>> We realize it’s been a while since we stirred the pot on Butterstick mania, but there’s a new way to celebrate your love for all things panda. Keds has their own (surprisingly cute) panda shoes. No, they’re not made of real pandas, but these canvas creations might be some comfort after Tai Shan is ripped from our grasp and shipped off to China this fall. >> This Mardi Gras one local blogger (sorta) remembers…

Just when you thought you could escape politics, even briefly, in our fair city, there’s a new menace lurking: the subversive marketing of yet another set of political trading cards. It happened on Monday, when exiting the Dupont Metro. The perfect storm of heels, gum and litter had left me with a little present. Further inspection revealed it to be a small piece of cardboard with an illustration of George W. Bush, surrounded by flames…

Up and at ’em, Washington. “Early to bed / early to rise / makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” goes the saying. Well, two area initiatives are in healthier, wealthier positions this morning. First, City Administrator Robert Bobb has confirmed that D.C. will enter negotiations with Deutsche Bank for a stadium financing deal. The proposed package would apparently ease the tax burden placed on city businesses by giving the bank a piece of…