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A look at America’s dire need for medical examiners
Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityMedical examiners' offices work closely with law enforcement agencies to assist in death investigations and help uncover crimes. Autopsies play a significant role in law and order, and thousands of autopsies are performed each year. But the strains on examiners have been rising with no solution in sight, leading to delayed medical examinations, slow response times, and overdue toxicology tests. Metropolises like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York are overburdened, but the crisis is now affecting smaller cities as well.
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Pandemic omni-crisis shows off the hypocrisy of ‘emergency aid’
Michelle R. Matisons Civil & GovernmentReal and imagined variations of scarcity, which are constantly lived as reality by working-class and under/unemployed people, panics Wall Street and boardrooms — closing down classrooms, offices, ticket counters, and assembly lines. Layoffs, free time from work, remote work from home, self-quarantining, sheltering in place, and lockdown status are all realities now, and a battle for grocery and drug store goods ensues, while movie theatres, sports arenas, churches, and restaurants are closed and even the presidential election is an uncertainty.
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Coronavirus social distancing clashes with confinement conditions
Michelle R. Matisons Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityWhile free people rush about getting errands done, like procuring increasingly rare toilet paper rolls and hand sanitizer, confined people are physically separated from the rest of society by design, placing them in an extremely vulnerable position as the coronavirus pandemic’s scope widens. Some U.S. corrections facilities have responded by instituting mass lockdowns, like large-scale quarantines, while others are letting people out early — especially nonviolent offenders.
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Telehealth used in an attempt to curb coronavirus
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareAs the pandemic that is the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) grows, telehealth technology is finding its footing as people become more concerned about their level of exposure to the virus and as health systems expect to be overwhelmed with treating those affected. President Donald Trump recently signed an $8.3 billion package that, in part, allows Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to waive Medicare telehealth payment restrictions during the coronavirus emergency.
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Shrinking forces lead to innovative recruitment strategies
Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityLaw enforcement agencies across the United States are facing a recruitment crisis. There has reportedly been a 40-50% drop in applications, something that could spell trouble for our safety. According to a Police Executive Research Forum report, attraction and retention are both a problem. There are now fewer applicants interested in joining the force and more people leaving the profession within a few years on the job. 86 percent of police chiefs reported a shortage of sworn officers, revealing the glaring problem.
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Opportunity zone developments spread despite being under investigation
Michelle R. Matisons Construction & Building MaterialsOpportunity zones provide tax breaks for real estate developers who invest in low-income communities. Yet, numerous examples of opportunity zone (OZ) investments ignore the supposed original spirit supporting low-income, affordable housing. Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate criticize existing code, but disagree whether or not this is another ruling class machination to increase wealth. Some kind of opportunity zone reform seems inevitable in coming months as the Treasury Department’s inspector general investigates the program.
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Infographic: The real reasons behind internet censorship around the world
Daniel Markuson Science & TechnologyFor millions around the world, internet outages have become the norm. For example, the Iranian government recently shut off the internet for nearly all of its population of more than 80 million. The authorities say this was done to silence protests over rising gasoline prices. But sometimes official motives for switching off the internet may be different from the actual ones. The infographic in this article takes a look at the countries with the heaviest internet censorship. It also lists their motives for cutting down access to global websites.
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Understanding sexual harassment: Why isn’t it obvious?
Sarah Beaulieu Business Management, Services & Risk Management"Shouldn’t this stuff be obvious to people?" At a recent kickoff meeting for a company-wide sexual harassment training, a CEO expressed frustration that he had to explain — and keep explaining — the basics of sexual harassment to his employees. Though I didn't mean to, I laughed, and then noted that he probably had more experience understanding behavior, boundaries, and relationships than the average employee. When organizations fail to recognize that people have various levels of experience with sexual harassment, they approach training through a one-size-fits-all lens.
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North American cannabis industry set to undergo a period of consolidation…
Bambi Majumdar Retail2018 saw myriad acquisitions in the cannabis industry, which slowed down somewhat last year. 2020 will likely be the year of consolidation. Investor euphoria from 2018 and early 2019 has led to current travails for both the emerging Canadian and U.S. marijuana industries. Some have likened this period to the internet boom of the early 2000s and the inevitable growing pains of a new industry. In Canada, legal retailers face a continued robust and lower-priced illegal cannabis market. The U.S., on the other hand, has suffered from oversupply and a lack of regulation, which have driven down prices.
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Report: Healthcare hacks continue to skyrocket
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareHealthcare data breaches continue to be a significant problem for patients and organizations. In 2019, more than 41 million patient records were breached, as per the findings of a report from Protenus and DataBreaches.net. Additionally, based on these reported findings, the number of hacks nearly tripled from the year prior when 15 million patient records were affected by breach incidents. Protenus analyzed data breach incidents disclosed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and/or the media during 2019.
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