John le Carré famously defined the espionage genre, and his novels were shaped by the global power paradigm and threat of the time: The Cold War. If le Carré were still with us and crafting a novel about the existential threat of our time, the spy hero would be using his or her very particular set of skills on the front lines of climate change. Lots of you likely just rolled your eyes and thought “you can’t be serious.” Are you implying that climate change is an existential national security threat? A threat that requires focused intelligence collection and analysis? Really? What about cyber threats or threats from adversarial nation states? Why would our satellites track polar bears instead of terrorist training camps? The reality is the intelligence community can and should do both because climate change presents an incredible risk to global stability. ADVERTISEMENT This isn’t a new idea. In fact, for more than 25 years the intelligence community has provided discreet, essential, and consequential support to experts tracking climate change — particularly the degradation of sea ice and glaciers. Predecessors in this effort include the Director of Central Intelligence’s Environmental Center and CIA’s Center for Climate Change and National Security. This helped drive the MEDEA program, a CIA program that shared classified data, such as hundreds of thousands of satellite images and ocean temperature data, to civilian scientists to examine links between climate change and global security threats. Earth scientists for the first time saw the extent of global environmental degradation, deforestation, and sea ice melt. Unfortunately, this project was shut down in 2015. President Biden Joe Biden Lawmakers, activists remember civil rights icons to mark 'Bloody Sunday' Fauci predicts high schoolers will receive coronavirus vaccinations this fall Biden nominates female generals whose promotions were reportedly delayed under Trump MORE ...
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Jefferson County unveils new regional crime laboratory
GOLDEN — A new crime lab serving Jefferson County law enforcement agencies is now in operation and should greatly reduce the wait time on forensic analysis that in the past was sent to a state laboratory. The new lab is at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s complex, 200 Jefferson County Parkway, and will serve the sheriff’s office and the Lakewood, Arvada, Golden and Wheat Ridge police departments. “We anticipate that we will be cutting time frames in half of what we have been experiencing,” Jeffco Sheriff’s Office division chief Jeff Shrader said. The new 16,500 square-foot facility is more than six times the size of the old crime lab at the sheriff’s complex and will employ 14 people with the ability to expand to 22. The old lab employed seven people. The new lab workers will be a mix of new hires and people from the Lakewood and Arvada police departments. The new lab was part of a $34.8 million project to improve the sheriff’s complex. Shrader said the lab accounted for about 35 percent of that cost. New services added will include DNA and serology analysis as well as an indoor garage for vehicle analysis and a firearm examination room. Gentry Roth, supervisor of chemistry and forensic biology for the lab, has been working at a lab run by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and will be moving over to run the DNA portion of the new lab. He was a Jeffco employee while working at the state lab. “We’re going to be on the cutting edge of DNA technology,” Roth said. The DNA analysis should be up and running by the end of November, said lab director Chris Loptien. The state toxicology laboratory had been investigated last year for its handling of blood-alcohol and blood-drug testing and stopped doing that test. There is also a nationwide push for regionalization of law enforcement services. This lab is one of the first of its kind to open in the state after a lab serving Weld and Larimer counties opened in August in Greeley . Shrader said ...
Deadly Winter Storms Just Latest Disaster To Befall The Needy In Texas
HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The winter storms that began on Valentine’s Day in Texas, which experts say may have caused billions of dollars in damage, is just the latest disaster in recent years to disproportionately affect communities of color and poor residents in the state. Ernest and Hester Collins already faced their share of hardships before last month’s deadly winter storm plunged much of Texas into a deep freeze and knocked out power to millions of homes, including their modest rental in one of Houston’s historically Black neighborhoods, Fifth Ward. READ MORE: Pair Wanted In Fort Worth For Shooting, Killing Game Room Employee During Robbery The brother and sister were getting by on a fixed income without a car when the storm left them and many neighbors without light or heat for days. The storm caused their pipes to burst, leaving some in the nation’s fourth-largest city without running water three weeks on because many couldn’t afford repairs. Their dire circumstances left them unable to bathe and forced to use buckets as toilets. These include major floods in 2015 and 2016, devastation from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and, to a lesser degree, Tropical Storm Imelda two years later, a series of plant and refinery fires and explosions, and of course the coronavirus pandemic. Not surprisingly, many in these communities are beyond frustrated by what they feel is a lack of assistance each time a disaster strikes. “For some reason, we are not getting (help). They put us on the back burner,” Ernest Collins, 56, said. “Because we poor,” a female neighbor added. Local officials, including Mayor Sylvester Turner, say they’ve focused recent recovery efforts on helping the underserved, but their work is far from complete. Community advocates worry that residents will continue having trouble accessing help and that this will exacerbate the ills afflicting their communities, including income inequality and a lack of health care. Last month’s storm caused ...
The world will benefit when women are counted and heard
Women are an incredible influence on the strength and well-being of families and communities, but it doesn’t stop there: Their equal and active economic participation is also an important driver of growth and development. Closing the gender gap in the workforce could add trillions to global GDP, according to the International Labor Organization . From competitiveness to profitability, gender diversity can help businesses sell more, make more money, and achieve other goals. Unfortunately, despite the immense benefits of women’s economic empowerment, current systems too often work against women rather than in support of them. It’s past time for policies and solutions that support the equal and active participation of women within economies and societies at large. When women are seen, counted, and in positions to lead, the whole world benefits. Companies with women on their boards experience higher sales and greater return on invested capital than those with less gender diversity, as multiple research studies reveal. More widely, recognition and protection of women’s economic and social rights fortify good governance and accountability and decrease the risk of democratic backsliding. Women’s income can more than quadruple when they have the right to own and inherit property. Asset ownership and property rights also help establish credit and provide protection against domestic violence. ADVERTISEMENT But the unequal burden of unpaid care work and the lack of safe and reliable transportation keep women from the workforce in many places. Inequitable access to skills training, education, and some business sectors impedes opportunity and upward mobility. Insufficient or nonexistent legal protections constrain personal freedom and access to services and reinforce antiquated gender norms. Harassment and gender-based violence obstruct agency and physical and emotional well-being. The pandemic has compounded these challenges significantly, but ...
