Outside the Beltway

In my former home state of Alabama, Republicans won every major contest, save the one House seat specifically drawn to ensure a Democratic victory.

Harvard’s Jack Hamilton extols “Robert Plant’s Second Act” for the Atlantic. In so doing, he gives us an interesting look at the more important First Act.

Once the province of science fiction, a car that can drive itself is now a reality, thanks to Google and DARPA. The implications are mind boggling.

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

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

A Vanity Fair piece imagines what John Lennon’s life would have been like had he survived an assassin’s bullet.

Apparently, Katy Perry’s dress was deemed too revealing for public television.

Beloved comedian and character actor Andy Griffith’s popularity in his home state has plummeted since making commercials endorsing ObamaCare and some Democratic candidates.

Has the digitization of entertainment — DVRs, iPods, iPods, digital cameras, Netflix, and so forth — transformed it from fun into work?

Should black people quit using the N-word to set an example for white folk?

Electronic books outsold paper books on Amazon over the past three months, but the death of the hardcover is greatly exaggerated.

Oakland’s police chief, miffed at recent budget cuts, has listed 44 crimes that his officers will no longer respond to.

Thanks to JaMarcus Russell, I have learned a new term.

Magazines routinely run great pieces by highly biased writers. Why can’t newspapers do the same?

Stanley McChrystal is being called to face Obama’s national security team this morning. They should take the opportunity to come up with coherent Afghanistan policy.

Is there a double standard in play when generals criticize Democratic versus Republican presidents?