Your Monday bad idea: Los Angeles is considering offering cash prizes for lucky voters in a desperate bid to boost turnout.

For-profit law schools often leave their students with enormous debt and few if any job prospects, and they use deceit to keep profiting off of the unsuspecting. But we shouldn’t let more respectable schools off the hook either.

A surprisingly chaste summer protest in France.

Good afternoon, TAI readers! We trust you’re enjoying your weekend. Why not take the time this Sunday to look back on what you may have missed on our site over the past week?

The shale boom has unlocked huge new reserves of natural gas, which have in turn displaced coal as an energy source. This seismic shift in how we power our country has been good for the environment, though greens won’t want to see it that way.

The federal government is cracking down on the junk food normally sold in public school vending machines, but they’re leaving vending machines in teacher’s lounges alone. Perhaps we’ve finally stumbled upon a way to solve teacher pensions crisis.

Scientists have developed a genetic modification that kills female flies before they become adults. When introduced, it can induce the collapse of pest populations, saving crops and potentially lives.

The Obama administration finds itself in the increasingly difficult position of preserving its ephemeral gains in negotiations with Iran while facing the daunting task of figuring out a way to stabilize the Sunni world across the Middle East.

Ahead of a possible meeting with Chinese President Xi, Japanese PM Abe is trying not to inflame tensions with Beijing too greatly. To that end, he’s stayed away from a controversial Japanese war memorial on the recent anniversary of the country’s World War II defeat.

Maliki’s decision to step down shows that the Iraqi political system is not wholly broken. What if it were still under American protection and guidance?