Cobb appraises the Giuliani-Obama conflict, saying “really revealing itself in this battle of blather is how much the American electorate has been reduced to bickering over symbols.” What it made me think of is how we’ve turned out leaders into symbols.

Karol Markowicz, Soviet-born but American raised, watches The Americans. (Please be stingy with unrot13ed spoilers, as I have not yet seen anything from the new season.)

Here are nine names on the verge of extinction. I’m partial to the name Villan, though I’d go with Miracle in a pinch if I were a salesperson.

The administration has backed off plans to ban a particular kind of bullet for the AR-15.

I have a question for Apple/iPhone peeps: Is it really that hard to selectively turn off app notifications on the iPhone?

Whether you are in favor of Teach For America or against it, a new study backs you up.

You may laugh at this, but when werewolves stop at the Georgia state line, you won’t be laughing then.

Orleans Parish is prosecuting a witness who recanted his testimony from a 20-year old murder case. I doubt Washington Parish will be similarly inclined in this case…

This article, explaining how much Monsanto could possibly stand to gain from the unrest in Ukraine, makes me wonder if Monsanto won’t become the new Big Oil in the cultural map. Monsanto does seem to be popping up more frequently as a villain on television.

Anne Applebaum says that Britain is retreating from the world stage, and the world is worse off for it.

The rising cost of employee fatigue.

The moral, philosophical, and ethical implications of reissuing Mein-Kampf.