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Daily Archives: May 20, 2015

3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya

“Human evolutionary scholars have long supposed that the earliest stone tools were made by the genus Homo and that this technological development was directly linked to climate change and the spread of savannah grasslands. New fieldwork in West Turkana, Kenya, has identified evidence of much earlier hominin technological behaviour. We report the discovery of Lomekwi 3, a 3.3-million-year-old archaeological site where in situ stone artefacts occur in spatiotemporal association with Pliocene hominin fossils in a wooded palaeoenvironment. The Lomekwi 3 knappers, with a developing understanding of stone’s fracture properties, combined core reduction with battering activities. Given the implications of the Lomekwi 3 assemblage for models aiming to converge environmental change, hominin evolution and technological origins, we propose for it the name ‘Lomekwian’, which predates the Oldowan by 700,000 years and marks a new beginning to the known archaeological record.” Nature 521,310–315 doi:10.1038/nature14464

  • Supplementary Information – This file contains Supplementary Text, Supplementary Tables 1-3 and Supplementary References.

National Recall of Takata Air Bags

“If your vehicle is manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru or Toyota, you might be affected by a national recall on air bags. Check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) website using the VIN search tool to confirm whether your individual vehicle is affected by this recall, or by searching by VIN on… Continue Reading

New Mexico Law Review Spring 2015 dedicated to intersection of critically acclaimed TV Breaking Bad and the law

Spring 2015, Vol. 45, No. 2 INTRODUCTION Professional Articles Breaking Bad in the Classroom Max Minzner 397 Why We Would Spare Walter White: Breaking Bad and the True Power of Mitigation Bidish J. Sarma 429 “Better Call Saul” If You Want Discoverable Communications: The Misrepresentation of the Attorney-Client Privilege on Breaking Bad Armen Adzhemyan &… Continue Reading

Bin Ladin’s Bookshelf

Office of the Director on National Intelligence – “On May 20, 2015, the ODNI released a sizeable tranche of documents recovered during the raid on the compound used to hide Usama bin Ladin. The release, which followed a rigorous interagency review, aligns with the President’s call for increased transparency–consistent with national security prerogatives–and the 2014… Continue Reading

Americans’ Attitudes About Privacy, Security and Surveillance

“Two new Pew Research Center surveys explore [the issues of privacy and surveillance] and place them in the wider context of the tracking and profiling that occurs in commercial arenas. The surveys find that Americans feel privacy is important in their daily lives in a number of essential ways. Yet, they have a pervasive sense that… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Airport Finance, Domestic Food Assistance, Federal Employees Compensation, Older Adults, Surface Ships

Airport Finance: Information on Funding Sources and Planned Capital Development, GAO-15-306: Published: Apr 28, 2015. Publicly Released: May 20, 2015. Army Force Structure: Observations about Aviation Restructuring and Other Relevant Force Structure Challenges, D10389: May 20, 2015 Contingent Workforce: Size, Characteristics, Earnings, and Benefits, GAO-15-168R: Published: Apr 20, 2015. Publicly Released: May 20, 2015. Domestic… Continue Reading

DOJ – Five Major Banks Agree to Parent-Level Guilty Pleas

News release: “Five major banks – Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and UBS AG – have agreed to plead guilty to felony charges.   Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC, and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to manipulate the… Continue Reading

Smartphone Use While Driving Grows Beyond Texting to Social Media, Web Surfing, Selfies

News release: “When you see the driver next to you looking at their phone, it’s no longer safe to assume they’re texting. New research from AT&T shows nearly 4-in-10 smartphone users tap into social media while driving. Almost 3-in-10 surf the net. And surprisingly, 1-in-10 video chat. 7-in-10 people engage in smartphone activities while driving.… Continue Reading

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, April 28-29, 2015

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee – April 28-29, 2015 “Developments in Financial Markets and the Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet – In a joint session of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the manager of the System Open Market Account (SOMA) reported on developments… Continue Reading