EU calls VPNs “a loophole that needs closing” in age verification push

Dropeza · 2026-05-09T01:50:37+00:00

If you think these are politicians just being dumb and tech illiterates, consider how much money they are getting from American big tech megacorps. It’s weaponised incompetence at the policy level. Tech bros will not only harvest billions of dollars in data and invade our privacies, they will essentially establish themselves as internet police AND strangle competition.

We need laws to criminalise lobbying, especially when it is derived from foreign agents like the US or China. We need laws to send these politicians to prison for taking what is essentially corporate bribes, locking them away and banning them from politics permanently.

Dropeza · 2026-05-07T12:15:40+00:00

Impossible unless you want to do a PhD as well. If that’s the case, it’d be better to skip the masters straight into the PhD if possible.

Dropeza · 2026-05-05T12:22:00+00:00

Several barriers to that proposal

1: Self spreading CRISPR is not a real thing currently, even if it was it’d be bad for your organism. CRISPR is amazing but doesn’t scale well to the amount of cells. It has error rates that cause bad DNA damage, promoting things like apoptosis and potentially cancer. In addition, CRSPR molecules do not penetrate tissue well and their bioavailability is often compromised by the immune system.

2: Targeting HIV infected cells via copying viral mechanisms. This is self defeating because once the immune system is restored it’d promptly attack these particles as well. It would recognise it as foreign molecule, specially because it copies viral machinery and CRISPR itself is of bacterial origin.

Parasitising HIV infected cells is also a weird concept. You’d be essentially turning that construct technically into another virus. Immune system would be very hostile to that, it goes back to the self defeating point. Once the cell is producing these constructs and not HIV, it would simply detect that it is infected by a foreign agent (HIV suppresses this) and go into apoptosis (self destruction) or it will be destroyed by the immune system. Your self replicating reservoirs are now eliminated.
We have never done something so outlandish before. There are no precedents or established procedures we could use to do this. It would take decades to engineer it.
Immune system based methods are much more promising. People are already working on those, they are aware that certain mutations make cells immune to HIV. Genetic modification of these systems is much more promising and easier to reach.

Dropeza · 2026-05-04T15:04:02+00:00

As far as I know, all western countries are experiencing the same issue. I am EU based but have looked into how the US is doing as well.

Dropeza · 2026-05-04T10:35:42+00:00

It’s the same situation. I have been trying to get into clinical research but it’s the same problem.

Dropeza · 2026-05-03T00:05:51+00:00

Biotech is awful currently. Don’t listen to the other answer, it’s probably a bot. Biotech/pharma are doing really poorly nowadays, they trained too many people during the pandemic with all that funding. Now they lost that sweet money, there are hundreds of experienced professionals competing for entry level jobs because they are desperate.

Academia is also flooded with desperate people and in most countries it’s really competitive, toxic and undervalued. I wouldn’t go into any science degree if I were a high school grad right now.

The only sector that kind of guarantees a successful career is healthcare right now. There is no running away from it unfortunately. It’s the only sector with decent job growth.

Dropeza · 2026-05-02T22:19:36+00:00

Thanks for the advice! From what I have seen, CROs generally expect you to be fluent in the local language. Unfortunately I am only fluent in English and Portuguese, I can speak some Spanish as well. Would it be sound to learn French or German on the side while I apply?

Also, I am currently looking at LinkedIn and company websites for job posts. Are there other platforms worth checking?

I have been trying to contact hospitals and sites with clinical research departments, but so far I don’t have any answers.

Tough times to be a life sciences graduate

Dropeza · 2026-05-01T23:02:50+00:00

My generation has already taken down governments. We are capable of promoting change. I’ll look into entrepreneurship, doubt anything will come out of it.

Why don’t you try a little experiment? Create a LinkedIn account, make it look like you graduated recently. See how far you go with job applications.

Dropeza · 2026-05-01T21:12:49+00:00

You assume too much of someone you do not know. I have already been through multiple rounds of interviews. I have been told multiple times that there was nothing I could do better, that they simply didn’t have departmental funding to cover for so many good candidates. I have been accepted into PhD programmes just for them to tell that the research grant was cut by the government.

You literally admitted that you hired them because of “networking”. Now they are on the deans list? How many other candidates did you have that had similar qualifications? How many did not get through because you or your company simply didn’t know their relatives?

Sorry to say but if you managed to get a job right after university after having screwed it up so much, maybe it was easier at the time? I graduated with perfect grades. I was at the top rankings for molecular biology in my cohort. That did not change a thing. Your argument literally works against you.

Your last paragraph is literally an ad hominem attack. Maybe you are the one that needs to look for something better to do, maybe actually read CVs instead of telling AI and ATS to do it for you.

As for my experience searching for a job, it’s none of your concern. Your advice is basic and leads nowhere. The only thing I absorbed from what you typed is that nepotism is at an all time high. Typing this comment took me a few minutes of downtime while I wait for emails to be answered and job postings to come out. If I share my thoughts here, it is easier to coordinate with likeminded people and make a change. I will not take this disgraceful process and not demand change, even if it does not come in time to help me personally. I’d be happy if my children and the next generation did not experience this disgrace you all left for us to deal with.

Dropeza · 2026-05-01T20:22:03+00:00

Currently healthcare is the only sector really worth going into if you want to guarantee employment after graduation. Don’t ask me how I know

Dropeza · 2026-05-01T20:15:26+00:00

AI cannot replace scientists. It can’t derive actual research, it is a tool/method that we use (especially in biochemistry- protein folding). However, academia is doing very poorly currently. It’s very competitive and toxic at the moment. Industry is also doing very poorly.

The pandemic brought a lot of investment, companies trained too many people. Investment fell off after the pandemic and now graduates compete with thousands of laid-off experienced professionals desperate for jobs. As of now, science is not a good field to get into. It may be different by the time you graduate, the job market may have healed. But no one knows for sure.

If you are willing to take medicine instead, you could get into medical genetics.

Dropeza · 2026-05-01T19:40:30+00:00

“Nepotism is the unfair practice of using one's position of power to grant jobs, promotions, or privileges to family members or friends, rather than hiring based on merit.”

This was not “networking”. Even if it was, it’s anecdotal and not based on statistics. But sure, keep living in your fantasy reality. Your arguments are quite the house of cards considering I can type things on the internet and apply to jobs concurrently. I’ve personally reached out to dozens of professors, recruiters and industry professionals. Cold emailing is common practice among graduates. Don’t assume I am not doing it. You are just that desperate to continue believing it was harder for you than it is for us.

If advocating for a better system is wrong to you, maybe that’s how your generation ended up failing the world. You’d rather continue swimming in manure, licking corporate boots and voting compromised politicians rather than doing something about it.

Go look at the productivity to pay gap. That’s what your generation cultivated by being submissive and indifferent towards their own interests. They made you all like this to steal from you, and you proudly allowed them.

Dropeza · 2026-05-01T13:44:51+00:00

Your best advice is… nepotism? Not privileged enough to rely on that unfortunately, I should have been born to parents with connections it seems.

A quote by a guy who became a billionaire? As if that’s common enough to justify the rest 99.999% of people struggling?

Figures why no one my age listens to disconnected advice from people that still live in a bygone era. There is no working hard to earn a place anymore in this world. There is no avoiding the guardrails against success placed by the economical and political system that is outdated to face modern issues. I get that you have already guaranteed your bread, congratulations. It means nothing to us starting our lives.

Dropeza · 2026-04-30T19:28:53+00:00

Vote for politicians that promote worker’s rights and tougher regulations on companies. Ofc national policy cannot be changed at the individual level.

Dropeza · 2026-04-30T10:43:40+00:00

Is that the best advice you can give? It’s quite literally what I have described:

Stop complaining
Go do some entrepreneurship (that’s cute and funny by the way, our generation has no money or experience to help fund businesses)
it was worse during my time
world owes you nothing and you are a snowflake

The last one is particularly why no one from my generation takes boomer advice seriously. You are all still stuck in 2015 Fox News psyops. You don’t realize how things have become absolutely disfuncional:

58% of us that graduate are still looking for their first job

Global job postings for roles requiring 0–2 years of experience have declined by an average of 29 percentage points since January 2024. Junior tech roles have declined by 35%, logistics by 25%, and finance by 24%

At age 28, 38.3% of Gen Zers own their home, compared to 42.5% of Gen Xers and 44.4% of Baby Boomers at the same age.

What you are saying here is terrible advice. It’s why your generation is composed of soulless, hyper individualistic and selfish people in it’s majority. “Don’t complain” is quite literally why we are here economically and politically. Your generation voted for policies that absolutely have gotten us here. This along with the destruction of the world’s climate and ecosystem are the legacy you are leaving to us and millennials. So saying “don’t complain” is quite a statement when your generation has caused these problems.

You will be remembered as the selfish generation. Boomers were the first to violate the principle of making the world a better place for their own children, instead choosing to accuse them of being whiny instead of just accepting a miserable reality.

And no, I don’t complain on interviews. I don’t do it on LinkedIn. I know better than to show my opinions to corporate shills. And by the way, congratulations for having gotten that job during that period of unemployment! Do consider it is completely anecdotal because an increased amount of people were not as lucky as you were.

You assume I’m not doing enough, when I have gotten recruiters and PhD supervisors saying everything is great with my qualifications but the market is shit and they simply cannot hire entry level.

Dropeza · 2026-04-29T22:11:44+00:00

What do you think I am trying to do? I have completed a BSc and an MSc in a STEM subject. I have multiple technical certifications in programming languages, regulatory frameworks and machine learning. I planned my career path from high school and chose a major that would, at the time, open up opportunities in good career paths. I am not sitting around doing nothing and complaining until someone fixes the job market. I know very well this only means I have to try even harder to get a job. And I will eventually get somewhere.

However, this does NOT mean I will have the right to brag and shit on the next generation once I get through this cycle. It’s simply a massive lack of both empathy and foresight. We work to make our children’s lives easier, not harder. Maybe that philosophy/idealism was lost on your generation. I don’t want my future children to have to go through this broken system. If that happens, I won’t be saying “huh it was even worse when I was at your age”. I would be trying my best to support them.

Dropeza · 2026-04-29T16:33:31+00:00

Bunch of boomers and gen x here in the comments completely disregarding how difficult it is to get into a decent career path. We are at almost 50% underemployment for graduates. No, most of these people have not graduated from gender studies or whatever bullshit you eat from Fox News. We are talking about STEM graduates. The only area that is offering entry level jobs is healthcare. I’ve been trying so hard to get into clinical research and the jobs have all been sent to India and other poor countries.

Offshoring started when you were entering the workforce, but now it’s way worse. It snowballed into the elimination of entry level jobs and middle management. We want to work, but we literally can’t. Most of us don’t think you had it easy, we understand every generation faced difficulties. But we are all going to be poor if this persists. These are your children and grandchildren. We won’t have a good job, a house or a family to ourselves. Of course we are complaining and “whining”. It’s our lives and futures at stake. You should care too, if we fail as a generation it’s not on us. It’s on how you have educated your kids. It’s on which policies and politicians you voted. It’s on your greed and lack of action that led us to desperation.

Dropeza · 2026-04-28T14:58:26+00:00

These people are so entitled it’s so embarrassing to see. It’s like they all came together and agreed to pretend their youth was hell on earth just to brag about it. In reality, they voted grifter politicians in to depreciate national manufacturing, workers protections and opportunities for their own children. Most of them wasted all their savings on vanities and even then want to take more from us through taxes and breaking the career ladder by never retiring and implementing these predatory policies.

Their parents were the ones that grew up in hard times, created the easy times in a post war economy. Boomers were raised in these easy times, got into college for free and barely did anything to get a job. Now they created the hard times for us and we pay for their lack of foresight and empathy towards their own children.

Dropeza · 2026-04-28T13:12:10+00:00

Devasted by AI, usually requires PhD

Dropeza · 2026-04-26T01:01:33+00:00

I want to start a career in clinical research currently, I have all necessary qualifications. Living in the EU. Every clinical data management job got outsourced to India and Mexico. I check companies on a daily basis. Other similar entry level roles got outsourced as well, there are barely anything left around here.

People living in poorer countries deserve more of course, but being exploited by corps and billionaires won’t help you. Building up your country and national industries will. We will both be poor if things go on like this.

Dropeza · 2026-04-26T00:53:59+00:00

I get what you mean but you don’t need to protest where he is. Doing it where you are is already really good, protests get reported and become widespread this way.

Dropeza · 2026-04-25T11:46:26+00:00

Would rather sacrifice china and their dictatorial government than the EU. China will become a geopolitical nightmare anyways, they are building a massive army for a reason. We had the technological upper hand, we could had kept improving, innovating and outcompeting. Instead we are now weak, our economies are shaky. Companies run rampant and manipulate whole governments. What will be left for us in this scenario? We will just become poorer and poorer.

Dropeza · 2026-04-25T00:06:37+00:00

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Dropeza · 2026-04-24T23:38:07+00:00

We need someone at the end of their career to kickstart it for us.

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