Last week was learningsy, hm? Synopsis: we talked about Foreign Affairs and explored some important theories about colonialism and its most nefarious agent: the Mercator projection. Such the fun! This week it’s on to bigger and better: namely, Taco Talk, the in-house monthly of the DC restaurant California Tortilla. Taco Talk, or “TT” as it was called with a distinctly pejorative inflection in certain neoconservative circles, was founded in 1934 as the premier journal of the anti-Stalinist left. Come, let us take a look. MORE »

Too bad there are no Gays in Washington D.C. (HEY-O!), because now they can go get gay married in New England or Iowa, come back to Washington D.C., and have that gay marriage legally recognized! (It will be like the Trail of Tears.) Because the D.C. City Council approved a measure “to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.” Gay joint tax returns? COUNT IT. On the other hand this may go nowhere since Congress approves all D.C. legislation under our system of black chattel slavery. [Washington Post]

America can no longer afford non-fiction, it seems, so there is a huge bump in fiction book tour traffic to Washington this week. Still, watch out, there’s something that includes the word “twilight” which is an immediate red flag, and another thing about how America is sad because it can’t “dominate other nations” like it used to, in college. MORE »

The Nats Park is a getting fancytime makeover in the form of new food vendors and an expansion of the restaurant there, Red Porch Restaurant. [DC Examiner] MORE »

Lots of childrens’ books things at Politics & Prose this week, but no matter, there are things for well-behaved adults such as yourselves too. There’s Cesar Chavez’s death quinceanera, plus an EXPOSE on Big Pet, which you should read before Michael Moore makes it into a movie and then it is not acceptable to care about in public anymore. MORE »

Get ready, it’s Cherry Blossom time! Starting tomorrow all the out-of-towners you just had to accommodate, in January, will suddenly take an interest in visiting again. [DCist] MORE »

When Chuck Todd asked President Obama about why he didn’t want Americans to “sacrifice” in the new War on the Economy, maybe he was just subtly hinting that the president himself ought to make some sacrifices, such as not going out and partying like a fool every night of his life. This new president insists on going to basketball events and restaurants and even the occasional fancy dance performance, with his children, no less, which means he should be fired. MORE »

Sure, Gary Locke isn’t even half-Mexican, but today he officially won the plum job first promised to the known Latino Bill Richardson, and then to known Republican Judd Gregg. He will be our new Commerce Secretary, which means that he gets to outsource the administration of the Census Bureau to ACORN, while handing over control of the National Weather Service and indeed the weather itself to Bill Ayers. Locke will oversee our shabby trade imbalance, and will put millions of Americans to work farming small pebbles for us to sell overseas. [Bloomberg]

Death row is so popular right now, in fictions. It’s like the new working as an assistant to a magazine editor or post-9/11 inquiries into Meanings of Things. So go hear two authors talk about their new death row books, plus a couple economics suggestion handbooks things because that’s still going on too isn’t it? MORE »

DC’s socialist bicycle share klub thing is expanding! From 10 racks of bicycles that seem both appealing and logistically problematic to 50 racks of bicycles that seem both appealing and logistically problematic. [WTOP] MORE »

It’s very arguably GOP-themed reading week here in DC. In what way? Well, let’s see, someone tries to make the case for a political interpretation of the Legend of Reagan, and then something about hip hop which, by law, Michael Steele is “down with.” Anyway, there’s also Adolf Eichmann, William Marbury, and Nate Silver, kind of. MORE »