#TikTok was in court today to overturn a U.S. law that would force the video app to divorce from its China-based parent company or be banned. It’s the latest development in a lengthy saga over the app that many politicians in Washington fear is a security risk. But why is TikTok controversial? Here’s a quick rundown of reads from #cybersecurity, #socialmedia and legal experts: <https://theconversation.com/tiktok-ban-goes-to-the-court-5-essential-reads-on-the-case-and-its-consequences-239160> #news #technology
The U.S. still has an active presence in #Syria, and recent assaults by US-backed fighters marked the worst clashes there in nearly a year. A political scientist says a continued presence risks prolonging America’s entanglement in a protracted and costly conflict with no clear end in sight, while antagonizing NATO ally Turkey. <https://theconversation.com/us-military-presence-in-syria-carries-substantial-risks-but-so-does-complete-withdrawal-235569> #USPolitics #News #WorldNews
"Dad, I’m hungry." "Hi, hungry. I’m Dad." There's an example of the beloved form of humor: The Dad Joke. But what makes something a dad joke instead of just a corny joke? We've got two folklorists answering that question and looking at the history of the 'art' form. Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there, funny or not! Leave a favorite [#DadJoke](https://newsie.social/tags/DadJoke) in the replies, so we can all groan together [https://theconversation.com/an-homage-to-the-dad-joke-one-of-the-great-traditions-of-fatherhood-231996](https://theconversation.com/an-homage-to-the-dad-joke-one-of-the-great-traditions-of-fatherhood-231996) [\#FathersDay](https://newsie.social/tags/FathersDay) [#Dads](https://newsie.social/tags/Dads) [@folklore](https://a.gup.pe/u/folklore)
17th-century New England farmers moved a mind-staggering amount of stone to build walls – an estimated 240,000 miles of barricades, most stacked thigh-high and similarly wide. That’s long enough to wrap Earth 10x at the equator – and is larger in volume than the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall in Britain and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza COMBINED. [https://theconversation.com/new-england-stone-walls-lie-at-the-intersection-of-history-archaeology-ecology-and-geoscience-and-deserve-a-science-of-their-own-216701](https://theconversation.com/new-england-stone-walls-lie-at-the-intersection-of-history-archaeology-ecology-and-geoscience-and-deserve-a-science-of-their-own-216701) [\#agriculture](https://newsie.social/tags/agriculture) [#history](https://newsie.social/tags/history) [@histodons](https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons) [#Histodons](https://newsie.social/tags/Histodons)
The UN’s Genocide Convention, in its 75 years, has not stopped genocide. Far from it. But there is some value to the international treaty. [https://theconversation.com/the-landmark-genocide-convention-has-had-mixed-results-since-the-un-approved-it-75-years-ago-219296](https://theconversation.com/the-landmark-genocide-convention-has-had-mixed-results-since-the-un-approved-it-75-years-ago-219296) [\#history](https://newsie.social/tags/history) [@histodons](https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons) [#Histodons](https://newsie.social/tags/Histodons) [#humanrights](https://newsie.social/tags/humanrights) [#genocide](https://newsie.social/tags/genocide)
Henry [#Kissinger](https://newsie.social/tags/Kissinger) is dead at the age of 100. Here's one Cambodian's verdict "I’m a scholar of the political economy of Cambodia who, as a child, escaped the brutal Khmer Rouge regime with four siblings... In both a professional and personal sense, I am aware of the near 50-year impact Kissinger’s policies during the Vietnam War have had on the country of my birth." That impact was destruction, death and trauma. [https://theconversation.com/henry-kissingers-bombing-campaign-likely-killed-hundreds-of-thousands-of-cambodians-and-set-path-for-the-ravages-of-the-khmer-rouge-209353](https://theconversation.com/henry-kissingers-bombing-campaign-likely-killed-hundreds-of-thousands-of-cambodians-and-set-path-for-the-ravages-of-the-khmer-rouge-209353) [@histodons](https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons) [#News](https://newsie.social/tags/News)