Republican voters to feds: Butt out of marijuana reform

'Legalize it' is written on the side of a giant joint during a demonstration to demand the legalization of cannabis, in Berlin on Aug. 8. (Rainer Jensen/European Pressphoto Agency) By significant margins, Republican voters in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire say that states should be able to carry out their own marijuana laws without federal interference. Sixty-four percent of GOP voters in Iowa say that states should be able to carry out their own laws vs. only 21 percent who say that the federal government should arrest and prosecute people who are following state marijuana laws. In New Hampshire, that margin is even slightly higher with 67 percent of GOP voters saying the feds should stay out. These numbers come from recent surveys conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by reform group Marijuana Majority. They come as some GOP candidates, such as Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), have stepped up their anti-marijuana rhetoric in recent weeks. "We put these polls into the field because we want presidential candidates to understand that the voters in these key states — who they need support from to win — overwhelmingly want the next occupant of the Oval Office to scale back federal marijuana prohibition," said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, in a statement. [When all else fails for their children, desperate parents drive national push for medical marijuana] But, he added, "a small handful of the contenders are still talking about sending in the DEA to arrest people who are following state law, and we hope these new numbers send a message to those outliers that this type of outdated drug war bullying just isn't going to score any points in 2016." In a New Hampshire town hall meeting in late July, Christie told voters, "if you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it. As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws." He recently released a TV ad accusing President Obama of "lawlessness" for, among other things, allowing state-level marijuana laws to stand. Asked about marijuana recently, Rubio said that “I believe the federal government needs to enforce federal law.” In May, he told ABC News, "Marijuana is illegal under federal law. That should be enforced." Christie and Rubio are currently polling in 11th and fifth place in the GOP horserace, respectively. Opinions like theirs are increasingly outside the mainstream of


Harapan, the Western Hemisphere’s last Sumatran rhino, is leaving for Indonesia

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden announced that Harapan, the last Sumatran rhino left in the Western Hemisphere, will be moved to a breeding facility in Indonesia, his only chance of contributing to his species’ survival. Harapan, the last surviving Sumatran rhinoceros living outside of Southeast Asia, will leave his home at the Cincinnati Zoo and move to Indonesia, the zoo announced Tuesday. The male is mature enough to mate, zoo officials said at a news conference, and the likelihood of him doing so successfully is much better at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in an Indonesian national park. There are only about 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the world. Just last week, scientists said the species is now extinct in the wild in Malaysia. Rasmus Gren Havmøller, the lead author of the Malaysia study, said in a statement at the time that the key to saving the species relied on whether "all remaining Sumatran rhinos are viewed as a metapopulation, meaning that all are managed in a single program across national and international borders in order to maximize overall birth rate." He added: "This includes the individuals currently held in captivity." There are currently nine Sumatran rhinos in captivity: The one in Cincinnati, which will soon be bound for Indonesia; three in Sabah, Malaysia; and five at the sanctuary. The news that Harapan will be leaving Cincinnati is an "end of an era" for the zoo's own breeding program of the species, officials said. Harapan himself was born at the zoo, the youngest of three born into captivity there. Attempts to breed Harapan at the zoo haven't worked, the Cincinnati Enquirer noted. Harapan, the only Sumatran rhino in the Western Hemisphere, is leaving the Cincinnati Zoo. (Michelle Curley/Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden) “Despite the great personal sadness so many of us feel both about Harapan leaving and Cincinnati Zoo’s Sumatran rhino breeding program coming to an end, we need to focus on all we have accomplished, for there is much to celebrate," Dr. Terri Roth, director of the Zoo’s Center for Conservation & Research of Endangered Wildlife, said to reporters. "The Cincinnati Zoo has had a profound, historic impact on the effort to save this species." Harapan could move as soon as this fall to Indonesia, the zoo said. A zoo veterinarian, Dr. Jenny Nollman, will accompany the rhino on his trip. The announcement of Harapan's transfer comes amid calls


FDA: ‘Just Mayo’ isn’t mayonnaise because it isn’t made with eggs

both healthy and affordable. Last year he defended his product's name and branding, insisting that the goal was to reach a broad audience. “We don’t market our product to tree-hugging liberals in San Francisco, even though I’m in the middle of nine of them right now,” Tetrick told the Post. “We built the company to try to really penetrate the places where better-for-you food hasn’t gone before, and that means right in the condiment aisle of Walmart.” And Hampton Foods has had success in that department, striking deals with a range of huge retailers, including Costco. But the company’s venture into the market for America’s best-selling condiment, mayonnaise, has been at turns successful and fraught. Last year, food giant Unilever, maker of popular Hellmann’s mayo, sued Hampton Creek, arguing the company was misleading consumers because Just Mayo was not “exactly, precisely, only and simply mayonnaise.” At least not in the way mayo is defined by the FDA, which says the condiment must include “egg yolk-containing ingredients.” Of course, as Post reporter Drew Harwell noted in a story about the lawsuit last year, that definition is more than half a century old: The FDA’s definition of mayonnaise was set in 1957, decades before the phrase “vegan mayo” ever made sense. (Maintaining that “standard of identity” is important: Kraft Foods’ Miracle Whip, which doesn’t meet the FDA’s standard, is technically a salad dressing). Unilever doesn’t only slam Just Mayo for what it calls confusing branding — advertisements have called the stuff “mayo,” and its logo resembles an egg — it also says the company has no proof in its claims of beating Hellmann’s in a taste test. Unilever faced some criticism over its lawsuit from consumers and advocates who saw it as a response to the fact that Hampton Creek and other small food start-ups were chipping away at the company’s huge market share. There is, however, a sense that Hampton Foods has gone out of its way to fit in with the mayonnaise crowd. The name 'Just Mayo,' in some ways, can be seen as an admission on behalf of the company that consumers aren't enthused enough about an egg-less mayonnaise to buy it for that reason alone. Otherwise, why bury the fact that the product is made without eggs? Especially given that that very characteristic is the pillar of Hampton Foods' mission. "The marketing really does beg a lot of


As Scott Walker criticizes China, he could see repercussions in Iowa

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 15, 2013. ( ANDY WONG/AFP/Getty Images) This post has been updated. Two years ago, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad introduced Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to a friend he had known for decades: Chinese President Xi Jinping. Branstad and Xi met in 1985. Branstad was a fresh young governor and Xi was a low-ranking government official participating in a two-week agricultural delegation trip to Muscatine, Iowa. The two kept in touch as Branstad became the country's longest serving governor, and Xi climbed the ranks and became president. Branstad keeps photos of his old friend in the governor's office, showing them off to guests as he gushes about the diplomatic power of friendship. Soon after Xi became president in 2013, a small group of governors traveled to China and met Xi in China's Great Hall of the People, where they discussed the power of partnership. Fast-forward to this week: Branstad is presiding over a crowded field of Republicans who want to become the next president and need to perform well in the Iowa caucuses. Walker is one of those candidates -- an early favorite in Iowa who is now struggling to stand out from the crowd and on Monday decided to take a strong stance against China, urging President Obama to cancel an upcoming state dinner with Xi. "Rather than honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping with an official state visit next month, President Obama should focus on holding China accountable over its increasing attempts to undermine U.S. interests," Walker said in the statement. "There's serious work to be done rather than pomp and circumstance. We need to see some backbone from President Obama on U.S.-China relations." That's a stance that could hurt Walker's relationship with Branstad and farmers in Iowa, who export millions of dollars worth of soybeans to China each year. Asked to respond to Walker's comments, Branstad's spokesman Jimmy Centers said in a statement: "China is a valuable trading partner for Iowa and the state has had a friendly relationship with President Xi dating back to his first visit to Iowa in 1985." Walker argues that China has become increasingly aggressive in recent months and is no longer a true ally. On the campaign trail, Walker regularly


Union Kitchen opens a second, larger facility in Ivy City

Even if you’ve never set foot in Union Kitchen — the members-only food incubator in NoMa — you’ve no doubt felt its influence. The D.C.-born company makes it possible for locals like Dirty South Deli, ‘Chups fruit ketchups and Chaia tacos (among many others) to prepare and distribute their grub. To accommodate the city’s increasing number of food entrepreneurs, founders Cullen Gilchrist and Jonas Singer opened a second facility in Ivy City that’s more than double in size. The space, Singer says, allows Union Kitchen to provide more services to its members, including machines that package goods, private kitchen space and a 1,200-square-foot walk-in refrigerator. Also new at the Ivy City location: event space, so be on the lookout for public events.


The Daily 202: The war on Planned Parenthood intensifies, but the group is fighting back in court

in recent weeks. ‘The debate performance scared a few people,’ said Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee lobbyist backing Bush. ‘But I think the campaign’s trouble raising money right now is not because of his performance, but there’s some donor fatigue after that $100 million. I’ve been on some donor calls and it’s a hard sell for hard money.'” — BuzzFeed, “Hillary Clinton Camp sees proof of undercover conservative sting,” by Ruby Cramer: HOT ON THE LEFT David Duke compliments Trump. HOT ON THE RIGHT GOP senator accuses Clinton of improperly passing state secrets to her lawyer. DAYBOOK: — What’s happening today on the campaign trail: — On the Hill: — At the White House: QUOTE OF THE DAY: NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.: — “It’s hard to imagine a better weather week to bring summer to an unofficial close. And for those who are already back to school, well this is pretty outstanding stuff for outdoor recess. The superlative-deserving weather continues through Friday,” the Capital Weather Gang forecasts. — The Nationals routed the San Diego Padres, 8-3. — “Metro has implemented speed restrictions on curves throughout the system,” Dr. Gridlock reports: That means trains are slowing to 35 mph to 40 mph as they approach a curve. The restrictions are in place as part of what Metro calls an “aggressive campaign” to inspect curved sections of track following the Aug. 6 derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metro stations.” — “Responding to the District’s surging homicide rate, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser will ask the D.C. Council to expand law enforcement powers to make it easier for officers to search individuals on parole or probation and immediately detain anyone found in violation of the terms of release,” Aaron C. Davis and Peter Hermann report. — One of the two tiny giant panda cubs born at the National Zoo this weekend is faltering, requiring extra medical attention from zookeepers. Zoo officials said the smaller of the two cubs has been regurgitating and has not been keeping on weight but also has not had more serious problems such as respiratory distress. — The D.C. Public Service Commission denied Chicago-based Exelon’s proposed $6.4 billion takeover of Pepco Holdings, a major setback for the giant utility marriage, per Thomas Heath. VIDEO OF THE DAY: Former Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) talked about hip-hop and his cocaine bust with IJReview: (IJReview)


As pesticides wipe out Monarch butterflies in the U.S., illegal logging is doing the same in Mexico.

list monarch butterflies as an endangered species that requires special protection to survive. The agency is studying whether that is necessary and also trying to do more to help restore the population. Butterflies aren’t immune to extinction, in spite of their prolific reproduction. The blueberry-colored Xerces blue disappeared from San Francisco years ago, and in recent years Fish and Wildlife announced that a pair of subspecies — the rockland skipper and Zestos in South Florida — haven’t been seen since 2004 and are probably extinct. Populations of other pollinators have collapsed — wasps, beetles and especially honeybees. Widespread pesticide use is the suspected cause. [Ten things in nature that could vanish before your kids see them] Fish and Wildlife entered into a partnership with two private conservation groups, the National Wildlife Federation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to grow milkweed like crazy across the country in the hopes of saving as many monarchs as possible. The plan is to make the plant widely available at nurseries. Yosemite National Park offers protection to the milkweed plant, which is important to the survival of the "charismatic" monarch butterfly. The agency is providing $2 million for on-the-ground conservation projects. As part of an agreement, the federation will help raise awareness about the need for milkweed, provide seeds to anyone willing to plant it and to plant the seeds in open space — roadsides, parks, forests and patio flower boxes, to name a few places. Another $1.2 million will go to the foundation as seed money to generate a larger fundraising match from private organizations. Monarch butterflies once fluttered throughout the United States by the billions, flapping about on technicolor and fragile wings. Many didn’t survive the round trip to Canada and back, pass a killing field of agriculture in the United States. Farmers are only partly to blame for the insect’s decline, said Dan Ashe, director of Fish and Wildlife. “We’ve all been responsible. We are the consumers of agricultural products. I eat corn. American farmers are not the enemy. Can they be part of the solution? Yes,” Ashe said. In 2014, President Obama, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper formed a tri-national working group to protect the monarch butterfly and its habitat, the WWF and its partners said in a statement. “It’s not about this wonderful, mystical creature,” Ashe said. “It’s about us.” Read more:


A Japanese campaign wants to rewrite the global rules of escalator etiquette

let others pass on the right; in Osaka, they tend to stay on the right. Around the world, however, most countries, if they favor a side, seem to favor standing on the right and walking on the left (Australia is a notable rogue nation). Britain appears to have been the first nation to promote the idea of standing on the right. Exactly why is unclear. It may have been because of the country's practice of driving on the left-hand side, but in 2009 the BBC posited another theory: In the early part of the 20th century, escalators in the London Underground had a diagonal step-off point "clearly meant for the right foot first so standing on the right made sense." The idea has since spread around the world, including in the United States, Germany and Taiwan. Supporters of walking on the escalator are often passionate about its efficiency. “I don’t have anything in common with people who stand on escalators,” billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg told the New York Times last year. “I always walk around them — why waste time? You have eternity to rest when you die.” In Japan, however, the worry is that walking on the escalator could increase your chances of dying. Earlier this year, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency warned that 3,865 people in Tokyo alone had required hospital treatment for injuries suffered on escalators from 2011 to 2013. A guide on the Web site of the Japan Elevator Association lists a number of reasons for not walking, which include the risk of slipping or falling because you are unbalanced. "There is a possibility of death or serious injury," the guide notes. If death by escalator sounds hyperbolic, cast your mind back a few months to the shocking footage of a mother being crushed to death riding an escalator in a shopping mall in China's Hubei province. While that incident appears to have been a freak accident, foreigners have often noted a lack of Chinese escalator etiquette. Whether the Japanese campaign will work, however, remains to be seen: After a similar campaign last year, the Wall Street Journal noted that escalator riders in Japan still seemed to be standing to one side. More on WorldViews Toilets in elevators? The new Japanese idea that isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Japan wants visitors to experience its world-class toilet culture — and buy some toilets.


The perfectly sensible reason why panda mothers and other creatures selectively abandon babies

The birth of tiny twin pandas to the National Zoo’s Mei Xiang was cause for national celebration this weekend (we are, after all, are the country that practically went into a state of panic when the zoos’s panda cam went offline during the shutdown of 2013). But the mood quickly soured as the smaller of the cubs started to regurgitate its food and struggled to keep on weight. Since Monday, Mei has refused to care for the tinier twin, despite zookeepers’ efforts to foster maternal affection for both her babies during the most precarious period of their infancy, and on Wednesday the zoo said the cub had died. Twin pandas are rarely born at American zoos (this is only the third in U.S. history) but in the wild, behavior like Mei’s is actually quite common. Giving birth to multiple offspring is an evolutionary advantage, because it increases the likelihood that one will survive to adulthood. But when it becomes evident that one cub is developing faster than the other, panda mothers will often focus their attention on the stronger infant. [One of National Zoo’s panda cubs is getting round-the-clock medical care] “This is the dark side of pandas, that they have two and throw one away,” Scott Forbes, a professor of biology at the University of Winnipeg, told the New York Times in 2006. For obvious reasons, zoos rarely acknowledge the fact: “They consider it bad P.R. for the pandas,” Forbes said. Biologists used to think this kind of behavior was pathological, an indicator that the mother was stressed or upset in some way. But it’s now believed that giant panda mothers like Mei Xiang are more Sophie Zawistowska, the William Styron character who was forced to choose which child to send to a Nazi gas chamber, than Margaret White, the crazed mom of Stephen King’s Carrie. Abandoning the weaker infant doesn’t make Mei a bad mother. Indeed, by the rules of the animal world, where the need to ensure the future of one’s DNA reigns supreme, it might even make her a better one. This Sophie’s Choice-style calculus is by no means limited to pandas — it’s common throughout the animal world, where the whims of nature can be as cruel and unforgiving as those of Styron’s fictional Nazi. The fact is that it is very difficult to be a mother in the wild, far more than we coddled


have two and throw one away,” Scott Forbes, a professor of biology at the University of Winnipeg, told the New York Times in 2006. For obvious reasons, zoos rarely acknowledge the fact: “They consider it bad P.R. for the pandas,” Forbes said. Biologists used to think this kind of behavior was pathological, an indicator that the mother was stressed or upset in some way. But it’s now believed that giant panda mothers like Mei Xiang are more Sophie Zawistowska, the William Styron character who was forced to choose which child to send to a Nazi gas chamber, than Margaret White, the crazed mom of Stephen King’s Carrie. Abandoning the weaker infant doesn’t make Mei a bad mother. Indeed, by the rules of the animal world, where the need to ensure the future of one’s DNA reigns supreme, it might even make her a better one. This Sophie’s Choice-style calculus is by no means limited to pandas — it’s common throughout the animal world, where the whims of nature can be as cruel and unforgiving as those of Styron’s fictional Nazi. The fact is that it is very difficult to be a mother in the wild, far more than we coddled humans can conceive. [Why giant panda cubs are so incredibly tiny] Panda cubs are extremely altricial — “a fancy word that means pretty much helpless,” National Zoo scientist Don Moore told The Washington Post on Tuesday. They are born exceptionally small (at just 3 ounces, the smaller cub was born weighing 0.07 percent of its mother’s bulk) and totally incapable of fending for themselves. For the first three months after birth, panda mothers do almost nothing other than care for their cubs; an Atlanta Zoo study found that mother pandas spent 80 percent of their time holding their babies. The newborns are so small that they can’t move or hold themselves up; a mother must constantly clutch her cub to her chest in order to allow it to feed. It’s difficult to care so intensively for one helpless infant, let alone two. And just imagine the logistics of constantly holding two cubs at once without the benefit of opposable thumbs and baby slings. A recent visit to panda bases in China found the bears in all stages of life, from pregnant to infant to a baby getting love from mom. Meanwhile, mom has to take care of herself. Giant pandas


This man survived the 2011 Utøya terror attack. Now, Norway wants to deport him and his family.

is that leading Norwegian politicians appear to be unwilling to oppose the deportation. "The former minister of justice, Knut Storberget attended the funeral of Ismail Haji Ahmed after the terrorist attack on Utøya and said: 'We will do everything we can to help this family'," Klemmetvold recounts the speech. More recently, however, the former minister was being quoted as saying by local newspaper Ostlendingen: "I do not comment on individual cases." In an e-mail statement to The Washington Post, the deputy director general of Norway's Immigration Appeals Board, Ketil Larsen, said: "This erroneous information [about the family's origins] was given by [the] parents and elder brother [Khalid], but the whole family got their residence permits based on this erroneous information. The whole family got their citizenship revoked when it was discovered that they came from Djibouti and not Somalia." The decision also affects Mubarak Haji's sisters, as well as another brother and survivor of the Utøya attack -- Benjamin Ahmed Caleb -- who decided to leave Norway back in April. Asked whether the terror attack and the related health concerns were taken into account in determining Mubarak's immigration status, Larsen explained: "It was a central element considered in the case, but it wasn't decisive in the final result." Haji Ahmed's father died five days after he was sent to Djibouti. (Credit: Family photo, provided by Chris Klemmetvold) To Jostein Løken, the family's lawyer, the official explanations do not make much sense. Apart from the argument that children should not be deported for the mistakes of their parents, he said, the family has assimilated into Norwegian society. The brothers and sisters of the family "have grown up and have all their friends, network, education and work experience in Norway. Some of them have had children of their own in Norway. These children are also integrated and are currently attending kindergartens and schools. Because of this, a deportation will have a enormous consequences for this third generation, who are not to blame for their grandparents' mistakes," he said. The family's mother was also forced to leave Norway recently. Mubarak's father died a few weeks ago in Djibouti, five days after he left Europe. Read more: How one German millennial chose to live on trains rather than pay rent Mass holiday by bakers has Paris fearing the unthinkable: A baguette shortage A train full of Nazi gold discovered in Poland, treasure hunters claim


D.C. area forecast: Third straight superb day from start to finish; If only this streak didn’t have to end

TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT 10/10: EXPRESS FORECAST Today: FORECAST IN DETAIL Our pampered weather existence continues today. Summer comes slithering back in and is in full form by the weekend, so don’t pack away the swim suit and grill yet. While Tropical Storm Erika still remains far away, for now, it will begin to get more humid and a lot warmer anyway. Still skies remain mostly clear to help us to enjoy the rising full “Corn Moon” on Saturday evening. I plan on welcoming it with a big platter of corn on the cob. Pass the butter, please! Today (Thursday): Tonight: For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend… Tomorrow (Friday): Tomorrow night: Egret over Anacostia River, August 25, 2015. (Jim Havard via Flickr) A LOOK AHEAD Saturday On Sunday, skies remain mainly sunny accentuating the moderate humidity and lack of a decent breeze. Highs reach the upper 80s t0 lower 90s. There is a slight risk of a few isolated thunderstorms late day/early evening. Overnight lows stall in the upper 60s to mid-70s. Confidence: Medium-High Monday


Primark — seller of $10 jeans and $3.50 T-shirts — is coming to the U.S.

for Kantar Retail. Today, Primark has 287 stores across the United Kingdom, Ireland and several countries in continental Europe. The retailer is beginning its foray into the United States with stores in the Northeast, based on their belief that tastes in that region will be most similar to those of its European customers. “Many retailers have found that coming from Europe to the Northeast has been a much easier leap to make,” Hogan said. In addition to the Boston store, Primark plans to soon come to locations such as Danbury, Conn.; Staten Island, N.Y.; and at the sprawling, upscale shopping mall in King of Prussia, Pa. “We deliberately located these first stores in locations where there’s a high footfall already, because we are aware that the consumer awareness of Primark is low,” said John Bason, chief financial officer of Associated British Foods, the company that owns Primark. One of Primark’s key challenges will be differentiating itself not only from fellow fast-fashion operators, but also from other value-focused apparel retailers such as Target, Old Navy and TJMaxx. Bason also adds that Primark’s goal isn’t necessarily to make customers abandon their current value-priced favorites. “I think that our customers don’t mono-brand shop,” Bason said. “They’re looking for a repertoire of which we want Primark to be one of those stores.” Primark found spaces for its stores in the United States in an unusual way: It has signed lease agreements to take over parts of existing Sears stores. The Primark stores will not be “store-within-a-store” concepts; they will be standalone stores with separate entrances and branding. Bason said these deals were attractive to Primark because it allowed them to get access to spaces of more than 70,000 square feet, a large footprint that might otherwise have been hard to nab in a U.S. shopping center. Sears, meanwhile, has said the deals allow it to use otherwise unproductive real estate to generate some income. Primark’s owner, Associated British Foods, is an international conglomerate that includes one of the world’s largest sugar producers, an agricultural supplier and grocery store brands such as Ovaltine. The Primark name is used in the U.K. and at its stores throughout Europe, but its stores in Ireland are branded as Penneys. Even as it arrives in U.S. malls, Primark won’t be making a play for your online shopping business. The retailer has opted not to have an e-commerce site, as


into the United States with stores in the Northeast, based on their belief that tastes in that region will be most similar to those of its European customers. “Many retailers have found that coming from Europe to the Northeast has been a much easier leap to make,” Hogan said. In addition to the Boston store, Primark plans to soon come to locations such as Danbury, Conn.; Staten Island, N.Y.; and at the sprawling, upscale shopping mall in King of Prussia, Pa. “We deliberately located these first stores in locations where there’s a high footfall already, because we are aware that the consumer awareness of Primark is low,” said John Bason, chief financial officer of Associated British Foods, the company that owns Primark. One of Primark’s key challenges will be differentiating itself not only from fellow fast-fashion operators, but also from other value-focused apparel retailers such as Target, Old Navy and TJMaxx. Bason also adds that Primark’s goal isn’t necessarily to make customers abandon their current value-priced favorites. “I think that our customers don’t mono-brand shop,” Bason said. “They’re looking for a repertoire of which we want Primark to be one of those stores.” Primark found spaces for its stores in the United States in an unusual way: It has signed lease agreements to take over parts of existing Sears stores. The Primark stores will not be “store-within-a-store” concepts; they will be standalone stores with separate entrances and branding. Bason said these deals were attractive to Primark because it allowed them to get access to spaces of more than 70,000 square feet, a large footprint that might otherwise have been hard to nab in a U.S. shopping center. Sears, meanwhile, has said the deals allow it to use otherwise unproductive real estate to generate some income. Primark’s owner, Associated British Foods, is an international conglomerate that includes one of the world’s largest sugar producers, an agricultural supplier and grocery store brands such as Ovaltine. The Primark name is used in the U.K. and at its stores throughout Europe, but its stores in Ireland are branded as Penneys. Even as it arrives in U.S. malls, Primark won’t be making a play for your online shopping business. The retailer has opted not to have an e-commerce site, as it believes its low-margin, high-volume sales model is not well-suited to selling in that channel. “This is not a profitable avenue for us,” Bason said.


South Sudan’s leaders just signed a peace deal. Will it work?

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir (right) is congratulated by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn after signing a peace agreement in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. (Reuters/Jok Solomun) South Sudanese President Salva Kiir signed a peace agreement on Wednesday, offering a much-needed glimmer of hope in the brutal civil war that has plagued his country for the past 20 months. But an agreement does not instantly translate to peace. The situation remains dynamic and implementation of the agreement will be a herculean task. Thinking about how likely it is this agreement, 75 pages in all, will bring peace, I immediately went back to V. Page Fortna’s seminal article on the value of peace agreements. While Fortna examined wars between states, the resonance with the South Sudan civil war is troubling. Fortna argues that well-structured peace agreements can contribute to durable peace. However, there are certain base conditions that render situations more likely to see a return to violence. Unfortunately in South Sudan we see many of these characteristics – no clear armed victory, a long history of hostility between the competing factions, and the existence of at least one of the parties at stake. So, against these odds, what needs to happen to capitalize on this forward momentum to help South Sudan move toward peace in a positive direction? An elite compromise is necessary, to be sure. But that is not sufficient. There are myriad of obvious security and governance issues. How will Kiir and the leader of the opposition forces, Riek Machar, actually cooperate in the transition period as president and first vice president? How do you have a successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and create a new national army when arms are rampant and suspicion so high? What will happen to the more than 2 million internally displaced persons and refugees who may not feel safe enough to return? But beyond these immediate questions, additional matters deserve equal attention. To start, South Sudan desperately needs to see a real effort to bring about justice, reconciliation and accountability. Both parties have committed horrible atrocities. These actions reinforced existing divisions, heightened the grave mistrust between communities and traumatized countless individuals. On the justice end of that spectrum, the IGAD+ (Intergovernmental Authority on Development Plus Heads of State Summit) agreement calls for the creation of a Hybrid Court for South Sudan –


The case against pandas

pairs by showing them “panda porn”—footage of other pairs having sex—and giving the males Viagra. Some handlers have claimed success with the videos, but pandas in the wild are solitary creatures, with limited opportunities to observe the behavior of other adults, and many scientists doubt that they engage in social learning. The National Zoo’s approach has been more mechanistic. Last year, at the suggestion of the Chinese consultant, carpenters built a low wooden platform in the enclosure that had been Mei Xiang’s preferred mating location. “We were thinking that if she would pancake at a higher level Tian Tian might be able to hit the target,” Brandie Smith, the zoo’s panda curator, told me. It didn’t work. This year, two zookeepers placed a plastic cylinder, about a foot in diameter, across the threshold of the enclosure. As Mei Xiang led Tian Tian inside, she fell over the cylinder, and her rump rose into the air—exactly as the zookeepers had hoped. But then Tian Tian lifted her off the cylinder, placed her on the ground, and stepped onto her back. On paper, they have what it takes to survive. They are bears who eat bamboo. Grass-fed bears. They sound like something that should be sold at Whole Foods. But then human beings came along, and all those evolutionary advantages went down the drain. Now we’re trying to atone, but we need their help. And they’re not helping. This week, Mei Xiang decided to dedicate all her time to feeding only her larger, more vigorous cub. She refused even to let well-intentioned zookeepers substitute in the smaller cub. (Frankly, this seems like a perplexing time to decide that survival of the fittest is your dominant philosophy. “Mei Xiang,” one wanted to say to her, “you are a panda. You’re not fit. That you’ve survived at all is entirely due to your resemblance to a giant stuffed animal. Not only are you a panda, with all the reproductive unsuccess that generally entails — you’re YOU. You couldn’t even MATE properly because you didn’t pancake right. And now you’re trying to pick winners and losers?”) And then the smaller cub didn’t make it. Mei, you had ONE job! I want the pandas to survive and thrive. The alternative would be too mortifying, after everything we have done. But they make it hard to root for them. To all appearances, they are utterly indifferent to


Hubble captures a shimmering ‘butterfly’ in space

The Twin Jet Nebula, or PN M2-9, is a striking example of a bipolar planetary nebula. (ESA/Hubble & NASA) Nebulae, man. Nebulae. These husks-of-dying-stars have a habit of being just a little gorgeous. This new shot from the Hubble Space Telescope is no exception. [Gaze upon the Medusa (Nebula) in unprecedented detail] This "butterfly" (which also kind of looks like two space squid head butting each other, if you're as into that as I am) is called the The Twin Jet is a planetary nebula -- so named for their usual round shape -- but it's obviously not very spherical. Scientists believe that it gets its wings from the pair of stars at its center. The binary system includes two stars around the same size as our sun. One is already a white dwarf -- the final stage of such a star's life -- and the other is following close behind. [This dying star looks like a beautiful cosmic butterfly] While only one star is giving off gases, the way the stars interact with each other (gravitationally speaking) causes the gas to spew out in two directions. The gas can travel more than 600,000 miles per hour, and the wings (which probably only formed about 1200 years ago) will continue to grow. The iconic space telescope may be worn from wear and tear, but it remains the most dominant tool in its field. Read More: This beautiful cosmic bubble is actually a dying star


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Apparent insider attack in Afghanistan was launched at Special Operations base

Capt. Matthew D. Roland, 27, and Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley, 31, were killed in an apparent insider attack in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, Aug. 26. (Photos released by the U.S. Air Force) The U.S. military released on Thursday the names of two U.S. airmen who were killed in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan, and disclosed that they came under fire at a vehicle checkpoint near a base used by Special Operations troops. Capt. Matthew D. Roland, 27, and Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley, 31, died early Thursday after two men wearing Afghan military uniforms opened fire on them on Camp Antonik in Helmand province, Air Force officials said in a statement. Both Americans were in special tactics units that coordinate airstrikes and frequently integrate with Navy SEALs, Green Berets and other U.S. Special Operations troops. The Pentagon released their identities early Thursday after notifying their families. Roland deployed twice in a five-year military career, while Sibley deployed four times in nearly seven. [Surrounded in Afghanistan, these U.S. airmen refused to be taken hostage] The deaths provide a glimpse into what U.S. Special Operations troops continue to do even as the U.S. military continues to draw down its troops in Afghanistan. Nearly all conventional coalition troops were pulled from Helmand province last fall, but Special Operations forces continue to operation in the region to advise and assist the Afghans in their fight against the Taliban and other insurgent groups. “The losses of Matt and Forrest are a terrible blow to everyone who knew them,” said Col. Wolfe Davidson, commander of the Air Force’s 24th Special Operations Wing. “These two combat controllers were incredible warriors who not only volunteered to join our nation’s Special Operations forces, but earned their way to the tip of the spear in defense of our nation.” Roland was a special tactics officer with the Air Force’s 23rd Special Tactics Squadron based at Hurlburt Field on the Florida Panhandle and a 2010 graduate of the Air Force Academy. He supervised combat preparedness training for a 35-member team, the Air Force said. Sibley was a combat controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron based at Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina. He earned four Bronze Stars, one with a “V” device indicating it was earned with valor under fire. [Watch video of a major 2014 battle in progress in Helmand province] U.S. military officials said Wednesday


Record numbers of veterans are getting jobs in the government — but a lot of them quit

backgrounds is the most visible federal effort to reward military service since the draft ended in the 1970s. President Obama pushed agencies to increase hiring of veterans starting in 2009, in response to the bleak employment prospects many service members faced after coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq. [New online tool helps veterans connect with employers] The initiative has fueled tensions in federal offices, though, as longtime civil servants and former troops on the other side of the cubicle question each other’s competence and qualifications. Last year, 47.4 percent of new hires to full-time jobs were veterans, an increase of 1.3 percent over fiscal 2013. (Office of Personnel Management) [Millenials exit the workforce as federal jobs lose their allure] This is the first time the administration has measured how well agencies are keeping veterans, and senior leaders will be rated at the end of this fiscal year on how well they closed the gap between veterans and non-veterans who leave. “Federal agencies hire them, but where they’re placed and into what job is not always the best fit,” said Joseph Sharpe, director of veterans employment and education for the American Legion. “These retention rates are huge issues for us.” He noted that many veterans drop out of college and quit jobs in the private sector too. At a Legion conference on veterans employment in Baltimore this weekend, hiring managers from the Energy, Transportation, Labor, Defense, Treasury and Personnel departments are scheduled to address the issue, Sharpe said. Hakeem Basheerud-Deen, OPM’s director of veterans services, said in an e-mail that “New hire retention rates vary between agencies. Each agency has its own culture and mission, so it’s difficult to explain the differences in their new hire retention rates.” The employment data offers a detailed profile of former troops who went to work for the government. (Office of Personnel Management) Men made up 81 percent of the veterans hired, but just 45 percent of non-veterans. Forty percent of the veterans had college degrees or higher education, compared to 54.7 percent of non-veterans. Just 10 percent of the veterans were hired to agencies in the Washington region, while 17.5 percent of non-veterans ended up in the capital city. Pay and the types of jobs also differed. Almost twice as many veterans as non-veterans were hired into blue-collar jobs. Veterans hold the edge on administrative jobs, while non-veterans were hired into more professional posts.


SKWR is bringing kebabs to Washington’s fast-casual scene

Sept. 8: This post has been updated with our thoughts about the food after grabbing lunch there. Does Washington need another fast-casual restaurant? A trio of young entrepreneurs thinks so. [Chipotle wannabes find D.C. the perfect place for have-it-your-way cuisine] SKWR Kabobline is the latest entrant into the growing fast-casual scene. (Courtesy SKWR) Today Tamim Shoja, 26, Masoud Shoja, 30, and Hemad Khwaja, 28, will open SKWR Kabobline near McPherson Square, adding kebabs* to the scene of local quick-service restaurants with create-your-own dishes that already includes such foods as burritos, noodle bowls and pizza. * Post style, not a typo. "It is a familiar model," Tamim Shoja said, "but everyone takes the model and does something different with it." [A pizza pioneer jumps into the fast-casual game. But can she stand out?] SKWR's something different centers around its 7-foot American Range grill. The appliance's built-in rotisserie feature means the metal kebab skewers -- swords, practically -- will turn automatically, leading to more even cooking. The grill runs on gas, but steel plates over the burners help funnel away drippings while also directing smoke and flames back toward the meat for charred flavor, Tamim Shoja said. The endless summer smell of flame-kissed meat — ground sirloin, chicken, beef and lamb — is the first thing you notice when you walk into SKWR. (For vegetarians, there’s a baked white bean falafel.) Smoke rises from the grill in the open kitchen, adding a hazy filter to the bustle in the kitchen and the ordering queue. Before you choose your protein, you have to decide whether to put it in a wrap or bowl. The brown rice under our tender, spiced lamb was cooked to enviable individual-grain quality with nary a hint of gumminess. The rest of the assembly line features a wide array of embellishments. Each bowl or wrap comes with up to three spreads, including hummus, eggplant and a very intriguing olivieh, a riff on the potato salad popular in Russia and the Middle East. Toppings lean heavily on pickled vegetables. Sauces include such options as a za’atar yogurt aioli, charred chutney (“hot as hell,” its creator says) and pesto pesté, a pistachio pesto Tamim Shoja is especially proud of. Ask for all the toppings, as we did, and the staff won’t look at you askance. More is more, right? Of course, our lunch ended up looking like a sloppy, albeit colorful,


What the Ashley Madison hack says about how many women cheat

(Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images) Last week's massive, marriage-straining data dump shows remarkably few women browsed Ashley Madison, the recently hacked dating site that promises to facilitate steamy affairs. About two-thirds of male users, or 20.2 million, had checked the messages in their accounts at least once, according to That seems like tough odds for the straight men worldwide who shelled out hundreds of dollars for a shot at infidelity. And it also suggests women are far less likely to cheat than men. The research, albeit limited, shows that's not at all accurate. In 2011, researchers at Indiana University, home to the More data is necessary to understand the average straying lover, said Debby Herbenick, a sex researcher at IU, who runs the blog My Sex Professor. She has concluded, however, through her own research and interviews, that men tend to seek out affairs more often than women and are likely to be more successful in this endeavor offline. "It’s not surprising that many women connect with intimacy first in conversation," Herbenick said, "and that’s a pathway to feeling close to someone, imagining them as a sexual partner." Sites like Ashley Madison also tend to foster behaviors that can repel female users, she said. "They quickly get off because they're harassed or they're treated poorly." Ashley Madison founder Noel Biderman has argued that the site tries to level the playing field between men and women when it comes to infidelity. "If I'm guilty of one thing, it's of evening the landscape between women and men and allowing them to behave more like their male counterparts," Biderman said in an interview last year. If the hackers' data dump is correct, then his model is not succeeding in that objective -- though there may be reasons to doubt the data, given the overall statistics on cheating trends (and the fact that, if Ashley Madison was not at least somewhat successful at facilitating infidelity, it may not be a viable business). On the other hand, there's also evidence that Biderman's pursuit of equal opportunity cheating is of less noble means than he makes it sound. E-mails and files exposed last week, dug up by the Daily Dot, outline plans by Avid Life Media, the site’s parent company, to launch an app that would entirely exclude heterosexual women -- and potentially insult all women. (Avid Life Media did not respond to a request for comment.) The


Raising taxes on the wealthy? Calling out income inequality? Meet the new GOP.

Americans' anxieties are real In an interview with Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo, the Ohio governor said Americans have every reason to be worried about stagnant salaries and losing their jobs. Kasich, who once worked as an investment banker for Lehman Brothers, went onto say that he thinks big banks should be regulated via Dodd-Frank but that some regulations hurting medium and small banks should be lifted. "We are regulating the big banks and, frankly, we need to," he said. "What they really need to do is to have -- is to have reserve requirements against the risk taking so that if, in fact, they go down, the American taxpayers don't pick it up." Mike Huckabee: Reckless big banks are 'on their own' (AP Photo/John Minchillo) The former Arkansas governor also has un-kind words for large Wall Street banks. In a May economic policy speech in South Carolina, Bloomberg reported that Huckabee stopped just short of saying those banks should be dismantled. "It ought to be a market decision,” he told reporters after the speech. “But if the boards of those banks know they are not going to be bailed out, and if they continue reckless policies that put them in a position of vulnerability, they are on their own.” Rand Paul: Stop monetary policy that favors the wealthy (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) The libertarian-leaning Kentucky senator is also hesitant to break up big banks, but Paul has said he'd like to limit how big they can get. Paul told reporters in 2013 that he'd support resurrecting a wall between commercial and investment banking to avoid irresponsible lending. Such a law would basically reinstitute the 1993 Glass-Steagal Act, which President Bill Clinton repealed. Paul, who campaigns on giving Congress greater oversight of the independent Federal Reserve, also recently slammed the Fed for favoring the wealthy. "Americans then and now were lectured that the trillions in loans and asset purchases were all for their own good and eventual benefit, to resuscitate the credit markets and bolster home values. Yet the truth remains — it is Wall Street that benefits from the Fed at the expense of Main Street," he wrote in an Aug. 20 column on Reason.com, co-authored with investor Mark Spitznagel. They continued: "It's unfortunately in keeping with Fed policies that disproportionately favor wealth — like low interest rates, a policy benefiting those that have the most assets and first access


America’s growing love affair with the most wasteful thing to drink there is

cold and refreshing to drink, you would have a carbonated soft drink because there really weren't very many other options," Hemphill said. "But now there are tons, and bottled water is kind of at the center." Bottled water has also been marketed down Americans' throats. In order to distinguish a product that is often indistinguishable, the industry has bombarded consumers with a plethora of clever campaigns, which depict exotic springs, far-off mountains and fresh, untapped streams of natural water. Popular brands, like Evian, have embraced slogans like "Live Young," almost daring people not to be seen with a bottle. Others, like Smart Water, have relied on sleek design. In all, bottled-water brands spent upwards of $80 million on advertising last year, according to the Wall Street Journal. "Bottled water has become this healthy, sexy thing to drink,"said Peter Gleick, who is the president and founder of the Pacific Institute, and author of several books about bottled water. "Certain brands, like Fiji Water, have become so chic that there's a real cachet associated with them." Bottled-water manufacturers have also launched a subtle but highly successful blurring of consumer choice, positioning their product as an alternative to sugary drinks, rather than an alternative to water available from the tap. Nestlé Pure Life's 2010 campaign, in which the company asks mothers to switch out a sugary drink for one of their bottled waters each day, is a perfect example. This, Gleick says, is one of their biggest triumphs, because of how the conversation affects the way in which people view their habit of drinking bottled water. "I think it definitely makes people feel better about buying bottled water instead of drinking from the tap," he said. But bottled water is, perhaps more than anything else, wildly convenient. It's sold at supermarkets and convenience stores, Starbucks and New York City bodegas. At any given moment, it's probably easier to locate the nearest place where a bottle of water can be had, or bought, than it is to find a water fountain. "People who buy water bottles tend to be young and active," Hemphill said. "They like that the bottles are portable, that they can be brought and had while on the go." All of this has been great for bottled-water makers’ bottom lines. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé, which sell billions of dollars in packaged H2O each year, have profited handsomely from the beverage's ascent,


Walker’s speech reveals campaign schizophrenia

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Scott Walker (Wis.) speaks during a visit to the Iowa State Fair. (Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign touted his speech today as a high-level, important foreign policy address. Unfortunately, what he delivered, according to the prepared remarks, was a sometimes crass political speech. On the positive side there were no obvious missteps other than his annoying declaration to rip up the Iran agreement on Day One. (Unfortunately Sen. Marco Rubio these days has started repeating that same unrealistic stance.) He’s fully within the mainstream of the party on most every foreign policy issue. Advocating U.S. leadership in the world is always a good idea. Even better, he obliquely slammed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) who is selling a bill of goods, namely that airstrikes alone can defeat the Islamic State. (“My goals will be to defeat ISIS and rollback Iran’s influence in the region. These strategic objectives will guide our military commanders, but let me be clear: Defeating ISIS and rolling back Iran will require a greater investment of U.S. resources. Sternly-worded tweets and isolated air strikes will not destroy this enemy.”) In future speeches perhaps he will be more specific about what those resources might be. On Syria he advocates that “we must do more to recruit and support fighters in Syria who oppose both ISIS and Assad. The Obama administration has only trained about 60 fighters — that is not going to cut it. A no-fly zone enforced by America and its allies would dramatically enhance this campaign on the ground. Our efforts in Syria and Iraq must be part of a broader, U.S.-led, regional coalition, with real buy-in and iron-clad guarantees from our allies that they will help us shoulder the burden.” And while others have made the same point, it is helpful to remind Americans that with regard to Iran and the Islamic State, “the two sides feed off of each other, growing stronger at the expense of our Sunni and [Shiite] allies trapped in the middle.” Concrete policy proposals however are absent and one hopes the Walker team will carve out time for a series of more serious addresses. (For example, in an op-ed he specifically calls for dumping the military sequester; he should have used the speech to drive home that point and challenge the candidates who prefer to penny-pinch.) On the most general level, however, the speech


Sadly, we’re still years away from that hoverboard commute

The Lexus Hoverboard: It's here Oh, “Back to the Future” fans — how long has it been? Too long. Believe it or not, it’s been 30 years since the original film premiered, making Michael J. Fox a star. The first film took Marty McFly back to the 1950s, in Doc’s DeLorean-turned-time-machine, where he caught up with his teenage parents and, shall we say, altered their universe. The sequel, which premiered in 1989, wasn’t exactly memorable, except for one cool bit of technology: the hoverboard. Since that time, folks have long wondered when the hoverboard would become a reality. No offense to the Segway, but those two wheels simply can’t match the allure of being airborne. Apparently, the folks at Lexus think so, too. Earlier this month, the company known for its luxury cars released a video featuring its spin on Marty McFly’s favorite mode of transportation. “It’s like old stories, old fairy tales — the flying carpet — and this is something close to that flying carpet,” says the narrator in the five-minute short showcasing the car company’s board concept. It wasn’t easy, according to the video — it took 30 days to even get the darn thing to levitate. The Lexus Hoverboard: The Story And indeed, the board does looks cool. But even Lexus conceded that bringing it to life was a challenge. “Embarking on this project, we set out to push the boundaries of technology, design and innovation to make the impossible possible,” said Mark Templin, executive vice president at Lexus International, in a news release announcing the final “reveal.” But making the impossible possible wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. “We discovered making a hoverboard isn’t an easy process,” Templin noted in the release. According to the release, the Lexus Hoverboard project began 18 months ago through a collaboration with a team of scientists from IFW Dresden and evico GmbH, who specialize in magnetic levitation technology. The release describes how the technology works: The Lexus Hoverboard technology features two “cryostats” — reservoirs in which superconducting material is kept at -197 degrees through immersion in liquid nitrogen. The board is then placed above a track that contains permanent magnets. Dr. Oliver de Haas, evico CEO, said: “The magnetic field from the track is effectively ‘frozen’ into the superconductors in the board, maintaining the distance between the board and the track — essentially keeping the board hovering. This force is strong


These Howard University students formed a street band to help pay their tuition bills

Started by a group of Howard University students raising money for their tuition, the Dupont Brass band has become a morning commute staple for many D.C. residents. This story and accompanying video were produced by student journalists through the Medill News Service at Northwestern University At 9 a.m. on a typical workday, you rush out of the Metro station, grab a cup of coffee and pick up your phone to tell your boss that you are coming in a minute — Wait, do you hear the jazz? That’s Dupont Brass, a group of college students from Howard University who play horns and drums on the street to raise money for tuition and expenses. Even the most harried commuter often stops, listens and dances to the music on the way to work. “Somebody tweeted today that every time they hear Dupont Brass, they go to work feeling like a champ,” said Brent Gossett, a tuba player for the band who graduated in 2012. (He’s now in graduate school studying tuba performance at Louisiana State University.) [What Hurricane Katrina taught us about human resilience] The band has been performing at D.C. Metro stops — including Dupont Circle, which inspired its name — for three years. They show up every weekday morning when they don’t have class. Five Howard students came up with the idea when they couldn’t afford to live on campus during winter break, and they needed to make some money to survive till classes started back up. The group has since expanded to 13, including a videographer, and although they haven’t counted how much money they have raised, “it helped a lot of us not to be kicked out of school,” Gossett said. Gossett said at first some nearby business owners feared the brass band would be too loud. A few even called the police. But “that’s exactly the opposite of what we give them,” he said. “We give them classic street music” — the soothing sort. The group members also figured out where they can play and developed relationships with property owners. “I come here to listen to their music every Friday before I go to work,” said Susan Koch, who works by the Farragut West Metro station. “It makes me feel so good.” Dupont Brass has recorded a CD titled “Crewsin: Sounds of the City,” and on Aug. 4 they performed a free concert on stage at the


Why your morning cup of coffee may not be as Earth-friendly as you think

A worker dries organic coffee beans produced at the Fortaleza Environmental Farm in Mococa, Brazil, on Aug. 6. (NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images) Rising global demand for coffee hasn’t translated into better economic and environmental conditions for many of the world’s major coffee-growing regions, according to a new paper that questions the fair-practices claims made by some coffee retailers. While coffee chains tout ecological gains and farmer-friendly policies, the outlook has generally not improved in the past two decades in poorer coffee-growing regions along the equator, University of Kansas researcher Alexander Myers found. Soaring appetite for coffee beans has pushed more small farmers into “technified” farming practices and exclusive reliance on a single crop — coffee — for their livelihood, Myers said in his paper, presented at last week’s annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. The more intensive methods use up far more water and other resources while making small growers vulnerable to disruptive swings in the market, Myers said. “It has opened these small producers to a global commodities market that can be very difficult to navigate,” Myers, a doctoral candidate who studies trade and globalization, said in an interview. “It’s feast or famine.” Traditionally, coffee beans are grown under shade canopies, often created by fruit trees that provide an alternative source of income for farmers while also offering important habitat for migrating birds. In switching to “technified” farming, growers are pressured to rely exclusively on coffee while switching to different kinds of coffee beans that require much more water to grow properly, Myers said. [New research explains why Monarch butterflies are disappearing in Mexico.] Myers acknowledged that some retailers have tried to make a difference by buying coffee beans from suppliers that are certified to promote “fair-trade” and environmentally-friendly policies. But in many instances, those beans account for up only a portion of the coffee purchased. “The companies have put themselves out there as having made a change,” he said. “The extent to which those changes are seen on the ground — that’s a different story.”


Scientists find new way to save the brain’s superhighways in Alzheimer’s patients

(iStock) In the first clinical trial involving gene therapy for an adult neurodegenerative disorder, dying cells in the brains of Alzheimer's patients sprouted new connections, according to a new study in JAMA Neurology. During a three- to four-hour surgical procedure, 10 patients were injected with genes modified to express nerve growth factor, which promotes axonal growth in certain cells of the brain. Axons are the brain's information superhighways, the white matter that connects neurons. The target of the injections was the basal forebrain, located at the bottom, front part of the brain, an area that is important to maintaining attention, motivation, memory and behavior and that is usually affected early in Alzheimer's patients. [Incidence of Alzheimer's increasing world-wide] The trial patients were all in the early to early-mid stages of the disease and lived an average of 5.4 more years. At death, their brains were then autopsied. "Up to this point, we hadn't known whether growth factors could effect degenerating neurons of Alzheimer's brains," said Mark Tuszynski, director of the Center for Neural Repair at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine and the study's lead author. "All the 10 patients showed growth factor response. ... Cells that had clearly been in the process of dying were regrowing axons." The results of the trial confirmed that the therapy was safe, which was the principal goal of the Phase 1 trial. But the bonus, Tuszynski said, was that the researchers learned "very unequivocally that degenerating neurons can respond." What they did not learn, he said, was whether those restored neurons would improve the clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's patients. That's the focus of a phase 2 clinical trial currently taking place at the University of Southern California. One of the upsides to gene therapy treatment is that it is targeted and can be restricted to specific, affected areas of the brain without damaging healthy cells nearby. But Tuszynski is also excited about the one-and-done aspect of the treatment. "With gene therapy, the potential is you can go in and have a surgical procedure of three to four hours and have lifelong protection, without having to take a drug every day," he said. "If you know you have a disease that robs you of the essence of your intellect, will you undergo a three-hour operation? Pardon the expression, but that seems like a no-brainer."


D.C. area forecast: Summertime heat and humidity build back in

TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT 7/10: EXPRESS FORECAST Today: FORECAST IN DETAIL Although meteorological fall starts in a few days, the forecast is certainly looking rather summer-like in the time ahead. It’s nothing extreme, but at this point in the year — after tasting some cooler and drier air — it might not be exactly what we’re looking for. That said, we’ve still got a bit more than a week of “unofficial summer” left until Labor Day, so get out while the getting is good! Satellite loop of clouds over our area. Refresh page to update. Today (Saturday): Tonight: For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend… Tomorrow (Sunday): Tomorrow night: A near-full moon last night. (Kevin Wolf via Flickr) A LOOK AHEAD Monday The possibility of sprinklings lingers into Monday night as lows reach the upper 60s to mid-70s. Any lost raindrops should be out of here by Tuesday. We’re back to partly sunny — or sunnier! — skies during the day, and still dealing with toasty temperatures, plus mid-summer humidity. Once again, afternoon readings within a stones throw of 90 seem likely. Confidence: Medium


China pins market plunge on financial journalist, airs ‘confession’

China's stock market? A journalist, apparently. Wang Xiaolu, a reporter for a respected Chinese business magazine, "confessed" to causing chaos and panic in the markets, state media reported Sunday. In footage broadcast Monday morning on CCTV, China's state broadcaster, a weary-looking Wang said he obtained information about China's securities regulator "through private channels" and then added his "own subjective judgment" to the report. "During a sensitive period, I should not have published a report which had such a huge negative impact," he said. This screen grab taken from a CCTV footage shows Wang Xiaolu, a financial journalist with the respected business magazine Caijing, on China's main state broadcaster on Aug. 31. (AFP Photo/CCTV) The high-profile — and deeply problematic — forced apology came amid a broader crackdown as Chinese authorities struggle to cope with the fallout from the Tianjin blasts and the ongoing stock crisis. Wang is one of 197 people recently punished for spreading rumors, Xinhua reported. Since an epic stock boom went bust this summer, China's government has struggled to contain the crisis, ordering the press to downplay the story, and periodically singling out scapegoats, from hostile foreign forces, to "malicious" short-sellers, to the U.S. Federal Reserve and now, the press. If "privately gathering information" and then adding a "subjective judgment" sounds a lot like good journalism, it is. Wang's crime appears to be publishing accurate information on a matter of public interest — but without a go-ahead from the government. In a July 20 story in Caijing, Wang wrote that the China Securities and Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was weighing whether to stop stabilizing share prices. The CSRC denied the report the day it was published, calling it "irresponsible." More than a month later, with the CSRC indeed taking a more hands-off approach, and Chinese markets experiencing another precipitous drop, Wang was detained for spreading "false information." Reporters Without Borders condemned Wang's detention and called for his release. "Suggesting that a business journalist was responsible for the spectacular fall in share prices is a denial of reality, "said Christophe Deloire, the group's secretary-general, according to a statement published on its Web site. "Blaming the stock market crisis on a lone reporter is beyond absurd.” Gu Jinglu reported from Beijing. Read more: China’s economy is in big trouble, but it isn’t collapsing In China, a ghost town points to shifting fortunes China's black Monday spreads stock market fears worldwide


How it feels when white people shame your culture’s food — then make it trendy

“Fresh Off the Boat,” an ABC sitcom based on his memoir. When young Eddie takes a carton of noodles out of his lunchbox, his white classmates react with disgust: “Ying Ming’s eating worms! Dude, that smells nasty!” Back at home, Eddie demands his parents start packing him “white people lunch.” [What lentils and onions taught me about relationships] The lengths to which immigrant families have gone to hide the way we feed ourselves break my heart. But something has changed. In cities big and small, Asian dishes and flavors have become popular among foodies at chic eateries. Foods that were once considered too strong, too spicy, too smelly or too obviously-from-an-animal for my white friends are now on Restaurant Week menus nationwide. A month ago, I saw a kimchi burger on the menu at Macintyre’s, a new bar in Washington’s upscale Woodley Park neighborhood. It’s just two miles north of Drafting Table, which sells a duck-and-hoisin-sauce grilled cheese. And a few blocks from there is Masa 14, which features crispy chicken wings and meatballs on its “Dim Sum” menu. Downtown, Wolfgang Puck’s The Source offers lobster bao buns and “Chinoise-style” chicken salad. In one way, this is a positive change. Now that I’ve gotten over my fear of stinking up my kitchen, the growing number of Asian grocery stores means I don’t have to visit home to get ingredients for homemade Chinese food. Greater acceptance of international eateries allows immigrants, professional chefs and otherwise to explore their culture and dual identity proudly, instead of behind closed doors or at the edge of the Henry Hudson Bridge. Gravitating toward “new” cuisines is understandable, and when done well, immigrant food can provoke discussions about personal history and shared diasporas. I’ve seen this happen at restaurants such as China Chilcano, which describes the history of Chinese and Peruvian fusion that influences its menu, a bare minimum that many restaurants ignore. But while some eateries get it right, the United States’s take on “ethnic” food often leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Recently, I discovered I can order bone broth, like my grandmother used to make, in New York City — the same way I would order a cold-pressed juice. “2015 is the year of bone broth!” the “Today” show declared in January. “These days, the hottest food trend is a steaming cup of soup.” The morning show touted bone broth as a


Your fancy scooter is cool, but it’s not a ‘hoverboard.’ Why don’t we have hoverboards yet?

Board Chase (1989) HD The movie’s main character, Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox), has time-traveled from 1985 to Oct. 21, 2015. When he finds himself followed by a mob of angry teenagers, he borrows a little girl’s wheel-less scooter. Ditching the handle, he throws the base out like a skateboard, hops on with two feet and starts to zoom over streets, cars and unsuspecting pedestrians. “He’s on a hoverboard!” one of the bullies yells. The scene became the most talked-about part of the movie, especially after director Robert Zemeckis started telling people the board was real. He reportedly repeated in a serious tone that the only reason it wasn’t on the market was resistance from parent groups. People figured it out, of course, but imaginations were sparked. Many a dad in a garage started putting together plywood and high-powered leaf blowers and, with some success, created little floating vehicles. Those are hovercrafts however. Hovercrafts are propelled by floating on air. A hoverboard, as imagined by Zemeckis, is powered by the resistance of magnets. In theory, this is possible using a technology similar to magnetic levitation (“maglev”) high-speed trains. Two magnets with the same polarity reflect each other. If you can put one on the floating board and one in the ground, they should push each other away, making the board float. But reality is a lot more complicated than theory. To create a force strong enough to push up a board, you need a magnet made of “superconducting” elements. To work, those elements have to be cooled to an exact temperature by a substance such as liquid nitrogen or helium, which is tedious and expensive. One French artist used this knowledge to create a “Back to the Future” replica hoverboard in 2010. It floated, but it would fall down if touched or pushed. The artist faced the problem that’s still in the way of turning hoverboard dreams into reality: Once it floats, it needs to hold weight and move around. Meanwhile, let’s put it on wheels. Enter the two-wheeled electric scooter. While inventors were toiling away with magnets, savvy entrepreneurs were creating a new way to get around. We won’t throw blame on who started calling them “hoverboards” first, but the name seemed to officially go mainstream in August when rapper Khalifa was arrested for riding one through the Los Angeles airport. They love sayin stop resisting. http://t.co/v2tdOOikMy


Obama can rename Mount McKinley Denali — but he can’t stop its loss of ice

ground, that releases carbon — mostly in the form of carbon dioxide. Scientists have estimated that by the year 2100, permafrost around the world — not just in Alaska, but also in Canada, Siberia and other Arctic nations — could release some 150 gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere if warming continues apace (a gigaton is a billion metric tons). [Scientists confirm that the Arctic could become a major new source of carbon emissions] That converts into over 500 gigatons of carbon dioxide, when the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said the planet only has about 1,000 more gigatons to emit in order to have a greater than 66 percent chance of keeping warming under 2 degrees Celsius. Granted, the permafrost scenario above would occur under the “current warming trajectory” and thus could be lessened if we limit emissions. But it just goes to show that permafrost emissions could be large enough to seriously complicate efforts to reduce carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. What that means is that even if we succeed through policy, planetary emissions that we do not control may still push us into a climate danger zone. The village of Kivalina is seen from the air in October 2010, before the sea ice had refrozen. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News) Coastal erosion. The president is almost certainly referring to the tiny village of Kivalina on the shores of the Chukchi Sea, which is being increasingly battered by extreme waves that, as sea ice dwindles, are more easily generated offshore. Sometimes waves can wash across the entire island, which can be terrifying, especially for a place so remote where help is very far away. Kivalina will have to be relocated, at a cost that has been estimated at well over $100 million. [The remote Alaskan village that needs to be relocated due to climate change] But Kivalina isn’t unique. The U.S. Geological Survey recently found that along Alaska’s north coast, an average of 1.4 meters per year of land is vanishing — and in some places rates are far higher than that. The study also observed that Projected and observed increases in periods of sea-ice free conditions, as sea-ice melts earlier and forms later in the year, particularly in the autumn, when large storms are more common in the Arctic, suggest that Arctic coasts will be more vulnerable to storm surge and wave energy,


Crime museum is closing at the end of September

An assortment of tools, books and other items is seen in this 2011 file photo showing an exhibit on the Unabomber, Ted Kacyznski. (Courtesy National Museum of Crime and Punishment) The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Chinatown has announced its property manager is forcing the three-story museum out of its building on 7th Street NW and will be shuttering at the end of September. The museum, which opened in 2008 and charges $21.95 for an adult ticket, faces tough competition from the free Smithsonian museums throughout D.C. Janine Vaccarello, the chief operating officer of the museum, said that as part of its lease, the building owners have had the right since 2013 to ask the museum to vacate the property if it does not meet certain sales thresholds. Vaccarello would not disclose details of the museum’s finances, but said, “we had our challenges, but we were making it.” “We would have liked to do better, but D.C. is a tough market,” Vaccarello said. “We weren’t planning on going anywhere. We always tried to do a lot within the community. It is sad, we are really sad.” The future of the crime museum is uncertain. Vaccarello said the museum would search for other spaces in the area, or would look to partner with another organization and a place to sell its paraphernalia. The property manager, DTZ, declined to comment. Orlando lawyer John Morgan opened the museum in partnership with the Fox TV show “America’s Most Wanted” and the D.C. attraction was described by the Washington Post in 2008 as “one of Washington’s growing supply of museums that aspire to be a blend of theme park and TV show.” The museum features attractions that include a police driving simulator and an interactive police line-up. It has also displayed a number of real and Hollywood crime artifacts, such as the actual John Dillinger car and the Bonnie-and-Clyde car that was used in the movie about the bank robbers. Recently, the museum installed a permanent exhibit on convicted swindler Bernie Madoff. “We would like to thank you for the support over the years,” the crime museum’s Web site now reads.


Obama takes a turn at reality TV in Alaska

This July 30, 2014, photo shows Margerie Glacier, one of many glaciers that make up Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park. With melting glaciers and rising seas as his backdrop, President Barack Obama will visit Alaska next week to press for urgent global action to combat climate change. (Kathy Matheson/AP) He's rappelled shirtless with heartthrob Zac Efron and had a heart-to-heart in the wilderness with a choked up Deion Sanders. The next step: Bear Grylls landed President Obama on his reality show, where they'll talk global warming in Alaska. An NBC news release said the president, fresh off a weekend trip to the golf course, will "receive a crash course in survival techniques" from Grylls, presumably under the protective eye of the Secret Service. The president's turn as reality TV star is one piece of a three-day trip to Alaska designed to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change. “Alaskans are already living with its effects,” Obama said in his radio address Saturday. On Monday he'll address a conference of Arctic nations dealing with the problem. [Obama using Alaska to add urgency to his climate change warnings] The president's appearance with Grylls, a former British soldier and survivalist, has drawn a negative response from at least one group. PETA, the animal rights group, condemned the president's support for a show that it described in a statement as "the bottom of the barrel," "demeaning" and "sexist." "There are far better ways to get the message about global climate change out than by appearing on this disgusting show," the statement said. No response yet from that other former NBC reality TV star: Donald Trump.


Meet bug-eating, urine-drinking TV outdoorsman Bear Grylls, Obama’s unlikely hiking buddy

North Atlantic in an open inflatable boat. He took part in the world’s highest open-air dinner party (dangling from a hot air balloon at 25,000 feet, the guests had to wear gas masks or risk deadly hypoxia), and he has set a Guinness world record for longest indoor free-fall. A passionate defender of the environment, Grylls has dedicated a number of his adventures to raising money for the sustainable development organization Global Angels and for climate change awareness groups. His TV exploits have brought controversy. In 2007, it was revealed that parts of “Man vs. Wild” were scouted and orchestrated — wild animals were sometimes removed from cages and placed in Grylls’s path; treks were filmed not on remote islands but near comfortable hotels. In response, Discovery added a disclaimer to the beginning of the program: “On some occasions, situations are presented to Bear so he can demonstrate survival techniques,” it read. Grylls’s survival skills series “The Island” has likewise been accused of “fakery” and has gotten flak from female adventurers and animal rights activists for initially excluding women and featuring the killing of animals. But the fracas doesn’t seem to have hurt Grylls’s shows, which still get several million viewers a week. The truth is that Grylls, like all reality TV stars, benefits from a little drama. He has less in common with Sir David Attenborough than he does with Kim Kardashian. But that might be exactly what Obama is looking for. After all, he’s already met with Attenborough, in an interview at the White House this June that focused on the environment and climate change. The BBC called the meeting “an extraordinary meeting of minds.” Obama’s hike with Grylls seems unlikely to be described in the same language. What it might be is a compelling P.R. opportunity for a president hoping to focus on the climate while avoiding conflict over Arctic oil drilling and management of the area’s natural wealth. An appearance on “Running Wild,” which has also hosted Zac Efron, Deion Sanders and Kate Winslet, seems like a good attention grabber. After all, the Alaskan wilderness — framed by blue-gray mountains and glowing ice — is a dramatic stage, and Grylls is an expert entertainer. Now if only Grylls can persuade Obama to eat a few bugs. You know, for the environment. Let 'em eat cockroaches! Bear Grylls and @BarackObama take on backwoods Alaska. #TheProjectTV 6.30pm @channelten


Veterans: Federal jobs can be a bad fit, so many of us leave

(iStock) Veterans who’ve joined the government find it’s just too bureaucratic. They bristle at the resentment they feel from colleagues who know they went to the head of the hiring queue. They acknowledge that they don’t always fit in: Just below the surface, deep culture clashes in their offices simmer. These are some of the issues at the root of why veterans don’t stay long in federal jobs, say former troops still working in government and those who’ve quit. [Record number of veterans are getting jobs in the government, but many are quitting] With new data out showing that veterans leave within two years on average despite the Obama administration’s sustained efforts to hire them — a shorter average tenure than non-veterans at most agencies — we asked some of them why. Like non-veterans, former service members move on for a variety of reasons, from better opportunities to relocation for family reasons. But veterans say a federal office cubicle can be a bad fit after military service, with limited opportunities to advance. “Some veterans will say, ‘I go to staff meetings with a pen and paper and I’m all about the mission,'” said Walter Elmore, a drill instructor during the Vietnam War who set up an affinity group for veterans at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Things don’t move that quickly in government. There’s a culture here that’s very different from the culture our veterans are used to dealing with.” Elmore said veterans suffer from a widespread perception that they aren’t qualified for the jobs they got, since they benefit from preferential hiring for civil service jobs. “People look at us in a very hostile way,” he said. “It’s a little bit of ‘Who do they think they are?’ When you come into a place and you feel like you don’t fit, you say, it’s a good job, but I want a certain peace of mind.'” [Obama push to hire veterans into federal jobs spurs resentment ] As of fiscal 2014, 85 percent of veterans hired at HUD had left within two years, compared to 78 percent of non-veterans, according to new statistics compiled by the Office of Personnel Management on the biggest push to reward military service since the draft ended in the 1970s. Only the Defense and State departments had kept more veterans than non-veterans on board longer. Army Maj. Sean Gilfillan, 37, led soldiers during


NASA’s New Horizons may have a new target, far beyond Pluto

Belt Object, and one of an entirely different sort than Pluto -- which means scientists would get a look at a totally unknown Kuiper world. At 30 miles across, PT1 (short for potential target 1) is more than 10 times larger and 1,000 times more massive than a typical comet, but only about 0.5 to 1 percent of the size (and about 1/10,000th the mass) of Pluto. Because of that size, scientists believe it may be similar to the building blocks that came together to form Pluto and other relatively large Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). Path of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft toward its next potential target, the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, nicknamed "PT1" (for "Potential Target 1") by the New Horizons team. (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker) Why study KBOs? The Kuiper Belt is far enough from the sun that it basically acts as a cosmic refrigerator, keeping its objects cool and pristine, largely unchanged from their state at birth (at least compared with the incredibly dynamic planets cooking in our own neighborhood). And the objects are old -- about as old as the solar system itself. So opening up that Kuiper ice box can give scientists a glimpse of the building materials present at the dawn of our solar system. Understanding what was there then can help us figure out how more complex planets -- ones that can harbor life -- evolve. [Graphic: 9 years and 3,000,000,000 miles to Pluto] The New Horizons team is still hard at work receiving and interpreting data from July's flyby. But to extend their mission beyond that data retrieval phase, they'll have to submit an official proposal -- due in 2016 -- for independent review. The extension of the mission will cost much less than the $700 million of New Horizons initial funding, since the spacecraft is already designed, built, and launched. But NASA officials will have to weigh the funding needed for other proposed planetary missions before sealing the deal. If the spacecraft is maneuvered properly during the next year, it will reach the target on Jan. 1, 2019. That's going to be one heck of a New Year's Eve party. Read More: Why NASA’s top scientist is sure that we’ll find signs of alien life in the next decade Why did NASA spend 9 years getting to Pluto only to fly right past it? Hubble


Scientists have discovered why running makes you happy

(PeopleImages/iStock) If you're a big runner like me you know what I'm talking about when I describe that euphoric feeling you get in the middle of your workout — when your feet feel like they are floating over the ground and you can almost hear the air dancing past you. It turns out it's not all in your mind. Scientists at the University of Montreal have discovered that the hormone leptin — nicknamed the "satiety hormone" — may be at play. The primary purpose of leptin is in regulating energy stores. It signals to the body when it has enough fuel and energy, and in previous studies researchers have found that levels of leptin appear to fluctuate in people suffering from obesity, starvation, sleep deprivation and emotional stress. When you're in motion, your leptin levels may fall, and the researchers said this could "send a hunger signal to the brain's pleasure center to generate the rewarding effects of running." Writing in the journal Cell Metabolism on Tuesday, Stephanie Fulton and her co-authors drew physiological parallels between people seeking out the rewarding effects of running and the reasons they eat when they are hungry. (iStock) In an experiment with mice, researchers compared normal mice to those that were genetically engineered to lack a leptin-sensitive protein called STAT3 that relays the leptin signal to release the reward chemical dopamine. The normal mice ran a decent amount each day, logging an average of six kilometers a day on a running wheel. But the genetically engineered mice ran an extraordinary amount, nearly twice as much as the normal mice — 11 kilometers — each day. The new study supports previous research in humans that showed that low leptin levels are associated with exercise addiction and fast marathon times. Fulton wrote that while leptin is probably not the only thing controlling the high of running, the study "suggests that people with lower fat-adjusted leptin levels, such as high-performance marathon runners, could potentially be more susceptible to the rewarding effects of running and thus possibly more inclined to exercise." Read more: Your heart is a lot older than you are More bad news about soda: Study shows increased risk of heart attacks Yesterday’s coffee science: It’s good for the brain. Today: Not so fast…* Hot topic: Could regularly eating spicy foods help you live longer? Why the healthy school lunch program is in trouble. Before/after photos


The first airman since the Vietnam War could soon receive the military’s highest honor

(All photos courtesy U.S. Air Force) The Air Force is the only service where no one has yet received the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that may soon change. Of the seven airmen since 9/11 who have received the Air Force Cross, which is second only to the Medal of Honor in the Air Force, one will be recommended by the Air Force Special Operations Command for the Medal of Honor, according to a Monday report in the Air Force Times. [Pentagon review of how troops get awarded for heroism in combat in final phases] The potential award comes after Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James ordered a review of valor awards for special operations Airmen, which include Pararescuemen and combat controllers. According to the Air Force Times report, Air Force Special Operations Command found “new information” about one of the Air Force Cross recipients. So which Airmen will receive the nation’s highest valor award? Here is a list and a summary of their actions. (Courtesy U.S. Air Force) Tech. Sgt John Chapman (posthumous award) Known either as the the battle of Robert’s Ridge or the battle of Takur Ghar, the short brutal hill fight came early in the Afghan war and resulted in another airman besides Chapman receiving the Air Force Cross—Sr. airman Jason Cunningham. In the early hours of March 4 2002, two SEAL teams attempted to land on the peak of Mt. Takur Ghar in order to establish an observation post. The first helicopter— a MH-47 —received intense small arms fire and suffered a direct hit by a rocket propelled grenade that destroyed everything but the bird’s ability to fly. When the helicopter was hit, a Navy SEAL, Petty Officer Neil C. Roberts fell out of the back of the aircraft. He was later killed. The second helicopter with the second SEAL team, now alone, attempted to land and rescue Roberts. It was then, as the second SEAL team spilled out of the ramp attempting to find their lost comrade, that Chapman was mortally wounded. The team came under intense fire as the helicopter landed and, according to Chapman’s Air Force Cross citation, Chapman engaged and killed two enemy personnel, advancing towards an enemy machine gun nest before the team came under fire from three directions where he suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Sr. Airman Cunningham pictured center.


Nearly all of the world’s seabirds have eaten plastic, study estimates

Artist Chris Jordan has been documenting the impact of pollution on the albatrosses of Midway Island. He learned of this while researching a photo series about the intersection of mass consumption and mass culture. The discovery prompted Jordan to head off to the remote island in September 2009 to photograph the birds. Here are some of his images. Eating plastic that's floating in the water is so common for seabirds that an estimated 90 percent of them have ingested some form of it, such as bags and bottle caps. That's according to a group of Australian scientists who analyzed previous scientific literature on 135 seabird species and ran computer models to provide new estimates. They published their findings this week in the journal PNAS. [Why this record-breaking dive from a polar bear is actually tragic] "This is a huge amount and really points to the ubiquity of plastic pollution," lead author Chris Wilcox of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization said in a release. He added: "the results are striking." Plastic dissected from a dead flesh-footed shearwater. (Britta Denise Hardesty/CSIRO via AP) According to studies published between 1962 and 2012, about 60 percent of 135 bird species had ingested plastic and an average 29 percent of individual birds had plastic fragments in their guts. "Standardizing the data for time and species, we estimate the ingestion rate would reach 90 percent of individuals if these studies were conducted today," the authors wrote. [Plastic microbeads from face wash are polluting river sediment] The Australian researchers also predict that by 2050, 99 percent of seabird species will be affected by plastic ingestion -- a problem that will get worse as plastic production increases. "Global plastic production is increasing exponentially, with a current doubling time of 11 [years]; thus, between 2015 and 2026, we will make as much plastic as has been made since production began," the authors wrote. The area impacted the most, researchers wrote, is around the Southern Ocean boundary with the Tasman Sea, a stretch of water between New Zealand and Australia. The authors noted that places "where high plastic concentration and high seabird diversity coincide" are most vulnerable. "We are very concerned about species such as penguins and giant albatrosses, which live in these areas," co-author Erik van Sebille said in a statement. "While the infamous garbage patches in the middle of the oceans have strikingly high densities of


A Congolese warlord known as the ‘Terminator’ is finally going to trial in The Hague

Bosco Ntaganda at his mountain base in Kabati, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2009. (Lionel Healing/AFP/Getty Images) He wasn't called the "Terminator" for nothing. Bosco Ntaganda was one of the most brutal rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The forces he commanded have been implicated in ethnic massacres, rapes, torture, and in recruiting hundreds of children, some as young as seven, to fight on the front lines. He has been wanted for war crimes since 2006. On Wednesday, Ntaganda is scheduled to face trial before the International Criminal Court at The Hague. He's charged with a total of 13 counts of committing war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity. The allegations against him include murder, rape, sexual slavery of civilians, pillaging and the conscription of children into his forces. The human rights community and ordinary Congolese have been waiting for this day for nine years. And the rest of the world should care for this reason alone: Since 1998, the conflict in the Congo has claimed an estimated 5 million lives, many from disease, starvation and other war-related reasons. That's more casualties than the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria combined -- more than any conflict since World War II. Hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars have gone toward funding the world's largest and most expensive U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Congo. The international community Now, many human rights activists hope that the prosecution of Ntaganda will send a warning to all the other warlords, rebel commanders, and generals who continue to plague the Congo and prolong the war. ICC trial of Bosco Ntaganda shows even once-omnipotent warlords can face prosecution for abuse http://t.co/WfsJ3OjNXV http://t.co/OMOzRiwwTR #ICC trial of Bosco Ntaganda for serious crimes in #Congo is major step for justice & closing impunity gap in #DRC https://t.co/H9qUDJF8jt Ntaganda trial 'sends signal that justice will catch up': The trial of Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda starts... http://t.co/IJpV8kXeWY Born in 1973 in neighboring Rwanda, Ntaganda was a soldier in the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel ethnic Tutsi group that would go on to stop the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when ethnic Hutus massacred more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis. Ntaganda would later take part in the Rwandan military foray into the Congo in 1996. By 1998, during Congo's so-called "second war," he had joined a Congolese rebel group backed by Rwanda. He would later jump from one militia