Outside the Beltway

An American city was essentially shut down today. Was that the right thing to do?

A sensational story, little solid information, and instant analysis are a bad combination

Yesterday was not a good day for the Cable “News” Network.

Peter Bergen says government crackdowns since the Oklahoma City and 9/11 attacks have made getting bomb making materials harder.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about what happened in Boston, so maybe it’s time to stop speculating.

Officials in the Japanese city of Yokohama mistakenly announced the launch of a North Korean missile to 40,000 followers on Twitter.

Robert Farley takes a shot across the bow at the academy from the pages of one of his field’s most prestigious journals.

In one of the lamer April Fools’ jokes in a while, Twitter has announced Twttr

The “social web” was with us long before the rise of Facebook, Twitter and its kind and that the old style sharing is actually much more important than the new.

The man who played Captain Kirk is not amused by an IRS training video featuring his iconic character.

Matt Yglesias has a smart push-back against the lamentations of the decline of journalism.

Senator Rob Portman changes his position on same-sex marriage. Another sign of the times.

The Chairman of the House Budget Committee is proposing a budget that is based largely on fantasy.

Rand Paul’s filibuster is one that all American’s should thank him for that.

Much touted snowstorm set the DC area atwitter, only to fall short of expectations and yield derision.

Bullheadedness is a virtue?

Ralph Macchio is 51, the same age as Pat Morita was when “The Karate Kid” hit theaters in 1984.

The Hagel confirmation, like Obama’s election, was big news to some avid news consumers.

Looking at civilian employment in the executive branch since 1940.

Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come” popularized reggae in America 40 years ago this month.

For the moment, Republicans appear to be blocking Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense but they don’t seem to know why they’re doing it.

How he went from Juicebox Mafia member to the most important young journalist in DC.

NYT Magazine asks “Can the Republicans be Saved From Obsolescence?”

Olympic paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has been arrested after the fatal shooting of his girlfriend.

American troops may now earn the fourth highest combat medal from the comfort of their desk chair.

Republicans continue to fight over their party’s future.

Monday, The Atlantic published and took down a sponsored article from the church of Scientology. Yesterday, it admitted it had “screwed up.”

It turns out, the NRA behind the game is not the National Rifle Association.

Cory Booker’s decision to explore a run for the U.S. Senate has upset the powers-that-be in New Jersey Democratic politics.