card payments. “We’re building towards a more practical crypto economy,” said Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet. “This campaign demonstrates the ease of real-world spending through crypto, and gaming is just the first of many verticals we’ll activate.”

    Find out more on Bitget Wallet’s official channel.

    About Bitget Wallet
    Bitget Wallet is a non-custodial crypto wallet designed to make crypto simple and secure for everyone. With over 80 million users, it brings together a full suite of crypto services, including swaps, market insights, staking, rewards, DApp exploration, and payment solutions. Supporting 130+ blockchains and millions of tokens, Bitget Wallet enables seamless multi-chain trading across hundreds of DEXs and cross-chain bridges. Backed by a $300+ million user protection fund, it ensures the highest level of security for users’ assets.

    For more information, visit: X | Telegram | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn | TikTok | Discord | Facebook

    For media inquiries, contact media.web3@bitget.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a9f26e0b-1065-47f2-b32b-089284541cc5

    The MIL Network –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Best Tribal Loans Guaranteed Approval Online Direct Lender Easiest To Get For Bad Credit With No Credit Check by Apache Lending

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Las Vegas, Nevada, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Looking for tribal loans with guaranteed approval for people with bad credit? Then you should definitely try Apache Lending. Since the launch of the service, Apache Lending has helped thousands of Americans get online tribal loans for poor credit. With an easy application process, borrowers can get a quick tribal loan from multiple tribal lenders offering guaranteed approval.

    Best Direct Lender Tribal Loans 

    What makes Apache Lending best direct lender tribal loans on the market today? Unlike loans from traditional lenders or banks, guaranteed tribal payday loans from Apache Lending are available to you without having to wait in long queues waiting for the approval of personal loans.

    Official website: Apache Lending (https://www.apachelending.com)

    Application page: Click Here To APPLY For Easy Tribal Loan >>

    Direct tribal loans in the US are actually small instant tribal loans which are offered for a very short period of time. The time period may vary as per the need and creditability of the borrower. Generally these native american loans are offered for a few weeks only. But sometimes, the time may go beyond a month. 

    Regulatory Advantages

    Operating under tribal sovereignty, direct lender tribal loans are subject to different regulations than traditional loans. This can result in:

    • Less Stringent Regulations: Tribal lenders may have more lenient requirements, making it easier for bad credit borrowers to qualify.
    • Potentially Lower Fees: Some tribal lenders from Apache Lending may offer lower fees compared to traditional financial institutions or banks, although this can vary by lender.

    These native American loans are also offered over the internet. The benefit of going online is that it is very fast and the money is credited within a day or two. So, these tribal lender loans prove to be very important for the borrower in meeting all the needs in time.

    Best Tribal Loans For Bad Credit

    Bad credit holders or the persons with poor credit history are those people who had taken any loan but due to some financial or personal problems, they could not repay the debt they borrowed. Such people when facing any credit crises in their life find it very difficult to raise any type of loan. No traditional direct lender is willing to offer them a loan due to their past records. To help such people in their hour of need, Apache Lending has introduced bad credit tribal loans with instant decision.

    The amount that is offered by easy tribal loans for bad credit is very much convincing and they are provided for a flexible period. But anyone can extend the period if they need to.

    Borrowers can meet the tribal lender company personally or can apply for it through the online mode. This mode is very much preferable in all senses because there are no hassles of paperwork and only a simple form is to be filled.

    Why choose Apache Lending for best tribal loans for bad credit?

    Quick Approval and Funding

    One of the most significant advantages of tribal loans for bad credit is the speed at which they can be processed. Many tribal lenders from Apache Lending utilize online platforms that streamline the application process, allowing for:

    • Fast Approval: Borrowers often receive approval for direct lender tribal loans within a few hours, making it an attractive option for those in urgent need of money.
    • Rapid Funding: Once approved, funds can be disbursed quickly, sometimes on the same day or the next business day. This immediacy can be crucial for individuals facing unexpected expenses.

    Best Tribal Loans Guaranteed Approval

    Guaranteed approval tribal loans means 99.9% borrowers are approved for a loan no matter what. Due to the fact that the process of asset check is not followed by the tribal lenders, you would get this risk-free finance. 

    In order to apply for a guaranteed tribal installment loan, you can make use of the no obligation and free of cost online application form that would be given on the Apache Lending website. Once the process of verification is over, you would get an approval. In the least possible span, the money would come into your bank checking account.

    The best part of bad credit tribal loans guaranteed approval is that you will get a chance to mend your past credit woes by making timely repayment of the borrowed money. For that the best tribal loan lenders will make every possible effort to help you find these loans at an easy repayment option and lower interest rates so that you do not face any hassle when repaying.

    Why choose Apache Lending for best tribal loans guaranteed approval?

    Flexible Loan Amounts and Terms

    Direct tribal lenders from Apache Lending often provide a range of loan amounts and flexible repayment terms, which can cater to various financial needs. This flexibility includes:

    • Customizable Loan Amounts: Borrowers can typically choose how much they wish to borrow, depending on their specific needs.
    • Varied Repayment Options: Many tribal lenders offer different repayment schedules, allowing borrowers to select a plan that aligns with their financial situation.

    Best Tribal Loans No Credit Check

    Tribal loans with no credit check as the name suggests are small instant cash loans which are approved without any credit verification. These are very quick to borrow tribal payday loans. A borrower need not worry about his or her past credit records or low credit scores before borrowing money. Tribal lenders are least interested in such scores. This makes such a type of borrowing the only option for people with horrible credit where traditional lenders do not provide financial help.

    No credit check tribal loans are best for emergency purposes, like paying hospital bills, doctor fee, medical expenses, examination fee, car repair bill, mortgage payment, etc. Also these loans help you a lot especially when it comes to avoiding penalties. 

    Due to the large number of benefits associated with tribal loans without credit check, many people opt for it. No doubt, poor credit can stay for a long time, even when you are making good fiscal decisions. This means these loans are a good way to build credit in case you are in a bad situation and also to get the money.

    Why choose Apache Lending for best tribal loans no credit check?

    Accessibility for All Credit Types

    One of the most significant advantages of easiest tribal loans to get is their accessibility. Traditional lenders often rely heavily on credit scores to determine eligibility, which can exclude many potential borrowers. In contrast, tribal lenders with no credit check typically do not conduct credit checks, allowing individuals with poor or nonexistent credit histories to secure financing. This inclusivity opens doors for those who may have been turned away by conventional banks.

    Simplified Application Process

    The application process for tribal installment loans with no credit check is generally more straightforward than that of traditional loans. Borrowers often face fewer requirements and less documentation, making it easier to apply and receive funds quickly. Many direct tribal lenders with guaranteed approval prioritize a simple online application, which can be completed in a matter of minutes. This streamlined approach is particularly appealing for individuals in urgent need of financial assistance.

    Flexible Repayment Terms

    Bad credit tribal loans often come with flexible repayment terms, which can be tailored to fit the borrower’s financial situation. Unlike payday loans that require full repayment by the next payday, many tribal loans from Apache Lending offer structured repayment schedules that allow borrowers to pay back the loan over a longer period. This flexibility can help borrowers manage their finances more effectively and reduce the risk of falling into a cycle of debt.

    Quick Access to Funds

    In many cases, tribal payday loans no credit check provide quick access to funds, often within 24 hours of approval. This rapid turnaround is crucial for individuals facing unexpected expenses, such as medical bills or car repairs. The ability to obtain cash quickly can alleviate financial stress and provide a sense of security during challenging times.

    Click Here To APPLY For Easy Tribal Loan Online >>

    Best Tribal Loans No Teletrack

    No teletrack tribal loans is actually a loan which is designed for the people with poor credit profile. Such persons find it really very hard to borrow money in the hour of need. And here comes Apache Lending with such direct tribal lender loans without teletrack checks.

    In case your credit is good, however you are in the urgent need of cash and you don’t want to waste time on the paper work then a tribal loan with no teletrack is the answer to all your problems. These loans are soon gaining popularity because they do not pose any risk to the tribal lending firm. It only takes them a few minutes to verify your employment details and bank account details that you provided. This would help them make out your potential to repay the loan which makes such tribal loan types very easy to get online from Apache Lending.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What are tribal installment loans direct lenders only? 

    These loans are basically very short term loans which are offered without any hassle. The amount of such loans is not fixed and in most of the cases, it remains around 1500 dollars.

    What are tribal payday loans no credit check?

    These loans are available in two forms. Either you can get in secured form or unsecured form. To get money with a secured form you have to provide some security that may take the form of your home, car or any other valuable thing. In unsecured form all the risk is carried by the tribal lender so the interest rate associated with unsecured loans is high as compared to secured ones.

    What are tribal installment loans for bad credit?

    These loans are a very quick and easy way to borrow money. Best tribal lenders do not go for conventional loan sanction processes. Anyone can easily apply for such loans. Even persons with a bad credit profile may get the loan approved easily. It hardly matters to the lenders whether the borrower has a good credit score or not.

    What are tribal loans online guaranteed approval no teletrack?

    Teletrack is a kind of a system which is made to check a borrower’s credit history. This is a US based system and with help of using this system the tribal lenders can come to know about your past credit score if you ever had a bad credit history or known as a good scorer. For availing these loans you just need to fill up an application form by giving some information about yourself like your name, your email address, your current residence address, your phone number, your desired amount and some information about your current bank status.

    What are tribal loans for bad credit same day deposit?

    These loans are specially structured to help you meet with your immediate financial emergencies. Hence, the tribal lender provides you with a wide range of cash limits to choose from. Anyone can apply online and get guaranteed approval and same day deposit with the help of Apache Lending.

    What are tribal payday loans with instant approval?

    These loans are feasible and reliable financial aid that let you manage your cash crisis without any hassle and trouble. If you are strapped for cash and need quick fiscal support, this can be a wonderful financial source.

    Instant tribal loans have nothing to do with your credit history. Your past details are not checked by the tribal lenders. This finance saves a lot of time as they are granted to you immediately. A wide range of tribal lenders from Apache Lending are offered to you if you apply through the online method. This method of applying comes with no paperwork and less wastage of time.

    Attachment

    • Apache Lending

    The MIL Network –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Cerence AI Partners with Arm to Deliver Enhanced LLM Capabilities at the Edge

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BURLINGTON, Mass., May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC) (“Cerence AI”), a global leader pioneering conversational AI-powered user experiences, today announced a strategic partnership with Arm in which Cerence AI will leverage Arm’s comprehensive software library, Arm® Kleidi™, to advance the capabilities and performance of CaLLM™ Edge, its embedded small language model (SLM).

    As automakers race to bring AI-powered capabilities to their drivers, they are faced with several challenges, including building enough compute to handle the needs of intensive workloads like large language models (LLMs). Automakers and their partners need easy ways to optimize CPU performance and maximize compute, making it easier for them to deliver the benefits of generative AI to drivers. Cerence AI and Arm are partnering to bridge this gap. With 94% of global automakers leveraging Arm technology in their latest vehicles, Arm automotive solutions provide a foundational compute architecture for AI capabilities throughout the vehicle. Kleidi is designed to accelerate machine learning and optimize neural network operations on Arm-based devices, enabling more efficient and powerful real-time language processing at the edge.

    Together, Cerence AI and Arm flexibly distribute and parallelize generative AI computation loads between CPUs and GPUs, delivering improved speed and performance for CaLLM Edge, while also supporting enhanced privacy and data security. CaLLM Edge runs fully agentic on Arm-based chipsets optimized with Kleidi, in addition to other SoCs, demonstrating industry-leading performance despite the limited compute power, large size, and intensive processing needs of on-board, in-car language models. As a result, automakers are able to deliver a fast, intelligent user experience for their drivers, even without connectivity to the cloud.

    “We are excited to partner with Arm to take CaLLM Edge to the next level, setting new standards for performance and efficiency in edge computing in the car,” said Nils Schanz, EVP, Product & Technology, Cerence AI. “By combining our expertise in AI-powered language models with Arm’s innovative library, we are continuing our journey to create a new era of voice-first experiences and next-generation AI applications in the automotive space, empowering consumers with smarter, faster, and more responsive in-car assistants.”

    “AI is defining the next generation of sophisticated in-vehicle features, and it’s important that we utilize every optimization possible to ensure AI can run seamlessly at the edge,” said Suraj Gajendra, vice president of automotive products and software solutions, Automotive Line of Business, Arm. “Cerence AI is seeing significant improvements by leveraging Arm Kleidi, and we look forward to continuing our work to rapidly enable new, innovative application-specific AI models in the car.” 

    To learn more about Cerence AI, visit www.cerence.ai, and follow the company on LinkedIn. For more information about Arm, visit www.arm.com/.

    About Cerence Inc.
    Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC) is a global industry leader in creating intuitive, seamless, AI-powered experiences across automotive and transportation. Leveraging decades of innovation and expertise in voice, generative AI, and large language models, Cerence powers integrated experiences that create safer, more connected, and more enjoyable journeys for drivers and passengers alike. With more than 500 million cars shipped with Cerence technology, the company partners with leading automakers, transportation OEMs, and technology companies to advance the next generation of user experiences. Cerence is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with operations globally and a worldwide team dedicated to pushing the boundaries of AI innovation. For more information, visit www.cerence.ai.

    Contact Information

    Kate Hickman | Cerence AI | Tel: 339-215-4583 | Email: kate.hickman@cerence.com

    The MIL Network –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: McCaul Discusses Importance of State Dept. Reauthorization with Secretary Rubio

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Michael McCaul (10th District of Texas)

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the committee’s hearing, titled “FY26 State Department Posture: Protecting American Interests.” McCaul and Rubio discussed how the committee’s work to reauthorize the State Department can help the Trump administration advance its foreign policy objectives, including restoring U.S. foreign aid to its core mission.

    Click to watch

    Full exchange below:

    Chair Emeritus McCaul: Let me express my deep sympathy to the family of Gerry Connolly. He was a dear friend of mine. I will miss him dearly and the Irish twinkle in his eye.

    Mr. Secretary, thanks for being here today. Under the last four years — under President Biden — the world is on fire now. From the debacle, the evacuation, poorly executed from Afghanistan, which then led, I believe, to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — the largest land invasion since World War II in Europe — to the Middle East on fire now, to October 7th. I commend you for trying to seek peace in these hotspots, including the Indo-Pacific, which probably presents the greatest threat.

    I would be clear-eyed with Mr. Putin. I personally don’t think he’s negotiating in good faith. The Ayatollah cannot be trusted. In fact, it was recently reported that they got their proxy, Hamas, to invade Israel on October 7th to derail the normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

    Let me go to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act. It was initially created to counter the rise of the Soviet Union. Today, I believe it should be used to counter the influence of Communist China around the globe, and that’s a core mission I know you support, as do I. When I was chairman of this committee, I put holds on the programs the current chairman is talking about — that being the drag shows in Ecuador to grants to advance atheism in Nepal. These are not in the interest of the United States or our national security interests. 

    So, I think we need to return these agencies and programs to their core mission. I believe that you’re trying to do that by bringing them under your supervision at the State Department. It’s not a new idea. Madeline Albright tried to do that many years ago. And I do think under your supervision, that we’ll have transparency and accountability with the foreign assistance programs. 

    We are engaged in a reauthorization of the State Department. Sir, can you tell me how this would assist you, with respect to reorganization of these important agencies under your department?

    Secretary Rubio: Well, I think the key to reorganization — and by the way, we never did it in all the years that I was in the Senate either. It never happened. It needs to happen. We want it to happen. As you know, in our reorganization, we didn’t touch any of the statutory offices because we can’t. But there’s two advantages to it, or three advantages. 

    The first is it becomes permanent. We can create an organizational structure that becomes enduring, especially if it’s one that we believe in. Second, I think that it will help us with the input and ideas. Look, we provided the initial preliminary indication to Congress.

    We’ve been taking input — including from many on the minority — and some of those are going to be reflected when we put out our final approach that we want to take. But ultimately, we would love to work with the committee to find ways to improve on the streamlining.

    By the way, we’re also taking input from inside our building. Some of the ideas in our reorg — many of the ideas from our reorg — came from inside the State Department from career officials, including some that are still providing input for us on sort of how to structure it.

    But I think the advantage of doing it statutorily is that it becomes enduring and permanent and provides certainty in the days to come. Otherwise, you know, it can change over time and continue to bloat and expand to levels that it got to. It was an unreadable org chart. The org chart that I showed you — the initial org chart that I inherited — was just the top line. Within each one of those boxes, there were multiple boxes — some of them duplicative, redundant, and in many cases, no one could even tell us what they were doing, because it’s easy to grow. It’s much harder to reorganize and to streamline activity, and that’s what we want to do.

    Chair Emeritus McCaul: Well, it’s a very noble effort. With my one minute remaining, I authorized the Remain in Mexico program in this committee. I commend the administration; within a matter of months, [they] have restored order to the border, taking chaos and turned it into a safe border.

    I mean, the crossings have gone down 95%. There’s no longer catch and release. And I do think the executive order on Remain in Mexico is very important. I know you share that responsibility with the Department of Homeland Security — a committee I chaired as well. What is the latest on your negotiations with Mexico to bring that important program back?

    Secretary Rubio: Well, as you’re aware, I’m sure that we’ve had a number of what I recall, both irritants, but also areas of cooperation with the Mexican government. It’s been actually pretty positive. They have been very responsive on our security concerns. They’ve increased their security cooperation with us in ways that have been very productive.

    In fact, at some point here over the next few weeks, I intend to travel potentially to Mexico along with a couple other cabinet members to sort of finalize some of these areas of cooperation. This may be one we talk about, but we’ve been primarily focused with Mexico on two things.

    One is on trade — which is not my department — but obviously, our trade representative, Mr. Greer, and also Commerce Secretary Lutnick has been engaging with them. And then the other is on security cooperation. We have a mutual interest in Mexico. In essence, the cartels that operate within Mexico and threaten the state are armed from weapons that are bought in the United States and shipped there.

    We want to help stop that flow. The reverse is [that] those cartels threaten the state. There are parts of Mexico that are governed by cartels where there is — in fact, I think I heard last night — two more people were murdered in Mexico City associated with the mayor of Mexico City. The political violence there is real.

    They have a vested interest and a desire to go after these cartels, and we want to help equip them and provide them information. They’ve also been increasingly cooperative — more than ever before — in bringing back and extraditing people wanted in this country for crimes who are in their custody.

     So, I think we’ve got good areas of cooperation. We still have some more work to do on migration, but they’ve been cooperative. 

     

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Fox News Highlights McCaul’s Fight to Reimburse Texas for Border Security Efforts Under Biden

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Michael McCaul (10th District of Texas)

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — chairman emeritus and current vice chair of the House Homeland Security Committee — was featured in a Fox News article highlighting his successful push to secure $12 billion in federal funding to reimburse states for costs incurred to secure the border under the Biden administration. Texas, which has spent over $11 billion under Operation Lone Star to combat the border crisis, is expected to receive the majority of these funds.

    McCaul touts money in Trump tax bill to pay Texas back for fighting Biden border policies

    Fox News

    Elizabeth Elkind 

    May 24, 2025 

    There’s a provision tucked into President Donald Trump’s broadly ranging “big, beautiful bill” that could see Texas get billions of dollars in funds that it spent on the state’s border security under the Biden administration.

    The legislation earmarked $12 billion for a grant program allowing states to be reimbursed for costs they incurred trying to stem the flow of illegal immigration during the Democratic administration.

    The measure was added to the bill hours before the final vote – but Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the former chairman of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees, told Fox News Digital it was a product of months of negotiation.

    “Early on, [Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and I were discussing reconciliation going through the Homeland Security Committee. And, you know, there was about $70 billion for the border,” McCaul said. “Texas bore the brunt of the federal mission the last four years and deserves to be reimbursed. And so he agreed, had a conversation with Governor Abbott, and he agreed.”

    […]

    The state of Texas, Fox News Digital was told, had incurred just over $11 billion in costs from Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to keep the border in his state secure.

    “The fact of the matter is, when you look at the costs that were borne, Texas had the lion’s share of [the burden] carrying out the federal mission when the Biden administration completely failed to deliver on border security,” McCaul said. “My state built the border wall and built detention facilities. We bore a lot of costs.”

    […]

    Rather than add it to the initial text of the bill, McCaul said, leaders opted to include it in a “managers amendment” that was added on Wednesday night along with several other issues that lawmakers needed more time to negotiate.

    “The legislative process, it’s something I’ve gotten to know over my 20 years and how to get things done up here. And I thought, you know, the way we worked it was strategically very smart,” McCaul said. “It’s going to the Senate now. And Senator Cornyn is going to take it up, be the champion in the Senate.”

    The Texas Republican first met with Abbott and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on the matter in early February, Fox News Digital was told.

    McCaul said he also worked closely on the push with Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, who told Fox News Digital that “no state” carried more financial burden from the border crisis than Texas.”

    […]

    Johnson, for his part, thanked McCaul for his efforts in a public written statement.

    “Thanks to Rep. McCaul, states that stepped up to protect Americans in the face of Biden’s border catastrophe will be reimbursed for doing the work the Biden Administration refused to do,” the speaker said. “Had those patriotic governors not taken action and used the resources of their state, the devastation from Biden’s wide-open border would have been significantly worse.”

    […]

    McCaul told Fox News Digital that he was confident the measure would stay in the Senate bill after conversations with the Trump administration on the matter.

    “I anticipate it will go forward,” McCaul said. “I’m, just proud that we were able to get this done. I’m very proud of what my state did to stop the flow of illegals and dangerous actors coming into the country.”

    When reached for comment, Abbott told Fox News Digital, “This is a national issue that Texas was proud to address, and we are grateful for the allocation that reduces the financial burden that Texas incurred.”

    Click here to read the full article on Fox News

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    May 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Do biases affect assessment in kindergarten? Educators discuss strategies for mitigation

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Natalie Spadafora, Research Associate, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University

    Educators in a study agreed that the scarcity of dedicated resources, time, attention and training on bias affected their ability to assess their students’ development as accurately as they would like.
     (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency/EDUimages), CC BY-NC-SA

    Teachers’ perceptions and judgments of student skills are key to measuring children’s academic progress. But educators’ own biases can distort these perceptions and judgments.

    For example, research in Canada has shown that racialized students were less likely to be perceived as “excellent” in their achievement and learning skills than white students, despite doing well academically. To our knowledge, no work has been done focusing specifically on teachers, assessment, bias and the Canadian kindergarten population.

    Our team at the Offord Centre for Child Studies set out to understand more about how educators perceive the system for assessing kindergarten children’s development, in the context of children’s race, gender and family socioeconomic status.

    In Ontario, kindergarten features five full days of play-based learning every week. Classes are led by a team of one teacher and one early childhood educator (ECE). Teachers have knowledge of the curriculum and are responsible for student learning and reporting to parents. ECEs have knowledge of early childhood development and plan age-appropriate activities to support development.



    Read more:
    A team approach makes full-day kindergarten a success

    As part of our study, we conducted a series of four focus groups with kindergarten educators (five kindergarten teachers and one designated early childhood educator) from a school board in Ontario.

    To be eligible to participate, educators had to have previously participated in cultural responsiveness initiatives and administered a teacher-completed developmental health checklist for kindergarten students at least once. All participants in our focus group were female, taught schools in urban neighbourhoods and five of the six were racialized.

    In Ontario, kindergarten features five full days of play-based learning every week.
    (Shutterstock)

    Educators discussed how their feelings and potential biases might creep into their assessments, and the strategies they use to limit this bias. Specifically, we asked about their use of the standard tool for assessing child development in kindergarten: The Early Development Instrument (EDI).



    Read more:
    ‘Dreams delayed’ no longer: Report identifies key changes needed around Black students’ education

    Five areas of child development

    The EDI asks teachers to evaluate children in five areas of development: physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge.

    Race-related data are not routinely collected with the EDI (such as asking teachers to report how a child’s family identifies a child’s race, or in reporting their own race), even though, as some researchers and educators have noted, race-related data could be used to inform provision of supports.

    While teachers complete this assessment for every child in their classrooms, the results are aggregated and reported at the population level. All publicly funded school boards in Ontario have collected the EDI roughly every three years since 2004.

    Key themes

    Several key themes emerged from our discussions with educators. First, educators admitted that the social identities and demographic characteristics of the students in their classrooms could impact how they interpret kindergarteners’ skills and behaviours.

    They explained that being exposed to a wide variety of students would increase their own awareness of children’s and their families’ identities, shaped by factors like race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status and language, and help broaden their perceptions. For example, this would allow them to have a greater understanding of the range of behaviours children display.

    Second, educators addressed the consequences of racial and gender biases in schools, some of them reflecting systemic racism. Educators acknowledged these systemic biases could impact their internal expectations of students, and potentially their reactions and interpretation of student behaviour.

    Recognizing the potential for such unfairness, educators also identified deliberate strategies they use to minimize the impact of individual and systemic biases on their assessment.

    They told us they pause and think critically about what may influence their perceptions of students, reframe how they might be looking at certain situations (that is, taking an “asset-based” approach, focusing on the students’ strengths) or check in with colleagues to be sure they’re being equitable.



    Read more:
    Children with special health needs are more likely to come from poorer neighbourhoods

    Scarcity of training about bias

    The educators we interviewed revealed many personal feelings come up as they complete assessments and interact with students. For example, educators noted that it can be hard to separate assessing a child from their history with the child, or that they felt they were judging the child’s family.

    In addition to the acknowledgement that biases and preconceived expectations could colour their assessments, they also acknowledged that these feelings, whether positive or negative, can make it difficult to assess their pupils objectively.

    Similar to exposure to a diverse group of students, having knowledge of the whole child and building trusting and reciprocal relationships with families are other ways educators can reduce the impact of bias. For example, if their family is going through hard times, it could be expected that the child might be sad or worried.

    Regarding the specific characteristics of the EDI, educators explained it was sometimes difficult to choose the most accurate responses to each item on a checklist when there were only two or three options.

    Educators said they often wished they could explain their responses more.

    Finally, educators agreed that the scarcity of dedicated resources, time, attention and training on bias affected their ability to assess their students’ development as accurately as they would like.

    Policy improvements needed

    While our study used the example of the EDI to elicit the discussion on assessment being influenced by student identities, the issues mentioned by educators go beyond this specific tool.

    In our study, educators were not only aware of this influence; they used strategies to overcome it. These educators acknowledge that their expertise in evaluating children’s skills and behaviours can improve with better knowledge of and relationships with individual children and their families, by collaborating with colleagues and by having more time and training.

    Our results suggest that policy improvements are necessary to make sure all educators have access to better strategies and opportunities to reduce unintended identity bias and provide more accurate assessments.

    Given that the educators in this study had already participated in cultural responsiveness initiatives, further research could examine how interventions mitigate occurrences of particular biases and their potential adverse effects on students.

    This research was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Council Partnership Engagement Grant.

    Magdalena Janus receives funding from SSHRC.

    – ref. Do biases affect assessment in kindergarten? Educators discuss strategies for mitigation – https://theconversation.com/do-biases-affect-assessment-in-kindergarten-educators-discuss-strategies-for-mitigation-250580

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    May 29, 2025
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