In The News

Study: Farmer and hunter groups 'kept their distance' from each other in Stone Age 

"When farmers showed up from the Near East about 7,500 years ago, eager to grow their grains in the soil of Central Europe, they were met by indigenous hunters and gatherers. The locals, apparently, did not welcome them with open arms." New research suggests that "for some 2,000 years, these distinct groups refused to mesh and would rarely cross their cultural boundaries to find a mate."

What effect does mass surveillance have on journalism in the US? We're finding out. It's not good. 

" Mass surveillance of the kind practiced by the NSA produces a chilling effect on journalism, because sources do not feel they can have a private conversation with a reporter." That's the takeaway from a public comment issued by a group of scholars, journalists, and researchers from Columbia Journalism School and the MIT Center for Civic Media, responding to the Review Group on Intelligence and Communication Technologies convened by President Obama. [Tow Center for Digital Journalism] 

New head of CIA's National Clandestine Service profiled in Newsweek

In Newsweek, Jeff Stein profiles Frank Archibald, who was named head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service earlier this year. Stein describes him as "a nice guy in a killer job – literally;" an "affable, hulking former Clemson University football player, 57," who is now the guy in charge of the CIA division that handles the "agency's spies and hunter-killer teams, like the ones dispatched to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya and elsewhere in search of al Qaeda and other terrorist spore."

Father walking across US to raise bullying awareness after gay son committed suicide is killed

"An Oregon man who lost his gay son to suicide and was walking across the country to raise awareness about bullying is dead after being hit by a truck in eastern Colorado." Joseph Bell of La Grande, OR, who was 48, died on Wednesday after a truck hit him on a rural two-lane highway. "Investigators believe the driver fell asleep." 

Lavabit files opening brief in important online privacy case 

Kevin Poulsen, Wired News: "Secure email provider Lavabit just filed the opening brief in its appeal of a court order demanding it turn over the private SSL keys that protected all web traffic to the site." 

Judge fines self $50 for allowing his phone to go off during sentencing hearing 

Judge Hugh B. Clarke, Jr. of Lansing District Court in Michigan fined himself $50 after his cellphone went off at a sentencing hearing. The Judge told the WSJ he made a call during a recess and forgot to silence his phone when he returned to court in a hurry. “I don’t know why I even had it,” he said. 

US gov shutdown means imminent death for thousands of lab mice

NPR's "All Things Considered" did a piece this week about what the shutdown means for thousands of lab mice used in medical research at government facilities. In a word, death. 

Patriot Act author pushes bill to put NSA's data dragnet 'out of business'

"Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, who worked with president George W. Bush to give more power to US intelligence agencies after the September 11 terrorist attacks, said the intelligence community had misused those powers by collecting telephone records on all Americans, and claimed it was time 'to put their metadata program out of business."