Outside the Beltway

Eight of Cameroon’s 37 Olympians are “missing.”

According to a new report, the CIA considers Israel to be an espionage threat.

“The average Canadian has quietly become richer than the average American,” claims a pro-Canada organization.

What does the US Constitution actually provide in terms of guidance for governance?

Were the Colonists wrong to toss aside the British Empire so casually?

Scientists have made a major step toward unlocking one of the biggest mysteries of particle physics

Should it be anyone’s business if you vote?

Will more knowledge bring an end to the public debate over evolutionary theory? Don’t count on it.

The private office is quickly becoming a relic, despite the loss of morale and productivity that comes from open floorplans.

Seven of the top ten and fifteen of the top twenty universities on the planet are American.

The United States tops the world in giving money, volunteering time, and helping strangers.

Welcome technological change, or crony capitalism?

We held Kim’s services this morning. These were my prepared remarks.

A new patent granted to Apple raises once again the question of how far patent protections should extend.

Protests at least loosely affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement were conducted around the globe yesterday.

It’s not a given that we’ll have a massive recovery during the next presidential term but it’s a pretty decent bet. And the party in power will get too much credit for it if it happens.

Madison went to Philadelphia wanting to increase the power of the central government over the states (quite a bit, in fact).

Political journalists aren’t like you and me. Well, you, anyway.

The US came a lot closer to something resembling a parliamentary system than most people think.

Not only is the US outspending all our allies and competitors combined in real dollars on defense, we’re doing so in terms of GDP as well.

The world is starting to denounce the crackdown in Syria, but the reaction seems unlikely to go much beyond strongly worded statements.

Move eases way to providing funding to the rebels.

President Obama wants a million hybrid cars on the road by 2015. That’s easier said than done.

Australia’s ABC News has video smuggled out by an activist showing widespread famine in North Korea, including filthy children begging in the streets and evidence that even soldiers are not getting enough to eat.

Is it reasonable to state that countries with less guns are more likely to become tyrannical than countries with more guns?

My latest piece for The Atlantic, “Is the U.S.-European Relationship Really in Decline?” is posted.

Go The Fuck to Sleep, the children’s book aimed at parents, has become an Internet sensation and reached #1 on Amazon well before its release owing to a leaked copy.

On Palm Sunday, French Christians stormed a museum and slashed Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ

Australia is the only major country with lower tax rates than the USA.

Obama is visiting Brazil and Chile while American fighting men join the coalition against Libya.

Is Saudi Arabia the next domino to fall in the Middle East? The Royal family is hoping that money will be enough to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Facebook has come up with new settings to meet the needs of users in same-sex relationships.

Brief takes on foreign affairs