SoylentNews

Ex-Chemist In Massachusetts Was High On Drugs At Work For 8 Years

Nearly every day for eight years, a former chemist in Massachusetts was high on drugs — drugs stolen from the lab where she worked.

An investigation by the state attorney general found that from 2005 to 2013, Sonja Farak, 37, heavily abused various drugs including cocaine, LSD and methamphetamines and even manufactured her own crack cocaine using lab supplies. Though Farak was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to jail in 2014, the findings from the state's investigation into the scope of her misconduct were just released Tuesday.

During her career as a chemist, Farak worked for two years at the Hinton Lab in Jamaica Plain, Mass., and then for nine years at the state drug lab in Amherst, Mass. According to the attorney general's report, "her responsibilities involved testing, for authenticity, various controlled substances submitted by law enforcement agencies" and testifying "in court as to her test results, which served as evidence in criminal cases."

Applicant Tracking Systems suck, and not just for the dehumanizing data entry process, but for the user interfaces themselves. iCIMS is one of the more popular ones, yet inexplicably has some incredibly unfriendly behavior.

1) iCIMS does not treat the applicant as a service-wide user. So each instance of iCIMs they host requires both a new login account and reentry of all submitter data. So all that nice info that you've meticulously input at Acme's iCIMS portal must be re-input at Beta's iCIMs, etc. Recruiters generally prefer candidates who are working. How does this siloed account system serve those valuable candidates if they have to re-enter all their information each time they apply via iCIMS?

2) To make up for this, iCIMS has LinkedIn integration, but it wants to be a data vacuum:

iCIMS would like to access some of your LinkedIn info:

        YOUR PROFILE OVERVIEW
        YOUR FULL PROFILE
        YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
        YOUR CONNECTIONS
        YOUR CONTACT INFO
        NETWORK UPDATES
        GROUP DISCUSSIONS
        INVITATIONS AND MESSAGES

How does LinkedIn define these options?

Other members won't be able to see any of your profile information that isn't already available when browsing around the website.

With your consent, applications may also take actions on your behalf such as sharing content, sending invitations, and sending messages.

By installing the application, you confirm your acceptance of our User Agreement. You also acknowledge that your use of the application may be subject to the application developer's terms of use and to the application developer's privacy policy.

Some application developers may request permissions to access the following, in order for their applications to function:

• Your Profile Overview - Name, photo, headline, current positions.
• Your Full Profile - Overview above plus experience, education, skills and recommendations.
• Your Email Address - Primary email address you use for your account.
• Your Connections - Your 1st and 2nd degree connections.
• Your Contact Info - Address, phone number, and bound accounts.
• Network Updates - Retrieves and posts updates as you.
• Group Discussions - Retrieves and posts group discussions as you.
• Invitations and Messages - Sends messages and invitations to connect as you.

That's way more than what's required or even asked for via their manual process, but there's no way to limit this data gobbling. If this application posts as the submitter, wouldn't the content posted give a hint that the submitter is job searching? That's a kiss-of-death in some places, and another thing to drive casual, employed candidates away.

3) If you do submit your resume as a file, the results are not shown to you. So however the system mangles the data isn't something you can see or correct! Entire sections of your resume can be eaten by this process and you'll be none-the-wiser. Due to the over-reliance on ATS systems, having a plain resume with no formatting, no tables, and in plain old Microsoft Word .DOC format is essential.

4) iCIMS does not notify you when there is a status change on your application, such as LinkedIn can do. There's no option to enable this either, only to unsubscribe from "mass emails" that I have never seen.

5) The Profile page has a time zone option that is mercifully optional. The full list of entries is 461 items, just in case you're in "Eastern Greenland Summer Time" or "South Georgia Standard Time".

6) At least in the version I used today, there's no option to upload letters of recommendation. There is a text field for the cover letter but no upload option.

For the life of me, i can't seem to get privateinternetaccess to work in archlinux, even with some googlefu

i like archlinux/antergos with i3wm, but have to boot into ubuntu to get pia vpn working.

damn.

will work on it some more, but any help will be welcome.

watching 'monarch of the glen' on smplayer on archlinux/antergos at the moment. Love the mother (hot for her age) and Golly, but a very simplistic show. Gets interesting around serial 4 or so.....

I think i am more of a Duncan than anyone else... my luck sucks, but i am a nice guy.

For TrumpetPower!

Bills sponsored:

H.Res. 423 (105th): Expressing the sense of the House with respect to winning the war on drugs to protect our children.

Source.

Votes and speeches:

(Crime category)

• Speech: Hastert Taps NationaExperts to "Keep Kids Safe in Cyberspace"
• Speech: Speaker Hastert Applauds Passage of the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Conference Report Vote) - S 151 - Enhance AMBER Alert bill - "Vote to adopt the conference report that would combat child crimes, including, but not limited to, enhance the AMBER alert program, provide additional protection for children against sex crimes, and promote stricter sentencing for child pornography and other child sex crime offenders."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 503 - Unborn Victims of Violence Act - "Vote to pass a bill that criminalizes harming an unborn child/fetus while committing any of 68 federal offenses."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 1501 - Juvenile Justice bill - "Vote to pass a bill to provide state and local governments with federal grants to control juvenile crime, improve the juvenile justice system, and strengthen penalties for specific firearms-related crimes."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage With Amendment) - S 2073 - Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency Prevention Act - "Vote to pass a bill to amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, amend the Safe Streets Act of 1968 and appropriate funds to create a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 3 - Juvenile Crime bill - "Vote to pass a bill that allows juveniles that commit violent crimes or specific drug offenses to be tried as adults more easily."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 2137 - Megan's Law - "To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to require the release of relevant information to protect the public from sexually violent offenders."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Nay (Conference Report Vote) - HR 3355 - Omnibus Crime Bill - "Vote to adopt a conference report that amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide $30.07 billion in grants from 1995-2000 to reduce violence and crimes, enhance law enforcement, provide education and activity programs for youth, and for other purposes."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 4092 - Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - "Vote to pass a bill that provides $28.69 billion in grants from 1995-2000 to reduce violence and crimes, enhance law enforcement, provide education and activity programs for youth, and for other purposes."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 3351 - Youth Offenders Alternative Punishment - "Vote to pass a bill that provides supplemental funding for and evaluations of state programs punishing young, non-violent criminals in ways alternative to incarceration or probation."

(Marriage, Family, and Children category)

• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Amendment Vote) - H Amdt 871 - Adoption Amendment - "An amendment numbered 2 printed in H. Rept. 105-679 to prohibit any funds to be used to carry out any joint adoption of a child between individuals who are not related by blood or marriage."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Passage) - HR 3682 - Child Custody Protection Act - "Vote to pass a bill that prohibits transportation of a minor across state lines to avoid parental notification laws and obtain access to abortion services."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Nay (Amendment Vote) - H Amdt 335 - Family Planning Parental Notification Amendment - "Vote to adopt a substitute amendment that requires federally funded family planning providers to certify that family participation is encouraged when minors seek family planning services, and that counseling is provided on how to resist coercive sexual activities."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Nay (Amendment Vote) - H Amdt 1280 - Family Planning Services Clinics Amendment - "Vote to adopt a substitute amendment that requires family planning clinics to certify that they encourage family participation in the decision of a minor to seek family planning services in order to be eligible for government funds."
• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Nay (Passage) - HR 670 - Abortion Counseling Bill - "Vote to pass a bill that requires family planning projects receiving federal funding provide information concerning prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care, adoption and termination of pregnancy to individuals that request the information. Requires family planning projects that object to giving out such information on religious or moral grounds refer individuals to another service that will provide the information."

(Minors and Children category)

• Vote: J. Dennis Hastert voted Yea (Amendment Vote) - H Amdt 923 - Contraceptive Amendment - "Vote to pass a substitute amendment requiring counselors to notify parents when a minor attempts to obtain contraceptives."

Last night I sent an email to a local recruitment agency that had a too-good-to-be-true job matching my skill set. Being skeptical, I emailed over asking if it was still open. The answer I got this afternoon was "yes" so I sent my resume over. Less than three hours later, the answer by phone was "no" it isn't. They did however have some other positions, but not ones I'd really fit. Fortunately they gave me the company names, so I am going to scope out the opportunities, but I have zero faith this recruiter is going to provide any benefit beyond me applying directly. After all, why would a company pay a middleman if they can save the commission?

I'd rather deal with another Taleo form than a liar.

Florida Prosecutors Drop Charges Against PINAC Reporter Jeff Gray – Again

For the fifth time since 2010, Florida prosecutors were forced to dismiss criminal charges against PINAC reporter Jeff Gray before even going to trial, proving once again what we have known all along.

That his arrests are always unlawful and unconstitutional; nothing but an attempt to keep him from doing his job.

The latest case was dismissed Monday; the trespassing charge from last month where he was standing on the sidewalk in front of St. Augustine High School holding up a sign that read “The First Amendment is Not a Crime” on one side and “Public Records Access is Not a Crime” on the other side.

St. Johns County Schools Superintendent Joseph Joyner had barred Gray from stepping within 500 feet of any school to keep him from investigating safety oversights regarding school buses.

The trespass order stated he was only allowed to drop off or pick up his children, attend public meetings or submit public records requests to the district’s main office. Other than that, he needed to stay outside the “School Safety Zones,” which is defined as 500 feet within any school. Even if his three children attend the school as they do.

However, Joyner and his lawyers failed to do their research because Florida law does not bar citizens from peacefully assembling and protesting within these so-called school safety zones, which is exactly what he had been doing on March 14 when he was arrested.

[...] But Joyner has been desperate to jail Gray, even trying to convince a local state attorney to file felony wiretapping charges against him last year as we discovered by making a public records request for his emails. Joyner has also filed a lawsuit against Gray, which is still pending.

Previous entry: Florida Deputy Illegally Arrests Protesting PINAC Reporter.

Slashdot user fustakrakich has found more deleted comments, this time in a discussion on suicide rates.

Unacceptable! [slashdot.org] Unacceptable! [slashdot.org]

This cannot be tolerated! Please people! Demand that it stop immediately! Indelible, uneditable comments is Slashdot's last redeeming value! Without it all is lost!

Considering CmdrTaco's pride in only having deleted a single Scientology post (after legal threats), this new regime may as well be Facebook.

Chinese Cartoon Warns Against 'Dangerous Love' With Foreigners Who May Be Spies

In a colorful, 16-panel cartoon called "Dangerous Love," China is warning female government workers that romancing handsome foreigner strangers can lead to heartbreak — and espionage.

Posters seen around Beijing show a cartoon government worker named Xiao Li striking up a relationship with a bespectacled, red-haired "visiting scholar." They share a romantic dinner and stroll through a leafy park. "Having a handsome, romantic, talented foreign boyfriend is pretty nice!" Li says to herself, according to The New York Times' translation.

But "pretty nice" turns to nightmarish after Li's new paramour persuades her to lend him internal government documents. Suddenly, the foreign boyfriend is nowhere to be found. Li weeps in front of two gruff police officers, who tell her she has a "shallow understanding of secrecy for a state employee," according to The Guardian.

"Dangerous Love" was posted in Beijing's subway and streets to mark National Security Education Day, which was "established after China passed a National Security Law in July outlining greater security efforts in 11 areas, including political, territorial, military, cultural and technological," the Times reports.

Image.

The BBC has an update on France's new bootlicking trend.

A bunch of links that will not make the cut in today's article. I will tidy up and add some more later. While Vice certainly covers drugs more than other news outlets, most of these just didn't fit with the hard facts focus of this year's article, and I didn't want to overuse any particular news source. There will be plenty more to find on aggregators like Google News today.

http://www.vice.com/read/how-decriminalizing-drugs-could-reduce-islamic-terrorism-in-france-and-belgium
http://www.vice.com/read/war-on-drugs-tool-of-minority-oppression
http://www.vice.com/read/luxury-weed-uk
http://www.vice.com/read/veterans-affairs-hospitals-still-wont-give-veterans-weed-medical-marijuana
http://www.vice.com/read/a-prosecutors-regret-how-i-got-someone-life-in-prison-for-drugs
http://www.vice.com/read/why-do-the-irish-take-more-drugs-than-any-other-country-in-eu
http://www.vice.com/read/how-parents-talk-to-their-kids-about-drugs-in-2016
http://www.vice.com/read/this-drug-smuggler-and-hippie-mafia-leader-was-an-og-in-the-weed-legalization-movement
http://www.vice.com/read/the-worst-time-i-ever-did-drugs
http://www.vice.com/read/a-professional-stoner-explains-how-to-smoke-pot-properly-in-2016
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-36055297
http://www.vice.com/read/what-the-un-still-gets-wrong-about-drugs
http://www.vice.com/read/yes-you-can-be-allergic-to-pot
http://www.vice.com/read/drugs-have-been-used-in-pretty-much-every-war-ever-shooting-up
http://www.vice.com/read/the-war-on-drugs-isnt-even-working-in-prison
http://www.vice.com/read/a-cannabis-cook-explains-how-youre-making-edibles-wrong

So I just wrote a super-long comment and tricked myself into wanting to share this tidbit as well (but it had no business being over there).

Monospaced because you'll know. Meant to be less than 80 characters wide so if it breaks oddly on your screen you might want to try scaling down the page (whatever browser you use probably does its own thing but [Ctrl]+[-] usually does the trick for me, [Ctrl]+[+] to go back up and [Ctrl]+[0] to get back to default size).

It's already dark.
You're eaten by a Grue.
But this is not the end.

You wake up in darkness.
You are a Grue.
You have always been.

To your left you see the path to the hole.
In front of you is a smoothened black wall with darker flecks of beautiful
  chondrite.
To your right is the path towards the Greylands and further beyond the cursed
  Hurt.
Behind you is your den.

Health: 15(15) Agility: 13(15) drowsy Hunger: 8(15) Lethality: 46(55)
/* hunger 15 gives slavering status */
(L)eft (F)ront (R)ight (B)ack (G)urgle (I)nventory | command:i

Inventory:
a: Extremely sharp fangs, +15 consume, Cursed (in mouth)
/* cursed can not be removed unless blessed... good luck with that :) */
b: Razor claws, +10 slice, Cursed (on hands)
c: A thick blindfold, +11 darkness, Unknown

(U)se (R)emove (D)rop (P)ut (M)ore (S)top looking at inventory | command:_

Maybe it's a bit misleading to call it fiction, or what I'm actually trying to say: feel free to turn it into what it portrays itself to be (and that isn't fiction, or not fiction in the usual sense of prose).