Outside the Beltway

ISIS owns more territory than it did when the US bombing campaign began.

The two decade long argument over same-sex marriage appears headed for its final legal showdown.

The price of oil is continuing to fall, but it won’t last forever.

December’s jobs growth numbers were very good, but the numbers below the headlines show that there’s still work to be done.

Can ESPN cover sports while partnering with the sports leagues?

A break from politics (for one day at least)

Sony is warning the press not to publish material leaked by hackers, but it doesn’t have much of a legal leg to stand on.

The Supreme Court is set to decide if the state can deny a license plate with the Confederate flag design because it is “offensive.”

A wholly successfully first test for NASA’s next generation manned space vehicle.

Strong jobs growth in November means that 2014 is already the best year for jobs growth since 1999.

The Justices of the Supreme Court seemed to struggle yesterday to find an easy way to draw a line between protected speech and the kind of threats that are not protected by the First Amendment.

A new poll finds that a majority of Germans support sanctions against Russia, even if those sanctions end up hurting the German economy.

Well, so much for that “people’s revolt” that brought down a military dictator.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Today is a day for turkey and football, not a day for politics.

For better or worse, Marion Barry was a fixture in D.C. politics for much of the 40 year period of home rule that began in 1975.

Some of his party’s leaders want the president to save them.

Vladimir Putin’s reception at the G-20 Summit in Australia has been less than warm thanks to recent events in Ukraine.

The Ukraine crisis, which never really went away, is back,

Vatican politics is older than American politics, and can be just as entertaining.

Even innocent interactions with women in public can amount to harassment. Where should we draw the line?

Why do most people think success if mostly due to merit?

Good news that ought to quiet people’s concerns significantly, on the Ebola front.

The Navy Special Warfare community is angry at SEALs exploiting their part in the bin Laden raid.

A Google Executive jumps from the edge of space, breaking a record.

Early voting is a still new idea in the United States, but one that has quickly spread to a majority of states. But, is it a good idea?

Who should own antiquity?

America’s federal workforce is increasingly disenchanted.

America’s “Patient Zero” doesn’t appear to have spread Ebola very far, but continued vigilance is called for. And, we need to focus on the part of the world where there really is an Ebola Crisis.

Rich guys are backing organizations that are taking over traditional party functions. Is that a problem?

Another health care worker in Dallas is being treated for exposure to the Ebola Virus.

Sobering news from the World Health Organization.

MSNBC’s attempt to be the liberal Fox News isn’t working.

A District of Columbia Judge has ruled that photographs of women taken in public do not violate the law.

A second case, and the first person to apparently contract Ebola on U.S. soil. But, that’s no reason to panic.

The mystery continues.

Once again, there’s speculation that something is up in the world’s most closed society.

Elected representatives, not soldiers, make policy. But there are times when generals should make a stand.

The nation’s newspaper of record is slashing its reporting team.

U.S. troops will be in Afghanistan for at least the next three years.

The streets of Hong Kong have been filled with protesters upset over China’s efforts to control the city’s political future.

Politics, the law, culture, and a very old language collide.

A strong rebound for the economy from the downturn at the start of the year.

While the world pays attention to Syria and Iraq, Yemen is once against lurching into chaos.