Outside the Beltway

No, the discipline isn’t having a George Constanza situation. Rather, a job market that has been dismal for decades has gotten worse.

When professors blog, they send signals to their students about their attitudes. Where do we draw the line between free expression and unprofessional conduct?

Career fields dominated by women tend to pay less than those dominated by men. But gender discrimination isn’t the main reason.

Renowned author Ray Bradbury hates big government but wants it to fund the colonization of Mars. That a man of his intelligence and insight can hold such diametrically opposed thoughts is an amusing reminder of the limits of human rationality.

Mutated bacteria spreading in India could mark the end of effective antibiotic drugs. The medical repercussions would be enormous.

Attractive women face discrimination when applying for “masculine” jobs. The benefit from their attractiveness in all other jobs, however.

Blogs are all grown up now and indistinguishable from other online media.

If lawyers and MBAs don’t understand their mortgage documents, what chance do the rest of us have?

In the first entry in this series we looked at a basic question of democratic theory. In this one, we look at whether the EC ever worked as the Framers intended.

The concentration of policy wonks in the Washington-New York-Boston corridor produces skewed analysis.

Barack Obama was a big hit on college campuses in 2008. Two years later, those same young voters seem to be having second thoughts.

By filling out Captcha’s two word phrases, you’re helping digitize old books. It’s still really annoying.

Nate Silver provides yet more bad news for Democrats: When screening for “likely voters,” Republican numbers look even better.

Most academic journal articles are unreadable dreck. So, why are we demanding that more of them be produced?

Much like his pledge to close Guantanamo within a year, President Obama’s promised deadline to implement a “scientific integrity” program has come and gone.

Despite new breakthroughs, an HIV vaccine is still some ways off. But, my, we’ve come a long way.

What exactly is it about air conditioning that has some people so upset ?

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in an interview that he considered raising Muslim self-esteem about their contributions to science one of the goals of his agency.

A lot of Americans don’t know that the US gained its independence from Great Britain. How can this be? Is it a liberal conspiracy?

Political science journals, particularly those which exist to provide scholarly insights into matters of public policy, ought to be freely available online.

“It’s illogical to hunt a species to extinction.” – Spock

The public is growing tired of America’s Longest War.

A comedian’s farcical run for mayor of Reykjavik ended in victory. It’s as if Stephen Colbert’s 2008 presidential bid had worked. Or Al Franken got elected to the Senate!

The legendary food police are going after Ronald McDonald and his Happy Meals.