THE GUARDIAN: Two young children [NOT pictured] in Pennsylvania were banned from talking about fracking for the rest of their lives under a gag order imposed under a settlement reached by their parents with a leading oil and gas company. The sweeping gag order was imposed under a $750,000 settlement between the Hallowich family and Range Resources Ltd, a leading oil and gas driller. It provoked outrage on Monday among environmental campaigners and free speech advocates. The settlement, reached in 2011 but unsealed only last week, barred the Hallowichs’ son and daughter, who were then aged 10 and seven, […]

THE GUARDIAN: A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The NSA boasts in training materials that the program, called XKeyscore, is its “widest-reaching” system for developing intelligence from the internet. The files shed light on one of Snowden’s most controversial statements, made in his first video interview published by the Guardian on June 10. “I, sitting at my desk,” said Snowden, could “wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, […]

  NME: A closer look at David Bowie’s music video for ‘Valentine’s Day’ suggests there’s more to it than meets the eye. When it came out earlier this month it was seen as stripped down and back to basics particulary when compared with his last, controversial video for ‘The Next Day’ that depicted Bowie as Christ and Marion Cotillard with stigmata. The lyrics suggest ‘Valentine’s Day’ is about a high school shooting: “Valentine told me who’s to go/ Feelings he’s treasured most of all/The teachers and the football star”. But is there a direct reference to Charlton Heston and the […]

  They play the Tower Theater on Wednesday, January 29  — FYI, last time they played Dobbs —  and Union Transfer on Thursday, January 30. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 2nd at 10 a.m. HERE. Good luck and may The Force be with you. PREVIOUSLY:  Neutral Milk Hotel, the 1990s indie-rock band known for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and cult following, is reuniting for the first time in over a decade for a series of shows next fall, the band announced on its Web site. The band went into hibernation after releasing “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” […]

This William Tyler guy is one deep cat and his music is well-served by this ingenius homage to the great Two Lane Blacktop, starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. New William Tyler tour dates after the jump.

  JOSHUA FOUST: By all accounts he was deeply conflicted?—?with his gender identity, his poor integration into his Army unit, and his own moral struggle with the war. His chain of command in Iraq, which was responsible for his well-being and conduct, failed him utterly when they did not respond sufficiently to his breaks of discipline (which included punching a female superior officer in the face). After displaying such behavioral issues, he should never have been allowed to maintain his access to classified information, much less have unfettered access to a CD burner inside his intelligence facility.The lack of reprisals […]