Water and wildlife in the nation's public forests are slowly being poisoned by insecticides and other chemicals used in illegal marijuana operations, say forest police and researchers. They warn that the potential environmental damage could last generations. Many of the grows are the work of highly organized drug cartels that take advantage of the forests' thick canopy to help hide their operations. Some sites go undetected for years. "The true crime here is the fact that they're killing off basically America's public lands, killing off the wildlife, killing off our water," says Kevin Mayer, a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement assistant special agent in charge. "This is stuff that, you know, it's not gonna repair itself." Now, an unlikely coalition in California — including environmentalists, law enforcement agents, politicians, wildlife ecologists and representatives of the legal cannabis industry — have joined forces to try to reduce these illegal operations and the environmental

Updated Nov. 12, 5:25 p.m. ET While the number of reported hate crimes dipped slightly in 2018, violence against individuals rose to a 16-year high, according to numbers released Tuesday by the FBI. The FBI's annual tally counted 7,120 hate crimes reported last year, 55 fewer than the year before. The main concern for extremism trackers, however, is the rising level of violence — the report showed an increase in the number of "crimes against persons," such as intimidation, assault and homicide. "We're seeing a leaner and meaner type of hate crime going on," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino. "Homicides were up and crimes against persons were up and that's an important thing to look at." Hate crimes targeting people accounted for 61% of all hate crimes in 2018, according to Levin, who is co-author of a report released Tuesday that analyzes law enforcement data. The FBI recorded 24 murders classified

St. Louis' first black prosecutor, Kim Gardner, has sued the city, its police union and five others for what she calls a racist effort to block her reform agenda. "Gardner was elected in 2016 on a promise to redress the scourge of historical inequality and rebuild trust in the criminal justice system among communities of color," reads the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court. "Unfortunately, entrenched interests in St. Louis ... have mobilized to thwart these efforts through a broad campaign of collusive conduct" to protect the status quo and remove Gardner from office. Jacob Long, a spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson, said the city "vehemently denied what it considers to be meritless allegations levied against it" and expected to be "fully vindicated." Jeff Roorda, a police union official named in the suit, called it "the last act of a desperate woman." The suit has its roots in the 2018 prosecution of then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. Gardner hired an outside investigator to look into

Cybercrime is booming, and victims are often at a loss about where to get help. In theory, Americans should report the crimes to the FBI, via its Internet Crime Complaint Center . In practice, the feds get hundreds of thousands of complaints a year, and have to focus on the biggest cases. But the other option, calling the police, can seem even less promising. "They didn't even respond," says Gregg Bennett, whose loss of 100 Bitcoin was described in an earlier NPR story about SIM-swap scams . He says he called his city's police department soon after discovering the theft, but concluded it was a dead end. "They have no ability to look up something like this," Bennett says. "It certainly is not local — this is not a local issue." It's conventional wisdom that cybercrime is too technical and too international for local police to handle. But as daily life becomes more digital, so does everyday crime, and some police say they can no longer avoid wading into the world of phone spoofers,

Uber is testing a new feature in California that allows some drivers to set their own rates. The move comes in response to a new state law that requires more companies to convert their contract workers to employees, which means offering them benefits and added protections. Companies including Uber, Lyft and delivery app Postmates argue that doing so would upend their business model and eliminate the flexibility inherent to the gig economy. Uber is currently testing a feature at airports in Sacramento, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara that allows drivers to increase fares in 10% increments, up to five times the base rate. Riders are then matched with the lowest fare. In the coming days, Uber says it will also allow drivers to decrease their prices below the base rate and opt out of surge pricing. It's part of an effort to give drivers more control — and bolster the argument that they're truly contractors rather than employees. The company acknowledges the experiment could have unexpected

A powerful Senate Democrat is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Zoom for deceptive practices, adding to the growing chorus of concerns over the popular video chat software's privacy and security flaws . Several state attorneys general are also probing Zoom, after users, including government officials, reported harassment, known as "Zoombombing," on the platform. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the ranking member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter Friday to the FTC. In the letter , obtained by NPR, Brown said Zoom had made "deceptive" claims to users that their communications would remain private. Brown said Zoom incorrectly suggested its service offered end-to-end data encryption, which means that communications couldn't be accessed by anyone other than the sender and the recipient at any point. Zoom walked back on Wednesday its claim of end-to-end encryption. In a statement, it said, "While we never intended to deceive any of our customers, we

Indian police have the unenviable task of enforcing the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown . But last weekend, they handed down a punishment more common in a middle-school classroom than a police station. Ten foreign tourists caught flouting India's coronavirus restrictions Saturday were made to write the phrase "I did not follow the rules of lockdown. I am very sorry" 500 times and submit the paper to police. The incident happened at a sandy beach along the Ganges River near Rishikesh, a tourist hub in northern India famous for yoga retreats and hippie hangouts. It's where the Beatles made a spiritual pilgrimage in 1968. An officer who answered the phone Monday at the Muni Ki Reti police station near Rishikesh confirmed details to NPR, but declined an interview. The tourists were reportedly from Israel, Mexico, Australia and Austria, and were walking along the river when Indian police intervened. Under India's lockdown, all nonessential outings are banned. Video shared online by

Der Türkei macht der erneute Absturz der Lira zu schaffen. Für einen Euro wurde am Dienstag zeitweise bis zu 7,62 Lira gezahlt. Das Land war bereits zuvor finanzwirtschaftlich angeschlagen - wegen politischen Streits zwischen der Türkei und den USA.

Die EZB justiert bei den bisherigen Hilfen nach, verzichtet aber auf grundlegend neue Maßnahmen – trotz eines „beispiellosen Schrumpfens der Wirtschaft“, sagte EZB-Chefin Lagarde. Neu ist ab Mai ein Programm für Banken.

Gerade Anlegern bietet die epochale Pandemie einmalige Chancen: Sie können sich neu am Markt positionieren. Dafür müssen Sie nicht mal einzelne Aktien kaufen. ETFs spielen die Rendite von allein ein. Diese neun Indexfonds bieten die besten Chancen.

Zehntausende Eigentümerversammlungen fallen zurzeit aus. Denn Wohnungsbesitzer dürfen sich derzeit weder real noch online treffen. Viele Reparaturen bleiben deshalb liegen. Doch in der Krise werden die Regeln für Eigentümer neu definiert.

Bürger müssen sich nicht nur das Virus vom Leib halten, sondern auch die vielen Betrüger, die jetzt an ihr Geld wollen. Wie Kriminelle die Lage ausnutzen – und wie Sie sich dagegen wappnen können.

Seit zwei Monaten sind die Mieten in Berlin eingefroren. Während sich Mieter über die staatlich festgelegten Preise freuen, sind Vermieter sauer und fahren Investitionen zurück. Ob das Gesetz überhaupt gelten darf, wird nun in Karlsruhe geprüft.

Fiddle debut! Sorry for the cat scratches A couple of tunes - "Elkins" by Jerry Holland, followed by "Dorrigo" by George Jackson

I've been working on a musical collaboration with a fellow musician friend of mine during these crazy coronavirus times, in hopes of generating something fun and creative while we have all this spare time not working or gigging. Here's the second song from that collaboration.

A psychedelic synthpop meditation on dreams, the romance of travel, the uncanny desert night, and technology approaching obsolescence. If Tears For Fears collaborated with 1970-era Steve Reich, you might get something like this. Based on a painting by Georgy Nissky and a time-lapse video of two vintage railroad semaphores in the New Mexico desert. LYRICS Somewhere over Santa Fe Atmospheric ocean Wheeled above our dreaming heads Hypnotized in motion Signals in your lover's eye Sleeping at the junction Silhouetted in the sky Solemn semaphores sit Winking out their last goodbye Frozen into caution Dreamt I was a satellite Falling out of orbit Rolling in the silver light Like a lonely gauntlet Winking over Wagon Mound And the pines of Carson No more lunar lullaby Did I see their arms lift As I broke up on the tracks? P.S.: I've started releasing free albums of new material every month, and this is on the newest one. Grab and enjoy.

Allein auf großer Fahrt – darauf freuen sich bundesweit Millionen Schüler und Azubis. Zu Jahresbeginn registrierten Kinder- und Jugendreiseveranstalter Buchungszuwächse – und trotz Corona-Krise gibt es kaum Stornierungen.

Vor zehn Jahren galt Adelaide noch als langweilig. Doch längst herrscht Aufbruchsstimmung in Südaustraliens größter Stadt. Eine wachsende Kreativszene, coole Läden und günstige Mieten ziehen viele junge Menschen an.

Zunächst sah sich unser Autor auf seiner Weltreise durch die Pandemie kaum beeinträchtigt. Doch irgendwann bekam auch er Angst. Denn mancherorts in Asien gibt es Tipps gegen das Coronavirus, die kaum beruhigen.

Im Interview mit WELT verteidigt Außenminister Heiko Maas die Entscheidung für eine Verlängerung der weltweiten Reisewarnung bis 14. Juni. Auch wenn eine Reisewarnung kein Reiseverbot sei, werde die Bundesregierung weitere Rückholaktionen im Sommer nicht wiederholen, so Maas.

Einsame Wanderpfade, Schäfertradition und archaisch anmutende Feste: In der Serra da Estrela erleben Reisende ein Portugal, das woanders längst verschwunden ist. Man sollte sich das für die Zeit nach den Reisebeschränkungen merken.

Das Fotografen-Ehepaar Antonia und Alexander Feig liebt Mallorca seit über 20 Jahren. Statt klassischer Postkartenmotive zeigen sie episch anmutende Landschaftsaufnahmen, puristische Street-Fotografie und Porträts Einheimischer.

Als Reiseziel wird Deutschland dieses Jahr so gefragt sein wie nie. Interessant sind gerade dann Orte, die noch nicht überlaufen sind. Im ersten Teil unserer neuen Serie stellen wir fünf Städte im Norden des Landes vor.

Rory PQ explains what Binaural Recordings are and demonstrates how to use Logic Pro's Binaural Panner device to place sounds at different spatial positions.

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The post Logic Pro Tutorial: Binaural Panning appeared first on Dubspot Blog.

Dubspot Radio Podcast revisits an exclusive interview and chill mix selection recorded live by a Dubspot student known as J.Pennyworth.

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The post Dubspot Radio Rewind: J.Pennyworth + Exclusive Interview appeared first on Dubspot Blog.

Multitalented musician Michael Emenau examines some of the benefits and pitfalls of using musical scales and offers some creative practices for using them.

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The post Music Theory Tutorial: Working with Scales appeared first on Dubspot Blog.

'Excellence must always be a goal in worship. Praises must come from the heart and be expressed in the best way so that people will be spiritually uplifted. Striving to achieve a balance between joy and reverence is crucial for adoring, praising, and worshiping our Creator.'

'With the coming of the Son of Man, God’s dominion is restored to those to whom it properly belongs. What Adam lost in the garden, the Son of Man recovers in the heavenly judgment.'

'How often do you think about just how closely tied heaven and earth are? How might you live differently if you always kept this truth alive in your heart and mind?'

'How can we draw comfort from knowing that, in the end, God and His people will be victorious?'

'This week we will look at some foundational aspects of the origin and nature of the Bible that should impact our interpretation and understanding of it.'

'How do we distinguish between the Word of God and human tradition? Why is it so important that we make this distinction?'

I was thinking about making an fpp about how Whole Foods is using a "heat map" of factors to try and prevent unionization. The article is behind a paywall at Business Insider I read it on an archive site. Is there a way to make post that people can read ethically?

Happy birthday to the guy who probably worries more than most about keeping the lights on in this sometimes only bright corner of the internets!

It is May 8th and time for the latest check-in thread. As previously ([4][3][2][1])) this is for actual news, updates, personal experiences, and more mutual support from and to people dealing with this virus in their daily lives. All hail the mods for continuing to provide this sanctuary for us, and good health to readers and commenters alike. How is one doing?

My work has been doing mandatory, camera-on videoconference "socials" every Friday -- scheduled at 4pm just to twist the knife. I hate them so much and finally told my manager I'm not going to attend anymore. People seem to think that because we're working from home, they're free to push on the boundaries between work life and private life in a way that is super uncomfortable for me and it has definitely been adding to my COVID stress in isolation.

If you're so ignorant that you think any promotion involving a gun on the streets in this day and age is appropriate you are a fucking idiot and detainment is the least of your worries.

This is the sort of mentality that leads to minority kids getting killed for having the temerity to play with toy guns.

I have a health condition with a high mortality rate, where about one quarter of us die within the first year, and two-thirds of us don't last five years. I'm on Year 4 now and I'm doing okay, and I'm thankful to be receiving excellent care, and I'm generally optimistic that I'll get to stick around for a while.

Ramping up to my diagnosis, I thought my life was over. And that was both utterly untrue and completely true at the same time. You can't really know what it's like until you have the actual diagnosis, and even then it's been a world of surprises. You may or may not be able to do some of the things you would like to do.

For me to deal with it in a healthy way, I kind of had to create a hard line in the sand. I had to take time to grieve the person I'd been before falling ill, take stock of my accomplishments, and most importantly, I had to REALIZE MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS WERE ENOUGH for my lifetime. If I'd been hit by a bus, my life would have been over in a snap, and whatever I'd accomplished by that point would have had to be enough. Taking that pressure off myself was the kindest thing I could do for myself.

I found I had to let a lot of things go and not compare Previous Me to Sick Me. Previous Me was active, enjoyed travel, able to hold down complex and interesting work. Sick Me can't do much of that, but Sick Me does pretty okay for a sick person, and Sick Me does so much more than Dead Me could possibly do! Seriously, compared to Dead Me, Sick Me is a total winner. Sick Me can do a little modest gardening, enough to keep the weeds away. Sick Me can care for my dog and handle the occasional load of laundry. Sick Me finds a lot of joy in my friends and family and internet communities, and has transferred my social life to text, email, and the occasional dining out when the stars align and energy allows. (Metafilter is a lifesaver because I can pick it up whenever my energy level allows and people are so welcoming and understanding.)

As you're waiting for news, it's easy to fall to worry. Please be kind to yourself and don't suffer those fears and losses before you need to. Right now, you are there for your children. Don't put yourself through the punishment of losing them multiple times unnecessarily. And don't say you won't ever get to do a painting class -- I took my first painting class last fall and it was a boon to my soul and it renewed my capacity for beauty.

In the meantime, take as much control of the situation as you need to. Write down a list of questions to review with your doctors. (I've actually typed them out and distributed copies for them to follow along.) You can google, and it's hard not to, but please never tell a doctor that your questions or concerns are coming from google. Also, do not call yourself a hypochondriac -- what you are feeling is what you are feeling, and your concerns are valid and deserving of respect.

Waiting is hard. Please be extra kind to yourself.

"fascinating, and I'm going to assume it's not hoax. But it doesn't so much raise my impression of the inherent decency of humanity as get me wondering what sort of values etc they were propagating at that exclusive school in Tonga."

This is actually pretty well-studied -- I have a friend who did a Ph.D. in the total collapse of local civil authority and what happens next -- and Lord of the Flies is flat wrong. Humans in an emergency situation lean on each other and help each other. If they fall into despair and think survival isn't possible, they might destroy themselves -- but they don't (usually) take others with them. But generally they pool resources, create organization, find ways to help the group, and find ways to care for the helpless and infirm. People get really frustrated when they're NOT able to assist the group, and even people who have very limited physical abilities try to find ways to help, maybe keeping an eye on the little children, or teaching kids to read.

"Because by the time I read Lord of the Flies in Grade Nine or thereabouts, I'd experienced enough suburban schoolyard/playground savagery and whatnot to not really find its extrapolations all that unbelievable."

So part of the problem with children and schoolyard savagery is that we keep them in a HUGELY artificial structure and limit their ability to participate in society and contribute to it. We MAKE them savages by refusing to allow them to contribute to the group. One of the things we know about children who find themselves without adults and with a need to organize and survive (which might be like these boys, in an actual hardcore survival situation, or they might have plenty of food and water and heat and just need to wait for the blizzard to end and grown-ups to fetch them from where they got snowed in) is that they are amazing at it. Given a chance to be competent and responsible, they usually do really really well! And children have a HUGE innate sense of fairness (it's a developmental phase), so kids under 14 or so basically IMMEDIATELY sit down as a group and hash out how they're going to make decisions and hold people accountable. Generally, they decide on a democracy -- it's not "fair" unless everyone has a say -- and that everyone will have to take turns at gross jobs, and create some kind of punishment for those who don't do their work, which is usually either an extra turn at gross jobs or having to sleep in the worst spot (where they otherwise take turns). They tend to be very conscious of what they know about safety (problems come in with what they DON'T know, like not using a grill indoors for heat b/c you can die from the smoke), and cautiously warn each other to be careful cooking and with sharp objects, and take care to learn from each other's knowledge. If one kid knows how to build a fire, the others will defer to his expertise and will have him teach them and follow his instructions carefully.

Kids do CRY a lot more than adults do, and they get their feelings hurt a lot, but kids are also very conscious of and used to the fact that you can't just avoid people or cut them out of your life (kids don't have that power), so they tend to do a really good job reconciling in-group disputes. They might not all LIKE each other, but they find a way to work together and just complain about each other.

Do you remember that reality show that was meant to be "Kid Survivor" and they hoped it would turn into Lord of the Flies, and it was a SPECTACULAR FLOP? The producers had set up better and worse "houses" in the "abandoned town" set and expected the kids to race for a free-for-all to get the best stuff, and instead they arrived, explored, and then all sat down and made a group decision about how to divide it all up. A couple kids tried to be selfish and stubborn, but got shamed into compliance by the rest of the group, and one of their first concerns was that the littlest kids be buddied up with older kids because it would be too hard for them otherwise "and they might get scared." They agreed on a decision-making procedure the first night and basically stuck to it through the show. When one kid was a jerk, they would all go sit around the campfire and talk and talk and talk until the jerk agreed to stop being a jerk. The producers would create survivor-like challenges where the "winner" would get extra food or some special thing, and every single time they kids would either a) refuse, as a group, to compete, because it wouldn't be "fair" or b) agree to compete because it would be fun or because they wanted/needed the reward, but the winner would share his winning equally with the group AND ALWAYS DID.

Margaret Mead said that in her opinion, the first sign of civilization was a 15,000-year-old human grave with a healed thigh bone. Which means that the nomadic group rescued that person, immobilized his femur, and then cared for him for MONTHS while he recovered and could not contribute to the group. Wild animals die if they break a bone. Humans became civilized, she felt, when the group cared for the individual and allowed them to heal from such grievous injuries. Turns out that's still how we roll.

I think a lot of managers don't know how to manage. When you're in an office, they can perform all sorts of work theater. When they're not, they have to find substitutes to prove they're doing something.

Bing - fuckin' - o

One of the things I do professionally is to help organisations move to flexible and remote working (yes, business is great right now) and the hardest thing is always the cultural and performance management aspects. Many/most managers have never had any training in - nor done any serious thinking about - management. They're like newborns with no object permanence, when things are not in their field of view, they don't exist. When you ask them to evaluate their staff, they give vague answers not backed up by evidence or linked to specific objectives.

It's not that hard. Assign people tasks, check that they have completed them correctly, give feedback. I don't care how much time my team spends wanking, watching prestige television, or reading during the day as long as they deliver me the stuff I've asked for when I've asked for it. I'm genuinely curious what kind of jobs even exist that can be done remotely but are not amenable to an output based way of working. Seriously, name one!

This kind of stuff makes me want to start putting people against the wall.

Hire good people; review their work; correct errors.

This is the "eat food, not too much, mostly plants" of modern management.

"It's silly to say, 'I just trust them all,' and close my eyes and hope for the best," he said. Some workers have grimaced at the surveillance, he added, but most should have nothing to hide: "If you're uncomfortable with me confirming the obvious [about your work], what does that say about your motives?"

Actually, not being able to provide your employees with the least amount of autonomy marks you as a shitty (and ineffective; how much work are YOU getting done if you are spying on your team constantly?) manager.

Hire good people; review their work; correct errors. That is your job as manager (along with putting out fires, managing interpersonal issues, and administrative tasks).

People also respond positively to trust and productivity goes up (as well as problem-solving ability).

Mistrust means people do the minimum, stop caring about their job except as revenue generation, and leave as soon as they can. They certainly won't take initiative, why bother? Clearly their boss/company sees them as ungrateful jerks just itching to slack off and steal.

How you treat your employees affects how they perform. This is not rocket science.

Now we add some more songs to our essential Georgia playlist from Amy Ray. We ask artists to pick two songs written or performed by another Georgian that best represent the state. Amy Ray is part of the seminal folk group Indigo Girls. The Indigo Girls will return to Atlanta Symphony Hall for a two night performance on Sept. 12 and 13.

What started as a tribute to the greats, has taken on a life all of its own. Yacht Rock Revue harnesses the nostalgic soft rock vibes of the ‘70s and ‘80s, taking the term “tribute band” to a whole new level. Whether on the road, or at their own venue Venkman’s in Atlanta, Yacht Rock Revue take their audiences on a voyage to sounds of the past. Singer Nick Niespodziani joined On Second Thought to add a couple of songs to the Georgia Playlist , our tribute to songs written and performed by Georgians. Niespodziani chose “Moonlight Feels Right” by Starbuck and Washed Out’s “Eyes Be Closed.”

Now we add some more songs to our essential Georgia playlist from Avery Gipson . We ask artists to pick two songs written or performed by another Georgian that best represent the state. At 18 years old, Avery Gipson is already an award-winning singer-songwriter. Her first single , “Look What You’ve Done,” came out earlier this year.

Mac Powell is an Atlanta-based multi-platinum Grammy-winning artist. His band, Mac Powell and the Family Reunion , recently released their new single, Back Again. Mac and the Family Reunion are now on tour, performing songs from the debut album, Back Again . Before his Atlanta performance, Powell added two songs to our Georgia Playlist.

Jontavious Willis got his start singing gospel in his hometown of Greenville, Georgia, but something clicked inside him when he heard the blues. His second album, Spectacular Class, came out earlier this year. Critics and blues artists hailed it and declared him a wunderkind and genius who proves the blues is very much alive.

Shantih Shantih is a four-piece band founded in Atlanta. The band combines rock 'n' roll with harmonies over twanging guitars — heard in their new single, Radio Dream. On Second Thought invited Anna Barattin and Julia Furgiuele from the band to add some tracks to our Georgia Playlist .

Earlier this year, Rolling Stone called Deerhunter, “one of the great guitar bands of the 21st century.” But that’s not the only music to come from the Georgia band. Moses Archuleta is co-founder and drummer for Deerhunter. He also has a solo side project called Moon Diagrams, which released a new album, titled Trappy Bats , in August. We invited Archuleta to add two songs to the Georgia Playlist. That’s our collection of songs written or performed by a Georgian. His picks? Athens band Pylon, and Atlanta native Playboi Carti.

Glenn Jones got his start in the music industry at a young age, signing to gospel label Savoy Records at just 17 years old. Later, his single “Here I Go Again” reached the top of the R&B charts in 1991. Now, Jones is based in Atlanta and releasing new music under his independent label, Talent Room Entertainment. On Second Thought invited Glenn Jones into the studio to share his additions to the Georgia Playlist.