From Alternet: “Longitudinal data just recently published online in the journal Addiction reports that pot smoking is not independently associated with adverse effects on the developing brain. A team of investigators from the United States and the United Kingdom evaluated whether marijuana use is directly associated with changes over time in neuropsychological performance in a nationally representative cohort of adolescent twins. Authors reported that “family background factors,” but not the use of cannabis negatively impacted adolescents’ cognitive performance.”

ACLU of Northern California: “While Congress has directed CBP to collect biometrics from noncitizens as part of the entry/exit program, Congress did not specify which biometric the agency should use, and from a privacy perspective, face recognition is (along with iris recognition) the most dangerous biometric to use. That’s because it has greater potential for expansion and misuse: for example, you can subject thousands of people an hour to face recognition when they’re walking down the sidewalk without their knowledge, let alone permission or participation. You can’t do that with fingerprints. Face recognition databases could be plugged in to every surveillance camera in America, creating a giant infrastructure for government tracking and control. Wagner told me that the agency opted for face recognition instead of fingerprints because of the greater ease and practicality of the technology as well as the “optics of us taking fingerprints from people.” Of course, fingerprints do have a negative association in the public mind—but that’s because of their use in tracking and identifying accused criminals. And tracking and identifying is exactlywhat the photos are being used for here. If, as Wagner suggests, taking a photo seems more benign to the public, that’s only because the public’s intuitions about privacy have not caught up with what the technology can do. And fingerprints work fine in the context of international travel, as they are already used for the Global Entry frequent traveler program.”

DHS has contracted UT at Austin to research how biometrics can improve daily life for citizens.

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.