So why in the world, Iraqis demanded Thursday, would the government introduce a plan to ban smoking in public places?

You can’t hear it, but the Earth is constantly humming. And some parts of the world sing louder than others.

After discovering the mysterious low-frequency buzz in 1998, scientists figured out that the Earth’s hum is caused not by earthquakes or atmospheric turbulence, but by ocean waves colliding with the seafloor. Now, researchers have pinpointed the source of the Earth’s “background noise,” and it looks like it’s coming primarily from the Pacific coast of North America.

Six-thirty on a Sunday morning in Scottsdale, Arizona.  My wife and I are on our two-hour walk and far from home.  Cell phone rings.  Our 18-year-old son Chris is on the phone to tell us that he was out running in the neighborhood and was bitten by a dog that was being walked by its owner.

We tell him to get the owner’s name, phone number and the dog’s shot record, and then to go home and wash out the wound and put antiseptic on it. 

While Ron Paul is calling on Congress to audit the Federal Reserve, his brother Wayne Paul has been testifying here in federal court about how Wayne's monetary views have shaped the beliefs of Robert Kahre, a Las Vegas business owner who is on trial for evading income taxes.

The trial before Judge David Ezra is nearing its conclusion, as the defense rested its case Thursday. Both sides will present closing arguments next week.