Four western states are home to a third of new brewery permits

(Beer Institute) The number of brewery permits issued last year soared to new all-time highs, with about a third concentrated in just four states — California, Washington, Colorado and Oregon — according to a beer industry trade group. (Beer Institute) There were 3,699 permitted breweries in the United States last year, roughly 34 percent more than the year before, according to Beer Institute data. The majority of the new permits went to brewpubs, according to a Beer Institute analysis. “Beer is constantly evolving in the U.S., with more small brewers than ever before, more brands being introduced by national brewers and growing interest in imports,” said Chris Thorne, a spokesman for the group, whose dozens of members include some of the nation’s largest commercial breweries as well as smaller craft breweries. The nation has a patchwork of laws governing breweries and brewpubs, with several new ones currently under consideration. In Maine, a lawmaker recently introduced a bill to undo a decades-old rule prohibiting establishments from listing alcohol contents — a stringent policy objected to by brewpub owners. A Michigan bill would give brewers a tax break for using local crops and strict rules separating producers, distributors and retailers in Minnesota are driving one local brewpub owner to expand across state lines in Wisconsin. California is home to 508 permitted breweries, followed by Washington’s 62, Colorado’s 56, Oregon’s 59 and Michigan’s 48. Mississippi has just 6 permits, while North Dakota and West Virginia each has 9. (Beer Institute)


Faith-based prisons: the valid studies

Kairos Horizon Communities in Prison program at Florida’s Tomoka Prison. The authors considered 413 inmates who participated in any of the first five classes of the program. (Class One ran from November 1999 to October 2000; Class Two ran from May 2000 to April 2001; and so on.) First, participants were compared against their previous selves. After the treatment started, the proportion of participants with at least one discipline report dropped from 24.4% to 12.3%, and this proportion remained in the 12–17% range through three years after the start of treatment (two years after the end of treatment). Similarly, the proportion of participants with at least one segregation stay dropped from 20.6% to 10.6%, and this proportion hovered around 15–16% through three years after the start of treatment, with a blip up to 18.2% in the 25–30-month range. Next, the 157 participants in Classes Four and Five were compared against two different groups: a “Matched Comparison” group of 157 inmates who were eligible but didn’t apply, and a “Waiting List Comparison” group of 248 inmates who were eligible and did apply. From the start of treatment, the proportion of the treatment sample with at least one discipline report was lower than for either of the comparison samples (14% versus 25% and 31%, respectively), and the proportion stayed lower through two years after the start of treatment, though this difference wasn’t significant past the 12-month mark. Similarly, the proportion of the treatment sample with at least one segregation stay was lower than for either of the comparison samples (13% versus 26% and 25%, respectively), and the proportion stayed lower through two years after the start of treatment; these differences were all significant. The probability of re-arrest of participants during the follow-up period (19.0% among those released during the study period) was greater than that of the matched comparison group (15.2%) and basically the same as that of the waiting list group (19.6%). Program participation may be associated with a somewhat longer time for re-arrest (3.5 months for the treatment sample, 1.4 months for the matched comparison group, and 3.2 months for the waiting list comparison group), but the standard deviations are so large that I doubt that these differences are significant. The matched comparison sample is subject to self-selection bias, and the comparison of participants to their previous selves is probably also biased because those who choose to participate probably have


Study: Most military spouses say they are underemployed

Ninety percent of female military spouses in a recent online survey described themselves as “underemployed,” indicating they have more education or experience than needed for their current jobs, according to a new study released Wednesday. The analysis, from Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and the Military Officers Association of America, included more than 2,000 female respondents with active-duty spouses. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Samuel Ellis/USMC) Data from Census Bureau’s American Community Survey also shows that military spouses earn an average of 38 percent less personal income and are 30 percent more likely to be unemployed than their civilian counterparts, the study said. The findings suggest military spouses face unique career hurdles because of their circumstances, especially as they move between states or abroad, encountering obstacles to licensing and finding new work. Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, president of the military-officers group, said in a statement on Wednesday that the study results demonstrate “a need for concerted efforts to improve the employment issues currently faced by military spouses.” A recent proposal from the Office of Personnel Management would relax the rules for military spouses to obtain career status, allowing them to become “permanent” federal employees with three years of service with the government instead of three continuous years. MORE: Easier path to federal employment for military spouses? Federal law also requires the Defense Department to give preference to military spouses for civilian jobs. But those individuals fall below disabled veterans, employees in the Equal Employment Opportunity program and workers returning from overseas in the federal hiring hierarchy. Rosalind Maury, director of research for the Syracuse institute, said in a statement on Wednesday that she hopes the study will lead to additional programs and policies that could “help this community to overcome challenges they face in the pursuit of economic empowerment.” Follow Josh Hicks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Connect by e-mail at josh.hicks@washpost.com. Visit The Federal Eye, The Fed Page and Post Politics for more federal news. E-mail federalworker@washpost.com with news tips and other suggestions.


Dining without reservation: Don’t let long waits scare you away from some of D.C.’s best restaurants

When it comes to entertainment, we’ve become an on-demand society. But we remain much more structured when it comes to our dining habits: If a trendy restaurant has an open table, we can’t book our reservation fast enough. But what happens when some of the area’s most popular restaurants don’t accept reservations? The increasing prevalence of limited- or no-reservations establishments has made dining out trickier for those who prefer a saved seat — even if it’s not until next month — to an hour-plus shuffle for a table tonight. · Nine no-reservation restaurants worth the wait Back away from OpenTable, step away from CityEats: Dining without a reservation doesn’t have to be daunting. If you approach these restaurants with a plan, the right attitude and a sense of adventure, you’ll be (Alex Eben Meyer/For The Washington Post) Why not accept reservations? Nowhere else in the city are the power and pitfalls of no-reservations dining more evident than at Rose’s Luxury, chef Aaron Silverman’s new smash-hit restaurant on Barracks Row. Rose’s regularly has a line of customers at 4:30 p.m., an hour before the restaurant opens. On weekends, wait times can exceed three hours. “This is not normal,” Silverman said. “It’s kind of blowing our minds.” Silverman decided very early on that his restaurant would not take reservations. “You can serve more guests by not taking reservations, and you don’t need to force guests out quicker. That was pretty much it,” he said. “We wanted people to have a good time, and we didn’t want any restrictions on a good time.” Besides, Silverman added, it’s not as though places that take reservations don’t involve a wait, too. “There’s more of a wait — it’s just from home,” he said. At many top restaurants, “You can never get a reservation, they’re always booked, and that’s bad. At least there’s a chance that we might not be booked.” Restaurateur Jeff Black understands both sides of the no-reservations equation: His Black Salt, Black Market Bistro and Black’s Bar & Kitchen accept advance bookings, while newcomers Pearl Dive and Republic are walk-in only. “A small restaurant [that] takes reservations — they’re very hard to get into.” But at eateries that don’t take reservations, “they’re going to do more covers, serve more guests,” Black said. “The fact that I’m serving more guests, that means more people are going to be able to get through the door


Local athletes playing in the snow… in their uniforms

It’s a snow day for the D.C. area, which means schools are out and after school activities — namely athletics — are cancelled today, and in many cases, for Friday as well. Click here for a look at the postponements and rescheduled contests from around the area. We’ll be updating that list all day. But a few inches of snow and frigid temperatures won’t keep some area athletes from working out and staying fresh with playoff games and championship meets fast approaching. Here’s a look at how a few of our local high school athletes are spending their snow days. Tweet us your photos at @allmetsports. Marshall runner Mackenzie Haight is shoveling snow in style. Out in Aldie, Champe’s wrestling team is working on its all-terrain attacks. @VivaLoudoun @alliseeisgold @allmetsports @fox5newsdc Champe Wrestling ...in the snow! http://t.co/U7YfHpfFj8


How China’s appetite for raw materials is transforming the world

"resource quest." A lightly edited transcript follows. Brad Plumer: There have been countless books written about China’s rise. Why focus on the country's appetite for raw materials? Elizabeth Economy: BP: At one point you note that China's current rise actually has a lot of parallels to the rapid growth of Japan in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then Japan used about 9 percent of the world's oil. Today China uses roughly 11 percent. And Japan didn't fundamentally upend the global economic system. Does that suggest that China’s rise here isn’t totally unprecedented? Michael Levi: What history doesn’t tell us is whether China will turn out more like Japan did or whether China will turn out differently. But at a minimum, it helps to clear the field and allow people to open their minds to the possibility that things can turn out in a broad variety of ways. BP: Let's start with the economics of China's rise. The conventional wisdom typically suggests that China is going to keep growing and consuming an enormous amount of natural resources — and that will simply drive up prices for everyone else. Oil prices will keep spiking. Copper will become scarce. But you argue that it’s more complicated than that. ML: But the global system is responding, and while it takes time to develop new resources, or to develop the technology to make extraction cheaper, or to curb demand elsewhere in the world, those things do eventually happen. And we’re seeing the global system respond, not just for oil, but for other commodities as well. That means it would be extraordinarily foolish to take the five-fold rise in oil prices over the past decade and expect that we’ll see another five-fold rise over the next decade. The other thing that comes across when you look at commodities is that they are different. Aluminum prices didn't respond nearly as strongly as iron ore did to the rise of Chinese demand in 2000s — because the world was already expecting a substantial increase in demand for aluminum and because suppliers could respond pretty quickly. So you do have to look element by element. BP: ML: BP: Now China's not just sitting back and importing lots of natural resources. Its companies are actually going out into the world and making a lot of investments — drilling for oil overseas, buying up farmland. How would you define the country's


Here’s a list of former Afghan detainees who have returned to fight for the Taliban

Afghan detainees prepare for noon prayers inside the Parwan detention facility near Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. (AP) The Afghan government's decision to release 65 suspected Taliban detainees from Bagram prison despite repeated protests from the U.S. has raised fears that some of them may return to fight for the insurgent group. In the past, the Pentagon has said that detainees released from Guantanamo have been found to be involved in attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan. Here is a list of prisoners who were released, then found to have returned to fight for the Taliban. Mullah Shazada Mohammed Nayim Farouq Shah Mohammed Mohammed Ismail Zahir Shah Abdullah Gulam Rasoul Read: Afghanistan frees suspected Taliban prisoners over U.S. objections


Before Springfield Town Center, there was Springfield Mall

Springfield Town Center is under construction and will be getting an outpost of the trendy British fashion retailer TopShop this fall, but back in the day Springfield Mall had Garfinckel’s department store. Springfield Mall in 1979, six years after opening. (Washington Post archives) Antonio Caggiano, the mall’s manager, posing outside of Garfinckel’s department store in 1982. (Washington Post archives) Elves hang Christmas decorations during the holiday season at Springfield Mall in 1982. (Washington Post archives) Shoppers at Springfield Mall in 1982. Peoples Drug store is on the right. (Washington Post archives) Follow Jonathan O’Connell on Twitter: @oconnellpostbiz


Alleged military sex assault victims seek to block use of counseling records

Post does not generally identify alleged victims of sexual assault.) Fueling the outrage among victims’ rights advocates is a perception — confirmed by both civilian and military lawyers — that requests for victims’ records are far more routine in military courts than in civilian ones. Some advocates cast the situation in military courts as a disturbing throwback to an era before the advent of rape crisis centers and the victim’s rights movement. Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein likened going after an alleged victim’s therapy records in criminal cases to “playing dirty pool.” Federal and state courts recognize the right of patients not to disclose confidential communications with psychotherapists and other mental health counselors. Some states are stricter than others in how they apply that rule. Maryland, where the Naval Academy is located, allows access to mental health records in court cases only in very limited circumstances, such as when they are important to placing the patient in mental health treatment. As a result, defense attorneys there request them in about a third of sexual assault cases, estimated Lisae Jordan, executive director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which represents victims in legal proceedings. Therapy records are not protected from disclosure in civil or criminal cases where the patient introduces them as part of their case, such as in a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for mental distress. Military defense lawyers said asking to see counseling records is standard procedure in sexual assault cases. The mostly commonly cited reason is to undermine the credibility of accusers. Greg Rinckey, a former military prosecutor now in private practice, said they can help expose inconsistencies in an alleged victim’s statements. Gary Myers Defense attorneys noted that just because they ask for something, that doesn’t mean they get it. A judge has to first review therapy records to determine which parts, if any, are relevant to the defense, before handing anything over. States follow the same procedure. But in practice, victims rights lawyers said, civilian judges are far more reluctant to look at the records unless the defendant can demonstrate the counseling records are likely to contain evidence key to their case. They can’t go on “fishing expeditions.” In military courts, by contrast, defense attorneys say such reviews are commonplace. The divergent approaches to protecting mental health records stem from both law and custom, experts said. One crucial difference is an exception in military


The Shroud of Turin, pseudoscience, and journalism

for survival in a highly disrupted news industry. Here’s a basic rule I’d suggest: The clicks don’t count if the story is wrong. More problematic is when the story isn’t wrong but is hyped, even a little bit. This has been on my mind the last couple of days because I did a story on the new fusion energy result at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It was the subject of a paper in Nature, and a teleconference earlier in the week. As with all high-profile, embargoed science stories in the major journals, this one attracted a great deal of news coverage. Because this was about progress in fusion research, it needed to be carefully reported so as to avoid hyping the new result and creating a false expectation that we’re about to start generating electricity for the grid via fusion reactions. But that same danger of hype creates a commensurate click-bait opportunity. What’s going to get better web traffic, a nuanced story about an incremental advance, or a piece declaring that there’s been a major breakthrough? [Update: Charles Petit at the Knight Science Journalism Tracker has a posted a comprehensive review of the coverage.] There’s nothing at stake here except the survival of credible journalism. For those who are trying to figure out a business model for journalism — and I desperately want these folks to be successful — let me suggest that the ultimate killer app is quality. Quality comes in many forms. In the news business, being fast — ideally first — is a form of quality. Packaging the material in a beautiful way visually is another virtue. But the ultimate virtue in this business is getting it right. I know that in turning this item into a screed I run the risk of declaring myself an insufferable fogey, and you can see me sprouting mutton-chop sideburns and wearing a monocle. I know, I know: There is no future in being boring. But getting it right, in the long run, will pay off. News executives should not assume that there is a digital gimmick, or technique, or facility with visuals, or dexterity with software, that will mask a deficit in comprehension and expertise. The audience is smarter than that. The audience will reward accuracy and intelligence. At least that’s what I believe — perhaps as matter of faith more than anything else.


Maryland, Virginia and D.C.’s weirdest news

Washingtonian Angela Napili says the National Zoo’s Amazonia exhibit, which replicates the diverse ecosystem of a tropical rainforest, is a difficult place to photograph because of its low lighting. But, as she points out, it also makes for a dramatic background. Pictured here is a Roseate Spoonbill, a large wading bird. (Angela Napili / For Express) IMPATIENCE She Wanted Her Slushie, And She Wanted It Now A woman in Manassas, Va., took a joyride from one 7-Eleven parking lot to another 7-Eleven about a mile away last month. Police said Natasha Cook, 30, had been waiting in the parked car while its driver was in the store when she hopped into the driver’s seat and took off. Cook was arrested and charged with grand larceny and driving on a revoked license, Manassas Police said. POPPYCOCK! “I find naming streets after prominent persons does help me with wayfinding.” — Dino Drudi, an Alexandria resident, spoke out against an ordinance passed by Alexandria’s City Council last month. It repealed a requirement that new streets be named after either confederate military leaders or prominent people or places in American history, Old Town AlexandrIa Patch reported. CONSTRUCTION WOES Your Crack Is Showing … Bethesda commuters may have been startled to find an 8-inch-wide trench running across Wisconsin Avenue near its intersection with Leland Street last month, BethesdaNow reported. The State Highway Administration said crews had been working overnight and did not have time to cover the utility trenches left behind. It has since been filled. *** Want to see your Big Pic in print? Submit your best shot by joining the Washington Post Express Flickr pool. Share a photo from the Washington region, and it could appear here and in the Sunday edition of Express.


The powerful stories behind the six best news photos of 2013

World Press Photo has announced the winners for its annual photo contest, one of the most anticipated photography competitions in the world. Here are the stories behind the overall photo of the year, as well as the winners in the five news categories. (They also award for other categories and for photo series, which you can browse here.) (1) Overall photo of the year: John Stanmeyer in Djibouti (John Stanmeyer/VII Photo Agency for National Geographic via AFP) Migrants from elsewhere in Africa stand on a beach in Djibouti, the capital of the small East African country of the same name, holding their cellphones aloft to try to get a signal from one of the less-expensive carriers in neighboring Somalia. East African migrants often go through Djibouti to seek work, or a new life, in Europe or the Middle East. The photo is a glimpse into the experiences of young migrant workers who move, or are compelled to move, from their homes in poor countries to middle-income or rich countries. That story is not a new one, but it's one the world is starting to pay more attention to, for example with the deaths of 360 African migrants in the Mediterranean this November. This photo communicates the experience of being adrift, as well as the yearning to connect with those left behind. John Stanmeyer, a founding member of the always-excellent VII Photo Agency, took this for National Geographic. The photo is also the winner in the "contemporary issues" category. (2) Spot news photo of the year: Philippe Lopez in the Philippines (Philippe Lopez/AFP via EPA) The Philippines was totally unprepared for Typhoon Haiyan, which killed perhaps 8,000 people in November and devastated swathes of the island-chain nation. The strength of the storm, as well as weak infrastructure and poor government planning, left 4 million Filipinos homeless. Philippe Lopez's deeply affecting photo forces the viewer to imagine what it would be like to suddenly lose one's home and possessions and perhaps much more; the subjects' gaze across an unknown and devastated horizon hints at the challenge of moving forward after surviving something so difficult. (3) General news photo of the year: Alessandro Penso in Bulgaria (Alessandro Penso/OnOffPictures via EPA) Like 2013's overall winner, this photo explores immigration and how it's reshaping our world. This small school in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia has been repurposed to house 800 Syrian refugees, including 390


The 21st century belongs to soybeans

Get excited: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's long-term projections are out! They tell us the future of the land, more or less, and the trade of foodstuffs between nations. There are lots of interesting takeaways from this year's edition. Among them, the prospects for the humble soybean, which is becoming more important every year that goes by. Trade in soybeans came from almost nothing to overtake wheat and coarse grains (like corn and oats) over the past couple decades, and is expected to continue pulling away: Soybeans triumphant. (US Department of Agriculture) In large part, that's happening because the soybean can do almost anything. Crushed into meal, it's a highly nutritious feedstock for beef cattle, which are increasingly being reared in confined environments rather than out on the range. Processed into oil, it can fuel vehicles in the form of biodiesel, or be used in any number of different industrial compounds. As a protein, it can serve as a base for a huge variety of food for humans, including (but very much not limited to) tofu and tempeh. Accordingly, demand is coming largely from Asian countries, especially China, which is expected to prioritize wheat production rather than soy over the next decade: China will buy all your soybeans. (US Department of Agriculture) That's already been driving up soy prices, which has made it a more attractive crop for U.S. farmers, who've been switching from corn in droves. You might even say that soybeans are the chicken of the staple grains and legumes -- the birds are another big winner of the USDA's projections, having overtaken beef and pork long ago as well. Chicken: It's what's for dinner. (USDA)


8 things to do in the D.C. area the long weekend of Feb. 14-17

Note that snow this week may affect some events this weekend, particularly music and entertainment, special events and even restaurant hours. Call ahead or check Twitter before you go. Friday: Friday: Friday: Friday: Rosanne Cash Saturday-Monday: Sunday: Monday: Through Monday:


PM Update: Rain and snow towards morning; stunning ash cloud view

* Winter weather advisory 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. northern Md., extreme northwest Va. * 9:50 p.m. Update: Liquid equivalent precipitation (in inches) through 1 p.m. Saturday, as predicted by this evening’s NAM model. (StormVistaWxModels) Pictured here is the accumulated precipitation forecast from the NAM model through 1 p.m. Saturday. You can see a noticeable precipitation hole clipping the D.C. area and centered to the southeast. This is the short-range model that performed best with Snochi, and often does a decent job of capturing smaller-scale minimums and maximums in precipitation. One more model run (from the GFS) comes in around 10:30-10:45 p.m. We’ll add an update here if warranted. (11 p.m. update: The GFS shows a slightly more energetic system, but doesn’t suggest any significant changes are necessary to the forecast.) - Temperature Map - Temperatures: Latest D.C. area temperature map. See interactive map on our Weather Wall. From 5:03 p.m. … Through Tonight: Tomorrow (Saturday): Here’s a snowfall accumulation forecast: Capital Weather Gang forecast for snow amounts Friday night into Saturday morning. Issued 12:20 p.m. Friday. Saturday night and Sunday: See Camden Walker’s forecast into early next week. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter A car buried in snow in Oakton, Va. (Kevin Ambrose) Volcanic eruption in Indonesia – incredible satellite view: Here’s the image: Via NOAA: “This false-colored image from the VIIRS instrument’s infrared sensors on the Suomi NPP satellite shows the radial shape of the ash cloud. The yellow colors indicate higher, cooler cloud top heights. It is estimated that the ash extended 10 miles into the atmosphere.”


Snowboard cross qualifying cancelled due to fog

Spectators leave the venue after the men’s snowboard cross competition was cancelled due to fog. (Sergei Grits/Associated Press) KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — A thick fog settled over the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park Monday morning, prompting race officials to cancel the seeding runs in men’s snowboarding cross. Visibility was limited throughout the Caucasus mountains outside of Sochi. Officials were hoping conditions would improve and the snowboard cross event could still take place Monday. Without qualifying races, snowboarders will be seeded based on their current world rankings. Fog on Sunday night forced biathlon officials to postpone the men’s 15-kilometer mass-start race. More Olympics news Jenkins: Sochi was the wrong choice. Dangerous snow is one reason. Davis, White lead rivals Virtue, Moir after figure skating short dance Olympic hockey playoff bracket is set Wise: Pressure on Team Russia builds At Winter Olympics, many medals rest on judges’ decisions Small Minn. town produces another Olympic duo Kessel’s hat trick leads U.S. to 5-1 hockey win vs. Slovenia Russia needs shootout to top Slovakia, 1-0 Jacobellis falls again while leading snowboard cross semifinal U.S. Alpine skiing drought ends in unlikely fashion Mikaela Shiffrin: “I’m going for a medal in two events’ If you like football, you’ll love curling Photos from Day 9


Fairfax City deer spaying update: 18 does sterilized, more next year

Anthony DeNicola returns Deer 10 to Van Dyck Park early this month, after it has been sterilized and tagged at the Fairfax City police headquarters as part of a research program into spaying, rather than killing, deer as a population control measure. (Tom Jackman/The Washington Post) The initial phase of Virginia’s first experiment with sterilizing deer, rather than killing them, has ended in Fairfax City. Anthony DeNicola of White Buffalo Inc., who oversaw the program and captured the deer, said 18 were spayed in six nights earlier this month. The plan is for DeNicola and his team of volunteers to return annually to spay the does and monitor the population size, in hopes that it gradually decreases by “natural” causes — hit by cars, killed by hunters, disease, old age — and avoids the need for lethal force in a densely populated city which measures only six square miles. DeNicola said he had not yet devised a new estimate of the deer population of Fairfax City, which he previously placed at 50 to 75, pending further checks of cameras he placed in the woods and other data gathered. The program costs about $1,000 per sterilization, which is being paid for the first two years by Wildlife Rescue of Maryland. Fairfax City police did assign three officers per night to work overtime, both to assist DeNicola and ensure that no citizens were in harm’s way. Police Chief Rick Rappoport said the cost to taxpayers for the overtime was about $7,850. The program involves shooting the deer with tranquilizer darts, each equipped with a tracking device. DeNicola and a volunteer or two hauled the deer back to Fairfax City police headquarters, where a surgical center was set up in the sallyport and two veterinarians performed an ovariectomy. The deer was tagged with a number and a neck collar. DeNicola and the volunteer then hauled the deer back where they found her, injected her with a drug to reverse the effects of some of the tranquilizers, and released her. From darting to release took about 90 minutes per deer. I followed along one night, here’s my account of that. The program was approved by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as a research project, and is the first such project in Virginia. Neighboring areas such as Fairfax County, the District and Montgomery County have elected to hire sharpshooters, kill the deer


Snowboard cross postponed until Tuesday

seeding runs for the men’s snowboard cross competition were cancelled at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. (Andy Wong/Associated Press) KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — A persistent fog in the mountains outside Sochi has prompted race officials to postpone Monday’s men’s snowboard cross event. Snowboarders will return to Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on Tuesday and hope conditions are better. Riders seemed happy officials took a cautious approach, given the low visibility on the course. “It’s an outdoor sport. This happens all the time,” said American Nate Holland. “I’m more thankful they were able to postpone it a day. This fog — it’s super dense up there. It’s the Olympics. We want to have the best rider win and not have anything screwy.” Riders showed up at the course Monday morning and at times could only see 20 or so feet in front of them. After the morning qualifying runs were cancelled, riders sat through a brief delay in the afternoon while race officials considered their options. On a steep course built for speed, Holland, appearing in his third Winter Games, said it would have been risky to race Monday. He did one practice run in the morning and said it was difficult to see anything. “I was confident I’d be able to make it down,” he said. “But there’s a screwiness factor that no visibility adds. I thought it might become a Paralympic sport — blind boardercross — today.” Though he woke up eager to compete Monday, Holland said he’ll have no problem summoning the same adrenaline tomorrow, assuming Mother Nature cooperates. “That was a free high going up the chairlift. I was getting pumped,” he said. “It was just a dress rehearsal. So we’ll be back tomorrow and let it roll from there.” More Olympics news Jenkins: Sochi was the wrong choice. Dangerous snow is one reason. Davis, White lead rivals Virtue, Moir after figure skating short dance Olympic hockey playoff bracket is set Wise: Pressure on Team Russia builds At Winter Olympics, many medals rest on judges’ decisions Small Minn. town produces another Olympic duo Kessel’s hat trick leads U.S. to 5-1 hockey win vs. Slovenia Russia needs shootout to top Slovakia, 1-0 Jacobellis falls again while leading snowboard cross semifinal U.S. Alpine skiing drought ends in unlikely fashion Mikaela Shiffrin: “I’m going for a medal in two events’ If you like football, you’ll love curling Photos from Day 9


Snowboard cross doesn’t happen — and neither does anything else

The sun tries to break through the heavy fog as skiers take a chair lift up the mountain near the alpine skiing training slopes at the Sochi Olympics. (Christophe Ena/Associated Press) Apparently it is also President’s Day in Sochi, because the Olympics seem to have taken a holiday this morning. Maybe everyone goes to mattress sales there, too. The only event scheduled — men’s snowboard cross — was canceled due to fog. So, what else did you miss? [Crickets. Not to be confused with cricket, which was also not happening, at least at the Olympics.] So the answer to what happened while you were sleeping is: nothing. For those of you who have the day off and aren’t yet at a mattress sale, it’s time to tune in to the U.S. women’s hockey semifinal against Sweden (7:30 a.m., NBCSN). It’s just what our great presidents would have done. More Olympics news Jenkins: Sochi was the wrong choice. Dangerous snow is one reason. Davis, White lead rivals Virtue, Moir after figure skating short dance Olympic hockey playoff bracket is set Wise: Pressure on Team Russia builds At Winter Olympics, many medals rest on judges’ decisions Small Minn. town produces another Olympic duo Kessel’s hat trick leads U.S. to 5-1 hockey win vs. Slovenia Russia needs shootout to top Slovakia, 1-0 Jacobellis falls again while leading snowboard cross semifinal U.S. Alpine skiing drought ends in unlikely fashion Mikaela Shiffrin: “I’m going for a medal in two events’ If you like football, you’ll love curling Photos from Day 9


How to get the United States more serious about curling

name Anna Sidorova from the Russian women’s team. You’ll be practicing with your broom in the kitchen. 4. It isn’t particularly taxing on the body. One P.R. firm sent an email with tips on how to avoid getting hurt while curling. It actually included this: “One way an athlete can prevent curling injuries is to always stay firmly planted on the ice, helping to avoid a slip or fall.” 5. It has beer. Lots of beer. Some curling clubs actually store their kegs on the playing surface. The flaw in Politi’s logic, however, is that having more people participate won’t necessarily field better Olympic teams if those millions of Americans don’t take the sport seriously. Sure, you can play a casual game of curling completely sloshed. You can do that in a pick-up game of basketball, too, but good luck making it to the NBA. So, how do we get Americans to take curling more seriously? It might be a matter of marketing. After all, if there’s something we love more than drinking beer with our friends, it’s making money. If people could make curling their sole source of income, it would probably attract a more serious crowd. Unfortunately, Subway is not knocking on curlers’ doors hoping to give them millions of dollars to smile and say “Eat Fresh” about a sandwich with Fritos on it. But to score endorsement deals, two things need to happen: Americans need to get good at the sport and then a dominant personality needs to emerge. Basically, curling needs its own Tiger Woods. That’s when Subway will come a-knockin’. And Swiffer (seriously, what better match for a curling endorsement could there be?) But we’ll really know when curling’s made it when EA Sports releases Pro Curler, preferably on the Wii or Xbox Kinect. Hmm, that idea might be worth a gold medal in and of itself. Complete coverage of Day 10 of the Sochi Winter Games. View Photo Gallery —Complete coverage of Day 10 of the Sochi Winter Games. More Olympics news Snowboard cross postponed until Tuesday Five thoughts on the men’s hockey prelim rounds Jenkins: Sochi was the wrong choice. Dangerous snow is one reason. Davis, White lead rivals Virtue, Moir after figure skating short dance Olympic hockey playoff bracket is set Wise: Pressure on Team Russia builds At Winter Olympics, many medals rest on judges’ decisions Small Minn. town produces another Olympic


Did NBC interview with Bode Miller go too far?

ABC perfected the Olympic storytelling style more than four decades ago by producing “up-close-and-personal” features about the Games’ competitors — heartwarming stories that emphasized athletes’ personal sacrifice, family support and victories over adversity. On Sunday night, that style may have gone too far. NBC, the Winter Olympics broadcaster, has drawn widespread criticism on social media since Sunday for airing an interview with American skier Bode Miller in which interviewer Christin Cooper repeatedly pressed Miller about his feelings about his late brother, Chelone, known as “Chilly.” Miller broke down in the interview and eventually walked away as NBC’s camera lingered on the scene. Thirty-six year-old Alpine skier Bode Miller wins bronze medal, mixed with emotions in remembering his brother who died of a seizure last year. Many viewers apparently found the interview too invasive — too up close and all too personal. NBC made the interview a centerpiece of its prime-time package during which Miller, the most successful American male skier in Olympic history, tied for a bronze medal in the Super G race. The network had built up Miller as one of its pre-Olympic stars; it had featured him in stories and interviews as a canny, if sometimes erratic, skiing veteran and family man whose 29-year-old brother had died a year ago from a seizure. So his third-place finish in the Super G, after Miller had finished out of the medals in his earlier races, looked like the fulfillment of the triumph-over-adversity storyline that NBC had set up. In a post-race interview, it was Miller who first referenced his brother after being asked by Cooper if winning this medal was different than the others. “This was a little different,” Miller replies. “Y’know, my brother passing away. I wanted to come back here and race the way he sensed it. So this was a little different.” Cooper, herself a former Olympic skiing medalist, followed up, “Bode, you’re showing so much emotion down here, what’s going through your mind?” Miller vaguely acknowledged his brother again: “I mean, a lot, obviously. Just a long struggle coming in here, and just a tough year.” Cooper continued to probe the brother angle. “I know you wanted to be here, with Chilly,” she said, “really experiencing these games and how much does it means for you to come up with a great performance for him and was it for him?” The question seemed to affect Miller,


A fixation with personal loss at the Olympics?

Bode Miller wipes away tears after winning the bronze medal in the super-G. There has been plenty of criticism directed at NBC’s Christin Cooper for repeatedly asking Bode Miller questions about his late brother on Sunday. Miller had just won the bronze medal in the super-G and was clearly emotional as he fought back tears during the post-race interview. But as the Salt Lake Tribune’s Nate Carlisle points out, Miller is far from the only Olympian whose personal loss has been the focus of media coverage. Amongst the praise and excitement for the American sweep in men’s slopestyle skiing, an NBC announcer mentioned the father of Utahn and gold medalist Joss Christensen died last year. I turned to my wife and said, “They found another one.” Like a lot of people in Utah, my wife and I have been watching the Winter Olympics every evening. After a few nights, I noticed a disproportionately high number of mentions about death. Carlisle has compiled a running spreadsheet of athletes at the Sochi Olympics who have been associated with the death of someone, along with the media organizations that have published stories about it. Salt Lake City Tribune table More Olympics news Davis and White make history as first Americans to earn ice dance gold at Olympics NFL all-Pro Vernon Davis loves curling. Why? U.S. snaps 62-year medal drought in two-man bobsled The five most heartwarming moments of the Olympics Bode Miller breaks down during NBC interview Why the U.S. stinks at curling U.S. women’s hockey cruises to gold medal game with 6-1 win Bob Costas returns to NBC’s primetime coverage Monday night Snowboard cross postponed until Tuesday Olympic hockey playoff bracket is set Photos from Day 10


From helper to winner, Alex Deibold nabs unlikely bronze

one that I was grateful for,” he said. “It was really hard to sit back and watch them enjoy something that I wanted so badly. That moment, I used that as motivation over the last four years to work hard and through my injuries. “I just reminded myself what it was like to be there and how hard I had to work to get myself. And it definitely paid off.” Deibold was the least-heralded American in the snowboard cross field. He has struggled to find the podium on the World Cup circuit and the best he’d ever finished at Winter X-Games was fourth. At the most recent X-Games last month in Aspen, Colo., in fact, he failed to even qualify for the quarterfinal heats. “There’s definitely times were I’ve doubted where I’m at,” he said, “at the end of the season when you’re broke and trying to figure out how you’re going to pay rent and figure that out. But I’ve never done it for the money. I’ve always done it for the love.” The American favorites, Olympic vets Nate Holland and Nick Baumgartner both bowed out early in the event. Holland, an eight-time X-Games medalist, was competing at his third Winter Games and for the third time failed to reach the podium. After barely finishing fourth in his semifinal heat, Jacob, 20, placed third in the “small final” consolation race and finished the Olympic competition in ninth place. France’s Pierre Vaultier took gold and Russia’s Nikolay Olyunin won silver. The event was originally scheduled for Monday at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park but was postponed a day due to fog. Tuesday’s heats took place under a steady drizzle with some visibility issues near the top of the course. Photos from Sochi, Day 11: Women’s giant slalom, men’s Nordic combined, women’s speedskating, men’s snowboard cross and more. View Photo Gallery —Men’s nordic combined, Women’s giant slalom, Men’s snowboard cross, and more. More Olympics news White and Davis win first-ever ice dance gold for U.S. Jenkins: White and Davis turn in a gasp-inducing performance Wise: U.S., Canada owe no apologies for dominating women’s hockey U.S. snaps 62-year medal drought in two-man bobsled At Sochi 2014, athletes’ nationality is pliable NFL all-Pro Vernon Davis loves curling. Why? Ice dancers vie for medal, most outrageous costume The five most heartwarming moments of the Olympics Why the U.S. stinks at curling Photos from Day 10


Enforcing contracts and wills that are motivated by Islamic law

can discriminate for their own reasons, quite apart from religion).[29] If such rules are applied in a way that affects the outcome of an arbitration, then it is possible that secular courts will refuse to enforce the result of the arbitration.[30] American law, then, already provides tools for refusing to enforce contracts that are deemed improper; there is no need for some special contract law rule focused on Sharia. Religious motivation cannot validate contracts that are invalid for the reasons described above. But neither should religious motivation invalidate contracts that would otherwise be valid. So the proper approach to Sharia-motivated contracts or wills should be simple: continue to follow traditional American contract law principles. The strong presumption in American law is freedom of contract and freedom to dispose one’s property by will; an Islamic motivation, or any other religious motivation, doesn’t make a contract or a will unenforceable. But if the contract or will violates established public policy principles, for instance if it calls for improper remedies (the chopped-off hand), or violates family law limitations on prenuptial agreements, then it is unenforceable — again, without regard to its religious motivation. * * * [15]. See Tyson Plant Drops Labor Day for Muslim Holiday, Fox News (Aug. 5, 2008), http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/08/05/tyson-plant-drops-labor-day-for-muslim-holiday (reporting on the incident, and reporting on people criticizing this as alleged intrusion of Sharia into American law); Bob Unruh, Tyson Chicken Replaces Labor Day With Muslim Eid al-Fitr — Workers Wanted Islamic Religious Event Recognized, Neville Awards (Aug. 2, 2008), http://www.nevilleawards.com/stealth_sharia7.shtml (criticizing this as supposed “stealth Sharia”); Eugene Volokh, Tyson Plant Drops Labor Day for Muslim Holiday, The Volokh Conspiracy (Aug. 6, 2008, 5:42 PM), http://www.volokh.com/posts/1218058942.shtml. [16]. See Murray v. Geithner, 763 F. Supp. 2d 860 (E.D. Mich. 2011); Eugene Volokh, Lawsuit Alleging That AIG’s Use of Sharia-Compliant Financing Violates the Establishment Clause Survives a Motion to Dismiss, The Volokh Conspiracy (May 27, 2009, 6:55 PM), http://www.volokh.com/posts/1243464959.shtml; see also creeping, Bahraini Bank Buying “Shariah-Compliant” Real Estate … in the U.S., Creeping Sharia (Nov. 28, 2011), http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/bahraini-bank-buying-shariah-compliant-real-estate-in-the-u-s/. [17]. See Eugene Volokh, Religious Arbitration of Civil Disputes, The Volokh Conspiracy (Sept. 11, 2009, 2:30 PM), http://volokh.com/posts/1252693856.shtml. [18]. Alkhafaji v. TIAA-CREF Individual & Inst. Servs., 10 Pa. D. & C. 5th 449, 462-63 (Pa. Com. Pl. Jan. 14, 2010), rev’d, 24 A.3d 454 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011); Eugene Volokh, Will Calls for Distribution “According to Islamic Laws and Sharia”; Pennsylvania Court Gives Twice


Barack Obama and Safeway: A love story

president more and support his decisions. And that led to this exchange that took place last week, when the president flew into the White House lawn and an agent greeted him at the helicopter. The president was carrying two pigs under his arms and the Secret Service agents said, "Nice pigs, sir." And the president said, "These are not ordinary pigs, these are genuine Arkansas razorback hogs. I got one for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." And the Secret Service agent said, "Excellent trade, sir." Gordon apologized, but the damage was done. And although Safeway has been exceptionally useful to Obama as a bridge for getting bipartisan support for some of his policies, the company's allegiances are more split when it comes to backing political candidates. As the Bloomberg Businessweek profile of Burd noted, the former Safeway CEO raised enough funds for President George W. Bush's re-election effort to earn "Ranger" status. In 2012, the most mentioned member of Safeway's staff -- at least in D.C. -- gave $25,000 to the Romney Victory PAC, and another $10,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Overall, the company has a more diverse political portfolio -- in 2012, 46 percent of Safeway PAC's contributions went to Democrats, and 54 percent went to Republicans. Finally, when the Onion's fictional "Filthy Mitt Romney" (a friend of "Diamond" Joe Biden) gave an impromptu campaign speech after the 2012 presidential elections, the setting was, of course, Safeway. The Safeway mythology in Washington, D.C. Obama's many mentions of Safeway are perhaps understandable outside of politics, given that the grocery store is inarguably the most influential on the D.C. social circuit. Case in point -- before Obama's inauguration in 2009, wax replicas of the soon-to-be president watched over Safeway checkout lines across Washington, D.C. But, one D.C. Safeway rules them all -- the Georgetown's incarnation, also known as "Social Safeway" (also see Soviet Safeway and Sexy Safeway). When the neighborhood's grocery store reopened in May 2010 after an intense makeover, the guest list looked like it belonged to a White House Correspondent's Dinner afterparty coordinator instead of a grocery store chain manager. White House chef Sam Kass prepared food for the event, where there was a Belvedere vodka fountain and many people in ball gowns. Al Gore's social secretary helped plan the grocery store's unveiling, and senators and representatives mingled at the


Did people confuse ‘astronomy’ with ‘astrology’ in the NSF study?

the stars, moon and other planets not to mention the lunar and solar eclipse the milky way.” INFO: “they can search websites and some documentations in the library about what they want to know about astrology some say it can help you realize who and what is [sic] you are in this universe.” Even though this respondent says that “some say it can help you realize who and what . . . you are in this universe,” which sounds like he is talking about astrology, he may well be just talking about the wonders of science and the universe. I say this mostly because he was one of only six respondents who believed that astrology was “Very scientific.” So I’ll resolve the reasonable doubt in this case in the direction of Landers’ hypothesis. But even this one case of probable confusion is at least doubtful. Summary I followed up Landers’ small study with one of my own, trying to correct for some of the deficiencies in his study. In my sample of 108 respondents, the evidence suggests that probably only one of the 108 respondents was confusing astronomy for astrology. Given that, I would say that there is no reason to believe that the results of the NSF/GSS study reflect a substantial conflation of astrology with astronomy. It is indeed ironic that in a study designed to probe question wording, Professor Landers could have made such a serious error himself by interpreting statements such as “Astrology is the study of the stars” as if they indicated a confusion of astrology and astronomy. Such a statement is indeed inadequate as a definition of astrology, which is why it’s a good idea to follow up before jumping to unwarranted conclusions. To avoid misinterpreting the answers he received, Landers needed both to probe further and to test the actual questions used on the NSF survey. As my follow-up study suggests, a statement that astrology is “the study of the stars” is quite consistent with an understanding that astrology is about horoscopes and predicting the future. Given that the NSF/GSS study explicitly tied astrology to horoscopes, it would be surprising if a substantial number of respondents conflated astrology with the science of astronomy. Thus, from the evidence of my study, it is extremely unlikely that a substantial number of respondents in the NSF/GSS study failed to understand that they were answering a question about


Putin bests Obama now in Ukraine

grenades and rubber bullets sought to drive protesters away from Kiev’s main square Wednesday after clashes left at least 25 people dead and more than 240 injured in a dramatic escalation of the country’s three-month political crisis. . . . Vice President Biden telephoned Yanukovych to express what the White House called ‘grave concern’ and urged the embattled leader to pull back government forces and immediately resume political discussions with opponents. Biden ‘made clear that the United States condemns violence by any side, but that the government bears special responsibility to de-escalate the situation,’ a White House statement said.” Even Jay Carney pronounced the White House “appalled.” Beyond heightened rhetoric, there is no sign of action to back up our statements. (“Washington announced no specific new action, but the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, threatened both sides with sanctions.”) And it is perplexing to threaten the protesters with sanctions, as Pyatt has done. (How would we do that and not bolster the crackdown?) So far, the European Union is dragging its feet on sanctions. As Reuters reports, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with two Ukrainian opposition leaders on Monday, in a sign of support, but did not appear to have given concrete backing to their pleas for immediate sanctions on President Viktor [Yanukovych]. . . . The Ukrainian opposition has been urging the EU to go beyond vocal support for its fight for more democracy.” You can understand why U.S. diplomats supportive of democracy in Ukraine would be frustrated. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) echoed the call for sanctions (“I urge the Obama administration to use every diplomatic means at its disposal, including sanctions, to bring accountability to those involved in acts of violence throughout Ukraine”), as have other critics of the administration. Let’s hope the E.U. “weighs sanctions” quickly (a meeting is set for tomorrow). But let’s be clear who is ultimately responsible for this: Vladimir Putin. Putin’s the one who muscled Ukraine into backing out of trade talks with the E.U. and has been pressuring Yanukovych to crack down on his own people. This is one more example of Russia running amok when it correctly perceives there is no downside to challenging the West and all too many opportunities to show up the Obama administration as feckless. Be it Syria or Ukraine, the administration’s reluctance to challenge Putin has serious and deadly consequences for those seeking greater liberty.


Senators call for sanctions against Ukraine government

Protesters clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday Jan. 23, 2014. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AP) U.S. senators, in growing numbers, are calling for sanctions against the Ukraine government for its crackdown against anti-government protesters in Kiev. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) led the call Wednesday, denouncing the leadership of President Viktor Yanukovych and saying Congress should pass sanctions now. "The responsibility for this tragedy rests with President Yanukovych, who has failed at every turn to address the legitimate democratic aspirations of his people," Menendez said in a statement. "The actions of President Yanukovych and his government are deplorable and the time is now to apply sanctions against the Ukrainian government for gross human rights violations. I expect the administration, with congressional support, to act swiftly on this issue of critical importance." Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) agreed that sanctions should be a part of the discussion. “I urge the Obama Administration to use every diplomatic means at its disposal, including sanctions, to bring accountability to those involved in acts of violence throughout Ukraine," Rubio said. The bipartisan duo of Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), meanwhile, called for sanctions against anybody who supports the use of violence against the protesters. "We have consistently made it clear, including during our joint visit to Kiev in December 2013, that there must be consequences for the escalation of violence in Ukraine. Unfortunately, that time has now come," McCain and Murphy said in a joint statement. The two are already crafting legislation. “We have begun working together on legislation that would impose targeted sanctions on government officials and other persons who have committed, ordered or materially supported acts of violence against peaceful citizens in Ukraine, or who are complicit in the rollback of Ukraine’s democracy," McCain and Murphy said. "These sanctions should not, and will not, target the people or the country of Ukraine as a whole. Instead, they will be narrowly focused on those individuals who must be held accountable for violating human rights and undermining democracy." In the House, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) also called for action. "The President should act now, without delay, before more are killed in the streets of Kiev and elsewhere in Ukraine," Royce said.


PM Update: Mostly clear tonight, and cloudier Thursday; sneeze season here?

- Temperature Map - Temperatures: Latest D.C. area temperature map. See interactive map on our Weather Wall. Two days in a row now we’ve seen wintry weather in the morning for at least parts of the region before finishing with a springlike afternoon. Add in thunderstorms this morning plus the potential for more on Friday, and it might seem we’ve turned a corner toward the next season. Of course, that’s not quite the case yet, but we can still hope. Through Tonight: Tomorrow (Thursday): See Dan Stillman’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter Memorial Bridge on Feb. 17. (John Sonderman via Flickr) Pollen picking up steam: Here’s a graph of a normal tree pollen season. As you see, we’re right around the typical point at which the numbers begin to climb: (Susan Kosisky, Walter Reed)


Text of U-Md. president’s letter about massive computer security breach

abundance of caution and diligence. Appropriate state and federal law enforcement authorities are currently investigating this criminal incident. Computer forensic investigators are examining the breached files and logs to determine how our sophisticated, multi-layered security defenses were bypassed. Further, we are initiating steps to ensure there is no repeat of this breach. The University is offering one year of free credit monitoring to all affected persons. Additional information will be communicated within the next 24 hours on how to activate this service. University email communications regarding this incident will not ask you to provide personal information. Please be cautious when sharing personal information. All updates regarding this matter will be posted to this website. Additional information is provided in the FAQs below. If you have any questions or comments, please call our special hotline at 301-405-4440 or email us at datasecurity@umd.edu. Universities are a focus in today’s global assaults on IT systems. We recently doubled the number of our IT security engineers and analysts. We also doubled our investment in top-end security tools. Obviously, we need to do more and better, and we will. Again, I regret this breach of our computer and data systems. We are doing everything possible to protect any personal information that may be compromised. Sincerely, Wallace D. Loh President, University of Maryland FAQs How many files were breached? —We have been notified by Brian Voss, Vice President of Information Technology, that a computer security incident at the University of Maryland exposed approximately 309,079 records containing personal information. Who was affected by the breach? —That database contained 309,079 records of faculty, staff, students and affiliated personnel from College Park and Shady Grove campuses who have been issued a University ID since 1998. What kind of data was accessed? —The records included name, Social Security number, date of birth, and University identification number. No financial, academic, contact, or health information was compromised. How did it occur? —The cause of the security breach is currently under investigation by state and federal law enforcement authorities, as well as forensic computer investigators. How is the university responding? —Within 24 hours, the University formed an investigative task force that includes law enforcement, IT leadership, and computer forensic investigators. We are also making every effort to notify the campus community and those who were previously affiliated with the university as students, faculty or staff. In addition, the University is offering one year


It’s a Putin problem

And now, as Kasparov puts it, “Putin’s Kremlin & media have encouraged civil war in Ukraine, hoping for bloody crackdown to end democracy & to send message to Russians.” And Yanukovych dutifully delivered. In the case of Ukraine, the State Department has stepped up to the plate. High-ranking U.S. officials met with and openly supported protesters agitating against Yanukovych’s withdrawal from the E.U. trade pact. Foggy Bottom has intensified its public condemnation of the violence. In addition to tough words, a senior State Department official confirmed in a media call Wednesday that 20 individuals involved in the crackdown “all the way up the chain of command” had their visas revoked. There are more weapons in the “toolkit,” as the official put it, but broader sanctions are a dicey proposition when we mean to pressure the government, not harm the Ukrainian people. When asked about Russia’s claimed “sphere of interest,” the senior official declared such a concept to be a “wildly outmoded notion” and noted that for 22 years and four presidents, we have supported the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. It’s a sorry state of affairs when the State Department sounds tougher than the president. Sadly, there is only so much diplomats can do when the president sends a stream of signals showing fecklessness and weakness to an international adversary. The president on every level has failed to check Russian ambition and meddling. In the grossly counterproductive reset, Obama undercut allies in Eastern Europe by pulling out promised missile defense installations. Later he pleaded with Russia to help usher out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; Russia rebuffed us repeatedly at the United Nations. Then, last year, he invited Russia to help “solve” the problem of Syria’s weapons of mass destruction. Russia now instigates violence in Europe, supports the butcher of Damascus and provides an economic lifeline to Iran. The Senate is now pushing for further sanctions against Ukraine. But the root of the problem is Russia and the United States’ lack of effectiveness in deterring aggression. There is apparently never a price to be paid for conduct entirely at odds with international law. Our allies in Europe and around the world see this; they must shudder at the prospect they might have to rely on an Obama “red line” when Putin takes aim at them. Meanwhile, Putin basks in the glory of the Sochi Games. At least there is Finland.


The end of the Corcoran is nigh

out of the hospital after eight-day stay, now back in physical therapy (AP) Vincent Gray wants emergency vote giving city more power to keep families out of shelter beds (Post) New data shows just how few D.C. children attend their in-boundary public school (Post) Judge who heard worker’s comp cases for years did not have a law license (City Paper) Muriel Bowser pushes to loosen Metro hiring policy on ex-offenders (Dr. Gridlock, DCist, WJLA-TV) A potentially violent St. Elizabeths patient has been missing for two months (Post) St. E’s tightens exit protocols after inmate’s death in snowstorm (WaTimes) Tony Cheng and son reject plea deal; case likely to go to trial in May (Post) Gray dodges snow bullet (Loose Lips) State of the District speech is coming March 3 (DCist) City crews have dumped 35,000 tons of salt on D.C. streets so far this winter (WAMU-FM) Nearly 1,000 vehicles were ticketed in snow emergency zones; many were towed (WaTimes) Uncleared sidewalk may be to blame for pedestrian’s death on Sousa Bridge (WRC-TV) Charter board puts off vote on closing Options PCS, pending public hearing (Post) Anacostia woman’s struggle to get handgun transferred from Texas is at center of Supreme Court case (WaTimes) DCHA’s capital needs are $1.3 billion, and the feds aren’t helping much (Housing Complex) The day in campaign videos: Gray is “One of Our Own”; Vincent Orange can dance (Loose Lips, DCist) Mayoral candidates talk planning and architecture (Loose Lips) Erstwhile mayoral candidate Leo Alexander is now working for Andy Shallal (Loose Lips) New assistant fire chief delivers frank review of FEMS performance (WJLA-TV) Frequent objection to zoning rewrite: Why did Georgetown get special treatment? (Current via Dish) D.C. Water rejects relocation site, potentially delaying ballpark-area redevelopment (WBJ) David Catania, D.C. Vote’s Kim Perry head to New Hampshire today to testify in favor of voting-rights resolution (AP) Jonetta Rose Barras is “flummoxed” by Eleanor Holmes Norton’s warnings on tuition-grant funding (Post column) LGBT groups urge Cathy Lanier to release report on handling of alleged hate crimes (WRC-TV) Chris Brown assault case returns to Superior Court today, without Chris Brown (Post) Firefighter’s complaints about death threats lead to Secret Service investigation (WTTG-TV, WJLA-TV) Dunbar teacher is handcuffed and held by transit cop in front of students (WRC-TV) Big after-school fight at Anacostia High (WJLA-TV) The latest on the north-south streetcar planning (GGW) The Ward 6 council candidates talk transportation


Ukraine athletes leave Sochi Olympics reportedly in protest

(Getty Images) As protests again turn violent between Ukraine government forces and opposition protesters, the strain of the conflict is being felt by Ukrainian athletes in Sochi. Reuters reported that some of the Ukrainian Olympic team had chosen to return home. “I believe some of them have decided to return home and [Ukraine Olympic Committee President] Sergey Bubka has said he absolutely respects every individual’s right to make their own decision,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. A Ukraine team official said Alpine skier Bogdana Matsotska and her father, who is also her coach, Oleg Matsotskyy, had pulled out. There was no information on whether they were actually departing the Black Sea resort, or if additional Ukrainian athletes had opted to pull out. Ukraine team officials and some athletes held a minute’s silence in memory of the victims and black ribbons were added to Ukraine flags hanging on the balconies of their building in the athletes’ village. Matsotska told the Associated Press that she was leaving out of protest for what was happening in her home country. “I don’t want to participate when in my country people die,” [she said]. The 24-year-old skier is refusing to ski in Friday’s slalom, her third and best event at the Sochi Olympics. Matsotska says Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych “has to be jailed, and for a long time … for all the lives that he took.” She says “I hope that I will be heard by the world.” In Sochi, the 43-athlete contingent from Ukraine attempted to find ways to show their support before returning home, some were more successful than others. The Ukrainian athletes were entered into nine sports: biathlon (11), cross country (8), figure skating (6), luge (6 ) freestyle skiing (6 ), alpine skiing (2), snowboarding (2), nordic combined and short track (1). From the AP on Wednesday: Ukraine’s Olympic Committee asked that its athletes be allowed to wear black armbands honoring those who died in the protest, saying on its website that it wants to “share deep pain over the loss of fellow countrymen” by displaying them as an “expression of sorrow and sympathy.” The IOC rejected that, saying it was not allowed under the Olympic Charter. And others said the focus of the Olympics should be solely on sports, despite the fighting in Kiev that left at least 25 dead. From Sally Jenkins in Sochi: On Wednesday when the IOC


Taking the gold for foreign policy cluelessness

The New York Times reports Bogdana Matsotska, an Alpine skier, and her father and coach, Oleg Matsotskyy, announced on Matsotskyy’s Facebook page that they would be leaving Sochi before Matsotska had finished competing. Matsotska, 24, will not take part in the women’s slalom, which is scheduled for Friday. . . . In explaining the decision to leave early, Matsotskyy wrote in his Facebook post that “as a protest against lawless actions made towards protesters, the lack of responsibility from the side of the president and his lackey government, we refuse further performance at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.” The Ukrainians properly identified the appalling hypocrisy that the Games now represent, declaring that the violence in Ukraine, prompted by Russian bullying, is “in violation of the old principle of the Games — the Olympic Truce.” Indeed, the modern Games are an affront to the Olympic ideal. Assistant secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s expletive directed at the clueless European Union is even more applicable to the International Olympic Committee, the folks who wouldn’t pause for a moment of silence in the Summer Olympics to honor the memory of the Israeli athletes slaughtered 40 years earlier at the 1972 Munich Olympics and now have not a care in the world about spouting platitudes about sports in the land of Vladimir Putin. U.S. elite opinion was only stirred when the Russians’ repression became a matter of gay rights. But that is a fraction of the problem which includes international aggression (Putin’s forces still occupy 20 percent of Georgia), brutality (e.g. Sergei Magnitsky), the expulsion of nongovernmental organizations, violation of basic human liberties and support for the genocidal regime of Bashar al-Assad. It is a sad statement that the athletes, sponsors, tourists and TV cameras remain Sochi-fixated, as if the most important thing is to stick to the competition. Hold up the Olympic ideals? It’s too late for that. But then, political leaders in the West are very late to the scene as well. For five years the administration has been saying ludicrous things about Putin, as if they had no clue with whom they were dealing. Recall these delirious comments about Russia over the years: “Well, we’re going to hit the reset button and start fresh because clearly the Obama administration believes that there are a number of important areas to discuss with the Russians. . . . We’re going to believe in arms


Baltimore City Paper reporter on sale: ‘This is the only thing I’ve ever done’

Van Smith, 48, is the senior staff writer at the Baltimore City Paper. He started freelancing for the scrappy alt-weekly in 1987, worked on staff from 1994 to 1998, bolted and returned in 2002. He’s been there ever since. Soon he’ll be terminated from the employment of Times-Shamrock Communications, the Scranton, Pa.,-based outfit that is selling the paper to the Baltimore Sun Media Group. Then the Baltimore Sun people will decide whether he and other Baltimore City Paper staffers will find work under the Sun’s roof. “There are no guarantees and surely there are redundancies given the Sun’s a large newspaper company,” says Smith, who has sweated out the uncertainty ever since the paper’s owner announced last August that it was putting Baltimore City Paper on the block. “This is the only thing I’ve ever done,” says Smith. “I have sources and a body of knowledge built over a period of time that doesn’t go anywhere else very easily. If I’m out of a job, I guess I’ll have to find another career.” Perhaps he won’t have to study up for that real estate exam. A Sun rep, says Smith, has made “grandiose statements about how they love the City Paper and how they respect it.” That makes sense: Jennifer Marsh will serve as general manager of Baltimore City Paper-at-Baltimore Sun. She formerly worked at the Baltimore City Paper. Evan Serpick, the Baltimore City Paper’s editor, says the new owner has expressed “some sense of value of the independence and editorial perspective of City Paper. It’s something they wanted to maintain.” That might well entail maintaining Smith’s obsession with the culture of drugs and prisons in and around Baltimore. Regional news junkies will doubtless remember the April 2013 indictment of 13 female corrections officers who all but handed over operations of a Baltimore jail to a national prison gang known as the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF). The activities of the BGF, however, wouldn’t have come as a shock to those who had been reading Smith’s work. In 2009, he did a number of portraits of BGF members, and the lede of one piece unspooled this way: It’s not clear whether 45-year-old Nelson Arthur Robinson recognizes his prosecutor, but he should. As Robinson is ushered into a federal courtroom in Baltimore on Apr. 15 by U.S. marshals, set to be arraigned on accusations that he’s part of the sprawling Black Guerilla


Photos of the day

Here are two that stood out to me: A giant shock wave is seen as a red arc created by a speeding star known as Kappa Cassiopeiae, in this infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Bow shocks form where the magnetic fields and wind of particles flowing off a star collide with the diffuse, and usually invisible, gas and dust that fill the space between stars. (Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech) Ice cover on the Great Lakes is seen in a NASA image taken by the GOES-East satellite. (Reuters/NASA) Enjoy your weekend! I’ll be doing my best to get over a cold, but will be back Monday with some meatier posts.


Squall line passes D.C. area; some trees down in St. Mary’s co.

Radar lightning: Update: 1:25 p.m., the tornado watch was discontinued for the D.C. region as the threat of severe weather has passed, even as some downpours linger – see below for additional updates through 2 p.m. Overview: Area shaded in red under tornado watch through 5 p.m. (National Weather Service) This is a low-end tornado watch. The Storm Prediction Center says there is a just a 30 percent chance of 2 or more tornadoes in the above watch area, and a 20 percent chance of a strong tornado (EF2-EF5 in intensity). However, it does indicate an 80 percent chance of at least 10 severe wind reports in the watch area, although those should be focused more east and southeast of the District. Remember a tornado WATCH means conditions *could* cause tornadoes to develop, be alert. A WARNING means a tornado has been detected and/or spotted, take action (go to the lowest level of a well-built structure, away from windows – put as many walls between you and the outside as possible). Follow below for the latest updates. 2:00 p.m. update: Here is a video round-up on the storms that hit the Midwest and South yesterday, courtesy of this same weather system: Storms damaged schools and other buildings throughout midwest and southeast states, with more possible on Friday. 1:35 p.m. update: Lots of damage in Leonardtown. Trees and power lines down all along Fairgrounds Road in Leonardtown. 12:55 p.m. update: Wicked cool cloud formations on the tail end of the storm @capitalweather http://t.co/FOrqr7dSBB And here comes the weather into downtown B'more. @capitalweather http://t.co/Vfby6sXXq0 12:38 p.m. update: 12:30 p.m. update: 12:22 p.m. update: 12:15 p.m. update: 12:10 p.m. update: 12:08 p.m. update: 12:03 p.m. update: @capitalweather Pouring down rain in Columbia. 11:55 a.m. update: 11:50 a.m. update: 11:45 a.m update: @capitalweather It got dark super quick. The downpour has begun in Bethesda. 11:36 a.m. update: .@capitalweather Yup, strong rain just started over Herndon with some lightning/thunder. 11:28 a.m. update: @capitalweather it just started raining so fast and violently in Germantown that the birds and squirrels were caught off guard. That's rare. 11:19 a.m. update 11:05 a.m. update: 10:59 a.m. update: 10:35 a.m. update: Radar view just after 10 a.m. and tornado watch area (outlined in red). (NWS SPC) 10:25 a.m. update: @capitalweather Temp jumped to 70 in Fredericksburg, dewpoint 62.....sunny was trying to peek through the clouds. Storms? #notsure @capitalweather in Frederick


Caps in limbo between Olympic break, NHL stretch run

the guys alone and just get some sweats.” Most players that didn’t go to Sochi went on vacation to one tropical location or another so they could rest while distancing themselves from the game. Returning to Washington and practice would seem to have the excitement of going back to school following a long break. “Everyone’s excited to get to the rink, excited to play again. I wish we could have that couple week break every year. It would be a nice little recharge in the middle of the season,” Braden Holtby said. “I think you can tell everyone is excited to get going in practice. Everyone’s out there 15-20 minutes early, which is unheard of for our team. It’s good to see.” But with several days still before everyone on the roster returns, Oates is conscious of balancing the need to get players back into game shape while refocusing them for the push to the playoffs without allowing practice to become stale. So for these first few days, skates have been short and focused on conditioning. Friday marked the first day that any real contact was involved as players did some one-on-one battle drills. In order to maintain the structure of a true practice and bring in a few players that weren’t off for 10 days, the Capitals called up Michael Latta, Casey Wellman, Ryan Stoa and Dane Byers from Hershey for two practices to push the pace before sending them back to the Bears on Friday afternoon. Oates didn’t even do video sessions in the first few days, so as not to overwhelm the players. Deciding what specifically to focus on, both for the group and individuals, is also tricky given that the Capitals haven’t played a game since Feb. 8. “We’ll start doing individual stuff, talking about things the next couple of days,” Oates said. “Just trying to get them back into a groove, then when everybody’s back, some real practices to get ready.” The Capitals’ Olympians likely won’t be back in practice until Tuesday at the earliest, though. Alex Ovechkin remains in Sochi with his father, who underwent heart surgery earlier in the week. Martin Erat, whose Czech Republic squad was also eliminated in the quarterfinals, is planning to take a few days in Nashville where his wife, Vera, recently gave birth to their second child before heading back to Washington, according to General Manager George McPhee.


Should NHL players continue to participate in the Olympics?

Canada celebrates winning the gold medal Sunday in Sochi after a 3-0 win over Sweden. (REUTERS/Jim Young) As Canada captured its second consecutive gold medal Sunday on the final day of the Sochi Olympics, the discussion on whether NHL players should continue to participate in the Winter Games was already well underway. NHL players have taken part in five consecutive Olympics but the league and the players’ union have made no decisions about their involvement for the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The debate is a familiar one – owners aren’t keen on interrupting the NHL regular season and having their players can risk injury with national teams, but the chance to represent their countries is invaluable to the players and their participation draws more attention to the sport. “There are lots of people who have lots of opinions. Any of us could give you all the pros and cons involved,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters in Sochi last week. “You can get quotes from any owner or any executive in the NHL on either side of the decision, and as I’ve said there haven’t been any discussions in that regard, and it’s not anything we’re focused on and dealing with right now.” There were several injuries suffered by high-profile NHL players in Sochi, highlighting what has long been one of the biggest concerns from the perspective of league ownership and management. Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg, long hampered by back problems, left the Swedish national team in Sochi because of a herniated disk and is expected to miss two months after undergoing surgery. Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin of Russia will miss two to three weeks with a sprained ankle. And on Friday, the New York Islanders announced that John Tavares, their star player and captain, would miss the rest of the season after injuring his left knee while playing for Canada in Sochi. Tavares tore his medial collateral ligament and meniscus and may need a six months of rehab, according to Newsday, prompting Islanders General Manager Garth Snow to lash out at Olympic involvement. “Are the IIHF or IOC going to reimburse our season ticket holders now? It’s a joke,” Snow told Newsday, referring to the international governing bodies for hockey and the Olympics. “They want all the benefits from NHL players playing in the Olympics and don’t want to pay when our best player gets hurt.” Then


Wonkbook: Inside the crisis-era Fed

Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblog’s morning policy news primer by Evan Soltas. To subscribe by e-mail, click here. Send comments, criticism, or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, click here. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Wonkbook's Number of the Day: 1.9 percent. That's the size of the Obama administration's proposed cut in Medicare payments in 2015. Wonkbook's Graph of the Day: Wonkbook's Top 5 Stories: 1. Top story: Inside the crisis-era Fed Fed misread crisis in 2008, records show. Primary source: Check this out: Yellen to testify before Senate panel next week. As crisis loomed, Yellen made wry and forceful calls for action. @JohnJHarwood Fed's aid in crisis stretched worldwide. How the Fed saw a recession, then did, and then didn't. @JustinWolfers In a dark year, a lighter side at the Fed. Explainer: Fannie Mae payments to U.S. to exceed bailout. Housing sales fall to 18-month low as a result of low inventories. @ObsoleteDogma How the G20 wants to spur global growth. Music recommendations interlude: Top opinion CLARK: Your ancestors, your fate. VINIK: What our economy needs if we are to raise the minimum wage. FRANK: Winners take all, but can't we still dream? DAYEN: How to get millenials out of their parents' basements and into the economy. DIONNE: Obama needs to do more, not less, on his own. Got to be kidding me interlude: 2. Why it's hard to cut health spending U.S. proposes cuts to rates in Medicare payments. Plan to limit some drugs in Medicare is criticized. Health care law’s small-business marketplace not attracting many small businesses. Court rules against Notre Dame in contraception case. Numbers in context interlude: 3. It's not quite an 'Army of one,' but it's getting there Pentagon unveils plan to shrink army to pre-World War II level. U.S. military unveils plan to cut personnel costs. Have we been living in an age of austerity? Role reversal interlude: 4. Climate change's fiscal fires Obama to propose shift in wildfire funding. As smart-grid funding winds down, energy leaders assess progress. Interview: Railroads transporting oil tighten safety. Supreme Court to consider EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Education wonk interlude: 5. Why we need the Frye standard Opponents of same-sex marriage take 'bad-for-children' argument to court. Ohio gay-marriage push divides some advocates. Oh Internet interlude: Wonkblog Roundup Have we been living in an age of austerity How rich


25 maps and charts that explain America today

are (Beer Institute) The number of brewery permits issued last year soared to new all-time highs, with about a third concentrated in just four states — California, Washington, Colorado and Oregon — according to a beer industry trade group. Read the original story for a full state chart. 6. Where people are moving to and from The map above comes from Atlas Van Lines and shows where their customers were headed last year. Most states had a steady balance of people coming and going, but the blue ones below are where the movement was mostly inbound and the yellow ones show states that were losing people faster than they were gaining them. 7. The 47 states where ‘conservatives’ outnumber ‘liberals’ 8. The states whose legislatures are more partisan than Congress This chart shows state legislature polarization with the dotted line in the middle representing the U.S. Congress. The half of state legislatures to the right of that line are more partisan — though many are unified by party so they’re at least more productive, too. 9. Where unemployment has recovered (sort of) 10. Where long-term unemployment is at historic highs Before the recession smashed the record, long-term unemployment peaked at 26 percent thirty years ago. But in 2013 it was higher than that in 41 states and D.C. It’s highest in D.C., New Jersey and Florida, where more than 45 percent of the jobless are long-term unemployed (i.e. unable to find work after about six months of looking). 11. Mapping the geographical digital divide Gizmodo map 12. Where the recession never happened There is a recovery underway, but it’s uneven, as depicted by the map above, from a report by the National Association of Counties. The darkest-blue counties never experienced a recession—as measured by economic output—while the lighter blue ones recovered by 2013. The grey ones are still working through their recoveries. 13. Where the Protestants are 14. The states that tax booze the hardest Kentucky taxes wine the most; Tennessee leads on beer and Washington has the highest taxes on spirits. Map: Wine Excise Tax Rates by State, 2014. (Tax Foundation) Map: Beer Excise Tax Rates by State, 2014. (Tax Foundation) 15. The 8 states that ban educators from promoting homosexuality “No promo homo” states are those that prohibit educators from discussing homosexuality in a positive way or, in some cases, at all. States that prohibit enumeration are those


Developer Edens plots mixed-use project for Giant store north of Old Town

an Edens project in Northeast D.C., recently added a full-service restaurant, Bidwell. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) In Alexandria, Edens has purchased a Giant grocery store at 530 First St. and is under contract to buy the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control store next door, according to Steve Boyle, managing director of Edens. Between the two properties, Edens controls the entire block bordered by First Street to the north, North Pitt Street to the east, Montgomery Street to the south and North St. Asaph Street to the west. Boyle said the company was planning a mix of residential units and retail, referring to it as “another opportunity to enrich the existing community in really what we call North Old Town.” Edens has not yet submitted plans to the county, but it has begun discussing the project with prospective retailers, including some this week during a meeting of the International Council of Shopping Centers. A sticking point might be the future of the Giant store. Stephanie Landrum, chief operating officer at the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, a nonprofit economic development group, said that Giant opened in 1951 and was the chain’s oldest operating store. After meeting with Giant officials, she said she wasn’t sure the company was prepared to close the store even though the chain will be opening a store in nearby Potomac Yard. “I think there’s some emotional, nostalgic connection to it,” she said. A spokesman for Giant, Jamie Miller, said the company had not made a final decision on the First Street location. “Giant is currently in discussions with Edens regarding their development plans at 530 First St. in Alexandria. We have not made any final decisions concerning our existing store or our potential participation in the new development,” he said in an e-mail. Landrum said the area around the Giant was probably ready for redevelopment and Edens had the capacity to redefine the location. “I think Edens is really popular right now. People like what they’ve done in other places and companies want to be a part of their projects,” she said. She said that, in general, Alexandria was drawing more interest from developers and retailers now that some industrial sites along the Potomac River had been opened up for development. “There just seems to be a lot of buzz about the waterfront and Old Town,” she said. Follow Jonathan O’Connell on Twitter: @oconnellpostbiz jonathan.oconnell@washpost.com


Security flaw challenges the myth of the invincible Mac

Mac vs PC Commercial - Biohazard Suit "You're lucky you don't have to deal with this stuff, Mac," a biohazard suit-clad PC played by John Hodgman said about viruses to Justin Long's Mac in one of the ads in an iconic line of commercials that started airing in 2006. For years, Mac users have enjoyed a smug sense of superiority on this front. But a new vulnerability is the latest sign that the security of Apple products doesn't actually live up to the hype. When you see a lock icon next to the URL in your browser, that's a sign that your communications are protected with the SSL encryption technology. But on Friday, Apple admitted that its version of SSL had a fatal flaw that could allow hackers to intercept and modify users' secure communications. The situation became even worse over the weekend as researchers reported that the issue affected not only mobile devices running Apple's iOS operating system but also many applications within the Mac OS X laptop and desktop suite, including Mail and Safari. Apple told Reuters that the company was working on an OS X patch Sunday night. The SSL bug is just the most recent of the company's security woes. The company's "Buy A Mac" Web page once proudly declared that OS X "defends against viruses and other malicious applications, or malware" with "virtually no" user effort. But that changed in June 2012, after up to over half a million OS X users were reportedly infected with a trojan malware called "Flashback." Some computers on Apple's own network were hacked in a 2013 breach that reportedly was similarly related to Java. Apple's tiny market share has always given the Cupertino, Calif., company an unfair advantage. Since the dawn of the Internet age, Macs have been far outnumbered by PCs, leading hackers to devote a disproportionate share of their resources to Windows malware. The payoff for discovering or exploiting a security vulnerability was much greater if you targeted the more popular operating system. So, as technology became networked like never before, Windows and its programs were put through a more rigorous gauntlet than Apple's products. While Apple products have risen to prominence again thanks to the success of mobile devices, Android controls the majority of that market -- and attracts the vast majority of the malware. The more rigorous app approval process for iOS devices is part


Caught on tape: violent explosions on the sun and moon

On September 11 last year, a large asteroid crashed into the moon. On January 28 this year, the sun unleashed a vivid flare. In both cases, telescopes were strategically positioned to record these dramatic events like never before. Lunar explosion Space.com reports The space rock hit at a staggering speed of 37,900 mph (61,000 km/h), gouging out a new crater roughly 131 feet (40 meters) wide in an ancient lava-filled lunar basin known as Mare Nubium … The scientists think the boulder behind the crash was about 880 lbs. (400 kg) and measured between 2 and 4.5 feet (0.6 and 1.4 meters) in diameter. Screen shot of asteroid exploding on moon (YouTube/Jm Madiedo) You can watch it here: The footage was grabbed by Jose Madiedo, a professor at the University of Huelva, who operates two moon-watching telescopes in the south of Spain, part of the Moon Impacts Detection and Analysis System, according to Space.com. Solar flare NASA says NASA’s IRIS records dramatic solar flare (NASA) Watch below: "On Jan. 28, 2014, NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, witnessed its strongest solar flare since it launched in the summer of 2013," NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center reported. "Solar flares are bursts of x-rays and light that stream out into space, but scientists don't yet know the fine details of what sets them off." Prior to the eruption, scientists had intentionally pointed IRIS towards the region where the flare occurred. “… IRIS can’t look at the entire sun at the same time, so the team must always make decisions about what region might provide useful observations,” NASA writes. “On Jan. 28, scientists spotted a magnetically active region on the sun and focused IRIS on it.”


Minorities could top off leadership roles at several agencies

A few items that caught our attention on Tuesday: (AP/Carolyn Kaster). Top agency posts going to minorities: Pentagon officials say reducing Army would entail greater risks: Republicans in midst of ‘Stop Government Abuse Week’: Military health care is far from uniform: Do the feds or the states own disaster relief?: EPA expects less inspections and enforcement through 2018:


Yes, the drug war really is pretty awful. A response to Charles Lane.

minors aren’t yet able to appreciate risk, or understand the full consequences of an activity like sex. Therefore, they’re unable to legally consent. And therefore, we make some activities off-limits to them that are legal for adults, even knowing that those laws will still occasionally be broken. As for the rise in prescription drug abuse, yes, part of it is due to addicts taking advantage of wider availability of opioids. But part of it is also the result of a series of misguided federal policies that have sacrificed the well-being of pain patients and the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship in order to stop people from getting high. Well-intentioned doctors have been fleeing pain treatment altogether, creating an opening for less scrupulous doctors and “pill mills” to fill the void. Incidentally, as the government has cracked down on the availability of pain medication, the addicts are going back to heroin. And if drug abusers so widely misuse scientifically manufactured opioids, how realistic is it to say, as some legalizers do, that legalization would protect heroin addicts from impurities and overdoses? It would at least let them be sure of what they’re getting. During alcohol prohibition, deaths and hospitalizations from alcohol poisoning soared, due to the nasty, metal-tainted booze produced by the black market. People still drink themselves to death today on legal, regulated, openly-sold alcohol. That isn’t a convincing argument for returning to prohibition. I don’t mean to suggest that there are no good arguments for legalizing any currently illicit substance. The case for decriminalizing pot is strong, as long as accompanying limitations on use by minors and other regulations have real teeth. But let’s discuss the issue on its actual merits — and not pretend that legalization is a panacea for drug abuse, and its related social ills, any more than prohibition was, or is. I don’t know that anyone is arguing that legalization is a panacea for drug abuse. Nor is anyone arguing that legalization will cure all problems associated with drug use. Personally, I believe that consenting adults should be free to choose what they do and don’t put into their bodies. But even if you don’t agree with that general principle, the argument here is simple: There’s compelling evidence that the efforts to which the government has gone to prevent people from getting high have caused far more harm than any illicit drugs themselves ever could.


Rare polio-like illness could have affected up to 25 children

A polio-like illness may have affected up to 25 children in California, leading to the paralysis of some limbs, according to researchers. Doctors are still not sure what caused this illness; some of the children involved have been found to have enterovirus 68, a rare virus associated with respiratory illness. A report about five of the cases was authored by Keith Van Haren, a pediatric neurologist at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, along with Emmanuelle Waubant, a neurology professor at the University of California in San Francisco. The report will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Philadelphia (which runs April 26 to May 3). Waubant said Tuesday that over the past year and a half, the two doctors have seen five cases, with children ranging between ages 2 and 16. There are also another 15 to 20 cases that have been reported to public health officials, although those have not been reviewed yet to see if they are suffering from the same illness, she said. The illness is worrisome, not in the least because doctors haven’t found a common cause. “This is not a cluster in that the cases were not all grouped together,” Waubant said. “These children have nothing in common.” Polio is what’s known as an enterovirus, but there are also plenty of what are called non-polio enteroviruses. (The most well-known non-polio enterovirus might be hand, foot and mouth disease.) These viruses are very common in the United States, infecting about 10 to 15 million people each year, said Jane Seward, deputy director of the viral diseases division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Most enterovirus infections are mild and maybe even asymptomatic,” Seward said. “This is a very rare outcome.” Seward said that the CDC is ready to conduct any tests or do any consulting as needed. “We are taking this seriously and making sure that we’re doing our best to collect all the information that’s needed on these cases and to also make sure that, if there are additional cases, they will be identified promptly,” Waubant said. Two of the five children in the case report tested positive for enterovirus 68. Some of the children had had a benign upper respiratory infection a few days before they began experiencing severe weakness in at least one limb, Waubant said. The exact symptoms varied in the five children,