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What's not to like about telework? Blurring the boundaries between work and personal life increases stress and sleep disruption in remote workers


RT
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 18:29 UTC
telework, remote workers
© Jenny Norquist / www.globallookpress.com
No aggravating commute, no annoying office mates. What's not to like about telework? Higher levels of stress and sleep disruption compared to office workers, according to a United Nations labor study.

For its newly-released report,"Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work," the UN International Labour Organization gathered data from 15 nations regarding the impact of technological advancement that has allowed increasingly more laborers to work remotely.

Thanks to "expanding use of digital technologies," telework can increase productivity, offer more flexibility and allow laborers to avoid commuting to an office, among other benefits, the UN report said.

However, remote-worker data analyzed by the UN found that working from home or working from various locations away from a fixed office can also often lead to "longer working hours, higher work intensity and work-home interference."
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Brick Wall

Lawsuit filed against California city over chain-link fences at homeless camp; cut off from water, food, medical care

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 19:02 UTC
Homeless woman near fence at Santa Ana homeless encampment
© Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG
The City of Santa Ana has come up with an innovative and despotic way of keeping their homeless population in check — imprison them. The city is now party to a federal lawsuit over unreasonable seizure, false imprisonment, and due process violations.

Heading up the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Diehl, who has lived at the encampment for three years, is the ACLU of Southern California. The lawsuit demands the immediate removal of the 6-foot-tall chain-link fences penning in 75-100 people and their belongings.

"Defendants' actions have not only illegally restricted the liberty of the homeless people living in the encampment, but it has also cut them off from access to food, water, and medical care thus threatening their health and well-being," the lawsuit states.

According to Courthouse News:
Diehl was shot in the head at a Tustin convenience store in 2009. He lost his right eye and doctors were unable to remove the bullet from his head. He takes medication every day to control seizures that have become more frequent with the increased presence of authorities at the encampment, he says in the complaint.
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Network

Microsoft calls for 'Digital Geneva Convention' to protect civilians against cyber attacks


RT
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 12:21 UTC
Microsoft
© Mal Langsdon / Reuters
Microsoft President Brad Smith says tech companies should remain neutral during international conflicts and has called for a 'Digital Geneva Convention' to establish rules for cyber attacks aimed at civilians.

Smith was speaking at the RSA conference in San Francisco, one of the world's largest cybersecurity events with 45,000 security professionals attending every year, according to RSA, an encryption and security network company.

In his speech, Smith noted the growth of cybercrime for financial gain, as well as the proliferation of state-sponsored cyber attacks. He said a 'Digital Geneva Convention' would "commit governments to protecting civilians from nation-state attacks in times of peace."

"We need to make clear that there are certain principles for which we stand, that we will assist and protect customers everywhere. We will not aid in attacking customers anywhere, regardless of the government that may ask us to do so," Smith said, according to USA Today.

Comment: See also: Tech companies fight for data privacy as US government seeks broader snooping powers

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Megaphone

California college bans recording 'without permission' after student exposes professor's anti-Trump rant

Victor Skinner
EAG News
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 18:34 UTC
Video and/or audio recording prohibited sign
© Matt Masin, Orange County Register/SCNG
An Orange Coast College student who exposed his professor's anti-Trump screed during a sociology class is now suspended from the California school for two terms.

Community college officials contend student Caleb O'Neil violated school policy against recordings on campus without the person's knowledge when he recorded professor Olga Perez Stable Cox's anti-Trump tirade in a human sexuality class following presidential election, The Orange County Register reports.

The recording, posted online by three members of the College Republicans after school officials refused to take action, featured the 66-year-old gay Latina instructor explaining how Trump's win equates to an "act of terrorism. We have been assaulted. It's an act of terrorism," Stable Cox said. "One of the most frightening things for me, and most people in my life, is that the people who are leading the assault are among us."

Stable Cox referred to Trump as a "white supremacist" and Vice President Mike Pence as "one of the most anti-gay humans in this country," according to the Daily Pilot.

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Arrow Down

The age of human-animal hybrid chimeras has begun

Michael Snyder
End Of The American Dream
Tue, 14 Feb 2017 17:47 UTC
Hybrid
© YouTube Screen Capture
Human-animal mutant creatures make for great material for science fiction writers, but we aren't supposed to be creating them in the real world. In so many ways, the technological advancements that we have made as a society are outpacing our ability to handle those advancements, and this field is certainly a glaring example of that reality. Just because we can create human-animal hybrid chimeras does not mean that we should. Genetic modification is a particularly dangerous science, because we are literally tinkering with the future of our planet. And when it comes to humans and animals, those are two things that definitely should not mix. Unfortunately, they are being mixed, and this could have enormous implications as our society plunges into a very uncertain future.

During all of the chaos surrounding the 2016 presidential election, a stunning announcement by the National Institutes of Health went unnoticed by almost everyone. The following comes from a Huffington Post article entitled "The Island of Dr. Moreau For Real"...
In August 2016, the National Institutes of Health announced that it was lifting its ban on research that introduces stem cells from humans into animal embryos. Stem cells have the ability to evolve into any human cell and can grow into any human tissue. The goal of this type of research is to grow human tissues and eventually human replacement organs in animals. What an innovative way to improve upon transplantation medicine! But to realize this potential, we would create an organism that is part animal and part human! These hybrids are the stuff of ancient mythology. These mixtures of different animals are called chimeras after the mythical ancient Greek creature that was part lion, snake and goat. One goal of today's research is to produce tissues and organs for experimentation that will improve our understanding of human disease. An alternative and longer term goal would be to produce organs directly for human transplantation. Imagine an infinite source of human organs - one wears out and you produce a new one as a replacement.
When human stem cells are introduced into an animal embryo, that creature becomes part human.

So does a part-human creature have rights?

If so, how do those rights differ from those of a full human?
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X

'Adolf, Germany needs you!' AfD investigates regional leader over Hitler posts on WhatsApp


RT
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 17:28 UTC
Adolf Hitler
© HEINRICH HOFFMANN / AFP
An Alternative for Germany (AfD) parliamentary hopeful has shared a photo of Hitler with the words "Missed since 1945." The scandal comes days after another senior member called Berlin's Holocaust Memorial "a monument of shame."

Elena Roon, a chairwoman and a parliamentary candidate in the Nuremberg area, shared the image of Adolf Hitler among fellow members in a closed WhatsApp group, local media reported.

The photo came alongside the captions: "Missed since 1945 ... Adolf, please get in touch! Germany needs you! The German people!" In another photo of the Fuhrer sent by Roon on the messenger, Hitler is portrayed ruffling his hair, saying "Islamists... I forgot them!"
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Eye 1

Tracking employees via biometric badges is a growing trend in the enterprise

Scott Carey
Computerworld UK
Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:11 UTC
biometric badges
© iStock Photo: Shironosov
From company issued Fitbits to staff ID badges equipped with microphones, the field of employee biometrics has developed a great deal over the past few years.

While many companies track workforce data, this has traditionally been basic HR information like headcount, succession plans and competencies. Now, with wearable biometric technology companies can start to dig a lot deeper into how their staff operate on a day-to-day basis.

Naturally the first thing that comes to mind when discussing this subject is the "creep" factor around your employer knowing not just where you are during the day but the possibility of cross-referencing it to your state of health at the time. So could your boss connect a heavy Thursday night to late attendance on Friday morning?
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Red Flag

Lone British charity that offers treatment to pedophiles facing closure over lack of funding

Mary Baines
RT
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 16:56 UTC
stop
© Michaela Begsteiger / Global Look Press
Jack Dawson was a teenager when he realized he was attracted to young boys. His fantasies led him to seriously self-harm.

Dawson, who uses a pseudonym to tell his story, says he has never offended against a child - directly or indirectly through child pornography. Between 1972 and 1975, he underwent intense National Health Service (NHS) psychoanalytic psychotherapy for his pedophilia, which he says resulted in complete cure.

Due to stigma, it is difficult to know how many pedophiles there are in Britain. The National Crime Agency in 2015, however, estimated up to 750,000 men are interested in having sex with children. That implies that as many as one in every 35 adult males is on the pedophile spectrum.

Despite this, Britain's only nationwide agency tasked with offering treatment to pedophiles before they become child molesters, the Specialist Treatment Organisation for the Prevention of Sexual Offending, known as StopSO, could close next month due to a lack of funding.

The current shortage of treatment options for non-offending pedophiles is "absolutely appalling," according to Dawson, who believes there should be a "major social effort" to help pedophiles before they ever act on their urges.

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Gear

Witch hunt: 'Did you hack Pentagon, FBI or CIA?' Russian programmer arrested, kept clueless about charges


RT
Tue, 14 Feb 2017 23:33 UTC
Password to hysteria
© Pawel Kopczynski / Reuters
A Russian programmer who was taken into custody at the behest of US authorities in Spain last month has told RT he still hasn't been told of the exact nature of his alleged crimes, while his wife claims his detention is "almost certainly politically-motivated."

"My conditions are fine, I am being satisfactorily fed, and have access to my legal team, but there is no information about the charges, so we are waiting for the US to make a statement," Stanislav Lisov said to RT by phone from Martorell, a town near Barcelona, where he is being held.

The FBI claims that Lisov, 31, is the creator and administrator of NeverQuest, a banking trojan that has defrauded thousands of people, allegedly to the tune of $5 million.

The US agency, which obtained an Interpol arrest warrant, said it has been investigating the suspect since 2014 and is now demanding his extradition.

Comment: Lisov is guilty of course: Guilty of being a hapless Russian programmer, an easy target and existing in the hysterical Western climate of political witch hunts that will stop at nothing to demonize Russia.

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Handcuffs

Michigan prisoners face an extra 5 yrs for throwing bodily fluids at guards


RT
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 12:24 UTC
Prison
© Stephen Lam / Reuters
Inmates at Michigan jails will soon be seeing a new sign around their facilities warning them that throwing bodily fluids at working guards is a felony punishable by an additional five years behind bars.

The Officer Dignity Initiative will take effect this month and will add five years to the sentence of any inmate that throws food, urine, blood, feces, spit or other bodily fluids at a guard. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the corrections officers' union, the Department of Corrections, the Michigan State Police and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, according to USA Today.

Comment: See also:

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