Politics Archives | PONDERWALL

FACEAPP’S FINE PRINT MEANS YOU EFFECTIVELY CAN’T SUE THEM, UNLESS YOU SEND A LETTER TO THEIR RUSSIAN OFFICE

Faceapp can do whatever it likes with your photos. More concerning is the range of disturbing conditions users unwittingly sign up to.

WHY FEWER AND FEWER AMERICANS ARE GETTING DIVORCED

Politics

The number of divorced persons per 1,000 Americans fell from 4.7 in 1990 to 2.9 in 2016. Who is driving this downward trend?

WE FOUND RESERVOIRS OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT BACTERIA ACROSS LONDON

Politics, Science

antibiotics resistant bacteria found in london reservoirs

Out of the 600 bacteria we found, nearly half were MRSA and multidrug resistant, meaning they were immune to treatment from several types of antibiotics.

GERMANY’S DEEP ROOTED OBSESSION WITH SAVING – A BRIEF HISTORY

Economics, Politics

Germans not only save more than their UK counterparts, but the deep rooted national habit has more implications for Germany than those numbers would reveal.

OPIOID EPIDEMIC MAY HAVE COST STATES AT LEAST $130 BILLION IN TREATMENT AND RELATED EXPENSES – AND THAT’S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Politics

The devastating health effects of the opioid epidemic have been well documented, with over 700,000 overdose deaths and millions more affected.

HOW THE GOVERNMENT CAN STEAL YOUR STUFF: 6 QUESTIONS ABOUT CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE ANSWERED

Politics

Civil asset forfeiture laws let authorities seize property – cash, a house, a car, a cellphone – that they suspect is involved in criminal activity.

SPACE JUNK: A RECYCLING STATION COULD BE CLEANING UP IN EARTH ORBIT BY 2050

Politics

By 2050, Gateway Earth – a fully operational space station with a facility to recycle old satellites and other junk – could be up and running.

FACEBOOK ALGORITHM CHANGES SUPPRESSED JOURNALISM AND MEDDLED WITH DEMOCRACY

Politics

A few months before the 2016 election, an even bigger algorithm change toward friends and family posts took a second toll on publisher traffic.

WORLD BANK RULING AGAINST PAKISTAN SHOWS GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE IS BROKEN

Economics, Politics

Secretive World Bank tribunal ordered Pakistan to pay a mining company $5.8 billion — nearly as much as the IMF loan — to resolve a dispute.

BORIS JOHNSON BY NUMBERS: THE NEXT UK PRIME MINISTER’S CAREER SUMMED UP

Politics

It is hard to pin down just what it is Johnson believes in, given his habit of doing and saying whatever is needed to achieve his goals.

OUR DATABASE OF POLICE OFFICERS WHO SHOOT CITIZENS REVEALS WHO’S MOST LIKELY TO SHOOT

Politics

When all the officers that fired at a civilian were black, a person was 2.0 times more likely to be black than when all the officers who fired were white.

GLOBAL INEQUALITY IS 25% HIGHER THAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A CLIMATE-STABLE WORLD

Economics, Politics

The gap in GDP per capita between richer and poorer countries is 25% higher than it would have been in a climate-stable world.

WASHINGTON STATE’S BIG BET ON FREE COLLEGE

Politics

Washington state enacted the landmark Workforce Education Investment Act into law in May 2019. The main idea behind it is to make college more affordable.

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS WILL SOON BE UNRECOGNISABLE – TIME FOR AN URGENT PUBLIC CONVERSATION

Politics

Face recognition highlights bigger questions around which types of surveillance cameras and systems are acceptable to society.

GREEN BAY PACKERS FANS LOVE THAT THEIR TEAM DOESN’T HAVE AN OWNER – JUST DON’T CALL IT COMMUNISM

Politics

Wasn’t the principle virtue of the Green Bay Packers based in a communist idea: collective ownership of the means of production?

WHEN WORLD LEADERS THOUGHT YOU SHOULDN’T NEED PASSPORTS OR VISAS

Politics

In 1914, France, Germany, and Italy made passports mandatory. The passport conference of 1920 wanted to restore the pre-war freedom of movement regime.

FURTIVE LOOKS, NERVOUSNESS, HESITATION: HOW NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION INFLUENCES THE JUSTICE SYSTEM?

Politics

Pauses in answers, body movements, elusive or angry looks, confusion, anxiety — the facial expressions and gestures made by witnesses matter in court.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO DISMANTLE THE AGENCY OVERSEEING 2 MILLION FEDERAL WORKERS

Politics

The Trump administration wants to dismantle the agency overseeing 2 million federal workers – and weaken safeguards against partisanship.

U.K. PROPOSAL TO ‘BCC’ LAW ENFORCEMENT ON MESSAGING APPS THREATENS GLOBAL PRIVACY

Politics

The proposal’s function is to give law enforcement power to listen in on encrypted apps communications (like those on WhatsApp, for example).

COUNTERFEIT ALCOHOL, SOMETIMES CONTAINING JET FUEL OR EMBALMING FLUID, IS A GROWING CONCERN FOR TOURISTS ABROAD

Politics

Counterfeit alcohol brings a new level of risk, as it may include added ingredients, such as methanol, known to be extremely harmful to health.

FIVE OPTIONS FOR BREXIT TRADE EXPLAINED

Politics

Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, a no-deal Brexit, staying in the customs union, staying in the single market, and the so-called Common Market 2.0 idea.

CHINA’S SPONGE CITIES AIM TO RE-USE 70% OF RAINWATER – HERE’S HOW

Politics

China’s sponge city initiative has an ambitious goal: by 2020, 80% of urban areas should absorb and re-use at least 70% of rainwater.

WHY THE U.S. REJECTS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE: LOOKING BACK AT NUREMBERG

Politics

Faced with U.S. rejection of international criminal justice, supporters of the ICC usually invoke the precedent of the Nuremberg Trials.

AUSTERITY HAS PUSHED THE UK’S POOREST HOUSEHOLDS FURTHER INTO DEBT – HERE’S HOW

Politics

Debt is a growing problem for people on low incomes and it has been made worse by the austerity policies that followed the 2007-08 financial crisis.

NEOLIBERALISM HAS TRICKED US INTO BELIEVING A FAIRYTALE ABOUT WHERE MONEY COMES FROM

Politics

There is nothing natural about money. There is no link to some scarce essential form of money that sets a limit to its creation.

US POVERTY STATISTICS IGNORE MILLIONS OF STRUGGLING AMERICANS

Politics

Those who may have some income but lack other key necessities, like health insurance and quality education, are invisible in official poverty data.

LONG HOURS AT THE OFFICE COULD BE KILLING YOU – THE CASE FOR A SHORTER WORKING WEEK

Politics

UK employees have the longest working week in the European Union. But this does not make the UK a more productive nation.

WHY CREDIT RATING AGENCIES ARE STILL GETTING AWAY WITH BAD BEHAVIOR

Politics

The dominant credit rating agencies – S&P, Moody’s and Fitch – have been accused of faults including: false ratings, flawed methodology, and political bias.

RORY STEWART: SPIES HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF BECOMING POLITICIANS

Politics

One of the surprises of the contest to become leader of the Conservative Party – and with it prime minister – has been the candidacy of Rory Stewart.

MOST OF US DRUG ARRESTS INVOLVE A GRAM OR LESS

Politics

Roughly two out of every three arrests by state and local law enforcement target small-time offenders who are carrying less than a gram of illegal drugs.

TESTING OF BACKLOGGED RAPE EVIDENCE LEADS TO HUNDREDS OF CONVICTIONS

Politics

Hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits, also known as sexual assault kits (SAKs), languish in evidence storage facilities across the U.S.

GETTING POORER WHILE WORKING HARDER: THE CLIFF EFFECT

Politics

There is no place in the country where a family supported by one minimum-wage worker with a full-time job can live and afford a 2-bedroom apartment at the average fair-market rent.

U.S. LAWS PROTECT POLICE, WHILE ENDANGERING CIVILIANS

Politics

U.S. Laws Protect Police While Endangering Civilians. The ritual of an unnecessary police killing with no real accountability has become painfully familiar.

HOW UK POPULATION WILL LOOK LIKE BY 2061 UNDER HARD, SOFT OR NO BREXIT SCENARIOS

Politics

What the UK population will look like by 2061 under hard, soft or no Brexit scenarios DeymosHR/Shutterstock Nik Lomax, University of Leeds; Paul Norman, University of Leeds; Philip Rees, University of Leeds, and Pia Wohland,

NEW ZEALAND TO PRIORITIZE WELL BEING OVER GDP IN NEW ‘WELL BEING’ BUDGET

Politics

The Wellbeing Budget signals a new approach to the way governments work, by placing the wellbeing of New Zealanders at the heart of what we do.

INDIANA BECOMES 34TH STATE TO PAY EXONEREES FOR WRONGFUL INCARCERATION

Politics

Indiana governor signed legislation to provide state compensation for innocent Hoosiers who were exonerated of crimes they did not commit.

GENETICS EXTENDS THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW

Politics

Genealogists help solve crimes, sometimes identifying suspects with the DNA of distant relatives they’ve never met. Concerns about privacy issues persist.

THROUGH HIS ART, A FORMER PRISONER DIAGNOSES THE SYSTEMIC SICKNESS OF FLORIDA’S PENITENTIARIES

Politics

While imprisoned, he made a series of pencil drawings on the back of stray sheets of paper to document the brutality of his time spent behind bars.

EUROPEAN ELECTIONS GUIDE: HOW SHOULD REMAINERS USE THEIR VOTE

Politics

what are the options for Remainers in the European Elections? With so many options, the vote is likely to be split across several parties.

DECLASSIFIED ARCHIVES SHOW US HELPED ARGENTINE MILITARY WAGE DIRTY WAR THAT KILLED 30,000

Politics

Newly declassified United States military and intelligence documents recently delivered to Argentina offer new details about the country’s brutal military.

NEW DATA PAINT AN UNPLEASANT PICTURE OF POVERTY IN THE US

Politics

The annual cost of child poverty comes to around $1 trillion. Meanwhile, every dollar spent reducing child poverty is estimated to yield $7 in the future.

SOMERVILLE ANNOUNCES LAWSUIT AGAINST BIG PHARMA OPIOID COMPANIES

Politics

The suit alleges these companies deceptively and illegally promoted opioids and that they failed to investigate, report, maintain effective control, and take steps to terminate suspicious orders of the highly addictive prescription drugs.

CHEATING WORKERS OUT OF WAGES IS EASIER THAN EVER

Politics

Workers timekeeping software was the focus of a study that documents how it could be used to facilitate wage theft. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

HE HELPED WRONGFULLY CONVICT A VEGAS MAN. TWO DECADES LATER, HIS DAUGHTER WORKED ON A LAW TO MAKE AMENDS

Politics

Nevada bill will compensate men and women wrongfully convicted in the state for the years they spent behind bars and grant them certificates of innocence.

APRIL 15 IS THE DAY TOBACCO COMPANIES PAY $9 BILLION COMPENSATION, BUT IS IT ENOUGH?

Politics

April 15 is the day when the five largest tobacco companies pay US$9 billion dollars to state governments, each and every year, forever.

STUDY SHOWS HOW SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN GERMANY AND ENGLAND PRESENT EUROPE IN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAYS

Politics

Europe is seen more expansively and positively in the German textbooks. Unlike the English books, German materials presented clear loyalties to Europe.

FORMER BOXER PUNCHES POLICE DURING PARIS YELLOW VESTS PROTESTS

Politics

Video of a former French boxer punching a group of policemen and pushing them back during the yellow vests protests in Paris.

PREGNANT WOMEN SHOULDN’T HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A JOB AND A HEALTHY BABY

Politics

Pregnant women in low-income work often face an unappealing choice: lose their job or perform duties that endanger their health and that of their baby.