Outside the Beltway

Would non-violence really have failed against the Nazis? History suggests maybe not….

Ken Levine has some advice for aspiring writers: Forget about slaving over plots and character development. Instead, sleep your way around campus and write about it.

If the Bush TARP initiative saved the economy at no cost to taxpayers, we have the odd situation of Republicans nonetheless angry it happened and Democrats who thought it a good idea annoyed that it worked.

Eugene Volokh explains why he’s not writing on a controversial subject recently in the news: He doesn’t know enough about it and doesn’t want to be wrong.

Robert Lane Greene investigates the rise of acronyms, initialisms, and other informal shortenings of speech.

Craig Newmark thinks NPR’s membership model will overtake advertising-supported news over the next decade.

Among the unintended but not unforeseen consequences of the new health care law is that companies who were previously offering some health coverage may stop altogether. In some cases, that’s just as well.

Tonight’s topics: Democrats’ infighting, the continued Tea Party “takeover” of the GOP, the Obama administration’s following of its predecessor’s lead on executive power, and the degree to which America’s economic competition is fair.

Some old guy and the man who created “The Wire” are among this year’s recipients.

The use of “partner” to describe someone with whom one is in a romantic relationship has interesting connotations.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is leaving his job at week’s end to run for mayor of Chicago.

Paul Krugman says there’s zero evidence for structural causes for unemployment. It’s just a demand problem. How do we spark demand, then?

Bob Woodward reports that President Obama was looking for options other than staying the course in Afghanistan. The military didn’t provide any.

President Obama’s approval is at its lowest point to date, matching President Clinton’s in 1994. It’s 14 points higher than his predecessor’s.

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the iconic HOPE poster, is disappointed with President Obama.

Many commenters on civil-military relations change their tune according to whose ox is gored.

Tracking “freedom” and American defense spending provides some interesting insights.

Meghan McCain canceled an appearance at Juniata College with only three days’ notice, citing “several unforeseen professional responsibilities.” She tweeted that she was “headed to sin city with my favorite crew of sinners instead.”

A case study in how one’s choice of graphing techniques can shape a debate over known data.

Should proper nouns be exempt from local spelling conventions?

Perhaps the biggest insight from Bob Woodward’s latest book is the sharpness of the split between the military and civilian leadership.

Subsidizing the markers of middle class attainment may undermine the traits that lead to it.

The nine months humans spend in the womb may be the most important time of our lives. And that has some profound implications.

Tonight’s topics: Bob Woodward’s new book, the Murkowski write-in bid, the weird race in Delaware, and the end of the Great Recession.

Is there a quiet cyberwar going on and we are just starting to notice it?

The authors of Global Governance 2025 offer a wide range of trajectories for the international system depending on whether we adequately address known threats.

Dan Drezner asks, “Has Bob Woodward jumped the shark?” My snarky response is that he did that in Bob Casey’s hospital room.

President Obama told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, “Long before America was even an idea, this land of plenty was home to many peoples. The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land.”

America’s elite universities have proportionately fewer slots than their English and French counterparts. Does it matter?

Jon Stewart’s response to Glenn Beck is taking place on the weekend where party leaders usually conduct their big get out the vote push.

We need global cooperation to deal with a growing variety of serious problems. But we can’t even agree amongst ourselves on policy options.

Great news, everybody: The biggest economic calamity since the Great Depression has been over for well over a year.

In yet another sign of how rapidly the media landscape is changing, longtime Newsweek stalwart is leaving for the Huffington Post.

The Tea Party movement and the populist backlash against DC mayor Adrian Fenty are a sign that things are changing so fast that a lot of people simply can’t adjust.

DC schools superintendent Michelle Rhee has radically transformed the system for the better. Naturally, the teachers unions want her gone.

U.S. forces are still engaged in full-scale counterrrorism operations in Iraq. In what sense are “combat operations” over?

Regular readers know that I’ve long thought we’ve achieved all we’re going to in Afghanistan. But that doesn’t mean that our presence is therefore motivated by secret motives.

The value of education depends on what one means by “education.”

There isn’t much doubt that China is manipulating its currency for competitive advantage. What can be done about it?

Despite constantly hiring more examiners, the patent application backlog is 728,044 and it takes 6 years to get a decision.

David Brooks blames our economic woes on a change from a culture that valued productive work to one of gentility. And Bill Cosby.

Even on a ridiculously easy multiple choice quiz, Americans don’t know the name of the Chief Justice or the Senate Majority Leader. So what?

As much hubris as it takes to think you can be the Leader of the Free World, it takes even more to buck the advice of the Establishment.

Everyone from David Petraeus to Sarah Palin is speaking out against a nutbag pastor’s Koran burning event. While they’re right, they’re emphasizing the wrong message.

Tonight’s topics: The Gallup poll and the vanishing 10-point Republican lead, whether we overreacted to 9/11, Mike Castle and the RINO/DINO problem, income inequality, and the retirement of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

An academic study reveals that police officers with college education are less violent than their peers. But the real story is how violent cops are, period.

Google will now display and adjust search results as you type. This should be a boon to searchers and a terror to website operators, who live at the mercy of Google.

Robert Gates has been a reluctant Secretary of Defense but his impact at the Pentagon has been tremendous.

Most of what passes for conventional wisdom about learning is wrong.