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Monthly Archives: April 2021
‘I drowned them’: Mother says she killed her 3 young children to protect them from human trafficking – East Idaho News
Posted: April 23, 2021 at 12:52 pm
BAKERSFIELD, California (KABC) A woman accused of killing her three young children in a Reseda apartment has admitted to drowning them with what she said was the intention of protecting them from their father.
I drowned them. I did it as softly I dont know how to explain it, Lilliana Carrillo said Thursday in a disturbing jailhouse interview with KGET-TV. I hugged them. I kissed them. I was apologizing the whole time. I loved my kids.
Carrillo told the Bakersfield television station that she killed the children, ages 6 months, 2 and 3 years old, to protect them from their father, who she claimed was involved in human trafficking.
She said she wished her children were still alive, adding, however: I prefer them not being tortured and abused on a regular basis for the rest of their lives.
Carrillo identified the children as Joanna Maria, 3; Terry Joseph, 2; and Sierra Sequoia, 6 months.
I love you and Im sorry, was the last thing she said to her son and daughters, according to Carrillo.
Erik Denton, Carrillos ex-boyfriend and the father of the children, had petitioned the court for custody March 1, alleging that Carrillo was delusional and had taken the kids and refused to tell him where they were.
Carrillo, in turn, filed a restraining order against him and claimed Denton was an alcoholic who may have sexually abused their eldest child.
As the case wound through family courts in Tulare and Los Angeles counties, the parents traded accusations in dozens of pages of documents. Police were called, social workers were consulted, alarming text messages and Facebook posts were saved as legal exhibits.
Last week, a Los Angeles judge agreed to move the case to Tulare County, where a hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
It would be too late.
The victims grandmother found their bodies about 9:30 a.m. Saturday in an apartment in the 8000 block of Reseda Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Carrillo was nowhere to be found.
Identified as the suspected killer, she was arrested hours later in Tulare County, nearly 200 miles north of the scene.
Expert criminal defense attorney Doug Ridley says Dentons claims in custody hearings that Carrillo suffered from post-partum depression, along with other mental health issues, is a likely strategy her defense attorney will use to prove shes mentally unfit to stand trial.
It would really surprise me if she ended up a psych ward rather than standing trail and going to prison for the rest of her life in a case like this, Ridley said. Its so horrific and we dont even know all the details yet. We have one report that says that the children were stabbed. And then we have another report that says they were drowned, and the official report is that theyre still trying to determine cause of death.
Ridley added that Carrillos jailhouse murder confession will most likely weaken any legal motion proving shes not fit to stand trial.
Shes making coherent sentences, so I believe that that video is going to be proof that she is competent, but then all of the other mental health considerations go into a defense, whether that is post-partum, whether thats battered woman syndrome, or some other mental defense, he said.
Dentons court filings tell of Carrillos post-partum depression following the birth of their middle child. She began therapy but quit. She self-medicated with marijuana, he claimed. In texts and social media posts, she said things like I wish I never had kids and threatened to kill herself.
Psychiatrist Ananya Sreepathi says given Carrillo claims that she killed her children to protect them from their father, he would evaluate her for the most extreme case of post-partum depression along with any mental health issues.
Often times in post-partum psychosis, women can have delusions about the baby or hallucinations, like hearing voices telling them to do certain things to harm the baby, he said.
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What will work be like after the COVID-19 pandemic? – Business in Vancouver
Posted: at 12:52 pm
Employers will need to carefully consider how post-pandemic meetings are conducted to encourage collaboration and discourage a silo effect |Alistair Berg/DigitalVIsion/Getty
As vaccines begin to roll out across the province, employers and employees are wondering what the return to work will look like.
Among employees working from home, 64% say they arent sure about or wouldnt feel comfortable returning to their pre-pandemic workplace in the next three months, according to a recent PWC study.
Many of these employees also believe they have been as productive or more productive working from home than they have at their workplace: 35% said they were more productive; 40% said their productivity was the same.
So why return to the office?
Employees from various fields are split on the form work should take in a post-pandemic world. However, most employees working from home agree that some form of remote work should be included. Only 20% say employees should return full-time to the office. The remaining 80% suggest that employees should be allowed to spend at least some of their time working from home.
I think we are going to see kind of a hybrid model, said Terri Griffith, professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at Simon Fraser University (SFU). You can design for [any hybrid model]. There is no one best way; theres just a best way for what youre trying to do.
However, a hybrid model doesnt mean saying anything goes or allowing employees to decide to work where theyre most comfortable. Griffith said her main concern is that employers wont take enough care to create a system that fairly integrates everyones contributions. The PWC study highlighted that some of the biggest challenges employees had working at home were communication, connectivity and collaboration. Companies are being challenged to help ensure both remote and workplace employees have an equal opportunity to head new projects, share their ideas and move up in the company.
Forty per cent of the employees who were given upskilling opportunities during the pandemic saw a jump in productivity, while 83% of employers said that offering upskilling opportunities improved job performance, according to the PWC study.
For some companies this may mean choosing a one-model-fits-all solution in which everyone works remotely or everyone returns to the workplace. However, Griffith said, its possible, though not always easy, to create a system that equally values both type of workers.
Its going to take a strong company commitment to make a hybrid work well. Its not impossible; its just you have to design for that. If all you say is, Employees, you get to pick, thats not going to work because it means youre not going to pay for the best collaboration capabilities; youre not going to incentivize people to work within those collaborative tools.
Griffith is also concerned that medium-sized companies may not be as well equipped to handle a hybrid model as major players or even smaller, more nimble companies are. Large organizations like SFU can devote resources and an entire team to developing a system and maintaining a good hybrid working environment. Smaller companies can easily check in with employees and ensure they are involved. Medium-sized companies, however, may not be able to work it out through conversation or to devote a team to the task.
But there are other approaches.
Griffith said there are a number of strategies employers can implement to help make a hybrid model work. One policy is to ensure all meeting attendees use the same medium for meetings, either all in person or all by video chat or conference line. Griffith said having multiple people using different collaboration methods can create a silo effect, with groups excluding each other from their conversations.
Another important strategy companies should consider, she said, is to develop a process for assigning projects, opportunities and promotions so that theyre not giving preferential treatment to employees seen regularly in the office and unintentionally excluding at-home workers.
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What will work be like after the COVID-19 pandemic? - Business in Vancouver
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Manager, HR and Administrative Operations – Sault Ste. Marie News – SooToday
Posted: at 12:52 pm
Michipicoten First Nation is a vibrant Ojibway First Nation community located on the white sands (north east shores) of Lake Superior. The registered population is approximately 1,230 with 70 members living on reserve. With a strong sense of community and cultural identity, Michipicoten First Nation strives to maintain harmony and balance with Mother Earth, neighbouring First Nations, and surrounding communities.Michipicoten First Nation is seeking a results-oriented and strategically focused HR Manager with exceptional interpersonal skills to assist in creating a client focused and employee-oriented, inclusive organization that emphasizes empowerment, professionalism, and productivity. Reporting to the Executive Officer, the Manager, Human Resources and Administrative Operations will lead the development of human resource policy and programs and manage the administrative operations. The successful candidate will also provide leadership and guidance to the other managers and supervisors across the organization to ensure all employees have clarity on their roles and their unique contributions to organizational goals. The successful candidate must live within commuting distance to Michipicoten First Nation, or be willing to relocate to the area.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Management Act as an advisor to managers, supervisors, and staff regarding policies and procedures Oversee the administrative team to ensure assigned goals are achieved, tasks are distributed effectively, deliverables are documented, and necessary completion timelines are achieved. Conduct personal development and performance management planning for the Administrative team Maintain HR records and human resources management systems
Recruitment & Onboarding Assist with determining staffing requirements Oversee the recruitment process: prepare job descriptions, post notices and advertisements, collect and screen applications, prepare interview questions, administer pre-employment testing, establish interview team, and schedule interviews Coordinate employee onboarding: Draft employment agreements, arrange for completion and signing of employment policies/forms and new hire forms, and work with Manager/Supervisor to create initial training plan
Performance Management Provide leadership and coaching to managers and employees on key workplace matters such as performance management, difficult conversations, employee relations, and employee development Update employment policies ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and draft new policies as required Ensure that employees comply with company policies, procedures, and ethical standards Oversee performance evaluation process and provide managers/supervisors with evaluation schedules Ensure that employees adhere to all health and safety regulations Handle employee complaints and incidents, including conflict resolution, accidents, health and safety concerns, work refusals, and investigations Research and recommend incentive programs to improve employee recognition
Attendance Management Administer employee benefit & pension plans Manage employee protected leaves: obtain medical and other documentation to support absence, maintain regular contact with employee, address accommodation requests, and work with Managers/Supervisors to prepare return to work plans
Training & Development Develop and assign training programs that are based on regulatory requirements and best practices Work with Managers/Supervisors to identify training programs and assist with funding applications
Health & Safety Oversee activities of the Health & Safety Committee Ensure health & safety compliance and training
WORK CONDITIONS Working in a busy office environment with frequent interruptions Interaction with employees, management, and external organizations
JOB REQUIREMENTS One (1) or more of the following post-secondary credentials: degree, diploma or certificate in management, human resources, or business administration. Other equivalent combinations of directly related education and directly related experience may also be considered. CHRP or CHRL Designation (asset) Ten (10)+ years of experience in combined human resources and administration. Minimum five (5) years supervisory or managerial experience Good knowledge of labour, human rights, pay equity, and occupational health and safety legislation and regulations High level of proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Knowledge of First Nations, First Nation organizations, their mandates, and structures Ability to develop clear and fair policies that conform to existing legislative framework Excellent analytical and decision-making abilities Excellent written and communication skills with a clear sense of diplomacy Strong organizational skills having managed multiple employees and teams Drivers license and access to vehicle The successful candidate will be required to produce a satisfactory criminal record check.
TERM Full-time, Permanent
WAGESMFN offers a comprehensive employee benefit package and competitive salary based upon experience and qualifications. This position is a salaried position and may require after hours or extended hours based on activity.
TO APPLYInterested persons may submit their cover letter & resume as one document by email to Lisa Belanger hr@michipicoten.com no later than May 14, 2021. Please include the job title in the email subject line.
Michipicoten First Nation may, at its discretion, waive any or all of the aforementioned requirements if a suitable candidate accepts to follow a training plan determined by Michipicoten First Nation as a condition of employment.
Michipicoten First Nation is dedicated to promoting equity and diversity and serving the interests of their citizens. The successful candidate will be primarily engaged in serving the interests of Michipicoten citizens and Michipicoten will give preference to citizens and Indigenous candidates who possess the necessary qualifications.
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Manager, HR and Administrative Operations - Sault Ste. Marie News - SooToday
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Communiqu of the 990th PSC meeting on the theme: Consideration of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan, conducted from 24 to 26 March…
Posted: at 12:52 pm
COMMUNIQUE
Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) at its 990th meetingon 13 April 2021 on the theme: Consideration of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan, conducted from 24 to 26 March 2021.
The Peace and Security Council,
Taking note of the opening remarks made by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Djibouti to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for April 2021, H.E. Ambassador Mohammed Idriss Farah, as well as by the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; also taking note of the presentation of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan presented by H.E. Ambassador Jean Njeri Kamau, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the AU and PSC Chairperson for March 2021;
Mindful of the AU Commitment as a guarantor of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS;
Reaffirming the AU solidarity with the people and the Government of South Sudan in their aspirations to restore peace, stability and development in their country, and also reaffirming the commitment of the AU to respect the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of South Sudan;
Recalling its decisions and pronouncements on the situation in South Sudan, particularly Communique [PSC/PR/COMM. (CMXLV)] adopted at its 945th meeting held on 15 September 2020; and
Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:
1. Welcomes the steady progress in the implementation of the R-ARCSS, in particularly difficult circumstances and, in this regard, commends all parties to the R-ARCSS for their patriotism and commitment to give peace a chance and encourages them to persevere;
2. Commends, in particular, H.E. President Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar for placing the supreme interests of the country and its people above all else, for demonstrating the required leadership, for forming the R-TGoNU, as well as for peacefully resolving their differences, including in relation to the governorship of the Upper Nile State and encourages them to continue to build on the established momentum in implementing all outstanding provisions of the R-ARCSS, particularly, reconstituting the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA);
3. Welcomes the ongoing talks with the held out movements, underscore the primacy of dialogue as to only viable approach to peace, and urges them immediately embrace the current peace process without further delays and warn them that any peace spoilers will face justice;
4. Notes with deep concern the dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan and commends the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and all humanitarian agencies working in South Sudan for their continued support to the population in need and appeals to all Member States that are in a position to do so, to also provide humanitarian assistance to the people of South Sudan; underscores the importance of harmonization and coordination of efforts among all actors providing support to South Sudan, in order to avoid duplication of efforts and wastage of resources;
5. Expresses condolences to the families of the deceased, who include humanitarian aid workers, who lost their lives in supporting peace and the people of South Sudan and appeals to the Government of South Sudan to continue to take necessary measures to ensure the protection, safety and security of humanitarian aid agencies;
6. Urges the R-TGoNU to take all possible steps to mobilize the necessary financial resources, from its own national reserves, for the implementation of the R-ARCSS, especially Chapter II relating to transitional security arrangements including, the long overdue graduation and deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUFs), as well as the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration (DDR) programme; in this regard, requests the AU Commission, to work closely with the Government of South Sudan to provide the required support;
7. Encourages the R-TGoNU to expedite the implementation of Chapter V of the R-ARCSS, in particular, the establishment of the Hybrid Court of South Sudan (HCSS), the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing (CTRH) and the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA), with a view to ending impunity, promoting justice for the victims of human rights violations and abuses, as well as to laying the ground for durable peace and reconciliation in South Sudan; in this regard, reiterates its request to the AU Commission to continue providing support on the implementation of Chapter V of the R-ARCSS;
8. Underscores the importance of timeous preparations for the organization of credible, transparent and democratic elections at the end of the current transition and, in this regard, requests the AU Commission, including through the AU Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development, to urgently dispatch a technical needs assessment team to comprehensively identify priority areas that require sustained support, as well as to work closely with the R-TGoNU on, among other issues, the drafting of the new constitution for the country and providing the required capacity building support to the national election management body and other relevant institutions, with a view to facilitating a successful completion of the transition process;
9. Emphasizes the important role of women and youth in the South Sudan peace processes, including in efforts aimed at promoting post-conflict reconstruction and development, as well as in peacebuilding, national reconciliation, transitional justice, and in this respect, encourages the South Sudan authorities to abide by the 35% quota stipulated in the R-ARCSS, with a view to guaranteeing and promoting more meaningful participation by women in the transition process;
10. Welcomes the appointment a High-Level peace committee to find durable solutions to intercommunal violence, and, in this context, encourages the committee to expeditiously discharge its mandate in a holistic and comprehensive manner, with a view to promoting lasting peace and stability in the affected parts of the country;
11. Urges the signatories of the Rome Declaration to recommit to the Sant Egidio process, including adherence to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of December 2017 and the Rome Declaration, as well as to the January 2020 Resolution;
12. Reiterates its appeal for AU Member States and the larger international community to continue to provide all necessary support towards the full implementation of the R-ARCSS and urges the concerned members of the international community who have imposed sanctions and other forms of punitive measures against South Sudan to immediately and unconditionally lift them, in order to facilitate the implementation of the R-ARCSS and create conducive conditions for socio-economic recovery and development of the country, and in this respect, commends all Member States that have extended financial and material support to the Government of South Sudan, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa and appeals to the other Member States to also make contributions in favor of South Sudan, in the spirit of promoting pan-African solidarity;
13. Commends IGAD for its continued efforts in South Sudan, particularly its oversight role in the implementation of the R-ARCSS and encourages it to continue to work in collaboration with the AU and other international partners, including through its Special Envoy, in supporting the peace process in South Sudan; also commends the efforts of the AU High Level Ad Hoc Committee on South Sudan, as well as those of the RJMEC in supporting the implementation of the R-ARCSS;
14. Expresses gratitude to the South Sudanese authorities for finding time to interact with the PSC Delegation during the field mission, as well as to all interlocutors, namely, the African Diplomatic Community, IGAD, R-JMEC, CITSAMVM, UNMISS, the Troika, the representatives of Civil Society Organizations, as well as to UNMISS for providing support for the PSC Delegation;
15. Expresses particular gratitude to the AU Liaison Office in Juba for facilitating the successful conduct of the field mission and commend the efforts of the Liaison Office in effectively promoting the visibility of the AU on the ground; notes with concern, the institutional capacity constraints facing the Office and, in this regard, requests the Chairperson of the Commission to urgently take necessary measures to ensure that the Office is availed with all necessary human, material and financial resources, in order to enable it to more effectively discharge its mandate; and
16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
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Communiqu of the 990th PSC meeting on the theme: Consideration of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan, conducted from 24 to 26 March...
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As climate anxiety builds, these women are choosing to not have children – Yahoo Lifestyle
Posted: at 12:50 pm
Nancy Madrid has ruled out having kids due to concerns over climate change. (Photo: Courtesy of Nancy Madrid)
Nancy Madrid and her husband aren't climate activists, but do pride themselves on being "very intentional" about reducing their carbon footprint and living in an environmentally conscious manner. They limit their meat consumption. They conserve energy and avoid buying unnecessary items. They donate to underserved communities and vote for pro-environment measures. They recycle.
It's an eco-friendly lifestyle fueled by small household habits and one significant decision: no kids. "We do feel that our biggest contribution to reducing our carbon footprint is, of course, not having children," she says.
While the climate crisis isn't the only factor behind the couple's determination to remain childfree "there isnt really a desire to parent for either of us," the 34-year-old tells Yahoo Life it is what "ultimately solidified" the choice. Married for five years, the Texas-based pair represents part of a growing movement of young people for whom reproductive choices have been greatly affected by anxiety about climate change. For some, that means limiting the size of their family in order to reduce the impact a child might have on the environment. For others, it means not having kids at all, for fears of the impact a volatile, resource-depleted environment might have on a child.
A study published in the journal Climatic Change last November found that climate anxiety is factoring into reproductive decisions. Of 607 Americans between the ages of 27 and 45, 59.8 percent expressed being "very" or "extremely concerned" about the carbon footprint a future child might leave, whereas 96.5 percent were "very" or "extremely concerned" about that a child's well-being amid a climate-compromised world.
Whether or not to bring a child into the world is a decision that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, co-sponsor of the Green New Deal addressing climate change, acknowledged can have high stakes right now. "Even people my age are stressed and have anxiety about having kids just because we want to make sure we are bringing our kids into a healthy world, into a stable future, and we shouldn't ever have to be anxious about that," the 31-year-old congresswoman told TMZ in January 2020 as devastating bushfires raged in Australia.
Story continues
"The climate crisis specifically brings me a lot of anxiety, especially as we have begun to see more of the impacts in wildfires, extreme temperatures and displacement of communities," Madrid, who works in the nonprofit sector, says. "The lack of urgency for politicians to adequately address these issues while there is an inevitable threat of environmental disaster and a shortage of resources is pretty frightening. I think the pandemic, and more recently the winter storm crisis in Texas, definitely reaffirmed our decision and we were truly fortunate that we only had to worry about taking care of each other during such stressful and uncertain times. So, if there was ever any real desire to become parents, it would be greatly outweighed by the fact that we feel we are currently unable to provide a safe environment and future for our children."
For Sarah Baillie, getting a firsthand look at the challenges facing the planet through her work as a population and sustainability organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity affirmed her decision to not have children.
"It gave me confidence in my decision because it meant the effects of my choice go beyond my own life," the New York-based 31-year-old tells Yahoo Life of her work curating the Crowded Planet database, which looks at the impact population growth has on climate and extinction crises. "Similar to how you can switch to a plant-based diet for your own personal health, its nice to know that the decision reduces your overall impact on the environment too."
Both she and Madrid hope to normalize the child-free experience, whether it's motivated by environmental concerns. They've each had presumptive comments cast their way, and Madrid says she's "had folks take issue with me celebrating and even talking about being childfree, even though they are given all of the space in the world to celebrate parenthood." Married for almost two years, Baillie often encounters the warning: "You'll change your mind."
Not necessarily, says L.A. Sokolowski, an equestrian journalist who tells Yahoo Life she has no regrets about ruling out motherhood decades ago; she'll turn 60 in June. Sokolowski says the idea of "not overextending the capacity that the earth has to give us" resonated with her as a young woman, as did the rise of the birth control pill and an opportunity to not be defined by motherhood. Now divorced after 26 years of marriage wanting kids was a "deal-breaker" that she and her ex agreed upon early on, much to the chagrin of her in-laws the writer says that over the years, most of the pushback she's received has come from other women who have deemed her childfree lifestyle "selfish."
"I don't think there's anything selfish about having a bigger picture of the planet," she says.
Madrid admits that deciding to be childfree for ethical reasons can be a delicate topic to broach in certain company; some parents, or aspiring parents, see her choice as an indictment of their own lifestyle.
"I think its really difficult for child-free people to talk openly about their decision in general without some people getting upset or trying to convince you otherwise," she says. "I think when it comes to ethical reasons, it becomes even harder. The few times I have talked about this with parents, or people who planned to have children, I was made to feel as if this reasoning was kind of ridiculous. Someone once told me that the world has always been a bad place and that this day in age is no different, so that isnt really a good excuse not to have children. I have encountered defensiveness on their part, and I do think that a lot of times this stems from guilt and the fact that some people may not have just not really taken the opportunity to think through this, or even simply chosen to ignore the reality we live in."
But neither she nor Baillie cast judgment on those who do want children, though they hope that being candid about their own choices and the environmental implications will spark reflection and, as Madrid says, "at least get more folks thinking about what more we can do now for future generations" by organizing and pushing for pro-environment policies.
"Speaking more openly about my decision might at least get more people thinking about what more can be done to protect their own children," she adds. "The reason for these conversations is obviously not to shame people for their choices, but instead to create unity and put the pressure on leaders to implement changes that would promote a safer and healthier world for our future generations."
Notes Baillie, "the decision of whether or not to have kids is incredibly personal and it's human nature to defend our personal choices. If I want no judgment for my choice, its important to also be sure to respect others's decisions. I want everyone to have the information and resources they need to choose the right family size for themselves. I think everyone should appreciate the work it takes to raise kids and understand the environmental impacts of having them."
As anxiety over the climate crisis builds in 2018, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report warning that there were just 12 years to prevent irreversible and catastrophic damage protests over the pressure to reproduce amid government inaction to address climate change have gained momentum. Over the last few years, members of BirthStrike in the U.K. and No Future No Children in Canada have pledged to not give birth, either at all or until substantial progress is made.
But the founders of Conceivable Future, Josephine Ferorelli and Meghan Kallman, are quick to clarify that their women-led network is not anti-natalist (considering giving birth immoral) or in favor of population control measures which, they note, have historically been rooted in eugenics and targeted developing countries and low-income communities of color. They do not advocate for either giving birth or not giving birth, but rather for recognizing and "bringing moral clarity to the threat climate change poses to childbearing." Raising awareness about the impact climate change has on reproductive decisions can serve as an "entry point" into organizing and pushing for meaningful, large-scale progress, Kallman tells Yahoo Life.
"The point of these conversations is to build a little bit of political pressure and help people develop a language for whatever it is they're feeling," she explains. "How do we connect to the human stakes of this huge, huge crisis? How do we make a little bit of sense of it for ourselves around an issue that comes up for a lot of people, and then use that to really plug into the work that needs doing? ... The point is not whether or not to have kids; the point is, what can this political moment teach us about what we have to do? The fact that people are asking themselves these questions, having these thoughts, that's the problem. The problem is that we have built a world where people need to ask [themselves if the climate is too much of a threat to a future child]."
They hope that the personal stakes will motivate people to demand action an end to U.S. fossil fuel subsidies, for example that will make a bigger dent in the climate crisis, as opposed to an individual decision about whether or not to reproduce, or to recycle, or to car-pool, or any of the countless other choices humans guiltily contemplate day in and day out.
"We've been trained to see that it boils down to this individual decision," Ferorelli says. "We've been trained to see that as the only place where we have agency. And when we look at it that way, we're training ourselves from asking the bigger questions. So like, why is municipal water bad enough that people are drinking this much water in plastic? Why are people forced to choose between a 15-minute car ride and a two-hour bicycle ride to work? Why isn't there a good public transit option? All of these are questions that we're not in the habit of asking, because we think it's our own personal culpability. We think we're lazy and selfish Americans and it's all our individual fault."
It's all part of a "narrative" that industries who are culpable, and have the power to implement substantial change promote so that people feel that "it comes down to you."
"You might grow up thinking that overpopulation is this huge, gruesome problem and that it's your fault," she notes. "And [you feel like] it's your responsibility to make the only ethical choice there is, whatever that might be. But there is no right answer in this scenario there's only a huge amount of guilt and anxiety that people carry because we don't have the analysis to turn the question on its head."
Madrid says she knows the burden of saving the planet doesn't fall on her shoulders alone, but the decision to not add a biological child is one that she and her husband still stand firmly by.
"At the end of the day, we know that it is the biggest corporations and economic systems that are most responsible for the climate disaster," she says. "The little things we do as individuals cannot compare, but I think we can make a significant impact when we reconsider societal expectations.
"We truly feel that our best life possible is one that does not include children," she adds.
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New York Times Reporter Nicole Perlroth Writes How the U.S. Amassed an Arsenal of Computer Hacks That Makes It the Most Digitally Vulnerable Nation on…
Posted: at 12:49 pm
The Biden administration was guardedly silent last week after news broke that an explosion had blacked out Irans nuclear enrichment program.
Joe Bidens reticence was understandable. His former boss, President Barack Obama, had shown the world what cyberweapons could do when he ordered U.S. intelligence to step up Bush-era cyberattacks on Irans uranium centrifuges. Obama made the move to avert airstrikes by Israeland it worked, setting back Irans enrichment program by 18 months to two years.
In her harrowing new book, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends (Bloomsbury, 528 pages, $30), New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth warns that the United States, whose arsenal of cyberweapons is the largest, most sophisticated in the world, has fostered a global market in computer hacks that now makes it the most digitally vulnerable nation on earth. Its a troubling topic Perlroth will address May 21 at TechfestNW, a virtual one-day technology festival (see more at techfestnw.com).
Once derided by Donald Trump as somebody sitting on their bed who weighs 400 pounds, elite hackers are now treated like rock stars at international conferences that rival Cannes for glamour. And zero-daysthe bugs they find lurking in software used by smartphones and computers all over the worldcan bring not only street cred but duffel bags stuffed with cash.
Zero-days are so called because thats how long software engineers have to patch them once theyre used to break into a system. Coupled with exploitselaborate lines of codezero-days allow digital spies to sneak in the backdoors of the worlds most sensitive networks, steal stuff and break things.
This Is How penetrates a clandestine world where hackers, spy agencies, cybersecurity firms, software vendors, mercenaries, cybercriminals, terrorist organizations, and hostile nation-states buy and sell zero-day exploits that can turn off electrical grids, poison water supplies, steal industrial secrets, destroy hospital and banking records, sabotage nuclear facilities, interfere with elections, and empower nations to spy on their own citizens.
Perlroth traces the underground trade in zero-day exploits back to the Cold War under Reagan, when the U.S. National Security Agency figured out the Soviets had bugged IBM Selectric typewriters (ha! Remember those?) at the U.S. embassy in Moscow to steal typed messages before they could be encrypted. As technology shifted from analog to digital, Perlroth writes, the NSA took what it learned from the Soviet playbook to begin stockpiling the worlds largest arsenal of zero-day exploits.
In 2013, Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSAnot only tipping off other countries to the intelligence value of zero-day exploits coming available on a burgeoning world market, but suggesting the U.S. tacitly approved of their use to spy on friends as well as enemies, sabotage adversaries, and surveil a nations own citizens. (Perlroth spent six weeks locked inside Arthur Sulzbergers storage closet, poring through the Snowden leaks. Her assignment was to find out if the NSA was hacking data encryption; instead she found the agency was hacking around ita bigger story that would send her trotting the globe for the next seven years.)
Post-Snowden, North Korea figured out it could bypass international sanctions by robbing global banks of tens of millions online, and shut down a Hollywood studio, Sony Pictures, when it made a bad Seth Rogen comedy in 2014 poking fun at Kim Jong-un. After arch-conservative billionaire Sheldon Adelson suggested the U.S. nuke the Iranian desert, hackers cost the gambling impresario $40 million when they bricked (made useless) the computers at his Sands casino. (OK, maybe that wasnt such a bad thing.)
But Snowden had merely sounded the alarm: The Shadow Brokers, a phantom group of hackers whose identities remain unknown to this day, broke into the NSAs cyber arsenal and, in 2016, began leaking the agencys zero-day exploits online.
Russia had digitally harassed Ukraine ever since the former Soviet republic overthrew its Russian puppet government in 2014. In 2017, it used NSA code stolen by the Shadow Brokers to turn off the lights in Kyiv, shut down ATMs, railways, government agencies, gas stations and the postal service, even switch off radiation monitors at Chernobyl. (Then the attack boomeranged on companies doing business with Ukraine, ranging from a state-owned Russian oil giant to a Cadbury chocolate factory in Tasmania.)
For Russia, Perlroth explains, Ukraine has always been just a testing ground for its cyberweapons, a smaller neighborhood kid Vladimir Putin can smack around without fear of reprisal. Putins real objective is to drive a wedge between the U.S. and NATO by undermining support for Western democratic institutions. This is why Russia set its cyber sights on the U.S. presidential elections in 2016 and 2020.
Perlroths verdict on the success of Putins election meddling is mixed: Yes, Russia hacked the DNCs emails and trolled social media to influence swing-state voters, but no, the Russian bear probably never infiltrated U.S. voting systems in sufficient force to throw an election. But it didnt have toit merely had to sow enough distrust in election integrity to further split an already divided nation and fuel unfounded conspiracy theories that would embolden a fading president to incite a raid on the U.S. Capitol.
The larger menace for the United States, Perlroth argues, is that the arsenal of computer bugs amassed by the top cyberspies of one of the most technology-dependent nations on earth ultimately makes us less safe, not more. The NSA holds on to its zero-day exploits for far too longin one disastrous case, more than five years.
Among other fixes, Perlroth urges that the U.S. adopt protocols that would turn over unused zero-days much more quickly to Microsoft and Apple to be patched. Until it does, Perlroth warns, click on those software updates and, for Gods sake, change your passwords. This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is the book everyone will want to read the day after the world ends how Nicole Perlroth told us it would.
STREAM: Nicole Perlroth speaks at TechfestNW on May 21. Tickets to the virtual one-day festival are $25 at techfestnw.com.
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Cheat Sheet: Why Advertisers Need to Know about the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act – Digiday
Posted: at 12:47 pm
A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators have introduced a bill that aims to close legal loopholes in federal law permitting data brokers and other firms to sell peoples personal information including mobile location data and other information gathered and used for advertising to the government and law enforcement without a court order.
Implications for the advertising industry
The proposal has a direct connection to the world of advertising data. For example, data brokers such as aggregators of mobile location data supply advertisers with information used to track people within specific geolocations and target ads to them. The bill specifically covers data such as location data or the contents of a communication (think a text message or email or photo), and a statement about the legislation provided by Wydens office, names data provider Venntel as one selling location information to government agencies. But its not just about location data. The statement also mentions Clearview AI, which has used photos from social sites to train its facial recognition system which is employed by law enforcement.
The digital ad industrys largest trade group, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, supports the bill and has been among entities that have engaged with lawmakers and their staff since late last year in drafting it. The IAB is going to support the bill,Dave Grimaldi, EVP for public policy at the IAB told DIgiday. Other supporters include theNetwork Advertising Initiative, American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Mozilla.
Some of these same lawmakers are inspecting digital ad firms like AT&T, Google and MagniteAs with a lot of legislation, this bill is representative of a larger effort among some of the same legislators to scrutinize how data flows from commercial enterprises, such as those operating in the digital ad industry, to foreign governments or other entities for whom that data may not originally be intended. Some of the legislators who have signed onto this bill also recently have criticized and questioned the use of mobile location data and other information gleaned from the digital ad bidstream pulsing through automated real-time ad auctions. Three of the bills co-sponsors Wyden, Warren and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio sent letters in early April to companies with digital ad services: AT&T, Index Exchange, Google, Magnite, OpenX, Pubmatic, Twitter and Verizon.
The lawmakers want to know what types of data about peoples devices, apps and website behavior ends up in ad auction bidstreams, whether these firms have restrictions on how that information is sold or shared, if they conduct audits to ensure contractual obligations of partners are met and which foreign-based companies they have distributed bidstream data to. The companies have until May 4 to respond, and none have responded yet, according to Wydens staff.
Bidstream data and why legislators care about itLegislators have referred to data siphoned from the bidstream as a tool of surveillance that can be exploited by government intelligence agencies and police. Bidstream data gives advertisers who bid on ad space through real-time exchanges information about people who will be reached with a targeted ad. It can include demographic, interest data and latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates showing peoples precise locations. These data points can be extracted by ad tech and data firms that participate in ad auctions even if they dont win the bid. They suck up this information to produce other data products or to package it to sell as targetable audiences of people in the market for, say, sneakers or an SUV.
This bill is consistent with apattern of interest in the alternative uses of datafueling the digital ad industry. Those letters sent in April to ad tech firms state, Few Americans realize that some auction participants are siphoning off and storing bidstream data to compile exhaustive dossiers about them. In turn, these dossiers are being openly sold to anyone with a credit card, including to hedge funds, political campaigns, and even to governments.That same language showed up in a July 2020 letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission by a bipartisan group of legislators including Wyden asking the agency to determine whether ad tech data practices violate the FTC act. And theres more: Warren and other lawmakers also sent questions last year to location data provider Mobilewalla, asking the company to provide details of its disturbing use of bidstream data.
A lack of self-regulation
There are no industry standards or rules established by the IAB or Mobile Marketing Association against the practice of bidstream data siphoning or about data sales to governments. In part because it stretches the meaning of consumer consent for data use, the practice of bidstream data siphoning is not often discussed openly by companies that employ it or agencies and advertisers that buy data built from it. But the IAB does have something to say about it: We have always said that we feel advertising data should be used for advertising purposes, said Grimaldi.
The role of location data in advertising
Agencies say they aremoving away from data supplierswithout direct connections to the point at which data is gathered, such as mobile location data providers. Meanwhile, some mobile data company execs say practices like bidstream data siphoning are happening less than in the past. If its happening, its happening much less overall, said Ken Harlan, CEO of MobileFuse, who said the company does not buy or repurpose bidstream data.
But, another location data provider that sells to digital advertisers, SafeGraph, received a big funding round in March of $45 million. A company spokesperson told Digiday that SafeGraph does not get its data from the bidstream; rather, like many mobile location providers, it gets it from partnerships with mobile app providers. And like many location data suppliers, it wont name those app publishers.
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Why is there over-policing for low-level offenses? | TheHill – The Hill
Posted: at 12:47 pm
Even as the country breathes a small sigh of relief that Derek Chauvin will be held accountable for killing George Floyd, police violence continues to dominate national headlines. One fundamental question arises in many of these cases: why do we police low-level offenses in ways that too often lead to death, serious injury and lasting community trauma? All of us (should) value liberty and, of course, life over these minor harms.
Daunte Wrights expired registration and dangling air fresheners are not worth the time, cost and risk of a traffic stop. Neither are allegedly missing license plates (Caron Nazario) or failing to signal a lane change (Sandra Bland). The same can be said for street stops for jaywalking during a winter storm (Rodney Reese) or selling untaxed cigarettes (Eric Garner) that ripen into arrests.
So what explains the routine over-enforcement of these nickel-and-dime offenses? One part of the answer can be found in two Supreme Court cases that will celebrate milestone anniversaries in the coming weeks. Together, Whren v. United States and Atwater v. City of Lago Vista permit police to use stops and custodial arrests for low-level offenses to get information about more serious crimes. Officers are likely empowered by Whren to act on their racial biases and incentivized by Atwater to make unnecessary arrests. Those decisions demand reconsideration if the court is going to play its constitutionally required role to protect fundamental liberty rights. Otherwise, the court will continue to seem irrelevant to urgent national conversations about how to protect Black and brown communities from the police.
For officers, pretext stops can be a means to another end: Officers who have enough suspicion for a minor crime can stop a person in the hope that they might unearth weapons, drugs or other evidence of more significant crime. This is highly problematic because officers frequently lack the suspicion that would be necessary under the Constitution to gather this information.
Twenty-five years ago, in Whren, a unanimous Supreme Court blessed these practices by refusing to probe officers motives or to look at the effects of these practices on minority groups. So long as officers have a superficially valid reason for a traffic stop, the court will not provide any remedy. Instead of recognizing the constitutional unreasonableness of racial profiling and creating barriers to traffic stops that were already widely understood to be stops for driving while Black, the Whrencourt ratified them.
As a result, police routinely used traffic stops to cast a broad net for crime: to get a peek in the windows; to ask drivers for information about other crimes; to pressure for consent to search; to trawl databases; and, sometimes, to bring out drug-sniffing dogs.
Five years after Whren, in a decision that will turn 20 years old on April 24, the Atwater court compounded these errors by upholding a custodial arrest for a minor violation. Atwater argued that her arrest for a seatbelt violation that did not carry any possibility of jail time was unreasonable and unconstitutional. The justices, acknowledging that Atwaters arrest was foolish, a gratuitous humiliation and a pointless indignity, seemed to avert their eyes while they declined to use the Fourth Amendment for its intended purpose: to restrain overzealous policing.
The decision was terribly wrong then and it has only become more obviously flawed in hindsight. Custodial arrest is an overwhelming intrusion on the fundamental liberty, autonomy, personal security and dignity rights that the Fourth Amendment protects. The weapon of arrest is a disproportionate and therefore constitutionally unreasonable response to low-level harm. The Atwater court fractured near the center, with four dissenting justices anticipating much of what has played out over the last two decades.
One of the most offensive parts of the Atwater decision was the majoritys confidence that the country is not confronting anything like an epidemic of unnecessary minor-offense arrests. It is doubtful that the statement was true in 2001, but it certainly does not hold up today.
Society is finally scrutinizing the range of different decisions that enable these violent and too often deadly confrontations between agents of the state and its people over minor crimes. Legislatures are slowly but too slowly reexamining decades of knee-jerk criminalization of low-level harms.More jurisdictions are relying on citations and appearance tickets for low-level offenses or requiring supervisor approval for certain misdemeanor arrests. Some police departments explicitly forbid racial profiling and track data to monitor the practice.
While these reforms are promising, the Supreme Court must also take action we are at an all-hands-on-deck moment for criminal justice reform in this country.In other contexts, the court protects fundamental rights by requiring that the government achieve its reasonable goals by adopting policies or programs that meet the test of being the least intrusive way to accomplish those objectives. In Atwater, and too many other decisions, the court has shied away from imposing that requirement on police under the Fourth Amendment. Our communities, particularly those Black and brown communities subjected to the most aggressive police intrusions on physical liberty, pay far too great a price for the courts faith that good cops will avoid bad outcomes.
Lauryn P. Gouldin is the Crandall Melvin Associate Professor Law and director of the Syracuse Civics Initiative Syracuse Universitys College of Law. She teaches constitutional criminal procedure, criminal law, evidence, constitutional law, and criminal justice reform, and her scholarship focuses on the Fourth Amendment, pretrial detention and bail reform, and judicial decision-making.
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State BLM group calls on FBI to open investigation into Pierce County Sheriff – MyNorthwest.com
Posted: at 12:47 pm
Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. (KIRO Radio/Jeff Pohjola)
The Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance (WBLMA) issued a letter to the FBIs Seattle office this week, calling on the department to open an investigation into Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer over a January incident where he called the police on a Black newspaper delivery driver.
Conflicting accounts after sheriff calls police on Black delivery driver
The WBLMA outlined a list of allegations in its petition to the FBI, including that Troyer abused his authority, violated the civil rights of a private citizen engaged in lawful acts, obstructed justice, and flouted the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Mr. Troyer weaponized his standing as a law enforcement official in order to cause multiple law enforcement jurisdictions to respond with priority designation to a false 911 call made by Mr. Troyer, alleging threats against his life, thereby engaging in multiple violations of Color of Law, and jeopardizing the health and safety of community members, the letter reads.
The incident in question was firstreported on by the Seattle Times, describing how Troyer had reported seeing a car moving in and out of a neighbors driveway at 2 a.m. with its headlights off. He then confronted the driver, identified as 24-year-old Sedrick Altheimer, before making a call to dispatch that had an estimated 42 units from around the region to the scene.
Troyer claimed three separate times in the call that Altheimer had threatened to kill him. Altheimer has since denied he made any such threats, while a statement taken by a Tacoma police officer at the scene says that the Pierce County Sheriff later advised him he was never threatened.
When a member of law enforcement calls 911 and claims his life is under threat or in danger, whether on duty or not, that officer knows they will get a rapid, aggressive response, the WBLMAs letter continues. When that person is the Sheriff, such a response is essentially mandatory, and those who are responding are prepared to use all manner of force to protect another member of law enforcement.
Important that investigation into Pierce County Sheriff isnt political
This marks the second time the WBLMA has asked an outside agency to take action against Troyer stemming from that January incident. In late March, it filed a petition with the states Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC), asking it to review Troyers status as a certified peace officer, and immediately suspend that status pending the outcome of an investigation.
The CJTC responded quickly, stating that its only allowed to take action to decertify an officer under very specific criteria. That criteria is limited to instances where an officer has either been convicted for a felony offense, or has been discharged for disqualifying conduct. Because of that, the CJTC opted not to fulfill the WBLMAs request.
A separate investigation commissioned by the Pierce County Council was set into motion in early April, with former U.S. Attorney Brian Moran tagged to lead the effort.
Over the course of the inquiry, Moran will be directed to determine the facts of what occurred during the incident with the newspaper delivery driver, whether Troyer abused his authority during that incident, whether Troyers actions were racially motivated, and if theres an established history of similar incidents involving the sheriff.
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Is the US getting serious about the trade in biometrics? – Biometric Update
Posted: at 12:47 pm
Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress to end what now is a free-for-all among police and intelligence agencies buying biometric data pertaining to Americans.
The Senate legislation, sponsored by Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Ron Wyden, takes direct aim at data brokers such as Clearview AI and Venntel who are collecting and selling information without the owners consent.
Wyden and Paul call out Clearview AI and Venntel by name in a media release promoting what they are calling the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. The same legislation has been introduced by two Democrats in the House of Representatives; Zoe Lofgren from California and Jerry Nadler of New York.
Neither proposal addresses the collection or sales of biometric data between private entities.
A court order would be needed for government agencies to buy or otherwise accept biometric data such as face photos that the sponsors feel some companies gather illicitly.
They are referencing Clearview AI and its ilk, which scrape images indiscriminately from the internet, including from social media services. Facebook, Twitter and others expressly forbid this kind of behavior involving their subscribers accounts.
That rule would cover people in the United States and those outside the country.
But the bills go further.
Without a court order, data brokers like Venntel could not sell to the government location data collected from peoples smartphone service.
According to Wyden and Paul, it is illegal for app makers to sell the same data to the government today, but it is legal for them to sell it to brokers. Brokers, in turn, are allowed to sell the data to the government.
The legislation also would subject data infrastructure companies to the same privacy laws that regulate telecommunications firms, device makers and social media services.
Providers also would lose all civil immunity to comply with surveillance requests from the U.S. Attorney Generals office, except for when they are presented with a court order.
biometric data | biometric identification | biometrics | Clearview AI | data collection | data protection | facial recognition | legislation | police | privacy
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