• A shutdown deal with extras: light bulbs, campaign finance and fishing tackle

    A shutdown deal with extras: light bulbs, campaign finance and fishing tackle

    Dec 10, 2014 02:15 PM EDT

    ... group of former CIA officers have launched a website defending the agency. Overseas, the L.A. Times writes, the report shows the duplicity of the U.S. human rights record. Mr. Obama is set to unveil $1 billion in public and private funding for preschools today. MIT health economist and ...

  • Shields and Brooks on the Ferguson ruling, Hagel resignation

    Shields and Brooks on the Ferguson ruling, Hagel resignation

    Nov 29, 2014 12:59 AM EDT

    ... the Ferguson grand jury decision not to indict, we're watching reaction all over the country. What does it say about the state of race relations in this country today? MARK SHIELDS: I don't know if it says as much about the state of race relations as it certainly ...

  • Little green army men, Rubik’s Cube, bubbles join National Toy Hall of Fame

    Little green army men, Rubik’s Cube, bubbles join National Toy Hall of Fame

    Nov 06, 2014 11:36 PM EDT

    ... American Girl dolls, My Little Pony and Fisher-Price Little People. The miniature plastic soldiers have been around since 1938 and represent mid-20th century U.S. Army infantry soldiers. Their popularity dwindled during the Vietnam War but their sales picked up in the 1980s and 1990s, especially after they ...

  • Pentagon names fight against Islamic State group 'Operation Inherent Resolve'

    Pentagon names fight against Islamic State group 'Operation Inherent Resolve'

    Oct 15, 2014 07:14 PM EDT

    ... names were assigned mainly to preserve security. The code names were classified, unlike the nicknames of modern operations. In a 1995 article in Parameters, a U.S. Army War College academic journal, Gregory C. Sieminski wrote that the Pentagon's Vietnam-era guidelines for naming military operations cautioned against counterproductive ...

  • Diplomat: China's land disputes hurt its international standing

    Diplomat: China's land disputes hurt its international standing

    Jun 25, 2014 09:05 PM EDT

    ... While the U.S. is not a claimant itself, it says it has a national interest in sustaining open navigation and trade through those waters. U.S.-China relations have also been strained by U.S. accusations of cyber espionage, and Russel said the U.S. would raise its concerns ...

  • Is Janet Yellen right for the job?

    Is Janet Yellen right for the job?

    Mar 19, 2014 03:08 PM EDT

    ... Federal Reserve in August 1979. At the time, many thought the seemingly inexorable increase in inflation could not be reversed. There was undeserved skepticism the U.S. would ever again see home mortgage rates in the single digits, for example. Volcker didn’t believe this. He made a dramatic break ...

  • In New York’s Little Ukraine, tension mounts ahead of vote

    In New York’s Little Ukraine, tension mounts ahead of vote

    Mar 15, 2014 09:08 PM EDT

    ... and has Ukrainian roots himself, says that the east/west divide in Ukraine has been overstated. PROFESSOR ALEXANDER MOTYL: What people do here in the U.S. and especially the media, frankly, is they-- they make that fundamental mistake of comparing the two extremes and then projecting those characteristics on ...

  • China demands answers from Malaysia about missing plane

    China demands answers from Malaysia about missing plane

    Mar 15, 2014 08:57 PM EDT

    ... how the Chinese are reacting to this continually unfolding story, we are joined now from San Francisco by Orville Schell, he heads the center on U.S. - China relations at the Asia Society. So Orville, how is this story playing out in China? ORVILLE SCHELL: Well I think since Chinese ...

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    Most Americans have a gloomy outlook for life in 2050

    Jan 03, 2014 07:15 PM EDT

    What will life in America be like in 2050? Turns out 54 percent of participants in a recent survey expect it to go downhill, while only 23 percent think it will improve. Photo illustration by Sonja Dahlgren/Getty Images WASHINGTON -- Ask people to imagine American life in 2050, and you'll get some dreary visions. Whether...

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    Asia's Mojo Keeps on Working

    Mar 14, 2013 01:00 PM EDT

    Shoppers in the Paragon mall in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images. No matter how many Washington think tank conferences one covers, all their accumulated wisdom is no substitute for going to the countries they are talking about. In that spirit, I am back from a month in Asia -- Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore...