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Although 3 billion people worldwide were online and using the Internet by the end of 2014, at least 4.3 billion people were still not online, 90 per cent of whom live in the developing world. Mirian Teresita Palacios Ferreira, Chairperson of CONATEL, explains how she is working to address this digital divide in Paraguay.
Society is becoming more and more connected every day. Today, a housewife from a rural area in Paraguay is able to receive money through her mobile device from her son who works in Spain. Using the same device, she can pay her household utility bills without leaving the house. Her daughter can connect to a virtual learning platform and continue her studies after arriving home from work in the capital. Later, the whole family can have a video conference and stay connected as a unit, despite their geographic distance.
Yet in 2013, Internet penetration was only 36.9 per cent in Paraguay, meaning that the story above is not yet an option for most of the population.
Paraguay is well positioned to lay the necessary foundations so that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the full range of possibilities that access to information and communication technology (ICT) brings; Paraguay is one of the fastest growing economies in South America, poverty has declined over the past decade, and there is universal access to free basic education.
But how do we build on this potential to turn Paraguay into a thriving digital economy?
This task was recently entrusted to me; as Chairperson of Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL) it is my job to capitalize on the vital role that ICTs play in national development and bring ICT access to everyone in Paraguay.
I want everyone to benefit from the opportunities offered by Internet connectivity, and turn the scenario above into a reality for every family in Paraguay.
Bridge the digital divide and provide broadband for all by 2020
Ensuring ICT inclusiveness requires moving beyond questions of access and affordability, to ensuring ICT accessibility for people with specific needs and enabling everyone to play a role in creating the ICT future they want. The Connect 2020 Inclusiveness Round Table held at ITU's 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference explored the different dimensions of ICT inclusiveness, including digital inclusion for people with specific needs and using ICT to empower women and girls, youth and persons with disabilities.
Impact of a Connected Paraguay
Access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) is becoming ever more necessary as many aspects of our daily lives move online.
On an individual level, increased access to broadband connectivity will enable greater access to public services. Access to healthcare and education will be boosted through mHealth initiatives and online education platforms. Political participation and government transparency will benefit from e-government solutions, enabling citizens to receive public information quickly and easily.
Greater connectivity will also lead to more dynamic trade and private business activities which will drive national economic growth and benefit the whole country.
On the other hand, a more 'connected' Paraguay also gives us the opportunity to present our rich culture and traditions to the world – to showcase our art, our cuisine, our people. We can become a global source of knowledge, enriching the heritage of humanity.
ICTs: a powerful tool for human progress
Speaking via video link at the opening ceremony of ITU Telecom World 2009, Nelson Mandela underlined that "information and communication technologies are the single most powerful tool we have for human progress" and urged participants to "support efforts to connect the world and bridge the digital divide".
Click here to watch some of the insights he has shared with us over the years.
Identifying the Challenge
However, bringing the benefits of today's telecommunications system to everyone in Paraguay is a challenge, namely due to two inter-linked issues: affordability of technology and infrastructure.
Paraguay's geography remains a significant barrier to high-speed, low cost Internet. As a landlocked country, we are dependent on neighbouring countries for access to the fibre-optic submarine cables which connect most of the world to the Internet.
This, in turn, drives costs up. A connection of 0.75 Mbit/s costs USD 21, which is 6 per cent of the average monthly income for a Paraguayan citizen. Subsequently, only 10 per cent of households have a fixed Internet service. Mobile broadband is an affordable alternative to fixed broadband plans, costing USD 11 – or 3.5 per cent an average monthly salary – for 500 MB. Consequently, 25 per cent of the population access the Internet through their mobile devices (19 per cent) or USB dongles (6 per cent).
Subsequently, Paraguay performed below average for both the Americas region and developing countries globally in ITU's 2013 ICT Development Index (IDI) which measures national ICT access, use and skills. Paraguay had an IDI value of 3.71 compared to developing country average of 3.84 and the regional average of 4.86.
However, Paraguayans have an appetite to get online. The case is clear for us to strive to develop the infrastructure necessary to satisfy this desire of our population and enable national ICT growth.
Message from the UN Secretary General
"All people must be able to make the best use of information and communications technology to help create the future we want." – United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, speaking at World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2012. Read his full speech here.
Connecting Paraguay
Over the years, CONATEL has launched a number of initiatives to bring connectivity to Paraguay focusing on a multi-stakeholder approach, working with other agencies or institutions of central, regional and municipal governments.
In 2007, CONTAEL liberalized the terrestrial international internet connection which resulted in a 715 per cent increase in average peak Internet speeds from 2007 to 2011.
Other such initiatives are working to find alternative solutions to work around our geography as a landlocked country, identifying routes to connect to the international optical fibre networks running under our world's oceans. We are currently exploring links to the Atlantic via Argentina and Brazil and the Pacific via Bolivia and Peru, which will drive down the cost of broadband plans.
Moreover, the 2011-2015 National Plan for Telecommunications (PNT), which maps the development of Broadband in Paraguay, focuses on the deployment of fibre optic backbone networks within Paraguay. Thanks to the subsidizing of private initiatives through the Universal Service Fund, we estimate that all 250 municipalities will have fibre optic lines by the end of 2015 which will vastly increase broadband access. Moreover, to build on the penetration of mobile broadband, CONATEL will soon begin the bidding process for 4G mobile broadband.
Funding from the Universal Service Fund has also helped to set up free WiFi in 50 public spaces across 36 municipalities at the end of 2014. In these areas, people can access key public services, contact their families, or complete their studies at no personal cost. By the end of this year, we will provide this service to another 70 public spaces in 60 municipalities. As this programme rolls out, we aim to bring the benefits of the Internet to the whole country.
Digital Divide Progress Report: 15 Year Review
"The ICT industry has experienced incredible growth over the past 15 years. In 2000, there were 400 million global Internet users; today there are 3.2 billion. There are more than 7 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide today, up from 738 million in 2000. (…)These new figures not only show the rapid technological progress made to date, but also help us to identify those being left behind in the rapidly evolving digital economy, as well as areas where ICT investment is needed most." Excerpt from ITU Blog, Digital Divide Progress Report: 15 Year Review. Read the full blog here.
The Next Generation
Young people are key to closing the digital divide in Paraguay. They are avid consumers of ICTs; ITU's 2013 Measuring the Information Society Report noted a youth Internet penetration rate of 53.9 per cent in Paraguay. Furthermore, 19.5 per cent of the total youth in Paraguay are digital natives, meaning that they have five or more years of experience online. We must now build on this and empower the next generation to become a driving force for ICT growth in Paraguay.
At present, CONATEL in coordination with other institutions such as the Secretaría Nacional de Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (SENATICs), is preparing to implement the 2016-2020 National Broadband Plan. A key focus will be on boosting young people's ICT education and training to provide greater opportunities to access a first job and develop their talents. Additionally, the Universal Service Fund has subsidized connectivity to 123 educational institutions and centres run by the Ministry of Education and Culture, corresponding to 28 municipalities in various parts of the country.
Providing broadband connectivity in public spaces and educational institutions, complemented by a better ICT education, will lay the foundations for youth to interact with each other and their communities and allow them to fully exercise their citizenship. This, in turn, will ensure that they have the capacity and ability to reap the benefits of a global digital economy.
Trends in Telecommunication Reform Report 2015
Learn more about the Trends in Telecommunication Reform Report 2015 here.
In an era where the rapidly evolving ICT sector increasingly permeates all aspects of society, we cannot afford to maintain our position on the 'wrong side' of the digital divide. Increasing ICT access and affordability is vital for both the quality of life for my fellow citizens and Paraguay's place in the digital economy.
This will take time, internationally coordinated efforts, and patience. As Chairperson of CONATEL and a citizen of Paraguay, I am ready to take on this challenge.


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When you are choosing antivirus software, you may have narrowed it down to a few programs, but you aren't sure which ones you should pick. If so, there are a few features of the antivirus programs that you should look at and compare to help with your antivirus decision.
One thing that may be helpful when picking between several Antivirus software programs is looking for consumer websites. Typically these websites have already done the reviews of the antivirus software for you, and can show you how various components rate. The only problem with online antivirus comparisons is that the programs you are looking for may not be in their comparison, which leaves you back at square one.
Due to this, you may have to do your own comparison of the antivirus programs, so there are a few things you want to watch and check for with the antivirus programs. You likely will want to load up their websites and find the feature pages for that antivirus, and compare based on that.
Updates – Will the antivirus software do its own updates automatically? You need your software to be current at all times, as there are always new viruses being released on the Internet. If you cannot have it automatically update at least once a day, then you do not want that particular software.
Scanning Capabilities – Will the antivirus software scan everything you need it to? Can it scan incoming and out going email for viruses, scan files you are downloading, as well as websites you are browsing? If the antivirus program cannot do these, then you are going to want to look for another antivirus program.
Licenses – How many computers can you install the antivirus program on? With more households running more than one computer, this can be an important factor in deciding on a program. You want to make sure that any software you purchase can be installed on more than one machine, as it can get pricey to purchase multiple versions of any antivirus program.
Usage – Another big thing when looking at antivirus program is what you use your computer for. If you just do some browsing, email or games, you likely won't be too at risk for viruses. But, you will still need an antivirus program of some sort, just maybe not as robust or powerful as other antivirus programs out there. If in the future you decide to change your Internet habits, you will want to re-evaluate if your antivirus is still able to handle your needs.
If you haven't already gotten some sort of antivirus software, you need to take care of that right now! Antivirus software is not an option anymore; it is a requirement when you are on the internet. When you get a new computer, one of the very first things you should be doing is getting your antivirus software set up, even before you start checking email or anything else! You never know where a virus is hiding!

subset: commoncrawl


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If you've recently enjoyed a Disney visit, you probably had the opportunity to support the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF). There are plenty of ways you may have contributed – adding a dollar to your purchase, picking up a sponsored pin or plush item, enjoying the Wild Africa Trek excursion at Disney's Animal Kingdom or snorkeling at The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Every donation, big or small, adds up and is combined with support from Disney, which in turn has given all of us something amazing to celebrate.
Including the 141 grants being awarded this week, we have contributed more than $25 million dollars to study wildlife, protect habitats and develop community conservation and education programs across the globe and here in Florida.
This week, our office shared the good news with more than 100 nonprofit organizations who will divide $3.5 million dollars in 2014 conservation grants to support projects benefiting wildlife and habitats spanning five continents –from lions in Tanzania and elephants in China to giant armadillos in Brazil and monk seals in Hawaii. To see a list of all the 2014 DWCF grant recipients, visit www.disney.com/conservation.
Today the world is losing species at up to 10,000 times the natural rate, which makes doing what we can to protect the wonder of nature more important than ever. Thank YOU for joining us as we work with experts to reverse the decline of threatened species around the globe and build the next generation of conservationists.
What inspires you to protect the planet?


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This summer, we've been treated to the usual rush of Marvel comic movies, the controversial reboot of the classic Ghostbusters with an all-female cast, along with the standard sprinkling of sequels chronicling the lives of extinct animals or pets. In this mix is an unusual war-on-drugs movie, The Infiltrator, set in Miami, and starring the inimitable Bryan Cranston. With this film, director Brad Furman (The Take, The Lincoln Lawyer) decided to take a chance on a first-time screenwriter — his mother, Ellen Brown Furman — a former Philadelphia lawyer, award-winning short story writer and my long-time friend.
Based on a true story, the film follows the exploits of U.S. Customs agent Bob Mazur (Bryan Cranston) who infiltrates Pablo Escobar's violent world of drug trafficking in 1985 by posing as a slick money launderer named Bob Musella. Mazur teams with street-smart agent Emir Ebreu (John Leguizamo) and first-time undercover agent Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger). Navigating a world of illicit drugs, crooked bankers and vicious drug kingpins, Mazur builds a case that ultimately leads to the indictments of 85 drug lords and bankers, as well as the collapse of the seventh largest private bank in the world.
Here is an excerpt of my interview with Ellen Brown Furman:
Garnet News: What attracted you to Bob Mazur's story?
EBF: When I read about Bob's infiltration of the Medellin Cartel as he helped them to launder their dirty money at the risk of his life and that of his wife and two young children, I asked myself, who would ever do this? That question made me want to write the movie. It was a challenge to try to understand what motivates a person to risk death at every turn, to lie constantly, to become someone who he is not. Isn't a desk job enough? At least you get to go home for dinner. But for some, danger is a drug. Becoming a criminal when you're really a law-abiding citizen working for the government is as fascinating a subject as I could find.
Garnet News: Tell us about your writing method, the switch between writing a short story and screenplay.
EBF: I love the short story form and wish more people would read them. They are precious nuggets of tight story. I am fascinated by the way people interact, what they say and what they don't. Screenplays combine the two, tight story and dialogue. I think the short story is the perfect length, with the right amount of characterization and plot, to springboard into a film. Several of the scripts I've written have been developed from my short stories.
Garnet News: How did you develop the female characters, Ev and Kathy in the movie, as well as Tischler? Did you meet them prior to writing the screenplay?
EBF: The female characters in The Infiltrator were delicious to write. Bob Mazur goes undercover, and because he doesn't want to cheat on his wife, he tells the Cartel members he has a fiancée. Enter Kathy Ertz. She was a young, pretty agent volunteering for her first assignment. A typical Hollywood rendering of a character like hers might have her screw up first and then grow into the job. But that's not how I saw Kathy.
Ironically, I didn't meet Kathy before writing her role. I felt like I knew her. I felt she was born to be undercover, to make up stories about her past and win the hearts of the bad guys. Why couldn't she be as amazing as some of the women I knew? So I did that. It turns out the real Kathy was exactly like I imagined her!
Ev Mazur, Bob's wife, was a little harder to write. I wanted to avoid the stereotype of the woman who waits home for her man. Ev is a strong woman. Her children came first. But she was never wallpaper or window dressing.
Bob Mazur's boss was Bonni Tischler. She was no-nonsense, a woman who carried a gun. She was tough talking and fun to write. I admire strong women, and her gutter language was so refreshing. "Move it piss ant" has turned out to be one of the funniest lines in the film.
Garnet News: How was the writing process, since this was developed from a memoir?
EBF: Actually, it's like reading an article as a starting point and then fleshing it out and creating a believable world, most of which I gleaned from meeting Bob. I had to learn what made Bob Mazur tick. It took time to earn his trust, to learn that he loved being his alter ego, Robert Musella. He loved it… risking it all for a higher goal.
I specifically didn't want to meet the real women because I had already built up an image of each female and made them believable and real in my mind
Garnet News: How was Bryan Cranston to work with? How did you develop this character?
EBF: Bryan is a brilliant actor. He took character texture and embellished it. Playing an everyman can be boring, mundane, but watching Bryan make the subtle switch from family man to money launderer for the Mob is like watching an artist paint. Until the painting is finished, you can't take your eyes off the canvas, that's Bryan.
Garnet News: It's hard to believe it, but the common wisdom in Hollywood still says women can't write these types of movies. What was your experience?
EBF: I was tired of the usual testosterone-fueled action films and wanted to see relationships between men and women that felt real even though they were living fake lives while undercover. I also wanted to explore the strain these real relationships suffered under this constant stress.
Funny story about the female roles. Bob Mazur had an uncle with Mob connections, and I originally wrote Uncle Vic as someone Bob could present to the Medellin Cartel as a wealthy man with access to ways to launder their drug money. But my son had the idea to turn stereotypes on their head—suggesting we make Uncle Vic, Aunt Vicky. What a great idea! We exchanged "him" for "her" in a London hotel room a few weeks before shooting. It was a kick.
Then, I took Aunt Vicky over the top, making her a rich widowed Mob boss who had taken over her dead husband's illegal enterprises. At a critical juncture, she urges, Mazur to be "Bobby Somebody."
Who else could play her, I thought, other than Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck)? She's absolutely superb in her two scenes. I love her.
We actually shot the scene in which Mazur brings his aunt to meet the largest cocaine distributor (played by a positively suave Benjamin Bratt) to Central Park in a small London park. It had rained all morning but the scene needed to be shot. The moment it cleared, filming started. Olympia is a pro and her rendition of Aunt Vicky is outrageous fun, despite the weather, the location (my son is a stickler for authenticity) and the dull London sun. I laugh every time I see Olympia.
I know that my son has learned from me that women can do whatever men can. In this case, even better.
Garnet News: This is the first time, I know, that a mother and son have worked on a mainstream film as screenwriter and director. Tell us about that.
EBF: It was like parenting. Only sometimes Brad was the parent, and I was the child. As director, my son carried the weight of the film on his shoulders. I felt the pressure he was under and wanted to deliver a script that was of use to him, that could tell the full story.
He took a risk using me as the writer. It could have gone very wrong, and he would have suffered the criticism of nepotism, Mama's boy, and all that. The producer, Miriam Segal, of Good Films, also took a chance on me. What if she had to fire the writer? After all, the director was his mother! But the collaboration worked out well, didn't it?
My son and I work best together when we are in a quiet room — I prefer morning but he likes late night — and we work on my laptop, talk, write, then rewrite. He doesn't hesitate to tell me when my dialogue is 'corny,' and I stop him when he's off on a tangent with a scene. We have to trust each other. And we usually do. With other producers, it's more about "Give me what I want." Working with my son is the closest I will get to having an impact on the filmmaking process, when the story goes from script to screen.
Garnet News: What next?
EBF: I'm working on a screenplay, "Can I Be Honest," about women, friendship and honesty.
The Infiltrator, starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt and Amy Ryan is currently playing in theaters worldwide.
Madhushree Ghosh works in cancer diagnostics in San Diego, California. Her writing has been published Origins Literary Journal, Le Sirenuse Journal, Del Sol Review, D&O magazine and others. She was also a finalist in Zoetrope and Glimmer Train writing contests. An Oakley Hall scholar, Madhushree's award-winning plays have been performed at San Diego Actors Alliance festivals. She is currently working on an essay collection, "Chittaranjan Park Tales" and her memoir, "214 Days of Silence."
Wow! Finally an interview that befits all of you for your fine effort. Well-done!!!


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15. Managing risk in the outdoors, with Steve Smith
In this podcast, Sarah speaks with Steve Smith, an expert in outdoor risk management. Steve has worked for many years teaching, leading, planning, and consulting about ways to manage risk in the outdoors. Steve recently presented at the 2020 NOLS Wilderness Risk Management Conference.
Steve begins by explaining the difference between safety and risk management, and why this distinction is necessary when it comes to taking people into the wilderness. Every day we take risks and some degree of risk is not only unavoidable, it's a necessary part of being human. Sarah and Steve discuss many of the benefits of how outdoor education and recreation translate to life skills, personal and social growth. Steve speaks about the history of Outward Bound and founder Kurt Hahn who taught about the importance of educating the whole student and encouraging them to explore beyond their comfort zones. It is an important component of developing and managing outdoor education programs, looking at the beneficial risks and identifying and mitigating the undesirable risks.
Sarah raises the topic of duty of care when taking care of young people in the outdoors. Steve points out that a robust risk management program is even more important when working with children. He points out that because Lyme disease is a very serious illness, accurate risk assessment and robust risk management strategies are needed. An important part of these strategies include having a plan in place to respond when events do happen.
Get access to our education funding. Funding grants available!
Steve sees risk management programs in terms of layers which start long before the adventure begins. He describes a risk management model introduced to thim by one of his mentors, Charles Reb Gregg, called "analyze – manage – inform". This model involves analyzing hazards, managing them and informing people about potential hazards. He touches on the importance of informing participants in advance to avoid legal action. He describes some ways to analyze risk in relation to Lyme disease such as knowing the local tick activity. Managing the risk could include wearing bug repellant, avoiding tick habitats, and doing tick checks. Another important aspect of the strategy is knowing what to do if a participant finds an embedded tick, and knowing the symptoms of Lyme disease. Steve reiterates the importance of informing participants and/or parents about the risks involved.
It's not about eliminating the risk altogether, it's about managing that risk.
Steve explores some of the legal aspects involved when planning outdoor activities, and refers to a lawsuit relating to tick-borne encephalitis. He talks about the importance of hiring qualified staff, providing adequate and ongoing training, having written policies and procedures, and reporting and learning from incidents when they do occur. He emphasizes the value of reporting and analyzing "near misses" in order to learn from them and prevent similar incidents. Similarly, Steve finds that reflecting back on a trip with those who are running it is a great way to learn and make improvements for future programs.
Emphasizing the overwhelmingly positive aspects of outdoor education, Steve reminds us of how a solid risk management strategy (and corresponding policies and procedures) enable these programs to continue. He urges us to keep learning from our adventures and highly recommends the NOLS Wilderness Risk Management Conference for those running outdoor programs. Thank you Steve for sharing and helping us manage risk in the outdoors!
- Experiential Consulting, Outdoor Program Team
- Analyze, Manage, Inform, by Charles R. Gregg LLB (PDF)
- Study Abroad and a $41.5 Million Verdict
- Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv
- Wilderness Risk Management Conference
- Children and Nature Network
"We definitely have a big responsibility in taking care of all of our people when we're on these adventures, and the younger they are, the more the responsibility shifts from the participant to the leaders or to the program itself."
Get an education grant
For physicians and healthcare professionals! Are you a doctor, nurse, physiotherapy, or an accredited healthcare professional? See our eligibility requirements and find out more.


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Following Sunday's new episode, AMC has released The Walking Dead Episode 8.05 preview and a scene. You can watch the videos below!
Airing on Sunday, November 19, The Walking Dead Episode 8.05 is titled "The Big Scary U" and is described as follows: "A close look at Negan and the lives of the Saviors during the conflict through a familiar set of eyes."
Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, The Walking Dead reigns as television's most watched drama for Adults 18-49. The series is executive produced by showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero and Tom Luse. The Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse, and follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.
The series stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Lennie James, Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Austin Amelio, Tom Payne, Xander Berkeley, Khary Payton, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.


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Is it just us or do red roses get a bad rap these days? Sure, red roses might be a bit cliche in the 'ole love realm, but red garden roses are a completely different story. Today, we would like to offer you a modern twist on the classic red rose wedding ideas. The scarlet english hawthorn halo is a nice delicate way to tie in the look of climbing red roses. Try these red rose wedding ideas for the perfect classic and modern aesthetic mix and view a few more here.
1. Yuliya Art 2. Jenny Packham Spring 2012 via Style.com 3. Laurens Church Chapel of Prayer by Thijs Wolzak 4. Design*Sponge
Photography: Tec Petaja // Hair + Makeup: Jordan Byers


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What is CBD? What you need to know.
CBD is one of 483 compounds in cannabis, 113 of which are cannabinoid compounds. First isolated in 1942, it is a phytocannabinoid in cannabis that interacts with the endocannabinoid system in humans. Unlike delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the other main cannabinoid for which the cannabis plant is consumed and is famous, CBD does not induce intoxicating effects.
- It can be absorbed by inhalation via smoke/vapor, aerosol spray, by ingestion via the mouth, and with consumer reports its effectiveness as a topical applied through the skin.
- The only FDA-approved prescription is epidiolex, used to treat epilepsy.
- CBD has potential for pain-relief, anti-anxiety, to treat psychosis, and is marketed for inducing deeper sleep.
- Cannabidiol does not have any intoxicating effects (i.e. "getting high") such as those caused by ∆9-THC in marijuana. In fact, research indicates that CBD may reduce adverse effects of THC, particularly those causing intoxication and sedation, but only at high doses. Some research suggests CBD counteracts the effects of THC, thus taming the high.
- Research suggests both CBD and THC appear to work better side by side. One of the easiest ways to consume both molecules at the same time is smoking raw flower. Select a strain that features equal parts THC and CBD and fire it up. These varieties provide enough THC to kickstart your CB1 receptors alongside adequate levels of CBD to stave off any adverse effects. Emerging research suggests that a ratio of 1:1 THC to CBD is optimal.
Why all the hype?
Ever since the passage of the Farm Bill in 2018, which legalized the cultivation of hemp, CBD has grown in popularity, as CBD is extracted from hemp. Hemp products have sprung about, in the form of oils, gummies, and topicals. Note, however, any of these CBD products are not regulated by the FDA.
Here is a good blog article on the future of CBD from 10 people in the industry.
More research is coming out on the potential benefits of this cannabinoid. More regulation is inevitable, as well. The main thing for potential consumers is to educate themselves, and buy from a reputable source, with certificates of analyses.


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Seen from the UK, the reaction to last week's European Council followed a familiar pattern. In their initial response, ministers, backbenchers and Eurosceptic newspapers welcomed news of the announcement. Heralding it as the latest in a series of victories for the UK over the EU, they showered Prime Minister Theresa May with lavish praise. Within a matter of hours, however, disharmony had broken out again.
As a consequence, the reaction from other European capitals was overlooked. Yet the content of the text is crucial, and how the 27 EU member states approach the negotiations, in particular the terms of the mandate they define for the EU negotiator Michel Barnier for the next phase, will be key to the outcome. They will largely shape the UK's future relationship with the EU.
We looked at the European Council's text, and polled opinion from the network of correspondents that our Brexit priority grant, "Negotiating Brexit", has brought together to monitor progress and to build up a better understanding of how Article 50 has moved towards a final deal. Here is how the results of the European Council were regarded across the EU.
View from Brussels (Hussein Kassim)
Leading up to the European Council, the progress signalled by the Joint Report between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Theresa May was almost immediately undermined by the comments of prominent ministers, including the UK's lead negotiator David Davis. The European Council's 15 December text underlined that all commitments undertaken during the first phase should be respected in full, and translated into legal terms as quickly as possible – a message also affirmed by the European Parliament.
The European Council's text also highlighted the importance of moving to conclude the Withdrawal Agreement. In a telegraphic style that has been a feature of the EU's approach to the UK since the June 2016 referendum, the text also spells out carefully the sequencing of steps and conditions that need to be fulfilled for progress.
Similarly, EU negotiator Michel Barnier reiterated the EU's key positions since June 2016: although the EU regrets the UK's departure, there is no reason for "our values and principles to be damaged as a result"; discussions on separation must be concluded before those on the future relationship can begin; and there will be no 'cherry picking' that mixes elements of existing models, such as Norway's access to the single market with Canada's free trade deal, and no special deal for financial services – points underlined by his chief adviser, Stefaan De Rynck, in an intervention in London on 18 December.
In their comments after the summit, the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, each highlighted the importance of continued unity among the EU27. Praising the unity demonstrated throughout phase 1, they called for similar singularity of purpose in phase 2. Tusk, moreover, called for more clarity from the UK on its vision.
View from Berlin (Eva Heidbreder)
Any remotely well-informed citizen on the continent puts on a disbelieving smile when contemplating the prospect of a "no deal" Brexit. A cliff-edge is likely to create a destabilised and desperate great country right across the channel – not really an option. The step towards the second phase was therefore inevitable, to prevent businesses from activating their contingency plans as early as January 2018. The formula agreed by the European Council does this symbolic job.
The text adopted on 15 December points in the only possible direction. If taken literally the agreement would keep at least Northern Ireland, if not the whole UK, inside the customs union. This is not sufficiently accepted or understood in the UK. Hence, the agreement opens with the caveat that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed"; in other words, "we may have opened the second phase and have formulated a template that may work, but we cannot be sure that we have yet made it beyond the first square".
The German chancellor, currently merely the head of an acting government, does not feel able to make any elaborate government declaration. Arguably, this silence is in keeping with the government's careful position on the Brexit agreement, which it hopes will be "a step forward" that will lead to the next negotiating mandate for Mr Barnier.
View from Warsaw (Natasza Styczyńska)
The December summit was not much discussed in Poland, where all eyes were on the government reshuffle. The new prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki and his cabinet were sworn in on 11 December, so the European Council meeting three days later was Morawiecki's first foreign visit. There was not much discussion about Poland's views on the Article 50 negotiations, besides reassurance the UK will remain Poland's most important allay and that Warsaw is mainly interested in securing the fundamental rights of Polish citizens living in the UK.
On the first day of the summit, Mateusz Morawiecki held a short private meeting with May. According to the statement later released by his press office "strategic relations and partnership between Poland and the UK were confirmed". Morawiecki also stated that Poland is awaiting more detailed discussion about the EU budget post-Brexit.
The European Commission's plans to start Article 7 proceedings against Poland – perhaps as soon as the following week – was a key topic in the Polish media. The main subject was Morawiecki's earlier departure from Brussels, meaning that he would miss the part when the EU leaders agreed to move on to the second phase of the Article 50 negotiation. The reason for his attenuated stay – the PM was heading off to the Christmas meeting of Law and Justice party in Warsaw – was interpreted by some commentators as a symbolic gesture, reflecting the Polish government's attitude towards the European Union.
View from Rome (Vincent della Sala)
The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi, have emerged as one of the strongest supporters of a "bespoke model" Brexit agreement. Gentiloni, in a series of interviews following the breakthrough deal on 8 December, re-affirmed Italy's position that the country's red lines in the negotiations – those adopted by the Council – remained firm.
He saw the agreement on financial compensation and rights for EU nationals as important steps that satisfied Italy's major demands. However, the Italian position has been all along that a hard Brexit was not an attractive option and that all options, not just Norway and Canada+, should be on the table.
On the eve of the Council Gozi stated that Italy saw the 8 December agreement as a major step forward, and binding. The Italian government's attention was focused on the immigration question at this week's Council but it did welcome the decision to move forward to phase II of the negotiations.
Both Gentiloni and Gozi, while stressing the need for flexibility to arrive at a deal, reiterated that they foresaw a difficult period ahead for both the UK and EU27: one with great uncertainty generated by British politics, which would test but ultimately unite the EU27.
View from Madrid (Salvador Llaudes)
The good news is that, after the Joint Report was agreed between the European Commission and the UK, the European Council at EU27 gave the green light to open the second phase of Article 50 negotiations. The bad news is that the first phase has shown how difficult the process may become. Most important, however, the UK side needs to finally understand that this is not a negotiation between equals. Almost every single request the EU has made so far has been accepted by the UK after considerable fuss, objection and denial.
The second phase of the negotiations will be no different. Spain fully endorses the Commission in its negotiation strategy and is happy with the results achieved so far. While it advocates a strong future relationship with the UK, Spain considers integration to be of the utmost importance and will never put that commitment ahead of good relations with the UK.
The ideal scenario for Madrid would be a quick negotiation regarding the divorce – no later than October-November 2018, including agreement on a transition period of at least two years. However, the question of Gibraltar may cause problems if the British side does not come with a proposal that is acceptable to Spain.
View from Vilnius (Ramūnas Vilpišauskas)
According to President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the intermediate agreement between the EU and the UK has secured Lithuania's key objectives: the protection of the rights of Lithuanian citizens residing in the UK, and upholding the UK's financial commitments. Like most heads of EU states, she stressed that the most complex phases of the negotiations are still to come.
Despite its tactical manoeuvring to help the UK Prime Minister secure a deal on the three key issues in the first phase of negotiations, the EU has secured most of its preferences on citizens' rights and, in particular, on the financial settlement. The Irish border issue, however, has been phrased in such a way that virtually any outcome is possible and there might be a rather long transition period while the UK remains part of the single market.
This would be in line with countries like Lithuania, who would prefer to maintain close relations in trade and defence with the UK, even if it is at odds with the UK government's declared aim of leaving the single market and customs union.
The strong sense from the national capitals surveyed is that the UK's decision to leave the EU remains a source of regret. Governments are firmly behind the EU's strategy and goals, and do not support any future arrangement that would dilute the Union. Negotiations in the first phase have undoubtedly been testing. The UK side has been slow to recognize the realities of its negotiating position, and deep tensions within the governing Conservative Party over the most desirable outcome have not helped.
Yet the second phase promises to be even more difficult. The EU27 have displayed remarkable solidarity so far, and, from the views reported above, unity is likely to continue despite the very varied relationships that the remaining member states enjoy with the UK.
Only in Italy, where Prime Minister Gentiloni and European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi have championed a bespoke deal for the UK, and where opinion has taken a Eurosceptic turn, does there appear to be the suggestion of a fault line. As yet, however, it is unclear whether Rome will ultimately fall into line with the other EU27 or step up its opposition to a hard Brexit.
By Professor Hussein Kassim, research leader and Dr Simon Usherwood, research investigator at The UK in a Changing Europe.


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As government agencies push more of their IT services to the cloud, hackers can use the confusion of traffic across those networks to mask malicious behavior, a new Cisco report warns.
"Adversaries have a lot of internet 'noise' to use as cover because many in the public sector may rely on cloud-based services like Google Docs and Dropbox to do their work, regardless of whether these services are offered or systemically endorsed by their agencies," the report said.
Attackers use this noise to register accounts on non-endorsed services, start a web page on the public internet, usurp encryption and conduct other malicious activities, according to the report.
And though 74 percent of government respondents to a Cisco 2018 Security Capabilities Benchmark Study said that they prefer an on-premise cloud, they were almost equally supportive of using a third party to manage that versus doing so themselves.
Federal agencies have felt a concerted push to move sizeable portions of their data and programs to the cloud as initiatives out of the White House, such as the IT Modernization Report to the President released in December 2017, call for increased emphasis on cloud-based and shared services.
Cloud does offer increased security capabilities, as services and infrastructure for the cloud are often easier and faster to update with security patches, In addition, agencies are able to purchase security service capabilities for their cloud environments, because the threat is always evolving.
The Cisco report recommended that agencies employ machine-learning capabilities to get better visibility into the activity occurring in their cloud environments.
"If an agency's IT team can start predicting user behavior in terms of downloads, they can save the time it might take to investigate legitimate behavior. They can also step in to stop a potential attack or data-exfiltration incident before it happens," the report said.
In addition to cloud vulnerabilities, the report also warned of increased risks from the internet of things, distributed denial of service, email phishing and malware disguised as ransomware attacks.
"Public-sector defenders are implementing a complex mix of products from a cross-section of vendors: an arsenal of tools that may muddy rather than clarify the security landscape," the report said.
"This complexity has many downstream impacts for orchestrating alerts, with data indicating that gaps continue to exist between alerts generated, those that have been investigated, and those that are eventually remediated."
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.


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|Lenny Siegel <firstname.lastname@example.com>
|23 Dec 2005 18:32:10 -0000
|[CPEO-MEF] Navy ordnance violation at Jackson Park (WA)
News Release U.S. EPA Region 10 U.S. Navy Pays EPA $40,000 for violating Jackson Park Interagency Cleanup Agreement December 20, 2005 The U.S. Navy has agreed to pay a $40,000 penalty to resolve a Notice of Non-compliance (NON) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The NON stems from the Navy's failure to submit an investigation workplan for cleanup at the Jackson Park Housing Complex near Bremerton, Washington. The area in question involves Operable Unit 3T (OU3T) of the site, which contains abandoned military ordnance from the former Naval Ammunition Depot Puget Sound that operated there for more than 50 years, spanning World Wars I and II. Following WWII, the area was partly converted to residential housing and renamed the Jackson Park Housing Complex. The work plan, once approved, will require the Navy to investigate the nature and extent of discarded military munitions currently abandoned within the residential housing and other areas of the site, posing potential explosives safety hazards or other risks to human health and the environment. The Jackson Park Housing Complex/Naval Hospital Bremerton was listed on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1994. EPA Region 10 has long enjoyed a productive working relationship with the Navy, addressing several contaminated naval facilities in the region. However, at sites like Jackson Park, cleanups involving military munitions have proven to be more difficult and complex. "Resolving this dispute puts us 'back on the road' at Jackson Park," said David Croxton, EPA's Site Cleanup Unit Manager, "I'm hopeful that we can rely on our past record of working collaboratively with the Navy to satisfy our mutual interest in protecting human health and the environment." The work plan was due to EPA by July 27, 2005. On October 27, 2005, the Navy submitted to EPA a request for extension of the schedule for the submittal of the Work Plan. The new due date for the Navy's submittal of the draft final Phase II RI Work Plan for OU-3T-JPHC is January 27, 2006. For the original news release, see http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/5a423216980b60b985257018004d114d/42deee9fdf66ed26852570dd007fd55e!OpenDocument (You may need to cut and paste the URL.) -- Lenny Siegel Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041 Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545 Fax: 650/961-8918 <firstname.lastname@example.com> http://www.cpeo.org _______________________________________________ Military mailing list firstname.lastname@example.com http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military
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Latest update: November 2019. A version of this article was first written for Tourisme Montréal
Nothing says cozy and comforting like a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Luscious, warm, rich, sweet or spicy, the beverages listed below are the perfect mix of premium ingredients and creativity. From classic to completely decadent and utterly funky, these Montreal hot chocolate spots are the perfect mugs of comfort to dive into in these frigid temperatures. Enjoy!
Patrice Pâtissier
Patrice Demers and his lovely, sweet-laden store don't need an introduction anymore, but did you know that they serve one of the best hot chocolates in Montreal? Their classic version contains Araguani chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and a light infusion of spices. For a small supplement, you can get a caramel mousse topping, and yes, you'll want the caramel mousse topping.
Au festin de Babette
Au festin de Babette is a classic go-to spot for great hot chocolate in Montreal. Its hot chocolate selection is separated into three categories: dark chocolate, white chocolate and Valrhona Grands Crus. In all, twelve different flavours for you to enjoy, from a classic mix to comforting brews flavoured with spices, orange, nuts or piment d'Espelette.
Chocolats Geneviève Grandbois
Geneviève has been one of Montreal's foremost artisanal chocolate purveyor for several years now, thus contributing to the happiness of her young and mature clientele alike. Her European-style hot chocolate is prepared from her homemade blend of 70% chocolate and vanilla cane sugar. It's served at the Geneviève Grandbois Mile End boutique on Saint-Viateur Street West.
Suite 88 Chocolatier
Suite 88 Chocolatier is a chocoholic paradise! From delicate, filled bonbons et cookies and cakes, you can indulge in all things chocolate, including one of the best hot chocolates in Montreal. Try one flavoured with vanilla or spices or stick to a classic topped with homemade whipped cream.
Juliette et chocolat
Juliette is the doyenne of all things chocolate in Montreal. Her stores are so popular it's often hard to find a table at any time of day or night. Several hot chocolates are on this institution's menu, including the latest, a campfire hot chocolate with velvety thick hot chocolate smoked with wood chips and served with a brownie and toasted marshmallows.
C'ChoColat takes toppings to a whole new level! Its crazy and fun concoctions include hot chocolates topped with salted caramel, Oreo bits, marshmallows, and more! Pick from one of its six hot chocolate flavours (including a vegan one) and add some extra toppings for a more decadent drink.
Le Butterblume
The Mile End café has become one of the most popular in Montreal from day one. Its take on the tartine made on its homemade sourdough bread is now legendary. Its hot chocolate concoction is made with Weiss chocolate (a bean-to-bar French brand), cocoa and love. Oh, and milk of course, regular or plant based.
Marius et Fanny
Close to 12 flavours of hot chocolate await you at Marius et Fanny. The beverages are divided into two categories: soft for milk or white chocolate-based drinks and intense for drinks with darker chocolate (anywhere from 65% to 75%). The intense flavours also include single origin chocolates. Marius et Fanny also serves special seasonal concoctions such as a coconut-flavoured one.
Hof Kelsten
This Mile End Jewish-style bakery has garnered a loyal following since its opening. Hof Kelsten's flakey pastries and scrumptious breads are some of my favourites, hands down. Its hot chocolate is made by preparing a thick Valhrona chocolate ganache, which is then thinned out with hot steamed milk, in the same manner one would make a latte.
Automne Boulangerie
The Scandinavian-inspired Rosemont bakery serves some of the best bread in the city. Its pastries are also delicious and so is its hot chocolate. Automne uses 58% dark chocolate, cocoa powder, chai spices and a sprinkle of salt. You can get yours with regular or plant-based milk. Either way, it's delicious!
Noir Chocolat
This tiny Plateau spot has quickly garnered a loyal following and has become a favourite among neighbours and tourists alike. Its unusual, elegant cake and bonbon designs distinguish it from the competition. Its classic hot chocolate is a comforting combination of milk, cream and 64% dark chocolate. The result is an unctuous drink that can quickly become addictive.
Les Givrés
Popular ice cream stores Les Givrés will also be serving hot chocolate at their three locations until December 24, 2019. The comforting brews come in two different flavours of Cacao Barry chocolate: 70% St-Domingue and Ghana milk chocolate. You can top your drink with a marshmallow or some homemade whipped cream.
Les chocolats de Chloé
This adorable Plateau-Mont Royal shop is among the most loved in Montreal. Les chocolats de Chloé's basic hot chocolate is made up of cocoa paste, dark chocolate and organic cane sugar. It's the same hot chocolate mix it sells in the store for you to enjoy at home. It also serves an alternate weekend choice that is either a chai, coffee or mint-flavoured brew.
Café Dei Campi
Everything at Café Dei Campi tastes delicious. Its vegan pastries are some of the best in town, regardless of their butter and egg content. Its hot chocolate is no exception and is prepared with extra brute cocoa with vanilla and sugar and your choice of cow, soy or homemade almond milk.
Cacao 70
Cacao 70's Montreal chocolate factory as well as all its stores are beacons of chocolatey goodness for all dessert lovers. In addition to all the regular flavours, try the Cacao 70 Factory Hot Chocolate. A snifter of melted 70% dark chocolate is served with a side of milk or dark chocolate base on the side for the clients to mix their own drink.
Café Larue
Café Larue has a centrifuge that churns all day long to keep the rich and thick hot chocolate warm and melted. a small quantity of this mix is added to steaming cow or oat milk to create the ultimate hot chocolate. It's the perfect consistency, just a little thinner than those really thick Spanish hot chocolates, and ideal for dipping a pastry or a croissant.
Café Bazin
Westmount's Café Bazin is the chic destination for brunch, lunch or an exquisite pastry date. Its classic hot chocolate is a mix of 64% chocolate, a little bit of sugar and some milk. This makes for a light yet creamy drink that you can top with one of its homemade marshmallows.
The little Villeray chocolate factory makes its exceptional bars from beans that it sources, roasts and prepares in house. Avanaa's classic hot chocolate is always available as well as a second seasonal option. The classic is a rich mix of two 70% chocolates, a little sugar and oat milk. Don't forget to top yours with a homemade marshmallow. The hot chocolate mix will soon be available for purchase.
Janine Café
The popular brunch and lunch spot also serves several hot chocolates made with a variety of beans, including white chocolate. Try one of Janine Café's most popular drink made with 68% chocolate or its 70% spicy mix created by adding several warm spices and topped with a cinnamon stick. It also serves a deconstructed hot chocolate that includes a small teapot with melted chocolate, a pitcher of your milk of choice (cow or plant-based) and homemade marshmallows.
MELK Bar à Café
With three coffee shops across the city, MELK Bar à Café is slowly expanding its coffee empire through Montreal. Its coffee is exceptional and the latest spot in Old Montreal is Instagram famous for its funky design. The hot chocolate is made like a latte with a dark or milk Cacao Barry chocolate base and an addition of steamed milk. It can be topped with MELK's homemade marshmallows. For the holiday season, get the peppermint hot chocolate or a marshmallow coated in crushed candy cane.
Pikolo Espresso Bar
This little café in the McGill University ghetto has been a coffee lover destination since its opening. Pikolo's hot chocolate base is a dairy-free, homemade chocolate syrup made with 70% Callebaut chocolate. A milk of your choice is then added to the syrup base. That same chocolate base is also used in its mochas.
Tella's Santé ou Sucré
The name of the game at Tella's Santé ou Sucré is extravagance! Its list of hot chocolate mixes includes classics such as a milk or dark chocolate base, but it also serves peanut butter, Nutella or caramel infused drinks. Its over-the-top toppings include a whole brownie square, a burning roasted marshmallow, caramelized popcorn, a donut and a waffle.
The Hochelaga-Maisonneuve bakery and pastry shop is one of the most loved in Montreal for its baked goods. Arhoma's hot chocolate is made with Camino, a fair trade and organic semi-sweet chocolate. Clients also have the option of having their hot brew made with Arhoma's house brand of 70% chocolate.
If you like chocolate, check out my favourite Montreal chocolate shops.


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Twitter Updates for 2009-03-21
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September 28, 2009
NY Times editorial assails "High Cost of Death Row"Today's New York Times has this editorial contending that the high costs of the death penalty ought to lead cash-strapped states to move away from capital punishment. Here are excerpts from a piece headlined "High Cost of Death Row":
To the many excellent reasons to abolish the death penalty — it's immoral, does not deter murder and affects minorities disproportionately — we can add one more. It's an economic drain on governments with already badly depleted budgets.
It is far from a national trend, but some legislators have begun to have second thoughts about the high cost of death row. Others would do well to consider evidence gathered by the Death Penalty Information Center, a research organization that opposes capital punishment....
According to the organization, keeping inmates on death row in Florida costs taxpayers $51 million a year more than holding them for life without parole. North Carolina has put 43 people to death since 1976 at $2.16 million per execution. The eventual cost to taxpayers in Maryland for pursuing capital cases between 1978 and 1999 is estimated to be $186 million for five executions.
Perhaps the most extreme example is California, whose death row costs taxpayers $114 million a year beyond the cost of imprisoning convicts for life. The state has executed 13 people since 1976 for a total of about $250 million per execution. This is a state whose prisons are filled to bursting (unconstitutionally so, the courts say) and whose government has imposed doomsday-level cuts to social services, health care, schools and parks.
Money spent on death rows could be spent on police officers, courts, public defenders, legal service agencies and prison cells....
In contrast to some other abolitionist arguments, I am generally drawn to claims that modern capital punishments systems do not produce benefits that justify their economic costs. But the suggestion that money "spent on death rows" could or should be spent on more "prison cells" reinforces my nagging concern (developed in this Harvard Law & Policy Review article) that the anti-death argument of most abolitionists have a tendency to cotribute to modern mass incarceration.
Some recent related posts on the costs of capital punsihment:
- Georgia struggles to pay for a costly capital system
- The challenging economics of death causing problems in Chicago
- Great new (though still dated) examination of the death penalty and plea bargaining
- CNN now talking about the costs of the death penalty and state reforms
- States considering laying off the death penalty during tough economic times
- The economic case against the death penalty getting more and more attention
- More discussion of cost concerns in debates over the death penalty
- Capital case cost concerns continue to inform reform debate
- Still more discussion of the costs of the death penalty
- "Opponents Focus On Cost In Death Penalty Debate"
- What might 2009 have in store for . . . the death penalty in the US?
September 28, 2009 at 07:25 PM | Permalink
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Since the high costs of medical care for aging and/or dying prisoners are draining state budgets, maybe we could tighten up there too.
Since the high costs of bailing out big and dishonest banks are contributing to an unprecedented national debt, let's stop that as well and let the financial system crater if that's what it's going to do.
Since the high costs of compulsory, nationalized health insurance, including for people who decide they don't want or need it, will create a vast new entitlement at precisely the time the Treasury can least afford it, let's just can it for that reason alone.
And of course since running prisons costs a boatload, let's release the inmates, most of whom, we are assured by some quarters, are harmless, non-violent first offenders -- if they're guilty at all. There may be some marginal increase in crime due to recidivism, but it won't be the end of the world.
Anyway, you see how the game goes. Since life is nothing but trade-off's, Program A can ALWAYS be attacked as coming at the expense of Program B. That the NYT pulls this childish stunt is unfortunate, but hardly unexpected.
Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 28, 2009 8:54:07 PM
"I am generally drawn to claims that modern capital punishments systems do not produce benefits that justify their economic costs."
The lawyer generates massive cost for something that should cost about $10 for a bullet and the time of a hooded police officer to shoot the condemned at close range in the head after the verdict. Then the lawyer argues the benefits do not justify the cost. Unmitigated gall.
The lawyer refuses to acknowledge this general principle of all remedies, the Dose-Response Curve. There is a dose of any remedy that is too low to work. Rare, unpredictable executions are on the too low end of this curve.
There is another dose that is too high and is toxic. In between, a sweet spot of maximal benefit with minimal toxicity has to be found by testing.
When it comes to the death penalty, that is about 10,000 executions a year. That assumes no deterrence and totally depends on the attrition of the ultraviolent male birth cohort, and a female cohort about half its size. It could cut crime by 90% solely ridding us of the person, with no effect of intimidation of the bad guys.
We are 17,000 executions behind. These are clustered into black areas by the racist lawyer hierarchy, with blacks carrying a 6 fold burden of murder victimization. They have less police protection, the police being deterred by litigation by race whore lawyers. Their victims are undervalued by the court, which refuses to condemn their murderers to death. The excess murder victimization is at least an order of magnitude larger than the lynchings by the KKK, another lawyer and judge founded and led fraternal organization.
The lawyer in pursuit of the rent, is willing to lose all self respect in giving up on morality, knowledge, and racial fairness.
Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Sep 28, 2009 8:59:31 PM
I doubt that anyone will change their mind about the death penalty because of the NYT editorial about high DP costs.
About half the cost of operating a prison is for incarceration of persons held less than three years and large fraction of them are there because of a revocation of parole or probation. For the most part these are the people we are mad at. Their most serious charges are a mixture sex crimes, assaults, property, drug and public order offenses. A substantial fraction of those held less then three years have been in prison on one or more prior occasions. We have devised the most expensive revolving door in history that costs far more than the DP litigation costs
The prisoners we have good reason to be afraid of are held much longer and they are not good risks for parole. Interestingly some of the LWOP prisoners are not a threat to public safety but that is not why they are in prison.
Posted by: John Neff | Sep 28, 2009 10:39:17 PM
Bill Otis, the fact that we do other things that are inefficient is no reason to keep the death penalty. We should keep it (if we do) because we need it, not because other programs are even worse.
Posted by: Marc Shepherd | Sep 29, 2009 8:58:46 AM
Further, you have to consider that the death penalty is a policy choice, to which there is an effective and less expensive alternative. Therefore, the cost - benefit analysis is particularly appropriate. It is no use to say "food is expensive, therefore I will not eat." You can, however, say "lobster is expensive, therefore I will not eat lobster." Perhaps legislatures will look at it and say, from a policy perspective, executing those dozen or so people is more important that keeping schools open and police on the streets. I think the people that elected them should be well informed of the choices they make.
Posted by: Talitha | Sep 29, 2009 11:25:45 AM
Yes, Mr. Otis, we see how the game goes. Someone makes an argument against the death penalty, and you make a straw man out of it and knock it down.
The point of the editorial is that money spent on the death penalty can be better spent elsewhere without any great harm to society. Shifting funds from the death penalty to more pressing social needs would actually result in a net benefit to society.
But money spent to provide basic medical care, to keep our financial system from collapsing, and to house prisoners is NOT better spent elsewhere. You are making a false comparison.
Posted by: William O. Rights | Sep 29, 2009 12:53:34 PM
Marc Shepherd --
"[T]he fact that we do other things that are inefficient is no reason to keep the death penalty."
It is, however, a reason to question those who want to take on only one of the putatively inefficient items while saying not a peep about the other, far more expensive ones.
"We should keep it (if we do) because we need it, not because other programs are even worse."
We should keep it if is (1) just and (2) consistent with the Constitution. The public overwhelmingly believes (1), and for more than 30 years the Supreme Court has held (2).
Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 29, 2009 6:19:31 PM
Talitha --
"Further, you have to consider that the death penalty is a policy choice, to which there is an effective and less expensive alternative."
What do you mean by "effective" and what is the argument that these alternatives are in fact more "effective"? According to the most recent Gallup poll on the question, roughly half the country thinks the DP is not imposed enough, and another quarter thinks it's imposed about the right amount. That would seem inconsistent with the claim that your unnamed alternative is viewed by the electorate as equally "effective."
"Therefore, the cost - benefit analysis is particularly appropriate."
Only if you can quantify the benefit of society's maintaining the moral confidence to declare that, in the most extreme and brutal cases, it has the right to exact death as a punishment, as it has in this country for over 200 years, and as President Obama has said he would continue to do in such cases.
Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 29, 2009 6:33:37 PM
I assume that Talitha's unnamed alternative was LWOP, which is exactly as effective as the death penalty at specific deterrence, at a greatly reduced cost.
Also, I would hate to think that you are using polls to determine whether the death penalty is "effective." A recent poll revealed that a greater percentage of respondents believed in angels than in the theory of evolution, so I wouldn;t bse my findings of effectiveness on polls.
Posted by: Anonyclause | Sep 29, 2009 6:54:42 PM
William O. Rights --
"The point of the editorial is that money spent on the death penalty can be better spent elsewhere without any great harm to society."
Such anyway is the view of the NYT. But not everyone is so morally blase' as to think that there will be no "great harm to society" if, as a result of huckstering by killers and those paid to speak for them, we surrender, NO MATTER WHAT THE CRIME, a punishment that has been endorsed by, inter alia, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis Powell, Felix Frankfurter and many other jurists, not to mention both endorsed AND USED by Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton.
Are all those people barbarians?
"Shifting funds from the death penalty to more pressing social needs would actually result in a net benefit to society."
That's not an argument, it's a conclusion, and a subjective one at that.
"But money spent to provide basic medical care, to keep our financial system from collapsing, and to house prisoners is NOT better spent elsewhere."
Maybe, but you haven't proved that either, and I'm a good deal less than sure that your allies would agree even if proof (or at least evidence) were offered. Indeed, I have seen time and again on this forum the assertion that much of the money spent housing prisoners most assuredly WOULD be better spent elsewhere, such as in job counseling, mental health services, education, etc., and that spending it on prisons is just turning us into the international disgrace known as "incarceration nation."
Likewise (in a sense) with the bank bailout. It is simply not known whether, absent the bailout, the financial system would have collapsed (whatever "collapsed" actually means), nor is it clear that, even if so, the long term gain would not have been worth it. The bailout was paid for by millions of honest taxpayers to rescue banks which had gotten themselves in trouble by rampant greed and dishonesty. There is a more than credible argument that such behavior should be allowed to take its thoroughly unpleasant course, so that in the future it will be less likely to be repeated.
Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 29, 2009 6:57:19 PM
Anonyclause --
"I assume that Talitha's unnamed alternative was LWOP, which is exactly as effective as the death penalty at specific deterrence, at a greatly reduced cost."
First, it is not "exactly as effective" as the DP at specific deterrence, since a prisoner housed for decades can kill again, either in prison or as a result of erroneous release or escape (there are numerous instances of both), while an executed prisoner never kills again.
Second, specific deterrence is only one of several measures of a punishment's effectiveness. There is, first and foremost, justice, and most people in this country believe that giving Timmy McVeigh a penalty that is qualitatively identical to the penalty you'd give a meth dealer is grossly unjust. When a person's intentional behavior is wildly and grotesquely outside the most basic norms of society, he has earned something beyond growing old and fat behind bars.
Then there is general deterrence, which, as a raft of recent studies has shown, is better advanced by the DP than by a prison sentence, no matter what its length.
"Also, I would hate to think that you are using polls to determine whether the death penalty is "effective." A recent poll revealed that a greater percentage of respondents believed in angels than in the theory of evolution, so I wouldn;t bse my findings of effectiveness on polls."
The truth of it is that the evaluation of "effectiveness" lies largely in the eyes of the beholder, and polls are a tried and tested method of finding out what the beholders out there are thinking.
Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 29, 2009 7:38:38 PM
Bill -
Believe whatever you want about polls, but if 51% of Americans believed that praying was more effective for an infection than penicillin, that doesn't make it so, no matter how much you want it to.
I concede that an LWOP prisoner has the ability to kill in prison, while an executed murderer does not. Again, it's all about balancing and making choices about resources.
At one point in history, "justice" meant stoning an adulterer. We've moved beyond that, thankfully. Just because you call something "justice" today doesn't make it just. Most first world countries agree that the death penalty isn't justice.
Posted by: Anonyclause | Sep 29, 2009 8:01:42 PM
Anonyclause --
"Believe whatever you want about polls, but if 51% of Americans believed that praying was more effective for an infection than penicillin, that doesn't make it so, no matter how much you want it to."
The "effectiveness" of prayer versus penicillin can be tested, because there is general agreement about what "effectiveness" means in that context. It means curing the infection. But there is, apparently, no general agreement about what "effectiveness" means in the discussion of the DP. That being the case, polls are one source of useful information, although not conclusive.
"I concede that an LWOP prisoner has the ability to kill in prison, while an executed murderer does not. Again, it's all about balancing and making choices about resources."
Actually, it's about trying to define the elusive "effectiveness." There are at least three criteria one might look to in that regard: specific deterrence, general deterrence, and just punishment. You concede the first of these, and offer no rebuttal to my discussion of the second and third.
"At one point in history, 'justice' meant stoning an adulterer. We've moved beyond that, thankfully."
And at one point in history (between Furman and Gregg) "justice" meant no death penalty no matter how grotesque or sadistic the murders. Through significant judicial and electoral majorities, we've moved beyond that, thankfully.
"Just because you call something 'justice' today doesn't make it just. Most first world countries agree that the death penalty isn't justice."
It's true that most of the rich (and white) countries have dropped the DP, but being rich and white doesn't make one right any more than -- as you have correctly pointed out -- having most respondents in a poll agree with you makes you right.
A number of indisputably advanced countries have the DP. In addition to the United States, there is Japan, South Korea and India (which is poor but has an advanced culture in law, science and medicine, among other things). The great majority of the non-white world retains the DP, in the Orient, the subcontinent, Africa and the Middle East/Islamic states. The fact that the world's white minority sticks its nose up at what is accepted in these other nations doesn't make the white minority racist; indeed it doesn't even make it wrong. But it puts it in a poor position to claim to be the sole Guardian of The Received Wisdom.
Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 29, 2009 8:49:10 PM
Actually, there is a very simple test for effectiveness - whether the murder rate is lower in states with the death penalty. You'll find that it is higher in DP states. If the purpose of the DP is to reduce the number of murders, then it's not very effective. If the purpose is only to kill people who've already murdered, then it is, indeed, effective. But whether or not that is a noble goal is a philosophical question, not a scientific one.
This argument could obviously go on all night, so there's not really any point in continuing. Yes, it's true that Saudi Arabia has a vibrant and robust death penalty. But that's not exactly the justice system I'd want to model our country's after.
Posted by: Anonyclause | Sep 29, 2009 9:21:14 PM
AC: That does not take into account the dose-response curve of every remedy. Give penicillin for pneumonia, and it is a miracle drug. But give it at one tenth the dose, starting 7 years after the onset of pneumonia, to one tenth of the people with pneumonia, price it at $million, and then give it to 20% of the patients who do not even have pneumonia. Doesn't look that good. That is what the rent seeking lawyer has done to the death penalty. Then they day, the correlations are weak. That is gall.
You have to overcome the very hard outcome that the deceased have a low recidivism rate. Most of the people on death row should have been executed 100's of crime victims ago, for their bad character. The lawyer has granted the criminal near total immunity to commit 100's of crime before anything bad happens. The criminal generates lawyer fees. The crime victim does not, and may rot.
Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Sep 30, 2009 1:58:09 PM


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Leven Rambin
Ever since it was announced that breakout star Jennifer Lawrence would play the lead role, Katniss Everdeen, in Gary Ross's much-hyped adaptation of Suzanne Collins' bestselling series The Hunger Games, fans have breathlessly updating each other on every new casting decision.
In Collins' dystopian future, teenage "tributes" chosen from each of twelve districts must fight to the death on a reality show broadcast nationwide. Glimmer, played by Leven Rambin, has been preparing for the battle all her life. Rambin has the unique privilege of playing a girl capable of intimidating Lawrence's mostly fearless Katniss, and certainly has the range for such a complicated role: she's starred on TV shows as diverse as All My Children, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, CSI: Miami, and Grey's Anatomy. Rambin took a moment out of her busy schedule of meetings and training to give Interview a call to chat about the role, LA, how she's getting into shape, and which of her fellow tributes she has a crush on.
ALEXANDRIA SYMONDS: You're in LA, but you still have a New York area code.
LEVEN RAMBIN: Yeah, I still have my same New York area code.
SYMONDS: How long have you been out there?
RAMBIN: I've been out here for three years almost to the day.
SYMONDS: How do you find it different from New York?
RAMBIN: I never thought I would want to live out here. Then I got a job on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles from New York, and I found myself out here on those terms. And I kind of grew to love it. Grew to love the weather, the space, and just the opportunities and all the people you get to meet that are in the industry. I mean, I still miss New York and the culture, and my friends, and being able to walk. But I think there's definitely pros and cons to both, and I think right now in my life it's good for me to be here.
SYMONDS: The last time you talked to Interview, you talked a little bit about your nightlife experiences in New York. I think the words you used were "bullshit fashion parties."
RAMBIN: [laughs] Oh, goodness. Yeah, that was my mind state at the time. Not so funny to look back and see what was going through your crazy little head. I think I've grown up a lot since then, and I would never use those words to describe New York anymore. I would cherish every moment of every one of those bullshit fashion parties, because I miss New York.
SYMONDS: How is that different in LA? Do you find yourself going to bullshit film parties instead?
RAMBIN: I mean, a little bit. I work a lot, and I prepare a lot. I think that's really important when you live out here, to go the extra mile for whatever it is that you're trying to achieve. You realize out here that when you stop moving so fast, it's a lot harder than you thought. A lot of hard work has to go into your career, and preparation, and being your best at all times. That's an element that I didn't really understand until I moved here, which is a good and bad thing. I think you just have to always present yourself at your best, and you just need to be prepared all the time. Looking good, and feeling good, and being positive, and being in the right set of mind to accept whatever comes your way. I love to meet great people out and about, but it's not my number-one priority.
SYMONDS: Do you prepare differently for TV than for film?
RAMBIN: I definitely am more into intimidated by film, just because it's a definitive beginning and end. With TV, your character can change forms and colors and shapes a million times. Personalities—your character can develop over several seasons, or over one season, however long the show lasts. So I think that is more comfortable for me, knowing that I have a lot of creative room. But for movies—for The Hunger Games especially—I'm more intimidated. First of all, it has a lot of fans built in. It has other amazing actors already built in. So I'm just going through the process of training, and just gearing up for a responsibility like this. I'm really, really happy about it.
SYMONDS: I'm really looking forward to seeing you play that role. So, you've read the books, I assume.
RAMBIN: I am such a big fan. I tried to get every one of my friends to read it. A lot of my friends had already read it, and that's why I picked it up, because they were all talking about it. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop. I was constantly reading it: on airplanes, at dinner, I was reading it under the table. Just in love. I was always like, "Did you hear what happened this week in Hunger Games?" Like it was like a soap opera that only I would enjoy.
It was so vivid in my mind, and the descriptions of every character and every scenario are so descriptive. You really do have this ideal in your mind of who these people are and what they're going through. Suzanne Collins is so talented that she just fills everyone out. That's why people are so passionate about the casting, because she is so specific in the books, and she is so descriptive. You really become attached to that figment that you have in your mind about the character. I'm really happy that the fans seem to accept me as Glimmer. I'm really excited that they are supportive of me.
SYMONDS: You had read the series before you were even cast?
RAMBIN: Yes. I was like, "Whoa, I'm auditioning for Hunger Games?" That's like my dream come true. That's like a Trekkie auditioning for Star Trek. I was a total fan about it. I think the director saw my passion and saw my excitement for the project, and it worked in my favor.
SYMONDS: Do you feel any extra pressure because of the way your character is described in the book as someone who's trained her whole life for this? Do you have to go work out a lot now?
RAMBIN: Yes, I do. Yeah, for sure. She's supposed to be this relentless, ruthless killing machine who has been training her whole life. Physically, that's a whole other level for me. Strength-wise, training-wise, and skill-wise, I have to learn how she fights with swords and bow and arrows. She is supposed to be this really ripped girl, basically. I'm working really hard on that, and I think it's a cool process to go through—I've never really gone through that kind of preparation for a character, with physical incorporation. It's hard work, and I'm sore, but it is such an exciting thing to do.
SYMONDS: Do you already have your exercise regimen all set out?
RAMBIN: Yeah—I'm on a nutrition plan. Luckily, I am pretty athletic, so I can pick things up pretty quickly. I've done boxing before, so the fight training is coming easily for me. It is a lot of hard work, so I'm doing nutrition, working out, and fight training. I will be 100% prepared. I'm already seeing a massive change in my body, so I'm like, "Wow, I totally get it."
SYMONDS: Wow. And it hasn't been very long.
RAMBIN: It has been a week. No, seriously! It has been a week since I found out.
SYMONDS: So you must be going hard.
RAMBIN: I am. I need to be perfect. I need to live up to everyone's expectations of this character and this movie. I don't want to let the fans or anyone down. Just because I want a cookie doesn't mean I can have it, because I have a responsibility. That is my determination.
SYMONDS: It's funny to think about it that way: weighing your desire for a cookie against the expectations of millions of fans. [laughs]
RAMBIN: I know. I would have never really thought of it that way. As a fan of the books themselves, I would hope someone in the cast would be as dedicated to it as possible, so that is what I'm trying to achieve. I'm doing a pretty good job; I'm having carrot, celery, and ginger juice right now.
SYMONDS: How is getting to know everyone taking shape—since it's not totally cast yet, right?
RAMBIN: I think a lot of the main people are cast. A lot of people that I won't be working with haven't been cast. I'm basically working a lot with Jennifer [Lawrence] and Josh [Hutcherson] in the arena, which is the actual battle, but they also have some action outside of the arena. I don't think every role has been cast, but a lot of the people who I will be working with have been cast. Dayo Okeniyi is playing Thresh, who is a fellow fighter tribute, so I met him. I'm supposed to meet Jennifer this week, which I'm very excited about, because there are only really two girls in the movie. Her and a younger girl, who I think is, like, ten, and Elizabeth Banks, whom I haven't met but am also very excited to meet. Josh Hutcherson I've known for a couple of years, and I saw him do The Kids Are All Right—I've seem him do so well, and he is just so talented. I've always had a little baby crush on him.
SYMONDS: Aww. [laughs]
RAMBIN: Yeah. [laughs] So I'm really excited for him and to finally work with him.
SYMONDS: It sounds like you're in the thick of it already.
RAMBIN: Yeah, we haven't sat down and had the whole gang gathered, but we're going to spend a lot of time together in North Carolina. I think the director is already there, and we all leave in the middle of May. We're all in LA training, preparing, and getting our lives in order. I think we'll all gather and do some bonding.
SYMONDS: I wonder if actors who are in war movies together go through something similar to people who actually go to war together—and you'll all be the best of friends after.
RAMBIN: Yeah. This isn't just any war movie; this is a post-apocalyptic, very stylized, very specific imaginary world. We're going to have to all create that. It's very futuristic, high-tech, a lot of CGI, a lot of special effects, so we'll have to know each other very well to pull that kind of thing off.
SYMONDS: If you had to single out one thing that you are most excited about and one thing you are most nervous about, what would you say they are?
RAMBIN: I'm most excited about the magnitude of the movie. It's not just any movie, it's my favorite book being a movie, and a huge one at that. I'm excited to be a part of something so much bigger than myself. You dream of this thing when you are a little girl, and you say, "Oh, I want to be an actress and on the big screen doing something really cool with other really talented people." This is kind of that moment where I'm like, "Wow—that little-girl dream of what I thought an actress would be has been a lot of work, but it's come true." I think that is the most exciting part. I have to pinch myself every day, being like, "OK, this is real."
SYMONDS: What are you most nervous for?
RAMBIN: I am most nervous about—oh man, I'm pretty nervous! [laughs] About, I guess, being able to act with these really great talents, and holding my own. And trying to want to kill Jennifer Lawrence—being able to intimidate her, because she is a very strong actress, and to go up against her, go head-to-head with her, is kind of nerve-racking. I admire her, and hopefully, I'm sure we'll get along. Yeah—I'm just nervous to have this big opportunity, and I hope I don't blow it!


text:
Note: All information posted here was gleaned from the Indeed.com job listing. Please contact original recruiter with questions or to apply.
A career at Leafly combines the excitement of a start-up, the social purpose of a non-profit, and the growth opportunities of a corporation.
Leafly salaries and benefit packages are very competitive, the office perks are excellent, and we promise that you'll never be bored.
If you have what it takes, you'll be joining a global network of innovative, passionate individuals on a revolutionary mission to change the world for the better.
What We Are Looking For In This Role
Our Leafly HR team is looking for a sourcing saavy Sr. Tech Recruiter, that is passionate about the candidate experience, to join our fast growing team!
You will partner with and support our Technology org and are comfortable working in a fast paced ever changing environment.
Here are a few of your day to day responsibilities:
- Create extensive pipelines and recruitment strategies and utilizing creative recruiting sources and techniques (job boards, boolean strings, social media, professional networking, cold-calling, career fairs, etc.)
- Proactively work with hiring managers and hiring teams to fill open positions in a timely manner
- Lead candidate debrief discussions and help interviewing teams reach the best final hiring decision.
- Taking candidates through the full recruitment cycle
- Cultivating recruiting sources and contacts within local community
- Maintaining candidate activity in the recruiting system and other tracking documents
- Performing administrative recruiting functions in collaboration with recruiting coordinator as needed (reports, job postings, reference checks, offer letters, etc.)
- Partnering with the Manager, Talent Acquisition & Culture on recruiting projects
- Minimum 5 years of full life-cycle technical recruiting experience with a focus on hiring engineering talent
- Proven ability to identify and recruit talent in a fast-paced environment
- Proven success utilizing creative sourcing methods to generate candidate pipelines within aggressive timeframes
- Demonstrated strength in juggling competing priorities and moving forward in ambiguous situations
- Familiarity with HR databases and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
The job description is representative of typical duties and responsibilities for the position and is not all-inclusive.
Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned in accordance with business needs.
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A background check will be conducted after a conditional offer of employment is extended.
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