Outside the Beltway

A woman in California has filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s because she is apparently unable to resist her child’s incessant demands for a Happy Meal.

Hinckley, California — the town that Erin Brockovich made famous — has slightly less cancer than we’d expect.

A new study seems to show that student evaluations of teachers are something other than a popularity contest.

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

Gustavus Adolphus College librarian Barbara Fister explains why she loves getting rid of books.

Mike Brown, who discovered Xena, decided he could not in good conscience allow it to be made a planet. And killed off an old favorite in so doing.

Let’s keep our eye on the ball, people.

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner plans a radical overhaul of how Congress spends our money.

Meghan McCain doesn’t know what a “blue blood” is but doesn’t want to be called one.

Economist Bryan Caplan argues that our educational system does not prepare our children for the modern economy.

Within the first few months of 2011, Congress will be required to take another unpalatable vote to raise the debt ceiling. Already, some incoming Republicans are talking about waging an effort to block the vote. That would be politically, and financially, stupid.

A ten year old case out of Texas raises yet more doubts about the justice of the death penalty.

NYT columnist Nick Kristoff says America’s income inequality makes us a banana republic.

Rasmussen polls were biased toward Republicans by 3 to 4 points. Rigged results? Or screening error?

In yet another move designed to take the fun out of being a kid, San Francisco has banned the Happy Meal.

Isn’t that a strange goal? Shouldn’t college prepare students to have better lives later on?

Neither Law Schools nor law students are admitting the fact that the legal market has changed significantly.

Sarah Palin and the Tea Party aren’t as clueless as their detractors think.

Politico says 99 Democratic House seats are “in play.” They’re not. But dozens are.

Reason’s Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie have a pretty amusing rejoinder to the Obama administration’s attempts to smear the anonymous funding of television ads opposed to their agenda in a video titled “Who is Publius? or, Who’s Afraid of Anonymous Political Speech?”

The coalition of voters that propelled Barack Obama to an historic victory in 2008 is seemingly falling apart, and the President is reacting by blaming the voters.

“Those who doubt that the failings of higher education in America have political consequences need only reflect on the quality of progressive commentary on the tea party movement.”

54% of Americans want an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. The question remains as to what kind of third party they want.

Insane Clown Posse are Christians, yo. And they say Fuck a lot.

According to some new studies by crack economists, it’s helpful to have a spouse bringing in some money if you happen to lose your job.

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.

Thirty-two years after the first “Test Tube Baby” was born, the doctor who pioneered the procedure that created her has been recognized with a Nobel Prize.

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

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

An amusing parody of the typical press report on a new scientific finding.

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

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

Affluent whites are astounded that Adrian Fenty appears about to lose his bid for re-election as DC’s mayor. But the majority black population is less than thrilled with his tenure.

The winners of state legislatures in November will have a great deal of influence over Congressional elections for the next decade. Should it be that way?

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

Bryan Caplan argues that the fact so many kids in the developing world don’t go to school proves that education isn’t very valuable.

With Rahm Emanuel apparently set to leave the White House to run for Mayor of Chicago, speculation is turning to who may replace him in what some have called the nation’s de facto Prime Minister-ship.

Comments sections on larger blogs seem inevitably to turn into cesspools. Is it worth trying to stop it happening?

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

The world’s smartest scientist says there is no god. Or, at least, no need for one.