Outside the Beltway

Global poverty has plummeted in recent years.

The ongoing saga of piracy off the coast of Somali is about to get Americans’ attention again, as a yacht containing four U.S. citizens has been hijacked.

Donald Trump sounds like a man running for president.

Is the Chinese economy headed for a correction?

An interpretation of the events in Egypt.

Glenn Beck seems to have more in common with End Time preachers than he does with a serious political analyst.

Revolutions don’t happen over a weekend.

Two Senators are proposing a Constitutional Amendment to redefine what it means to be an American citizen.

Jon Huntsman is running for president. Who the hell is Jon Huntsman, you say?

Does Russia really spend more on roads than we do?

As the night of the State Of The Union Address approaches, the silliness in Washington has been taken up a notch.

Brief takes on foreign affairs

Like it or not, human rights is only at the top of the agenda for countries that otherwise don’t much matter.

While our politics are seldom violent, our violence is often politicized.

The Pelosi Estates Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Anti-Immigrant groups are beginning their assault on the 14th Amendment, but don’t expect it to go anywhere.

Time for the Monday OTB Caption Contest^TM

The Contender Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

With just over a week to go before the 112th Congress convenes, battle lines are already being drawn in battle over the defense budget.

The National Football League’s decision to postpone last night’s Eagles-Vikings game due to weather is receiving a lot of criticism, but they made the right choice.

A capsule look at the world situation as 2010 draws to a close.

Sarah Palin waded into the foreign policy pool today with a piece about Iran, and it was about as empty as most of the other ideas on Iran that we’ve heard over the last six years or so from everyone else.

Red States should gain 10 seats while Blue States should lose eight.

Did you know that the iPhone is made in China for a mere $6.50? It’s false but true!

One of the most active American diplomats of the past twenty-five years has passed away.

Bernie Sanders took to the floor of the Senate yesterday to rail against President Obama’s tax cut deal. It was history in the making, but it’s not clear that it actually accomplished anything.

Is Obama really the most liberal President ever? Not really.

The latest Wikileaks leak is a list of foreign infrastructure sites deemed vital to U. S. security.

Are American diplomats lying to reporters because they figure our citizens can’t handle the truth?

Despite recurring predictions that the Internet and mass communications would allow people to work from anywhere, talent continues to cluster in big cities.

Mike Bloomberg says we’re electing people to Congress who “can’t read” and “don’t have passports.”

The latest Wikileaks revelations suggest that China may not be willing to protect North Korea for much longer.

A new round of Wikileaks documents is out, and it opens the door on diplomatic correspondence previously hidden from the public.

McCain brings up “regime change” in re: the DKRP and China apparently isn’t doing enough.

There is at least one simple reason why dealing with the North is so difficult.

What sort of response is required to Pyongyang’s ratcheting up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula?

Tensions are on the rise again on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea shelled a South Korean island.

North Korea has unveiled to the world a new nuclear processing facility that puts back on the table the question of just what we should, or can, do about the fact that a rogue state possesses nuclear weapons and wants to build more.

Conservative Republicans who are typically deferential to the military are ignoring the advice of the military leadership on the new START Treaty.

The finger-pointing about the global economy continues.