Outside the Beltway

Chinese analysts are telling their American counterparts that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is far more sophisticated than previously believed.

Some Republicans are trying to move their party in the right direction on marriage equality, but it’s unclear if they will succeed in the short term.

In a twist fitting for an M Night Shyamalan movie, there is growing evidence that there was malfeasance by the co-pilot that resulted in a deliberate crash of Germanwings flight 9525.

Modern Singapore’s founder passed away at age 91 earlier this week.

Yet another probable rift between the U.S. and Israel over Iran.

He’s back.

Alec MacGillis argues for Slate that “Veterans Should Pay Taxes Like Everyone Else.” I agree!

A brutal assessment of Chris Christie’s presidential chances.

Do the nonprofit’s foreign donors create a conflict of interest?

He’s tan. He’s rested. And, apparently, he’s ready. Mitt Romney seems very interested in 2016 all of a sudden.

JetBlu is joining the competition in charging bag fees and cramming in more seats.

The Commerce Department had a Christmas present for investors, businesses, and consumers today.

Some on the left are suggesting Democrats should write off the South for the foreseeable future, but that would be as foolish as Republicans assuming that their dominance in the region will last as long as Democratic dominance did in the century after the Civil War.

Russia’s own government is projecting that its economy will slip into recession next year. How that will impact Putin’s current belligerence remains to be seen.

The shocking has become routine. We’re no safer because of it.

A knowledgeable observer has a dim forecast.

On substance, the President’s immigration actions aren’t very objectionable. How he is implementing them, though, is problematic and seems needlessly confrontational.

In the end, there appears to be very little, if anything, the GOP can do to stop or roll back the executive actions the President will announce Thursday evening.

A new poll provides some interesting context to the political context to the President’s expected executive action on immigration.

A 69-year-old former polygraph examiner for the Oklahoma City police department has been indicted for coaching people to thwart the machines.

Another example of the silliness of the “trade deficit” concept.

Polls continue to show that most Americans are largely tuning the midterms out.

Poor Joe Biden can’t stay out of the news. This time, it’s not one of his gaffes but one by his youngest son.

Their places are being filled by students who pay higher tuition rates.

After a disappointing August, the jobs report for September showed the same good numbers we’ve seen for much of 2014.

The nation’s newspaper of record is slashing its reporting team.

Dedicated reading improves our brains and our health—unless it’s on a computer screen.

The announcement of a potential merger between Burger King and Tim Horton’s has led to much moral preening from the usual suspects.

Fairly or not, the President has created the impression that he is not a good leader, and there’s not much he can do about it at this point.

Relying on the policies of a man who was President in a very different time is not a substitute for a rational foreign policy.

Someone took down a Boeing 777 over Ukraine today.

Big news, and potentially a big merger, in the entertainment industry.

Led by Speaker John Boehner, Republican leaders are trying to placate calls for impeachment.

Emil Henry makes “The Case for Mitt Romney in 2016.”

And odd report from Washington Post and Stars and Stripes.

New technology doesn’t mean that the laws don’t apply.

The people with the biggest voices in the GOP seem to be leading it to positions that most Americans disagree with.

The first three months of the year were worse for the economy than first thought.

The Kentucky Senator and former Vice-President are at the front of a battle that will unfold inside the GOP as we head toward 2016.

A committee of journalists who work in the “traditional” media has once again denied press credentials to SCOTUSBlog.

Recent events in Iraq have opened up old domestic political arguments in the United States.

The US Government has deemed the nickname of the capital’s NFL club racially offensive.

More bad poll numbers for the President.