Outside the Beltway

A conspiracy theorist is never troubled by facts.

Another case of TSA groping has hit the media.

Why are many of the top Republicans are sitting out the race despite a seemingly vulnerable incumbent?

Yes, please secure your home networks. But also: perhaps the police need to reevaluate their tactics.

Apple isn’t the only company collecting data off their smartphones.

Why, yes, my iPhone has indeed been tracking me since last summer.

The Obama Administration is resisting efforts to expand Fourth Amendment protections to services like Gmail. That’s unfortunate.

Xavier Alvarez lied about having been awarded the Medal Of Honor. Should that be a crime? The Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals says no, and they’re right.

Facebook limits accounts to those who say that they are at least 13 years old. Shockingly, some kids lie to get on the popular social network.

Pfc. Bradley Manning is being treated worse than a Prisoner Of War, and he hasn’t been convicted of a crime yet.

The saga of accused Wikileaks conspirator Bradley Manning continues to get uglier, with the military acknowledging that he was forced to spend the day naked for, well, no apparent reason.

Sometimes the most sensible result can be the hardest to reach. This isn’t one of those times.

The fight over Federal funding for Planned Parenthood seems to be about much more than whether taxpayer dollars should be going to Planned Parenthood.

Should employers be allowed to ask for your Facebook login as a condition of employment?

Rick Santorum is upset that a Google search for his name produces a string of unflattering material. You should be, too.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 could be a Google killer. It could also kill the Web as we know it.

New York Times writer Adam Liptak discovers that a Supreme Court decision protecting “corporate speech” might not be a bad thing considering that he works for a corporation.

The US drug policy gang: Dopey, Boozy, Smokey and Stupid?

Here’s how terrorists get past airport security: don’t bother to go through it.

The Beast has released its The 50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010, which I gather is supposed to be amusing rather than taken seriously.

Dr. Dre is arguing that police officers have no right to privacy.

The American media and Sarah Palin have developed an odd symbiotic relationship, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

A Michigan man faces five years in prison for reading his wife’s email.

You can log in any time you like. But can you ever leave?

Washington D.C.’s 34 year-old Metro system is about to become the latest stage for Security Theater.

The most walkable cities in America are also the most successful.

A Federal Appeals Court in Ohio has handed down what could become a landmark ruling in the application of the 4th Amendment to the Internet.

Columbia political science professor David Epstein has been charged with a 3-year incestuous relationship with his adult daughter.

Should blogs and other online forums ban anonymous comments?

Despite the recent media outrage over TSA search procedures, public attitudes on the subject remain largely supportive.

It’s not hypocritical or racist to support an aggressive pursuit of terrorists while getting outraged over abuses of Americans’ liberties.

A retired special education teacher was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers.

The Denver Post’s Craig Walker has captured this image of a TSA agent performing an “enhanced pat down.”

A Florida courthouse illegally saved 35,000 images from security scanners.

So will there be an efficacious backlash against TSA policies? I am guessing no.

It appears that full body scanners, operated by leering yahoos under the cover of government authority, may finally be rousing the sheep who have meekly submitted to the absurd delays and indignities that have been piled on since 9/11 and sundry botched attempts.

The Supreme Court yesterday heard oral argument in a case where being on the right side means supporting some vile people, but that’s what the First Amendment is all about.

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.

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

Vice-President Biden has a message for the Democratic base — stop complaining and just support us already.

If the Obama Administration gets it’s way, your secure Internet communications won’t really be all that secure.