This is the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s Easter Rising. What was the Easter Rising?

set the stage for a much wider and more intelligently fought revolt, in which Irish militants turned to guerrilla tactics, using tacit public support and the rugged Irish countryside to their advantage by attacking isolated groups of police and military, and then melting away. Michael Collins, one of the Easter rebels, developed a genius for hit-and-run tactics, reputedly influencing later practitioners of guerrilla warfare such as Mao Zedong and Yitzhak Shamir. What are the consequences of the Easter Rising today? The Easter Rising’s political legacy is contested and complicated. After Irish rebels achieved independence, they split over the question of whether to accept a compromise in which Britain retained control over Northern Ireland, fighting a civil war. The losers in that civil war gave birth to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which considered itself for a long time to be the true heir of the independence movement and which saw the Easter Rising as an inspiration. For a long time, the Irish state and the militant republican movement fought over the meaning of the Easter Rising, each trying to use the events to legitimate itself. The result is that the Irish state has sponsored a series of events intended to commemorate the Easter Rising, but also to acknowledge its complexities, and to acknowledge aspects of the Rising that were previously underplayed (such as, for example, the important role of women). However, police and politicians in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland fear that dissident Irish republicans might use the anniversary of the Easter Rising to stage a terrorist attack, claiming that they are continuing the tradition of militant Irish republicanism. Where can you find out more about the Easter Rising There are two excellent recent books covering the Rising. Diarmuid Ferriter’s “A Nation and Not a Rabble” provides a fine overview of the Rising, its consequences for the Irish independence movement, and how historians and nationalists thought about it after it had happened. Roy Foster’s “Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland” looks at the young people who were involved in the upsurge of nationalism and cultural activity that led to the rising. Colm Toibin, who wrote the novel behind last year’s Academy Award-nominated film “Brooklyn,” has a superb essay on the Rising in the London Review of Books. My sister Maria Farrell has a shorter piece on Eoin MacNeill and the historical legacy of the Rising here.


Swarm of bees interrupts Cubs-Mariners game, envelops Jason Heyward

We’ve seen Jason Heyward climb outfield walls to save balls from turning into home runs, but on Sunday, he was trying to save something else — himself. The Chicago Cubs’ center fielder found himself surrounded by a swarm of bees, which caused a half-hour delay in a spring training game against the Seattle Mariners. Jason Heyward vs bees. https://t.co/5LmGFq7EwF It looks like about a million bees have gotten loose on the field in the #Cubs - #Mariners game. It's a beelay. The buzz-worthy episode unfolded with two outs in the top of the third inning at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. Heyward was forced to move from spot to spot, waving his hand, cap and glove in a fruitless attempt to drive away the horde of insects. The swarm then appeared to move from the center field area toward left field, which caused the evacuation of the Cubs’ bullpen, situated behind the left field fence. The Chicago relief pitchers wound up seeking refuge with their Seattle counterparts in the right field bullpen, while some fans took shelter under blankets until the bees moved on. https://twitter.com/Josh_pvfc/status/714197522227589121 Looks like relief staff is headed to Sea bullpen to avoid the bees. Going to share bullpens. That's a first Once the game resumed, Heyward showed an admirable ability to regain his composure. After spending the top half of the third inning swatting bees, he swatted a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame. Unfortunately for Heyward and the Cubs, Robinson Cano was a hive of home-run activity, knocking three out of the park to lead the Mariners to a 12-9 win.


With Hong Kong booksellers silenced, China now goes after exiled dissidents

back in Hong Kong last week after more than two months in mainland China, and was quoted by a Chinese website as saying he would never run a bookstore again or sell “fabricated” books. Sweden’s Gui Minhai has been paraded on state television, making an apparently forced confession in relation to a decade-old drink driving case. On Sunday, the South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong airport is planning to cut back on the number of bookstores at its terminals, eliminating Singapore-based chain Page One and bringing in mainland chain Chung Hwa. But the writers may be tougher to silence. Chang, whose real name is Zhang Ping, had a distinguished career a a journalist and editor in China, before being demoted and finally fired from Southern Metropolis Weekly in 2011 for work deemed “inappropriate.” In an article on the U.S.-based China Change website, Chang strongly condemned the Communist Party’s attempts to influence foreign media and the “barbaric kidnappings” of his relatives. “I’ve always done what I think is right, and have always been willing to accept whatever fate brings as a result of that,” he wrote. “The harassment and threats of the authorities allow me to see even more the value of my writings, and encourage me to work harder in future.” Although Chang's sister has now been released, Chang said this was merely an attempt to use his family as hostages to negotiate for the withdrawal of the articles. "I can't take the blackmail," he wrote in an email Monday. "I have to go on." It is not entirely new for China to put pressure on the relatives of exiled dissidents – the tactic has been used in recent years against blind “barefoot lawyer” Chen Guangcheng after he fled to the United States in 2012, against Miss World Canada titleholder and Falun Gong practioner Anastasia Lin last year, and against Washington-based Radio Free Asia reporter Shohret Hoshur. But it does show how China’s crackdown on free speech is spreading across the globe. “It seems the authorities will stop at nothing to silence those outside their borders who they can no longer fully control," said William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International in Hong Kong. "It bears repeating that the persecution of family members of dissidents is a draconian and unlawful tactic that makes a mockery of China's claims to respect the rule of law." Just as the detention


The enormous carbon footprint of food that we never even eat

lost. The FAO published its For instance, the report notes, “Fresh products such as fruits, vegetables, meat and fish straight from the farm, or after the catch, can spoil quickly in hot climates due to lack of infrastructure for transportation, storage, cooling and markets. New technologies have been developed to improve storage as have green technologies, such as solar dryers that improve the lifetime of products in storage and, in turn, increase food security and economic benefits for the producers.” Other experts think that focusing on specific kinds of improvements all along the supply chain can help reduce food waste in ways that are specifically designed to cut down on carbon emissions and help the climate. A group of businesses, nonprofits and other organizations known as ReFED recently published a report titled “The Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste by 20 Percent,” which includes a variety of strategies for cutting down on food waste. The When it comes to slashing carbon emissions, the analysis suggests that the three Broad Leib, who serves on ReFED’s advisory council, noted that standardizing labeling on packaged food is also a key way to help people cut down on the amount of food wasted. And, in fact, date labeling is cited by the analysis as the fourth most important strategy when it comes to cutting down food-waste-related emissions, capable of cutting out nearly 1.6 million tons of wasted greenhouse-gas emissions per year. Cumulatively, the report suggests that implementing these strategies and cutting food waste across the country by 20 percent could save up to 18 million tons of greenhouse-gas emissions annually. Altogether, the collective research on food waste and greenhouse gases provides a sobering reality check, one that is slowly gaining mainstream attention. “I do think this is something on people’s radar in a way that it wasn’t for a while, and I think it’s probably two things happening at once — the kind of tying together of food waste and climate” Broad Leib said. “In a way, they grew up side by side. There’s things that obviously impact both of them separately from each other, but there’s certainly a big overlap and it’s certainly a thing a lot of people are talking about.” And as more strategies emerge for addressing the food-waste problem, we may have a chance to tackle climate change in yet another way — this time, one plate at a time.


Baby panda cub eats apple and orangutan eats treats at National Zoo

Bei Bei, the giant panda cub, ate an apple and an orangutan, named Batang, ate endive, oranges and peanuts at the National Zoo. And, yes, the zoo shared cute pictures online. This morning, Batang enjoyed papier-mâché #ZooEnrichment eggs filled w/ endive, orange slices & peanuts! https://t.co/oPtYXgG8Zz https://twitter.com/NationalZoo/status/714091169588899840 Bei Bei has been popular on social media since his birth in August, as zoo keepers tracked his milestones. He has climbed trees, walls and eaten bamboo.


America’s biggest drug threat is 100% legal

(iStock) America's communities are besieged by a highly dangerous, addictive drug. Its users can become agitated and violent, harming themselves and family members. It's incredibly toxic and even lethal at high doses. Many people who start abusing it are unable to quit. It's responsible for nearly 90,000 deaths each year. And in a new survey, more than three-quarters of Americans identified it as a serious problem in their community. I'm talking, of course, about alcohol. In a survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on American attitudes toward substance use and abuse, 76 percent of respondents named alcohol as a serious problem in their communities. That's higher than the percentage who named any other drug. More people are worried about alcohol than are worried about painkillers. Or cocaine and meth. Or heroin. And marijuana? That's at the bottom of the list. Part of this is a simple reflection of the relative prevalence of each drug. Many more people drink than use heroin, for instance. So compared with heroin, the typical American is more likely to experience the negative effects of alcohol in their daily lives. But the survey results also underscore one of the central problems with drug policy as we've practiced it over the past 40 years. Our state and federal bureaucracies consider alcohol separately from other drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana. This split is evident even in the names of the agencies that craft drug policy. It's why the National Institutes of Health has a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism along with a separate National Institute on Drug Abuse. It's why the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms stands apart from the Drug Enforcement Administration. These distinctions are useful from a legal standpoint — after all, booze is legal, while many other drugs aren't. But from a scientific standpoint, they've never made much sense. The abuse of alcohol and other drugs often go hand in hand. Among adolescents, the use of alcohol often precedes the use of other substances, licit and illicit. Alcohol, in other words, is a drug. It's a psychoactive substance that people ingest to produce an intoxicated state. And like other drugs, the use of alcohol carries any number of risks. Recent federal research indicates, for instance, that drunken driving carries a much higher accident risk than driving while under the effects of many other drugs. The difference between an


Why it’s wrong to say that the Arab uprisings failed

A few months ago, the Project on Middle East Political Science convened a virtual symposium with 30 political scientists examining how the turmoil of the past five years have affected Arab politics. Those essays, many of them originally published on the Monkey Cage, are now available for open access download as an issue of POMEPS Studies. Those essays offer an ambivalent, nuanced perspective on what has and has not changed in the region since 2011 – and point to the many challenges to come. The new politics shaped by the Arab uprising can be tracked along multiple levels of analysis, including regional international relations, regimes, states, and ideas. Regional international relations The uprisings of 2011 played out as a fully transnational event, with simultaneous challenges to most of the region’s governments. The subsequent response was also fully regional. My new book “The New Arab Wars,” to be published in a few weeks, and a recent POMEPS symposium, track these international relations dimensions of the response to the uprising. The overthrow of leaders in Egypt and Tunisia badly frightened Arab regimes, which had come to believe themselves to be invincible, while also opening up new opportunities for aggressive new regional policies. The disagreement between these regimes and Washington over Egypt’s transition and Syria’s war (along with the Iran nuclear deal) drove an unusually intense public crisis in America’s traditional alliance structure. The balance of power within the region has been significantly altered. The upheavals have largely removed traditional regional powers such as Egypt, Iraq and Syria as significant actors. Size, population and historical position now seem to matter less for the exercise of regional power than do wealth, domestic stability, media empires, transnational networks and access to advanced weaponry. Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, took advantage of the uprisings to engage in unprecedented types of interventions across the region. Regimes within the Saudi sphere of influence, such as the monarchies of Jordan, Morocco and the Gulf Cooperation Council, received significant aid to buffer them against popular challengers. Gulf regimes poured resources into the challengers to other regimes outside that regional order, such as Libya’s and Syria’s, intensifying their political and then military struggles. Anti-Islamist forces in transitional countries such as Egypt and Tunisia received support from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while Islamists received support from Qatar and Turkey. Syria became the central site


6 new restaurants to try in April

It's difficult choosing a dinner spot with so many new additions to the D.C. food-and-drink scene, but Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema has dined at these six restaurants recently, and you should follow suit. [Tom Sietsema answers dining questions Wednesday at 11 a.m.] Kinship The mushroom torchon at Kinship. (Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post) Chef Eric Ziebold's return to the D.C. dining scene is a rousing success, with signature dishes including a torchon of white mushrooms and a roast chicken served with the Parker House rolls that were his calling card at the acclaimed CityZen. [Kinship review: The welcome return of a favorite chef] Nazca Mochica The Peruvian duck confit at Nazca Mochica. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post) Peru native Roberto Castre is the chef behind this two-level Dupont Circle restaurant, one of the best representations of the South American cuisine D.C. has seen. A reinterpretation of duck confit is not to be missed. [Nazca Mochica review: Proof that Peruvian food means more than seviche] Convivial The fried chicken coq au vin at Convivial. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post) Cedric Maupillier relishes turning familiar dishes (mostly French) into something entirely different at his Shaw kitchen, which shares some DNA with the chef's earlier home at Mintwood Place. The fried chicken coq au vin is an early talker. [Convivial review: Cedric Maupillier brings diners on a delicious voyage] Hank's Pasta Bar Goat cheese and beet plin with tarragon and pecorino at Hank's Pasta Bar. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) This carb-heavy spinoff from restaurateur Jamie Leeds (Hank's Oyster Bar) produces more than a dozen types of pasta from scratch every day. [Hank’s Pasta Bar uses its noodles to grin-inducing effect] Sushi Ogawa Chef-owner Minoru Ogawa prepares seafood delicacies at his recently opened restaurant. (Dayna Smith/For the Washington Post) The eight-table dining room is transportive enough, but the real destination here is the seven-seat omakase counter, where chef-owner Minoru Ogawa's four decades of sushi-making experience are on full display. [At Sushi Ogawa, enjoy a peaceful room and a master’s touch] Tail Up Goat Salt-crusted sardines with charred chocolate rye, butter and pickles at Tail Up Goat in Adams Morgan. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post). Breads and pastas get the star treatment at this new Adams Morgan restaurant run by three veterans of the starry Komi. The salt-crusted sardines form a complex bite when served atop slices of charred chocolate


This mysterious ‘hot Jupiter’ is on a wild orbital ride

A simulation of HD 80606b based on data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. (NASA/JPL-CalTech) Hot Jupiters are exactly what they sound like. But it's how these Jupiter-like gas giants get so hot that's interesting: The planets orbit super-close to their host stars, creating incredibly hot worlds that undergo a whole slew of intriguing chemical reactions. Our Jupiter may be distant and cool by comparison, but in other solar systems, scientists have found, hot Jupiters are quite common. In a study soon to be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers led by Julien de Wit of MIT report on the behavior of one of these hotties. By using the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, they've learned some things about HD 80606b, a hot Jupiter 190 light-years from Earth. HD 80606b is particularly interesting because it's in transit. Scientists think that hot Jupiters often start out as gas giants as far flung as the ones in our own solar system but then get roped in by the intense gravitational pull of their host star or another planet. HD 80606b seems to be in the middle of this process. It has an eccentric, comet-like trajectory, probably because it's still settling down from a trip across its solar system. Every 111 days, the planet swings close to its sun-like host star before being flung back out. Scientists believe that one side of the planet gets hotter than the other during the closest encounter, perhaps heating up as much as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. "As the planet gets closer to the star, it feels a burst of starlight, or radiation. The atmosphere becomes a cauldron of chemical reactions, and the winds ramp up far beyond hurricane force," study co-author Greg Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz said in a statement. The researchers think they have a pretty good idea of how long HD 80606b will stay in this wonky orbit — a good 10 billion years or so. They came to that time estimate by figuring out how "squishy" the planet is. Yes, squishy. "If you take a Nerf ball and squeeze it a bunch of times really fast, you'll see that it heats up," Laughlin said in a statement. "That's because the Nerf ball is good at transferring that mechanical energy into heat. It's squishy as a result." When a planet orbits close to a star, the planet gets squeezed by the star's gravitational


The Daily 202: GOP governors forced to choose between big business and the religious right

LATEST: -- -- -- In Wisconsin, Clinton said Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley should “step up and do his job.” And Grassley hit right back just as hard, saying the former secretary of State seized on the issue as a “scapegoat” to distract from the FBI investigation into her emails. “I see a person who has recently been badly defeated in three states,” Grassley said. “I see a person that the FBI is getting ready to question her about the emails … and she’s trying to change the story to something else.” (Kelsey Snell reports from Iowa) WAPO HIGHLIGHTS: -- “Former Defense Intelligence Agency deputy had ‘personal limousine service’ to work, says report,” by Greg Miller: -- “The latest destination for China’s billions: U.S. hotels,” by Abha Bhattarai: “A business group led by a Beijing insurance firm significantly raised its multibillion-dollar bid to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts, one of the largest hotel companies in the U.S., providing the latest example of Chinese interest in prime American real estate. Anbang Insurance Group offered $14 billion in cash for Starwood, roughly $400 million more than a competing proposal from Marriott International … If successful, Anbang’s acquisition would mark the largest purchase of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm. The deal is among a flurry of deals being pursued by cash-flush Chinese companies hunting for safer investments overseas … Already this year, Chinese companies have announced plans to buy 153 foreign companies worth $103 billion, according to Dealogic, a data research firm in New York. “Where the Chinese lead is that they’re willing to pay a premium in order to go forward,” Mermelstein said. “There are very few that can compete with the Chinese in terms of dollar amounts.” SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ: Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon made waves when she suggested she wouldn't turn out for Clinton: Commentators on the left did not respond well: Former Cruz aide Amanda Carpenter blasted Trump's attitude toward women: Trump's social media director responded to Carpenter's tweets by linking to a video that agues she had an affair with Cruz (something she vigorously denies): Here's how Carpenter responded: Their back-and-forth continued: The White House celebrated Easter with its annual Egg Roll: Beyonce, Jay-Z and Blue Ivy were in attendance: Here are other images from the day, including Obama holding another baby: Maryland's junior senator met with Garland: GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE: -- “G.O.P. Women Try


Beer Madness 2016: Maine Beer Company’s Another One IPA takes the title

4-3. Midwest Region Jester King’s Black Metal Imperial Stout The other match in the Midwest also ended 6-1, with Lagunitas’s Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale routing Founders’ Dirty Bastard Scotch ale. Both of those beers had deadlocked 4-4 in the previous round, so a one-sided victory here was unexpected. West Region Avery Liliko’i Kepolo In the second battle in the West, Epic’s Big Bad Baptist, an imperial coffee stout aged in whiskey barrels, powered past 21st Amendment’s Toaster Pastry India-style red ale, 5-2. The bracket looks like this as we go into the Round of 8: (Beer Madness Round of 8) Beer Madness First Round Recap: Big names fall as the blind-tasting competition begins Ladies and gentlemen, Beer Madness will have a new co-champion in 2016. Boulevard’s funky-but-crisp Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, which won the votes of our blind-tasting panel in 2015 and finished runner-up in our online reader bracket, was narrowly dumped out of the competition at the first hurdle by Schlafly’s Grapefruit IPA, a beer that uses grapefruit puree to augment its hop flavors. Five of the eight panelists during our first tasting session, held earlier this month, voted for the Schlafly. City Paper Brew in Town columnist Tammy Tuck said it’s “like getting punched in the mouth by grapefruit,” and praised the “nice hops” and “super dry” finish. Jack Rose whiskey manager Brittney Roberson called it “nuanced and funky with some good citrus character.” Boulevard certainly had its defenders: Former Washington Post beer columnist Greg Kitsock praised the “Belgian-y fruit cocktail of flavors. Very soft, palate-caressing.” [More results by region: Northeast | South | Midwest | West] The big winner of the night was Avery’s Liliko’i Kepolo, a witbier made with tart Hawaiian passion fruit. All eight judges picked it over Great Divide’s Titan IPA. Neighborhood Restaurant Group beer director Tim Liu said Avery’s beer had “really ripe fruit with a bit of a farmhouse quality,” while reader Shelley Cazares confessed: “Tart! I just made a fish face! Very fun, very tasty. Anything that could make you make that strong of a face and still taste good is a winner.” Two other breweries narrowly missed copying Liliko’i Kepolo’s sweep. St. Somewhere’s funky, unfiltered Serge saison blew out Terrapin’s Rye Pale Ale 7-1. “This is the way you do a sour!” enthused Greg Kitsock. “Cherry-like, acetic acid bite balanced by sweet malt.” Shelly Cazares found it “A nice tart


Scientists develop method that may predict East Coast heat waves up to 50 days in advance

People cool off in a water fountain in Madureira Park on Dec. 30, 2015, in Rio de Janeiro during a heat wave. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Heat waves are among the deadliest weather hazards and are predicted to increase in intensity, frequency and duration in a warming world. In the north Pacific Ocean, scientists may have found a signal for blistering heat in the eastern United States that can emerge weeks ahead of time. A study published in Nature Geoscience on Monday says when the southwest part of the North Pacific is unusually warm while the northeast part is unusually cold, the odds of a heat wave in the ensuing seven weeks in the eastern U.S. are substantially raised. Sea surface temperature anomalies in the mid-latitude Pacific 50 days in advance of June 29, 2012. The pattern inside the green box resembled the Pacific Extreme Pattern, indicating that there would be an increase in the odds of a heat wave in the eastern half of the United States at the end of June. (Karen McKinnon, NCAR) The study authors named this potentially predictive configuration the “Pacific Extreme Pattern.” “What’s exciting about this is the potential for long-range predictions of individual heat waves that gives society far more notice than current forecasts,” lead author Karen McKinnon of the National Center for Atmospheric Research said in a news release. The study authors spotted the pattern by analyzing global sea surface temperature patterns that coincided with heat waves that stretch from the Midwest to the East Coast. “Right away, a pattern popped out in the middle of the Pacific, above about 20 degrees North latitude,” the news release said. “The scientists found that the particular configuration of ocean water temperatures … was not only found when it was already hot in the eastern U.S., but that it tended to form in advance of that heat.” To test how well this pattern could forecast heat waves, the authors retrospectively predicted when they thought heat waves would occur during peak summer periods spanning 1982 to 2015. “At 50 days out, the scientists were able to predict an increase in the odds — from about 1 in 6 to about 1 in 4 — that a heat wave would strike somewhere in the eastern U.S. during a given week,” the news release said. “At 30 days out or closer, the scientists were able to predict an increase


Gaithersburg-based Maxcyte heads to London for a $15 million public offering

developing in conjunction with researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The company’s shares, which now trade under the MXCT ticker, were initially priced at 70 pence per share, or about one dollar, but opened trading at 75 pence and closed the day at 76.50, or about $1.09. The company says it looked at several big-dollar funding options, including more traditional options like Nasdaq and private equity before landing in London. Maxcyte’s take would likely have been much smaller than the typical Nasdaq IPO, where it would have been “a small fish in a big pond,” a company spokesperson said in an email. Instead, Maxcyte is trading on London’s AIM market, a sort of junior market meant for small and venture-backed companies. According to chief executive Doug Doerfler, this is the first time the company has raised money from investors in at least six years. Maxcyte was founded in 1999 and reached profitability 10 years later on the back of a medical device that it manufactures and licenses out. The technology — a device the size of a personal computer that delivers tailored electrical pulses used for cell-modification – is licensed to about 30 partner organizations for between $150,000 and $250,000 per year, typically for drug development using animals. When humans are involved, the devices are sold outright for up to $100,000 each. These sorts of partnerships propelled the company to $9.3 million revenues last year. In a departure from past work, Maxcyte is trying to develop and sell a drug itself rather than just enable another company’s work. The company plans to use the money raised in the offering for clinical trails for a cell therapy it calls “Carma,” which it is developing in partnership with researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The treatment, versions of which are already in seven clinical trials around the world, is meant to treat ovarian cancer through a process that modifies certain cells. The treatment still hasn’t been tested on humans, and Maxcyte has a long and potentially expensive road ahead of it if it wants to push the treatment through the Food & Drug Administration’s approval pipeline. But Doerfler says the data he’s seen from the treatment’s initial trials in animals was enough to make an otherwise-conservative board and management team take a leap of faith. “The preclinical data we have seen has been very promising,” Doerfler said. “We’re seeing strong hints of anti-tumor activity.”


Nintendo’s first smartphone game is coming to the U.S. this week

Nintendo announced Tuesday that it will release its first smartphone-based game in the United States on Thursday. Well, sort of a game. "Miitomo" is more of a social network based on Nintendo's Mii figures — those round-headed, cartoonish avatars that players have been able to make since the launch of the Wii. Miitomo will allow users to communicate and socialize using their Miis, through quizzes, chats and shareable photos. (Courtesy of Nintendo) Users will be able to customize the look of their avatars by purchasing various outfits and accessories for them and will be able to link Miitomo to Facebook and Twitter to fill up their friends lists quickly. The app will be available on iOS and Android devices. Miitomo has already launched in Japan, where it gathered 1 million users in just three days and debuted second in the Japanese version of Apple's App Store. It, of course, may not be exactly what many Nintendo fans had hoped for when the company first announced that it would start developing games and apps for mobile devices. That said, Miitomo does show that Nintendo is working to develop a mobile strategy that extends beyond converting its existing catalog of games to modern devices. The company also announced that it will launch a new rewards program called My Nintendo, which the company describes as a "comprehensive service that rewards users for interacting with Nintendo products and services in a variety of ways." Players will be able to earn points by playing and purchasing digital games, which can be traded in for other games, digital accessories and other downloadable items. Nintendo is also going to open an online shop for Wii U and 3DS games on Nintendo.com, to supplement the stores that already let users buy games on the consoles themselves. According to Nintendo, it will have more than 2,000 games and will give users the opportunity to earn points for their accounts.


Firearms law seminar

a draft law review article, “The Federal Circuits’ Second Amendment Doctrines.” The article provides a detailed synthesis of the structure of Second Amendment analysis in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. Based on the nearly 150 Second Amendment cases that the federal circuit courts have decided post-Heller, it is now possible to describe a standard model used by most courts in analyzing Second Amendment issues. Chris Zealand, an attorney with NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, will discuss “Gun Control through Executive Action.” The Veterans Administration (past and present) and the Social Security Administration (prospectively) are theaters of operations for large expansions of firearms prohibitions without congressional consent. The presentation will examine the legality of various executive actions regarding gun control, as well as potential responses by Congress. Teresa Ficaretta served for 28 years with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the last two of those as deputy assistant director of enforcement programs and services. Now in private practice with Reeves & Dola, Ficaretta will explain how lawyers can counsel clients to prepare for ATF compliance inspections. (The ATF is allowed to conduct annual warrantless inspections of federal firearms licensees; inspections are allowed at other times when pursuant to a warrant or as part of a bona fide criminal investigation.) She will also discuss the informal guidance that ATF issued in January, regarding the statutory definition of “engaging in the business” as it applies to dealers in firearms. Sarah Gervase, of the NRA general counsel’s office, will elucidate ATF’s new 41F regulations regarding gun trusts. She will also cover how attorneys can help clients plan gifts of firearms and how to handle such gifts in probate and trust administration. Brent Weil, an insurance defense attorney in Indiana, will analyze the potential tort claims that could be be brought against firearms instructors and how to minimize risks. Florida attorney Ernest J. Meyers will deliver the legal ethics presentation, on issues that should be considered when representing firearms owners and federal firearms licensees. Derek DeBrosse serves as general counsel of Ohioans for Concealed Carry, and he will address restoration of rights. Citizens are often denied the rights to keep or bear arms because of problems such as overdue child support or a long-ago conviction for disorderly conduct. The presentation will discuss practical solutions for lawyers to help restore their clients’ rights. (Incidentally, the Independence Institute recently joined an amicus


D.C. home back on market after surviving bomb, international custody battle

the home became a residence for Yugoslav diplomats. In June 1980, Yugoslavia’s charge d’affaires Vladimir Sindjelic and his wife Leposava were at home when at 4 a.m. their German shepherd Astra became restless. Moments later, a bomb planted in a window flower box outside a downstairs sitting room exploded. No one was hurt, but the house was severely damaged. The blast shattered windows in four nearby homes. (Photo by Marian Huish) A Croatian nationalist group claimed responsibility When Congress voted to condemn the country for its human rights abuses in 1989, Yugoslavia recalled its ambassador, and the house was abandoned. After the country broke apart, the surviving nations quarreled over which one had title to the property. Bosnia and Herzegovina eventually took ownership. Bosnian officials, who would only accept cash and did not want to sell to a developer, received close to 20 offers before selling the house to the current owners for $650,000 in March 2015. The closing, which typically would take two to three weeks for a cash sale, took nearly four months because of the bureaucracy involved with buying from a foreign government. Having sat vacant for nearly three decades, the house was in bad shape. A tree was growing through the roof of the garage. Mold was everywhere. The owners removed the tree and secured the garage roof. They gutted the house, taking it down to its studs. (Marian Huish) They hired an architect who produced drawings for them that would keep the original footprint of the house as well as the home’s facade. They even went through the process of receiving approval from the Commission of Fine Arts for their plans because properties along Rock Creek Park are required to get approval from the commission before going forward. The owners were well on their way toward creating the house of their dreams when circumstances changed. “They’re a bit heartbroken that things aren’t working out,” said listing agent Marian Huish of Long & Foster, who was also their agent when they purchased the house. Understandably the bidders who lost out on the bidding war a year ago are struggling to understand the price increase. The owners are offering to sell the plans with the house. “Pricing it was a challenge,” Huish said. “There [have] not been many homes turn over in Crestwood, especially with that location. It’s a really special lot.” Listing: Listing agent: (Marian Huish)


How Vermont could change the marijuana legalization game

Nevada, Ohio, Maine and Massachusetts are all expected to have some kind of legalization question on their ballot, whether medical or recreational. But as The Washington Post's Christopher Ingraham noted in January, researchers have argued that ballot initiatives risk glossing over boring-but-important details, which so happen to be the very same information lawmakers spend countless hours chewing over. "Ballot initiatives are a terrible way to make policy changes when the technical details matter," wrote drug policy expert Mark Kleiman in 2014. Kleiman ran Washington's regulation team after voters there legalized it in 2012. Without lawmakers' input at both the state and federal level, Kleiman envisioned a not-too-distant future where the cannabis industry has an undue amount of power to shape legalization. And that, he says, is reason for even reluctant lawmakers to get off the sidelines on legalization. What the critics say Opponents to legalization argue the cannabis industry already has too much influence, no matter who legalizes marijuana. "My biggest concern is creating Big Marijuana -- sort of like Big Tobacco," Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy official with the Obama administration and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, or SAM, told Vox in March. SAM argues the same players that are active in ballot initiatives are funneling resources to shape Vermont's debate, so there's no real substantial difference in what Vermont lawmakers are considering to what Colorado or Washington voters decided. "It's a distinction without a difference," said Jeffrey Zinsmeister with SAM. The legalization effort is also playing out against a backdrop of New England's opiate addiction epidemic, which Vermont is not immune from. Supporters of Vermont's bill argue legalizing marijuana will free up police to concentrate on heroin and painkiller overdoses. They also point out the bill will funnel tax revenue into treatment and recovery programs. But opponents wonder if now is the best time to put yet another substance on the street -- and make it even easier to obtain. “Shouldn’t we be trying to solve that problem first, before we introduce another drug that we all have to admit has mind-altering characteristics?" asked state Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, a Democrat, as the bill passed the Vermont state Senate in February. We'll find out in a matter of weeks whether his colleagues in Vermont's House agree or disagree. And time will tell whether Vermont once again becomes a leader in how marijuana is legalized.


Let the debate about economic sanctions begin

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew attends a news conference at the 2015 International Monetary Fund/World Bank annual meetings in Lima, Peru, on Oct. 9, 2015. (Mariana Bazo/Reuters) As my Washington Post colleague David Ignatius has noted, on Wednesday morning U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew gave an unusual speech about economic sanctions at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It was unusual in that, for the first time that I can recall, a policy principal has articulated some general guidelines about the United States’ use of economic sanctions going forward. (Full disclosure: I was one of several sanctions experts who met with Lew over the past year to discuss this issue. I also used the opportunity to beg him not to remove Alexander Hamilton from the $10 bill.) Lew’s speech articulates a few clear guiding principles in the application of sanctions: 1) Multilateral support is best 2) Sanctions work in the long run only if they are lifted when deals are struck. Since the goal of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change their policy, we must be prepared to provide relief from sanctions when we succeed. If we fail to follow through, we undermine our own credibility and damage our ability to use sanctions to drive policy change. This is very important and often gets forgotten, particularly by a Congress that has yet to meet a sanctions instrument that it didn’t like. It also, by the way, scrambles the way that Washington likes to talk about credibility and resolve. Those terms are usually applied to the carrying out of promised military threats. For sanctions, however, credibility also means that if a deal is struck, the sanctions will actually be lifted. If a sanctioned country does not believe that the United States will actually lift the salient sanctions, why should the target ever make a concession? I guarantee you that the more difficult it is for the U.S government to lift sanctions, the less useful the tool will be. 3) Implementation matters just as much as imposition Powerful sanctions require investigators and analysts to track how key actors move and store their money and to build detailed cases drawing on intelligence analysis. And they rely on enforcement officers to investigate violations and levy penalties for significant wrongdoing. Implementation of targeted sanctions means a commitment to due process. Freezing assets and severing financial access is a powerful step and requires decisions


Amateur astronomers captured footage of a space rock crashing into Jupiter

Backyard telescopes captured the bright flash of an impact (not shown here). (NASA) Jupiter, the gas giant that may have obliterated most of our solar system's original set of planets, got a taste of its own medicine a couple of weeks back: Slate's Phil Plait reports that a small comet or asteroid appears to have collided with the planet March 17. Asteroid impact on Jupiter? Serendipitously, the impact was captured on film by Austrian amateur astronomer Gerrit Kernbauer, who observed the event with a 20 cm telescope. And, um, super serendipitously, it was also caught on camera by John McKeon, an amateur stargazer using a 28 cm telescope near Dublin. Jupiter Impact March 17th 2016 "I was surprised to learn I had this data," McKeon told Mashable. McKeon's video was sent to Plait after he called for more recordings of the event on Twitter. "I only realized it after a Facebook update on March 28 about an observer in Austria (Gerrit Kernbauer) seeing an impact on Jupiter," McKeon said. Plait explains in his post Given how brief the flash was, and how bright, I’m sure it wasn’t terribly big, probably in the tens-of-meters wide range. I know that sounds small, but remember, Jupiter has ferocious gravity, and velocity is critical here! The energy released by an object slamming into another depends linearly on the mass (double the mass, double the energy), but on the square of the velocity: double the velocity, quadruple the energy. The average velocity of an object impacting Jupiter will be five times greater than an object colliding with Earth, meaning that the impact energy will easily be 25 times as high — which is why even a rock smaller than a football field can make a splash visible to amateur telescopes from over 400 million miles away. In fact, similar flashes on Jupiter have been caused by rocks just 10 meters (32 feet) across. It's likely that Jupiter has impacts like these pretty frequently. Some scientists even think that the planet protects Earth from devastating collisions by flinging space debris out of the solar system with its powerful gravitational pull. But you could also argue that Jupiter's incredible gravity, which kept rocks around it from forming into new planets, is responsible for the very existence of the asteroid belt. And it's possible that the very same gravity that keeps some space rocks out of our path


Donald Trump says U.S. is bankrolling Asian allies’ defense. That’s not really true.

at $10.8 billion. The South Korean government is paying $10 billion, with the United States picking up the remaining $800 million, according to Pacific Command figures. Then there are the two Marine Corps air stations being built in Japan. The Japanese government is picking up 94 percent of the $4.8 billion tab for construction at Iwakuni and taking on all of the $12.1 billion cost for the expanded base on Okinawa. Surprisingly, the Japanese government is also funding a large chunk of the cost of moving 4,800 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Tokyo will contribute $3.1 billion, or just over one-third of the total cost, which the Pacific Command says is “unprecedented for a U.S. territory.” Running bases A 2013 Rand report for the Defense Department found that it cost $50 million to $200 million a year to run a base, depending on service and region. Having fewer, larger bases would create efficiencies and reduce costs, but it makes almost no difference whether those larger bases are in the United States or overseas. “The fixed costs per base do not appear to be systematically higher overseas, with the exception of the Air Force bases, compared with facilities in the United States,” Rand said. The report estimated that modest reductions in the Asia-Pacific region, including some of the Marine Corps forces and an Air Force base and wing, could produce some savings — about $450 million a year — while maintaining regional security. But this could unnerve Japan and South Korea. “Concerted efforts to explain to allies how security could still be provided would have to be made, with some risk of not fully assuring key U.S. allies in the region,” the Rand report said. Support for personnel Both South Korea and Japan help fund the U.S. presence in their countries. It costs the United States $10,000 to $40,000 a year more to have a GI abroad (excluding in war zones) than at home, meaning it costs $2 billion to $8 billion a year to keep 200,000 uniformed personnel abroad, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution wrote in a recent rebuttal to claims that overseas bases cost too much. “Even adding in annualized costs for new construction projects leaves the grand total well under $20 billion — real money, to be sure, but a modest fraction of America’s nearly $600 billion annual defense budget, and a bargain if having bases abroad


Foxconn’s purchase of Japanese icon Sharp reveals huge shift in global electronics

known as organic light emitting diode, or OLED, a thinner, more flexible screen that Apple is expected to use in future products. Samsung currently dominates global OLED production. More generally, the deal reflects the intense pressures faced by the global electronics industry. For years, the Japanese government, big banks and private companies have worked together to support the country’s flagship electronics companies and fend off foreign purchasers. Founded as a company that made belt buckles and mechanical pencils in 1912, Sharp captured much of the global market for flat-screen TVs in the mid-2000s. But the company invested heavily in new manufacturing facilities for flat screens and solar panels, and was badly hurt when the price of both dropped due to a vast ramp-up in production, including in China. The company received two bank bailouts in the past four years and cut about one-quarter of its Japanese workforce. Faced with mounting losses and tough competition from lower-cost manufacturers, Sharp has agreed to accept Foxconn’s bid. The deal is also emblematic of China’s rapidly changing economy. The purchase is a sign of China’s achievements – that the country has created powerful companies that are catching up to high-tech Japanese manufacturers -- but it's also a sign of the challenges that have arisen from China’s success. China’s economic boom has led to rapid development and manufacturing wages that, according to research by Boston Consulting Group, rose 187 percent between 2004 and 2014. That change has made it less profitable for companies like Foxconn to assemble low-margin goods, and increased the pressure on these companies to move up the value chain to higher-margin businesses – like Sharp's screens, which are among the most expensive components in a smartphone. Foxconn helped to make the success of the iPhone possible by creating an inexpensive electronics assembly business on a massive scale, employing hundreds of thousands of workers in vast factory complexes. The company's Longhua plant, in the southern manufacturing city of Shenzhen, housed more than 100,000 workers and became the center of a debate over conditions when workers started committing suicide by jumping to their deaths in 2010. Now Chinese wages are rising, making these vast assembly businesses less profitable. Its companies are eager to transition to more profitable businesses, like high-technology manufacturing and the sale of consumer goods. But Chinese companies still lack strong brand names that resonate with consumers and allow companies to charge


What life is like after police ransack your house and take ‘every belonging’ — then the charges are dropped

in an interview. "We asked for help. We went out of our way to make sure that everything was legit." Annette Shattuck holds her son Keaton in their living room while her husband works on repairing the damage from when their home was ravaged in 2014 on March 29, 2016 in Port Huron, Michigan. (Photo by Ali Lapetina/For the Washington Post) But the Task Force never inspected the property. Instead, acting on an anonymous tip that marijuana was being sold at the location, agents of the St. Clair County Drug Task Force conducted a number of "controlled buys," where informants with medical marijuana cards entered the dispensary and purchased marijuana under the guise of medical use. That gave them enough probable cause to execute a raid. Michigan's existing voter-approved medical marijuana law Michigan's medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 2008, "is a very confusing statute," according to Stephen Guilliat, chief assistant prosecutor for St. Clair County, where the dispensary was located. "Whoever drafted it was either crazy as a fox, or didn't know what they were doing." Of the 22 states plus D.C. with medical marijuana laws currently on the books, only Michigan, Montana and Alaska do not allow for medical marijuana to be sold from dispensaries. Patients in those states are, however, allowed to cultivate limited numbers of marijuana plants themselves, according marijuana reform group NORML. Michigan's legislature has been working on legislation that would allow regulated dispensaries, but progress has been slow. Technically, Shattuck's dispensary should not have been approved by the town planning commission, because the law does not provide for selling marijuana in dispensaries, Guilliat said. "I think the township probably thought they were doing the right thing, without knowing what the law says," he added. On July 28, 2014 — not long after the couple reached out to them to perform a compliance check — task force agents raided both the dispensary and the Shattucks' home. In addition to charging the Shattucks with a variety of marijuana-related drug crimes, they took a lawnmower, a bicycle, their daughter's birthday money, their marriage certificate and numerous other belongings, according to Annette Shattuck's testimony before the Michigan House last year. Ginnifer Hency and Annette Shattuck, two mothers who are registered medical marijuana caregivers, testified on May 26 before the Michigan state House of Representatives on having their homes ravaged and possessions seized by law enforcement officials. But


Scientists nearly double sea level rise projections for 2100, because of Antarctica

severity of the sea level problem, said Ben Strauss, director of the program on sea level rise at Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists based in New Jersey. He said that while the study’s findings represent potentially grave problems for many coastal areas in the decades ahead, the century beginning in 2100 could see truly catastrophic shifts, unless societies make sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. “Under the high emissions scenario, the 22nd century would be the century of hell,” Strauss said. “There would really be an unthinkable level of sea rise. It would erase many major cities and some nations from the map … That century would become the century of exodus from the coast.” Places as far flung as South Florida, Bangladesh, Shanghai, Hampton Roads in Virginia and parts of Washington, D.C., could be engulfed by rising waters, Strauss said. Even by 2100, Miami Beach and the Florida Keys could begin to vanish. New Orleans essentially could become an island guarded by levies. Floods that pushed as far inland as the surge from Hurricane Sandy could ravage parts of the East Coast with far greater frequency. The researchers behind Wednesday’s study make clear that their model has limitations and that human behavior can alter the possible outcomes. For instance, the worst-case scenario — of seas rising nearly 4 feet due to Antarctic ice loss alone by 2100 — assumes that very high emissions continue for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. An edge of the Thwaites ice shelf: The blue, visible areas are denser ice. Over time, the weight of polar glaciers and ice sheets compresses and squeezes out gases and air. (Jim Yungel/NASA) In Paris late last year, world leaders forged an historic agreement to begin scaling back such emissions in coming years. They embraced the goal of holding global warming “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but at the same time, it has been widely noted that current country-level commitments to cut emissions fall far short of this target. But even under a more moderate emissions scenario, Wednesday’s study found that the Antarctic contribution to sea level rise still could reach about two feet by 2100, and much more by 2500. Only if countries sharply reduce emissions does the model show that it’s possible to preserve Antarctica in roughly its current state. “This research highlights the importance of doing even much better than


Where to find four new local beers that you should try this spring

We're just over a week into spring, and a new flock of beers is making its way to local taps and beer stores. Here are four relatively local beers that have debuted in recent weeks. Heavy Seas + Maine Beer Company's Red IPA is the first release in Heavy Seas' Partner Ships collaboration series. (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post) Evolution Pine'hop'le IPA DC Brau Heurich's Lager [One of the most important names in D.C. brewing is back, with help from DC Brau] Heavy Seas + Maine Beer Company Partner Ships Red IPA Pulaski True American Lager + Brewer's Art Catherine's Crush Have another beer: >> • The Beer Madness blind-tasting panel picks a winner


EatBar returns with new D.C. digs, charcuterie and a wall of 7,200 cassettes

sausage that he describes as the "Belgian version of Andouille." The 44-seat EatBar will focus on the snacks, cured meats and wines that make the original location famous. (Tim Carman/The Washington Post) "I created that for the guys at the Sovereign," Anda says about the Belgian restaurant that NRG recently opened in Georgetown. "And then I just kept it." Eventually, Anda plans to add a plate of pork skin noodles with meatballs, but the technique required to produce the piggy pasta will require more kitchen training. "I'm going to go a little slower with that," Anda says. The new EatBar will channel the spirit of the old one in many ways. Wine will continue to play an important role. NRG wine director Brent Kroll has selected 100 bottles for the menu, including sherries, lambruscos and orange wines. Thirty wines will also be available by the glass. The 18 rotating taps and 3o-plus bottle list, curated by NRG's beer director Greg Engert, will mix local brands with U.S. craft brews and international selections. There will be a full bar, too, which will focus on the bitter, amaro-based drinks that Anda likes. The cozy bar will include a section of the zinc bar from the original Arlington location. (Tim Carman/The Washington Post) The bar itself might look familiar to former EatBar dwellers. It's a section of the zinc bar that used to grace the Arlington location. The 100-disc jukebox is also back in service. Both had been mothballed until NRG could jumpstart EatBar. Jukebox selections will be printed on the back of the menu, but unlike the meal, the music will be free. "We're going to try to get people to limit themselves to maybe three selections," says Michael Babin, founder of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Yeah, good luck with that. "I know," Babin sighs. "There are a few down-tempo things on here that I hope people don't play until it's, like, nap time." Speaking of music — and Anda and Babin's affection for it — the revamped EatBar features a wall constructed out of old cassette tapes. There are about 7,200 cassettes on that wall, which was meticulously arranged to spell out "Eat" with white-colored boxes. "Nate's cassette selection got sacrificed for the project," Babin jokes. EatBar opens Thursday at 415 Eighth St. SE. Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 4 to midnight Friday and Saturday. www.eat-bar.com. EatBar Opening Menu


Part of Rhode Island Avenue NW reopens

Updated at 9:47 a.m. Rhode Island Avenue in Northwest has now reopened. Police Activity CLEARED... 17th and Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC... #NuclearSummit Original post at 8:40 a.m. The 1700 block of Rhode Island Avenue in Northwest Washington is closed as authorities investigate a suspicious package in that area. Few details were immediately available. It wasn’t clear how long Rhode Island Avenue, as well as the 1700 block of M Street NW, will be closed. Police Activity... 17th and Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC; avoid area! #NuclearSummit Traffic Advisory/Police Activity in the 1700 blk of Rhode Island Ave/Street Closure/ W/B 1700 blk fo Rhode Island Ave & 1700 blk of M St NW.


She’s a young runner in Gaza, and she refuses to give up the race

Inas Nofal 15, is the only female runner in the Gaza Strip. (Hazem Balousha/The Washington Post) MAGHAZI, Gaza Strip — Every morning as the sun rises and light begins to flood this coastal enclave, Inas Nofal is up, dressed and ready to go out for her daily run. While this might not seem unusual for someone training for a competition, the sight of Nofal, 15, running up and down the streets of the refugee camp where she lives in loose fitting, modest looking running gear and a hijab, is singular. She is Gaza’s only competitive female runner. Since the militant Islamist movement Hamas took over the strip in 2007 and barred mixed groups of men and women in many public activities, female athletes have faced wide-ranging restrictions. Girls rarely participate in sports, and if they do it is behind closed doors. A marathon scheduled to take place here in 2013 was cancelled by the United Nations because Hamas would not allow women to participate. But Nofal's challenges are not just as a woman. The young runner, who is one of four sisters, was scheduled to participate this coming Friday in a 10-kilometer race, part of the fourth annual Palestine Marathon, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. On Thursday, however, she was notified that Israel's civil administration had denied her a permit to leave Gaza, along with more than 100 other runners. The Israeli military authority responsible for implementing government policy in the West Bank and Gaza said on Facebook that the application permits for the runner had arrived late. It accused those applying for the permits of deliberately delaying the process for political reasons. The human rights organization Gisha, which monitors movement for Palestinians, said in a statement that even if the requests had came in later than expected, Israel could have made some exceptions in the name of good sportsmanship. Nofal, who started running nearly a year ago, is used to challenges. When she first started working out, it was in a closed stadium but after a few moths she was bored and decided to she wanted run in the streets. At first she faced verbal abuse from people shocked to see a young woman exercising in public. But support from her family, particularly her father — who rides alongside her in his car — spurred her on. Now the taunts have turned to support and admiration. Gazans


How much would it hurt to shut down a Metro line?

it joins the Orange and Silver lines, and then from Stadium-Armory to Largo, it shares track with the Silver Line. If Metro were to close a segment of track, that would in many cases affect several lines. Some riders commented that if Metro went ahead with a significant shutdown, they at least wanted more notice than they got for the one-day closing for the power cable check. Organizing the shutdown and reconstruction of any line or track segment would be an enormous undertaking and would likely involve many months of planning before the closing began. Notification to riders about such a disruption would be the least of their worries. Like Evans, Wiedefeld clearly thinks that what Metro has been doing to rebuild hasn’t been working out as planned and wants to make changes that would allow work crews more time and space. But he has options short of closing an entire line or even a segment of a line. He could, for example, do what some transit staffers advocated years ago and cutback the late-night service on weekends. The Boston subway, commonly called the T, made a similar move, eliminating a pilot program that had extended service hours on weekends. He could close a line segment after the evening rush, or make weekend shutdowns of line segments more frequent. For every option that Wiedefeld considers, he will have to weigh the transportation network’s ability to ameliorate the impact on traveling and on the local economy. The D.C. region showed it could handle a one-day shutdown of the entire rail system. Could it handle a months-long closing that included the National Airport station? If a shutdown did include peak periods, what alternative service could be provided? There’s not a lot of excess capacity in the region’s bus systems. And any bus bridge around closed stations in the region’s core would delay commuters well beyond what they’ve grown used to experiencing with Metrorail. Wiedefeld, like the riders, also must consider whether there would be a big benefit from a big shutdown. Wiedefeld generally got good marks from riders and from local leaders for the one-day shutdown, which was based on a clear threat to rider safety and resulted in specific fixes to deal with that threat. More typical Metro projects during the rebuilding have involved replacement of rails, rail ties and rail fasteners. While such work is important in rebuilding the system,


12 things to do in the D.C. area on the weekend of April 1-3

Here are this weekend's best bets in nightlife, festivals, theater, comedy and much more around the Washington area. (And keep your guard up on Friday, as it's April Fool's Day.) - Capital Weather Gang weekend forecast: Early showers and cool patches - Spring beers: Where to find four new local brews - The April Hotlist: 12 things to see, eat, drink and do this month The Light City event in Baltimore runs through Sunday, featuring light installations, music and more. (Eric DiProspero/Heights + Horizons) Through Sunday: [Union Market’s new waffle bar sells a spot-on sweet and savory all-day breakfast] Friday-Sunday: [Is this chef Kwame Onwuachi's Cheesesteak of the Gods?] Friday-Sunday: [Music on Friday: Anoushka Shankar at Lisner Auditorium] Friday: Friday: [Look what's back this week: Nathan Anda's EatBar, opening on Barracks Row] Friday-Saturday: Kites will soar at the Mall for the Blossom Kite Festival. (The Washington Post) Saturday: [National Cherry Blossom Festival: Parties, festivals and events] Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: [The Birchmere at 50: "A real-deal music hall"] Sunday: Sunday:


There’s a reason some birds don’t seem to fly south for winter anymore, scientists say

The American robin, a familiar species across much of the continental United States, has declined in some southern states, such as Mississippi and Louisiana, but increased in north-central states, such as the Dakotas. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) The birds and the bees are telling humans about much more than sex, a new study released Thursday says. They are a harbinger of climate change, with species swapping habitats like a game of musical chairs as regions in Europe and the United States warm. Populations of American robins that winter in southern states are in decline there, but they are on the upswing in northern states that were once too cold. And European wrens are beating a trail from southern parts of Europe, also for chilly northern areas that in the past were uncomfortable, the study says. The study on the warming climate’s effect on common birds “is the first real demonstration that climate is having a similar, large-scale influence” on the animals around the world. It was undertaken by an international team of researchers led by the Durham University in England, with help from the U.S. Geological Survey, and published Thursday in the journal Science. “These findings represent a new climate impact indicator for biodiversity,” said Stephen Willis, the study’s lead author and a researcher at the university’s School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. “The same approach could also be applied to species such as bees, butterflies and dragonflies, which are well monitored and highly susceptible to changes in climate.” Thursday’s study supports previous research commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that said warming temperatures are altering the habitat ranges of birds in every state, so much so that the mascot of Baltimore’s baseball team — the oriole — might no longer inhabit the Baltimore-Washington region 30 years from now. The same is true for eagles. As the area warms and dries, they would have to find other habitats, possibly fight other species for a place there, and quickly adapt or possibly perish, a study published two years ago by the National Audubon Society says. Of 588 species studied, about 125 were expected to be pushed from half their range and likely decline. Another 188 species would be affected if the current pace of greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, the Audubon study said. More than 90 percent of the world’s climate scientists agree that human emissions have caused


PM Update: A few showers possible this evening, warm tomorrow with showers likely; D.C’s growing urban heat island

Two-hour radar loop of rain and storm movement through the area. Refresh page to update. Most spots reached the 70s today, and after a super mild night tonight, 80 is within reach tomorrow as an energetic cold front approaches. A few showers are possible tonight with a better chance of showers and storms tomorrow. Through Tonight: Tomorrow (Friday): See David Streit’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your email in-box? Subscribe here. Severe risk tomorrow?: D.C..’s growing urban heat island: Impervious surface area percentage in 1984 (left) vs. 2010 (right). (NASA) In the maps of impervious surface area above, you can especially see the increased development from 1984 (left) to 2010 (right) in areas such as Tysons Corner and College Park, and the widening of the Capital Beltway is apparent as well. (h/t CityLab) Pollen update: Twilight in D.C., taken yesterday. (Harrison Jones via Flickr)


Bus detours, street closures for final day of Nuclear Security Summit

Nuclear Security Summit to impact transit, traffic and parking later this week. World leaders are in town for the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, which ends today. But it means Friday will be another day of difficult travel in and around downtown D.C. For transit users, it means two things: The Mount Vernon Square Metro station will be closed for today and some Metrobus routes will be detoured — particularly near the Washington Convention Center, where the summit is taking place. Bus riders are likely to see the greatest impact. In addition to detours, buses will be delayed in traffic jams that could extend beyond the security perimeters. Riders should be prepared to wait longer at the bus stop Things should return to normal around noon Saturday. Here’s what you need to know if you take public transportation in the downtown area: Metro Green and Yellow line trains will skip Mount Vernon Square through Friday evening. The station falls within the secure perimeter for the summit. All other Metro stations are expected to be open during the event. If you use Mount Vernon Square, you can board or exit at Gallery Place or Shaw-Howard stations instead. Metrobus Bus service changes continue through noon Saturday. The bus stops on 7th and 9th streets NW, between N and K streets NW will not be accessible to riders because those streets will remain closed during the summit. Buses will be detoured around the Washington Convention Center. Other bus stops within or in close proximity to the security perimeters also will be affected. The map above shows road closures that will contribute to disruptions in bus service. Some of the city’s most popular bus lines will have delays and detours in portions of their travels, including the Georgia Avenue/7th Street, 16th Street NW, and Benning Road buses. The affected routes are: 42, 63, 64, 70, 74, 79, 80, D4, D6, G8, P17, P19, S2, S4, X2. Other bus lines could also experience greater delays than usual due to impacts from rolling closures and motorcades transporting world leaders to and from the meeting. In general, it will be more difficult to get around. See our earlier post about impacts on parking, traffic and transit. Metro urges customers to transfer to Metrorail when possible and add extra travel time. The agency will provide free bus-to-rail transfers on those lines that are directly affected by the


Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the murderous Islamic State leader, was once just a ‘normal family man’, claims ex-wife

said. [Expressen used a different spelling, Saga, of her first name.] They described her as strong-willed and independent. Military officials said she transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year to Sunni militants operating along Lebanon’s border with Syria. “She’s not your stereotypical woman” in the world of militant Islam, said Fawaz A. Gerges, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the London School of Economics. He described her profile as that of an “honorary jihadi man” in the eyes of such groups. The occasion for that article was her release in Nov. 2015 after more than a year in custody in Lebanon as part of a prisoner swap involving Lebanese security forces held captive by militants in Syria. Free now, reports Hamadé, she would like to relocate in the West. “She says that she does not want to remain in the Arab world,” Hamadé wrote. “When I ask her why the West would want to welcome al-Baghdadi’s ex-wife while he is massacring civilians in terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, she quotes a verse from the Qur’an: ‘No bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden.'” She explained to Hamadé how she came to wed Baghdadi, a.k.a. Hisham Mohammad. “Saga felt lonely and weak after losing her first husband,” he wrote. “Her mother, father and siblings had all moved to Syria. Both of his sisters’ husbands were gone — one was killed by American troops and the other just went missing. She says that she needed help and support.” So she married him. Lebanese officials have told The Post that the marriage was pushed by Dulaimi’s father, Hamid al-Dulaimi. “Marriages in Iraq’s tribal area can be politically motivated affairs,” wrote The Post’s Naylor and Haidamous “aimed at cementing ties between families, and Hamid al-Dulaimi may have sought an alliance with Baghdadi at a time when the younger man and other militants were incensed by the U.S. occupation and were gravitating to al-Qaeda in Iraq,” the precursor to the Islamic State, also known as ISIL. She told Expressen that she “fled” from him, because she wasn’t happy and his first wife was “very upset.” Nor, she said, was she in love with him. “I didn’t love him.” Baghdadi, Hamadé reported, got in touch with her after their daughter was born and tried to get her back. She said she refused. Thinking everything was calm in Syria at the time


The Pentagon wants to stay out of elections. Donald Trump keeps making that hard.

a Defense Department directive prohibits them from engaging in “partisan political activity.” That directive does not forbid active-duty members of the military from speaking their mind as individuals on political issues, but senior military officers still usually steer clear of making statements that could be construed as political. As the presidential election season has continued, however, senior defense officials have been asked repeatedly to weigh in and provide a reality check. Most commonly, that has been in response to statements made by Trump, although after Ted Cruz claimed that he would “carpet-bomb” the Islamic State the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, said in February “indiscriminate bombing” is “inconsistent with our values.” The unofficial ground rules appear to be that military officials will discuss issues raised by Trump and other candidates, but most commonly they, lawmakers and journalists all avoid naming the candidates when doing so. That has especially occurred since February, when Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said during a House Appropriations Committee hearing that he did not want his department involved in political debates. He did so after Rep. Betty McCollum (D.-Minn) asked him and Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to comment on Trump’s claims that he would order service members to torture Islamic State militants and target their families. “I feel very strongly that our department needs to stand apart from the electoral season so I respectfully decline to answer any questions that arise from the political debate going on,” Carter said. “I want General Dunford, especially even more so than me, to not get involved in political debates.” Dunford eventually responded to McCollum’s question, saying he “would not get into what Secretary Carter highlighted,” but the U.S. military would continue to uphold with American values. On Thursday, Chalmers was asked by CNN’s Barbara Starr to comment both on the potential use of nuclear weapons against the Islamic State and whether he had ever heard troops complain that they were afraid to fight because of the Geneva Conventions. Starr did not use Trump’s name, but the questions came after Trump told a crowd in Wisconsin on Wednesday that the rules, adopted by the United States and many other nations after World War II, made troops hesitant. “The problem is we have the Geneva Conventions, all sorts of rules and regulations, so the soldiers are afraid to


Gaze into the heart of the Milky Way in the Hubble’s latest image

A 50-light-year swath of the Milky Way's dense inner star cluster. (NASA, ESA, and Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA, Acknowledgment: T. Do, A.Ghez (UCLA), V. Bajaj (STScI)) It's Friday. It's April Fools' Day. None of us want to be here. But space is still beautiful, so we've got that going for us. The above image shows the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster — the core of our galaxy, and its most dense stellar neighborhood. This densely packed cluster, 27,000 light-years away, surrounds our galaxy's supermassive black hole, which is 4 million times the mass of the sun. It took some camera trickery to get the shot But you'll note that clouds of dust and gas appear in the picture regardless of this trick. These are the patches too dense even for infrared to cut through. Astronomers also believe that another 10 million stars in the cluster are too dim to show up in the picture. Scientists hope that further study will reveal whether the incredible star density is due to stars being pulled into our galaxy's core or due to intense star production in the region. Read More: Astronomers make a remarkable discovery in the center of the Milky Way This is what it looks like when a black hole tears a star apart Scientists have a wild idea for hiding us from evil aliens The Hubble spotted this smiley face in space The new biggest thing in the universe, and why it’s a headache for scientists A ‘dead’ galaxy full of dark matter is lurking close to home


The controversial reason tens of thousands of people just lost their food stamps

from week to week. Among those who said they usually worked between 20 and 24 hours weekly, a quarter of respondents said they had worked as many as 30 and another quarter said they had worked as few as 10. Roughly 4 in 10 workers who are paid hourly are informed of their schedules less than a week in advance. Finding those jobs often takes several months. The average amount of time unemployed Americans spend looking for work has declined from its apex in 2011 but is still more than six months, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics - more than twice as long as the time allowed in the work requirement. "Making people hungrier isn't going to make them find work faster," said Rebecca Vallas, managing director of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. "One of the most helpful things for someone looking for work is helping them not worry about putting food on the table." In general, able-bodied adults rely on food stamps only for short periods during spells of unemployment. Three-quarters work in the year before or the year after they receive food stamps, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The number of food-stamp recipients without children in the household or without a disability increased from 1.7 million in 2007 to 4.9 million in 2013 as the economy soured and the Obama administration waived the rule throughout most of the country. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, the number decreased modestly to 4.7 million - partly an indicator of an improving labor market and partly a result of the reinstatement of the work mandate in a few states. "One of the solutions the government has put out there is telling people to go to their local food bank, but we don't have the resources to step in in place of the government," said Margarette Purvis, president of the Food Bank for New York City. In New York state, where the cuts are expected to be among the largest, as many as 45,000 people were expected to become ineligible to receive food stamps on Friday, according to the food-bank group. In Manhattan alone, as many as 3,000 low-income adults were expected to find themselves without a food safety net as the month began. Those 45,000


The hunt for extraterrestrials turns to the ‘dim bulbs of the universe’

The Allen Telescope Array in Northern California. (Seth Shostak/SETI Institute) To paraphrase the old line about beetles, God sure must love red dwarf stars, because she made so many of them. About three out of four stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs -- "the dim bulbs of the universe," in the words of Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. But although these small, relatively gloomy stars are all over the place, they've historically been discounted as targets for SETI -- the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Most SETI efforts have looked at larger stars like our own Sun. The reason has to do with orbital dynamics, geometry and heat. Red dwarfs, with their relatively low mass, have narrow habitable zones as traditionally defined. That's the Goldilocks orbit in which a planet won't be too hot or too cold. The precise dimensions of HZs are debatable, but more massive stars have bigger ones. In our own solar system, Venus is too close to the Sun and Mars too far away, but Earth is just right. A typical red dwarf has a narrow HZ -- and it's so close to the star that an orbiting planet would become tidally locked, meaning one side of the planet always faces the star and the other always is dark. The word on the street is that such a planet couldn't support life because the daylight side would be roasted and the dark side totally frozen. The Allen Telescope Array features 42 antennas that will observe red dwarf stars at "magic" radio frequencies. (Seth Shostak/SETI Institute) But Shostak and his SETI colleagues have a sunnier view (dare one say!) of red dwarfs. Yes, the tidal lockage is a bummer, but oceans and atmospheres can do a lot of the heavy lifting in transporting heat from the hot side to the cold side and allowing the planet to retain at least some portion of habitability. This week, the SETI Institute put out a press release saying it would use an array of telescopes in northern California to look at 20,000 red dwarf stars. "Red dwarf stars are not as bad as they first seemed," Shostak told The Post. Indeed they have obvious search advantages: 1. They're close, on average. That's because there's so many of them. It's a numbers game. And close does count in SETI, because a (very hypothetical) alien


This scientist nearly went to jail for making up data

(Bigstock) Scientific integrity took another hit Thursday when an Australian researcher received a two-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to 17 fraud-related charges. The main counts against neuroscientist Bruce Murdoch were for an article heralding a breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. And the judge's conclusions were damning. There was no evidence, she declared, that Murdoch had even conducted the clinical trial on which his supposed findings were based. Plus, Murdoch forged consent forms for study participants, one of whom was dead at the time the alleged took place. Plus, Murdoch fraudulently accepted public and private research money for the bogus study, published in 2011 in the highly reputable European Journal of Neurology. "Your research was such as to give false hope to Parkinson's researchers and Parkinson's sufferers," said Magistrate Tina Privitera, who heard the case in Brisbane. Still to go to trial is Murdoch's co-author, Caroline Barwood, who has also been charged with fraud. Criminal or passionate scientist? User Poll Results: Voting is closed on this poll Do you think scientists should go to jail for publishing fraudulent research? Yes No Pardon the interruption! We need to verify that you are an actual person. Yes No View Results This is a non-scientific user poll. Results are not statistically valid and cannot be assumed to reflect the views of Washington Post users as a group or the general population. Share this poll: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Since 2000, the number of U.S. academic fraud cases in science has risen dramatically. Five years ago, the journal Nature tallied the number of retractions in the previous decade and revealed they had shot up 10-fold. About half of the retractions were based on researcher misconduct, not just errors, it noted. The U.S. Office of Research Integrity, which investigates alleged misconduct involving National Institutes of Health funding, has been far busier of late. Between 2009 and 2011, the office identified three three cases with cause for action. Between 2012 and 2015, that number jumped to 36. While criminal cases against scientists are rare, they are increasing. Jail time is even rarer, but not unheard of. Last July, Dong-Pyou Han, a former biomedical scientist at Iowa State University, pleaded guilty to two felony charges of making false statements to obtain NIH research grants and was sentenced to more than four years in prison. Han admitted to falsifying the results of several vaccine


Breaking news in climate hoax conspiracy land

(Tom Toles)


The latest picture of Rosetta’s comet is truly breathtaking

An enhanced image taken by Rosetta. (European Space Agency/Rosetta/NavCam) We started Friday with beautiful space pictures, and so shall we end it. Above, you can see comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a whole new (gorgeous) light. The comet is famous for being the landing site of the intrepid Philae lander, which died before its time. But the Rosetta orbiter that dropped little Philae to the surface is still going strong. Rosetta took the photo from 200 miles away. The orbiter was on the outward leg of a 600 mile-or-so journey away from the comet and back again. Comets are mostly made of ice, and they give off varying amounts of gas and dust depending on how warm they are. Rosetta was taking a quick jaunt away from its orbit to see what those gases might look like at the edge of their reach. Scientists are interested in studying comets like 67P The image looks so striking because the sun, the comet and the orbiter were almost perfectly aligned. The resulting backlit effect shows off that aforementioned environment of gas and dust. And boy, is it gorgeous. The first spacecraft to touch down on a comet analyzed it and sent images back home. Read More: Are Saturn’s rings (and moons) younger than the dinosaurs? Gaze into the heart of the Milky Way in the Hubble’s latest image Scientists suggest a new, earth-shaking twist on the demise of the dinosaurs Scientists have a wild idea for hiding us from evil aliens Amateur astronomers captured footage of a space rock crashing into Jupiter The hunt for extraterrestrials turns to the ‘dim bulbs of the universe’


The soft bigotry of low expectations for Trump

Supreme Court judges do not “ sign bills,” nor do they investigate alleged mishandling of classified information; Withdrawing from the Geneva Conventions (even if possible) would put our military in grave danger and irreparably damage America’s reputation around the world; Targeting women and children is a war crime; military officials would be duty-bound to refuse orders to do so; There is no conceivable way to force Mexico to build a wall on the border; Our allies do contribute to our mutual defense needs; A trade imbalance does not mean we are “losing.” (China holds little pieces of paper, and we have loads of usable products); Iran cannot buy our planes We cannot “seize the oil fields” of the Islamic State without deploying tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of troops; Bashar al-Assad and Russia have not been seeking to destroy the Islamic State; NATO in fact does fight Islamist terrorism (in the Afghanistan conflict, even) and is not obsolete (ask the Baltic states); and; He is losing in all recent polling to Hillary Clinton. I have surely forgotten some items. Any single gaffe or ignorance about even a few of these items would sink most any presidential candidate. So why has Trump been allowed to escape opprobrium? Trump apologists and even some in the mainstream media excuse this abject ignorance because he is not “a professional politician.” Let’s count the ways in which that is wrong. First, you don’t have to be a professional politician to know these things; millions of informed citizens do. Second, what you don’t know you can learn, if you bother to study — just by reading a good newspaper each day. Third, he is running for president, for goodness’ sake. If he is not up to speed, how is he to do this job? Fourth, his utter lack of intellectual curiosity in and of itself suggests laziness (we don’t think he is dumb) and disqualifies him from holding a job that requires constant learning and analysis. Fifth, because he does not know what he does not know, he has not been able to bring on informed, experienced advisers to help him understand basic policy issues. Americans looking for a tough guy to “shake up” Washington should find someone who knows things. It is hard to shake up entrenched institutions and bring about transformational change when you have no clue about the Constitution, economics or foreign policy.


Was an Asian government reading Hillary Clinton’s emails in February 2009?

to China, Indonesia, Japan, and S. Korea. Thanks to FOIA lawsuits, the State Department has released a few documents from this early period. They show that Clinton began using the clintonemail.com server as early as January 28, 2009, just after her inauguration. Other messages from Cheryl Mills used the server in early February. Even as she kept her homebrew server, Clinton and her staff were fighting to hang on to their Blackberries, just like President Obama. That provoked resistance from the State Department’s top security official, Assistant Secretary Eric Boswell. On March 2, he sent the Secretary a memo — “Use of Blackberries on Mahogany Row” — declaring that “the vulnerabilities and risks associated with the use of Blackberries in Mahogany Row [the State Department’s seventh floor executive offices] considerably outweigh their convenience.” On March 11, at a staff meeting, Clinton seemed to throw in the towel on her Blackberry, telling Boswell that she had read the memo and “gets it.” We know this from correspondence among Boswell’s staff. But what’s fascinating and troubling is something else in the correspondence. One staff message says that during Clinton’s conversation with Boswell, “her attention was drawn to a sentence that indicates we [the diplomatic security office] have intelligence concerning this vulnerability during her recent trip to Asia.” I am struck by the mix of delicacy and insistence in that phrasing. It seems likely that Clinton’s attention was drawn to that sentence because the intelligence was about Secretary Clinton’s own communications security, something a discreet diplomat would not want to say directly in written communications. Clinton certainly acted like the intelligence concerned her. She asked Boswell to get her “the information.” On March 11, Boswell is told by his staff that the report is already on the classified system, and he is reminded that he had already been briefed on it. Presumably he conveyed it to Clinton soon after March 11. Eighteen days later, Clinton’s server acquires a digital certificate supporting TLS encryption, closing the biggest security hole in her server. I suppose this could all be coincidence, but the most likely scenario is that the Secretary’s Asia trip produced an intelligence report that was directly relevant to the security of Clinton’s communications. And that the report was sufficiently dramatic that it spurred Clinton to make immediate security changes on her homebrew server. Did our agencies see Clinton’s unencrypted messages transiting foreign networks?


Aaron Silverman is one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs

Aaron Silverman can add another honor to his collection. (Dixie D. Vereen for The Washington Post) Food & Wine today announced its crop of Best New Chefs for 2016, and D.C. can claim one of them. Aaron Silverman. Yes, even though Silverman opened Rose's Luxury in late 2013 -- and in 2014 won Best New Restaurant from Bon Appetit -- he's still considered a newbie under the Food & Wine criteria. The rule is that eligible chefs must have been "in charge of a kitchen for five years or fewer." (His prix-fixe Pineapple and Pearl debuts Thursday.) "I can't believe it. It's amazing," Silverman said by e-mail. "I've always been so inspired and awed by the chefs that get that honor, I can't believe I'm actually one of them." Silverman is one of 11 honorees this year, culled from nominations submitted by "restaurant critics, food writers and other experts around the country." Food & Wine editors travel to taste the chefs' food as well. Previous honorees include some of the biggest names in the food world: Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, April Bloomfield, Tom Colicchio, David Chang and others. You can read about the rest of the winners on the Food & Wine site here. They'll also be highlighted in the July issue of Food & Wine, as well as at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo., in June. Related items: Rose's Luxury chef Aaron Silverman masters the art of serious play Rose's Luxury review: Yes, you'll have to stand in line. Yes, it's worth it. Pineapple and Pearls will open April 7 with dinner priced at $250 per person


It turns out this planet has three suns in its sky

close to us and bright, making it a better candidate for study than any of the stars in previously discovered triple systems. KELT-4Ab orbits it in just three days. To someone standing on the edge of the planet (though it would be impossible to stand on, as it's mostly gas), researchers estimate that the star would appear 40 times larger than our own sun. The other two stars would appear much dimmer — about as bright as our planet's moon and not much larger than many of the stars we see in our own sky. KELT-4B and -4C, the pair of stars previously mistaken for a singleton, are caught in an orbit around KELT-4A, making them part of the system as well. But they're so distant from the larger star — eight times farther than Pluto is from our own sun — that it takes them 4,000 years to make the trip around KELT-4A; KELT-4B and -4C orbit each other every 30 years. One thing that makes the system particularly interesting is the fact that its planet is what scientists call a hot Jupiter. These are Jupiter-like gas giants that sit close to their suns. Scientists believe, based on models of planetary evolution, that gas giants should form farther out — so the prevailing theory is that hot Jupiters are planets that have somehow been roped into a closer orbit than the one they were born in. In this case, there's a tantalizingly obvious suspect for this orbital upheaval — or rather a pair of suspects. "The binary system KELT-4BC may be what ultimately drove the planet KELT-4Ab so close to its star," lead author Jason Eastman, a research associate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Space.com. Eastman and his colleagues plan on using the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite to study the orbital movements of these stars. They may be able to puzzle out how their gravity pushed KELT-4Ab into such a hot spot. A look at the best photos of space. Read More: This mysterious ‘hot Jupiter’ is on a wild orbital ride Uranus might be full of surprises This suspected supernova is 570 billion times as bright as our sun This is what it looks like when a black hole tears a star apart The new biggest thing in the universe and why it’s a headache for scientists This broken space telescope keeps spotting new planets


Impossible for Paul Ryan to run for president? Think again.

speaker in an interview in which he sounded, well, presidential. He described the next steps on Iran as “enforcing, monitoring and watching all the other sanctions — making sure there are no other sanctions that are being loosened.” He continued, “And that’s what brings me to concern about the clearing houses and the dollarization — giving (Iran) access to cash, to dollars, and to the US financial system. That’s not part of this deal, and it shouldn’t be. That falls into the category of concerns about backsliding or even giving more concessions and sanctions relief.” Speaking about the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, he declared it to be a “nasty strain of anti-Semitism.” On the subject of the U.S.-Israel alliance he said: We have international terrorism that is threatening the civilized world. It’s threatening us. They’re coming at Israel but they’re ultimately coming for us. So we are partners in this war on terror, radical Islamic terrorism. Israel is an indispensable ally in that. Israel is on the front line in so many ways with respects to it. So (the alliance is crucial) just for security cooperation. (Additionally,) we share the same values. You are an oasis of democracy in a tough neighborhood. And it’s very important to us to keep these alliances. So he is entirely fluent on foreign policy and just about every other policy issue. He is in many ways the face of the non-Trump GOP (60 to 70 percent), a so-called reform conservative who believes in implementing big ideas and one of the few Republicans widely respected by nearly the entire spectrum of conservatives. (Only nine Republicans voted against him.) He is entirely plausible as a presidential contender, but is it possible a non-candidate who has won zero primaries could get picked? If Donald Trump does not get the nomination on the first ballot, it is widely expected he will not win. At that point, however, delegates could choose to do just about anything. So long as Kasich remains immovable, there is no guarantee that Cruz would get the nomination. (It is highly likely, but not certain.) Yes, one can envision on, say, the fifth ballot a few dozen votes for Ryan — then a couple hundred the next ballot and so on. Okay, this is not the most likely scenario, to put it mildly. But let’s consider an alternative: Trump gets the nomination. Is