Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave These days, we are not used to seeing reminders of war in our everyday lives. With a new exhibit that opened this weekend, the Smithsonian American Art Museum takes us back to a time when it would have been hard to forget, even for a moment, that we had soldiers dying overseas. Over the Top is a collection of American posters created during World War I to advertise so-called…

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Things used to be clearer for Fairfax County. It used to be known as the epitome of upper-middle class suburbanity, even earning name-checks in popular novels and songs as such. With acres and acres of rolling hills covered in leafy suburbs and landscaped office parks, it was a quiet complement to the quirky inner suburbs of Northern Virginia and the dense chaos…

YouTube user artschoolscrewup only recently uploaded this video from D.C.’s July 4th parade, which shows the guy playing Uncle Sam on stilts falling on his butt. A quick search reveals that Uncle Sam on Stilts Taking Abuse is on its way to becoming its own YouTube genre, but questions abound: is it funny for any Uncle Sam to look silly, or only ones on stilts? And why the prevalence of putting Sam on stilts…

It’s a little dreary out today, isn’t it? Please accept this video of adorable baby meerkats at the National Zoo trying to dig holes as a token of our concern for the mental well being of Washingtonians in desperate need of a sunny, warm spring day. [DCGuide]. >> There are plenty of things D.C.’s federal workers can complain about: shifts in the administration, incurring public ire during tax season, being treated like a number in…

Good morning, Washington. After five straight days of frost warnings, temps will claw their way back into the 50s, though you’ll still need a parka as you head off to work. We guess it could be worse; the Nationals could be driven out of town by a foot of snow. The Cleveland Indians have been forced to cancel several games and play this week’s home games in Milwaukee by the fluffy stuff. Yikes, if…

Written by DCist contributor Abby Lavin. Last year’s rioting in response to Danish drawings of the prophet Muhammad showed that, in some cases, cartoons are no laughing matter. They don’t just lampoon the political landscape; they have the power to shape it as well. Provisions Library’s current exhibit, Drawing Back: Cartoon Critiques of America, examines the power of cartoons as a means of social protest. Culled from twenty-five different countries, the 80 editorial cartoons are…

The weeks starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney’s best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. Houstonist is there to start compiling the punditry when when the guilty, guilty Enron verdict comes down. This guy seems to be able…

This week’s Washington Post magazine features a sprawling story by David Von Drehel on Washington’s economic juggernaut. The piece jumps around a lot, throwing out some questionable economic assertions, overhyping (we feel) the terrorist menace, and curiously detouring on the morality of Washington’s growth in a post-September 11th world, but the main point of his story is clear: In the past four years, government spending in the area has skyrocketed (increasing by $18.5 billion over…

Ok, so everybody who has to file a tax return this year gets a little break, as April 15 falls on Saturday, placing the actual factual deadline on the following Monday, April 17. But for residents of the District (and a few northeastern states) Uncle Sam brings the extra generosity this year. As it turns out, folks that live in D.C., along with those in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont (suck it,…

Great wall of Chinese take-out! Tom over at Unrequited Narcissism has uncovered what could be the most gruesome scandal to hit the District, nay, the entire country in decades. The information he reveals is a call to arms, and when there is war in the name of Butterstick, you can count on DCist to strap on plenty of ammo and indiscriminately shoot into crowds, regardless of the presence of innocent bystanders, as long as we…