Sam Brownback(Christian Science Monitor) Senator Obama puts spotlight back on Africa: The high-profile hoopla around Mr. Obama is hardly the first time a US lawmaker has paid heed to the continent. Indeed, African-American members of Congress have kept close ties to Africa – and Africa issues – for years. Those links were forged when black lawmakers took up the anti-apartheid movement and worked with Africans who were to become officials in new governments. … The fact that a senator is drawing attention to the cause does make some difference, experts say. “There is more interest on the Senate side than there used to be, and that is having some impact,” says Gayle Smith, Africa expert at the Center for American Progress in Washington. One difference is that religious conservatives like Sen. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas have taken on Africa-related issues like Darfur, AIDS, and poverty as moral imperatives for US foreign policy. Others say it is the unheralded, behind-the-scenes contacts with rising African officials, parliamentarians, and civil society.Pat Roberts(Inside Higher Ed) If CIA Calls, Should Anthropology Answer? Anthropologists who work for intelligence agencies could not be reached for this article. Peacock, the committee chair, said he believed there were very few of them, although he stressed that their actions could affect other scholars. If anthropologists working abroad are seen to be military spies, they could be endangered or lose the trust of those they study, he said. Others, however, argue that the overriding issue should be the need to protect the United States. The Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program, which provides generous stipends in return for government service, is one of the efforts that has attracted scholars’ attention. Peacock said that the anthropology association has fielded questions from professors about whether it is ethical to encourage their students to sign up. The program was created out of the belief that U.S. intelligence agencies have been weakened by lacking expertise in many foreign cultures and societies.Jerry Moran(Delta Democrat Delta farmers are anxious to know what new agriculture legislation from Congress will bring. Area business leaders and farmers learned more about plans for a new farm bill Wednesday from Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) at the mid-year meeting of the Delta Council. “The general consensus that we hear from farmers, with one exception, is that we’d like to have a farm bill that’s very similar along the same thought and lines and policy as the 2002 Farm Bill provides,” Moran said. “The exception, and it creates some issues for us in Washington, are those who raise specialty crops, fruits and vegetables, nuts, those particularly in California and Florida, Texas. They are looking for a larger piece of that economic pie that the Farm Bill provides.”How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.