What the Ebola virus dreams about

But it’s also a good time to visit USAMRIID, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. USAMRIID is at Fort Detrick, in Frederick, at the foot of the Blue Ridge. Here, nature is small, mindless and horrifying. If USAMRIID were a store it would be called House O’ Microbes. It has a world-class inventory of bacteria and viruses. When the USAMRIID scientists and soldiers encounter nature, they do so in spacesuits in negative-pressure laboratories. If there were such a thing as the Andromeda Strain, this is where the Army would keep it. The Washington area has experts in almost everything imaginable; USAMRIID has experts in stuff we don’t even want to think about. My strict policy when it comes to viruses is to avoid them like the plague, but viruses and bacteria are big news these days. There have been recent cover stories in the newsmagazines, there’s a pneumonic plague outbreak in India, there are Hollywood producers running around with contracts for microbe disaster movies. Biosafety Level 4 positive pressure work suits hang on hooks inside the Patient Containment Lab at U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) on the grounds of Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md. Hollywood’s interest in viral epidemics was stirred by a New Yorker article by Richard Preston that has just been turned into a book, “The Hot Zone.” It’s the true story of a mysterious virus outbreak in 1989 in a monkey facility in Reston. By coincidence the Washington area had not only this lurking and potentially deadly virus (this town has everything, somewhere) but also this unusual Army facility with people capable of recognizing the virus and counterattacking in spacesuits. The USAMRIID people feared the virus could be transmitted through the air into the human population, and that this would be bad — very bad, quite detestably bad — because the virus appeared to be an extremely lethal type called Ebola Zaire. Preston’s book describes what happened to a guy who got a similar virus, called Marburg: “… his whole head is turning black-and-blue. The muscles of his face droop. The connective tissue in his face is dissolving, and his face appears to hang from the underlying bone, as if the face is detaching itself from the skull. … By the time an extreme amplification peaks out, an eyedropper of the victim’s blood may contain a hundred million particles of


The black HIV epidemic: A public health mystery from Atlanta’s gay community

A club goer waits at the bar for his drink inside of night club The Jungle, a bar catering to the LGBT community in Atlanta, Ga 2014. (Photo by Branden Camp/For The Washington Post) Editor’s note: Several passages have been removed from this story because the source of those passages, Mickyel Bradford, has admitted to fabricating them. The passages include descriptions of a lunch in Bradford’s town and a ball that Bradford claimed he attended with a man identified as Seth. Bradford now confirms that neither of those events occurred as described. Additionally, Bradford admits the two men never discussed getting tested for HIV. All passages concerning the two men have been removed. ATLANTA — In the early 2000s, a young researcher at the Centers for Disease Control named Greg Millett set out to solve an epidemiological mystery. Nobody could explain why black Americans, particularly black gay men, had such high rates of HIV infection compared to the rest of the population. How were they putting themselves in so much danger? What were they doing differently from everyone else? Millett began with a survey of the published research, but that only seemed to raise more questions. Study after study seemed to arrive at the same conclusion: Black gay men take fewer risks in the bedroom than white gay men. They are just as, if not more, consistent about condom use and STD testing. They have fewer sex partners. They are less likely to abuse injection drugs. Despite all this, black men—gay, straight, or bisexual—are 6 times more likely than white men to contract HIV in a given year. [emailtext title="Have you or someone you know been affected by HIV or AIDS?" linktext="Email Us"]Let us know![/emailtext] In 2006, Millett wrote up these findings in the American Journal of Public Health, alongside a careful review of alternate theories for what was going on. Some thought that genetic risk factors or circumcision or the prison systems played a role, but Millett found that the most promising theories involved healthcare disparities. For instance, black men are more likely to have other STDs like gonorrhea or syphilis, which increases one’s risk of contracting HIV. The sheer prevalence of HIV in the community means that despite getting tested just as frequently, black men are still more likely to have an undiagnosed infection, a circumstance that makes them more likely to pass on the disease. Lack of


Even marijuana opponents concede that pot has gone mainstream

Last week, the New York Times ran a six-part editorial series advocating for the national legalization of marijuana. In response, advocacy groups on either side of the legalization debate took out dueling full-page advertisements in the paper. Conflicting messages aside, the ads are notable for what they agree on: that marijuana use has officially moved out of the basement and into the boardroom. I've placed them side-by-side for comparison below — click through for larger versions. Left ad, Leafly; Right ad, GrassIsNotGreener.com Leafly The ad promotes "making informed choices" as the "first step in benefitting from cannabis." It purports to show two medical marijuana patients: well-dressed "Ian" stands in front of a brownstone looking thoughtful with a newspaper tucked under his arm, as a fit and well-motivated "Molly" jogs past. The optics are decidedly upper-middle class and the message is clear: Marijuana users are just like you and me. On the other side, GrassIsNotGreener's message (right) features a headshot of an affable stoner in colorful stoner garb superimposed over a figure of a man in a suit leaning aggressively over a conference room table. For all we know it could be Ian under there. The ad warns of "an entirely new group of corporations whose primary source of revenue is a highly habit-forming product." The message here is that the marijuana industry is evolving from Cheech and Chong to RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris. Setting aside the merits of the individual messages for the moment, the ads, and the Times editorial that preceded them, mark a turning point in the debate over marijuana in this country. The two sides are in agreement that marijuana has moved out of the counterculture and into the mainstream. This represents a victory of sorts for the pro-legalization camp, which has long struggled to change public perception of marijuana from "something that hippies and bored teenagers do" to "something that regular Americans do." By placing the face of legal marijuana in a corporate boardroom, the GrassIsNotGreener ad essentially concedes this point. The anti-legalization camp now finds itself in the midst of an awkward pivot. Having argued for decades that marijuana is a pastime of aimless losers living in their parents' basements, it is now trying to position itself as a David against a slick, well-oiled and well-funded corporate Goliath. I suspect it'll be a tough sell. What do you think? [polldaddy poll=8225726]


District Doughnut soft-opening throughout August

looking to enter the world of entrepreneurship, he visited the Doughnut Plant in New York, and recalled his after-school snack. He and Menna brought pastry chef Christine Schaefer into the business, and the three co-founded District Doughnut, which has been operating for the past three years as a catering/special order business, most recently out of Union Kitchen. All of its founders are younger than 28. Doughnuts by District Doughnut, clockwise from top left: Dulce de leche, lemon meringue, chai tea creme brulee, and blueberry almond (Maura Judkis/for The Post) This month, District Doughnut will open its storefront doors at 749 Eighth St. SE. The shop will host a series of soft openings throughout the month -- check @DCDoughnut for announcements -- with an expected grand opening during the second week of September (Update: The shop will open Sept. 12). District Doughnut is located across from the Marine Barracks, which hosts a parade every Friday evening through Aug. 29; some of the soft openings will coincide with these events. District Doughnut co-founders Greg Menna and Christine Schaefer. The small shop's front windows face the barracks entrance, while the space is decorated in shades of crisp white and a color described as "poolside blue." The daily menu will consist of six yeast doughnuts and two cake doughnuts, and coffee by Compass Coffee. (Read more about Compass in From the Ground Up, The Post's ongoing series about starting a small business in D.C.) Doughnuts will cost $2-$3. Eventually, Schaefer hopes to broaden the menu to include savory doughnuts and ice cream. Schaefer will also be making six-packs of miniature gluten-free doughnuts using buckwheat flour. District Doughnut has made a name for itself with its doughnut delivery service -- Menna says he used to deliver them in a suit and tie -- and Schaefer's beautiful presentation. The shop ranked high in the Food section's doughnut ranking last year, with extra praise heaped upon the brown-butter doughnut. Some of the flavors that will be available upon opening include chai tea creme brulee, blueberry almond, lemon meringue and dulce de leche. The doughnuts are more manageably sized than some of the District's other gargantuan doughnuts, so you won't feel guilty if you eat the whole thing. "Don't cut them," Schaefer said. "Everything falls off." They're so pretty, you won't want to split them, anyway. District Doughnut, 749 Eighth St SE (Metro: Eastern Market). Official opening: September.


Marine Corps commandant cleared by inspector general, but report has not been released

Commandant Gen. James Amos, shown here in 2011, has faced tough scrutiny as a result of an inspector general complaint filed by Maj. James Weirick, a staff judge advocate who worked at Quantico, Va. The IG has found that the general did not illegally manipulate the legal cases of Marines who were court-martialed for urinating on Taliban remains in Afghanistan and recording video of it. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin S. O’Brien) The last piece of a 16-month investigation against the Marine Corps’ top officer, Commandant Gen. James F. Amos, has come to close with the general cleared of wrongdoing. The Defense Department Inspector General did not substantiate allegations that Amos inserted himself illegally into the military justice system to ensure tough punishments against Marine scout snipers who were depicted in a video urinating on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, a Pentagon official told The Washington Post on Monday. The news was first reported by Marine Corps Times over the weekend, citing an anonymous Defense Department official. The investigation is said to have ended July 24. The case began when Maj. James Weirick, a Marine attorney then serving at Quantico, Va., filed a complaint with the Pentagon IG in March 2013 alleging that the cases against the snipers was tainted because Amos and other members of his staff had inappropriately got involved. Weirick focused on the commandant’s decision to remove the three-star general assigned to oversee the cases, Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, after learning that he intended to impose administrative nonjudicial punishment on some of the Marines, rather than move forward with a court-martial. Doing so, Weirick argued, amounted to unlawful command influence, in which a senior officer seeks to pressure a junior commander for a certain outcome in a case. Waldhauser said The commandant had denied Waldhauser’s version of events in an interview with NPR in February, effectively pitting a three-star general’s comments, against a four-star’s. Some critics of the commandant’s are have called for him to release the IG investigation report. Retired Marine staff judge advocate Lee Thweatt, for example, called for Amos to release the results in an essay on the website change.org on Sunday, saying doing so would explain how the IG’s office came its “astonishing conclusions.” The law does not require that. It is standing policy for the IG to release the results of investigations that substantiate misconduct. When an


Scientists may have cracked the giant Siberian crater mystery — and the news isn’t good

about 18 miles from a huge gas field north of the regional capital of Salekhard, roughly 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow, on June 16, 2014. AFP/Getty Images Plekhanov explained to Nature that the conclusion is preliminary. He would like to study how much methane is contained in the air trapped inside the crater’s walls. Such a task, however, could be difficult. “Its rims are slowly melting and falling into the crater,” the researcher told the science publication. “You can hear the ground falling, you can hear the water running; it’s rather spooky.” “Gas pressure increased until it was high enough to push away the overlaying layers in a powerful injection, forming the crater,” explained geochemist Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten of Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute, adding that he’s never seen anything like the crater. Some scientists contend the thawing of such terrain, rife with centuries of carbon, would release incredible amounts of methane gas and affect global temperatures. “Pound for pound, the comparative impact of [methane gas] on climate change is over 20 times greater than [carbon dioxide] over a 100-year period,” reported the Environmental Protection Agency. As the Associated Press put it in 2010, the melting of Siberia’s permafrost is “a climate time bomb waiting to explode if released into the atmosphere.” Researchers with Stockholm University’s Department of Applied Environmental Science recently witnessed methane releases in the East Siberian Arctic Ocean. They found that “elevated methane levels [were] about ten times higher than in background seawater,” wrote scientist Orjan Gustafsson on his blog last week. He added: “This was somewhat of a surprise … This is information that is crucial if we are to be able to provide scientific estimations of how these methane releases may develop in the future.” NASA also found the situation to be precarious. “The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas,” scientists wrote in 2012. It’s “vulnerable to being released into the atmosphere, where it can add to global warming.” Now, as two additional craters have also recently been discovered in Siberia, researchers worry the craters may portend changes to local Siberian life. Two have appeared close to a large gas field. “If [a release] happens at the Bovanenkovskoye gas field that is only 30 kilometers away, it could lead to an accident, and the same if it happens in a village,” Russian scientist Plekhanov told Nature.


My own infection is proof that someone can easily carry Ebola into the U.S.

Ebola has rapidly spread in Nigeria and other West African countries. But the story would be different in the United States. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) I left Uganda on New Year’s Eve 2007 after a two-week adventure vacation, passing through London, then Iowa, on my way home to Colorado. I had no idea I was traveling the world while infected with a deadly virus. The symptoms began enroute — a headache, a rash, nausea — but for five days I lived my normal life, enjoying my family, going to Starbucks, shaking people’s hands. All the while, I was carrying this horrible disease at the height of its contagious period. I’m the only person known so far to have imported an Ebola-like disease to the United States uncontrolled. I had contracted the Marburg virus from a bat cave in Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of Uganda’s most popular tourist attractions. In the medical world, Marburg is known as Ebola’s “kissing cousin.” While different molecularly, the viruses infect victims in the same way and cause the same symptoms. Both result in fatality rates of 60 percent to 90 percent and run hot through a community — leaving sorrow and pain in their path. There is no vaccine or cure for either. During my first days back in the United States, my body was slowly shutting down from multi-system organ failure. I visited my doctor and urgent care, complaining of a splitting headache, stomach rash, fever, nausea and confusion. I was sent home with painkillers and nausea prescriptions. As my liver, kidney, lungs, gallbladder and pancreas slowed, I went to restaurants and meetings and visited my parents. On my third visit to the doctor, I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. More than 220 health care professionals treated me over 12 days, offering excellent supportive care and compassion. But they couldn’t diagnose my problem. I was tested for a variety of things, but none of the tests were positive. Doctors treated me with fluids and antibiotics, and, surrounded by my husband and siblings, my body was able to fight off the illness that was shutting down all of my organs. After I started to recover, I was sent home with no clarity on what had brought me so close to death. Twelve months later, I read about a Dutch woman who died of Marburg after visiting the same bat cave I had been


In the wake of Toledo, we need innovations to prevent a world water crisis

used for thermoelectric cooling. In other words, 40 percent of all water within the United States is not used for drinking, brushing teeth or taking long showers — it’s for cooling the excess heat generated by coal and nuclear facilities that provide us with electricity. It’s easy to see how a shift to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy could become a powerful water-conservation tool, especially for drought-prone states such as Texas. Agricultural production, too, is an area ripe for innovation. In most parts of the world, agricultural production accounts for a significant share of all water use. Short of asking humans to scale back on the amount of fruits and vegetables they consume, we are going to need new ways of farming and crops that aren’t as water-intensive or that take advantage of innovative new techniques for “agricultural water management.” According to the World Bank, this might mean anything from subsurface irrigation technologies to weather forecasts delivered by SMS to farmers in the field. If the water crisis persists, attempts at water recycling should also get the green light. Who can forget the efforts by the government of Singapore to create a method for the recycling of toilet water into drinkable water? In fact, according to the World Water Council, recycled sewage will be a source of drinking water in cities around the world within the next three decades. While the idea of drinking “recycled water” doesn’t yet have the cachet of drinking a bottle of Evian, there are other innovative water-recycling concepts that just might work — like a shower created by a Swedish industrial designer that saves 90 percent of all water used. We Solve for X: Rob McGinnis on global water scarcity The really big idea, of course, is coming up with a cheap, efficient desalination technique to transform the world’s salt water into fresh water. The earth has much more salt water than fresh water, so that idea has always attracted the attention of innovators. Desalination, however, is one of those ideas that gets people worked up — scientists claim that there’s no way of doing it without burning a tremendous amount of fossil fuels. For now, it simply requires too much energy to do cheaply or efficiently. Both the UN and the OECD have already warned that the twin effects of population growth and global climate change could lead to nearly


Where Americans smoke marijuana the most

Forget Colorado or Washington — tiny Rhode Island is the marijuana capital of the United States, at least as measured by the percent of state residents who regularly use marijuana. Map: Marijuana use by state State-level statistics from the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health (rather unfortunately acronymed NSDUH) show that just over 1 in 8 Rhode Island residents over age 12 smoke marijuana monthly. This is more than three times the rate in Kansas, where only 4 percent of residents regularly indulge. Nationally about 7 percent of Americans over age 12 have used marijuana in the past month. Western states tend to have the highest rate of usage, at 9 percent, followed by the Northeast. The South has the lowest overall rate at 5.83 percent. In what will surely not be a surprise to anyone who has ever been young, 18- to 25-year-olds use marijuana the most. Nearly 19 percent of that group has used marijuana in the past month, according to the NSDUH. But again, the state-to-state variation in those numbers are considerable. More than one third of Vermonters in that age bracket regularly use marijuana, compared to less than 10 percent of Utah's 18- to 25-year-olds. But usage rates drop off considerably for people age 26 and older: Only 5 percent of Americans in that age group smoke marijuana regularly. Alaska's 26-and-over crowd is the most likely to regularly use marijuana, at 11.18 percent. To put it another way, Alaska's adults are more likely to use marijuana than Utah's college-age crowd. Both Oregon and Alaska have marijuana legalization measures on their ballots this fall. Not coincidentally, these are the two states with the highest rates of 26-and-over marijuana use. See the full state-level data below, and check out the rest of Wonkblog's coverage of the marijuana legalization debate. Legalizing marijuana in Colorado was supposed to help undermine the black market. Instead, it's had almost the opposite effect. PostTV brings you into the world of black market weed dealers to explain.


Hiccups could mean Ebola!

if I have a pulse. They poke me and announce, “He’s faking!” For the record, Mount Sinai states: “If you have any of these [symptoms] do not assume it is due to Ebola. These symptoms may be caused by other, less serious health conditions.” So that’s reassuring. Mount Sinai, as you know, is where a patient is being monitored for possible Ebola virus disease. I’ll be surprised if any of the bridge-and-tunnel commuters cross into Manhattan today after the way the tabs handled the story. Seems to me that, as a society, we are sometimes a bit quick to assume the fetal position. Ebola virus gets hyped because it is so lethal, but our reporting indicates that this is not anything for people to spend much time worrying about. As the worst Ebola outbreak in history unfolds in West Africa, The Post's Joel Achenbach explains how the deadly virus wreaks havoc on the human body. Ebola isn’t terribly contagious, because it’s not an airborne virus and patients can’t spread the disease unless they’re actually sick — and the sickness is severe enough that it usually puts people flat on their back. I understand the concern of Donald Trump that he might catch it during his subway ride to work, but that’s not a likely scenario. [See also this essay by a woman who imported Marburg virus into the U.S. Marburg is similar to Ebola. Note that, despite having contacts with many people while she was already showing symptoms, the virus didn’t infect anyone else.] What I find striking is that the doctors who work on infectious disease at Emory University Hospital are eager to help someone who has Ebola virus disease. They’re not scared! And they’re the ones who will actually (willingly) have contact with the patients. Everyone should read the Richard Preston story in The New Yorker about the doctors and nurses in Africa who have cared for Ebola patients — and in many cases died in the process. The nurses were working 12-hour shifts in biohazard suits. They were supposed to get a $30 a month hazard pay bonus but the Sierra Leone government didn’t pay up. Hmmm … maybe we shouldn’t complain about our jobs today. Less fear, more compassion — there’s a recipe for a healthier world. — Here’s our story on the experimental serum given the two American missionaries who have been evacuated to Atlanta.


Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows

Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of “drugged drivers” on the state’s roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized pot for medical purposes, we’ve seen an increase in the number of drivers testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. The anti-pot group SAM recently pointed out that even before the first legal pot store opened in Washington state, the number of drivers in that state testing positive for pot jumped by a third. The problem with these criticisms is that we can test only for the presence of marijuana metabolites, not for inebriation. Metabolites can linger in the body for days after the drug’s effects wear off — sometimes even for weeks. Because we all metabolize drugs differently (and at different times and under different conditions), all that a positive test tells us is that the driver has smoked pot at some point in the past few days or weeks. It makes sense that loosening restrictions on pot would result in a higher percentage of drivers involved in fatal traffic accidents having smoked the drug at some point over the past few days or weeks. You’d also expect to find that a higher percentage of churchgoers, good Samaritans and soup kitchen volunteers would have pot in their system. You’d expect a similar result among any large sampling of people. This doesn’t necessarily mean that marijuana caused or was even a contributing factor to accidents, traffic violations or fatalities. This isn’t an argument that pot wasn’t a factor in at least some of those accidents, either. But that’s precisely the point. A post-accident test for marijuana metabolites doesn’t tell us much at all about whether pot contributed to the accident. Since the new Colorado law took effect in January, the “drugged driver” panic has only intensified. I’ve already written about one dubious example, in which the Colorado Highway Patrol and some local and national media perpetuated a story that a driver was high on pot when he slammed into a couple of police cars parked on an interstate exit ramp. While the driver did have some pot in his system, his blood-alcohol


About 100 million Americans are now using credit unions. Should you join them?

(Flickr user I-5 Design & Manufacture) Credit unions reached a new milestone in June when membership topped 100 million, the Credit Union National Association announced Tuesday. The smaller, and often more personal, banking institutions, drew national attention in 2011 following "Bank Transfer Day," when a Facebook campaign started by consumers called on people to ditch their banks because some had proposed adding fees for debit card use. Credit unions reported a surge in customers seeking perks such as lower fees and better rates on loans and savings accounts. (Many banks later canceled the proposed fees.) But the growth has kept on, with membership increasing by roughly 2 percent each year. Bill Hampel, chief executive of the Credit Union National Association, says two main things are driving the new membership: broader eligibility requirements and greater awareness. For instance, many credit unions have made it easier for more people to join over the past several decades by expanding eligibility based on where customers live, instead of restricting membership to a particular employer. "In the old days, people would have thought 'those credit unions sound like a good deal, but I don't think I can get into one,'" Hampel says. So now that roughly a third of Americans are using a credit union, should you be one of them? Here's a rundown of things to consider: Free checking: Overdraft fees: ATM fees: Saving rates: Loans: Mobile banking:


The West African Ebola outbreak has the world on alert. Here is a rundown of suspected cases.

(Center for Disease Control/Getty Images) A Saudi man who recently traveled to Sierra Leone on business has been hospitalized in critical condition and is being tested for Ebola, according to the Associated Press. The 40-year-old man was admitted to a hospital in the western Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday night after showing symptoms of a viral hemorrhagic fever, according to Arab News. Ebola is just one form of viral hemorrhagic fever and it presents symptoms — including bleeding, high fever and pain — that are similar to other viruses. Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry said the man had tested negative for Dengue fever and was moved “to a tertiary care center with advanced isolation and infection-control capabilities,” Arab News reported. According to the Associated Press, the Health Ministry is scrutinizing the man’s flight information, related passenger lists and any family members he might have contacted since landing in the country. The Ebola virus spreads by close contact with infected bodily fluids or feces. It is not spread through the air, and it is considered less contagious than the flu. However, there is no known cure for the virus, and the mortality rate ranges from 60 to 90 percent. The World Health Organization calls Ebola “one of the world’s most virulent diseases.” As the worst Ebola outbreak in history continues to ravage West Africa, fears — if not necessarily the disease itself — are spreading across the globe. In New York, a man who showed up at a hospital emergency room early Monday morning with high fever and gastrointestinal problems was placed in isolation and tested for Ebola. But health officials announced hours later that the man — who had recently visited a West African country where Ebola has been reported — was “unlikely” to have the disease. Another man who recently traveled to West Africa has voluntarily quarantined himself at his home in Wales as a precaution, according to health officials. He has not shown any symptoms of Ebola yet, but the self-quarantine could go on for 21 days, which is the maximum amount of time the virus can incubate in a person without symptoms being present. The virus is not contagious until symptoms appear. “Public Health Wales can confirm that an individual resident in Wales is currently staying away from work and limiting contact with other people voluntarily following possible exposure to Ebola while visiting Western Africa,” a health


Will climate change worsen Ebola outbreaks?

humans together in unusual ways, aggravated in part by “unique climatic conditions,” says World Health Organization zoonoses expert Pierre Formenty. According to a NASA analysis of meteorologic satellite data, Ebola outbreaks correlate with heavy rains at the end of a period of intense aridity. Extremely dry conditions force some fruit trees to defer fruiting. When the rains come and the stricken trees put out fruit, all manner of fruit-starved species, including Pteropus bats and apes, gather to feast. Large numbers of creatures concentrated under newly fruit-heavy trees provide microbes such as Ebola a prime opportunity to jump from one species to another. And once Ebola starts circulating heavily in a new species such as apes or bats, it can readily be transmitted through infected blood and other fluids to humans. Whether the warming planet will aggravate the unusual rainfall patterns that set the scene for Ebola outbreaks remains unclear. While experts in conservation medicine have made great strides delineating the links between climate and disease, projections about how disease patterns will shift as the climate changes are still nascent. Worryingly, however, a trend toward aridity has already been noted across African rainforests. Kris Ebi, an expert on climate change and health at the University of Washington, is concerned that climate change stresses on agriculture may force more people to eat bats and other animals that carry the disease. “We already know climate change is weakening crop yields,” Ebi told Al-Jazeera America. “When there’s high food insecurity, how will people go about making sure that they have enough food for their families?” In its latest assessment report, the IPCC emphasized that adaptive measures can reduce human vulnerability to changes in disease incidence caused by climate change: The most effective vulnerability reduction measures for health in the near term are programs that implement and improve basic public health measures such as provision of clean water and sanitation, secure essential health care including vaccination and child health services, increase capacity for disaster preparedness and response, and alleviate poverty. While Ebola is a serious challenge the international health community and Africa must confront, U.S. health officials emphasize the disease is not a risk in the United States. From Lenny Bernstein’s To Your Health blog: Transmission of Ebola requires direct contact with an infected person’s blood, vomit or feces during the period that he or she is contagious, something that is extremely unlikely for anyone


Mexican state lawmakers want to censor bad news

as a blatant attack on the press -- and one that reflects the thinking of a political class that would rather stop journalists from covering violence than stop the violence itself. "They're more worried about the news coverage than reality," he said. "Our reality is one of murder, corruption and complicity between authorities and organized crime, and they want to cover that up for the sake of tourism and investment." Due to take effect Oct. 15, Sinaloa's new reporting restrictions have been condemned by press freedom organizations in Mexico and abroad. Mexico's National Human Rights Commissioner Raul Plascencia called it "a bad precedent" for freedom of speech. They are particularly galling for the Mexican journalists who have risked their lives to report on the country's criminal organizations, and who have been urging lawmakers to provide them with more protections -- not new obstacles. Mexico ranked seventh this year on the "Global Impunity" index of countries where killings against journalists go unpunished -- the worst rating in the hemisphere -- according to an annual survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists. After several dozen reporters staged a protest Monday in Culiacan, the state capital, Sinaloa governor Mario López Valdez said he would meet with them and that the new legislation had been poorly drafted. The backlash against Sinaloa's state legislators has been so intense that lawmakers said they will introduce a new proposal Aug. 21 to repeal the measures, blaming its approval on a busy agenda that didn't leave enough time for the fine print. But Riodoce's Valdez said he's still skeptical. "We can't let our guard down," he said, speaking by phone from Sinaloa. Of course, not all Mexican reporters are noble crusaders for truth and justice. Some take money in exchange for favorable coverage, or no coverage at all. Carnage-crazed tabloids tend to outnumber serious news outlets. Yet Mexico remains a country with a fairly vibrant and mostly-free press, and one that has hung on through a dark and scary era when powerful forces from the underworld and the political world have wanted to gag it. There were times in Ciudad Juarez in 2010 and 2011, when the city was at its deadliest, that it wasn't unusual for 10, 12 or 15 people to be slain in a single day. You could follow the local crime reporters to homicide scenes all around the city and see the bodies in


Guest list for the African Summit dinner at the White House

President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy, National Security Council Mr. John Rice-Cameron Mr. Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, J.W. Marriott International, Bethesda, MD Mrs. Ruth Sorenson The Honorable Margaret Spellings, President of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Dallas, TX Mr. Vance Wilson Mr. Earl Stafford, CEO, Wentworth Group, McLean, VA Mrs. Amanda Stafford His Excellency Bockari Stevens, Ambassador of the Republic of Sierra Leone Mr. Ritchie Tabachnick, President, Equipment & Controls Africa, Pittsburgh, PA Ms. Laura Tabachnick His Excellency Mohamed Mostafa Mohamed Tawfik, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt The Honorable Tina Tchen, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady Mr. Tewolde Tesfaye, Ethiopia Mr. Kagnew Asfaw Her Excellency Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Republic of Ghana The Right Honorable Dr. Motsoahae Thomas Thabane, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho The Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs Mr. Lafayette Greenfield Mr. Sim Tshabalala, Washington, DC His Excellency José Mário Vaz, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Her Excellency Rosa Teixeira Goudiaby Vaz, First Lady of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau His Excellency Manuel Domingos Vicente, Vice President, Republic of Angola The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture Mrs. Christie Vilsack The Honorable David Wade, Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State Ms. Elizabeth Alexander The Honorable Aminu Bashir Wali, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria Mr. DeWayne Wickham, Baltimore, MD Ms. Zenita Wickham Hurley The Honorable Frederica Wilson, United States Representative (Florida) Dr. Roslyn Artis Mr. Phill Wilson, CEO, Black AIDS Institute, Los Angeles, CA Mr. Mark Schoofs His Excellency Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin Ms. Melike Yetken, Director of African Affairs, National Security Council Mr. Jeffrey Krilla His Excellency Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Djibouti The Honorable Leocadia Zak, Director, United States Trade and Development Agency Mr. Kenneth W. Hansen Mr. Jeffrey Zients, Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council Mrs. Mary Zients Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission His Excellency Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa Mrs. Nompumelelo Primrose Zuma, Spouse of the President of the Republic of South Africa Follow more of the big dinner’s news here from Lionel Richie’s pseudo-African


The Rosetta space probe, after 10-year journey, makes rendezvous with comet

The European Space Agency (ESA) released video illustrating the size of the space probe Rosetta in comparison with the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The probe made a rendezvous with the comet on Wednesday. It’s one of those moments in space exploration when the true immensity of the universe sharpens into clarity. More than 10 years ago, on March 2, 2004, the European Space Agency launched the Rosetta spacecraft. More than 10 years of hurtling through 4 billion miles of black, 10 years of monitoring its progress, 10 years of anticipation. For this moment: The rendezvous with a comet that’s two miles long and 2.5 miles wide. On Wednesday morning, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the Rosetta spacecraft opened “a new chapter in solar system exploration,” as it rendezvoused with the comet after firing its thrusters for nearly seven minutes to catch up with it. This handout picture taken on Aug. 3, 2014, by space probe Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera shows the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from a distance of 285 km. (AFP PHOTO) “After 10 years, five months and four days traveling towards our destination, looping around the sun five times and clocking up 6.4 billion kilometers, we are delighted to announce finally, ‘We are here,'” proclaimed Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s director general. “Europe’s Rosetta is now the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous with a comet, a major highlight in exploring our origins. Discoveries can start.” “Here” means in orbit, not actually on the comet. That comes later. NBC reported: Right now, Rosetta is in a holding pattern about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the comet, but over the next couple of months that orbit is expected to close in on an altitude of 12 to 20 miles (20 to 30 kilometers). In November, Rosetta is scheduled to send out a piggyback probe, named Philae, to descend to the comet’s surface. Based on temperature readings made by Rosetta’s instruments, scientists have already surmised that the comet has a porous, dusty crust with ice beneath. The surface is strewn with boulders the size of houses, and Churyumenko-Gerasimov’s icy cliffs rise as high as 500 feet (150 meters). Comets are considered both enigmatic and pivotal to an understanding of the solar system. Since May, the Rosetta has performed 10 maneuvers to catch up to and eventually meet the comet. “If any of those maneuvers had failed,” the organization said, “the mission would have been lost,


NYC congresswoman visits China, hopes to bring home pandas

This photo provided by the Smithsonian National Zoo shows Giant panda cub Bao Bao outside with her mom Mei Xiang for the first time April 1, 2014 (AP Photo/Smithsonian National Zoo) (This post has been updated with more information on the trip’s sponsorship.) While visiting China on a privately-funded congressional delegation trip, a Manhattan congresswoman has a specific personal mission: Get New York City its own pandas. To kick off August recess, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is traveling with a handful of colleagues for 10 days to the Far East on a “Mutual Education and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA)” trip, approved by the State Department, hosted by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and facililtated by the the U.S.-Asia Institute, a non-profit that regularly organizes these goodwill visits. The institute did not return calls for comment, and Maloney’s office would not say, citing “security protocol,” who else was going on the trip – or if they too were going panda shopping. The group is there primarily to discuss trade policy with the Chinese, but if you’ve traveled 14 hours across the globe you might as well multitask. And Maloney has her eye on the cuddly, bamboo-eating bears that make anyone in its presence spontaneously say, “Awww.” See? [posttv url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/local/bao-bao-makes-outdoor-debut/2014/04/01/d92c2f20-b9ac-11e3-80de-2ff8801f27af_video.html" ] The congresswoman plans to make a side visit (only a short 22-hour drive from Beijing) to Chengdu Research Base, which breeds giant pandas, to discuss options for bringing a pair to a New York City zoo. First lady Michelle Obama and her daughters also visited the panda enclosure on a visit to China in March. “New York City’s economy is Congresswoman Maloney’s top priority. That’s why she is traveling to China to discuss trade policy and what can be done to increase our exports to the second largest economy in the world,” her spokesman said in an e-mail. “She will also take a few hours to visit a Panda research base to discuss the possibility of securing a Panda for New York City, which would help boost tourism.” This has apparently been on Maloney’s bucket list for years, and she told the New York Post in an interview that Chinese and New York officials are open to it. New York City last had giant pandas almost 30 years ago, when the Bronx Zoo housed two for six months on loan, according to a 1987 New York Times story. Pandas


Wonkbook: The big shift — and opportunity — in America’s ties to Africa

not give that experimental serum to West African Ebola sufferers? Explainer: Hospitals will be on high alert for Ebola-like symptoms. Explainer: The U.S. has training in containing hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola. Analysts ask: Why no in-depth discussion at the U.S.-Africa summit? One factor undercutting Ebola fight in Africa: Poor enforcement of quarantines. Other public health reads: Drug-resistant malaria is spreading across Southeast Asia. Michaeleen Doucleff in NPR. How USAID-Cuba revelations could threaten global health programs. Brianna Lee in International Business Times. Thrill-seeking interlude: 5. The government's latest transparency troubles Watchdogs say their access to government records delayed or denied due to agency woes. GAO: U.S. failed to report $619 billion in spending to its transparency site. How transparency issues are hindering release of long-awaited CIA interrogation-tactics report. On the other hand, FCC gives public new way to analyze public comments. Is there a new Edward Snowden? Other tech reads: Why open access advocates aren’t thrilled with the DOE’s plan to expand public access to its research. Andrea Peterson in The Washington Post. Video games interlude: Wonkblog roundup People don’t get the new Obamacare lawsuits, but they think all exchanges should provide subsidies. Jason Millman. Strict rules in Beijing on who can own and drive a car could be a boon for Uber. Andrea Peterson. About 100 million Americans are now using credit unions. Should you join them? Jonnelle Marte. Why abortion "patient safety" laws may actually hurt women. Jason Millman. Where Americans smoke marijuana the most. Christopher Ingraham. Why the U.S. should start taxing soda like cigarettes and alcohol. Roberto A. Ferdman. Et Cetera Money for fighting fires to run out. Kevin Freking in the Associated Press. U.S. regulators reject bankruptcy plans of 11 big banks. Danielle Douglas in The Washington Post. Colorado compromise on fracking could serve as model for other states. Jennifer A. Dlouhy in the Houston Chronicle. Sanctions on Russia failing to staunch energy deals with Japan. Chou Hui Hong, Anna Shiryaevskaya and Tsuyoshi Inajima in Bloomberg. Sturdy U.S. services, factory data boost growth picture. Lucia Mutikani in Reuters. Double-punch for tax inversion deals as Treasury seeks ways to stem them and Walgreen's rules out move. Damian Paletta and Dina Mattioli in The Wall Street Journal. Tea party's last stand? Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli in the Los Angeles Times. Got tips, additions, or comments? Wonkbook is produced with help from Michelle Williams and Ryan McCarthy


Researchers captured a stunning image of one of the brightest volcanoes in the solar system

In addition to the extremely bright volcanic eruption on the upper right, a lava lake is visible in the center of this image, which captured one of the solar system's brightest volcanoes. (Katherine de Kleer/UC Berkeley/Gemini Observatory/AURA) Imagine a volcanic explosion 10,000 times more powerful than the Eyjafjallajokull eruptions in Iceland that disrupted so much European air travel in 2010. An explosion that emits 20 Terawatts (yes, 20 trillion watts) of energy. An explosion so large that it produces "curtains of fire," spewing lava that quickly covers hundreds of square miles. It sounds like the stuff of either nightmares or intergalactic thrillers, but it's what happened last summer on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. An eight-meter telescope on a mountain in Hawaii happened to capture a remarkable image of the explosion, one of the brightest that researchers have ever seen in our solar system. Io (pronounced eye-o) is the only known place in the solar system other than Earth with active volcanoes that erupt hot lava, according to astronomers. It's an important research source for people trying to understand the Earth's origins, since it's "the only place in the solar system that we see volcanoes of the type that were happening" when our planet first formed, according to University of California Berkeley astronomer Katherine de Kleer. "On Earth, we can study this period by looking at volcanic rocks produced during that time, but Io gives us the chance to see these types of eruptions actively occurring -- to look back in time, in a sense," de Kleer told The Post. Researchers including de Kleer observed Io for two weeks beginning in August 2013 and published results of their findings this week in the journal Icarus. According to Gemini Observatory The Aug. 29, 2013, eruption was sort of like "the grand finale" after two other massive explosions, de Kleer said. It was captured by the Gemini Observatory telescope in Hawaii, which used "adaptive optics" to produce a "super-sharp near-infrared image," according to a Gemini news release. Io, de Kleer said, is "completely covered" in volcanic activity. But large-scale eruptions were previously thought to be quite rare, happening every couple of years (only 13 were seen between 1978 and 2006). Observing back-to-back-to-back mega-eruptions last summer led researchers to believe that this particular sort of volcanic activity may be more common than they previously thought. Or maybe they just happened to observe the


‘Love locks’ are not forever

Steve Hendrix and Rachel Sadon report. But this is Washington, D.C., so we don’t go in for that sort of nonsense. “Our first priority is to protect the integrity of the bridge,” said D.C. transportation department spokesman, explaining that bolt cutters will soon be deployed. In other news: Marion Barry pays up, gets his car back — not necessarily in that order (Post, WTOP, WUSA-TV, WAMU-FM, DCist) David Catania turns in petitions, lays into Muriel Bowser (Post, WAMU-FM, Loose Lips, AP, DCist) Ex-Gray constituent services aide, accused of bad behavior in 14th Street bar, now works for Muriel Bowser (Loose Lips) Montessori school will become first charter school to locate in Ward 3 after last minute scramble (Post) Vince Gray sets “good example” with new FOIA system (Post editorial) Property owner agrees to let Museum Square residents stay at least a little while longer (Housing Complex) Cafe Asia, club where Big G was stabbed, is ordered closed (Post, AP, DCist) Nearby Lotus Lounge owes IRS $1 million, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (WBJ) Reality check from Tom Sherwood: The FBI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon (WRC-TV) Martin O’Malley says it “probably is time” for the Redskins name to go (Post) “How Dan Snyder Bought Off The D.C. Media” (Deadspin) Final arguments today in Corcoran court hearing (AP) Taxi Commission and Office of Human Rights launch common complaint form for discrimination complaints (WAMU-FM, City Desk, DCist, PoPville) With neighbors satisfied, Ellington School reno is ready to go (Current via Dish) African protest in front of Willard Hotel leads to brawl (WTOP) If we’re serious about statehood, time to come up with a plan for local courts and prisons (NUDCS) Union still insists Navy Yard needs more security officers (WRC-TV) D.C. traffic camera located in Maryland is dismantled (WTOP, WRC-TV) Man dies in violent early morning crash on H Street NE (Post, WRC-TV) Two women shot just after midnight on Stanton Road SE (WJLA-TV) Where the post-decrim weed incidents are (City Desk) Kids in Kenilworth-Parkside spend their summer gardening (Post) Poverty grows in the ‘burbs as it declines in the city (WBJ) The “de-malled” Georgetown Park mall sells for $272 million to undisclosed buyer (WBJ) D.C. government spends $20,000 to help businesses “crowdfund” (WBJ) According to one set of data, D.C. rents are actually going down (In the Capital) Maybe not in Woodley Park, though (WBJ) HR-57 is moving again (Frozen Tropics)


Nightlife Agenda: Bardo beers, a Super Soaker battle and pirate techno

The DJs, bands, dance nights and parties you need to plan for this week. The sprawling, junkyard-like Bardo Beer Garden is tapping its first house-brewed beers this week. (Photo by Craig Hudson/For The Washington Post) Thursday, August 7 Though beers from Frederick's Brewer's Alley and Monocacy breweries have been showing up at some D.C. beer bars for the past two years, the two breweries only officially entered the local market this week, thanks to a new distribution deal. The event is being marked with a series of happy hours hosted by head brewer Todd Perkins. On Thursday, they'll be pouring drafts from both breweries at DC Reynolds' popular buy-one, get-one-free happy hour, which runs from 5 to 9 p.m. On Friday, it's off to the roof deck at Roofers Union for more beers and a glassware giveaway from 5 to 7 p.m. Back in the late '70s and early '80s, Georgetown's preppy hotspot was the Chinese Disco, a weekend party that took its name from its unlikely location at a Chinese restaurant called the Day Lily. A 1982 Washington Post story about the wild dance parties at "ChiDi" referred to "the neon green and hot pink, all-cotton, collegiate crowd for whom 'The Preppy Handbook' is not just a best seller but a way of life." It's no secret that Georgetown's modern preppy scene has been stagnating, and in an effort to recapture some of the old magic, the list-only George has been rebranded Chinese Disco and given a new bar, new booths and new dance floor. There's a preview party with discounted growlers and buckets on beer on Thursday night, beginning at 10 p.m. The TB-303 and TR-808 drum machines fueled '80s dance music and hip-hop, and they're "rediscovered" by every subsequent generation, all the way to the trap music and pop sounds of today. Most producers who use their iconic sounds are working with digital copies, but that's not the case with Indian electronic music pioneer Charanjit Singh. He is bringing the original hardware on stage with him at Tropicalia, performing the acid house from his landmark 1982 album "10 Ragas To A Disco Beat." Washington duo Protect-U shares the bill. As Tiny Ruins, New Zealand singer Hollie Fullbrook crafts gorgeous, intricate folk-pop. Despite fingerpicked guitars and occasional horns, Fullbrook's hushed vocals are the main instrument: Her affecting lyrics have the charm of short stories. Except a wonderfully intimate


Astronomers may have found a new zombie star

stars supernova, they're basically obliterated. These explosions expel most or all of the star's matter into space. But in rare cases (only 30 have been spotted by astronomers) another type of supernova occurs, and it's kind of a miniaturized version. A smaller percentage of the star's mass is expelled, and the star can find a second life after the supernova. “Astronomers have been searching for decades for the star systems that produce Type Ia supernova explosions,” Rutgers astronomer and study co-author Saurabh Jha said in a statement. “Type Ia’s are important because they’re used to measure vast cosmic distances and the expansion of the universe. But we have very few constraints on how any white dwarf explodes. The similarities between Type Iax’s and normal Type Ia’s make understanding Type Iax progenitors important, especially because no Type Ia progenitor has been conclusively identified. This discovery shows us one way that you can get a white dwarf explosion.” The astronomers believe that the weak supernova may have been caused by the white dwarf's interaction with a nearby companion star. While the white dwarf started as a bigger star, as it evolved it dumped hydrogen and helium onto the smaller companion. Eventually, the larger star became a white dwarf, while the smaller was bulking up on its leftovers. Once larger than the white dwarf, the companion star engulfed it. This massive combined star ejected its outer layers, leaving behind the white dwarf and the helium core of the companion star, which astronomers believe they've detected. The white dwarf then pulled matter from the companion star until it was unstable, leading to the mini-supernova. Because of the (relatively) small scale of the explosion, a white dwarf that should have been on its last legs was instead hoisted from its cosmic grave. The astronomers are waiting for the light of the explosion to fade, which will allow them to take a closer look at the white dwarf - and maybe, if they're lucky, the companion star as well. "Usually during a supernova, a white dwarf would just be totally gone," study co-author and astrophysicist Curtis McCully said. "In this case, the white dwarf is still just a white dwarf. How the companion star changed, if it survived the explosion, is another question." No word on whether either stars came back with a taste for brains, but it's still pretty cool. Read more from NASA here.


Momofuku’s David Chang says a D.C. restaurant is still on his radar

Aug. 13 update: Chang confirmed to Washingtonian that he plans to open a 4,500-square-foot restaurant in CityCenter DC in 2015. Original post: As Vanity Fair noted recently, it's been 10 years since David Chang opened Momofuku Noodle Bar, the pork-bun and ramen joint that launched his career and transformed him into one of New York's most recognizable chefs, with restaurants, bars and sweet shops in three countries. David Chang still has no lease in hand for a D.C. restaurant. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post) It's also been a decade since he snubbed D.C. by launching Momofuku in Manhattan, and not Georgetown, as Chang once considered. Which means that, for 10 long years, Washingtonians have waited patiently for the Northern Virginia native to open a restaurant on his home turf. Rumors have circulated for months now that he was going to open a Momofuku at CityCenter DC in downtown Washington, perhaps sharing the same address as Daniel Boulud's forthcoming DBGB Kitchen and Bar. I had a chance to ask Chang about those rumors this afternoon. "Right now, it's just wishful thinking," Chang says. "It's on the radar, but nothing's done." In other words, he has no lease in hand. But Chang continues to play the tease to long-suffering Washingtonians. "If it happens, it happens," he says. "I’d like it to. That’s all I can say.” Perhaps he will own the Redskins before he opens a restaurant here.


National Guard dumps Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. It’s also ending a $12 million sponsorship deal with driver Graham Rahal. “Significantly constrained resources and the likelihood of further reductions in the future call for more innovative and cost-effective ways of doing business,” Maj. Gen. Judd H. Lyons, acting director of the Army National Guard, said in a press release. The “significantly constrained resources” may be due to Senate hearings on the Guard’s profligate spending convened earlier this year. USA Today reported the Guard spent $26.5 million to sponsor NASCAR in 2012, “but failed to sign up a single new soldier to its ranks,” according to Senate documents. Between 2011 and 2013, the Guard spent $88 million, but “it is unclear how many new recruits, if any, signed up because of it.” “How can you justify the fact that nobody is getting recruited?” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in hearings. “The facts speak for themselves. The data is very clear. You’re not getting recruits off of NASCAR.” Even worse, the other branches of the military seem to already know that NASCAR isn’t the most fertile recruiting ground. “The Army, the Navy, the Marines and the Coast Guard all canceled their sponsorships with NASCAR due to cost, ineffectiveness and difficulty in measuring results,” according to a Senate document. “The Army specifically stated that NASCAR was declining against the Army’s core target audience and that NASCAR sponsorship had the highest cost per engagement in the Army’s portfolio of sponsorships — three times the next highest program.” The announcement seems to have been a surprise to Earnhardt. “We have not been approached by the Guard about potential changes and plan to honor our current agreement,” Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt’s team, told USA Today. The Guard has not been shy about its recruitment efforts in the past. Last year, it teamed up with the producers of “Man of Steel” for a “Soldier of Steel” campaign. “Everyday you walk past Clark Kent, then he changes into his uniform — similar to what we do here in the military,” Soldier of Steel Behind the Scenes It’s unclear how many recruits Kal-El of Krypton brought in, but the New York Post reported the promotion cost the Guard $10 million. “We share a common commitment to the American people to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Lyons said. “We will continue to assess and refine our programs to ensure we get the best return on investment.”


A new owner for Georgetown shopping center

Welcome to CapBiz A.M., your morning primer on business news with a focus on Washington. Big box, big success: Lending gap: A taxing problem: Security breach: Office space: Disaster plan: Go for now: On Wall Street Stocks stayed flat after some positive earnings reports offset some early jitters about Russia’s military advances in Ukraine. (Get the latest updates here) What’s on tap today Weekly jobless claims (8:30 a.m.) Consumer credit (3 p.m.) Chain store sales (All day) Africa Digital Security conference (9:30 a.m.) Help: Follow: Extra: Thoughts?


Has the era of the ‘climate change refugee’ begun?

"vulnerable to natural disasters and the adverse impact of climate change." "I don't see it as delivering any kind of 'verdict' on climate change as such," says Vernon Rive, a Senior Lecturer in Law at AUT Law School in Auckland. The New Zealand decision is very specific because the family based its application for residency on three arguments, Rive says. First, the family members claimed to be refugees; second, they argued to be "protected people", and third, the family said its case fell under "exceptional humanitarian grounds." Each of these arguments is based on an existing convention regarding refugees, but the family only succeeded because it claimed "exceptional humanitarian grounds," which is a wording recognized in New Zealand's immigration legislation but not by many other governments. In its judgment the New Zealand tribunal surprisingly acknowledged the humanitarian consequences of climate change among other factors, such as the presence of an elderly mother who required care. In its conclusion, however, the tribunal refrained from singling out climate change and stated that other factors would already have been sufficient to grant residency to the family. In other words: The tribunal avoided a clear decision on whether climate change can or cannot be reason enough for refugees to be granted residency. The mere fact that the tribunal mentioned the impacts of global warming as a contributing factor to the ruling is nevertheless remarkable. "What this decision will not do is open the gates to all people from places such as Kiribati, Tuvalu and Bangladesh who may suffer hardship because of the impacts of climate change," Rive says. While the tribunal's decision may not have the same impact everywhere, it could send a strong signal to a number of nations, such as Sweden and Finland, that often grant asylum to people affected by natural disasters. According to French climate change migration expert François Gemenne, governments need to get to grips with the reality of climate change refugees, irrespective of legal conventions. "I believe that bilateral or regional arrangements are going to become necessary," says Gemenne, suggesting a raft of agreements will need to be put into place, between nations and among geopolitical blocs, that will ensure the protection of those displaced by rising waters. Using temperature data from 1860 to 2005 as a baseline, climate departure describes the point in time that the average temperature of the coolest year after 2005 becomes warmer than


New RoboBees show that the future of robotics is very, very small

Insect-inspired robots appear to have valuable, real-world applications. (Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory) Earlier this summer, President Obama worried about the disappearing honeybee population and what it means for the nation’s food supplies. In a presidential memorandum, he announced plans for the creation of a “Pollinator Health Task Force” to help save the honeybee. According to Obama, this was a $15 billion problem in search of an immediate answer. Well, not to worry, amazing robotic bees the size of pennies might one day pollinate crops, ending all concerns about Colony Collapse Disorder within the next 15-20 years. At Harvard, researchers led by Robert Wood are developing RoboBees — a completely mechanical flying device loaded up with sensors and batteries that would fly from flower to flower, picking up and then depositing pollen the way a real honeybee would. Once it’s proven that these RoboBees can maneuver and carry their pollen payloads for long distances, you could theoretically replace a colony of honeybees with a swarm of robotic bees. While it may be too early now to start talking about these RoboBees as the solution to Colony Collapse Disorder, it’s exciting to consider how much we can learn from nature to reverse-engineer tiny robots that look and function like their real-world counterparts. In a National Geographic video, for example, Harvard’s Robert Wood showcased examples of robotic flies, robotic millipedes that crawl over toys and robotic cockroaches that scurry across the floor. Robert Wood: Robotic Insects | Nat Geo Live What’s making all this possible is a lot of technological innovation that borrows from many other fields of cutting-edge research. Smart sensors are needed to detect the flowers, the same way a bee’s antennae and eyes would. Wireless communication devices are needed for the colony of bees to communicate with each other in the field. Small, extremely portable power sources are needed to power these bees for long periods of time. And highly advanced engineering techniques are needed to stabilize these bees in mid-flight. There are plenty of uses for these small, bio-inspired robots that go beyond crop pollination. When deployed as part of a robotic swarm, these tiny robots might be used as part of search and rescue missions in the aftermath of a disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane. They could be used to explore dangerous natural environments where humans can’t go, or used as part of high-resolution weather and climate


Metta World Peace to play in China, change name to Panda Friend (UPDATE: it’s ‘The Pandas Friend’)

(Associated Press) IMPORTANT UPDATE 2:04 P.M. THURSDAY: We have a crucial clarification from the man himself. ORIGINAL POST: On Monday, Metta World Peace announced that he was signing with the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association. The Player Formerly Known as Ron Artest also dropped this little nugget. Mr. World Peace has apparently made up his mind: He “intends to change his name to ‘Panda Friend’ in honor of his move to China,” China Daily reports. Mr. Friend, 34, last was seen playing for the New York Knicks, who waived him in February, and then signing on as assistant girls’ basketball coach at Palisades High School in Southern California. He becomes the latest NBA cast-off to play in China after Stephon Marbury and Tracy McGrady.


What it’s like to die of thirst

Iraqi Yazidi women who fled the violence in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar sit at a school where they are taking shelter in the Kurdish city of Dohuk in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on Aug. 5. (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images) I'm not about to start ranking the horrors visited on the human body this summer, from Ebola in West Africa to bombs and bullets in Gaza and Israel. But thousands of particularly excruciating deaths may soon be added to the list by the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the terrorist group that is sweeping through parts of Iraq and establishing its own state. According to The Post's Loveday Morris, the militants have surrounded 10,000 to 40,000 members of a religious minority sect, the Yazidi, on a barren mountain, where the refugees are beginning to die of thirst and hunger. The Yazidi, who ISIS considers apostates, fled there when the jihadi forces overwhelmed Kurdish fighters in the nearby town of Sinjar. Children and older people are succumbing in the 100-plus degree heat, Morris reported in this terrible dispatch. There is no place to bury them on the rocky hill. The Iraqi government has tried to drop water to them, with little success. “There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads,” Marzio Babille, the Iraq representative for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday. “There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded by Islamic State. It’s a disaster, a total disaster.” As this barbarism continues, I asked Jeffrey Berns, president-elect of the National Kidney Foundation and a nephrologist at the University of Pennsylvania, what these children may be going through. "Thirst, as you probably know, is one of the most potent drives for behavior we have. It may be the most potent we have, more than even hunger," he said. "People are going to be miserable." The body is about 60 percent water If it's not replaced over time and dehydration becomes severe, cells throughout the body will begin to shrink as water moves out of them and into the blood stream, part of the body's efforts to keep the organs perfused in fluid. "All the cells will shrink," Berns said, "but the ones that count are the brain cells. They don’t operate normally when they're’ shrinking." Changes in mental status will follow, including confusion and ultimately


(In)discriminate language on Gaza

consequences that interest scholars and policymakers, not to mention those who suffer the repercussions. Studying the political effects of discourse shifts should thus be front and center. These discussions are even more important in contemplating the way in which people who consume news related to Israel-Palestine – scholars included – are increasingly self-segregating. Examining the potential sources of these shifts is as important as analyzing them. So, why now? One Middle East correspondent, who works for a major national U.S. media outlet and preferred to remain anonymous, said: “Mearsheimer and Walt’s book, ‘The Israel Lobby,’ paved the way for Israel to be held up to the same scrutiny other democratic countries are militarily or from a human rights perspective. The momentum continued after that book – you had Thomas Friedman join in, then shows like Jon Stewart’s.” Tim Fitzsimons, a freelance journalist who has worked in Beirut for the past two and a half years, situated the roots of the shift in the Arab Uprisings, arguing that there “is much, much more coverage of the civilian side than during [Israeli Operation] Cast Lead [in December 2008 – January 2009]” and that his theory “is the reporters who covered Syria see similar things happening in Gaza (government bombing civilians from the sky) and aren’t modifying their reporting to fit the narrative that has dominated in past Israel conflicts.” Others have emphasized the role that journalists’ and activists’ Twitter and Facebook feeds have in complementing or contrasting mainstream media sources. Pieces such as Paul Mason’s influential article “Why Israel is losing the social media war over Gaza” have evaluated the role of on-the-ground reporting from activists, journalists and civilians through Twitter and Facebook in challenging dominant narratives. In other words, people who produce and share media now constitute a more diverse group, criticism of Israeli policies has become more commonplace, and events such as the sieges of the Syrian city of Homs and Damascus district of Yarmouk (among many, many others) have provided new analytic frames to foreign observers. What does this mean for longer-term academic analysis? In a world where conflict reporting is no longer curated entirely by corporate media entities, scholars should first reexamine their own biases; datasets that catalogue violent events often depend heavily on traditional media sources accessible through search engines such as Lexis-Nexis. Systematically combing through sources such as Twitter, Facebook (with the added challenge of privacy


Photos: The remains of Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, killed in Afghanistan, return to the U.S.

U.S. general officer to be killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Greene was killed by a lone Afghan gunman outside the training academy who opened fire on Greene and other coalition troops with a machine gun from about 100 yards away. At least 15 others were wounded. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) The remains of Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, the first U.S. general killed in a combat zone since the Vietnam War, arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Thursday. In traditional fashion, U.S. soldiers carried out the fallen service member from an aircraft to a waiting military vehicle and then to the mortuary. The military has carried out thousands of such “dignified transfers” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A senior officer from the fallen service member’s branch of service presides over each one. Greene, 55, was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University, a training academy for Afghan officers west of Kabul. A lone gunman is said to have opened fire with a machine gun from about 100 yards away, hitting the general several times and wounding at least 15 others. U.S. service members and dignitaries, right, salute as the remains of Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, 55, are carried off a C-17 aircraft during a Dignified Transfer movement at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Thursday. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, right, salutes, and Army Secretary John McHugh, second to right, puts his hand over his heart as U.S. soldiers carry the remains of Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, 55, at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Thursday during a “dignified transfer” of remains. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) Senior Airman Kristina C. Barr stands with the flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene on Thursday at Dover Air Force Base. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) The family of Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene hold hands at Dover Air Force Base on Thursday after the general’s remains arrived in a “dignified transfer” movement. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) Previously on Checkpoint: New details emerge about death of Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, killed in Afghanistan Obama’s silence on death of Maj. Gen. Harold Greene comes under fire


Is U.S. obligated to provide free electricity to Afghanistan?

The U.S. occupied Afghanistan for perhaps a decade, continues to maintain a troop presence there, and retains significant “administrative powers,” like killing people in drone strikes. Yet no one thinks that this entails an obligation for the U.S. to provide electricity to Afghanistan, even during the occupation. Indeed, only 30% of Afghanistan’s population currently has access to electricity, so if there is such a duty, the U.S. is massively remiss. And soon it is going to be less, as the U.S. does to Afghanistan what Israel supposedly cannot do to Gaza – cut off the free electricity they had been supplying: When the United States stops funding power generation in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar next year, the lights are set to go out and factories will fall idle, playing into the hands of Taliban insurgents active in the area. … But regular power in the city is still years away, and when the United States finally ends subsidies – currently running at just over $1 million a month – in September 2015, Kandahar could lose around half its severely limited electricity supplies, Afghan power officials and U.S. inspectors say. … Alex Bronstein-Moffly, a spokesman for the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), said power shortages in insurgent heartlands would be a major setback 13 years after the Taliban were toppled in a U.S.-backed war. “If electrical service to Kandahar is compromised it could end up endangering counter-insurgency and economic gains made over the last few years,” he said. It is unlikely that America’s turning off the lights in Afghanistan will be denounced as a international crime by anyone, let alone the group of Israeli law professors has argued that Israel is obligated to provide free electricity to Gaza, despite hostilities. The professors wrote in response to a legal opinion from Prof. Avi Bell arguing the contrary. I already recounted some problems with this view. Now let me continue. The professors did not, as far as I understand their memo, suggest that providing power to a hostile belligerent was a general rule of international law, but rather based on some special relationship between Israel and Gaza. Some combination of Israel’s occupation of Gaza and its current partial blockade require it to assume special duties to the territory, they claim. The blockade argument is really just a disguised objection to the legality of the blockade; in a proper blockade,


Engineers are using origami to fold the robots of the future

A robot that maneuvers in a way resembling origami, the Japanese art of paper-folding, has been developed by the Harvard's Wyss Institute, Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and MIT. Researchers hope their findings can lead to robots that can be manufactured much more easily and inexpensively. Thanks to the ancient art of paper folding, a little scientific ingenuity, and a whole mess of Shrinky Dinks, researchers have designed flat paper robots that can fold themselves into 3-D shapes and walk away. Their results, published Thursday in Science, point to a future of self-assembling bots that can be built and transported at lower costs than traditional robots, as well as used in tighter spaces. And their paper isn't even the only origami-inspired innovation in Science this week. Why origami? In the past couple of decades, mathematicians and artists alike have been pushing the boundaries of the practice. Now we have computer programs that can figure out the folding pattern to create basically any design. These simulations have revealed that paper folding produces some interesting mechanical properties, and engineers have taken note. These new robots are made of paper layered with Shrinky Dinks, a plastic (sold as a children's toy) that shrinks when heated. The researchers snaked circuits into the plastic in the spots where they wanted the robot to bend as it assembled. When the circuits heat the plastic, the robot is pulled into its final shape. With the help of a motor and battery, it then walks away. The battery and motor still adds a bit of bulk, but not much. (Seth Kroll, Wyss Institute) Of course a motor and battery mean that the bot is never truly flat. And the thickness of the paper sheets, while only around a tenth of an inch, limit the flatness of the robot as well. But Sam Felton, a PhD candidate at candidate at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the study's lead author, is confident that flat electronics will be easier to come by soon. "People are already 3D printing batteries that are very flat," he said. "We'll eventually have options for creating 2D versions of all the components we need." And while this robot can only fold itself into a single shape, different materials could hypothetically produce a more versatile model. And some of those materials are


7 things to do in the D.C. area on the weekend of Aug. 8-10

Friday: (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Friday: Friday: Friday-Saturday: Watch Friday-Aug. 16: Saturday: Saturday:


IBM announces the most brain-like computer chip to date

IBM's new neurosynaptic processor integrates 1 million neurons and 256 million synapses on one chip. (IBM Research) A computer that works like a brain has been the holy grail of data processing for awhile now. Today, IBM announced a flying leap in the right direction in Science. Called TrueNorth, the new chip throws away the traditional rules of chip design in favor of a "neuromorphic" model. The chip, IBM researchers wrote, will help computers handle tasks such as image and voice recognition with the alacrity of humans. The chip is also extremely efficient. Here it is thermally imaged (left) next to a traditional chip feeding it data. (IBM Research) "I'm holding in my hand a new machine for a new era," lead researcher Dharmendra Modha told GigaOm, describing the chip as "a supercomputer the size of a stamp, the weight of a feather." The chip contains over 256 million "synapses," or neural connections, and 1 million "neurons." These trade electrical signals with one another, firing off information in much the way our own brains do. But given that our own brains have around 86 trillion neurons and 100 trillion synapses, a single chip is still puny in comparison. But the chips can be linked together to create more powerful circuits, too. And it's possible that IBM will combine the chip with a conventional computer, allowing each processor to handle the tasks it's best suited for. Science Magazine reports that


Almost 20 percent of people near retirement age have not saved for it

about retirement, at least not until it was too late. About 41 percent of people ages 18 to 29 said they never thought about retirement planning, a number that understandably declined to 20 percent for people above the age of 60. But researchers said the dismal saving rates weren't fully explained by lack of caring. They also cited a combination of low resources and poor awareness: The lack of preparedness is not signaled by a lack of planning alone. Many respondents, particularly those with limited incomes, indicated that they simply have few or no financial resources available for retirement. For many people, particularly those working part time or earning low wages, the biggest obstacle to a steady retirement savings plan is access. About three-fourths of private sector workers with full-time jobs have access to a retirement plan, but that number drops to 37 percent for part-time workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, what did workers say about how they expected to cover expenses in retirement? The biggest resource people planned to rely on, whether they had savings or not, was Social Security, which was cited by roughly 45 percent of respondents. A lot of people said they would just keep working: About one-third of the people surveyed said they delayed their retirement date after the financial crisis. Among the people closest to retirement, those ages 45 and over, that number increases to 41 percent. Only 18 percent of people said they envisioned having a traditional retirement where they would work full time until a particular date and then stop working completely. About a quarter of respondents said they plan to work as long as possible. And another 18 percent said they expect to take on a part-time job. Not surprisingly, the most common savings vehicle was a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b), used by 44 percent of the people surveyed. That compares to 18 percent of people who said they were eligible to receive a pension from their employers. (Correction: This story has been updated to correct that three-fourths of private sector workers with full-time jobs have access to a retirement plan.) Read More: A third of consumers with credit files had debts in collections last year Americans’ checking accounts are filling with cash, but they’re afraid to spend it About 100 million Americans are now using credit unions. Should you join them?


NBA suspends the Dallas Mavericks’ Raymond Felton for four games for weapons charges

Raymond Felton was recently traded to the Dallas Mavericks from the New York Knicks. (Julio Cortez/AP) It’s safe to say Raymond Felton will not have the best start to the NBA’s 2014-15 season. The newly signed Dallas Maverick (Felton was traded from the New York Knicks) won’t be playing in the first four games. He also won’t be getting paid after the NBA suspended him because of felony weapons charges, the league announced Thursday. ProBaseketballTalk.com reports: He had been arrested in New York after he allegedly pointed a gun at his estranged wife. He eventually pled guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, as well as knowingly having a large-capacity ammunition magazine and a pistol that was unlicensed. Felton was sentenced to 500 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. “Today we were made aware of Raymond Felton’s suspension,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in a statement (via ESPN). “We also learned that Raymond will be permitted to complete his community service outside the state of New York. The Mavericks are working with Raymond and the court to develop a community service program that will have a positive and lasting impact on North Texas.” Felton hopes to be able to move forward after his suspension. He said in the team statement (via ESPN): “I demonstrated poor judgment and I take full responsibility for my actions. Moving forward, I’m eager to get to Dallas, to start fresh and make a positive impact in the Dallas metropolitan area.” Felton’s suspension is fairly lenient compared to players who racked up similar charges on their record. In 2007, Stephen Jackson, then of the Golden State Warriors, was suspended for seven games after pleading guilty to firing a weapon outside of a strip club in 2006. In 2010, the NBA suspended Delonte West, then of the Boston Celtics, for 10 games around weapons charges. And also in 2010, Javaris Crittenton and Gilbert Arenas, both Washington Wizards at the time, ended up being suspended for the rest of the 2009-10 season for bringing firearms into the locker room.


Start planning now for D.C. Beer Week

The sixth annual DC Beer Week runs Aug. 17-24, bringing eight days of beer dinners, tap takeovers, happy hours and parties to the city's ale and lager fans. The majority of events are casual affairs where you can drop in, have a beer and move on, but others require advance planning. For example, DC Brau's annual all-you-can-eat crab feast always sells out. Here's a guide to some of the events you should make plans for now; we'll feature more of the no-tickets-required events closer to the beginning of Beer Week. Bluejacket is the first stop on a day-long tour of four D.C. breweries. (Photo by Scott Suchman for the Washington Post) Tastings and tours Many D.C. Beer Week events put the spotlight on beer from local breweries, but only one outing stars the breweries themselves. Reston Limousine, which organizes weekly party-bus tours of breweries in Loudoun County, Northern Virginia and D.C., is putting together a special guided jaunt to Bluejacket, Atlas Brew Works, DC Brau and 3 Stars on Saturday, Aug. 23. That sounds like a lot to cram in, but riders will spend about an hour touring and tasting at each stop. The $39 ticketincludes transportation between breweries; an optional $54 ticket adds lunch from Bluejacket. (Everyone is responsible for buying their own pints and growlers throughout the day.) The tour leaves from Reston Town Center at 10:15 a.m. and East Falls Church Metro at 10:45, and returns to East Falls Church at 5:30 p.m. and Reston at 6. Those based in D.C. can just show up at Bluejacket at 11:30 and take the bus to the other three breweries, but don't get a discount on the overall cost. (Buy tickets) Four D.C. production breweries – 3 Stars, Atlas Brew Works, Chocolate City and D.C. Brau – will join Virginia's Port City, Mad Fox and Lost Rhino at the final "official" event of D.C. Beer Week, Brewers on the Block, on Sunday, Aug. 24. Held at Suburbia, the cool Airstream bar outside Union Market, the afternoon includes unlimited beers, unlimited slushy cocktails from Suburbia and a panel discussion on the future of the local beer scene with brewers and industry types. Food from Red Apron Butchers and other Union Market vendors will be available for an additional cost. Tickets are $50 and cover all drinks from 2 to 8 p.m. (Buy tickets) The stars have aligned for the Heurich


Start planning now for D.C. Beer Week

House Museum, as the museum's monthly History and Hops happy hour falls on Aug. 21, during D.C. Beer Week. Tour the historic Victorian home of Christian Heurich, who was the most powerful brewer in Washington in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and taste three different beers from the award-winning Mad Fox Brewing Company, including a dry-hopped cask of the Funk saison. Unlimited beer and finger foods are covered by the $30 ticket. (Buy tickets) Food-focused events Hank's on the Hill Flying Dog The biggest event of D.C. Beer Week takes place Friday night, Aug. 22. BrewHaHa comes across as a mini-SAVOR festival in the atrium of the Old Ebbitt Grill: Nine local brewers are each paired with a restaurant, including the culinary teams from the Source, the Pig and Jack Rose. The chef and the brewery than work together to come up with small plates that match two of the brewery's offerings. It's an interesting night of sampling, with extra zip coming from the Motown-esque horns of Richmond's Hi Steps band. All inclusive tickets are $65. (Buy tickets) Crab feasts All-you-can-eat crab feasts are a staple of D.C. Beer Week. The big one is D.C. Brau's third-annual D.C. Beer Week Crab Festival Monumental Extravaganza at the Quarterdeck on Monday, Aug. 18th. The $50 fee covers crabs from 5 to 10 p.m., but not beer: You'll pay an unbelievable $1 per pint or $5 per pitcher for DC Brau products. (Buy tickets) Boulevard The Devils Backbone feast – actually billed as a "low country boil" – takes place Monday the 18th at Union Pub. Unlimited crabs, shrimp and Andouille cost $40, including two Devils Backbone beers. (Buy tickets) Games and fun stuff Colorado and Delmarva breweries face off on the taps and in a cornhole tournament on City Tap House's patio on Saturday the 23rd. Left Hand, New Belgium and Breckenridge will represent the Rocky Mountain State, while Dogfish Head, Evolution and 3 Stars are the home team. The menu features chili dogs with Colorado green chili and chili-topped half smokes with a variety of sides for $15. Beers from all participants are $5 from noon to 5 p.m. Playing in the cornhole tournament is free, but all athletes must email egartzke@publichouseusa.com by August 20 to register. They will be randomly assigned to one of the six brewery teams, and the winners will receive prizes ranging from brewery swag


EDM festivals seek remedies for when concerts boil over

rumble into Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. The festival, which aims to draw up to 30,000 dance-music fans each day from across the mid-Atlantic is slated to feature 90 acts, most of them DJs. But even this new festival has a back story. Promoter Evan Weinstein was an organizer of long-running Baltimore dance festival Starscape, which met an unceremonious end in 2012 after the festival overwhelmed Baltimore and Anne Arundel County emergency response units. Baltimore officials said after the 14th installment of Starscape that they would no longer permit the event to take place in the city's Fort Armistead Park. RELATED: Illegal substances will be prohibited at Moonrise, and Baltimore Police officers, fire and medical personnel will be on site, says Caron A. Brace, a spokeswoman for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. There will also be so-called "cooling centers," with shade and access to water. In a brief statement issued Thursday night, Moonrise organizers said they had also worked with consultants and additional promoters to arrive at a plan that included on-site physicians, private EMTs and ambulances. With EDM seemingly at a crossroads, however, is that enough? 'Everyone's terrified to tackle the drug issue' There is a period of remorse that follows such tragic events as those in Columbia and Boston, so brief that it frequently feels like a blip in the music itself, a microgesture before the bass drop. Often, it's acknowledged in not much more than 140 characters. "[O]ur hearts go out to everyone impacted by yesterday's event. we are truly devastated," Mad Decent founder Diplo (whose real name is Wesley Pentz), tweeted on Aug. 2. "Just hearing the awful news abt tonight," Avicii (given name: Tim Bergling) wrote after his Boston concert. "Its a terrible thing, I rly hope everyone is ok! My thoughts go to those affected & their families." Electronic dance music, spawned in warehouses decades ago and long an underground subculture, still exists behind a shroud that doesn't permit discussions of drugs or the mood in the dance-music world following recent festival deaths. Several requests for comment from Washington-area dance music promoters for this story were declined; after speaking with The Post about the Moonrise Festival in May, organizers of the event did not respond to requests made this week, instead releasing the news statement. "Everyone's terrified to tackle the drug issue, and that's what we have to do," said Missi Wooldridge, executive


World Health Organization paints dire picture of Ebola, declares international ‘health emergency’

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread. It made a series of recommendations, including strict monitoring of travelers in the stricken countries and said emergency efforts should be put under the direct command of heads of state. A WHO committee convened to study the situation painted a dire picture, saying the countries harboring the disease were particularly ill-equipped to handle it, with “fragile” health-care systems, considerable cross-border travel and “misperceptions” among the residents about the causes and treatment of the disease. No one with the disease should be allowed to travel internationally except under approved medical evacuation procedures, the agency said. The declaration came Friday from Margaret Chan, director general of WHO, after an expert committee convened for two days to assess the spreading epidemic. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May. The current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, and the death rate has been about 50 percent. As of Aug. 4, the cumulative number of cases attributed to the Ebola virus in the four countries stood at 1,711, including 932 deaths. The WHO panel recommended that the heads of state in the countries assume direct responsibility for coordinating the attack on Ebola, activating national disaster mechanisms and emergency operation centers. In its statement this morning, the committee cited a host of factors making the situation especially perilous. Among them: Inexperience in dealing with Ebola outbreaks; misperceptions of the disease, including how the disease is transmitted, are common and continue to be a major challenge in some communities. High mobility of populations and several instances of cross-border movement of travelers with infection. Several generations of transmission have occurred in the three capital cities of Conakry (Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone). A high number of infections have been identified among health-care workers, highlighting inadequate infection control practices in many facilities. The breakdown, according to WHO data as of Aug. 4, was: Guinea, 495 cases, (351 confirmed, 133 probable, and 11 suspected), including 363 deaths; Liberia, 516 cases (143 confirmed, 252 probable, and 121 suspected), including 282 deaths; Nigeria, 9 cases (0 confirmed, 2 probable, and 7 suspected), including 1


in accordance with recognized international biosafety provisions. States should ensure that appropriate medical care is available for the crews and staff of airlines operating in the country, and work with the airlines to facilitate and harmonize communications and management regarding symptomatic passengers under the IHR (2005), mechanisms for contact tracing if required and the use of passenger locator records where appropriate. States with EVD transmission should consider postponing mass gatherings until EVD transmission is interrupted. States with a potential or confirmed Ebola Case, and unaffected States with land borders with affected States Unaffected States with land borders adjoining States with Ebola transmission should urgently establish surveillance for clusters of unexplained fever or deaths due to febrile illness; establish access to a qualified diagnostic laboratory for EVD; ensure that health workers are aware of and trained in appropriate IPC procedures; and establish rapid response teams with the capacity to investigate and manage EVD cases and their contacts. Any State newly detecting a suspect or confirmed Ebola case or contact, or clusters of unexplained deaths due to febrile illness, should treat this as a health emergency, take immediate steps in the first 24 hours to investigate and stop a potential Ebola outbreak by instituting case management, establishing a definitive diagnosis, and undertaking contact tracing and monitoring. If Ebola transmission is confirmed to be occurring in the State, the full recommendations for States with Ebola Transmission should be implemented, on either a national or subnational level, depending on the epidemiologic and risk context. All States There should be no general ban on international travel or trade; restrictions outlined in these recommendations regarding the travel of EVD cases and contacts should be implemented. States should provide travelers to Ebola affected and at-risk areas with relevant information on risks, measures to minimize those risks, and advice for managing a potential exposure. States should be prepared to detect, investigate, and manage Ebola cases; this should include assured access to a qualified diagnostic laboratory for EVD and, where appropriate, the capacity to manage travelers originating from known Ebola-infected areas who arrive at international airports or major land crossing points with unexplained febrile illness. The general public should be provided with accurate and relevant information on the Ebola outbreak and measures to reduce the risk of exposure. States should be prepared to facilitate the evacuation and repatriation of nationals (e.g. health workers) who have been exposed to Ebola.