Journalist Oleg Kashin knows who tried to kill him

Oleg Kashin, a reporter who has extensively covered the dispute over the Khimki forest, was brutally attacked in Moscow on Nov. 6, 2010. (Maxim Avdeyev/AP) MOSCOW -- On Nov. 6, 2010, two men beat a prominent Russian journalist, Oleg Kashin, within an inch of his life. He was hit 56 times in the head, arms and legs with a steel pipe, left hospitalized in an induced coma with a fractured skull, and had one finger partially amputated. He survived and eventually recovered. Нападение на Олега Кашина The brutal attack in a downtown Moscow courtyard shocked Russian society. Then-President Dmitry Medvedev vowed the killers would be found, but after nearly five years, the case remained unsolved, similar to attacks against other journalists here. The Prosecutor's Office and Interior Ministry shall oversee the case of the attack on journalist Kashin. The criminals must be punished. In early September, Kashin suddenly named everyone connected with his attack in an online article [in Russian] and said the case was solved. Now comes the part that he calls "politics": compelling the government to prosecute the people he says ordered the attack, including a sitting regional governor, Andrei Turchak. Kashin's accusations are largely based on court documents, including depositions from several men who said they were paid more than $100,000 to commit the crime, and have been formally accused in court. Washington Post: Why were you attacked according to your investigation? Oleg Kashin: It makes me sound a little less heroic. I called the governor of Pskov region, [Andrei] Turchak, an impolite phrase in a blog. It translates to “sh**ty Turchak.” And that phrase offended him. He threatened me publicly, and I thought that since it was public, it gave me a guarantee that he would not actually touch me. It turns out that was not true. According to statements given by the attackers, Turchak met with Alexander Gorbunov (a political ally and businessman) and some of his firm's security guards (the accused attackers). The person who actually beat me is a master at mixed martial arts. They were paid to cripple me either so that I could not write again, or in order to kill me. Russian journalists in Moscow picketed the government to finish the investigation. "Journalist Oleg Kashin was beaten. Five years have passed! I demand that the killers and the person who ordered it be questioned." (Courtesy Olesya Gerasimenko) It’s a strong


Ig Nobel awards for silly science rock Harvard as only they can

Harvard University held its raucous Ig Nobel Awards ceremony, which annually honors ridiculous and improbable research. It’s a tradition not nearly as old as the Nobel Prize and a lot stranger: Since 1991, some of Planet Earth’s best and brightest researchers have gathered at Harvard University, offering awards for ridiculous scientific discoveries with practical applications. Oh: The awards are presented by actual Nobel prize winners, and they are called the “Ig Nobels.” Get it? It’s a lot to take in. This year prizes went to researchers who, among other discoveries, figured out how to partially unboil an egg, tested the theory that all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds, figured out every language has a word like “huh?” and figured out which body part hurts most when stung by a bee. (Unsurprising answer to that last one: the male sex organ was among the most painful locations) [Bee stings, research that makes you go ‘huh?’ win Ig Nobels] The ceremony’s program tried to explain the methods behind the madness. “Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think,” it read. “Imagine every ceremony you have ever had to endure. Loop them all together, at high speed, upside down. Add ten Ig Nobel Prize winners. That’s the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.” The ceremony also features an event called the “24/7 Lectures,” in which “several of the world’s top thinkers each explains her or his subject twice” — once in 24 seconds, and once in seven words “that anyone can understand.” Examples of fields of study: “Firefly sex” and “Internet cat videos.” And there was also the premiere of a mini-opera about a competition to choose the best species of life, not to mention “ceremonial bows” by past winners. Quite the night. Without further ado, here are the winners via the Annals of Improbable Research, which oversees the Ig Nobels: CHEMISTRY PRIZE — Callum Ormonde, Colin Raston, Tom Yuan, Stephan Kudlacek, Sameeran Kunche, Joshua N. Smith, William A. Brown, Kaitlin Pugliese, Tivoli Olsen, Mariam Iftikhar, Gregory Weiss, for inventing a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg. REFERENCE: “Shear-Stress-Mediated Refolding of Proteins from Aggregates and Inclusion Bodies,” ChemBioChem, January 2015. PHYSICS PRIZE — Patricia Yang, David Hu, Jonathan Pham, Jerome Choo, for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds). REFERENCE:


Karl Grammer, PLOS ONE, 2014. BIOLOGY PRIZE — Bruno Grossi, Omar Larach, Mauricio Canals, Rodrigo A. Vásquez, José Iriarte-Díaz, for observing that when you attach a weighted stick to the rear end of a chicken, the chicken then walks in a manner similar to that in which dinosaurs are thought to have walked. REFERENCE: “Walking Like Dinosaurs: Chickens with Artificial Tails Provide Clues about Non-Avian Theropod Locomotion,” Bruno Grossi, José Iriarte-Díaz, Omar Larach, Mauricio Canals, Rodrigo A. Vásquez, PLoS ONE, 2014. DIAGNOSTIC MEDICINE PRIZE — Diallah Karim, Anthony Harnden, Nigel D’Souza, Andrew Huang, Abdel Kader Allouni, Helen Ashdown, Richard J. Stevens, and Simon Kreckler, for determining that acute appendicitis can be accurately diagnosed by the amount of pain evident when the patient is driven over speed bumps. REFERENCE: “Pain Over Speed Bumps in Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis: Diagnostic Accuracy Study,” Helen F. Ashdown, Nigel D’Souza, Diallah Karim, Richard J. Stevens, Andrew Huang, and Anthony Harnden, BMJ, 2012. PHYSIOLOGY and ENTOMOLOGY PRIZE — Awarded jointly to two individuals: Justin Schmidt, for painstakingly creating the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which rates the relative pain people feel when stung by various insects; and to Michael L. Smith, for carefully arranging for honey bees to sting him repeatedly on 25 different locations on his body, to learn which locations are the least painful (the skull, middle toe tip, and upper arm). and which are the most painful (the nostril, upper lip, and penis shaft). REFERENCE: “Hemolytic Activities of Stinging Insect Venoms,” Justin O. Schmidt, Murray S. Blum, and William L. Overal, Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 1983. REFERENCE: “Honey Bee Sting Pain Index by Body Location,” Michael L. Smith, PeerJ, 2014. Some images from Thursday’s ceremony: Wearing a toilet seat on his head, David Hu accepts the Ig Nobel Physics Prize for his research on the principle that mammals empty their bladders of urine in about 21 seconds. Dudley Herschbach, the 1986 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, presented. (Charles Krupa/AP) Chemists stage “A Moment in Science,” a parody of sorts. (Gretchen Ertl/Reuters) Yoshiro Nakamatsu, a 2005 Ig Nobel award recipient for Nutrition, removes a sword from the mouth of sword swallower Dan Meyer, the 2007 Ig Nobel recipient for Medicine for his paper “Sword Swallowing and its side effects.” (Gretchen Ertl/Reuters) Gregory Weiss, of the University of California at Irvine, and his team invented a chemical recipe to partially unboil an egg. (Charles Krupa/AP)


You can blame CNN (and the news media) if childhood vaccinations go down

a rather broad societal consensus on the efficacy and safety of childhood vaccinations. For all the attention that the anti-vaxxer movement has generated, vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) remain above the 90 percent target in almost all states. Increasing resistance to vaccinations, while deeply troubling, has remained largely localized. Further, as Kahan and others have noted, there are no striking partisan or ideological differences in vaccine attitudes. Notwithstanding the quackery on stage at the GOP debate on Wednesday, Republican voters are just as likely to believe in vaccine safety as Democrats, at least for now. That may change if party elites become polarized on the issue, and if this is communicated to the mass public through the national press. We fear that it might happen because something similar transpired with attitudes about global warming. In a paper we recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, we looked at the role mainstream media plays in promoting pseudo-scientific attitudes on several issues, such as global warming and childhood vaccinations. We fear that the story of global warming polarization should serve as a cautionary tale of how the media and the political establishment choose to proceed on vaccinations. So far the coverage of vaccinations has been reasonable, despite what we might intuitively infer from the rise of the anti-vaxxer movement. We know this because we gathered coverage of childhood vaccinations in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today, and constructed a keyword-based dictionary to capture cues from parties and party leaders, as well as experts using Lexicoder for automated content analysis. The figure below shows that coverage of vaccines has increased since the bogus Wakefield study purportedly linked vaccines to autism. Salience has increased modestly, but politicization hasn’t. As the right panel shows, references to experts dominate coverage, and party cues have fallen to below 10 percent. Do note that until recently, party elites were in consensus on vaccines. While some cues were present in the press, these did not have the potential to polarize the public. We fear that if party elites continue to polarize, the cues present in the press could begin to undermine the societal consensus on childhood vaccinations. Why are we reasonably sure this is the case? Because we have seen this movie before, with global warming. Climate scientists and others in the academic community have been at


Here’s what you need to know about Handsome Beer Co., D.C.’s newest brewery

Handsome Beer Co. owners Graham MacDonald (left) and Matt Humbard. (Photo courtesy of Handsome Beer Co.) Washington's beer market is increasingly crowded, but it seems like there's always room for more local beer. Handsome Beer Co., D.C.'s newest brewing company, launches its first three beers Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at Glen's Garden Market in Dupont Circle, followed by a week of events that will take co-founders Graham MacDonald and Matt Humbard to bars in D.C., Baltimore, Frederick and Annapolis. (A full schedule is on Handsome's website.) MacDonald and Humbard met in 2010 through mutual friends, and bonded over a love of beer. But it wasn't until 2013, when MacDonald was working as a manager at Right Proper Brewing Company, that they considered launching their own brewery. "Matt came in with a growler of his homebrew – a saison fermented with brettanomyces and dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin – and once I had that beer, it clicked into place," MacDonald says. "I thought, 'Oh my God – this could be sold.'" How does Handsome differ from the other options on local taps? I sat down with MacDonald and Humbard at Meridian Pint – where they're hosting a party at 5 p.m. Wednesday with four beers, including a cask – to find out. They don't have a brewery. In short: There's no tasting room, so the best place to sample the lineup is at this week's launch parties. They don't have an IPA. (Yet.) Handsome will have three beers at first: Medium and Message, an earthy pale ale that marries Belgian malt and yeast with Moteuka hops; Galaxy Saison, a summery saison with huge tropical fruit notes; and Strange Charm, a rich, appealing brown ale with notes of leather and pitted fruit that seems tailor-made for drinking outdoors on a fall weekend. Brown ales from D.C. area breweries are rare, and this is not your typical dark beer. "It's not a porter because it doesn't have that roasty character, and it's not a Belgian brown because it doesn't have that candy sweetness," Humbard says. Instead, it's designed to highlight the characteristic flavors of Humbard's favorite malt, Special B. In every beer, "you have your malt, your yeast, and your hops," he says. "My approach is, here's a malt that I like. How far can I take this flavor without changing its character?" Allowing certain flavors and ingredients to shine is a


What was fake on the Internet this week: The petition to ban Oktoberfest and Obama’s second Nobel Peace Prize

Obama and Michelle Obama celebrate after receiving his one and only Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. (AP Photo/Cornelius Poppe, Scanpix) There is so much fake stuff on the Internet in any given week that we’ve grown tired of debunking it all. Fake Twitter fights. Fake pumpkin-spice products. Amazing viral video? Nope — a Jimmy Kimmel stunt! Rather than take down each and every undeservedly viral story that crosses our monitors each week, we’re rounding them all up in a quick, once-a-week Friday debunk of fake photos, misleading headlines and bad studies that you probably shouldn’t share over the weekend. 1. A viral photo does not show a Syrian refugee with an Islamic State flag attacking police. Didn’t take long for the ISIS flag to make its European debut… http://t.co/djXlNvoXwE In fact, the image dates back to a 2012 protest in the German city of Bonn, where a group of Muslims were counter-protesting a far-right, anti-Muslim group. As for that flag, the Islamic State connection is iffy: At the time, the Islamic State was a fringe group barely known outside Iraq. And as scholars have pointed out before, the Islamic State didn’t invent the symbolism and iconography on the flag — they just appropriated it. In sum: Not the Islamic State, not current. (But certainly effective propaganda for those pushing the idea that militants disguised as refugees are streaming into Europe.) [No, that viral image doesn’t show an Islamic State fighter among Europe’s refugees] 2. A Change.org petition to “ban Oktoberfest” is (almost definitely) fake. Here’s the Oktoberfest petition. Is somebody claiming it’s a fake? How are we supposed to tell? https://t.co/34zC4LjP4y A representative for Change.org also said that Almuradi closed the petition early himself, which wouldn’t make much sense if he was genuinely petitioning the city of Munich. One might also wonder why this guy didn’t target a city closer to home: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and several other Dutch cities host their own Oktoberfest celebrations. 3. President Obama is not receiving a second Nobel Prize. 4. Will Smith’s middle name is not Oliver, and Jada Pinkett Smith’s middle name is not Naomi. omg.. Will O. Smith and Jada N. Smith http://t.co/6Dz6d5YB5Y It’s kind of lame, and kind of random — but also pretty telling, Sun insisted. The whole point of the tweet was “to see if fun, believable information would spread” on Twitter, which it obviously did. The Photoshopped image was


Meet the man at the center of D.C.’s booming sports-industrial complex

doesn’t need to take a year.” “Deals get momentum, and you have to capture that momentum,” he said. “It’s so hard to get things done in Washington, and I give the mayor credit for working hard to get this done.” It was also difficult to see how the Wizards deal benefited the main benefactors of Events DC: hotels and restaurants. Revenue from hotel and restaurant taxes makes up about 80 percent of the organization’s revenue, but there are no hotels and hardly any restaurants near the St. Elizabeths campus. Solomon Keene Jr., president of the Hotel Association of Washington, was the only board member who attended the vote but did not support the proposal. He abstained and did not respond to a request for comment. “We talked to Solomon,” O’Dell said. “And I think Solomon just asked questions to understand what we were doing as it relates in recouping the dollars [on the Wizards deal]. He understands our mission.” The speed and secrecy with which the deal for the Wizards complex came together was not lost on attendees of the RFK meeting. They asked how Events DC got its money and whether they would have to issue public documents requests to find out what was going on. “We usually find out about your projects through the media,” said Brian Flahaven, an advisory neighborhood commissioner. Another resident, Ted Arthur, was bothered by the commercial aspect of Events DC. He wondered if it needed to make money on the redevelopment of RFK — whereas a public park or soccer fields would not be profit centers. And he noted, many residents didn’t want another stadium. “Is there a conflict of interest by having Events DC involved in this project, which may require their removal from this project?” he said. “It seems like a yes-or-no question,” Brown said. “No.” O’Dell, a Georgia native and former college basketball star, has a reputation as a no-nonsense hard worker. Harriet Tregoning, an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called him a private person whom everyone likes. “He clearly likes and is suited to the role of CEO and the intersection of public and private work,” she said. Linda Greenan, an Events DC board member and Cardinal Bank executive, said her first reason for backing the Wizards plan was her faith in O’Dell and his head of sports, Erik Moses. “I trust Greg and Erik,”


Bowe Bergdahl will require lifetime of care for injuries suffered in captivity

to life in prison if convicted. He was held in a crouched position for long periods of time while imprisoned, and would be unable to deploy again, Aberle said. The detail is important in Bergdahl’s case because he could be denied medical benefits if convicted. Aberle said that when Bergdahl attempted a modified version of the Army’s physical fitness test in the last few months, walking 2.5 miles caused his legs to swell “to the point where he could not wear any boots.” The condition is likely permanent, he said. “It’s my opinion that Sergeant Bergdahl does not meet retention standards for the Army, and should not remain in the military,” Aberle said. Aberle testified on the second day of what is known in the military as an Article 32 hearing. The officer overseeing the hearing, Lt. Col. Mark Visker, will make a recommendation about whether Bergdahl should be court-martialed to Gen. Robert B. Abrams, who is in charge of the case. Eugene Fidell, lead defense counsel to Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, speaks to members of the media after a preliminary hearing to determine if Sgt. Bergdahl should face a court-martial, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate) The defense is expected to continue calling witnesses Friday, including Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl, who questioned Bergdahl extensively after he was recovered by a U.S. Special Operations team in Afghanistan in May 2014 as part of a controversial swap for five Taliban officials who were released from detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They are now in Qatar. The first witness called by the defense was Gregory Leatherman, a former sergeant and infantryman in Bergdahl’s platoon. He testified that he raised concerns during their 2009 deployment to more senior soldiers about Bergdahl’s struggle to adjust to the deployment, but was told to keep quiet. [Bowe Bergdahl’s lawyers raise mental health as issue in his desertion case] “It was not something I was incredibly alarmed about, but it was something that I needed to be addressed,” Leatherman said of Bergdahl’s struggles. Prosecutors called three witnesses against Bergdahl on Thursday to describe the chaos his June 30, 2009, disappearance from a small base in Paktika province caused. His former platoon commander, company commander and battalion commander described soldiers worked to the point of exhaustion in the following weeks, as they searched for him across several provinces. The


Traffic, transit tips for the weekend

Shuttles returning people to their cars will operate until after the final performance. More information about the show is available on the Joint Base Andrews Web site. Silver Spring Transit Center The long-delayed bus and taxi hub next to the Silver Spring Metro and MARC stations on Colesville Road is scheduled to open Sunday. There’s no ceremony to disrupt travelers. But from 4 a.m. Sunday, buses, which for many years had been using street terminals on Wayne Avenue, Colesville Road, East-West Highway and Dixon Avenue, will move into the center. When construction began, signs were placed on downtown streets to guide commuters. (Robert Thomson/The Washington Post) This will have a limited impact on the light travel of Sunday. There may be some confusion as bus riders adjust to the new system. The big impact will come on Monday as commuter traffic returns to downtown Silver Spring. Drivers will need to watch for buses entering and exiting the center’s access point on Colesville Road, by the traffic signal. Watch also for some confused pedestrians on their way into and out of the transit center. Metrobus will discontinue stops on the nearby streets for these routes: 70, 79, F4, J1, J2, J3, J4, J5, Q1, Q2, Q4, S2, S4, S9, Y2, Y7, Y8, Z2, Z6, Z8, Z9, Z11, Z13, and Z29. They will be relocated inside the center. See more details on Metro’s Web site. Many Montgomery County Ride On buses will also have new stops inside the transit center. See a diagram of where the Metrobus and Ride On buses will be located inside the center. Metro and Ride On will have staffers to help direct people and answer questions. You can also ask the staffers in the red shirts who work for the Silver Spring Urban District. Navy-Air Force Half Marathon Metrorail will open at 6 a.m. Sunday, an hour early, for participants in the Navy-Air Force Half Marathon and the Navy 5 Miler. Planners expect more than 6,000 runners to participate in these events. The start time is 7 a.m., and the runners should be clear of the course by 11 a.m. The half-marathon starts and ends on 15th Street between Constitution Avenue NW and Madison Drive by the Washington Monument. The runners head around the Tidal Basin and then through East Potomac Park. The course goes 3 1/2 miles along the Potomac River to the Rock Creek &


Is orange chicken a guilty pleasure, or just plain guilty?

it has echoes of a traditional Sichuan dish, whose name can be translated as dried tangerine peel chicken. In that version, marinated chicken is stir-fried in a wok with rehydrated peel. The dish may include dried chili peppers, fresh ginger and numbing Sichuan peppercorns. The thinner sauce features rice wine, soy sauce and sugar. In other words, not like what most of us are familiar with. But the Panda Express dish -- a Chinese-American interpretation, Kao and his company are quick to point out -- has its fans, including those who could be classified as serious students of Chinese cuisine. We told Scott Drewno, executive chef of the Source by Wolfgang Puck, about the pending appearance by the Panda Express Orange Chicken Love food truck, which will serve free eight-ounce portions of the dish on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. "Where?" he blurted out. "I'm going to be in line." (The truck and its surrounding lounge will be at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street NW, chef.) [Things to know about the Source’s new hot pot table] Drewno, a self-professed Panda Express die-hard, has been cooking more high-minded Chinese fare at the Source since 2007. He has traveled and eaten around China, trying the version Young described, which he called cleaner and simpler. But he still has a warm, saucy place in his heart for the Americanized orange chicken. Panda Express had been a staple of Drewno's pre-flight meals at Reagan National Airport. About two weeks ago, he was dismayed to discover that the Panda had disappeared from the Terminal B/C area. It was a victim of the airport's overhaul of food offerings. He fondly recalled that when he was growing up and his mom was out of town, his dad offered him two takeout options: Pizza Hut or orange chicken from the local Chinese spot (you know the kind). Drewno said he and his staff will even cook their own riff on orange chicken for the "family meal" they eat together. And you better believe they break out the hot oil and batter. "There's only one way to make orange chicken, and it's fried," he said. The Panda Express Orange Chicken Love truck will be in Georgetown on Sunday at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M St. NW from 1 to 5 p.m. Related items: Things to know about The Source’s new hot pot table


Women on the move: Choral Arts and others in search of new leadership

have eliminated their “societies” altogether.) When the organization’s founder, Norman Scribner, announced his retirement in 2010, she led a two-year search for his replacement, Scott Tucker, an offbeat and evidently successful choice. [Related: Norman Scribner passes the baton at Choral Arts Society.] Kraft’s departure will coincide with that of Dianne Peterson, who announced in June that she was leaving the Washington Chorus at the end of this season, meaning that two of DC’s largest choral groups will be looking for new administrative leadership at the same time, and raising interesting questions – not for the first time – of how many large choruses this traditionally chorus-strong city actually needs, or, more precisely, can support. [Related: New groups signal key change in D.C. choral scene.] Another notable departure at the same time is that of Joan Gregoryk, the founder and artistic director of the Children’s Chorus of Washington, who will step down at the end of her group’s 20th anniversary season. Gregoryk is an acknowledged leader in the field of children’s choruses, who parlayed her experience as a teacher at the Chevy Chase Elementary School into an international career leading choruses, workshops, seminars, and turning the Children’s Chorus of Washington into the major young people’s ensemble in this city, while instituting several outreach programs to bring music to elementary-school children (and potential chorus members). Another shift relevant to the mid-Atlantic region is the announcement that Marin Alsop is stepping down from the Cabrillo Festival, which she has led for 25 years – a period that saw her rise from struggling young conductor to one of the preeminent names in the field. Alsop, of course, is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and stepping down from Cabrillo at age 58 is less a sign that she wants a rest than that her calendar is now clear for the other opportunities that are, regularly and increasingly, coming her way. Along with the ends, a small beginning: the Baltimore Symphony announced on Friday a short residency during the 2015-16 season with the London-born composer Anna Clyne, 35, who became better known in the United States during her five years as co-composer-in-residence, with Mason Bates, of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Clyne’s piece “Masquerade” was already scheduled to have its East Coast premiere with the Baltimore Symphony on September 18th and 19th; now, those performances will mark the first part of a three-part residency.


Report: U.S. contractor tried to arm Syrian rebels with defective grenades

rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missile systems. To fulfill a portion of the contract, Purple Shovel’s subcontractors turned to an unnamed Bulgarian company to purchase 12,640 PG-7VM high explosive anti-tank rockets, according to the report. The PG-7VM is the iconic teardrop-shaped grenade usually seen protruding from the end of rocket-propelled grenade launchers in conflict zones around the world. According to the report, there were a number of issues with the rounds procured by Purple Shovel, namely that the purchased rockets had been produced in 1984. While bullets, if stored somewhat properly, can have long shelf lives, explosive ordnance is much more temperamental. Explosives and their various components can degrade quickly if exposed to moisture and are improperly packaged. When reached for comment, the Pentagon confirmed that despite delivery issues there had been no pause in the train and equip program, according to the report. “These programs are highly risky, incredibly low reward and incredibly expensive,” said Rachel Stohl, a senior associate at the Stimson Center who focuses on the arms trade, referring to the type of third party purchasing Purple Shovel had been doing at the bequest of the Pentagon. While SOCOM refused shipment on a number of the grenades, a subcontractor employee, Francis Norwillo, was possibly killed testing them in Bulgaria, according to the Buzzfeed report and a local news release cited by Buzzfeed. “This is a perpetual problem when countries want non-U.S. weapons and when other actors are involved, said Stohl. “You can get dubious quality weapons from potentially nefarious actors.” Norwillo, 41, a Navy veteran and armorer, was working for the company Skybridge Tactical, one of Purple Shovel’s subcontractors, when he was killed in June, according to the report. While in the report, the U.S. embassy confirms Norwillo was working on a SOCOM contract, SOCOM told Buzzfeed that without a report from the “host government” it is unable to say if the contract and his death were related. When Purple Shovel was reached for response, the man who picked up the phone said “no comment” and hung up without identifying himself. Aside from procurement issues and faulty ammunition, Purple Shovel used one of its subcontractors to purchase anti-tank guided missiles through Belarus, which SOCOM confirmed, according to Buzzfeed. Purple Shovel solicited the 700 missiles from Belarus because of an apparent shortage of the missiles on the global market , according to the report. While Belarus has import


Another Whole Foods mess: Abuse alleged at pig farm linked to chain

Sweet Stem. “We made a visit to the farm within hours of being informed about the PETA video to evaluate farm conditions and practices with our own eyes and gather the facts,” Michael Silverman, a Whole Foods spokesman, wrote The Post in an e-mail. “We found that the farm conditions were in-line with GAP Step 2 certification. We did follow-up with the farm immediately regarding using the ear to restrain the pig so that a vaccine could be administered, and they agreed to stop that practice entirely.” Horst-Landis, Sweet Stem’s co-owner, told Bloomberg the PETA video was “deceit and distortion.” But he also spoke of the perils of upscaling. “When we were raising 80 pigs a year, raising pigs outside was feasible,” he said. “I didn’t understand that at a different scale that was difficult to pull off.” Silverman of Whole Foods also offered a reminder about PETA’s philosophy. As the animal-rights organization said in its graphic Sweet Stem video: “There is no such thing as humane meat.” “PETA’s agenda is very clear — a total end to animal agriculture,” Silverman wrote. “We respect and cater to a variety of dietary choices represented across our diverse customer base, and our quality standards go well beyond what conventional grocers provide. No other grocer has done more than Whole Foods Market has to help move an entire industry toward higher levels of quality and improvements in animal welfare.” Even after its overcharging scandal and as other supermarkets jump into the organic business it pioneered, Whole Foods enjoys a reputation as the place where those concerned about where their food comes from choose to shop. Indeed, the chain’s not-so-nice nickname — “Whole Paycheck” — indicates that some are willing to pay more for peace of mind. But what if the peace of mind is illusory? “Back in the day, Whole Foods was buying half of all the organic produce in the country — they helped a lot of organic farms get going,” Jeff Larkey, a California farmer, told the New York Times for a piece that questioned whether the market’s ratings systems are worthwhile. “Now they’re competing with the large supermarkets, and that may be one reason they’re trying to make conventional look better.” More from Morning Mix N.C. just prosecuted a teenage couple for making child porn — of themselves How a father found out that Boston’s ‘Baby Doe’ was his daughter


The looming shutdown is ‘government disservice’ to U.S. taxpayers and employees

The symptom is “government disservice.” The diagnosis is congressional “chronic dysfunction.” It’s enough to make taxpayers and federal employees sick. Richard Trott of the National Park Service puts up a sign announcing the closure of the Lincoln Memorial due to the government shutdown on Tuesday October 01, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post) A new report with this diagnosis is particularly timely as Congress again toys with the American public and its workforce with another threat to shut down the government. The title of the report, “Government Disservice,” by the Partnership for Public Service, aptly describes what Congress does when it leads the country to the brink of a shutdown, as it is doing now, or worse, as was the case two years ago when a partial shutdown closed many government operations for 16 days. Republican opposition to federal funding for Planned Parenthood could result in government workers being sent home and offices closing their doors after the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. That’s getting close, yet an informal Washington Post survey indicates a number of staffers so far have heard nothing from their agencies. “We haven’t even received an email this year about the possibility, but nothing new,” said Victoria Nellon, an IRS employee in Atlanta. “They only tell us what they have to and that’s at the last minute most times.” That uncertainty has practical ramifications. “My refrigerator went out, but I can’t replace it until I know there is no shutdown because I need to save my cash to pay my normal bills if I don’t get paid on time,” said Shirley Prichard, a Department of Homeland Security employee in Missouri. [A government shutdown: What federal employees need to know about their pay and benefits] The failure of Congress to approve spending bills “has become a way of life in Washington, creating tremendous uncertainty and multiple management and financial inefficiencies for government agencies,” the Partnership, a nonprofit think tank on federal government management and workforce issues, said in the report released last week. “The negative effect on the ability of the agencies to fulfill their missions has often seemed to be of little concern to many lawmakers, some of whom are focused on using the appropriations process to win specific policy battles or to control spending and reduce the federal budget deficit.” Complaints about partisan gridlock are not new. But this


Veterans’ suicides, ignoring child abuse in Afghanistan, the Bergdahl case, and being incommunicado in a crisis

VETERANS’ SUICIDES. IGNORING CHILD ABUSE IN AFGHANISTAN. THE BERGDAHL CASE. INCOMMUNICADO IN A CRISIS.


Why legalizing weed is unlikely to turn your kid into a pothead

From left, Suzy Presson helps Kevin Sager, Matt Branz and Zach Griffin shop at Organic Alternatives during Colorado's marijuana tax holiday in Fort Collins, Colo., on Sept. 16. (Erin Hull/Coloradoan via AP) A central idea of the war on drugs has always been that loosening restrictions on drug use — by decriminalizing it, or allowing medical use, or legalizing some drugs completely, or even simply discussing legalization — will "send the wrong message" to kids and lead to increased teen drug use and all the problems associated therewith. But particularly in the realm of marijuana policy, the evidence has repeatedly shown this notion to be inaccurate. After all, 20 states have passed decriminalization measures. And since 1996, 34 states have passed some sort of medical marijuana bill. But, according to two new studies published in the past month, teen use of marijuana has fallen over that same period. "Despite considerable changes in state marijuana policies over the past 15 years, marijuana use among high school students has largely declined," concludes one of the papers, published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The study looks at marijuana use among all high school students in the United States, as measured every two years by the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In 1999, 47.2 percent of high schoolers had reported ever using marijuana in their lifetime. That number plummeted to 36.8 percent in 2009. It crept back up to 40.7 percent by 2013, but the study's authors found that that uptick is, so far, not statistically significant. The study found similar patterns held true when you look at monthly use and daily use. Now, the researchers do say that the small uptick since 2009 is worth keeping an eye on. "It is unclear whether observed increases in annual lifetime marijuana use since 2009 are atypical observations, or early indicators that the decline in use has reversed course." They conclude that "although our results do not suggest that the rapid pace of change to state-level marijuana policies has resulted in immediate and drastic increases in adolescent use, continued monitoring is necessary to observe how trends change over a longer period of time." The other study, published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, suggests one reason behind the downward trend in use: strong disapproval of marijuana use among younger teens is up sharply from where it was even 10 years ago. That study


Sumatran tiger that killed zoo worker in New Zealand won’t be euthanized

an inherent risk for zoo professionals who manage big cats like Oz, there is no wider ongoing risk. There is no reason for us to put Oz down." Oz is one of five Sumatran tigers at Hamilton Zoo, which will remain closed until Thursday. Visitors to the facility will be able to observe some of the its tigers then, though officials haven't decided whether Oz will be among them. (Photo courtesy of Hamilton Zoo) "This is our call, and the decision on Oz rested solely with us," Vervoort said in the release, which noted that government officials have also been notified. "Oz is a significant animal for his species." Sumatran tigers like Oz are considered a "critically endangered" species. It's estimated that fewer than 400 of the tigers are surviving in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. In the news release, Vervoort called Oz "vital" to the ongoing conservation breeding program for the species. The zoo staffer who was killed, Samantha Kudeweh, was described as a 43-year-old mother of two, who had a considerable amount of experience in her field. Her job at Hamilton involved figuring out which animals the facility should take in and how to care for them, according to her biography on zoo's Web site. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that emergency crews responded to the attack, which is still under investigation, late Sunday morning. According to the newspaper: Senior Sergeant Juliet Burgess, from the Waikato District Command Centre, said "sadly the staff member who was attacked by the tiger has died at the scene". "This is a tragic incident," she said. "It is too early to determine exactly what's happened." Officials are "firmly" focused on “supporting Samantha’s family, the zoo team, and mak[ing] sure we conduct thorough and complete investigations into this tragic incident," Vervoort said in the statement. We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of a female staff member today after an attack by one of the zoo’s Sumatran tigers. (1-2) Our focus is on supporting staff and the wider zoo family, and working with relevant agencies on investigations which are underway. (2-2) Read more: Mauling, escapes and abuse: 6 small zoos, 80 sick or dead animals Cubs of a euthanized grizzly that killed a Yellowstone hiker will get a new home Indiana woman wants to be laid to rest with her German shepherd. One problem: The dog is still alive.


This is how the U.S. military might use an “invisibility cloak”

Maintenance personnel check a Predator drone operated by the U.S. Office of Air and Marine (OAM), before its surveillance flight near the Mexican border on March 7, 2013. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) When it comes to disappearing in plain sight, Harry Potter has the invisibility cloak, Solid Snake, from the video game “Metal Gear Solid,” has his active camouflage, and soon, the U.S. military might have the “dielectric metasurface cloak.” Boubacar Kante, a professor at the University of California-San Diego, and his colleagues recently tested the cloak and plan on submitting their proposal for it to the Pentagon this month, according to a Sunday report in the Army Times. The cloak, the report explains, is actually a thin ceramic surface that is layered on top of say, a drone or ship or any other object that the user would want to make disappear from view or radar. The coating then has the ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves at varying wavelengths—from visible light to radio waves. [Watch how DARPA’s new close air support system works on an A-10 attack jet] What makes Kante and crew’s cloak so special is how thin the coating is. According to the Army Times report, previous “invisibility tests” in 2006 used different material (in past cases Teflon) that required that the coating, or cloak, be 10 times thicker than the wavelength being avoided. So for instance, if you were trying to hide a Predator drone from a missile guidance radar that has a 3cm wavelength, the older Teflon coating would have to be 30cm thick. Kante’s new ceramic “cloak”, however, works at 1/10th the wavelength. That means his coat, to dodge the same missile guidance radar, would only have to be 3mm thick. The Army Times report, citing this math, notes that since Kante’s coat is so thin, it could be used even to manipulate the electromagnetic waves at the visible light level, hence it could make something almost invisible. Complete invisibility, however, is near impossible because the object will always have a background that it could be discerned from. [Infantry overhaul: How DARPA’s new experiments could shake up ground warfare] The technology is not without limitations. Currently the biggest issue is the angle in which the wavelengths hit the material. Right now, it only works with light hitting the cloak at a 45-degree angle with a 6 degree give or take, according to the


What one starving polar bear picture does — and doesn’t — say about climate change

are still doing okay for now. Recognizing this, the federal government listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2008. Some scientists have made optimistic suggestions about ways the bears might be able to adapt to their changing landscape in the future, but several of those have already been debunked. One theory, which was popular for decades, suggested that polar bears are capable of a kind of “walking hibernation,” which allows them to conserve energy and get by on less food in times of stress. But a recent study confirmed that, unfortunately, the bears have no special adaptations against starvation after all. Another theory proposed that the bears could switch to different food sources on land. But a review of the current literature on polar bear diets suggested that they can’t get enough energy from land-based food sources and need the fatty, sea-going seals to survive. “Sea-ice loss due to climate change is the primary threat to polar bears,” Regehr said. “Global action to address climate change is the single most important action determining the long-term survival of the species.” He added that the fact that different subpopulations appear to be existing at varying levels of stability suggests that biologists should take a more nuanced approach to managing and protecting them. “We need scientific studies to understand the variability [among these populations], and we need to use that understanding of that variability to design customized specific conservation and management plans, both for the long-term threat of climate change, but also the issues in the here and now,” he said, such as threats posed by industrial development or environmental contaminants. In these ways, Langenberger’s starving Svalbard bear could represent many things, from old age to climate change and a wide variety of issues in between. But while the story behind this particular animal remains unclear, it still serves an important purpose by drawing public attention to the issue, according to Regehr. It’s just important to make sure the plight of a single animal doesn’t obscure the our understanding of the challenges faced by the species as a whole. “The challenge is to communicate a balanced and accurate message that acts in the interest of polar bear conservation,” Regehr said. “This requires shifting focus from this individual animal—recognizing that polar bears, like all animals, get sick, injured, or old as part of life—to the species as a whole.”


The nuclear disaster at Fukushima didn’t have to happen

A building at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as seen from a bus in 2013. (Pool photo by Noboru Hashimoto via Reuters) After a devastating tsunami left 18,000 people dead in 2011, Japan was about to face a potentially more significant disaster as several reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started to melt down. More than 300,000 people were evacuated. Since then, the Japanese government has tried to defend the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operated the plant, and offer reassurances that the country's nuclear reactors are secure. A study released Monday in the science journal Philosophical Transactions reaches a different conclusion, however: "The Fukushima accident was preventable, if international best practices and standards had been followed, if there had been international reviews, and had common sense prevailed in the interpretation of preexisting geological and hydrodynamic findings." The study's authors paint a bleak picture of TEPCO's failures before the disaster, as well as the company's handling of the crisis. Using documents provided by the U.S. National Research Council, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Japan's bicameral legislature and TEPCO itself, they conclude: "Had the TEPCO modellers had any experience with tsunamis, they would have had immediately recognized that their ‘high’ resolution predictions were underestimating the hazard." Researchers Costas Synolakis and Utku Kanoglu allege that the accident revealed striking inaccuracies in TEPCO's internal risk analysis, as well as a "cascade of engineering and regulatory failures." "The entire experience with TEPCO’s pre-event internal studies not to mention the entire methodology that has been used in Japan to assess tsunami hazards points to the perils of insularity," the study's authors wrote. According to Synolakis and Kanoglu, TEPCO researchers had long known that earthquakes could threaten power plants in the region. Despite that, necessary safety measures were not implemented. The researchers also question the designs of some Japanese nuclear power plants, which could leave certain structures more vulnerable than others. "Interestingly, while the Onagawa [nuclear power plant] was also hit by a tsunami of approximately the same height as Dai-ichi, it survived the event ‘remarkably undamaged.’" The differences in vulnerability could partially be due to methodological mistakes "which almost nobody experienced in tsunami engineering would have made," according to Synolakis and Kanoglu, who warn that similar flaws could lead to more accidents in the future. "When it comes to studying hazards or designing structures whose catastrophic failure will transcend national


Whole Foods’ expensive, ‘humanely treated’ meat is a ‘sham,’ PETA lawsuit claims

Advertisements at Whole Foods. (PETA) In green, air-conditioned aisles at stores across America, the welcoming signs beckon. Yes, customers may be buying meat — and there’s no denying that meat is dead animals. But these animals, it seems, are raised and killed humanely. That beef, chicken, turkey or pork in shoppers’ baskets isn’t necessarily inconsistent with “animal welfare.” Right? Isn’t that what Whole Foods customers are paying for? At the chain — not-so-affectionately nicknamed “Whole Paycheck” — many fork over top dollar for meat raised with animals’ well-being in mind. The store even has a “5-Step Animal Welfare Rating” system. But, in a class action lawsuit filed in California on Monday, a well-known animal rights group alleges that the grocery chain’s attempts to monitor how its suppliers treat their animals are a “sham.” And that its customers are paying for it. “When a grocery store’s standards for improved animal welfare are not actually enforced or do not require meaningfully better treatment for meat animals compared to the industry standard, consumers are deceived into paying a higher price for meat that fails to offer the benefit they seek,” the suit against Whole Foods, filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in U.S. District Court in Northern California, read. The suit zeroed in on Whole Foods’ “5-Step” system. “Step 1” is the lowest rating for suppliers who want to be certified: “no cages, no crates, no crowding.” “Step 5+” is the highest: “animal centered, entire life on same farm” with extensive outdoor access. “The entire audit process for Whole Foods’ animal welfare standards is a sham because it occurs infrequently and violations of the standards do not cause loss of certification,” the complaint reads. “… Standards that are not actually enforced create a false impression of ensuring a more humanely treated, higher quality animal product — when in fact they ensure no such thing.” PETA alleged that Whole Foods audits suppliers just once every 15 months; that violators do not face repercussions; that the standards “barely exceed common industry practices”; and that Whole Foods extracts a premium from customers under “false advertising.” “This is about Whole Foods misleading consumers that are buying meat,” Jared Goodman, director of animal law for PETA, said in a telephone interview with The Washington Post. “These are individuals who might make the decision not to buy meat. Whole Foods offers programs that give them impression


D.C. area forecast: Gradual clearing today and sunny tomorrow, chance of rain starts Friday

Two hour radar loop of rain and storm movement through the area. Refresh page to update. TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT 5/10: EXPRESS FORECAST Today: FORECAST IN DETAIL Monday’s gloom will resume this morning with a cloudy canopy and scattered light showers or drizzle. Unfortunately we didn’t get enough rain in this episode to bring us up to normal for the month, but it might have been enough to ward off full-on drought conditions. The situation slowly starts to clear this afternoon into tonight before we launch into some very nice and warm days tomorrow into Thursday morning. Friday and the weekend are quite the mystery right now as a rainy disturbance along the Southeast coast tries to inch north into the area. Today (Tuesday): Tonight: For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend… Tomorrow (Wednesday): Tomorrow night: (Jenn Vogel via Flickr) A LOOK AHEAD Thursday Friday


Why the U.S. (still) can’t train the Iraqi military

number of recruits the United States has sought. Privately, some officials have noted that even when recruits are provided, they are more likely to be support personnel from rear echelons, such as cooks, than fully formed combat units. As Gen. Lloyd Austin noted in Senate testimony last week that made headlines primarily for his comments on Syria, efforts to train Iraqis “are making a difference, but until the Iraqis commit to a more rapid force generation, gains will likely remain limited.” Second, even the units that have received additional training have not performed well in combat. The recent attempt to retake Ramadi has stalled badly. Ramadi is a Sunni-dominated town long ignored by the Shiite regime in Baghdad, which allowed it to fall to Islamic State forces after local Sunni fighters endured a brutal siege earlier this year. Some Iraqi officers now fighting and failing to retake Ramadi have pointed the finger at a supposed lack of U.S. airstrikes. But the real problems stem from a lack of basic tactical skills and, most importantly, an inability to aggregate those skills into the performance of complex operations involving both initiative by individual units and coordination across units. Research on military effectiveness suggests that even very brave, highly motivated soldiers won’t be successful in their efforts to take territory if they fail to master these key skills. It also suggests that these skills are particularly unlikely to develop in regimes that are more concerned with maintaining power, especially in the face of political threats from their own military organizations, than combating conventionally powerful adversaries. This problem has historically plagued most Iraqi efforts to generate effective military forces, dating to the time of Saddam Hussein. In particular, the Iraqi army has long been woefully inadequate in critical logistics functions. The weakness of logistics was readily identifiable even before the U.S. withdrawal by December 2011. A 2010 report noted many challenges and emphasized that “the army could face major challenges in shifting large units… in response to an internal crisis or major border incident.” In other words, five years ago, there were already concerns about the army’s ability to make exactly the sort of movements needed to retake Mosul or Ramadi. Those concerns have proven prophetic as U.S. forces today highlight logistics as one of the major hurdles for retraining Iraqi forces. Reversing these weaknesses would require exactly the sort of professionalization, de-politicization and


Why Republicans just might be okay with another government shutdown

poll believed that the shutdown had hurt our international reputation and our economy -- with about half in each case thinking that the damage was "serious." In the midst of the shutdown, Gallup conducted a regular survey gauging how people felt about each party. The Republican Party hit "a record low," Gallup reported -- the lowest favorability for either party since 1992. You can see that low point on the graph below, which shows net favorability for each party. You can also see how, one year later, Republicans' favorability was back to normal levels -- even passing the Democrats' at around the time of the 2014 election. During and after the shutdown, there were regular reports that the damage to the GOP would hurt their chances the following November. It didn't. Republicans gained a dozen seats in the House (earning their biggest majority since the Great Depression) and retook the Senate. People often also point to the shutdown during Bill Clinton's first term as an object lesson in the danger of shutdowns. The Clinton-era shutdown overlapped with New Year 1996, and the Republicans got the blame for that one, too. In a Post-ABC poll in January 1996, 50 percent of respondents blamed the GOP. That November, Republicans lost just three House seats, easily holding on to the majority they won in an electoral wave in 1994, and added two seats to their Senate majority. The Republican candidate for president lost, yes -- but by a huge 8.5-point spread. Congress must pass a budget before Sept. 30, or it faces partially shutting down the government for the second time in two years. Here's how we got to another potential shutdown. None of which is to say that another government shutdown in 2016 wouldn't negatively affect the Republican Party. The year 2016, unlike 2014, should be a high-turnout year for Democrats, which is a critical factor in those congressional races. And part of the turnaround in the GOP's fortunes after the 2013 shutdown was the failure of the Obamacare Web site to work as intended -- also in late 2013. There are a lot of ancillary things that come into play. But the lesson of that Gallup graph is this: A year is an awfully long time in politics. If there is a repeat of the government shutdown, how it affects 2016 -- if at all -- is probably impossible to predict.


Top general in Afghanistan pushes back on sexual abuse policy reports

“I further expect that any suspicions of sexual abuse will be immediately reported to the chain of command, regardless of who the alleged perpetrators or victims are,” Army Gen. John Campbell said in a statement Tuesday. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) The top U.S. general in Afghanistan pushed back against recent media reports that U.S. troops were told to ignore suspicions of sexual abuse committed against children by their Afghan allies in past years. “I personally have served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and am absolutely confident that no such theater policy has ever existed here, and certainly, no such policy has existed throughout my tenure as commander,” Gen. John Campbell wrote in a strongly worded statement released Tuesday. Campbell was responding to a New York Times article chronicling the story of a number of Marines and soldiers who witnessed Afghan soldiers sexually abusing children. Some service members were told to ignore it, while one was kicked out of Afghanistan for intervening. [As U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan, darkness falls on Taliban’s birthplace] Capt. Dan Quinn, an Army Special Forces soldier, was relieved of his command and removed from the country after he beat an Afghan militia commander who kept a boy chained to his bed, according to the Times article. Even before the recent reports, however, rampant sexual abuse at the hands of Afghan security forces had been reported extensively in Ben John Anderson’s VICE documentary, “This is What Winning Looks Like.” The documentary follows a group of Marines training Afghan security forces in Helmand province in 2012 and chronicles their frustration with their Afghan counterparts’ rampant drug use, corruption and a host of other issues frequently encountered by coalition forces. The documentary can be watched here: This Is What Winning Looks Like (Full Length) The entire text of Campbell’s statement can be read below: NEWS RELEASE 2015-09-22-01 STATEMENT FROM COMMANDER, RESOLUTE SUPPORT AND UNITED STATES FORCES-AFGHANISTAN KABUL, Afghanistan (Sept. 22, 2015) – Statement from Gen. John F. Campbell, Commander, Resolute Support and United States Forces – Afghanistan: Recent media reports citing alleged cases from 2010, 2011, and 2012, have claimed that in the past a command policy existed within the Afghan theater of operations that U.S. forces were to ignore suspicions of sexual abuse committed by Afghans against children. I personally have served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and am absolutely confident that no such theater policy


FLOTUS and the first lady of China will get all up close and personal with the panda cub

The giant panda cub is seen at Smithsonian’s National Zoo September 14, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Erika Bauer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo via Getty Images) Details about the official China state visit happening this Friday have been noticeably scant–even for this administration, which typically remains tight lipped to the 11th hour. (We’re giving the White House a slight pass since two heads of state are visiting the week.) But here’s what we do know: Michelle Obama and Peng Liyuan, the first lady of China, will visit the Smithsonian’s National Zoo before the state dinner at the White House later that night. According to the White House, the two first ladies plan to stop by the Panda House, current home of the 5-week-old giant panda cub born in August. Obama and Liyuan’s visit will “commemorate over four decades of scientific collaboration between the United States and China around giant panda conservation,” according to a White House statement. The pair also plan to make “a special announcement” while there. Will they get to name the bouncing baby boy? The National Zoo says on its Web site that it’s taking the naming process of the 2-pound cub, which will go on public display around its four-month birthday, “one day at a time right now.” Last week, the Smithsonian announced that local billionaire David M. Rubenstein, the philanthropist whose name appears on his own gallery at the National Archives, planned to gift the zoo another $4.5 million (he gave $4.5 million in 2011) for the giant panda research and conservation program.


Arctic ‘doomsday’ vault to open because of Syrian civil war

The vault inside a Norway mountain aims to protect millions of food crops from climate change, wars and natural disasters. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world's greatest repository of seeds. It has about 860,000 samples from most of the countries in the world stored in a facility cloaked in permafrost, 800 miles beyond the rim of the Arctic Circle on a Norwegian archipelago. Even if electricity failed, its location means the specimens kept within the vault could survive at least two centuries. The more than 4,000 plant species kept here provide a "global backstop" for the world's biodiversity in the face of climate change and other dramatic transformations on the planet. So it is conspicuous that, for the first time, the Norwegian-run facility will open the vault to remove some of its contents. The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (or ICARDA), which was forced to relocate from the Syrian city of Aleppo to Beirut in 2012, requested almost 130 boxes out of the 325 it had deposited in the Svalbard vault, according to Reuters. ICARDA's temporary unit in the Lebanese capital was only partially functioning, and it needed these samples as part of "its role as a hub to grow seeds and distribute them to other nations," the news agency explained. The organization's research in part focuses on cultivating crops that can cope with shifting climate patterns in particularly dry areas of Africa, the Middle East and Australia. This vital work was interrupted by the horrors of the Syrian conflict, which has leveled swaths of Aleppo, once Syria's most populous city and its economic center. Some of the world's first grains and cereals are thought to have been cultivated in the Levant, including Syria's river valleys, a cradle of civilization now rent asunder by war.


Here’s where we’d send Pope Francis out to eat around Washington

interview with an Argentinian newspaper as related by the Catholic News Agency, the pope misses going out for a good pizza. [Pizza in Washington: An upper-crust tour of every D.C. style] Upper Northwest staple 2 Amys is one of a handful of pizzerias in the area to be certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, which strictly governs which pies can be granted D.O.C (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) status for hewing to traditional Neapolitan ingredients and methods. Etto, another pizza spot from 2 Amys co-founder Peter Pastan, is also worth a visit. Fugazza at Rural Society. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) Pope Francis could also get a taste of his native Argentina at steakhouses Del Campo and Rural Society, which both serve fugazza, a thick focaccia-like pizza generously topped with cheese but not sauce. Or, if he's in a real hurry, the pope could pop in at Ruth Gresser's Veloce, the fast-casual sibling of her Pizzeria Paradiso. [Which of the D.C. area’s fast-casual pizza places is doing it best?] Scialatielli pasta with rabbit ragu, thyme and white wine sauce at Tosca. (Scott Suchman for The Washington Post) We've also heard that the pope was advised to cut back his consumption of pasta ... to a few times a week. Well, okay! Surely some of that quota could be allotted to a Washington restaurant. We might suggest the venerable Tosca downtown, where Post food critic Tom Sietsema said he'd be tempted to order pasta as his starter and main course. Osteria Morini near Navy Yard offers a lengthy menu of house-made pastas, and you'll find other possibilities at Fabio Trabocchi's trio of restaurants: Casa Luca, Fiola and Fiola Mare. It's been reported To satisfy his love of dulce de leche, the pontiff can't do better than indulging in the salted caramel gelato from Dolcezza. Made with caramelized sweetened milk and sea salt, it's a signature flavor at the local chain owned by husband and wife Robb Duncan and Violeta Edelman, who shares a homeland with Pope Francis. Need any other recommendations, Your Holiness? You know where to find us. Related items: Complete Pope Francis coverage Brookland bars are expecting crowds and opening early for the Pope's visit What Pope Francis will do during his trip to Washington, New York and Philadelphia In a monastery garden, Pope Francis's environmental message is taken to heart If you're here to see Pope Francis, read this


Van Hollen on government shutdown: Patients will be turned away from NIH

(iStock) Patients with critical illnesses will be turned away and research will be disrupted if the government shuts down again on Oct. 1, the director of the National Institutes of Health and the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee warned Tuesday. With just four legislative days remaining until the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said that during the 16-day shutdown in 2013, new patients were not allowed in to the clinical facilities of the Bethesda medical campus. During a tour before Tuesday’s news conference, Van Hollen said, he met a young cancer patient who had suffered a recurrence and was being treated at NIH. Hundreds of patients like him were turned away when the government shut down the last time, Van Hollen said. “If there is a government shutdown…someone like [this child] would not be able to come to NIH to get his treatments,” Van Hollen said. “If you were one of those kids, you would not want to be told that NIH is closed for business.” NIH is located in Van Hollen’s Maryland congressional district. The seven-term Democrat is seeking a Senate seat in next year’s election. [Who gets sent home if the government shuts down] During opening remarks, NIH Director Francis S. Collins lamented a slide in funding for NIH research and, in particular, the $1.55 billion lost when automatic budget cuts took effect via budget sequestration in 2013. As a result, Collins said, NIH was unable to fund 600 research grants. “Who knows which of those grants would have been the next big breakthrough in diabetes or cancer or infectious disease?” Collins said. Federal contingency plans based on the last shutdown show that 54 percent of 84,222 employees who work for the Department of Health and Human Services would be furloughed in the event of another shutdown. NIH is part of the HHS department. NIH would continue to care for patients already in its clinical center and provide minimal support for the animals in its labs. Collins said that scientists in other countries who have looked to the U.S. as a leader in biomedical research are beginning to wonder about the nation’s commitment. “Other countries, in fact, look at us and wonder what happened,” he said. “Many of them are trying to be America and yet, to them, American seems to have lost its way in biomedicine and science.”


Del Ray’s Evening Star Cafe has a new executive chef

to debut his new menu at Neighborhood Restaurant Group's fixture in the Del Ray neighborhood on Oct. 3. Evening Star's last executive chef was Jim Jeffords, who departed in the fall of 2014. Keith Cabot, seen here while he was chef de cuisine at the late Menu MBK, is now in charge of the kitchen at Evening Star Cafe. (Scott Suchman for The Washington Post) Cabot, 30, said one of the main attractions of Evening Star is how long it's been around -- 18 years. There are plenty of employees who have been on the staff for more than a decade, he said. Also a big draw: the restaurant's rooftop garden. Cabot will make significant use of its 15 raised beds. He estimates about 40 percent of the dishes on the menu will feature something from the garden. "We can plan the dishes out," Cabot said of his plan to stagger crops to last into the fall and winter. "We can strategically figure out what to put on the menu when." As to the type of cuisine he'll be serving, "We're definitely trying to get away from the Southern stamp," Cabot said. His goal is to introduce more global flavors while still highlighting regional fare. Dishes will include pork croquettes with shaved squash, paprika aioli and toasted Virginia peanuts, as well as roast chicken breast with yellow wax beans, marinated cow peas, toasted almonds and madras curry carrot puree. Cabot said the revamped menu will be broken up into four largely size-driven categories. He was quick to note that dishes will come out in an order that makes sense and not just as they're ready, a pet peeve he said he's trying to avoid. Before making the move to Evening Star, Cabot most recently had a hand in helping restaurateur Ari Gejdenson open Denson Liquor Bar and Sotto, the subterranean tavern underneath Gejdenson's Ghibellina. [Sotto's jazzy past sits just below the surface] Cabot's local resume also includes about a year as chef de cuisine at Frederik de Pue's now-shuttered Menu MBK. Post Food critic Tom Sietsema awarded Menu 2 1/2 stars last year during Cabot's tenure. Evening Star Cafe, 2000 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. 703-549-5051. www.eveningstarcafe.net. Related items: Naomi Gallego is Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s new executive pastry chef Sotto's jazzy past sits just below the surface By carving up the space, de Pue scores with Menu MBK in Penn Quarter


Business Rx: How to enlist a workforce to serve the military

for MilitaryOneClick’s needs. Military spouses are nomads typically moving every three years to a new post. They frequently have difficulty getting 9-to-5 jobs and many choose to work from home, in careers that are not tethered to any one location. They tend to be happy with the flexibility provided by remote work, and prefer specific tasks that fit their abilities, avoiding the pitfalls of trying to be all things for all situations. Many work several contracts at a time, which can help a start-up since it does not have to carry them full time. “They have the added advantage of understanding the goal and focus of MilitaryOneClick, and the ‘military way,’ ” Abbott said. Abbott urged Pilcher to find an attorney to draw up a standard contract that would address the fine line between an employee and a contractor so Pilcher would not incur the attention of the Internal Revenue Service. “The attorney should provide the specific language and responsibilities of each party, termination procedures for each, and any other legal points needed,” he said. The reaction Pilcher “I started with hiring one remote military spouse at a time and every time MilitaryOneClick started working with a new client, I would hire another military spouse. We now have a worldwide team of remote military spouses and veterans on our team, as well as civilians in our offices in Northwest D.C. I can honestly say the thing I am most proud of about MilitaryOneClick is our team. They are the ultimate autonomous team players. They get it done on their own and work together as a group, it’s incredible.” Pilcher acknowledged that running a global team is not easy and requires frequent updates to work policies and procedures. “Currently we have twice monthly Google “hang out meetings” with all the contractors, and plan to have at least an in person meeting once per year,” she said. “We hire the best people for the position and it’s truly a dream come true that they also happen to be military spouses and veterans,” she added. “We are a force to be reckoned with.” SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education. Looking for some advice on a new business, or need help fixing an existing one? The greater Washington D.C. chapter provides confidential counseling and mentoring from more than 50 executives across the region. Contact us at capbiznews@washpost.com or request a mentor


AP Stylebook boots term ‘climate change deniers’

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault. (John McConnico/Associated Press) The Associated Press (AP) today announced a change to its famous stylebook, discouraging the use of the terms “climate change deniers” and “climate change skeptics” in favor of an alternative: “climate change doubters.” The switch in terminology, noted the wire service in an online posting, solves a number of problems encountered by journalists writing on this divisive topic. “Scientists who consider themselves real skeptics – who debunk mysticism, ESP and other pseudoscience, such as those who are part of the Center for Skeptical Inquiry – complain that non-scientists who reject mainstream climate science have usurped the phrase skeptic,” notes the AP posting under the byline of Vice President and Director of Media Relations Paul Colford. And that’s only the beginning of the clash that motivated this AP change. To break down the two sides: *Scientists who are part of the vast and overwhelming consensus that the planet is suffering a man-made climate crisis object that the term “skeptic” gives too much credit to the other side. The term, they object, suggests that the minority position is actually based on empirical data. “Deniers” is a better term, they say. *Those pegged as “deniers” objected that the term left them in a dreaded thinkspace. “The reason we don’t use ‘denier’ is that there is a connotation rightly or wrongly and a complaint by some that it has the concept of ‘Holocaust denier,'” said AP science writer Seth Borenstein in a chat with the Erik Wemple Blog. So the AP came up with “doubters.” When there’s space for more words, an approved alternative is “those who reject mainstream climate science.” Here’s the wording from the stylebook change: To describe those who don’t accept climate science or dispute the world is warming from man-made forces, use climate change doubters or those who reject mainstream climate science. Avoid use of skeptics or deniers. A mainstream media outlet, the AP clearly sought to fashion a compromise that would address the concerns of both sides in this debate over news terminology. In the process, however, it managed to create a contradiction. That contradiction comes to light when we place the approved and disapproved terms side by side: APPROVED Climate change doubters Those who reject mainstream climate science DISAPPROVED Climate change skeptics Climate change deniers What is the distinction between “those who reject mainstream climate science,” on the one hand,


Chris Christie’s claim that he ‘supported and implemented’ New Jersey’s medical marijuana laws

advocates and Democratic state lawmakers argued that Christie’s regulations were prohibiting the program from functioning the way it was intended under the original bill. The state’s program is considered one of the most restrictive based on several factors, including high costs, limited numbers of dispensaries and qualifying diseases, and other licensing regulations. The amount of marijuana that New Jersey patients legally can possess is smaller than in other states, and patients also are not allowed to grow their own marijuana. Local governments also have been unwilling to host dispensaries in their jurisdictions. The first dispensary opened three years after Corzine signed the law, in 2013. The health department has allowed for six dispensaries in the state — which is fewer than what most other states with legalized medical marijuana allow. New Jersey’s fourth dispensary is scheduled to open in October 2015. To establish a “bona fide physician-patient relationship” as required by law, the health department set up a public registry for prescribing physicians. Advocates see this public registry as problematic, saying it stigmatizes doctors and risks attracting non-medical patients to take advantage of prescribing doctors. Christie expanded the program to make the drug more accessible to children. After that expansion, state lawmakers tried to expand it further to allow patients to buy the drug in another state that legalized it, and bring it back to New Jersey. Christie rejected that expansion and all future expansions, saying expanding the program any more opens up room for legalization — which he firmly opposes. Some other states allow patients to petition for expanding the number of qualifying diseases. “We and many other advocates think the regulations he created around it were overly restrictive,” said Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for sensible drug policies. “We can’t say it’s optimal, but we can’t say he didn’t implement it.” The Pinocchio Test During the debate, Christie said he “supported and implemented” the state’s medical marijuana law, and that he is “not against medical marijuana.” Those points largely are correct. Christie has been clear since his campaign to become governor that he supports limited use of medical marijuana. The policies he enacted around the medical marijuana program since becoming governor reflects that belief. He did not support the medical marijuana that he inherited from his predecessor, but he did carry it out. One Pinocchio (About our rating scale) Send


Common Core: ‘the gift that Pearson counts on to keep giving’

one truth is certain: That organization will have incredible power over the futures of millions of Americans—individual students, teachers graded using student test scores, and schools and districts whose existence depends on standardized test scores. Notice that one of the tasks accorded to Pearson in its PARCC contract is “helping” Those “Powerful Market Forces” states “to develop cut scores.” A cut score is the determined threshold for what the one setting it considers “acceptable performance.” As was proven in New York in 2013—where Education Commissioner John King “set” the cut scores for a Pearson-CCSS test in such a way that he was able to tell the public that he “expected” a 30–37% passing rate—he who sets the cut score rules the education system. Pearson and Common Core: Indispensability is the Key In case there is any doubt that Pearson is well aware of the incredible profit value of CCSS, one should consider what Pearson executives discuss in their business meetings. In May 2014, I wrote a post about Pearson’s February 28, 2014, earnings call, a meeting in which Pearson discussed its 2013 results with attention to the future—a future dependent upon CCSS-driven profitability. I used a meeting transcript produced by the company Seeking Alpha. Although the transcript is almost 14,000 words long, Seeking Alpha allows me to directly quote only 400 words—quite the challenge. Much of what I include in this section comes directly from my blog post. Interestingly, in all of those approximately 14,000 words, there is no discussion of the millions Pearson has paid in numerous fines over the years—fines related to its test-item and scoring blunders. Surely such ineptitude affects profits. Not addressed. This much is true: Pearson is in education for the money. Of course it is. The company exists to make a profit—a long-term, sustainable profit. In this meeting, Pearson CEO John Fallon and chief financial officer Robin Freestone are addressing several market analysts: Sami Kassab (Exane BNP Paribas, Research Division); Mark Braley (Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division); Rakesh Patel (Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division); Matthew Walker (Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division); Ian Whittaker (Liberum Capital Limited, Research Division); Claudio Aspesi (Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC., Research Division); Patrick Wellington (Morgan Stanley, Research Division); and Nick Michael Edward Dempsey (Barclays Capital, Research Division). The presence of eight market analysts makes it easy to remember that, above all, Pearson is a for-profit with


Check out this beautiful, rose-colored nebula bursting with stars

An image of the rose-coloured star forming region Messier 17. (ESO) The European Southern Observatory's Cosmic Gems program exists solely to produce images of space that can entice and intrigue the public. In other words, it's an initiative dedicated to making pretty pictures of space for your viewing pleasure. And heck, if pictures like these don't make you want to learn more about space -- well, there's no hope for you. Above you can see Messier 17, a nebula some 5,500 light years away that measures about 15 light years across. But while Messier 17 is its official designation, this rose has many other names: the Omega Nebula, the Swan Nebula, the Checkmark Nebula, the Horseshoe Nebula and the Lobster Nebula, just to name a few. [Gaze upon the Medusa (Nebula) in unprecedented detail] Messier 17 has a mass about 800 times that of the sun. The interstellar gas cloud it sits in has the mass of 30,000 suns. A nebula, lest you forget, is a cloud of dust and ionized gas. Messier 17 is a type of nebula known as an HII region. Unlike planetary nebulae -- the brilliant, round nebulae formed when dying stars cast off their gasses -- HII regions are more nurseries than deathbeds. They form when giant clouds of molecular hydrogen -- stellar nurseries -- give birth to hot, massive young stars. These young stars ionize the local gas (hence the pretty colors) and send hot, supersonic speed gas out towards the surrounding cloud. When fast gas hits slow, the resulting shockwave compresses the gas, which leads to a jump in star formation. Messier 17 contains hundreds, perhaps even thousands of stars. It gets its red and pink tones from glowing hydrogen gas, powered by the bright blue young stars throughout. Read More: Check out this gorgeous space opal that NASA found Here’s what our galaxy looks like from the outside For the first time ever, scientists spot an aurora outside our solar system This scale model of the solar system is truly mind-boggling New NASA photo captures a breathtaking sunset on Pluto


Troops detail orders to ignore sexual abuse in Afghanistan, despite general’s denial

a recent article in the New York Times detailed extensive sexual abuse at the hands of the United States’ Afghan allies, the Pentagon and the top U.S. general in Afghanistan are assuring a disturbed public that no policy of ignoring complaints of sexual assault ever existed, nor was encouraged during the last 14 years. “I personally have served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and am absolutely confident that no such theater policy has ever existed here, and certainly, no such policy has existed throughout my tenure as commander,” wrote Army Gen. John Campbell in a strongly worded statement released Tuesday. The New York Times report chronicled the story of a number of Marines and soldiers who witnessed Afghan soldiers sexually abusing children. Some service members were told to ignore it, while one soldier, Army Capt. Dan Quinn, was kicked out of Afghanistan for intervening. The Pentagon echoed Campbell’s statements, with Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook telling reporters Tuesday that, “there is no policy in place that directs any U.S. military or government personnel overseas to ignore human rights abuses.” For Ledbetter, the incident in Marjah was just the precursor to what he would experience on his next deployment to Sangin, Afghanistan in 2011. “In Sangin my platoon shared a compound with a company of [Afghan National Army] soldiers and their captain had a different boy there every week,” said Ledbetter, adding that his platoon commander tried to put a stop to it by going to the Afghan captain. “He said we couldn’t have [civilians] on our base staying the night and the captain said it was his right to have one,” he added. Ledbetter’s experience was not an isolated one and the issue seems to have manifested itself in Iraq as well. And while there may have been no policy on ignoring complaints, practice suggests that is what happened, according to veterans. @Melhyphen @DanLamothe 07 Baqubah and we had to tell Iraqi Army troops that raping detainees was not sound COIN. @DanLamothe was told to leave it alone. "Not our problem." But official, written policies need to be implemented by subordinates. If subordinates don't know or support the policy, they invent one. Rampant sexual abuse among the ranks of Afghan police officers was also chronicled in the 2013 VICE documentary “This is What Winning Looks Like” which can be watched below: This Is What Winning Looks Like (Full Length)


Scientists just smashed the distance record for quantum teleportation

The experiment "teleported" light across fiber-optic cables. (Oleg Zaytsev via flickr creative commons license) Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have broken the quantum teleportation record in a big way. In a paper published this week in Optica, they report successfully transferring information from one photon to another across over 60 miles of fiber-optic cable -- four times the distance of the previous record. [Behold! A new record for the world’s highest melting point] What's all that mean? Most of us hear the word "teleportation" and think of "Star Trek," but quantum teleportation is very real -- and slightly less exciting. It relies on something called quantum entanglement -- what Albert Einstein called "spooky action at a distance." When close subatomic particles become entangled, they become linked forever -- even if they're taken very far apart from each other. When one of those particles transmits its quantum data to the other, it's essentially teleporting itself. [Stephen Hawking believes he’s solved a huge mystery about black holes] It basically works like this: (NASA) Do you need more visuals? I need more visuals. Let's have more visuals: "Quantum Teleportation" by Phil Magnini To break the distance record, the NIST had to use a very sensitive detector, one that could detect single photons. “Only about 1 percent of photons make it all the way through 100 km of fiber,” NIST’s Marty Stevens said in a statement. “We never could have done this experiment without these new detectors, which can measure this incredibly weak signal.” [Record-smashing atomic clock is the most accurate ever] Here's some more information about how the new experiment worked: (K. Irvine/NIST) Why bother with sending bits of light back and forth? Unfortunately for us sci-fi nerds, messing around with quantum teleportation isn't about working our way up to real teleportation. Instead, the ultimate goal most people talk about is something called quantum encryption. Here's a description from Physics World: Quantum cryptography involves two parties sharing a secret key that is created using the states of quantum particles such as photons. The communicating parties can then exchange messages by conventional means, in principle with complete security, by encrypting them using the secret key. Any eavesdropper trying to intercept the key automatically reveals their presence by destroying the quantum states. In theory, it would be impossible to hack information encrypted using this method. It goes without saying


Parading the Confederate flag in Virginia

the description. Their tactic was eerily reminiscent of African American students who sat at a segregated lunch counter at a Greensboro, N.C., five-and-dime store years ago to test the limits of Jim Crow laws. The North Carolina students were arrested, and the Christiansburg students were suspended, sparking days of protests by others. The new twist is the use of social media, aircraft and computer programs. On Saturday, for instance, a left-leaning group called the Virginia Defenders gathered at Richmond’s Jefferson Davis memorial on Monument Avenue to protest the routes planned by the Union Cycliste International World Road Championships races that are garnering global attention. The routes have competing bicyclists zip past various Confederate statues, including Davis, where bikers make a turn before heading to the finish line. But on Saturday, as the protesters were giving talks broadcast over a loudspeaker, the steady drone of a small aircraft could be heard. As it circled the memorial, the plane towed a banner of the battle flag along with a sign stating: “Confederates Heros (sic) Matter.” The misspelling was apparent, as was the bitingly sarcastic allusion to the “Black Lives Matter” slogan used nationally to protest police slayings of African Americans. Taking credit for the stunt was a group called the Virginia Flaggers, which has sparked controversy by erecting huge Confederate flags next to busy Interstate 95 near Stafford and Chesterfield. The misspelling made the Flaggers look illiterate, but they quickly capitalized on the mistake, which they blamed on the aircraft pilot. They later Photoshopped the correct spelling of “Heroes” on an image they posted on the Web page along with denouncements of “Neo-Yankees in RVA” and beyond the Richmond area. Using the global draw of the bike race, they reached an audience that was previously unimaginable. Both sides got plenty of social media attention with this exchange and who knows where it will stop or what is next. A disturbing point is the use of computer programs to alter images, and perhaps history. That might seem newfangled, but actually it’s just a continuation of the fabrications and mythology that have grown since the war ended 150 years ago. What’s needed is a national, or at least statewide, discussion on what really happened and why. It has to be clear-headed and unemotional. Unfortunately, the trend with social media is continue with obfuscations. Peter Galuszka is a regular contributor to All Opinions Are Local.


Main Street Morning: Senate backs down on terrorist activity reporting mandate for Twitter, Facebook

Starbucks expands mobile ordering in its stores across the U.S. - Wal-Mart is betting big on the hoverboard craze taking over America and its R&D group acquires a start-up in order to better connect with and engage customers who shop at their Sam’s Club stores. - Amazon is offering a significant discount on its Prime membership for one day this week. Finance - KPMG is striding further into alternative lending. Start-Ups - U.S. business start-ups are on the rise, according to a new study. - A start-up that wanted to be the “Netflix for books” shuts down. - This could be the coolest monthly subscription start-up in history. - A start-up plans to heat homes with used coffee grounds. - A new TV show tells the truth about start-ups. Online - More than half of the world’s population is still offline. - Nearly two out of three small business in the country do not have a web presence. - These are six ways cloud integration leads to better business performance. - An ecommerce founder offers these tips for building your ecommerce company. - The official Harry Potter website gets a revamp. Travel - The TSA was repeatedly warned about how it mistreats transgender travelers. Technology - The Marines put a robot military dog through its paces. - A new desktop 3D printer is targeting creatives and entrepreneurs. Social Media - How one entrepreneur grew a global business from her Facebook friends. - Facebook now lets publishers push articles from any content management system. Around the Country - The Pope’s visit is snarling delivery businesses and generating lots of goofy souvenirs in Philadelphia. - An Illinois mom gets a hero’s treatment after a train track rescue. - South Carolina’s state entrepreneurship ecosystem is driving small business growth, according to a panel. - This Louisiana community still isn’t back on its feet 10 years after Rita. Around the World - A British pub is fined after a liquid nitrogen shot destroys a woman’s stomach. - More and more British people are running their businesses from phone boxes. - Helping troubled youth makes business sense at this Salvadoran factory. - Business executives want a China-U.S. investment treaty. Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd PA consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. Follow Gene Marks and On Small Business on Twitter. News we should know about? Email us here.


I’d be smiling, too, if I owned the copyright to this photograph

the question of whether there is any copyright protection at all for the photo — is not, as I said before, an “entirely ridiculous one.” OK, it is a ridiculous one, but it is at least closely related to some very difficult and interesting copyright questions concerning the requirement (if there is one) that human creativity is a requirement for copyright to exist in a work of authorship — questions that come up in contexts ranging from the ridiculous (creations by psychics ostensibly “channeling” voices from beyond the grave, animal creations — elephant drawings, chimpanzee-created music) to the more sublime (the copyright status of works “authored” by computer programs or Artificial Intelligence engines). PETA, the animal rights organization, has now joined the fray. It has filed suit in federal district court (Northern District of CA) on behalf of Naruto a six-year-old male member of the Macaca nigra species, also known as a crested macaque, residing on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia [who] cannot independently bring this action due to inaccessibility and incapacity. asserting that Naruto owns the copyright in the photo (and that Slater has infringed Naruto’s copyright by publishing a book containing this and other “monkey selfies”). (The complaint in the case — Naruto, a Crested Macaque, by and through his Next Friends, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. and ANTJE ENGELHARDT, Ph.D. v David Slater — can be found here.) PETA is requesting that Slater disgorge all of his “net proceeds from the sale, licensing and other commercial use of the Monkey Selfies,” which would be put into a PETA-managed fund “to be used solely for the benefit of Naruto, his community of crested macaques, and preservation of their habitat.” I admit I didn’t see this one coming. It is easy — indeed, it is irresistible — to milk this one for laughs. To begin with: How do they know the plaintiff-in-interest’s name is “Naruto”? [There’s an old joke: Stranger to Farmer: “That’s a real nice hog you got there — what’s his name?" Farmer to Stranger: “Don’t know for sure, but we call him Bill."] Or that Naruto is 6 years old? And if Naruto owns the copyright, how do I negotiate with him to license use of the photo? And to whom does ownership pass when he dies? Etc. But as I said before, the copyright question that the case poses — whether non-humans


A look at the D.C.-area’s most expensive homes for sale

areas and a flat-panel TV. The home has eight bedrooms, each with its own private bath, as well as an additional full bath and four half-baths. Throughout the home are detailed moldings, nine fireplaces and wide hallways for a greater sense of space. The property also has a generator and a lower-level nanny suite with a kitchenette. (Constance Gauthier/HomeVisit) • $4.9 million Agent: Anne Weir and Heidi Hatfield, Washington Fine Properties Built in 1929, this Tudor-style home in Massachusetts Avenue Heights has been completely renovated into a light-filled home. Built-in cabinets and shelving, wood-trimmed windows and a coffered ceiling in the family room are just some of the details included in this home, which has a renovated kitchen with furniture-quality cabinets, a formal dining room and a formal living room. The 6,200-square-foot home has six bedrooms and eight baths. Upstairs are five bedrooms, including a master suite with two full bathrooms and two walk-in closets. The lower level has a bedroom, a kitchen, a family room, a gym and access to the multilevel terraces in the back yard. (Lindsey Welsh) • $4.35 million Agents: Jack Shafran and Dean Yeonas, Yeonas & Shafran Real Estate This newly built stone and cedar shake home, recently completed by Artisan Builders, rests on a nearly one-acre lot in the Spring Hill Farm community in McLean. The home includes three finished levels with nearly 9,000 square feet and features custom-designed details that include reclaimed features from an 1830s home. The residence has five bedrooms, eight baths and four fireplaces. The grounds have been extensively landscaped and include an outdoor kitchen. (HomeVisit) • $4.289 million Agent: Penny Yerks, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Built in 2001, this 12,200-square-foot home sits on more than five acres in the gated community of Langley Falls. The grounds include a heated swimming pool and whirlpool tub with a cover, plus patios for dining and entertaining. The home has a first-floor master suite with a cedar closet and custom-designed walk-in closet, plus an upper-level master suite with a sitting room, a gas fireplace and a luxurious bathroom. The home has eight bedrooms and 11 baths. The lower level has a wet bar, a recreation room, a guest room, a fitness room and an in-law suite with a kitchenette. The residence has a whole-house generator and a surround-sound system. (HomeVisit) • $4.25 million Agents: Ben Roth and Matt McCormick, Washington Fine Properties This