Monthly Archives: April 2021

Cal Flyn's latest book, Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape tells the story of a dozen abandoned places around the world, from Chernobyl to the volcanic Caribbean, and looks particularly at how nature reclaims and rebounds after humans leave.

She spoke to Kim Hill about exploring the peculiar connection humans have to abandoned spaces, as well as the awe and wonder that can be found in the bleakest and most desolate of landscapes.

Flyn is a writer and journalist who lives on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland and recalled her visit to the nearby "eerie abandoned" island of Swona. People chose to leave in 1974 and let their cows out before they went. The cattle are now a feral herd, she said, moving around in a big pack although the sexually mature males fight and sometimes exile some of their rivals to the northernmost part of the island.

"They behave a lot more like the way you might imagine wild horses or wild deer to behave. They're very wary of humans ...they can charge if they feel at all threatened."

She was interested to observe when a domestic species becomes wild again - how much evolution has to pass to undo 10,000 years of history of humans breeding them.

As part of her research, she has spent time at an anarchic community that has sprung up on an abandoned army base in the desert near the Salton Sea in California. People there are living on the edge, she said.

"They build their houses and art and all sorts of things out of the rubbish of the rest of society.

"They scavenge for tyres or bits of wood and they build them up into these big houses and they make amazing sculptures out of real trash.

"I suppose to me that was almost like a vision of a post-apocalyptic future of how people behave when we don't have the normal strictures of society."

Cal Flyn Photo: supplied

While it was a fascinating place to visit, it was also frightening, in part because many of the people have drug problems.

"It really opened my eyes I think to the possibilities of how we can live and also the dangers of why we might not want to live like that."

When asked about how much restoration of an environment human beings should aim for when a landscape has been damaged, Flyn said sometimes restoration can overstep the mark.

She used the example of Scotland's West Lothian bings, which are enormous gravel spoil heaps.

A researcher discovered that some piles that were "restored" in the seventies and eighties, with fertiliser applied and species added, had done much worse than those that had been left alone.

"Because the species that had been planted there hadn't been as well suited as those that just float in on the breeze and find a place to learn I suppose."

Sometimes it would be better just to step back, acknowledge landscapes had been damaged by human activity but it might be best "to just allow nature her head".

While she was not agreeing to wholesale pollution, "we need to learn when perhaps we're overstepping our bounds and the best thing would be to admit defeat and step away and come back in 50 years".

She said it's important to respect nature and not look to impose our will on it.

"So often when we step into managing an environment we have an idea of what we would like it to look like at the end of our intervention and we have goals for it and that's not necessarily what the species within that environment might be working towards."

She is interested in parts of the world, such as Spain where the population is declining and Russia, where a lot of marginal farmland is now abandoned, and the possibility of "re-wilding" of the environment.

"It leaves a kind of vacuum into which nature expands and different species might come to the fore then and I'm completely fascinated by that."

While there was a moral panic 20 years ago, that the world's population was exploding, this has not proved the case in the developed world where fewer and fewer babies are being born and the pattern is spreading to lower income countries, she said.

This opened up the possibility of a much emptier world within one or two centuries, with more people living in cities and more intensive farming and more opportunities for nature to take over the vacant landscapes.

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Cal Flyn: Life in the post-human landscape - RNZ

Children are far more likely to be trafficked by people they know, including members of their own family, than a stranger off the street.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Human trafficking may seem like a big city issue one that's more likely seen in blockbusters than in your hometown. If it was happening here, you would know about it, right? Wrong.

Traffickers and their victims exist throughout the Louisville metropolitan area. They could be your neighborhoods, friends or even relatives and the stories depicted in movies and shows is rarely their reality.

"I think people have their own idea of what human trafficking is, but...I don't think people truly understand the depth of what human trafficking is and how pervasive it is in the community," said Regina Vargo-Carirro, a People Against Trafficking Humans (PATH) board member.

Human trafficking, the buying and selling of humans for labor, sex or both, is happening here.

"More people are sold than gun sales themselves," one LMPD Special Victims Unit detective said. "Let that sink in for a minute. A human being, a life, is sold. And it has surpassed gun sales."

The detective, who also works undercover for the FBI's Human Trafficking Task Force said he has identified doctors, lawyers, teacher and even parents dropping kids off for practice as traffickers.

"You just don't realize...that stuff [is] right under your nose," the detective said. "Until I came to this unit, and you see how dark that side of the world is...and it's there."

Since 2007, there have been 373 cases of human trafficking reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline in state of Kentucky. Around 869 victims have been reported in those cases.

Trafficking has continued to increase, in part because people do not know how to identify it. Often times, a Facebook post goes viral warning people about an unsuspecting adult who was pushing into a van while walking out of a grocery store.

While those posts are spread by people with legitimate concerns, like your parents or grandparents, they are often proven to be lies. University of Kentucky multimedia professor Kakie Urch is an expert on viral posts, and the damage they can do.

"So far, the word 'trafficking' and 'child trafficking' and 'child sex ring' is now completely associated with the narrative of the insurrection, 'the big lie,' Q Anon, all of these things," Urch said. "So some people and some agencies are afraid to even get near the term, because of the conspiracy theory that's attached to it now."

PATH is working to spread correct information about trafficking in an effort to education the community on both the realities and falsehoods connected to the crime. Incorrect posts spread on social media, Vargo-Carirro said, hinder efforts of actual activists.

"It does a disservice to all organizations. It just means we have to do more work to be like, 'No this is an invalid claim, please don't continue spreading it,'" Vargo-Carirro said. Obviously we cant control what other people do the only thing we can do is try our hardest to be like, 'This is incorrect, please don't continue spreading misinformation.'"

How do you know if a post is real or not? Experts say you should not automatically take a Facebook share as fact.

"If someone you really know is saying that from a first-person point of view, that might be something to take seriously," Urch said, "but if people are just automatically sharing things...it's exponential."

Posts by reputable news sources or law enforcement in your area should be taken seriously. Police and journalists have likely followed up on any "viral" post.

Many social media posts also imply trafficking starts with victims being taken from parking lots or public areas, but that is not the case.

Polaris Project, a non-profit working to combat trafficking, reports that traffickers build a relationship with victims. Often, trafficking can start as a romantic relationship or promising business relationship with a young person.

Children are far more likely to be trafficked by people they know, including members of their own family, than a stranger off the street. In fact, children who are in unstable living situations are more at-risk for trafficking.

Vargo-Carirro, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, said she understood that people who go through what she did as a child are more likely to be victims of human trafficking.

"During my healing process, I started to realize I'm not the only one out there that this happened to," Vargo-Carirro said.

With PATH, Vargo-Carirro is able to talk to trafficking survivors. She comes from a place of understanding, helping them process their pain and put into motion a plan to empower others who have faced the same difficulties.

The detective working with the FBI's task force said most recent trends show inner-city youth being targeted.

"You have traffickers that prey on people that are going through grief, hard times, and they'll use it to manipulate children, and women and some men, to get them into that life," the detective said.

Louisville has the most reported cases in the county. Jefferson County's trafficking can be closely linked to other growing issues: rising violence, child abuse, drug addiction in homelessness. Those issues intersect to yield desperate traffickers and vulnerable victims.

"No one wants to have sex with you in exchange for money. As much as they may put on a front that they do, they do," the detective said. "They are in a spot in their life where they feel like this is the only thing they can do to survive."

For more information on recognizing human trafficking, especially in fields that might come across it more often, click here. PATH Coalition of Kentucky also has resources and ways to get involved.

If you suspect someone is being trafficking, call the Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

Contact anchor Hayley Minogueat hminogue@whas11.com or on her social media outlets: Facebook or Twitter.

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.

Continued here:
Human trafficking isn't like what you see in movies. Here's what to look for - WHAS11.com

The Colorado Judicial Department will pay as much as $350,000 for a comprehensive investigation into sweeping allegations of a hostile work environment and misconduct at the highest levels levied by its former chief of staff.

In a request for proposal it issued Monday, the department is seeking bids from independent investigators to delve into allegations that a $2.5 million five-year contract given to former Chief of Staff Mindy Masias was in return for silencing a tell-all sexual discrimination lawsuit she planned to bring.

In addition, investigators are to examine the departments overall work environment, which was described as hostile toward women and overly permissive toward men in a two-page memo that highlighted the conduct Masias would make public in the lawsuit. The Post has also reported on allegations the department fosters a hostile workplace toward women.

The contract pays up to $250,000 for the workplace environment inquiry and up to $100,000 for the investigation into the Masias contract.

Bids are accepted until May 21.

The terms and scope of the contract were hashed out by an 8-member committee assembled in February by the branches of the Colorado government in response to a request from Chief Justice Brian Boatright.

The inquiry stems from 2019 Denver Post articles that revealed Masias was given the contract though she faced termination over financial irregularities. The contract was then canceled. In February, The Post reported that the contract was a way to keep Masias from revealing what she knew about sexual harassment within the department, much of it undisciplined, according to former chief administrator Christopher Ryan , who resigned in the wake of the contract issue.

The memo, authored by then-Human Resources Department chief Eric Brown, contains allegations of harassment and misdeeds by justices of the state Supreme Court, a judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals, district court chief judges, and chiefs of probation at a number of judicial districts. The memo also contained other allegations, including the destruction of evidence and payoffs to silence victims.

A separate fraud investigation by Auditor Dianne Ray began in February when Boatright made the memo public following The Posts stories. The newspaper had been denied access to the memo despite requests under the departments own open-records rules. The results of the auditors inquiry are not automatically public unless criminal charges are filed.

But the independent investigators report will be public, according to the RFP.

The investigator must also provide recommendations on organizational, policy, and operational changes that are intended to promote a workplace free of discrimination including but not limited to sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and a sexually hostile work environment.

They also must provide recommendations for improved oversight of behavior and culture in the department, including ways to ensure any judicial misconduct is property reported to disciplinary authorities.

The RFP calls for the investigator to look at the 2017 selection of the chief court administrator, a job Masias had wanted but did not get. She and another candidate were finalists, but neither garnered a majority vote of the sitting seven Supreme Court justices. One abstained from the vote.

In the interim, Ryan, then the clerk of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, was temporarily named to the job. He received it outright in August that year.

There is no timeline for when the independent investigation is to be concluded.

Continue reading here:
Colorado judicial department to pay up to $350,000 for inquiry into misconduct allegations and contract to quiet them - The Denver Post

9:55 AM Thursday, April 22|Hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children will begin arriving this week in Long Beach where theyll be held at the Convention Center while federal officials work to reunite them with family or sponsors in the U.S.

Federal officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have been preparing for this over the past couple of weeks, ever since the Long Beach City Council agreed to lease them the space. The feds have installed temporary facilities to hold kids as young as 5 at the Convention Center, away from the COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the parking lot.

The preparations reached their final stages today as local politicians including Congressman Alan Lowenthal and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia toured the facility.

According to city officials, President Joe Bidens administration has said the Convention Center will house up to 1,000 unaccompanied minors found at the border. Many are in sibling pairs, Garcia previously said.

Kids arriving at the border are often seeking asylum after fleeing poverty and gangs in Central American countries like Honduras and Guatemala.

Officials have described the Convention Center facility as a temporary stop for the kids, who already have family members or other sponsors identified in the U.S. who will eventually take custody of the children.

Bringing in only kids with pre-identified sponsors is intended to move them swiftly through the Convention Center, which the city says must be vacated by Aug. 2 so the facility can begin hosting conventions again. There are already three planned for August.

The city and federal government have positioned the Convention Center shelter as part of a humanitarian effort to ease overcrowding. The number of unaccompanied kids arriving at the border has reached all-time highs and the government has run out of space to house them. Recently, they have been packed into facilities well over capacity.

Republicans have blamed the sharp increase on the Biden administration, which is still using emergency pandemic powers to quickly expel many asylum seekers but has also eased Donald Trumps stay in Mexico policy for kids. Democrats have argued this is a cyclical problem, pointing to the beginning of the increase during the Trump presidency last year, as well as a large uptick in the summer of 2019. Experts say the U.S. is not alone in seeing a spike in refugees and asylum seekers, and recent natural disasters in Central America have exacerbated the problem.

In the U.S, the Department of Health and Human Services, which is supposed to take custody of migrant kids from the Border Patrol after no more than 72 hours, has scrambled to find space for them. Theyve already converted convention centers in San Diego and Dallas into temporary shelters, and another is planned for the Fairplex in Pomona.

In March, the White House reached out to Long Beachs mayor asking if the city could find space to house kids. The city identified the Convention Center as a possible location and Garcia swiftly set about rallying support for the idea behind the scenes.

The idea drew unanimous City Council support. There has been some pushback, however, from local immigrant rights organizations who say the need to detain children is a symptom of a broken immigration system. The Convention Center was also vandalized earlier this month with anti-ICE slogans and phrases like no kids in cages.

The city of Long Beach is accepting cash donations through the Community Foundation, to make the children more comfortable, although its not clear yet what the money can be spent on.

The city is also accepting book donations for the kids, which can be dropped off at several locations.

People and organizations interested in volunteering or providing other services can fill out a form provided by the city, but any decisions on who can help will ultimately be made by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which is running the facility.

Anyone interested in applying to become a sponsor for unaccompanied migrant kids in the future can get more info here.

Read more from the original source:
LIVE COVERAGE: Officials are housing asylum-seeking kids in Long Beach; what does that look like? - Long Beach Post

Todays business landscape is one of ongoing disruption and change. Organizations are forced to continuously adapt and transform to remain agile and competitive. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for transformation and exacerbated ongoing challenges with retention and engagement.

During the last several years weve seen global engagement levels improving. However, Gallup reports that in 2020 engagement levels have fluctuated more than ever before. No surprise, given the unprecedented set of challenges most faced in 2020.

Organizations have responded impressively to the challenges presented by the pandemic. From offering special wellness programs to amping up work-from-home setups to flexible work hours to virtual team building, entertainment, and even gifts, significant attention, and investments have been made. These just-in-time engagement strategies have helped organizations through a difficult time and hold on to top talent along the way. But what will happen as we turn the COVID-corner?

Weve been triggered to think more deeply about our lives and the role our careers play in our overall success and happiness.

Previous Gallup research has shown employee engagement is very changeable inside organizations when leaders focus on the right practices. The question for many, then, is where to start. Regardless of what you have in place today, you can take a step back and acknowledge this unique moment in time.

These are important questions to ask in a business-as-usual world; however, asking employees now will provide insight into the type of career development they really need.

We have an opportunity to meet employees where they are and invest in strategies, programs, and resources they will recognize as an investment in their future. Whether at an organizational, team, or individual level, human-centric career development will have immediate impacts not only on the well-being of employees but to your organizations ability to remain competitive.

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Why Your Employees Need More Career Development in the Post-Pandemic Workplace - ATD

The close-knit Sikh community in Indianapolis is shaken by the deaths of four of its members, victims of a mass-shooting that killed eight last week. Although the motive of the killer is still under investigation, Sikhs all over the country fear for their safety as they have often been victims of racist attacks.

Here in Denver a year ago, Lakhwant Singh, a small-business owner, was brutally attacked by a white supremacist who entered Singhs store shouting profanities and yelling, Go back to your country. As Singh walked outside to get the license plate number of the attacker, he rammed Singh with his vehicle, throwing him several feet across the parking lot. Singh was severely injured and the perpetrator was charged with a hate crime.

Sadly, such harassment goes far back, ever since the Sikhs first started immigrating to the United States in the 1890s. The first hate crime against them occurred in Bellingham, Washington, in 1907, when an angry mob of white men beat up hundreds of Sikhs who were working in the lumber mills, forcing them to leave town. After the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Sikhs again faced racial slurs like Ayatollah and rag-head, because of their brown skin and males beards, long hair, and turbans. Following September 11, there was a surge of such attacks.

Sikhism (Sikhi) is a peaceful, loving, and engaged tradition. Colorado is home to a large Sikh community with two main Gurudwaras (houses of worship) in Denver. Every Sunday, in every Gurudwara in the U.S. and around the world, Sikhs follow the tradition of langar a traditional vegetarian meal served free to all who wish to join. Worldwide, Sikhs have served approximately six million free meals every day (pre-COVID numbers). Every human being, regardless of skin color, age, gender, social status, political, religious, or sexual orientation, is cheerfully welcomed and served.

In Denver, the Colorado Sikhs organization, sponsors the largest annual interfaith event, Langar in the Park, feeding 5,000-10,000 people in one day. Dilpreet Singh Jammu, chairman of the organization and immediate past president of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, is the moving spirit behind this initiative. When I asked his reflection about the Indianapolis tragedy, he remarked, I remember my first vigil for Sikhs killed by a white supremacist in Oak Creek Wisconsin, in August 2012. I find it truly disheartening that, years later, we are still attending vigils for our brothers and sisters. This is not acceptable in a civil society.

Tejwant Mangat, a prominent Sikh leader in this state, told me We must stop making assault rifles accessible, especially to young kids. Our elected officials must show the political will to make stricter gun laws to contain this deadly epidemic. When asked to comment, Mr. Kamaljeet Singh, an official of one Gurudwara in Denver, lamented: We are hard-working and peaceful people. We are faithful to this country and contribute to its well-being. Why should we face such hatred?

The Sikh religion was founded in the 15th Century in the Punjab region of Northwest India, which is currently split between India and Pakistan. Since Indias partition in 1947, the Indian side of the border has been the home of a majority of the global Sikh population, estimated at more than 25 million people. And the Sikh diaspora is spread all over the world, with approximately 500,000 in the United States.

The Sikh religion, whose tenets include the Divine Oneness and selfless service, is often misunderstood. My mother came from a Sikh family and in my preteen years, when we lived in the Punjab area that is now part of Pakistan, she took me to visit most of the Sikh shrines and sacred places there. At the 2012 Denver vigil for the Sikh victims of hate violence in Wisconsin, I was among the speakers calling for an end to the hate crimes against Sikhs. I have also spoken at the Denver Gurudwara on the birth anniversaries of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Sikhs are, indeed, an asset to America. Harassment and racist attacks against them are reprehensible and must stop.

Ved Nanda is distinguished university professor and director of the Ved Nanda Center for International Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. His column appears the last Sunday of each month and he welcomes comments at vnanda@law.du.edu.

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Nanda: The Sikh community mourns another attack, this time in Indianapolis - The Denver Post