Welcome to Freedom Friday! I'm briefly redefining libertarianism to include things that are interesting. As in...

• Dan Froomkin canned! Intensely weird Bush-hating shut-ins mount campaign of angry comments on blogs read only by other intensely weird Bush-hating shut-ins. A neocon powerplay, or the political-commentary EQ of JazzTimes folding?

Read More "Noon Roundup: Oh, Hell, Riggs Wanted ME to Do the Roundup Edition" »

Twitter! Have you heard of it? IT'S FREAKING HUGE! It's even defeating evil dictators who don't actually run their countries and putting awesome pro-American dudes in their place. Oh wait, it's not. Man, the media runs hot and cold on these things, don't we? It is not too late, though, for you to foment revolution...by following Patrick Gavin on Twitter! Forced from the Examiner (whose owner just bought something or other) because he refused to wear a bow tie (REVOLUTION!), the Politico columnist is a Washington Insider You Should Follow on Twitter. Some recent tweets from Gavin:

Read More "Morning Roundup: Twhittle, Too Late Edition" »

"[D]iscarded commencement tickets, crushed party cups, a wadded receipt for $28.57 in Hallmark graduation cards, bloodstains and broken glass." WaPo this morning has a sad and well-written account of the post-graduation shootout in Prince George's County, which left one young mother dead and three wounded.

Also in our local paper of record: A 12-year-old boy died after being struck by lightning near Fredericksburg.

Fresh content on our site and in the boxes today: Longtime contributor/sometime fan Justin Moyer mails things so  you don't have to in his quest to rate D.C. post offices. His entire series appeared first on City Desk. Young & Hungry's Tim Carman abandons the tasting spoon. The Sexist's Amanda Hess notes teen sex scandals ain't what they used to be. Housing Complex's Ruth Samuelson figures out that pretending to know Tom Tancredo will take you only so far. Plus, movies, music, theater.

Voice on the Hill has the lowdown on the city "saving" three Boys & Girls Clubs by buying them.

And in the D.C. blogoworld:

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Found at the Crime Scene Edition" »

First up: Fresh stuff right here on this very Web site. Jason Cherkis has the cops, in their own words, explaining themselves for the DeOnte Rawlings shooting. Of special note: why they not only left the boy bleeding from the back of the head, but why they never even checked to see if he's still alive. Stunning.

Tim Carman's got even more on the eviction of celeb chef Spike Mendelsohn; Amanda Hess is wondering who can tell a rape joke; Ruth Samuelson finds a juicy condo conversion story peopled with phantom tenants; and Dave McKenna finds a guy to lay out in telling detail why DCPS is dysfunctional. LL Weekly to be pimped in forthcoming LL Daily.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, except when it comes to the Cleveland Park Cititizens Association. Marc Fisher today goes after George Idelson and Friends after old George, rather than welcome a bunch of people who don't agree with him into "his" neighborhood group---designed to "make your voice heard and help preserve and improve our neighborhood"---decided instead to postpone/cancel elections. Idelson's a classic NIMBY, of course, who favors "preservation" above development, even if that development includes replacing a crappy grocery store with a noncrappy one. But what Fisher didn't get into is just how quietly effective old George has been over the years. The battles being lost in Cleveland Park now are connected to the "overlay"---the complicated, esoteric formula that dictates how much property and which kind can be commercial. Idelson is its most vocal defender and has successfully fought off scrapping it and drastically changing it. As a result, Cosi fell victim. The Giant project has been stalled for more than 10 years. Empty storefronts at the Park and Shop remain that way. But if old George is forced to open up his fiefdom? Things could finally get interesting in CP.

Moving on to the fact that Virginians are not allowed to smile for their license photos anymore. But they are allowed stupid vanity plates? Oy vey.

More from the D.C. blogoworld:

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Communism in Cleveland Park Edition" »

Good day, Morning Roundup fans. Apologies for the lateness. Hey, there was a hockey game last night! Also, Caps fans weirdness > Penguins fans weirdness. Moreover, results of said hockey game not satisfactory. However, if you don't know this, chances are you need more than a morning roundup---you need a whole new news regime! SO WE MOVE ON TO:

Read More "“Morning” Roundup" »

*SNIPER APPEALS: The Post reports that lawyers for John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway Sniper, are appealing Muhammad's 2003 sentence. Muhammad, they say, was not mentally competent to represent himself over a two-day period during the fall of 2003, and his trial lawyers should have argued as much to the judge. This is Muhammad's last opportunity to avoid the death penalty without intervention from the Supreme Court or the Gov. Kaine.

*The Washington Times condemns Rep. Jim Moran for "champion[ing] the idea of bringing terrorists like 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other al Qaeda detainees to historic Alexandria." Back in March, our own Amanda Hess noted the furor over a sex shop that threatened to undermine the dignity—nay, the decency—of Old Town Alexandria. First a naughty boutique, then political detainees—what's next? According to the Times: "the nuclear waste that Nevada won't take."

*D.C. Police report that 82-year-old James Booker went missing from his home in the 1700 block of Irving Street NE:

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: WaTimes Goes NIMBY" »

*The President and Vice President supped at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington yesterday. According to the Post, they went dutch.

*THIS WEEK IN CAL THOMAS: The Washington Times commemorates the 30th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's election as Prime Minister with a fawning piece whose best moment is its opening anecdote:

The newly elected Mrs. Thatcher takes her all-male Cabinet to dinner. The waiter asks her what she would like to order.

"I'll have the beef," says she.

"What about the vegetables?" asks the waiter.

"They'll have the same."

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Potentates Like Their Beef" »

*THE BLOGOSPHERE REACTS: Arlen Specter (R-PA D-PA), facing a strong 2010 primary push from Republican congressman Pat Toomey, switches parties, giving the Dems a quasi-60-seat presence in the Senate. This has the 'sphere all riled up. For some spirited commentary, visit Robert Stacey McCain's  blog ("Specter reminds me of the high-school slut trying to sleep her way to popularity") or Gateway Pundit, where RNC Chair Michael Steele is quoted as saying "Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first." President Obama, meanwhile, pledges his "full support" to Specter.  Which could include campaigning for him in a Democratic primary.

*Obama's "no-news press conference doesn't impress" the Washington Times. Snap!

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Cloning Bin Laden" »

Today's B1 news: "We think it will be positive for everyone involved in the organization that we now have a plan to address the cloud of debt that we've been walking around with for years," Kenneth S. Slaughter, chairman of the Boys and Girls Clubs' board, told WaPo regarding the decision to close four area clubs: the Jelleff Branch in Georgetown, the Hopkins Branch on Capitol Hill, the Northwestern High School Branch in Hyattsville, and Brent Place in Alexandria.

Know who else is dealing with debt... by not going into it? (No, not us, silly.) The Caps' biggest fans and/or advertisers: Pulte Homes. Pulte's buying Centex, creating the nation's largest homebuilder and ending Realtor bets about when the bottom's coming. The cash reserves of the combined company are $3.4 billion, about $1 billion of which will be used to pay down debts by the end of the year, just in time for the rebound.

In Nats news: They continue to lose, and it'll take more than some weird statues to get this town to put on its rally cap. But DC Metroblogs has a remedy: Find Ryan Zimmerman at a few of his favorite brotown hangouts (McFaddens, Liberty Tavern, Town Hall, K Street Lounge) and shame him into taking off his hipster shades, putting down the glass, and taking this "face of the Nats" thing a touch more seriously.

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Debt Sucks and So Do the Nats Edition" »

In case you missed it: Jason Cherkis' cover story this week goes beyond Fenty's funeral platitudes about domestic abuse. Cherkis' reporting shows holes in the timeline that begins with a 911 call made by a child later found dead---a call no one's talking about because the incident was "very fatal." It ends with the fire department getting inside, possibly almost two hours later. Also: CFSA's involvement, and the prolific Internet writings of Joseph Mays, accused in the murder of 37-year-old Erika Peters and her two sons, ages 10 and 11.

Over at Examiner, Michael Neibauer is also digging in on the CFSA front: "Banita Jacks’ four daughters were failed not by a single agency, but by the collective failure of the D.C. government, schools and nonprofit community to coordinate and provide the services they so desperately needed, a new report concludes." A must-read that spreads the blame around.

The B1 News at the Post is more cherry blossoms. Don't care. Marc Fisher, though, is writing news about the plastic bag bill: As with the proposed bottle fee, lobbyists are again behind robocalls to poor people who, it's assumed, love plastic trash and greenhouse gas. Fisher's take is classic Fisher (read: informed and often exquisite) but the best graf is saved for last: "Once again, a city divided by a river is split, but mark this: Plastic bags make up 21 percent of the trash in the Anacostia River, no matter how the bag industry may try to cleave the District. Class dismissed."

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: CFSA Has Company Edition" »

Today, if there is anything out there that is holy, City Paper's long, blurb-filled journey ends. Our second Best Of D.C. issue since 1987 hits with a thud (it's heavy, people, so plan accordingly). And, because we can, we celebrate not just the best, but the second-bests throughout our land. We've always had a soft spot for the also-rans, so this is your year, John McCain and Baked & Wired! Since it's new to you and old to me, let me give you a couple highlights: anything written by Aaron Leitko, who seems to have found his meme; Mike Riggs' oddly reasonable defense of Lauriol Plaza as the best tex-mex; Erik Wemple's sports column disguised as symphony service journalism; Amanda Hess not picking your dog as the best in D.C.; and this prize-worthy lede: "Keys! We all use them to lock and unlock things."

Don't like our picks? Well, you had your chance. More than 30,000 of you logged on to tell us what you think. And some of those votes came from people who don't work here, so color us impressed.

But what's this? You want news in your Morning Roundup?

NC8 has another heartbreaker: Eugene Francis Neal, manager of the Takoma Metro station, was gunned down in front of his Northeast home. His 14-year-old son and his mother give tearful pleas. A Metro spokesperson says he's the second Takoma station manager to be killed in the past year.

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: When Almost Is Good Enough Edition" »

Top o' the morning, folks! Hope everybody enjoyed a whomping St. Patrick's Day. Lotta environmental news out there, so in honor of the collective hangover, City Paper presents a mean, green batch of news.

*WHAT'S HARDER TO SELL THAN A HYBRID? A three-wheeled, fully electric supercar from outer space.

*AMSTERDAM GOES GREEN! NO NO, NOT IN THAT WAY: Business Week hails the capital of the Netherlands as the sustainable city of the future!

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Post-Saint Patrick’s Day Edition!" »

Morning, all. Fresh, local content out today. In case you missed it: Our cover story looks at the lonely life of the D.C. bike helmet. Amazing what you all will risk for good hair. Also: Housing Complex's Ruth Samuelson takes a drive over to fantasyland, aka Brightwood; The Sexist's Amanda Hess explores your conscience; Young & Hungry's Tim Carman takes on the double-edged sword that is the gift certificate; movie critic Tricia Olszewski reviews Witch Mountain and Robert Blecker; theater critic Trey Graham on After the Garden and Pumpgirl. All that and more also available in paper.

The B1 news  today: Marc Fisher finally cuts through the B.S. and gets on board with getting screwed by the feds---as long as the feds give us our voting rep. District politicos playing chicken with both the suits on the Hill and the gun lobby are going to lose, he argues. And, yes, yes, we all know it's about principle and the gun rider essentially takes away the autonomy we want in the effort to give us autonomy. But let it go. Gun laws can change. The vote is forever. Fisher, there's a reason you're our favorite local columnist.

* Making a bid to be our favorite senator who knows what's good for us is Nevada's own John Ensign. Politico teases us with its salacious headline (D.C. Mayor Ensign?) and then offers up a boilerplate rundown of Ensign's meddling. But this quote is pretty choice: “People in the District are really happy that I’m standing up for them on school choice,” he said. "And the ones who care about the Second Amendment love the fact that I’m sticking up for their rights as well."

Less venting after the jump.

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Give ‘Em the Guns, Take the Vote Edition" »

Ciao, D.C.  Hope you're staying warm & enjoying the recession!  Now, some "news":

*Oh noez! Barista at the U & 16th Starbucks shoots self in leg, accidentally.

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Caffeine and Bullets Edition" »

Just when we're really, really close on that whole taxation-with-representation thing, some yahoo goes and suggests D.C. should really just be more Maryland. Thanks for the stall, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, but it was a total bust. Here in the nation's capital, we still sort-of like immigrants and we prefer to remain the tax-scandalized, dysfunctional, and Marion-Barry-loving voters that Marylanders have come to distrust. So give us the fucking voting member already.

Also news: The White House Puppy has been chosen! The girls are getting a Portuguese water dog. It's not the goldendoodle some of us were pulling for, but still terribly sweet:

In other less-adorable news around the D.C. blogoworld:

* Apple is not yet welcome in Georgetown, but North Face totally is. You know, because G-town does scream "hikers!" so much louder than "computer geeks!"

Read More "Our Technically Still Morning Roundup: Maryland, You’re No D.C. Edition" »