Drone Testing Sites Named, Police Deaths Drop, Obamacare Rules Hit Vending Machines: P.M. Links

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  Credit: dolescum / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

  Keep your eyes on the skies in Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia. Those are the states selected by the federal government for drone test sites.

• The incoming mayor of Boston is not on board with the police there getting AR-15 rifles.
• As said police continue their efforts to militarize, 2013 saw the fewest number of police killed by firearms since 1887. More were killed in car crashes. Overall deaths in the line of duty are the lowest since 1959.
• But what about those on the other side of that thin blue line? In Seattle, shootings by the police accounted for one-fifth of all homicides in the city, six out of 29. Police officials there blame poor management of those with mental illnesses.
• The latest stupid revelation from the unexplored innards of the Affordable Care Act is that next year vending machines will be required to show calorie counts for the products inside. This is expected to cost vendors (and therefore consumers) about $25 million a year.
• France's proud rejection of Economics 101 continues apace. The government has given approval to a 75 percent tax on the rich. It has also ordered car services like Uber to institute a 15-minute wait before picking up riders in a completely undisguised move to protect taxi drivers from competition.

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