Outside the Beltway

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

Once again, CNN’s Rick Sanchez discovers that opening his mouth probably wasn’t a good idea.

No Senate candidate with a lead of more than 5.5 points in the polling average, with 30 days to go in the race, has lost his race since 1998: these candidates are 68-0.

Pakistan yesterday blocked NATO’s primary supply line into Afghanistan in retaliation for an air strike that killed three Pakistani paramilitaries. Are the two countries truly allies?

They might not be able to fix the economy or the healthcare system or agree on an efficient tax policy but Congress has managed to reach accord on one of the most serious problems facing America: loud television commercials.

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

A new Gallup poll shows President Obama beating Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical 2012 Democratic nomination fight. Nobody should be surprised by that.

Has modern life robbed America’s youth of their ability to think? Or simply caused them to think in different ways about different things?

More on O’Donnell’s representation of her education in her own words.

Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell has a history of embellishing her educational history.

Once again, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are at the top of the field in the GOP 2012 race, but that may not last forever.

Even with some key seats trending Democrat, Republicans are primed to take over both Houses of Congress come November 2.

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.

In news that will no doubt please the estimable Glenn Reynolds, DARPA has taken a big step toward the long-awaited flying car: Flying Humvees

Three lives intersected last week at Rutgers University, but one person didn’t make it out alive.

Despite hopes that they could help reverse a 20 year trend, both Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman are beginning to lose ground in their races for statewide office in California.

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.

The man best known for staging the “Acorn Pimp” videos is back in the news with an even more bizarre story.

Nine months after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, more than a billion dollars in reconstruction aid still hasn’t reached the country.

Support for the Tea Party is at record levels but that movement does not have a coherent policy platform. Can the energy be harnessed to good use?

A third of the Forbes 50 were born billionaires. Does that mean the game is fixed?

Business is booming for box sets of 1960s acts remastered into the original mono.

A new study suggests that laws banning texting while driving don’t actually have any impact on accident rates.

President Obama’s recent comments about the D.C. Public Schools should raise a few eyebrows.

Yesterday’s NATO Beyond Afghanistan conference was a depressing day for fans of the most successful military alliance in history.

Christine O’Donnell’s claim that she studied at Oxford is a tad misleading.

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