''John Is My Heart''

Image from Forbes Magazine

Contributed by Iva Arpin

 This is a well-written article about a father who put several of his kids through expensive colleges but one son wanted to be a Marine. Interesting observation by this dad.  See below.  A very interesting commentary that says a lot about our failing and fallen society.

 By Frank Schaeffer of the Washington Post

 "Before my son became a Marine, I never thought much about who was defending me.  Now when I read of the war on terrorism or the coming conflict in Iraq, it cuts to my heart. When I see a picture of a member of our military who has been killed, I read his or her name very carefully. Sometimes I cry.

In 1999, when the barrel-chested Marine recruiter showed up in dress blues and bedazzled my son John, I did not stand in the way.

FBI - Terrorist Network Dismantled

New York-Based Group Planned to Send Members to Syria

They were roommates who lived seemingly ordinary lives. One chopped vegetables at a Brooklyn gyro shop; another worked at a shopping mall kiosk. Like many young people, they spent considerable time online.

But Abdurasul Juraboev and Akhror Saidakhmetov came to the attention of the FBI when Juraboev posted an ominous message on a terrorist-affiliated website: He was willing to engage in an act of martyrdom on U.S. soil by killing then-President Barack Obama to “strike fear in the hearts of infidels.” The investigation subsequently revealed that Juraboev and Saidakhmetov, a co-conspirator, planned to travel to Turkey and then Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of ISIS. And that Saidakhmetov had also posted messages on the Internet supporting ISIS.

Juraboev later communicated online with an Iraq-based ISIS website administrator, who encouraged Juraboev to travel to ISIS-controlled territories to fight with the terrorist group. Juraboev indicated his willingness to support the activities of ISIS and said he wanted to leave the United States undetected to go to the Middle East. 

“It was a very serious plot,” said Special Agent Andrew Pachtman, who supervised the case as part of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force. “Over several months, we collected very strong evidence of what they were planning to do. They were working to get weapons and funding for the trip.”

Local Man Charged with Hate Crime in Attack Outside Cincinnati Restaurant

CINCINNATI – A federal grand jury has charged Izmir Koch, 32, of Huber Heights, with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in an indictment unsealed today.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the charges.

According to the indictment, on February 4, 2017, Koch was outside a Cincinnati restaurant with others when he allegedly yelled out asking if anyone outside the restaurant was Jewish.

A victim responded that he was Jewish and it is alleged that Koch then ran to the victim and punched him in the head. When the victim fell to the ground, Koch and others continued hitting and kicking him.

The victim sustained injuries from the attack, including rib contusions and a fracture of his orbital floor.

Koch was charged with one count of committing a hate crime, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He was arrested this morning and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman at 1:30pm.

“Physically attacking someone because you think he’s Jewish—or Christian or Muslim or any other religion—is a federal crime,” said U.S. Attorney Glassman. “This office prosecutes hate crimes.”

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Megan Gaffney and Trial Attorney Gabriel Davis of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, who are prosecuting the case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Nine Iranians Charged With Conducting Massive Cyber Theft Campaign on Behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Mabna Institute Hackers Penetrated Systems Belonging to Hundreds of Universities, Companies, and Other Victims to Steal Research, Academic and Proprietary Data, and Intellectual Property

An Indictment charging Gholamreza Rafatnejad, 38; Ehsan Mohammadi, 37; Abdollah Karima, aka Vahid Karima, 39; Mostafa Sadeghi, 28; Seyed Ali Mirkarimi, 34; Mohammed Reza Sabahi, 26; Roozbeh Sabahi, 24; Abuzar Gohari Moqadam, 37; and Sajjad Tahmasebi, 30, all citizens and residents of Iran, was unsealed today.  The defendants were each leaders, contractors, associates, hackers-for-hire or affiliates of the Mabna Institute, an Iran-based company that, since at least 2013, conducted a coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions into computer systems belonging to 144 U.S. universities, 176 universities across 21 foreign countries, 47 domestic and foreign private sector companies, the U.S. 

Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the State of Hawaii, the State of Indiana, the United Nations, and the United Nations Children’s Fund.  Through the defendants’ activities, the Mabna Institute stole more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from universities, and email accounts of employees at private sector companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations.  The defendants conducted many of these intrusions on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (Iran) Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of several entities within the government of Iran responsible for gathering intelligence, as well as other Iranian government and university clients.  In addition to these criminal charges, today the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Mabna Institute and the nine defendants for sanctions for the malicious cyber-enabled activity outlined in the Indictment.

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day - Delegate

WORD OF THE DAY March 28, 2018

delegate    verb | DEL-uh-gayt     Definition   1 : to entrust to another   2 : to appoint as one's representative   3 : to assign responsibility or authority   Scroll down for more about delegate      TRENDING NOW: omnibus acrimony excoriate terrorism SEE ALL      PEOPLE ARE READING   Puppies, Puppets, and Pupils: A Little History       'Gorilla' or 'Guerrilla'?     How to ‘Zhuzh’ Up Your Vocabulary       The Ups and Downs of 'Carousel' and 'Carousal'         WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE   Up in the Sky: A Quiz   It's a bird? It's a plane? No, I'm really asking. What is it?     PLAY NOW     Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try!  TAKE ME THERE         Did You Know?   To delegate is, literally or figuratively, to send another in one's place, an idea that is reflected in the word's origin; it is a descendant of Latin legare, meaning "to

Senator Portman - Rob’s Rundown: Week of March 19-23, 2018

This week, in a significant step forward in our efforts to combat online sex trafficking, Senator Portman's Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) passed the Senate by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 97-2. In addition, Portman announced several features of the final FY 2018 appropriations bill that would benefit the people of Ohio. Among some of these features are: additional resources for our men and women in uniform, funding for the military installations in Toledo and Lima, new funds to combat the opioid epidemic, full funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and support for the cleanup of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. For a more detailed look at Senator Portman’s week, please see the following: Monday, March 19 Portman, Brown Invite Ohioans to Apply for Nomination to U.S. Service Academies Portman and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today encouraged Ohioans interested in 2019 admission to U.S. Military Service Academies to apply to each senator’s office for a congressional nomination. “I am particularly honored as a United States Senator to have the privilege every year of nominating a number of Ohio’s top young achievers for entry into one of our nation’s service academies,” said Portman.  “Our nation has never had to look further than the Buckeye State to find those individuals who exhibit the sterling qualities of leadership, daring, and the sense of adventure needed to turn the biggest dreams into reality, and to rise to any occasion.” Each year, Portman and Brown nominate up to 10 students for each service academy: the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Interested students who meet the eligibility requirements should send their completed application packet to Portman’s Columbus office and to Brown’s Cleveland office no later than September 21, 2018. The application process is time-intensive. Applicants should plan well in advance. For more information or to request an application, please visit Portman’s website here or Brown’s website here. Inquiries can also be directed to Portman’s Academy Coordinator at the Columbus office 1-800-205-OHIO and to Brown’s Academy Coordinator at the Cleveland office (888) 896-6446. Portman and Brown will co-host 12 United States Service Academy Seminars throughout the state for students who are interested in learning about the application processes. Portman, Cardin Urge Senate Leadership to Preserve 200,000 Pensions in the Final FY 2018 Appropriations Bill On Friday, Senators Portman and Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Your Voice Ohio - 5 Questions Answered About the Opioid Epidemic

Questions answered about the opioid epidemic After listening to community members share their experiences with opioids and addiction, the Dayton Daily News worked to answer 5 questions their readers and others wanted to know: How are the drugs coming into our country? What are the true demographics of the addict population? Why is there not more focus on alternative medicines to opioids? What about medical marijuana? How do people get hooked on opioids? You can read what they found here. Last week, the Dayton Daily News also released an Addiction Resource Guide after hearing that it can be difficult to find accurate information on treatment options, recovery programs and other community resources.  Join us at upcoming events Next month, the Your Voice Ohio team will travel to Columbus, Marion, and Newark to host open community conversations exploring what the addiction crisis looks like, possible causes, and potential local solutions. If you live in these areas, you can RSVP now to join us!

Senator Brown - Protecting Ohio Jobs from Offshoring

For far too long, (under the Obama administration), our trade and tax policy has encouraged a corporate business model that shuts down operations in Ohio, cashes in on a tax credit at the expense of working Americans, and ships production to Reynosa, Mexico or Wuhan, China.

Jobs at call centers are some of the most vulnerable to offshoring. Too many companies have packed up their call centers in Ohio and across the country, and moved to India or Mexico.

While foreign workers are not to blame for outsourced jobs and are often victims of the same failed trade agreements as American workers, most Americans want to support American jobs by buying American whenever they can. That includes the customer service they get from call centers.

That’s why I’ve introduced a bill that would require call center agents overseas to disclose their location and guarantee U.S. customers the right to ask to transfer their call to a customer service agent who is physically located in the United States. It would also create a public list of companies that outsource call center jobs, and give preference in federal contracts to companies that haven’t shipped these jobs overseas.

The White House - 1600 Daily: America First in Space

First Lady Melania Trump presents the International Women of Courage Award | March 23, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

America first in space 
Americans have long looked to the stars as a symbol of our Nation’s traditions of pioneering and exploration. Last week, President Donald J. Trump unveiled a National Space Strategy that works within his broader national security policy to put America’s interests first.

President Trump’s strategy harnesses the American spirit, laying the groundwork for the next generation of U.S. space exploration. Specifically, this new framework will:

• Allow the Government to partner with the commercial sector to ensure that American companies remain world leaders in space technology.
• Build on the Administration’s National Security Strategy to emphasize peace through strength in the space domain.
• Ensure that international space agreements put the interests of American people, workers, and businesses first.

Learn more about the President’s strategy to make America a leader in space once more.

A bipartisan case for trade action

WCH City Council Meeting - Wednesday

The Washington Court House City Council will meet on March 28, 2018 from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM in the City Administration Bldg.,  Second Floor Council Chamber at 105 N. Main St., Washington Court House, OH 43160.

No other information was provided.

Merriam-Webster Word of The Day - Grandiose

WORD OF THE DAY March 27, 2018

grandiose    adjective | gran-dee-OHSS     Definition   1 : characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor or by absurdexaggeration   2 : impressive because of uncommon largeness, scope, effect, or grandeur   Scroll down for more about grandiose      TRENDING NOW: omnibus acrimony excoriate terrorism SEE ALL      PEOPLE ARE READING   'Gorilla' or 'Guerrilla'?       How to ‘Zhuzh’ Up Your Vocabulary     The Ups and Downs of 'Carousel' and 'Carousal'       What's That Smell?         WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE   Up in the Sky: A Quiz   It's a bird? It's a plane? No, I'm really asking. What is it?     PLAY NOW     Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try!  TAKE ME THERE         Did You Know?   Grandiose, magnificent, imposing, stately, majestic, and grand all can mean very large and impressive. Grand adds to greatness of size the implications of handsomeness and dignity, as in "a grand staircase." Magnificent implies an