Outside the Beltway

Combining politics, an incessantly sensationalist news cycle, and a virus that scares a lot of people can’t end well.

We’ve got one foot in two very different technological worlds.

The end of an era.

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

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

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are pushing back against Apple and Google’s efforts to provide greater privacy to users.. They’re wrong.

Dedicated reading improves our brains and our health—unless it’s on a computer screen.

A political earthquake in the Sunflower State that could have a big impact on the battle for control of the Senate.

Bestiality and prostitution are legal in Denmark. And not just separately.

The “open and free” Internet is an ideal type, not a myth.

A good law has one rather silly unintended consequence.

End game? Or the potential spark of a wider war?

Six weeks have passed since the primary, and Chris McDaniel has revealed he really doesn’t have much to complain about other than the fact that he lost.

Our laws and social norms have not caught up to modern life.

Someone took down a Boeing 777 over Ukraine today.

Judging by the early results, the so-called “Right To Be Forgotten” recently created by Europe’s highest court is creating more problems than it will solve.

Another area where the law has not caught up with technology.

Some surveys suggest that younger Americans are less patriotic than older generations.

Target is the latest business to ask customers to leave the guns at home when they go shopping.

The news media of 1914 didn’t see World War One coming, but it’s not clear that we’re any better.

Mississippi goes from bizarre to, well, even more bizarre.

Next term, the Supreme Court will try to decide when online speech crosses the line and becomes a criminal threat.

Should the police be able to track you without a warrant? One Federal Appeals Court says no.

The junior Senator from Florida drops some hints.

Interactions between consumers and businesses online are starting to have an impact on the legal system.

If a decision by the Senate Press Gallery stands, SCOTUSBlog’s ability to cover the Supreme Court will be significantly restricted.

In an ideal world, we would be more tolerant of leaders who held controversial positions. We don’t live in that world.

The DOD says Walmart was violating its trademarks.

An opportunist ruins a good joke and hijacks an important discussion.

Politics, media, and the attention span of the average American haven’t really changed as much as we think.

“It’s complicated” has long been an option to describe one’s romantic status on Facebook. Now, it applies to one’s sex as well.

Tonight, the American political system stops to engage in the biggest waste of time ever invented.

Apple is pledging to fix a bug in iOs 7 that I have never experienced and never heard of.

More details.

The danger of saying stupid things online apparently has not sunk in with some people.

A potentially big legal setback for a big National Security Agency program.