In Conversation: Antonin Scalia  —  On the eve of a new Supreme Court session, the firebrand justice discusses gay rights and media echo chambers, Seinfeld and the Devil, and how much he cares about his intellectual legacy ("I don't").  —  a day that just happened to be the 27th anniversary …

Reid plotting to stay in power  —  Republicans are eager for November 2016 — and not just because Barack Obama's presidency will be in its final days.  —  It's when Harry Reid, the man reviled by Republicans for his inflammatory rhetoric and hardball tactics during the government shutdown, could be booted from his Nevada Senate seat.

Boehner Says House Won't Vote on Clean Debt Limit Bill  —  U.S. Speaker John Boehner said the House can't pass an increase to the U.S. debt ceiling without packaging it with other provisions — something President Barack Obama has labeled a nonstarter.  —  “We are not going to pass a clean debt limit …

The Boehner Bunglers  —  The federal government is shut down, we're about to hit the debt ceiling (with disastrous economic consequences), and no resolution is in sight.  How did this happen?  —  The main answer, which only the most pathologically “balanced” reporting can deny, is the radicalization of the Republican Party.

Supreme Court Has Deep Docket in Its New Term  —  WASHINGTON — After back-to-back terms ending in historic rulings that riveted the nation, the Supreme Court might have been expected to return to its usual diet of routine cases that rarely engage the public.

It's Quicker This Way?  —  One of our good friends on the Hugh Hewitt Show is John Ondrasik, the musical force that is Five For Fighting.  John has a new album out called Bookmarks, and while on a promotional tour to promote the album, found himself in Washington, D.C. today …

A U.S. Default Seen as Catastrophe Dwarfing Lehman's Fall  —  Anyone who remembers the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. little more than five years ago knows what a global financial disaster is.  A U.S. government default, just weeks away if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling …

Egypt attacks targets security forces  —  Egyptian security forces have been targeted in a wave of attacks across the country, reports say.  —  Gunmen killed five Egyptian soldiers who were sitting in a car at a checkpoint north of the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya, say security officials.

Anxious Allies Aiding Booker in Senate Bid  —  Cory A. Booker is an undisputed star of a new generation of African-American leaders, electrifying liberal audiences with his oratory and charming the social media set with his digital savvy.  —  But the Senate campaign Mr. Booker, a Democrat …

Vouchers don't do much for students  —  Ever since the administration filed suit to freeze Louisiana's school voucher program, high-ranking Republicans have pummeled President Barack Obama for trapping poor kids in failing public schools.  —  The entire House leadership sent a letter of protest.

Russia to monitor ‘all communications’ at Winter Olympics in Sochi  —  Exclusive: Investigation uncovers FSB surveillance system - branded ‘Prism on steroids’ - to listen to all athletes and visitors  —  Athletes and spectators attending the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February will face …

Mugged by a Mug Shot Online  —  IN March last year, a college freshman named Maxwell Birnbaum was riding in a van filled with friends from Austin, Tex., to a spring-break rental house in Gulf Shores, Ala. As they neared their destination, the police pulled the van over, citing a faulty taillight.

Dogs Are People, Too  —  FOR the past two years, my colleagues and I have been training dogs to go in an M.R.I. scanner — completely awake and unrestrained.  Our goal has been to determine how dogs' brains work and, even more important, what they think of us humans.