The CIA's Secret Funding of Modern Art During the Cold War

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Declassified documents and historical research have revealed that the CIA covertly funded and promoted Abstract Expressionism and other modern art movements during the Cold War era. The agency operated through front organizations to channel money to artists and exhibitions, aiming to position American culture as a symbol of freedom against Soviet ideology. The program, known as the Congress for Cultural Freedom, supported prominent artists without their knowledge in many cases. Historians debate whether this constitutes a 'psy-op' or simply a strategic cultural diplomacy effort. The revelation raises ongoing questions about the intersection of government influence and artistic independence.

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Strong CSS architecture starts with defining what CSS should never do

A DEV Community article argues that the foundation of robust CSS architecture lies not in defining capabilities, but in declaring explicit exclusions upfront. The author illustrates how design token systems quietly accumulate misuse — such as storing application state inside CSS custom properties — because nothing in the system is built to refuse such decisions. Without predefined boundaries, stylesheets gradually absorb logic and state that belong elsewhere, making systems harder to maintain over time. The piece contends that exclusions are not gaps in architecture but its most durable component, acting as guarantees rather than limitations. A system that never defines what it will not do, the author warns, will eventually be pressured into doing everything.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2: What Regulated Industries Must Know About Password Managers

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

Good CSS Architecture Requires Defining What CSS Should Never Do

Strong CSS architecture depends not just on what a system can do, but on explicitly deciding what it must never do. Without declared exclusions, systems tend to accumulate unintended responsibilities over time, such as storing application state inside design tokens. A custom property tracking modal state looks syntactically identical to a spacing token, yet represents a fundamentally different concern that CSS has no business managing. Since browsers cannot distinguish between the two, the refusal must come from deliberate architectural decisions made in advance. Systems that define clear boundaries and exclusions are more maintainable and resilient than those that only react after problems emerge.

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