September 13, 2016

Many states with legal medical cannabis programs exempt wide swaths of useful information that would generally be available to the public under freedom of information laws from disclosure, a review by TMN’s Sam Stecklow found. / thekindland.com

Related: Illinois, one of the states with the most restrictive measures in place against FOIA disclosures about its medical cannabis programs—including a $1,000 fine for any state employee that does disclose information—is able to rely on broad legal language to deny requests for information that is not even specifically exempted by the law. / thekindland.com

The Intercept recently obtained hundreds of unredacted pages of long-secret manuals for StingRay devices, which are frequently used by the FBI, Army, Secret Service, Border Patrol, IRS, NSA, and law enforcemenet agencies in at least 23 states to spy on and bug the personal phones of activists, low-level drug dealers, and small-time burglars. / The Intercept, ACLU, gapersblock.com, CNN, Ars Technica

The U.S.’s immediate response to North Korea’s fifth and largest successful nuclear test has been its usual one: threatening stricter sanctions, but a 2014 study published by George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs found that sanctions have little effect on the growth of North Korea’s nuclear program, and in some cases have helped it grow. / CBC, twq.elliott.gwu.edu

“The United States cannot rely on China for North Korea. China is closer to North Korea than the United States.” Despite joining a Security Council resolution condemning North Korea’s nuclear tests, China’s unlikely to do anything to punish its entirely dependent neighbor. / The New York Times

On Monday, a defiant Assad promised just before the ceasefire to retake the entire country. / The Telegraph

“In a touch of epic derp that would be funny if it didn’t actually reveal how people of color are assumed to be violent, when the Lakota invited relatives to pack their peace pipes and gather with them in solidarity, the (white) county sheriff thought they meant pipe bombs.” Some Native Americans see pipeline protests as a way to cure white men of their sickness. / Outside

Looking to streamline a difficult process, the Census is thinking of simplifying the way it tabulates Latino and Hispanic heritage. / Pew Research Center

Architect Marwa al-Sabouni examines how failures of infrastructures accelerated the Syrian Civil War, compounding its losses from tragic to horrific. “People outside think our most difficult challenges are weapon-related. But the truth is that the hospitals, which have no proper equipment, are killing more people now than bullets,” she told the Guardian. / The Guardian

Voters rate Donald Trump’s mocking remarks about a reporter’s disabilities more disturbing than any of his other forays beyond political correctness, including his jabs at the Muslim parents of a fallen American soldier. / CNN

“It was always run, run, run, that was how I was brought up.” Profile of Mayango Jallah, a Liberian “economic migrant” who estimates he has saved and spent over $14,000 on unsuccessful attempts to seek refuge in Europe. / Reuters

Oh good, drone surfing is a thing (for $17,000). / GearJunkie

By paying scientists in the ’60s to downplay the link between sugar and heart disease “and promote saturated fat as the culprit instead.” / The New York Times

The science that deals with pain from honey-bee stings has been “taken to a new high” after a man tests himself to see where stings hurt worst. / Business Insider

“Instead of trying so hard to get organized or decluttered, you can try asking: how much of your disorganization can you afford to stop caring about?” Obsessing over tidiness doesn’t necessarily lead to peace of mind. / The Guardian

“Society doesn’t mind us helping out the hood and the inner cities, but they have a problem when we speak about the hood and the inner cities. I don’t understand that part.” Decades after African-American representation in the Major Leagues peaked, Baltimore’s Adam Jones is among the game’s very few African-Americans. / FanGraphs

LA’s famed Grand Central Market, as seen above in lovely archival footage from 1963, is today incredibly gentrified and incredibly in debt, writes Jesse Katz in Los Angeles magazine. / lamag.com

Ironically, the Dakota Access Pipeline stretches across a state where people are acting on climate by adapting to it. North Dakota is warming faster than anywhere else in the contiguous United States, and hasn’t had an above-average number of cold days in winter since 1980. / eenews.net

“Kaepernick alone could have been cut and blackballed, but with a dozen or so players, many of them stars, behind him, the league has been forced to bend in his direction,” Deadspin writes, and Dave Zirin agrees. / Deadspin, The Nation