Put Down the Bottled Water! It’s Draining Drought-Stricken California

Most bottled water companies are taking precious H2O from the state that needs it most; a new browser add-on can show you who’s funding your elected representatives; meanwhile, SWAT teams and riot police are paramilitarizing the suburbs. These discoveries and more below.

Why Bottled Water Comes From California, Which Can’t Spare Much Dasani, Aquafina, and Crystal Geyser all dip into the Golden State’s limited supply.

Ten Most Corrupt States A new study from researchers at the University of Hong Kong and Indiana University estimates that corruption on the state level is costing Americans in the 10 most corrupt states an average of $1,308 per year, or 5.2% of those states’ average expenditures per year.

Track Who’s Buying Politicians with ‘Greenhouse’ Browser Add-On Nicholas Rubin, a 16-year-old programmer from Seattle, has created a browser add-on that makes it incredibly easy to see the influence of money in U.S. politics.

The Marriage Ruling ‘Streak’ and What It Means, Made Simple In sports, a “streak” can say a lot about talent, endurance — and plain luck.

Between Postdoc and Job, a Whole Lot of Questions As disciplinary societies and graduate programs come to realize just how little they know about the career outcomes of Ph.D. recipients, this has become a burning question.

What’s Wrong With Comcast? The story of a company that’s too big to function.

Oil and Erbil To the defense of Erbil: this was the main cause that drew President Obama back to combat in Iraq last week, two and a half years after he fulfilled a campaign pledge and pulled the last troops out.

Israel Fields Army of Grass-Roots Supporters In the battle for influence in the Middle East, Israel retains one unrivaled weapon in its arsenal: American voters.

The Bacteria Living On and In Us Are Challenging Paradigms in Community Ecology In 1676, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek—a Dutch draper and amateur naturalist—peered through a microscope of his own design and described a world that would be misunderstood for the next 300 years.

The Hillary Doctrine: ‘Smart Power’ or ‘Back to the Crusades’? This past weekend, Tom Friedman, of the Times, sat down with President Obama, and Jeffrey Goldberg, of the Atlantic, posted online a long interview with Hillary Clinton.

Major Scientific Journal Argues Humans Are Wired to Believe in God: Believers Rejoice, Atheists Rebut It’s a frequent Christian apologist argument that atheists do not really exist and that everyone believes in god regardless of what they say.

How Israel’s Arms Manufacturers Won the Gaza War Iron Dome may have been the star performer during Operation Protective Edge, but the big international sellers may be the Tamuz missile and the Windbreaker system.

Paramilitary Police Are Changing Law Enforcement in the Suburbs SWAT teams, riot gear, armored vehicles, and other super-sized police equipment and tactics are spreading into smaller spaces and conflicts.