The current hypothesis for its injuries is that it got caught in Saturday’s downpour.

The evening skies over the Washington area were thick with haze last night, the gift of a brutal heatwave featuring stifling humidity. Still, the fireworks had to go on.

José Andrés’ pop-up America Eats Tavern is set to open on July 4, with a menu that he describes as looking through the windows of the 21st century at the past.

Newsweek decided to see precisely how many people in America take their citizenship for granted, and the results are predictably depressing: 38 percent of people outright failed the official citizenship test, while 29 percent of people couldn’t name the Vice President and 6 percent couldn’t even identify when Independence Day was on the calendar. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

This morning, President Barack Obama, standing alongside his daughters, Sasha and Malia, delivered the traditional pardon to National Thanksgiving turkeys “Apple” and “Cider.” Of course, the turkeys have been living the life of late — even though the fowl won’t get the traditional trip to Disneyland.

Bhangra, an infectious folk music and dance style from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, has slowly crept into the mainstream club scene. The driving force behind this increase in popularity are the South Asian DJs of Great Britain and North America, who took this traditional form and infused it with the programmed sounds of hip-hop, dancehall, and techno. One of the most well-known names in this movement is DJ Rekha (pictured), a New…

THURSDAY: Happy New Year! Jerrold M. Post will be at Politics and Prose to read from his latest book, The Mind of the Terrorist. Is there a more depressing way to start the new year than discussing the psychology of terrorism? Only in Washington. 7 p.m. Cultural historian Jane Rhodes will be at the Olsson’s in Penn Quarter to read from Framing the Black Panthers: The Spectacular Rise of a Black Power Icon. 7 p.m….

It wasn’t a very merry Christmas for Michel Morauw, the manager of the Park Hyatt Washington Hotel. NBC4 reports that an MPD officer shot and killed Morauw’s dog on Monday in a small park adjacent to Rock Creek Park at 24th and N Streets NW. The officer reportedly said he was on foot patrol and entered the park “when an unleashed dog attacked him.” The officer fired his gun at the dog, and the dog…

With the opening of its ongoing Exploring the Early Americas exhibit today, the Library of Congress marks the beginning of a transformation that by the Summer of 2008 will “merge cutting-edge technology with the knowledge and inspiration embodied in the Library’s unparalleled collections and curators.” The exhibit features some of the 3,000 items representing the “beginning” of America (that is, the beginning of European documented America), that Jay I. Kislak has been collecting for more…

Jim Bowden has been a busy man this offseason. Since we last left the Nationals, they have acquired outfielder Elijah Dukes, infielder Aaron Boone, pitcher Tyler Clippard, and catcher Paul Lo Duca. They have also signed outfielder Wily Mo Pena to a one year deal. Betting that he can’t possibly have two horrible years in a row, the Nats have also signed outfielder Ryan “more strikeouts than total bases” Langerhans to a one year deal….