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How do you fix a stroad?
We respond to a question posted for us on Reddit about a stroad that seems unfixable—and maybe that’s because it is.
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 421 posts.
122
MAPS Celebrates California Senate Passage of Psychedelic Reform Bill
Fifty years after the War on Drugs was officially declared and psychedelic substance prohibition began in contravention of evidence supporting therapeutic use, the California State Senate has taken the first Legislative step to dismantle psychedelic prohibition with a 21-16 vote on June 1, 2021, in favor of Senate…
123
The Uyghur Genocide: An examination of breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention
This report is the first independent expert application of the 1948 Genocide Convention to the ongoing treatment of the Uyghurs in China.
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Pollution from fossil fuel combustion deadlier than previously thought
The latest public health news delivered right to your inbox.
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Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint
The Norwegian Data Protection Authority confirmed that Grindr did not receive valid consent from users and announces a fine of 100 Mio NOK (€ 9.63 Mio) on Grindr.
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How to Operate an Airport in Antarctica
Troll Research Station maintains one of the southernmost airports in the world. See how the Norwegian Polar Institute operates an airport in Antarctica.
127
Is 40 the New 60?
Here's a funny story: I've been using and teaching Python for over 20 years, and designed its built-in set module, but nobody would hire me as a Python programmer when I was laid off by RStudio in February. I was "too senior" for every developer role I applied for, even when the first paragraph of my cover letter said…
128
German Court Rules Against Internet Security Non-Profit Quad9
A public and free DNS service for a better security and privacy
129
Victory at the High Court against the government’s use of 'general warrants’
Today, the UK High Court has quashed a decision by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), and ruled that section 5 of the Intelligence Services Act (ISA) 1994 does not permit the issuing of general warrants to authorise property interference and certain forms of computer hacking.
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Classification of Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern
The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus. The TAG-VE was convened on 26 November 2021 to…
131
Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
Fastmail is the latest email provider to be blocked by Russia.
132
Facebook’s claims about the Ad Observer are wrong
Recently the Surgeon General of the United States weighed in on the spread of disinformation on major platforms and its effects on people and society. He e
133
Bahraini Government Hacks Activists with NSO Group Zero-Click iPhone Exploits
We identified nine Bahraini activists whose iPhones were successfully hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware between June 2020 and February 2021. The hacked activists included three members of Waad (a secular Bahraini political society), three members of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, two exiled Bahraini…
134
Private censorship is not the best way to fight hate or defend democracy (2018)
From Cloudflare’s headline-making takedown of the Daily Stormer last autumn to YouTube’s summer restrictions on LGBTQ content, there's been a surge in “voluntary” platform censorship. Companies—under pressure from lawmakers, shareholders, and the public alike—have ramped up restrictions on speech,...
135
A Solarpunk Manifesto
Solarpunk, Permaculture, Sociocracy
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Word gap: When money’s tight, parents talk less to kids
Tackling income inequality could boost low-income children's vocabulary, study suggests
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Russia restricts opposition election voting app
Mobile app store metrics from NetBlocks confirm the removal of a popular opposition election tracking app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The incident comes as Russia ...
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Don’t Let Police Arm Autonomous or Remote-Controlled Robots and Drones
Whether controlled by an artificial intelligence or a remote human operator, armed police robots and drones pose an unacceptable threat to civilians. The ongoing revolution in the field of robotics requires us to act now to prevent a new era of police violence.
142
If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
143
The Growth Ponzi Scheme
The American pattern of development creates the illusion of wealth. Today we are in the process of seeing that illusion destroyed…and with it the prosperity we have come to take for granted.
144
Open Letter from Laura Poitras
The Intercept Promised to Reveal Everything. Then Its Own Scandal Hit. Laura Poitras says she's been fired by First Look Media over Reality Winner controversy. Now she's questioning the watchdog's integrity.
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College campuses are designed at human-scale – cities can be too
Many college campuses are designed to be walkable and human-scaled. But living in a neighborhood like that doesn’t have to end at graduation.
146
Update on Omicron
On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for…
147
Estimation of total mortality due to COVID-19
Our updated modeling strategy now estimates total COVID-19 mortality, including unreported deaths due to COVID-19.
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What lies beneath: Evidence from leaked account data on offshore banking use
Matthew Collin uses account data leaked from an Isle of Man bank to investigate the characteristics of individuals and firms that store their money in tax havens.
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Germany: Data retention to be abolished
According to the German Minister of Justice data retention or "the storage of telecommunications data without any reason" could soon come to an end.
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Lawsuit against TSA and DEA over airport seizures achieves first victory
PITTSBURGH—When travelers go online to find out whether it is legal to fly with cash, the government tells them that there are no restrictions on […]