Jeremy Scahill: The Mercenary Revolution

Jeremy Scahill: The Mercenary Revolution: "If you think the U.S. has only 160,000 troops in Iraq, think again. With almost no congressional oversight and even less public awareness, the Bush administration has more than doubled the size of the U.S. occupation through the use of private war companies. There are now almost 200,000 private 'contractors' deployed in Iraq by Washington. This means that U.S. military forces in Iraq are now outsized by a coalition of billing corporations whose actions go largely unmonitored and whose crimes are virtually unpunished."

Iraq bombs: 500 die in worst terror attack - Telegraph

Iraq bombs: 500 die in worst terror attack - Telegraph: "The death toll in the co-ordinated suicide bomb attack on the minority Yazidi sect in northern Iraq could be as high as 500, medics have said."

U.S. actions against Iran raise war risk, many fear - Yahoo! News

U.S. actions against Iran raise war risk, many fear - Yahoo! News: "Designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group 'is the State Department trying to do something short of war,' said former U.S. diplomat Charles Dunbar , a professor of international relations at Boston University ."

Ahmadinejad to join Chinese, Russian leaders for regional security summit - International Herald Tribune

Ahmadinejad to join Chinese, Russian leaders for regional security summit - International Herald Tribune: "BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived Wednesday in Kyrgyzstan to join the leaders of Russia and China for a summit of a regional group seen as a platform for countering U.S. interests in strategic, energy-rich Central Asia."

'We have broken speed of light' - Telegraph

'We have broken speed of light' - Telegraph: "Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory. The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled 'instantaneously' between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart. Being able to travel faster than the speed of light would lead to a wide variety of bizarre consequences."

Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’ - Times Online

Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’ - Times Online: "Walking does more than driving to cause global warming, a leading environmentalist has calculated. Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance. The climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes. "

China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People - New York Times

China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People - New York Times: "Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens. Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card."

Is This Man Cheating on His Wife? - WSJ.com

Is This Man Cheating on His Wife? - WSJ.com: "'Our brains are not specialized for 21st-century media,' says Prof. Reeves. 'There's no switch that says, 'Process this differently because it's on a screen.' '"

'I didn't eat and I didn't sleep' / Coin dealer flies dime worth $1.9 million to NYC

'I didn't eat and I didn't sleep' / Coin dealer flies dime worth $1.9 million to NYC: "(07-26) 19:04 PDT -- John Feigenbaum flew out of San Jose this week in first class, with flip-flops on his feet, a T-shirt on his back and a dime worth $1.9 million in his pocket."

Iraq war boss says US draft 'worth considering' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Iraq war boss says US draft 'worth considering' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "The top US military officer in charge of coordinating the war effort in Iraq says that it makes sense to consider a return of the draft to meet the military's needs."

Dow Sinks 387 on Renewed Credit Concerns - The Huffington Post

Dow Sinks 387 on Renewed Credit Concerns - The Huffington Post: "The ECB's injection of money into the system is an unprecedented move, said Joseph V. Battipaglia, chief investment officer at Ryan Beck & Co., adding that it shows that problems in subprime lending are, in fact, spreading into the general economy. 'This is a mini-panic,' he said. 'All the things that had been denied up until this point are unraveling. On top of this, retail sales were mediocre, which shows that indeed, the housing collapse is affecting the consumer.'"

Russian bombers buzz US base in Guam - Telegraph

Russian bombers buzz US base in Guam - Telegraph: "Moscow said that US fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the two Tupolev-95 warplanes as they resumed the Cold War era practice of flying over Western offshore military installations in a mission on Wednesday. The incident, seen as the latest attempt by a revitalised Russia to project its military might, is likely to have unnerved the Pentagon and caused further perplexity at the State Department over the Kremlin's mercurial course."

Laughing gas 'may raise risk of heart attack' | the Daily Mail

Laughing gas 'may raise risk of heart attack' | the Daily Mail: "'The routine use of nitrous oxide in adult patients undergoing major surgery should be questioned.'"

In Iraq, a Perilous Alliance With Former Enemies - washingtonpost.com

In Iraq, a Perilous Alliance With Former Enemies - washingtonpost.com: "U.S. commanders are offering large sums to enlist, at breakneck pace, their former enemies, handing them broad security powers in a risky effort to tame this fractious area south of Baghdad in Babil province and, literally, buy time for national reconciliation."

Technology Review: Electric Fields Kill Tumors

Technology Review: Electric Fields Kill Tumors: "An Israeli company is conducting human tests for a device that uses weak electric fields to kill cancer cells but has no effect on normal cells. The device is in late-stage clinical trials in the United States and Europe for glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer. It is also being tested in Europe for its effectiveness against breast cancer. In the lab and in animal testing, treatment with electric fields has killed cancer cells of every type tested."

Pakistan criticizes Obama for air strike remarks | Jerusalem Post

Pakistan criticizes Obama for air strike remarks | Jerusalem Post: "Hundreds of protesters chanted anti-US slogans and burned an American flag to protest a remark by Democratic US presidential hopeful Barack Obama saying that, if elected, he might order military strikes in Pakistan against al-Qaida.

The protests followed comments by Pakistani officials calling Obama's comments irresponsible."

PC World - Diebold Voting Machines Vulnerable to Virus Attack

PC World - Diebold Voting Machines Vulnerable to Virus Attack: "An analysis of Diebold's source code shows that a hacker with access to a single voting machine could use a virus to affect an election."

Iran Makes Major Nuclear Concessions - washingtonpost.com

Iran Makes Major Nuclear Concessions - washingtonpost.com: "VIENNA, Austria -- In major concessions to international demands, Iran has agreed to answer lingering questions about its nuclear experiments and will let U.N. inspectors return to a plutonium-producing reactor it is building, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday."

Global Peace Index Rankings

Global Peace Index Rankings: "This section lists the results of the analysis into each nation's peace. This is the prime table in the Global Peace Index section. The countries are ranked from most peaceful to least peaceful, highlighting their ranking as well as their score."

One cannabis joint as bad as five cigarettes: study | Health | Reuters

One cannabis joint as bad as five cigarettes: study | Health | Reuters: "'The effect on the lungs of each joint was equivalent to smoking between 2.5 and five cigarettes in one go.'"