‘Swatting’ prank results in police killing of unrelated Kansas man

"A 28-year-old Kansas man was shot and killed by police after a fraudulent SWAT team call sent a small army of police officers to the man’s private home. One player allegedly provided a fake address to another, who proceeded to embroil the innocent stranger in the feud without thinking of the consequences."

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Privacy Complaints Mount Over Phone Searches at U.S. Border Since 2011

"Smartphones and other personal electronics contain vastly more private information than suitcases. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have filed a lawsuit in Boston arguing that a warrant should be required to search such devices at the border. Last week, the Trump administration asked a judge to dismiss the case. The lawsuit comes amid a surge in agents looking through — and sometimes copying data from — cellphones and laptops. Midway through fiscal year 2017, Customs and Border Protection was on pace to search 30,000 travelers’ electronics — more than tripling the annual number by that agency since 2015."

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New US visa-free travel policy exports Homeland Security abroad

"The Trump administration put new requirements in place on Friday for the 38 countries participating in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, including that they use U.S. counterterrorism data to screen travelers, officials said. The United States will also start assessing VWP countries on their safeguards against 'insider threats' at their airports, especially those with direct flights to the United States, officials said."

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Jeff Sessions Faces Tough Cannabis Questions—From His Own Interns

"Sessions noted that more fatal accidents are now caused by drugs than by alcohol, and he said the American Medical Association 'is crystal clear' that 'marijuana is not a healthy substance.' But when the intern challenged that assertion, Sessions seemed dismissive, addressing the intern as 'Dr. Whatever Your Name Is.' 'I don’t think America’s going to be a better place if marijuana’s sold in every corner grocery store,' Sessions said."

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Washing Machine Tariffs Will Hurt Americans

"The protectionist move against LG and Samsung comes, perversely, just as those companies are set to employ thousands of Americans in Tennessee and South Carolina. It may also inadvertently put the final nail in the coffin of one of the longest-standing bastions of the American service industry, Sears Holdings Corp. Trump should reject the remedy proposal put forth by the International Trade Commission. Making it more expensive for LG to import the washers it produces for Kenmore, one of Sears’ most popular product lines, will jeopardize the retailer’s efforts to revitalize its brand."

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How occupational licensing laws inhibit interstate mobility

"The new study adds to the already substantial evidence indicating that licensing laws are a major obstacle to geographic mobility, particularly for poor and lower-middle class people seeking to move to areas with greater opportunity. We have gotten to the point where some 30 percent of Americans have to have licenses to legally work in their respective fields, including even some states that license florists and tour guides. The evidence also suggests that most of these laws do far more to suppress competition than protect consumers."

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America’s Biggest Problem is Government, Say Most Americans Since Nixon Era

"23 percent of Americans say that the government is America’s biggest problem. 'That’s about exactly what is was before Nixon resigned,' Jones said, referring to the Watergate era. One might be tempted to view this result as solely caused by disgust with President Donald Trump or his policies. But that’s not really the case, or not entirely. The commentators point out that the poll is similar to findings from 2014-2015 when Barack Obama was president."

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A War On Opioids Is A War On Suffering People

"Appointing an Opioid Czar and strictly restricting access to said drugs is not the way to stop the 'opioid epidemic,' if I may use the term. People, good people, people with families and jobs and homes, people who just want to be able to do something that approximates functioning, are having serious issues getting medicine that they need. Because they’re having trouble getting medicine their doctor deemed they needed, more and more are finding themselves in pain crises and heading to their local emergency rooms for relief, clogging up an already-congested system and causing delays in care for people who are dealing with other critical emergencies."

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