NextBigFuture:Weaponized drones vs. anti-drone systems

Gazette Times: Oregon State University researcher developing robot swarms

And a few month-olds, but still all-too-relevant:

GNC: Laying the foundation for drone swarms

Motherboard Vice: Pentagon wants drone ‘swarms’ to support infantry

I have a bad feeling that this tech will develop as rapidly as the smartphone, with the near future resembling something like drone swarm from the Doctor Who episode, ‘Smile’.

Killer robots equipped with facial recognition tech.

From MirrorUK: Killer robots which use facial recognition before slaughtering people ‘will be devastating to humankind’

The short film ‘Slaughterbots’ has been getting a lot of attention, so it may be time to watch it:

After reading this article from GQ: CBD is the Drug You Can Do at Work:

Thanks to skyrocketing demand for opiates in some form here, the Sinaloa drug cartel is making a fortune supplying heroin in the United States.

Business Insider: Mexican heroin is flooding the US, and the Sinaloa Cartel is steering the flow

The article points out that the cartels have moved away from marijuana as a cash crop due to the broad legalization that the plant has experienced in the US.

Another wonderful side effect of the US drug war? Potency, purity of drugs reaching ever higher levels

The Good, the Bad, and the Unspeakably Ugly: A Reason Surveillance Reform Bill Primer

Also, Reason’s Holiday Guide to Surveillance Reform Legislation.

Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act in action

Could the smart city be the death of privacy?

Forcepoint predicts security threats and privacy wars for 2018

Should we reassess body cameras based on latest study?

EFF: Why we’re helping The Stranger unseal electronic surveillance records

Everyone’s personal data is for sale in China

Privacy matters, even if you think it doesn’t

Germany bans children’s smartwatches over privacy concerns

Ron Paul: Why are we helping Saudi Arabia destroy Yemen?

Thousands will die daily if Saudi Arabia doesn’t lift blockade, says new survey

Opium production has set another record in Afghanistan

Oklahoma medical cannabis campaign wants a June 2018 vote

How Facial Recognition Tech Is Creeping Into Your Life

Is the government waging an out-of-sight fight with Apple over encryption?

‘Slaughterbot’ film warns tiny drones could carry out murders

The feds, not companies, are most liable to mishandle our personal data

Judge requires warrant for use of Stingray surveillance device

How the drug war unfairly punishes female “drug mules”

The war on Yemen is killing 130 children each day

Medical News Today: Psychedelic plant brew could improve mental health

Over 6,000 within a year:

“The report includes rape, sexual assault, forcible sodomy, aggravated and abusive sexual contact and attempts to commit those crimes. It includes active duty service members, activated Reserve and National Guard members, civilian victims who allege a sexual assault by an active duty member and adult dependents of active duty members.

The numbers do not necessarily reflect where or even when an alleged assault occurred because victims may report a sexual assault at a time and place of their choosing, according to the report.

The Army had 2,205 reported assaults, the Navy had 1,285, the Air Force had 1,043 and the Marines had 825. There were 670 reported assaults at joint bases and another 125 in combat areas for a total of 6,153, which averages to 16.8 reported assaults per day.

The Pentagon estimates that just 32 percent of service members who experience a sexual assault go on to report the incident. That’s up from 15 percent or fewer prior to 2014.”

Depressing. 

Philippine president Duterte is making the attempt.  Turns out it takes quite a lot more murder than he probably anticipated.

According to latest study.