A local’s guide to Atlanta

Atlanta has come a long way in its status as an overlooked and underrated city of the South. The film and TV industries have tapped into its particular splendor — there’s been a wild uptick in things shot here — and the tech industry has jumped on the nation’s little special secret. African American history is woven into the city’s story as much as Southern food and Coca-Cola. It’s the hometown and burial place of Martin Luther King Jr. and was a pivotal place for the civil rights movement. But we implore you to go deeper than what you think you know. Experience Atlanta through its eclectic neighborhoods — some kitschy and some hipster, some suited for shopping and discovering local music, and some quaint, perfect for sitting at a sidewalk cafe with a cup of coffee. All these mix to ensure that once you leave, Georgia will always be on your mind. Inman Park borders the BeltLine Eastside Trail, a network of multi-use trails throughout the city and perfect for those who want to bike, walk or skate to and from spots during their visit. The neighborhood is known for its thriving beer and cocktail scene; this is the site of many Atlantans’ favorite bars. Choose from hotels or bed-and-breakfasts, or go the Airbnb route when staying here. Find this location. label: In the action Decatur is a suburb east of the city limits, but only by five miles, so it’s easy to get in and out. The Square has a range of restaurants — Iberian Pig, with Spanish-style tapas and cocktails; Raging Burrito for a twist on Mexican eats; and French bistro Cafe Lily — as well as locally owned shops to keep you busy while breaking from the city. You’ll find hotels within walking distance from the Square as well as short-term rentals. Find this location. label: Low-key West Egg Cafe is a popular spot for weekend brunches, but this Westside spot also makes good grab-and-go options — especially the build-your-own-biscuits and the tofu scramble that can be tucked in a tortilla. For a true Southern experience, go for the pimento cheese grits, with all ingredients made in-house and to the precise texture (this is key). BTW: Label: Breakfast address: West Egg Cafe, 1100 Howell Mill Rd., Atlanta, Ga. 30318 latlng: phone: 404-872-3973 website: http://www.westeggcafe.com Twitter: westeggcafe instagram: westeggcafe How do Southerners do breakfast? The way Thumbs


A local’s guide to Philadelphia

-75.179897 phone: website: https://schuylkillrivertrail.com/ twitter: schuylkillbanks instagram: schuylkillbanks An addition to the bustling Delaware River waterfront, Cherry Street Pier was built into the shell of a century-old municipal pier. Housed in it are artist studios; food trucks offering Indonesian fare, homemade biscuits, salads and sandwiches; ice cream; a bar serving craft beer and spirits; and art. Practically every weekend brings some type of event, such as flea markets, music and performances. It’s a great place to mingle and take in views of the river, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and possibly groups of folks doing yoga next door at Race Street Pier. BTW: address: Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd. Philadelphia, Pa. 19106 latlng: phone: 215-923-0818 website: https://www.cherrystreetpier.com/ twitter: cherrystpier instagram: cherrystreetpier Everyone knows the Philadelphia Museum of Art — the columns, the steps, the “Rocky” scene. But the city has more than hits of the classic fine-arts world. The Institute of Contemporary Art, on the University of Pennsylvania campus, was created with students in mind and showcases up-and-coming and not-yet-discovered artists. One case in point: Andy Warhol. The museum hosted his first solo show in 1965, which helped launch his career. BTW: address: Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19104 latlng: phone: 215-898-7108 website: https://icaphila.org/ twitter: icaphiladelphia instagram: icaphiladelphia One of the most calming retail experiences you may ever have. Between the sounds of the indoor pond and the beautifully crafted Japanese items, this store, founded by husband-and-wife team Kaz and Yuka Morihata, is a respite from Center City buzz. The couple regularly jaunts to Japan to scout home goods and beauty and wellness products, like shiatsu pressure-point sticks and charcoal blotting papers. BTW: address: Rikumo, 1216 Walnut St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19107 latlng: phone: 215-609-4972 website: https://rikumo.com/ twitter: rikumojapan instagram: rikumo Philly loves craft beer and celebrates it at the start of every June with the ultra-popular Philly Beer Week. Yards Brewing Company has been a local institution for over two decades, and at its taproom and brewery, you can try over 20 of their own brews. Its dining menu is beer-friendly (Bavarian-style pretzels, made in-house with an IPA, Yards mustard and Philly Pale Ale beer cheese; a 14-hour smoked brisket; or a BBQ Board, for going all-out with your choice of ribs, brisket or chicken). Want to know more about the brewery and its process? They offer 40-minute tours daily. BTW: address: Yards


White House restores trade benefits for Ukraine after more than two months of delay

The White House trade representative restored some of Ukraine’s trade privileges Friday evening, reinstating benefits that were initially prepared for approval in late August. The paperwork was expected to be routine at the time, but then-national security adviser John Bolton had warned U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer that President Trump would oppose any action that benefited Kyiv, said people briefed on the matter. Following Bolton’s warning, the White House pulled the paperwork back. Bolton resigned in September but the paperwork continued to languish. It was finally approved Friday. The move, announced by Lighthizer’s office, comes a day after The Washington Post reported on Bolton’s exhortation. The revelation of that exchange between Bolton and Lighthizer was the first sign that the administration’s suspension of assistance to Ukraine extended beyond Trump’s withholding of $391 million in military aid to the country — the action at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. In a statement, the White House said it suspended Ukraine’s ability to export some products to the United States on a duty-free basis in December 2017 amid long-standing concerns that the country was routinely violating U.S. intellectual property rights. It decided to reinstate roughly a third of them now, the statement said, because the Ukrainian government passed a law in 2018 that addressed U.S. concerns. But the restoration would have come sooner, current and former administration officials said, if it weren’t for Bolton’s warning in August. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “It was pulled back shortly before it was going to POTUS’s desk,” one administration official said, referring to the Ukraine paperwork and using an acronym for the U.S. president. “Bolton intervened with Lighthizer to block it.” It is not clear whether Trump directed Bolton to intervene over Ukraine’s trade privileges or was even aware of the discussion. The move coincided with Trump’s withholding of congressionally authorized military aid and security assistance earmarked for Ukraine. A chief subject of the Democrat-led inquiry is the allegation that the president did so to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the business activities of former vice president Joe Biden’s son Hunter. Legal experts said the use of U.S. trade policy to further Trump’s personal political agenda would constitute another improper use of his office. “A month into the impeachment inquiry, and we are still learning every day of new damning evidence of the president’s


PM Update: Light shower possible this evening before a rainy Sunday morning

If you are going to World Series Game 4 tonight, lucky you! I think the majority of the game will remain dry, but can’t rule out a light shower or two as we progress through the evening. Otherwise, it will be a rather cloudy and somewhat humid night at the ballpark, before a rainy Sunday morning. We should be dry again well before first pitch Sunday night. Listen to our daily D.C. forecasts: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Echo | More options Through Tonight: View the Tomorrow (Sunday): See Ian Livingston’s forecast through next week. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Gridlock. Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your email inbox?


House issues subpoenas to two OMB officials in impeachment inquiry; Trump praises Giuliani

representative restored some of Ukraine’s trade privileges Friday evening, reinstating benefits that have been stalled since late August over concerns that President Trump would oppose any action that benefited Kyiv. The move comes a day after The Washington Post reported on an exchange between Robert E. Lighthizer and then-national security adviser John Bolton. Bolton, according to people briefed on the matter, warned Lighthizer against restoring Ukraine’s ability to export some products to the United States on a duty-free basis. The revelation of that exhortation was the first sign that the administration’s suspension of assistance to Ukraine extended beyond Trump’s withholding of $391 million in military aid and security assistance to the country — the action at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. In a statement, the White House said it suspended Ukraine’s ability to export some products to the United States on a duty-free basis in December 2017 amid long-standing concerns that the country was routinely violating U.S. intellectual property rights. It decided to reinstate roughly a third of them now, the statement said, because the Ukrainian government passed a law in 2018 that addressed U.S. concerns. But the restoration would have come sooner, current and former administration officials said, if it weren’t for Bolton’s warning in August. Read more here. 5:30 p.m.: Federal judge orders Mueller grand jury materials released to House Judiciary Committee in impeachment inquiry A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release certain grand jury materials from former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation to the House Judiciary Committee as a part of its impeachment inquiry. The opinion, from Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell for the District of Columbia, directs the Justice Department to disclose the files by Wednesday. The order comes after a July lawsuit from the Judiciary Committee, which sought a court order for the release of redacted portions of Mueller’s 448-page final report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as grand jury materials cited in the report. The ruling said the House panel may also come back to court to seek additional material if needed. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) cheered the decision in a statement late Friday afternoon. “The court’s thoughtful ruling recognizes that our impeachment inquiry fully comports with the Constitution and thoroughly rejects the spurious White House claims to the contrary,” Nadler said. “This grand jury


National Zoo records birth of one kudu and death of another

Perhaps more vividly than on many occasions, the natural cycle of birth and death was demonstrated in the past month at the National Zoo, involving an animal known as the lesser kudu. The kudu is a type of antelope, and one lesser kudu was born at the zoo on Oct. 14 and a second died there on Sept. 28. And by what may seem a tragic coincidence, the kudu that died last month was the grandmother of this month’s newborn. On Oct. 14, a kudu named Rogue gave birth to a male calf. No name for the newborn was immediately available, but the zoo said he was observed soon after birth to be nursing, moving well and exploring his environment. He was healthy and strong, the zoo said. Rogue is the daughter of a kudu named Shirley. It was Shirley, 9, who died last month after what the zoo described as “complications during the birthing process.” Shirley’s calf was stillborn, the zoo said. Shirley came to the zoo three years ago, officials said. She was also grandmother to Kushukuru, who was born at the zoo Jan. 12 and continues to reside there. Like this month’s arrival, Kushukuru was born to Rogue. Under human care, the zoo said, the median life expectancy of a female lesser kudu is “around 5 years.” But the zoo said it can be as long as 18. The zoo said the lesser kudu is listed as “ near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It said they number about 100,000 in the wild, in Africa, but the population is declining. martin.weil@washpost.com


Man found shot to death in Northeast D.C. on Saturday night

Homicide detectives are seeking the public’s help after a 22-year-old man was shot to death Saturday night in Northeast Washington. D.C. police said 22-year-old Aaron George of Northeast was found in the 4200 block of East Capitol Street NE, near the Benning Road Apartments. He had been shot several times, they said. Police responded to the scene at about 9:33 p.m. for a report of a shooting. D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel who responded found George was dead at the scene, police said. Police offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the slaying, and said tips may be called in to 202-727-9099, or submitted anonymously by text message to 50411. spencer.hsu@washpost.com


How Brittany Charboneau went from an office worker to an aspiring Olympian

10 and 12 miles in different parts of Colorado and working with a team of trainers to make sure she is prepared physically and mentally. Charboneau set the course record at the 2017 Colfax Marathon in Denver before claiming the top spot in the 2018 Los Angeles Marathon, which allowed her to qualify for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in February. “After winning the Colfax Marathon in 2017, I knew I wasn’t far off from hitting the qualifying standards for the Olympic trials,” Charboneau said. “Since [Los Angeles], I’ve gone through different phases of worrying about trials, but I started to let that go to focus on doing everything I can do today.” Charboneau has her eyes set on breaking another course record when she competes in Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon. Charboneau has spent the majority of her training preparing to beat the marathon’s record time of 2:37 that was set in 1990 by Olga Markova. “Chasing the record is fun because it adds another objective to your running and training,” Charboneau said. “My training has been less intense, and I’ve been faster than I’ve ever been. It’s been a motivator, but I’m proud of myself that I haven’t let it weigh on me all season.” Charboneau has been trying to take a lot of pressure off herself and go back to having fun when running, which is why she decided to run in the Marine Corps Marathon. “I had to reassess a lot of things and take a step back to look at what is important to me in running,” Charboneau said. “I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because those were the world majors and we’re going into the pre-Olympic year. I wanted to pick a fun race, and I’ve heard so many good things from every runner I know that ran the Marine Corps Marathon and it’s one of the best races they’ve run. Taking a lot of the pressure off, and D.C. is one of my favorite places to run in. It has a cool vibe, and I’m kind of a history buff.” With the Marine Corps Marathon and Olympic trials looming, Charboneau had to put acting, her second passion, on the back burner to focus on running. However, she still finds ways to manage both career paths. Acting came into Charboneau’s life around the same time she decided to launch her professional running


Disabled Colombian veterans prep for 44th annual Marine Corps Marathon

land mine. The group of disabled athletes met at the Washington Monument with other Colombian members of the military and law enforcement for some last-minute training and socializing on the eve of the marathon, a 26.2-mile race expected to draw about 30,000 people. The race starts Sunday in Arlington and leads runners over the Potomac River, through Georgetown, Rock Creek Park and around the Mall. Members of the Colombian group plan to use hand-pedaled bicycles or prostheses that allow them to walk or run. The event was pulled together by the Colombian Embassy, with assistance from United for Colombia, a nonprofit foundation with offices in the District and Bogota that provides medical and rehabilitative services for people who have been injured during Colombia’s internal strife. Gabriella Febres-Cordero, its founder, said the organization helps obtain prosthetics for civilians, military personnel and even injured guerrillas who have renounced conflict. Bringing them to Washington for the marathon is a way to celebrate their recovery. “Look at the faces — you don’t need words. It’s absolutely heartfelt,” she said. Marcial Calderon, 45, of Bogota, was commanding a special forces unit against rebel forces in Cañon de la Llorona in August 2005 when an improvised explosive device exploded in his face, blinding him and inflicting severe burns. Now a law student, he intends to run while tethered to his guide, Catalina Alvarez, a Medellin-based employee of United for Colombia. Pierry Ramirez, 43, a former police officer from Bogota, lost one leg and the use of the other when an improvised explosive device exploded while he was driving behind a military convoy in Sibate about 25 years ago. Ramirez, who was off-duty at the time, remembers only a flash of light that changed his life forever. Thoughts of family — particularly his parents, who relied on him — helped him go on. Now, Ramirez heads the Achilles International chapter in Bogota, a group that offers support to athletes with disabilities and also made the marathon trip possible. “My mission is to do this sport in my country,” he said. Cardenas was leading an effort to eradicate coca in the mountains near Tumaco in August 2018 when he stepped on the land mine, presumably planted by narcotics traffickers. The explosion threw him into the air, and he landed in its crater. “When I tried to stand up, I saw I didn’t have a leg,” Cardenas said, speaking


It’s not easy to spot disinformation on Twitter. Here’s what we learned from 8 political ‘astroturfing’ campaigns.

are paid to post messages in these astroturfing accounts. By looking at digital traces left by astroturfing accounts, we found unique patterns that reflect what social scientists call the principal-agent problem. The people behind astroturfing accounts are not intrinsically motivated participants of a genuine grass-roots campaign, so they will try to minimize their workload by taking shortcuts just to finish assigned tasks. Astroturfers (the “agents”) will find all kinds of ways to make their lives easier instead of doing what their boss (the “principal”) would like them to do. In addition, the agents’ actions may reflect the timing of instructions they got from the principal to achieve specific campaign goals at key campaign moments. True grass-roots activists, in contrast, usually react in a more organic fashion, with more variation in message contents and timing. The secret service agents in South Korea, for instance, were instructed to cover a specific agenda at the beginning of every workday. They apparently considered their work a 9-to-5 job: The figure below shows that most of their tweets (the red line) were posted during office hours on weekdays, while ordinary Koreans (black, dashed line) tweet more in the evening and on the weekends. The same is true for other astroturfing campaigns. Other research has noted, for instance, that Russian trolls tend to be more active during office hours, St. Petersburg time. Of course, not every account that tweets during office hours is a troll account. So what other hints are there? As we show in our research, message coordination is another clue. Any information campaign — even genuine grass-roots movements — will feature large numbers of accounts that post similar tweets. But because astroturfers receive centralized instructions and try to avoid having to work too hard, they are much more likely to post similar or even identical tweets within a very short time frame. To detect and illustrate this phenomenon, we traced networks of coordinated messaging, connecting accounts that tweet or retweet the same content within a one-minute time window or that frequently retweet each other. Coordinated messages are a giveaway The differences between regular users and astroturfers are stark. In the South Korean election case, there are 153,632 instances of account pairs posting the same original tweet within a minute, while this kind of co-tweeting does not occur once among a group of ordinary Korean-speaking users of similar size. You can find the corresponding


Downtown D.C. newcomers have so many more options for housing, restaurants and shops than I did when I arrived in the 1980s

If you’re relocating to downtown Washington, you’ll have a lot more options than I did when I first arrived. When I moved to the District in 1987 to go to school at Catholic University, downtown was completely different from what it is today. The area felt like a place for tourists and for people who went there to work. Most people didn’t stay past 6 p.m., unless they were going to the theater. The streets were absolutely quiet when the commuters had gone home at the end of the day. If you were planning on a major shopping trip, you would have better luck shopping in a mall in the suburbs. It wasn’t really a destination for fine dining. Most restaurants were geared toward the lunch crowd for the businesses and government employees. There were hotels for tourists and people in town for conferences. This really was not an area that was even partially residential at the time. In some ways, the limited dining choices were a benefit to the locals — you had a much better chance of running into a D.C. notable or visiting celebrity. The Capital One Arena is considered one of the driving forces that revitalized D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood and additionally gave the Washington Capitals, the Washington Wizards and the Washington Mystics a home arena. (The Mystics now play at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast Washington.) With the Capital One Arena drawing big crowds for sporting events and concerts, this naturally caused a need in the area for more restaurants and bars. District ChopHouse, Jaleo, Capital Grille and Hard Rock Cafe were just the beginning to the many restaurants that would follow. I remember after a long day of visiting museums with my family, our feet were throbbing and we were starving. We thought our fate was to dine at one of the many hot dog carts or have astronaut ice cream from the Air and Space Museum. We were thrilled to find the Hard Rock Cafe. There are several bars — including Fado Irish Pub, Rocket Bar, Clyde’s, Bar Louie and Jackpot — that moved in to the area and added to the location’s nightlife. There are now several more retail stores including H&M, Saks Off 5th, Macy’s and J. Crew, just to name a few. For those who don’t like to shop and need lots of help and advice on what to


The Cybersecurity 202: This company wants Democrats to tackle political disinformation with counterterrorism strategy

“is posturing itself to be electronically compromised once again.” Lieu wants to know whether the president’s team pushed out officials whose experience dates back to the Obama administration and why the president has moved key cybersecurity responsibilities to a separate office that isn’t covered by a law mandating the preservation of presidential records. He’s also asking whether the White House has discussed the concerns in the memo with the National Security Agency. PATCHED: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to allow Chinese firm Huawei limited access to the United Kingdom's future 5G network, The company would be limited to “non-contentious” parts of the network, government sources tell the Sunday Times, though it’s unclear what that means. Major U.K. mobile providers have already pushed ahead with using Huawei equipment in their networks, the Guardian previously reported. That could make a Huawei ban costly and time-consuming, a potential deterrent to the U.K. pursuing one. Germany also recently snubbed U.S. warnings and decided to not preemptively ban Huawei, citing the significant costs and time delays it would pose to the county’s plans for launching a 5G network. PWNED: Cybersecurity researchers say that Google and Amazon aren't doing enough to protect their home devices from would-be hackers. Now, Congress wants answers. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) is asking the CEOs of both companies to provide her with answers on how they vet applications for their respective Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices. Dingell cited research from a German cybersecurity company SRLabs, in which researchers created apps that passed both Google and Amazon security-vetting processes. The apps then allowed researchers to eavesdrop on users and attempt to steal their passwords. “While these apps were created and used only for research purposes, there is potential for either copycat apps or that malicious actors have already used these techniques to target consumers and their personal information,” Dingell wrote. Dingell is asking the companies to answer questions including whether they review other apps for these vulnerabilities and whether they would notify users of potential wrongdoing. Members of Congress have previously scrutinized Amazon for allowing contractors to listen to users’ Alexa recordings, which included sensitive information such as passwords and home address, and storing those recordings indefinitely. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.) — Cybersecurity news from the public sector: — Cybersecurity news from the private sector: — Cybersecurity news from abroad: — Coming up:


Police seek public’s help after man is shot to death in Northeast D.C.

THE DISTRICT Homicide detectives are seeking the public’s help after a 22-year-old man was shot to death Saturday night in Northeast Washington. D.C. police said 22-year-old Aaron George of Northeast was found in the 4200 block of East Capitol Street NE near the Benning Road Apartments. He had been shot several times, they said. Police responded to the scene about 9:33 p.m. for a report of a shooting. D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel who responded found George dead at the scene, police said. Police offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the slaying and said tips may be called in to 202-727-9099 or submitted anonymously by text message to 50411. — Spencer S. Hsu A new national monument of sorts, a natural one, was implanted in Washington soil Saturday a few hundred yards behind the White House. A new National Christmas Tree was put in place on the Ellipse, the grassy park area south of the White House, according to the National Park Service. Pointing like a green spire into the gray Saturday sky, it is, according to the Park Service, a 30-foot Colorado blue spruce. It is to be lit Dec. 5 for the first time, during the 97th National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, the Park Service said. It was brought Friday from Palmyra, Pa., and was lifted into place Saturday by crane. It is no easy task to move and maintain so large a tree, the Park Service said. It replaces another Colorado blue spruce that was planted seven years ago but suffered assaults by man and nature. A windstorm on Jan. 3, 2014, inflicted damage, and more harm was caused by someone who tried to climb it last year. — Martin Weil


U.S. exports, imports declined in September

half, while imports were down 4.6 percent, to a nearly two-year low of $206.3 billion. The figures add to indications that Trump’s trade policies are challenging American companies as rising tariffs aimed at China muddle supply chains and add to uncertainty. Other data have shown that the tensions with China have helped to reduce business investment and slow the pace of hiring. Shipments of foods, feeds and beverages tumbled 12.6 percent from August, and exports of vehicles dropped 7.2 percent. Imports of consumer goods were down 5 percent. — Bloomberg News RESTAURANT INDUSTRY Popeyes is planning to bring back its hit chicken sandwich on Nov. 3 in a slam to poultry rival Chick-fil-A, which is closed on Sundays. Popeyes debuted the sandwich in August but ran out within a few weeks, saying demand far exceeded supply. This time, franchisees are staffing up to make sure they have enough workers to make and sell the item. The sandwich’s popularity was a boon for parent Restaurant Brands International last quarter. On Monday, Popeyes reported comparable sales, a key measure of a restaurant’s health, of 9.7 percent, almost double what analysts had projected, according to Consensus Metrix. — Bloomberg News RETAIL Walgreens will shutter nearly 40 percent of the clinics in its stores as the drugstore chain cuts costs and shifts to other businesses it believes will draw more people through its doors. The company said Monday that it will close 150 Walgreens-run clinics by the end of the year, but it will keep open more than 200 that are run in partnership with health-care providers. Drugstore chains like Walgreens started adding small clinics that dole out flu shots and handle relatively minor health issues like sinus infections years ago. But analysts say the chains have struggled to make any money off these clinics, which face growing competition from telemedicine services that allow customers to get care through their smartphones. Walgreens has been focusing more on testing primary care clinics, which offer more extensive care, connected to some of its stores in Kansas City and Houston. The chain also is working on other partnerships with companies like the grocer Kroger to improve its food offerings. Walgreens said Monday that it will open 100 locations for the weight-loss company Jenny Craig at stores nationwide, starting in January. — Associated Press Also in Business LVMH has offered Political uncertainty Czech billionaire — From news services


States wrestles with a loud-and-clear threat to wildlife

Ferry captains will be directed to slow down or reroute to accommodate the orcas. State officials also want to quiet the discord affecting Olympic National Park, a landscape of coastal and mountain wilderness west of Seattle. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, is suing to prevent the Navy from increasing flights over the park, citing effects on both nearby residents and wild animals, including endangered species. These issues have made Washington one of the rare states to recognize sound pollution as a threat to its wildlife. Increasingly, research shows that human-caused noise can be harmful to many species. But little regulation — and even less enforcement — exists in the United States to limit the increasing encroachment of noise on the environment. “The literature has shown that noise fundamentally changes behavior, distributions and reproductive success [for wildlife],” said Jesse Barber, who runs the Sensory Ecology Lab at Boise State University. “We can now clearly say that noise is a pollutant, but that takes some time to work its way into policy.” Washington state Sen. Christine Rolfes (D) said she expects the issue to gain visibility. “It might be one of the next frontiers of pollution regulations,” she said. “I don’t know that people have ever thought of noise as pollution. I certainly wasn’t that aware of it until recently.” Most local noise ordinances address nuisance noise in residential areas, the kind of racket that draws neighbors’ complaints and has been shown to harm human health. Fewer legal guidelines exist to protect wildlife. But states wanting to address the problem face challenges. Noise doesn’t stop at state, county or city boundaries. Many of the loudest sources are related to transportation; short of tearing up highways and relocating airports, officials have no obvious solutions. And law enforcement agencies may not have the resources to patrol with decibel meters and seek out violators. Science has illustrated the harmful effects noise has on wildlife. Several years ago, Barber and a team of scientists installed 15 speakers in an Idaho woodland and played traffic noises to create a “phantom road” over a half-mile of terrain. They found that 30 percent of songbirds moved elsewhere once the noise began, and many other species that remained struggled to gain weight. Early efforts to regulate noise began in 1972, when the Environmental Protection Agency created the Office of Noise Abatement and Control, which set policy standards that


How food companies use packaging to fool you into thinking an item is healthful

Next time you grab a package off the grocery store shelf thinking it looks like a healthful choice, take a beat before you toss it into your cart. The better-for-you allure of it could be as superficial as the wrapper itself. From print color to bottle shape, specific package design elements can have a real influence on the perceived health benefits of the food inside. But unlike explicit written nutrition claims such as “low sodium,” which are subject to strict governmental regulation, the implied health messages of package design are entirely up to the manufacturer. While design techniques are often used fairly to communicate the presence of a more healthful product, they are also sometimes employed in misleading ways. Keep an eye out for these tricks of the trade to avoid being duped by a product with a deceptively healthful veneer. Thin, shapely containers: Images of fields, farms, grains and produce: Muted colors: Brown paper packaging: Transparency: Taken together, these design techniques are not necessarily a bad thing — they will often lead you to products that are genuinely better for you and the planet. But to be a smart consumer, don’t judge a food by its container. At the very least, make a habit of turning a package over to read its ingredient list and nutrition facts before adding it to your cart. localliving@washpost.com


American support for the death penalty inches up, poll finds

After declining considerably in recent years, American support for the death penalty increased this year, fueled by an uptick in political independents backing the practice, according to a new survey. A Pew Research Center poll released Monday found that 54 percent of Americans are in favor of capital punishment for people convicted of murder, up from the 49 percent the same survey found two years ago. Support still remains far below the modern highs registered in the mid-1990s, when four out of five Americans backed the death penalty amid surging violent crime rates nationwide. Since then, capital punishment has grown far less popular and has been utilized much less frequently, with states imposing and carrying out fewer death sentences. The increase in support for the death penalty that Pew is reporting comes as other polls have shown public backing for capital punishment dropping to modern lows. A Pew survey in 2016 found that support for the death penalty had fallen below 50 percent for the first time since 1971. Gallup reported last fall that its own poll registered 55 percent support, the lowest it had seen since 1972. (A Gallup poll conducted last month found that 62 percent of Americans said the death penalty is morally acceptable, which is up from the 58 percent who felt that way last year.) Pew's polls have found less support overall for the death penalty than some other public surveys, so the shift this year brings Pew's findings more in line with Gallup's. As recently as 2007, the share of Americans who backed the death penalty -- 64 percent, according to Pew -- was more than double the 29 percent who did not. Since then, the country has undergone a considerable shift on capital punishment, both in terms of support and the way states do and do not carry out death sentences. There are 19 states that have abandoned capital punishment entirely, and seven of them have done so since 2007, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Other states have issued moratoriums; Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced a moratorium in 2015, highlighting the number of people sentenced to death who were later exonerated. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer has questioned whether the death penalty is constitutional. States that maintain the death penalty and are seeking to execute inmates have struggled to obtain the lethal drugs they need to carry out the


More U.S. workers test positive for meth, cocaine and marijuana, study says

2012, when 3.5 percent of employees tested positive for drugs. “Not only have declines appeared to have bottomed out, but also in some drug classes and areas of the country, drug positivity rates are increasing,” said Barry Sample, senior director of science and technology at Quest Diagnostics. Positive testing for methamphetamine has skyrocketed in the South and Midwest in the past five years. Between 2013 and 2017, positive drug tests for methamphetamine increased by 167 percent in the region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin and 160 percent in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Rates were also high in the Northeast and South Atlantic regions. There also has been a surge in positive tests for cocaine. In Nebraska, there was a 91 percent increase in positive cocaine tests from 2016 to 2017, and an 88 percent increase in Idaho. Quest also reported spikes for positive marijuana tests in states that have made recreational use of the drug legal. There was a 43 percent increase in Nevada, 14 percent in Massachusetts and 11 percent in California. The states also saw increases in positive marijuana tests among safety-sensitive workers, which include pilots and truck drivers, who are regularly drug tested by the U.S. Department of Transportation. “These changing patterns and geographical variations may challenge the ability of employers to anticipate the ‘drug of choice’ for their workforce or where to best focus their drug prevention efforts to ensure a safe and healthy work environment,” Sample said. The increases come as the number of workers testing positive for prescription opioids and heroin have declined, even though the opioid crisis continues to ravage the United States. The rate of drug tests that were positive for a prescription painkiller declined by 17 percent from 2016 to 2017. Tests for a metabolite that is in heroin dropped by 11 percent from 2016 to 2017, a three-year low. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “The depth of our large-scale analysis supports the possibility that efforts by policymakers, employers, and the medical community to decrease the availability of opioid prescriptions and curtail the opioid crisis is working to reduce their use, at least among the working public,” said Kim Samano, scientific director at Quest Diagnostics. Quest said it does not test for synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, a powerful drug that has been involved in the rise of the nation’s overdose death rate.


Study: Legal marijuana could generate more than $132 billion in federal tax revenue and 1 million jobs

Once they get above that, it slows the transition and makes the consumer think twice about making that legal purchase.” Marijuana is legal for adult recreational use in eight states. California, the world’s largest market, started its recreational sales on Jan. 1. Twenty-nine states allow the use of medical marijuana. In the three states where adult use has been legal for the longest period of time – Colorado, Washington and Oregon – there had been a combined total of $1.3 billion in tax receipts, according to the study. The nationwide legalization of marijuana, however, is looking unlikely under the Trump administration. While there has been a bipartisan push in Congress to both legalize marijuana nationally and protect the individual states where it is legal, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has gone after the industry. Last week Sessions made it easier for U.S. Attorneys in places where marijuana is legal to enforce federal law, rescinding Obama-era guidance that discouraged enforcement of federal marijuana law in states that legalized the drug. The decision has been pilloried by the cannabis industry, which argued that Sessions is trying to stop the momentum of a growing business and restart the war on drugs. The decision has been harshly criticized even by some Republicans. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) threatened to hold up the confirmation of Justice Department posts in response to the announcement. Sessions said he’s enforcing federal law, simply directing all U.S. Attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country,” Sessions said in a statement. Some in the industry believe Sessions’s actions could force Congress to step in and regulate the market, or move to legalize marijuana altogether. “Okay, now Congress, do something,” said Morgan Paxhia, managing director at Poseidon Asset Management, which invests in marijuana businesses. “Here’s a chance to do something meaningful that could move the industry in a much safer direction.” To some, there is no safe direction in which the marijuana industry can move. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes marijuana legalization, said doing so would “impose significant costs on taxpayers, resulting from workplace losses, car crashes, lost tourism revenue, administrative enforcement, and a multitude of other issues.” They include, Sabet said, sales to minors and increased marijuana use. “We shouldn’t let Big Marijuana fool us


Facebook’s cryptocurrency won’t help the poor access banks. Here’s what would.

When Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress to advocate for Libra, Facebook’s new venture in blockchain currency, he cast it as a way to alleviate global poverty. Millions of people in the United States, and billions worldwide, lack access to basic banking services in what he characterized as a “stagnant” and exclusionary financial system. “It’s failing them,” said the Facebook chief executive, later adding, “The Libra project is about promoting financial inclusion through a safe, low-cost and efficient way of sending and receiving payments around the world.” Zuckerberg is absolutely right: Banks no longer serve low-profit customers and communities. Deregulation and waves of mergers and consolidations have created banking deserts across the country, where the only ATM in town can charge up to $7 per transaction, and check cashers and payday lenders have filled the void. Even when they make branches available, banks repel low-income depositors with charges and fees, or with three- to five-day payment processing delays that overburden those who need their weekly paychecks to cover their immediate expenses. As a result, 1 in 4 Americans is unbanked or underbanked. Low-income families spend billions of dollars and valuable time paying for checks to be cashed, refilling prepaid debit cards and paying bills in person. But the solution won’t come from a new, privately controlled cryptocurrency system, one rife with potential risks. Financial technology The blockchain ledger may represent a big technological leap forward, but our financial system’s problems with exclusion and inefficiency don’t result from faulty technology. Our current payments system already can provide services to the underbanked and fulfill Libra’s promise to allow users to send money as fast as one sends a text: Venmo, Square, PayPal, credit card apps and other mobile banking platforms perform that function. But all require users to have bank accounts. Public policy dictates that only banks can access the payments system, and the banks made a business decision to drop their least profitable consumers while regulators have stood by. In many ways, cryptocurrency is a solution in search of a problem. Or, rather, it solves one particular problem — making fast and anonymous transactions at the touch of a button — and does that only by bypassing regulatory controls. The Know Your Customer requirements, for example, mandate that banks verify the identity of their customers and stop suspicious activity, which might include funding terrorist groups or sex or drug trafficking. Further restrictions


FreshFarm and Community Foodworks to merge, creating the nation’s third-largest farmers market group

early-child-care providers and school garden programs. “Actually, both organizations are very complementary,” Mogollon said. “We believe that having a strong organization is going to help us bring better services to all our farmers markets, so we could increase the opportunities for farmers.” But at least one farmer who works with FreshFarm said he worries that the merger might mean something else for both the organization and the farmers. “Who’s going to stay and who’s going to go?” wondered Mark Toigo, owner of Toigo Organic Farms. “Because the only reason I see why people [merge] is to, quite frankly, get rid of the fat.” Yet, according to Ann Yonkers, co-founder of FreshFarm, the organization wasn’t looking for a merger. Mogollon suggested the idea to FreshFarm when he saw the organization was searching for a new executive director. The two organizations had worked together on some initiatives and have similar missions. A merger could assist a mature organization such as FreshFarm as it looks to “reach customers who aren’t coming to farmers markets or get into institutional settings where the quality of food is low,” Yonkers said in an interview with The Post. By all accounts, Mogollon is the guy to help grow an organization. In his five years as executive director of Community Foodworks, he developed a number of initiatives to get locally grown produce into the hands of low-income residents, including the Food Hub and “satellite vegetable stands.” This year, Mogollon was one of three executive directors to earn an Excel Award for innovative leadership at nonprofit organizations with annual budgets of $10 million and less. “He saw an opportunity for a niche for Community Foodworks, which was very focused on markets in lower-income areas,” Yonkers said. “This was an area where farmers markets could play a broad new role. He saw that, and he strategically positioned them to do some really important work in those kinds of markets. It wasn’t haphazard. I think it came from a vision he had.” Added Mary Rose Conroy, board chair for Community Foodworks, in a statement provided to The Post: “Having seen Hugo shine throughout the many challenges of growing a small nonprofit, I know he and the staff are more than ready to take our collaboration with FreshFarm to the next level through this merger.” Mogollon is working under a shared services agreement, which means he will serve as executive director for


U-Md. installs sensors to monitor moisture a year after mold infestation

university spokeswoman Katie Lawson. In November, the sensors will be replaced with “smart sensors” that share readings in real time. Michael Kletz, an allergist and immunologist with practices in the District and Northern Virginia who is not affiliated with U-Md., said the sensors could be a useful mold abatement tool. “It’s much easier to get rid of mold when it starts than once it’s already grown,” Kletz said. “The thing about mold is that it tends to increase, or is more likely, when it gets humid. When the humidity is kept to a minimum, there’s less of a chance of the mold growing. But it’s still possible to have mold grow, even in deserts.” The university expects to spend $84,000 a year to keep the sensors working and to monitor the data, Lawson said. The campus purchased 50 additional sensors to keep in reserve in case moisture problems arise in other buildings, university spokeswoman Natifia Mullings said. The introduction of the mold monitoring system follows criticism leveled at the school for its handling of last year’s infestation and for an adenovirus outbreak that left one student dead and more than 40 other students ill. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) called on the university to investigate its response to the adenovirus outbreak. Officials waited 18 days to tell students the virus was present on campus. Olivia Paregol, an 18-year-old freshman with a compromised immune system, died of complications from the virus. A panel assembled in the spring was supposed to deliver a report to the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents this month, but officials don’t expect it to be complete until November, said Tim McDonough, spokesman for the system. “The governor demanded a thorough and transparent investigation of the outbreak, and has urged the regents to act quickly for the sake of the Paregol family and the entire campus community,” said Hogan spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver-Churchill. In a letter to the Paregol family’s attorney, Hogan said he told his staff to “follow up with the University of Maryland and find out why the investigation has not been completed in a timely manner and to express my disappointment in the time it has taken to be responsive to my request.” In Elkton Hall, where Paregol lived, first-year students said they haven’t seen mold this school year. Nearly 600 students were forced to evacuate the dorm a year ago. “This building, I


The prince, the billionaire and the Amazon project that got frozen in the desert

among Saudis until Mohammed came to power in 2017 and cracked down on online dissenters. Many well-known dissidents ended up in prison or in exile; others either joined the government’s propaganda campaign or became targets of an unofficial “troll army” — pro-government tweeters who launched apparently coordinated attacks on the regime’s perceived enemies. “Government-friendly media organizations and ‘influencers’ . . . flood[ed] the online space with propaganda, assisted by hordes of inauthentic accounts, consisting of both bots and human-operated trolls,” according to a research report prepared for Twitter by Iyad el-Baghdadi, a Palestinian living in Norway who has spent years looking into the Saudi government’s online messaging. “This propaganda machine seems to be centrally directed, as various parts of it work together to pump out propaganda, mob any remaining independent accounts, [and] threaten or intimidate” opponents. Baghdadi, who had been working with Khashoggi on a study of Saudi propaganda, said he assisted de Becker and Bezos in their investigation. Baghdadi’s report named Saud al-Qahtani, one of the crown prince’s top advisers, as the regime’s “chief propagandist and ‘troll master.’ ” Qahtani, who has been accused of helping to plan the operation that led to Khashoggi’s killing, used Twitter to warn Saudi dissidents that “you cannot hide behind anonymous accounts.” He encouraged “patriotic citizens” to inform on online critics of the government. Former members of the troll network who have defected from Saudi Arabia describe themselves in Baghdadi’s report as paid messengers whose government-related controllers told them what stories to tell online and which people to target for harassment. “The Saudi army of trolls is probably the best organized in the world,” said Ali al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi political analyst who has been critical of the regime. “The government has created millions of Twitter accounts of real and fake influencers. They have a troll warehouse in Riyadh, with thousands of people working there.” A Twitter spokesperson said this month that the company has “taken action on hundreds of thousands of spammy accounts in Saudi Arabia” that failed to conform with Twitter guidelines requiring state-backed information operations to be transparent about their ties to a government. Twitter also announced that it had detected and permanently suspended six accounts linked to Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled media outlets. The accounts “presented themselves as independent journalistic outlets while tweeting narratives favourable to the Saudi government,” the company said in a blog post. Digital attacks on Bezos


D.C. animal shelter to close for one day after rodent infestation

A rodent infestation is forcing a one-day closure of an animal shelter in Northeast Washington, and the Humane Rescue Alliance is waiving adoption fees for cats and dogs Tuesday and Wednesday to help the organization reduce the number of pets in its care. The facility at 1201 New York Ave. NE will shutter at 5 p.m. Wednesday and needs to relocate about 170 animals, said Stephanie Frommer, senior director of operations for HRA. The presence of rats at the facility has been an ongoing issue that has created adverse reactions and issues for staffers and prompted the need for a day-long extermination effort, Frommer said. Chemicals being used will render the Northeast facility’s two buildings unsafe for humans or animals. The organization also houses animals at a shelter on Oglethorpe Street NW, and many animals will be temporarily moved to that location, Frommer said. Officials hope to create more space by completing as many adoptions as possible Tuesday and Wednesday. Adoption-eligible pets have been spayed or neutered and have been microchipped, officials said, which allowed the group to waive fees. There are more cats on offer than dogs, with more pets available for immediate adoption at the Oglethorpe Street location, Frommer said. In addition to seeking permanent adoptions for dozens of eligible pets, the rescue alliance launched a call to its base of foster homes and its staff to house as many dogs and cats as possible. Frommer said the group will be staffed around the clock Wednesday and Thursday to ensure all the animals are being taken care of and, if needed, will set up temporary crates on Oglethorpe Street or even house pets in its adoption vehicles. “We are not going to be euthanizing any animals as a result of this. That’s not an option for us,” Frommer said. “We will find some spot for everybody.” The New York Avenue facility will close two hours early at 5 p.m. Wednesday and is expected to resume a regular schedule of noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, she said. clarence.williams@washpost.com


Tokyo governor takes on Olympic committee over decision to switch marathons to cooler city

TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee finds itself in a growing row with Tokyo’s powerful governor over its sudden decision to switch next year’s Olympic marathons and race walks to the cooler northern city of Sapporo because of concerns over heat. On Wednesday, at the start of three days of discussions ahead of the 2020 Games, Tokyo’s Gov. Yuriko Koike said it had been a “tremendous shock” to hear of the IOC’s decision to shift races. She demanded a detailed explanation about why the decision had been taken — and said she still wanted them to be held in the capital. “We have less than nine months to go to the games and are now entering the final stages of preparation,” Koike said, in a room packed with Olympic and government officials and sponsors. “We consider it an unprecedented turn of events for the IOC to make such an abrupt proposal with no consultation or discussion whatsoever with the host city Tokyo beforehand.” But John Coates, chairman of the IOC’s Coordination Commission, stood firm, expressing his sympathy but offering no hope of a reversal. The IOC said it took the decision after President Thomas Bach saw television scenes of marathon runners collapsing in extreme heat at the world track and field championships earlier this month in Doha, Qatar. Even though the races there started at midnight, 28 of 68 competitors failed to finish the women’s marathon and 18 of 73 men did not finish. “This was a decision that was taken quickly,” Coates acknowledged. “It was a decision that was taken as a consequence of what we saw in Doha.” Temperatures in Tokyo in July and August when the games will be held regularly exceed 86 degrees, with high humidity adding to the health risks for athletes. The IOC had previously moved up the start time for the marathon to 6 a.m. and race walks to 5:30 a.m. but has now decided that isn’t good enough. Now it wants those races to be shifted 500 miles north to Sapporo, where it says temperatures are forecast to be “5 to 6 degrees Celsius cooler [9 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit] during the day than in Tokyo.” The Tokyo government has said it wants to see “sufficient scientific evidence” to justify the switch, while members of Koike’s own political party complained on Tuesday that no consideration had been made for the athletes who


The Boeing saga highlights the pitfalls of self-regulation

A key innovation was anti-stall software known as MCAS, which Boeing designed to operate based on data from just one sensor, rather than redundant systems, even though this could mean that one flawed set of inputs might baffle pilots and doom a jet. Just such a disaster scenario did occur, not once but twice, first in Indonesia in the fall of 2018 and again in Ethiopia this past March. The combined death toll of 346 forced Boeing to ground its worldwide fleet of 737 Max planes — until early 2020, probably — and to endure withering scrutiny from the media, pilots, airlines and, this week, committees of the House and Senate. Boeing has lost billions in stock market value and sales. It’s a convoluted and technically complex tale, but the gist is that Boeing failed to act on information it had that could have prevented the disasters. Concerns about MCAS, the adequacy of pilot training and other safety-related issues were raised more than once in the company prior to the first crash. Boeing’s top executive, Dennis Muilenburg, apologized to victims’ families in emotional testimony this week. He was less effective in explaining how it could have been that he did not respond aggressively and personally to a Boeing test pilot’s text-message warnings about MCAS as early as 2016. Nothing fundamental changed despite the warnings; even after the second crash, in Ethiopia, Boeing tried to deflect blame and resisted grounding the 737 Max fleet until regulators around the world barred it from their airspace. Only then did the Federal Aviation Administration say that it, too, would bow to safety concerns — a major blow to the international prestige and credibility of U.S. regulators. A more aggressive FAA might have forced Boeing to act earlier, as part of the certification process for the 737 Max. Over the years, however, the giant company, which garners a quarter of its $100 billion-plus annual sales from the Pentagon and deploys a small army of lobbyists in Washington, had prevailed upon lawmakers to allow its own employees to take on more and more of the technical work involved in obtaining FAA certification. Semi-self-regulation appeared to be working fine — until, inevitably, appearances proved misleading. It’s appropriate for Congress to hold Boeing and its executives accountable, but preventing another disaster will require lawmakers themselves to enact a swift, and fully funded, restoration of regulatory capability and credibility.


The Cybersecurity 202: Facebook spyware lawsuit opens a new front in encryption battle

manner of nefarious actors, outweighing any damage. “This should serve as a wake-up call for technology companies, governments and all Internet users,” Cathcart said. “Tools that enable surveillance into our private lives are being abused, and the proliferation of this technology into the hands of irresponsible companies and governments puts us all at risk.” The hack, which WhatsApp first alerted users to in May, was strikingly advanced. It gave hackers access to victims’ private messages, location data and other information just by making it look like they missed a call, according to a write-up from Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity threat tracking group that helped the investigation. The company is asking for an injunction to stop NSO from violating its terms of service. It’s also calling on other tech firms to endorse a moratorium on selling spyware proposed by U.N. Special Rapporteur David Kaye. Spyware companies say their tools are designed for government and law enforcement customers to conduct legitimate surveillance operations aimed at combating terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking. Critics, however, say the companies turn a blind eye when governments and police use the tools to spy on activists and journalists. An NSO tool called Pegasus was allegedly used to spy on Washington Post contributing writer Jamal Khashoggi before he was killed last year by people affiliated with Saudi Arabia’s security services. “A friend of Khashoggi, Omar Abdulaziz, has alleged in a lawsuit that his phone was infected with Pegasus without his knowledge and that the malicious software helped the Saudis snoop on Khashoggi,” as my colleagues Craig Timberg and Jay Greene report. A crux of Facebook’s lawsuit is that NSO actually helped conduct some of the hacking operations rather than simply selling its tools to governments that used them. Specifically, “the attackers used servers and Internet-hosting services that were previously associated with NSO,” Cathcart said, and the company “tied certain WhatsApp accounts used during the attacks back to NSO.” That distinguishes this from a 2015 case where an unnamed company sold the FBI a hacking tool to bypass encryption on a locked iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. In that case, Apple urged the FBI to share the hack but never filed a lawsuit. NSO disputed any direct involvement in its clients’ hacking along with other Facebook claims. “The sole purpose of NSO is to provide technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to


A new light on the universe’s darkest mystery

Here’s a spooky pre-Halloween thought: We have no idea what most of the universe is made of. Everything on Earth, every body in the solar system, every dust cloud and exoplanet and distant star humans have ever observed, constitutes just 5 percent of the mass and energy in the universe. Another 27 percent of what’s out there is dark matter, the mysterious material that holds galaxies together. The remaining 68 percent is dark energy — a force that creates no light or heat, that no instrument can detect and no telescope can see. Yet scientists have direct evidence of dark energy’s effect on the universe. When researchers make maps of the cosmos, they find that everything is moving away from everything else, and that the most distant galaxies are moving fastest. The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, and dark energy — whatever it may be — is responsible. This month, scientists achieved “first light” for a new tool that will investigate the dark matter mystery. The Dark Energy Spectroscopy Instrument (nicknamed DESI) is designed to capture the light from more than 30 million -galaxies over a 11-billion-light year expanse of space. By separating the light into its component wavelengths, the instrument can determine a quality known as “red shift” — how much the light has been stretched out as the galaxy flies farther and farther away. This in turn can tell scientists about the clumping of matter in the early universe, and the force that has been pushing at it ever since. So far, it seems like the effects of dark energy are distributed equally across the cosmos, which would suggest it’s some inherent quality of space itself — what Albert Einstein called “cosmological constant.” But if DESI finds variations in dark energy over space and time, scientists may need to seek out more exotic explanations, like a new kind of fluid or field. Then there’s the possibility that Einstein’s theories of gravity — which have guided our understanding of the universe for a century — have a fundamental flaw. That would have implications not just for big picture cosmology questions, but for the behavior of normal matter in regions much closer to home. In probing the universe’s darkest feature, we may uncover mysteries in parts of the cosmos we thought we understood. Spooky indeed.


With Courchevel and Chamonix so pricey, why not go to ‘Grand-Bo’

more than its share of Michelin-star restaurants. While the skiing is among the best in the Alps, costs at both resorts add up quickly, on top of an already pricey intercontinental flight, because each attracts the rich and famous. A one-day ski pass to the top of Vallée Blanche will set an adventurous skier back about $74. A weekend night at the three-star Pointe Isabelle hotel in Chamonix during prime ski season runs to $177. Location: Under-the-radar ‘Grand-Bo’ offers similar skiing for a fraction of the price Check into a hotel that will cost less than half what it would to stay at the pricier resorts, and walk 10 minutes to a gondola that will ferry you to the base of the ski area. Two-day ski tickets are available for just $80, or $40 per day during peak season — less during spring season, when I went — and ski and boot rentals begin at an entirely reasonable $20 per day at any of the half-dozen shops in town. Your lift ticket buys you access to more than the slopes at what locals call “Grand-Bo.” At the base of the gondola, a free shuttle bus connects to resorts at nearby La Clusaz and Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, offering a total of more than 120 miles of piste across 77 lifts, for beginners, experts and daredevils alike. If navigating French travel sites sounds stressful, some companies arrange packages at prices well below similar stateside deals. I was able to book a three-night, late-season ski trip for about $400, including hotel, round-trip airport transfers, lift tickets, two meals a day and a discount at the rental shop. What made a cheap vacation into a special one was the empty slopes. I didn’t wait more than 30 seconds for a lift chair during my stay. Whenever I wanted a break, I could stop in one of the privately run restaurants that dot the slopes, where comfortable chairs offer stunning views of the surrounding Alpine peaks. Where were all the skiers, I asked a travel company executive. He explained that the French usually trek to the mountains during the winter holidays and again during a three-week period of school breaks in February. Avoid those periods, and similar school-break periods in the United Kingdom, and the slopes at Le Grand-Bornand won’t only be beautiful and affordable — they’ll be wide open as well. Location: travel@washpost.com More from Travel:


D.C. is a bright spot in the nation’s overall lackluster standardized test results

points on the exam. In reading, fourth-graders earned an average of 219 points and eighth-graders scored 262 points. NAEP, often referred to as the “nation’s report card,” is a closely watched exam because it assesses the performance of children from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in urban, suburban and rural communities. The government first administered a version of the exam in 1990, and it tests fourth- and eighth-graders in math and reading every other year. This year, the District and Mississippi were the only jurisdictions to improve on three of the four metrics evaluated. And when compared with the 50 states, the District made the largest gains in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math over the three decades since the test was first administered. “D.C. continues to make remarkable gains. The level of progress is really unprecedented, both in magnitude and for how long it has been sustained,” said Hanseul Kang, the D.C. state superintendent of education. “We were so far behind that we weren’t even in the game. And now, we are in the game and on the rise.” Maryland saw a decline in results for fourth- and eighth-graders in reading and math. The score in fourth-grade reading dropped five points to an average score of 220 and decreased three points in eighth grade to 264. One possible explanation is an increased number of English-language learners over the past decade. In Virginia, math results remained steady, while reading scores declined since 2017. The results mirror declines on Virginia’s statewide standardized reading tests.Virginia performed average or above average when compared to other states on every metric. “Virginia’s schools are enrolling increasing numbers of students whose learning is impacted by poverty and trauma,” James Lane, Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction, said in a statement. “Any strategy to raise achievement in reading must address this challenge.” Lane said state and local officials in Virginia are working on ways to improve reading instruction. This month, he issued a memo to superintendents emphasizing the importance of daily reading and included resources for instruction. Nationally, jurisdictions saw the biggest decline in 2019 on eighth-grade reading scores, with a three-point drop out of the 500 possible points. While some changes were small, this one was a “very meaningful decline,” said Peggy G. Carr, associate commissioner for the federal government’s National Center for Education Statistics. “It is critical that researchers further explore the declines we are seeing here,”


Greta Thunberg won’t accept environment prize. She wants the focus on research.

Activist Greta Thunberg, who has inspired millions of people across the world to stage protests urging leaders to better tackle climate change, has declined an environmental prize, saying “the climate movement does not need any more prizes.” Fellow climate activists spoke for Greta at the Nordic Council prize ceremony Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden. They read her statement thanking the group for the honor. Greta, 16, is traveling in California. But Sophia and Isabelle Axelsson quoted Thunberg as saying that “what we need is for our rulers and politicians to listen to the research.” The Nordic Council hands out annual prizes for literature, youth literature, film, music and the environment, each worth $52,000. It is not the first prize that the climate activist has won or been nominated for but refused. Three Norwegian lawmakers nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize this year because they believe “the massive movement Greta has set in motion is a very important peace contribution.” Last year, about three months into her school-climate-strike campaign, Greta declined the Children’s Climate Prize, which is awarded by a Swedish electricity company — because many of the finalists had to fly in a plane to Stockholm for the ceremony. Thunberg notes that flights contribute to global warming, so she sailed across the Atlantic Ocean for two weeks on a zero-emissions sailboat to reach New York. There the Swede scolded a United Nations climate conference in September, repeatedly asking, “How dare you?” “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and yet all you can talk about is money. You are failing us,” she said. Weeks later, Greta won the 2019 Right Livelihood Award — known as the “Alternative Nobel” — “for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts.” In May 2019, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her a “next generation leader.”


Halloween stirs childhood memories of sweet treats. But adulthood means putting that sweet tooth in check.

Ever since Halloween goodies began appearing on grocery store shelves, my sweet tooth has been acting up. It’s craving candy corn, those orange, yellow and white sugary kernels that I couldn’t help but notice now come in gigantic 40-ounce bags. Each bag contains 37 servings, one serving size being 15 pieces. That’s 555 kernels of candy corn, enough to feed a neighborhood of goblins. Or one adult. Just one wouldn’t hurt, says the sweet tooth. It’s been 10 months since I began a whole food, plant-based diet. I thought giving up meat would be tough. It wasn’t. I thought I’d miss milk and eggs. I don’t. It’s the sweet tooth that’s giving me fits. Sweet memories of a childhood are relived through the consumption of sweets associated with them. Eat candy corn, says the sweet tooth, and remember the cornucopia of candies that I used to haul in on Halloween. The snacking would usually continue until Thanksgiving, when I would gobble down coconut walnut cakes and wash away the crumbs with Christmas eggnog by the gallon. Then I would ring in the New Year with peach cobblers until it was time to binge on Valentine chocolates. If I did that now, every pound I have lost would be back — along with many more. If the sweet tooth was an actual tooth, I’d have to pull it. But it’s a craving, perhaps even an addiction, which must be stopped at the source — somewhere in the mind. I have learned to counterattack cravings by reading the label of ingredients on foods. Rule of thumb: If the list contains words that you cannot pronounce, do not eat the product inside. The Brach’s classic candy corn ingredients were listed as sugar, corn syrup, confectioner’s glaze (shellac), salt, dextrose, gelatin, sesame oil, artificial flavor, honey, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 3. I had to look up the definition of “confectioner’s glaze.” Here’s how the website Taste for Life, which promotes itself as a natural health resource, put it: “Confectioners’ glaze, made from shellac, is used by numerous candy companies to add a shiny, smooth finish on their products. But shellac — or ‘beetle juice,’ as ABC News calls it — is made of bug secretions.” And there was also the gelatin. Financial and business news website Business Insider reported in October 2017 that gelatin is “a protein made from animal parts like hides


In China’s capital of Halloween slime and ooze, the trade war is a scary subject

of Chinese products, including toys, smartphones and computers, on Dec. 15. The two sides had been set to discuss the deal at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Chile next month, but the host nation on Wednesday canceled it. While House officials have said they will keep working toward an agreement. “If you read the tea leaves of the last few weeks, it’s pretty clear that the political leadership on both sides seem pretty anxious to get something done,” said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Gavekal Dragonomics, a China-focused research consultancy. In the Yiwu market, a metropolis of 75,000 stores covering a phenomenal 59 million square feet where merchants showcase their products and take orders by the thousand, vendors are also anxious for a deal. Sales at the market plummeted 64 percent last year compared with 2017, to $5.1 billion, according to the market’s annual report. This was largely because of the trade war, even though the market ships to diverse export destinations, including South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. “The U.S. trade war is not only affecting China, it’s affecting the whole world,” said the slime-seller’s stallmate, who was selling flower garlands and sparkly headbands. The International Monetary Fund made the same observation in its latest world economic outlook. The vendor had no doubt about where to lay blame. “Trump is so changeable. The whole world knows this,” she said, barely pausing to look up from her phone. “Even kids know that a promise is a promise, but Trump goes back on his word and changes his mind faster than flipping pages in a book.” Although most analysts think the Trump administration’s talk of “decoupling” the world’s two biggest economies is unrealistic — for they are too intertwined — the president has repeatedly voiced hope that the economic pain would force China to heel. After several turbocharged decades, China’s economy has matured and is now growing at about 6 percent a year, the weakest in a generation. But even those figures could be too optimistic. “How can it be possible that GDP grew by 6 percent? When I went to places to observe, research, and talk to people, the local government officials are much more frank about the fact that their regions are experiencing negative growth,” Xiang Songzuo, a finance professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing, wrote in a recent commentary that was censored


Boeing CEO to acknowledge mistakes in testimony on deadly 737 Max crashes

some of the hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence they have amassed as they conduct their own investigation into the crashes. For Muilenburg, who was recently stripped of his role as chairman of Boeing’s board, the planned testimony is part of a campaign to win back public trust and to satisfy regulators — even as experts say the company is following its typical playbook after a crash, earning it a reputation for withholding information and pointing to others as blameworthy . Muilenburg’s prepared remarks cast the company as apologetic for the crashes and humbled by the scrutiny they prompted, but capable of learning from them and of taking its own steps to improve safety. “In the months since the accidents, there has been much criticism of Boeing and its culture,” Muilenburg said in his prepared remarks. “We understand and deserve this scrutiny. But I also know the people of Boeing, the passion we have for our mission, and what we stand for.” The official Indonesian investigation into the crash, released Friday, said a combination of nine factors was responsible, including the design of an automated feature, an improperly repaired sensor, maintenance lapses and pilots who struggled as problems mounted in the cockpit. The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing fixes to the Max designed to make it safe. Boeing needs the agency’s approval if the Max is to fly again. Muilenburg said in the prepared testimony that the fixes are the product of 100,000 hours of work and have been subjected to 814 test flights. He plans to reiterate organizational changes the company has made internally to improve safety. But Muilenburg’s prepared remarks do not touch on a key topic: the company’s relationship with the FAA, which has come under scrutiny since the crashes. The FAA has handed much of the responsibility for guaranteeing that planes are safe over to Boeing and other manufacturers, a system that investigators have found led to spotty oversight and allowed the automated feature on the Max to escape close scrutiny. Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), the chairman of the committee Muilenburg is scheduled to appear before on Wednesday, told reporters Monday that there needs to be a change in aviation safety law. “I would say Boeing’s in no position to defend and/or advocate against changes in this law,” DeFazio said. And in the months since the crash, the FAA has pushed ahead with plans


Where to watch the Washington Nationals in Game 7 of the World Series

restaurant has brewed up a new beer that went on tap for Game 1: A hazy, tropical double IPA called 86 Years, a reference to the last time Washington hosted a World Series game. The bar buzzes on game days, but the Neighborhood Restaurant Group is trying to give fans a reason to come in when the Nats are out of town. Specials during all away World Series games include a half-dozen drafts and cans for $5 each, discounted appetizers ($4-$7) and plates of short rib nachos ($10). The Brig: A large German-style beer garden with shaded communal tables and one-liter mugs of beer, the Brig is a popular pregame Nats hangout, thanks to its location at the bottom of Barracks Row. There’s a row of TVs behind the bar, but during the playoffs, the Brig has also been projecting the action on a 25-foot screen on a neighboring building. If the weather cooperates, this is a fine outdoor option, especially with groups. The Bullpen: Many Nats fans have visited the Bullpen on game days, thanks to the beer garden’s prime location between the Navy Yard Metro exit and the ballpark’s center field gate. But during the postseason, the Bullpen has also been open when the Nats are out of town, with the action shown on multiple screens. Other draws include live music and $6 drink specials that run the gamut from White Claw to craft beer to Red Bull and vodka. Dacha Beer Garden: Up to 700 people can fit into this tree-shaded beer garden, located across from Nationals Park’s first-base gate, where a vintage Airstream trailer serves as a bar. For the World Series, Dacha has added four large projection screens outside, and will be extending happy hour until 8 p.m. when the Nationals play in Houston. (Deals include $6 half-liters of beer.) Duffy’s Irish Pub Nationals Park: The World Series returned to Houston for Game 6 and Game 7, and the Nationals are hosting free viewing parties at Nationals Park, showing the action on the scoreboard’s video screen. Tickets have all been claimed in advance through the Nationals’ website, and the usual bag policy is in effect. Seats in the lower bowl will be available on a first-come, first-seated basis, beginning at 6:30 p.m. each night, and some, but not all, food and beer stands will be open. Penn Social: In terms of size, it’s hard to


Disgrace in the desert: The shameless return of business and government leaders to Saudi Arabia

Ali AlAhmed is founder and director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs. This week, many of the world’s business and government leaders have convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the 2019 Future Investment Initiative, the Saudi regime’s annual money fest to promote doing business with the kingdom. Instead of the romanticized moniker “Davos in the Desert,” it would be better to call it a “Disgrace in the Desert.” Last year’s event was shunned by most leading financiers due to disgust over the shocking murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi-born critic and Post contributing columnist. So, what has changed this year to entice President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and top executives of BlackRock, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs to show up? Well, here’s what hasn’t changed: The CIA’s finding that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s effective ruler, was the one who ordered Khashoggi’s brutal execution in Istanbul. To date, none of those implicated has faced any serious punishment or accountability. What has also not changed: Saudi Arabia remains not only a rogue state by most international standards — it also makes an unstable strategic partner for the United States and others, fundamentally incompatible with Western business practices. The entire kingdom is now controlled by a ruthless 30-something whose first instinct is to imprison, torture, expropriate and murder. Those attending will explain that the prince, known as MBS, is a reformer who has freed women to drive and is shepherding the royal family’s oil giant, Aramco, toward the biggest IPO in history. What they cannot explain is how such a reformer could have detained and coerced his political opponents and family members — in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton, the very hotel where the investment conference is taking place — to clear the way to the throne for him. Of course his defenders would say it was all part of an “anti-corruption campaign.” MBS has said the ordeal convinced the detained royals to part with $100 billion — but he has offered no evidence to back this. While he has pushed a change to allow women to drive cars for the first time, MBS has imprisoned and tortured the same rights activists who had been demonstrating to achieve that. Many others, including U.S. citizens — among them my cousin Badr al-Ibrahim, a physician and writer — are being held in secret, and relatives have no


Key Senate Democrats probe White House’s handling of Ukraine trade benefits

U.S. complaints. But in late August, the trade chief withdrew the recommendation after then-National Security Advisor John Bolton warned him that Trump was unlikely to approve any step that would benefit the Ukrainian government, The Post reported. Bolton’s intervention came as the president was telling White House aides that Ukraine would get no U.S. aid until Zelensky publicly stated that his government would investigate Hunter Biden’s role as a board member of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, according to congressional testimony last week by acting U.S. Ambassador William B. Taylor Jr. House Democrats last month launched an impeachment inquiry into the president’s alleged efforts to coerce Zelensky into commencing an investigation of the Ukrainian business activities of Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s son. The Bolton-Lighthizer exchange showed that the administration’s suspension of ties to Ukraine may have been more extensive than initially known. Wyden and Menendez want Lighthizer to disclose whether he discussed U.S.-Ukraine trade with the president or with two figures that played prominent roles in Trump’s alleged campaign to pressure Zelensky: Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Through September, Lighthizer had nine meetings or phone calls scheduled with Sondland, according to a copy of the trade chief’s daily calendar, which is available on the USTR website. The most recent, a Sept. 10 phone call, came on the same day that Bolton resigned. One day later, amid an escalating controversy over the president’s actions toward Ukraine, the administration released the congressionally-approved $391 million in military and security aid. USTR did not respond to a request for comment. Almost two months after withdrawing his initial bid to restore Ukraine’s trade privileges, Lighthizer in early October sent the necessary paperwork to the White House for a second time. He later withdrew it again, on Oct. 17, as controversy built over the president’s Ukraine policy. Established in 1974, the GSP program permits 120 developing countries to ship a variety of products to the U.S. without paying import tariffs. The program, which requires participating countries to open their markets to American companies, is designed to spur economic development. The lawmakers want USTR to provide a timeline of “all actions taken by the administration with respect to Ukraine’s status as a GSP beneficiary.” USTR did not respond to requests for comment during preparation of The Post’s initial story. The administration finally announced the


On day Britain was supposed to leave E.U., no riots — but plenty of jokes

LONDON — Thursday, Halloween, Brexit Day, Britain Will Explode Day — or not. Britain was supposed to take its most contentious political steps in decades by the strike of midnight and finally leave the European Union — three years after voting to leave it. Weeks before the deadline, pro-Brexit politicians had warned that if the country did not leave the European Union on Oct. 31 as planned, there would be an explosion of riots and disorder in the streets. “I think if we don’t leave on 31st of October, this country will explode,” Mark Francois, a hard-line Conservative member of Parliament, told BBC Politics Live in mid-September. “Civil unrest could happen. I’m not saying it will — or that it’s even likely — but it is possible,” Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly said at an event in late September. But as the day began, with Britain no longer expected to leave the European Union until January after having receiving yet another controversial extension from Europe, the streets of London were hit by something else: an eerie sense of calm. There was no carnage. No Brexit riots. No mass protests. Just thousands of tweets from people sharing sarcastic tales and snapshots from all the ways the country had (or had not) exploded. While some people had run out of tea bags, others tweeted images of their cats fast asleep in tranquil homes. On one road a lone traffic cone had fallen on its side; on another, a handful of leaves had fallen from the branches of a rather naked-looking tree. “Absolute bedlam,” tweeted one user as thousands joined the #BritainHasExploded movement to share their own horror stories. Others looked for riots where there were none. Both sides of the Brexit debate in Britain have been accused of scaremongering. Anti-E.U. voices had long criticized something they dubbed “Project Fear,” a catchall term for warnings about the potential negative economic and political repercussions of leaving the bloc. But under Boris Johnson, prime minister since July and a major voice in the pro-Brexit camp, the British government had warned repeatedly about the risk of civil unrest in Britain if it did not leave by the Oct. 31 deadline. Critics accused the government of a concerted effort to raise fears about a Brexit delay after an anonymous cabinet minister had told the Times of London that riots could occur if the 2016 referendum result is


He was acting drunk but swore he was sober. Turns out his stomach was brewing its own beer.

to drop out of college because of his symptoms and is appealing a DUI conviction. He suffers from vomiting, headaches and other symptoms every day. Hess, of Columbus, Ohio, said his wife didn’t believe that he hadn’t been drinking when he started exhibiting symptoms. At one point, he said, she started recording him to ensure he wasn’t sneaking alcohol. What she saw, Hess said, was just him playing video games all day. “She would watch me wake up and sit on that couch from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep and progressively get more and more drunk,” he said. Cordell said her husband had auto-brewery syndrome for six years before they discovered why he sometimes slurred his words and lost coordination. If he ate a carb-heavy food such as ice cream at night, Cordell said, he usually showed signs of intoxication by the next afternoon. Auto-brewery syndrome seems to be caused by antibiotic use altering a person’s fungal growth, but Cordell said researchers don’t know why few people who take antibiotics contract the condition. Other drugs, environmental toxins or preservatives in foods also could cause auto-brewery syndrome by disrupting the body’s normal balance of bacteria. Early symptoms of auto-brewery syndrome may be mood changes, brain fog and delirium, instead of signs of intoxication, according to the Richmond study. Some symptoms of auto-brewery syndrome can mimic other conditions or medical events, such as hypoglycemia or a stroke, Cordell said. She recommends that people who suspect they have auto-brewery syndrome get a breathalyzer so they can test their blood alcohol levels when symptoms manifest. If someone becomes seriously intoxicated from auto-brewery syndrome, Cordell recommends first seeking treatment for potential alcohol poisoning. Blood alcohol levels in people with auto-brewery syndrome can reach five times the legal limit, she said. Antifungal medications, probiotics and low-carb diets can treat the condition. Cordell runs a support group for about 200 people with auto-brewery syndrome and said roughly 500 people from around the world have contacted her about the condition since 2015. “I think there are a lot more people suffering than we even know,” she said. Read more: ‘Premarital exams’ for women are popular in Utah. Some experts say they send a bad message. Trump set to nominate Texas cancer doctor to head FDA Health-care system causing rampant burnout among doctors, nurses FDA calls for new warnings for breast implants


Readers critique The Post: Never forget Harriet Tubman

[“Photo of meeting gone wrong turns everyone into an art historian,” Style, Oct. 18]. Neither noted a major characteristic of the photograph’s composition: Pelosi’s head is illumined by the white light of the alcove containing the bust of George Washington (on the left) — reflecting the light surrounding the Benjamin Franklin bust in the corresponding alcove (on the right). Indeed, Pelosi is the only person in the photograph whose head is so anointed. This photograph is not ambiguous at all. It may be subtle, but it clearly shows who the leader of the country is. Donna Lenhoff ● Anne Midgette’s Oct. 23 music review, “Lakota music gets short shrift in Washington concert meant to celebrate it,” illustrated a missed opportunity for the audience and organizers of the concert at the Washington National Cathedral. Her review pertained to the musical events at the cathedral, where very little time was devoted to the Lakota musicians and composers who were on-site. Instead, the majority of time was spent listening to the works of non-native composers who reflected on, and were influenced by, native music. In vivid contrast, the Saturday program of the Lakota Music Project at the National Museum of the American Indian devoted its entire 90 minutes to showcasing performances by the soloists (Bryan Apika and Emmanuel Black Bear) and the interplay of their music with the string and wind quartets of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. Of particular note were two original compositions by Lakota teenagers, which expressed their feelings musically. Because the museum’s presentation focused on the musicians who were present and eager to discuss their backgrounds and music, no piece of the program, including “Amazing Grace,” was dropped. This closing piece beautifully displayed the musical interaction between Lakota and non-native music. Unfortunately, this was a missed opportunity at the Washington National Cathedral. What better way to learn about Lakota music than from the source itself. Miriam and Ira Raskin ● The Oct. 20 front-page article “Inside Biden’s brawling efforts to reform Ukraine” made a not-so-small mistake by characterizing Ukraine as “the small but strategically important former Soviet republic.” Even though its population has dipped 18 percent since the 1989 Soviet breakup, Ukraine is by far the most populated of the 15 former Soviet republics. In terms of landmass, it is the second-largest country in all of Europe. What European country is larger than Ukraine? Only France. Further, of the


15 former Soviet republics, only Kazakhstan is larger in landmass yet possesses less than half Ukraine’s population. I would appreciate a paper with The Post’s stature to get its demography and geography correct. Fred W. Apelquist III Thanks for finally spelling Cathleen Burgess ● Though the “Mark Trail” comic strip often has accurate artwork and good conservation messages regarding wildlife, it is way off the map regarding wildlife geography. In the Oct. 19 strip, while riding on elephants in Nepal, Trail and his associates, in search of the Yeti, are surprised by a flock of vampire bats. One character notes how his “social media followers are going to love this.” I think his social media followers will instead shout, “Holy erratum, Batman.” Vampire bats are found only in the Americas. ( False vampire bats are found in Asia, but they are not the blood-sucking species that Trail and his associates mistakenly identify.) Apparently, Trail’s friend is a bit batty on his bat knowledge, but it’s no wonder since he’s looking for the mythical abominable snowman. Or maybe he just needs some good binoculars. Frank Kohn ● The description of a triple shooting in Burke in “Standoff in Fairfax leaves three dead” [Metro, Oct. 23] gave limited information about the location. Burke is one of many sprawling suburban areas without incorporated boundaries. Historically, newspapers and media outlets report the street name and block number where a crime occurred. The Post’s account of this tragedy lacked all specificity, referencing only “a brick home in Burke.” C. Greg Carroll ● The Oct. 19 World Digest included an Associated Press article headlined “Subway is suspended over student protests.” The article included this statement: “a 4 percent increase in subway fares from about $1 to $1 and 16 cents.” Clearly, “about $1” to $1.16 is about 16 percent, four times the stated “4 percent.” This reinforced my opinion that The Post needs to pass any story involving even the tiniest bit of math by someone who knows mathematics. Kenneth Nellis A photograph with the Ted Houghton ● It is widely acknowledged that the young generation thrives on immediate gratification. This seems to be complemented by the forgoing of the future tense. For example, the secondary headline on the Oct. 19 Metro article “Bye-bye, Bei Bei” read “Four years after birth at National Zoo, panda is moving to China next month.” How about “will move to


How the Internet lost its soul

could get underway, the industry contractors providing the NSFNET infrastructure rushed ahead with plans to offer commercial network services, ultimately causing Congress to abandon the NREN. The result was the de facto privatization of the Internet. The nonprofit organizations that had operated the NSFNET’s backbone and regional networks reinvented themselves as the first commercial Internet service providers, serving both the NSF and private customers. The NSF now had the option to outsource its networking needs to these commercial providers, which it did as it retired the old NSFNET in 1995. While this removed an administrative burden from the NSF, the hasty transition left little time to consider the policy implications. So a commercialized network developed without public oversight of the Internet’s operation. Privatization opened the floodgates for new services: social media, gaming, e-commerce, and millions of personal websites and blogs. Industry advocates insisted that the Internet should not be regulated, lest innovation be stifled. Regulatory models that had been developed for common carriers, publishers and broadcasters did not fit a new medium that combined aspects of all these media and whose services and business models were in constant flux. Online businesses were free to experiment with ways to make money, eventually landing on the advertising-based business model that led to escalating surveillance and collection of user data to better target ads. None of this has prevented scientists — the Internet’s original users — from continuing to build reliable knowledge based on networked data and computational tools. The scientific community has time-tested processes to validate and protect the information it shares. But the general public is in a more precarious position. Anyone can be a publisher online, and the obvious clues to legitimacy that came with print and broadcast media — the investment in reporting and fact-checking, obligations to paying customers, an identifiable organization that could be held liable for false content — can be absent or faked online. The same type of user profiling that stimulates business also enables bad actors to target inflammatory social issues and widen political divides. We have inadvertently created a culture where misinformation can be spread without accountability. Long-term trends of increasingly open access and diminishing government oversight have fueled the Internet’s growth and unleashed the creativity of millions. They have also left a vacuum where the public interest should be. Can we work together to build a better Internet for the next 50 years?