Outside the Beltway

President Obama has appointed a lot of donor’s and supporters to plumb Ambassadorial slots. That’s not at all unusual.

The blowback from yesterday’s revelations about U.S. surveillance on European allies continues.

The latest NSA leaks are likely to prove to be diplomatically embarrassing.

Thanks to archaic state laws, you can look at cars in a Tesla showroom, but in my states you can’t but anything there.

A German truck driver has the worst documented case of road rage in history.

Shouldn’t medical advances available in Germany be available in the United States and vice-versa?

The French economy has drifted into recession for the second time in four years.

If kids practiced French two hours a day . . .

AP has won round 1 in a case against Meltwater that would severely limit the Fair Use concept in commercial cases.

The former coach of an American team playing a foreign sport is upset that his foreign-born successor is using foreign-born Americans.

Silly things members of Congress say (plus musings on authoritarianism).

The notion that guns prevent tyranny is based on fantasy and movies, not reality.

Germany recognizes a right to use pseudonyms online and has ordered Facebook to honor it.

Ross Douthat says American women should stop being decadent and have more babies, explaining that raising children is easier than it used to be, so there’s really no excuse for women to be so selfish.

Fareed Zakaria declares “America’s election process an international embarrassment.” He’s right.

Increasingly, the right of people to speak is being sacrificed in the name of “tolerance” and “security.”

America’s Protestants are dying off and being replaced by non-believers.

22 years ago today, I was battalion duty officer for the 1/27 Field Artillery in Babenhausen in what, a few hours earlier, was West Germany.

A Pirate Party leader has been policing illegal downloads of her copyrighted book.

For the fourth day, American and other embassies became the focus of mass protests in many Muslim nations.

Bill Keith built a successful business making solar-powered ceiling fans. The President’s trade policies are in the process of destroying it.

Under German law, this ceremony, which Jews believe dates from the time of Abraham, is now illegal.

The presumptive Republican nominee has sent a strong and welcome signal about his governing philosophy.

One year ago, the U.S. lost it’s AAA credit rating with S&P. There doesn’t appear to have been any real impact from that decision.

There are signs out there that people are becoming some what more optimistic about the outlook for the economy.