On Monday, a federal judge sentenced four Blackwater contractors for their roles in the Nisour Square massacre, giving one man life in prison and three others 30 years each, The New York Times reports.

No one can be sure until the last minute, but the odds of a government shutdown in three days have never been higher after a day of collapsed talks. Congressional parties and the White House are hunkering down for cover to ensure they don't get blamed. But it's important to remember, as we watch this parlor game, that a government shutdown affects "real lives" quite directly.

Quite a story in the NYT today about the trial of David Brooks, CEO of a body-armor company who ripped off the US military for millions. Okay, maybe his $100,000 belt buckle was excessive. But the prostitutes? Totally legit.

Thank your State Department: Blackwater/Xe has come back and won a $120 million Afghanistan contract.

The State Department announced today that eight of the security contractors in Kabul who were featured drinking "buttshots" of vodka off one another in photos we published Tuesday have been fired, and two more quit.

Wonder what it's like to guard State Department facilities in Kabul? In photos first published by Gawker, security contractors get their kicks peeing on one another, simulating anal sex, doing "butt shots," and "eating potato chips out of ass cracks."

In October, before Google's cost-cutting campaign began in earnest, the company had more than 10,000 contractors, founder Sergey Brin said. In a mid-December SEC filing, it reported only 4,300 temporary workers.