Effective August 31st:

“The NGI system is widely used by law enforcement and security authorities to perform biometric background checks and to investigate criminals and other individuals whose biometric data has been collected. Last summer, the FBI announced its plan to exempt the program from privacy provisions allowing individuals to find out whether their records are being held, and invited public comment. Privacy and civil rights groups warned against the move and expressed alarm about the breadth of the FBI’s biometric data collection practices, particularly after the revelation that the FBI had secretly been using facial recognition technology to scan through civilian identity records, including the passport and driver license photos of non-criminals.”

SWAT raids.

Extremely informative article from FEE: The Medical Cartel is Keeping Health Care Costs High:

“Though few Americans realize it, health care is a monopoly. In the early 20th century, the American Medical Association (AMA) lobbied the Federal government to close all schools not approved by its own Council on Medical Education. They unfortunately succeeded and 30 percent of medical schools were closed within 30 years. The number of doctors has been artificially capped ever since.

The AMA also controls state boards of licensing, limiting the number of physicians in each state and preventing competitors from treating patients. The United States has 50 percent fewer practicing physicians per capita than Sweden or Germany. Unsurprisingly, US doctors also work fewer hours while earning much higher salaries…

…Similar federal regulatory monopolies prevent generic drugs from competing with big brands, block the building of new health care facilities, and limit health insurers to two or three per state. Our health care options shrink as special interests’ regulatory control grows resulting in fewer drugs, fewer doctors, fewer plans, and fewer choices.”

Read the entire piece.

US airstrikes kill 43 civilians in Raqqa, Syria.

Flying over Seattle for a week, testing new surveillance tech?

Nothing commendable about ruining someone’s life over possession of a plant.

“Serious questions” about Colorado weed winding up in states where it’s still illegal.

Wrong side of history, Jeff.

Team owners agree allowing players to use cannabis to treat pain.

Better than the opioid painkillers that have been allegedly handed out like candy to NFL athletes.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently openly threatened regime change for Venezuela’s Maduro, but the US goal of regime change for the South American country is nothing new.

The US gov’t has set aside at least $49 million for regime for opposition groups in the country since 2009, along with $4 million in funding to Venezuelan journalists between 2007 and 2009.

If US experience with past attempts at regime change are any indication, the result will be the same as it’s been in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the rest of the Middle East: destabilization, millions dead, millions more displaced, a country-wide dumpster fire, and another generation of foreigners wishing death upon US citizens.

See also Salon: This Is Why They Hate Us

$18 billion market by 2020, comprising fingerprint, face, iris, DNA, and voice recognition tech.