China's cracking down on VPNs. That's a BFD.

1. An even greater firewall China has initiated a crackdown on the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), a technology widely used to evade the country's extensive internet censorship. [NYT / Andrew Jacobs] An official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology confirmed the crackdown to People's Daily, a government paper. [People's Daily] Over the past month or so, a variety of Western sites — like Gmail, Instagram, and Flickr — have been blocked as well. [Washington Post / Simon Denyer] In addition to the blockages, there have also been hacks, like one targeting Microsoft Outlook, which the Chinese government is widely suspected of carrying out. [The Verge / Russell Brandom] The internet restrictions aren't just a form of censorship; they're also a kind of protectionism, sheltering Chinese businesses like Baidu and Alibaba from competition by US tech companies. [WSJ / Te-Ping Chen] In 2008, many observers were insisting China would never crack down on VPNs: "Every bank, every foreign manufacturing company, every retailer, every software vendor needs VPNs to exist," one professor said. [The Atlantic / James Fallows] Besides hurting businesses, the VPN crackdown is making life very difficult for Chinese scientists trying to work with their Western colleagues. [NYT / Andrew Jacobs] It's worth noting this is not as severe as a 2012 incident in which VPN services were blocked almost entirely; the fact that they were later restored gives some cause for optimism now. [Washington Post / Simon Denyer] 2. Licensed to Ill President Obama's budget will contain $15 million for state and local governments to evaluate their occupational licensing rules. [NYT / Eduardo Porter] The number of jobs that require a license has grown considerably in recent decades, often in baffling fields; as of 2012, 39 states required licensing for massage therapists and 34 states required a license to install security alarms. [Vox / Tim Lee] As of 2008, 29 percent of workers had a government license for their job. [Journal of Labor Economics / Morris Kleiner and Alan Krueger] Licensing increases wages considerably, but hurts consumers by raising prices; one study found that people in states where dental hygienists are tightly regulated are more likely to lose teeth to decay or gum disease. [Vox / James Bessen] By one estimate, licensing costs consumers $208 billion a year, and cuts employment by 2.85 million. [Upjohn Institute / Morris Kleiner] Obama's budget isn't out until Monday, but this paper by the University of Minnesota's Morris Kleiner, the leading economist on licensing issues, illustrates what this kind of reform would look like. [Hamilton Project / Morris Kleiner] 3. Keystonewalled no more The Senate has passed a bill approving construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. [NYT / Coral Davenport] The vote was 62 to 36, which is five votes short of a veto-proof majority. And Obama has promised he'll veto this. [Vox / Brad Plumer] The House has already passed the bill, but also fell short of a veto-proof margin. [Washington Post / Lori Montgomery and Steven Mufson] While Obama has been clear that he doesn't want Congress forcing his hand, he hasn't said whether he'll approve the pipeline. [AP / Josh Lederman] Environmentalists fear that approving the pipeline would accelerate the burning of high-carbon tar sands oil, causing worse global warming. That might be true, but it's hard to say how big a deal it is. [Vox / Brad Plumer] 4. Misc. "Chinese officers caught feasting on an endangered salamander" is the greatest headline of our times. [Washington Post / William Wan and Gu Jinglu] We have drugs that can dramatically cut heroin overdoses and help people end their addictions. And few people are able to get them. [Huffington Post / Jason Cherkis] According to one study, surgeons left objects (usually sponges) inside patients 4,857 times from 1990 to 2010. They operated on the wrong patient altogether 27 times. [Vox / Sarah Kliff] Here are three concrete things that the NFL can do to make concussions and brain damage less common. [The Atlantic / Jeff Nussbaum] Political nerds love talking about brokered conventions because they're really fun and chaotic and haven't happened in decades, but Sean Trende makes a good case that Republicans could face one next year. [RealClearPolitics / Sean Trende] Anti-vaxxers didn't cause the 2014 measles outbreak. An Amish missionary did. [Vox / Julia Belluz] 5. Verbatim "A couple who named their child 'Nutella' are now the proud parents of baby 'Ella' after a French court rejected their decision to name the child after the delicious hazelnut spread." [Washington Post / Abby Ohlheiser] "If you’re looking for people to join your insanely dangerous and lucrative bombing spree, there are worse places to recruit than Liverpool." [Bloomberg / Nick Summers] "Muslim countries average 2.4 murders per annum per 100,000 people, compared to 7.5 in non-Muslim countries." [Washington Post / Steven Fish] "It makes you feel like a lobster, just like, ready to be declawed." [Barbara Kavovit to New York Post / Dana Schuster] "Binge-watching a TV show on Netflix or Hulu is one of the great pleasures of modern life, but now a study from the University of Texas at Austin is going to make you feel weird about it." [NY Mag / Melissa Dahl] Correction: Yesterday's email said the New York Times article about Warren Lee Hill's execution was written by Warren Lee Hill. It obviously was not. It was written by Alan Blinder. Read the latest Vox Sentences here!

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