Fareed Zakaria: Southeast Asia ponders what is going on in China

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Visiting Malaysia this week, I was expecting a volley of complaints. The country was one stop on President Obama’s planned trip to Asia this month that was canceled because of Washington’s manufactured budget crisis. “We were disappointed, but we understood the situation,” Prime Minister Najib Razak told me. Others were less diplomatic, pointing to the cancellation as evidence of America’s dysfunctional political system and general decline. But many in Malaysia — and across Southeast Asia — told me that they were puzzling mostly about what’s happening not in Washington but rather in Beijing. This is partly the product of power. As China has grown in importance, its neighbors have become increasingly attentive to the Middle Kingdom. In the past, the only politics they followed outside their country was in Washington. Today they feel they must also understand Beijing. And there’s much to understand. China is in the midst of great political change. Last month, the country watched on national television as President Xi Jinping sat in on a meeting in Heibei at which senior Communist Party officials publicly engaged in “criticism and self-criticism.” It is part of the party’s “mass-line” campaign, designed to address concerns that the party is out of touch, elitist and corrupt. A collection of Tom Toles cartoons about international news. The campaign also includes a strong anti-corruption drive, most visibly involving the humiliation of Bo Xilai, the former party boss of Chongqing. Many in China have worried that anti-corruption is a mechanism to eliminate political opponents. “There is so much corruption in China that whom you choose to prosecute is really a political decision,” a Beijing businessman said to me, asking to remain anonymous. More surprisingly to many, the new leadership has begun a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Chinese media and human rights groups say that hundreds of journalists, bloggers and intellectuals have been detained since August, charged with the crime of “spreading rumors.” Recently this group has included prominent businessmen, including Wang Gongquan , one of China’s best-known billionaires, who has advocated political reform and was formally arrested on Sunday. Last month, Chinese television aired a tape of Charles Xue, a businessmen and blogger, who confessed to his crimes and welcomed China’s new restrictions on Internet freedom. This month, Peking University fired Chinese economist Xia Yeliang , who had helped draft “Charter 08,” a pro-democracy petition that helped to win its principal


Companies rush to build ‘biofactories’ for medicines, flavorings and fuels

modified — not what people actually consume. “From my point of view it’s fundamentally as natural as beer or bread,” said Evolva chief executive Neil Goldsmith, who is a co-founder of the company. “Neither brewer’s or baker’s yeast is identical to yeast in the wild. I’m comfortable that if beer is natural, then this is natural.” That justification has caused an uproar among some consumer protection and environmental groups. They say that representing Evolva’s laboratory-grown flavoring as something similar to vanilla extract from an orchid plant is deceptive, and they have mounted a global campaign urging food companies to boycott the “vanilla grown in a petri dish.” “Any ice-cream company that calls this all-natural vanilla would be committing fraud,” argues Jaydee Hanson, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit public interest group based in Washington. Jim Thomas, a researcher for the ETC Group, said there is a larger issue that applies to all organisms produced by synthetic biology techniques: What if they are accidentally released and evolve to have harmful characteristics? “There is no regulatory structure or even protocols for assessing the safety of synthetic organisms in the environment,” Thomas said. Then there’s the potential economic impact. What about the hundreds of thousands of small farmers who produce these crops now? Artemisinin is farmed by an estimated 100,000 people in Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam and China and the vanilla plant by 200,000 in Madagascar, Mexico and beyond. Evolva officials say they believe there will still be a strong market for artisan ingredients like vanilla from real beans and that history has shown that these products typically attract an even higher premium when new products hit the market. Other biotech executives say they are sympathetic, but that it is the price of progress. Amyris’s Newman says he is confused by environmental groups’ criticism and points to the final chapter of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” — the seminal book that is credited with launching the environmental movement. In it, Carson mentions ways that science can solve the environmental hazards we have endured through years of use of fossil fuels and petrochemicals. “The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘Is the status quo enough?’ ” Newman said. “We live in a world where things can be improved upon.” More news about the intersection of biology and engineering: Glowing plant project on Kickstarter sparks regulatory debate Editorial: Biology is


Marine Corps Marathon: Solitary runner joined by memory of friend and neighbor

considering he started jogging only after college at Virginia Tech to stay in shape. Gradually, the sport became his release after the family settled into the Washington area in 1992. He took on 10-kilometer races. He completed half-marathons. Eventually, he ran in an ultra-marathon in Kansas at the age of 40. And even though he had developed an independent identity as a runner, he continued to contribute advice and route ideas with a small circle of people at work, some of whom will be running Sunday. “He’s very active,” said PBS co-worker Marcia Apperson, who will also run in Sunday’s race. “It’s been months that we’ve been training, and he’s kind of taken a leadership role. Not that we run together, but he sends us e-mails every so often with tips or advice. . . . He’s been a big motivator during this whole process.” 30,000 runners will make their way to the start line for this weekend's Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. Race Director Rick Nealis joins Nia-Malika Henderson to talk about keeping the event safe and the increasing popularity of the long distance run. Plus, a local runner shares her story of running over 1,700 miles all over the world. But many of the best runs for French have come when nobody is watching; those runs when he is able find an emotional release during his lunch hour at PBS or when he is in a bad mood at home. Physically he’s alone. But French said he has run in races for the memory of his best childhood friend, who died of colon cancer six years ago. He has run for his brother, who is fighting lung cancer, and his father, who has endured both prostate and skin cancer. On Sunday, he will set out for Bodrog. French will take about four hours to complete the race, which will be painful and emotional in equal measure. It will be the run he and his neighbor never got to go on. “When you’re running, you kind of leave anything else behind,” French said. “Some people say you can’t run from your problems, but I think sometimes running helps you leave them behind for a little while, at least.” More Marine Corps Marathon coverage Tips for getting around during Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon Marine Corps Marathon course map Spectator info Expect extra security How many dollars in a marathon?


Editor’s note: Washington is a center of innovation. If only it wasn’t a secret

When it comes to innovation, the Washington area doesn’t get its proper due. We actually invent quite a lot around here, but much of it is technology that no one feels particularly free to talk about, unless they happen to be living in a Russian airport somewhere. What we make, our special sauce, is cyber stuff. Over the years, this region has produced a steady stream of companies that toil in relative obscurity creating real breakthroughs. How do I know? The paydays. I’ve known people who became multimillionaires seemingly overnight for developing virus protection software and “information assurance” systems, whatever that means. Not all are invisible. When Cisco plunked down $2.7 billion for a Columbia concern called Sourcefire, I at least knew of the company. I couldn’t tell you how its software worked, but I certainly was familiar with its calendars. Each month was illustrated with a different cartoon of a colorful pig, sporting a huge snout, part of a branding campaign for Sourcefire’s Snort detection software. Most tech companies are not so brand conscious; they shy away from talking about what they actually do and send out releases about their participation in a charity golf tournament. Keeping a low profile is difficult to build an economic development slogan around. But we should keep trying. Ever since Fort Meade, home to the National Security Agency, became the headquarters of the newly formed U.S. Cyber Command in 2010, and then was joined a year later by the Defense Information Systems Agency, which handles the Pentagon’s IT and communications needs, we’ve seen a boom in cyber. Staff writer Marjorie Censer recently reported that in 2005, the base had just over 33,500 employees. Today, it has about 57,000, more than double the number of workers at the Pentagon. And that’s just on the base; there are tens of thousands more in the cyber centers and offices that have popped up all around. The industry’s ubiquitousness around here is one reason we decided to again devote a single issue to the subject. Our regular readers will probably find the format familiar; we retained our traditional news sections and features in an attempt to show how all sectors are touched by this technology. If you are a newcomer to our weekly newspaper, consider subscribing by calling 202-334-6100 or go to washingtonpost.com/capitalbusiness/subscribe. Please let us know what you think of the coverage, and if you have


Can the military learn from its mistakes?

Thomas E. Ricks, a former Post reporter, is the author of five books about the U.S. military, most recently “The Generals: American Military Command From World War II to Today.” After the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army soberly examined where it had fallen short. That critical appraisal laid the groundwork for the military’s extraordinary rebuilding in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, after more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, no such intensive reviews are underway, at least to my knowledge — and I have been covering the U.S. military for 22 years. The problem is not that our nation is no longer capable of such introspection. There has been much soul-searching in the United States about the financial crisis of 2008 and how to prevent a recurrence. Congress conducted studies and introduced broad legislation to reform financial regulations. But no parallel work has been done to help our military. The one insider work that tried to critique overall military performance was a respectable study by the Joint Staff, but it fell short in several key respects, including silence about the failure to deploy enough troops to carry out the assigned missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. As James Dobbins recently noted in a review of that study, our military shows “a continued inability to come to closure” on some controversial issues. This is worrisome for several reasons. The military continues largely unchanged despite many shaky performances by top leaders. That is unprofessional. It doesn’t encourage adaptive leaders to rise to the top, as they find and implement changes in response to the failures of the past decade. And it enables a “stab in the back” narrative to emerge as generals ignore their missteps and instead blame civilian leaders for the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. A retired general I know warns that this narrative is more likely to take hold as the active-duty military shrinks and grows more isolated from the society it protects. There is no question that President George W. Bush and other civilians made many of the most glaring errors, such as the decision to go to war in Iraq based on a misreading of intelligence information. But military leaders also made mistakes, and those remain under the rug where our generals swept them. I am not criticizing the performance of soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unlike in the Vietnam War, they were,


to scrutinize the performances of those who lead them. The many unanswered questions about how our military performed in recent years include: ●How did the use of contractors, even in front-line jobs, affect the course of war? Consider that two recent national-security incidents involved federal contractors: Edward Snowden, who distributed U.S. government secrets around the world, and Aaron Alexis, who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last month. ●Which units tortured people? This affected success in the wars but also relates to caring for our veterans. Torture has two victims: those who suffer it and those who inflict it. Yet our military leaders are not turning over this rock. ●Are there better ways to handle personnel issues than carrying on peacetime policies? Were the right officers promoted to be generals? A recent article in Parameters, the journal of the Army War College, found that commanding a division in combat in Iraq slightly hurt a general’s chances of being promoted to the senior ranks. Yet in most wars, combat command has been the road to promotion. What was different in recent years? ●And what happened to accountability for generals? Recently the Marine Corps fired two generals for combat failures in Afghanistan. This was newsworthy because it apparently was the first time since 1971 that a general had been relieved for professional lapses in combat. That is too long. The military is not Lake Wobegon, and not all our commanders are above average. ●Some fundamental disagreements between U.S. military leaders and their civilian overseers were never addressed, such as the number of troops required to occupy Iraq. This undercut the formulation of a coherent strategy. Can we educate our future military leaders to better articulate their strategic concerns? If not, expect more quarreling and confusion on issues such as what — if anything — to do about Syria. As long as such questions go unanswered, we run the danger of repeating mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan. With President Obama and Congress apparently disinclined to push the military to fix itself, it is up to the Joint Chiefs, especially Chairman Martin Dempsey and the heads of the Army (Gen. Raymond Odierno) and the Marine Corps (Gen. James Amos), to do so. It is their duty. Read more about this topic David Ignatius: Fixing America’s secret empire David Ignatius: A case study in accountability David Ignatius: The painful lessons of Iraq


Consumers have help in identifying non-bioengineered foods

In his Oct. 19 letter on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Tom Natan stated that “the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not allow foods to be labeled as GMO-free.” This is technically true but misleading. A 2001 FDA guidance document advises against using “GMO-free” per se because “terms like ‘not genetically modified’ and ‘GMO free,’ that include the word ‘modified’ are not technically accurate unless they are clearly in a context that refers to bioengineering technology. ‘Genetic modification’ means the alteration of the genotype of a plant using any technique, new or traditional.” The FDA does permit voluntary labeling of non-bioengineered foods, so long as the labels use accurate terminology and are not misleading. The guidance document offers a few specific examples, including, “This oil is made from soybeans that were not genetically engineered.” Furthermore, a 2010 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit affirmed that producers have a First Amendment right to label non-bioengineered foods. A visit to most supermarkets would reveal thousands of voluntarily labeled non-bioengineered foods on store shelves. So consumers wishing to avoid genetically engineered foods and ingredients already have adequate information to make the choices they say they want. Gregory Conko, Washington The writer is executive director and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.


D.C. police identify victim in fatal shooting near a Florida Avenue NW gas station

An early Saturday morning shooting in D.C. has left one man dead and another man injured. Police identified the man killed as 28-year-old Freddy Bernard Hawkins of Northeast Washington. The incident began at about 1:15 a.m. near a gas station at 22 Florida Avenue NW, authorities said. Patrol units in the area heard gunshots, and when they arrived at they scene, they saw a dark-colored car driving away, police said. Police spokesman Araz Alali said authorities chased the vehicle to Interstate 695, near the Interstate ramp for 295. Two men were found with gunshot wounds at the gas station, police said. Both were taken to the hospital, where one of them later died. Alali said two of the four people in the car were arrested in connection with the shooting. Justine Wilson, 20, of Southeast Washington was charged with second-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill, and Reese Williams of Southeast Washington was charged with accessory after the fact. Authorities are still investigating a motive for the shooting and did not release the name of the second victim, who is expected to survive his injuries, Alali said. “Thanks to the determined skillful and intrepid efforts of the fifth district patrol and criminal investigations divisions for ensuring that these two suspects were apprehended and brought to justice,” he said.


Aid still a trickle as Syrians contend with hunger, disease

Abu Khaled helps his children as he demonstrates how to get into a makeshift shelter near Damascus. Khaled, who works as a farmer, dug an underground shelter for his family to hide in during shelling from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. (Yousef Albostany/Reuters) BEIRUT — After more than 21 / 2 years of conflict, the accounts of struggling civilians paint a portrait of abject human suffering amid what the World Health Organization has deemed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The U.N. humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, on Friday chastised both sides for failing to improve access along the lines laid out in an Oct. 2 U.N. statement and described the situation as a “race against time.” The crisis has intensified over the past month, with the WHO reporting 22 suspected cases of polio in Deir al-Zour — which, if confirmed, would mark the first outbreak of the debilitating virus in Syria in 14 years. U.N. agencies are mobilizing an emergency plan to vaccinate more than 2.5 million children against polio, but with cross-border operations from neighboring countries and operations across front lines hampered by red tape and security concerns, they concede it will be a major challenge. In addition to polio, communicable diseases such as measles and hepatitis are threatening Syria’s vulnerable. Some of the most desperate conditions are in rebel-held enclaves under siege by government forces, such as those on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and in Homs and Aleppo. There, field hospital doctors say, they have documented children dying of starvation. “My children dream of bread,” said Zahra, a 26-year-old mother from the Damascus suburb of Moadamiya who is pregnant with her fourth child and did not wish to give her last name. The area has been under siege for almost a year, and Zahra said her family is being slowly starved but can’t leave because their way is blocked by snipers and checkpoints. Two of her daughters have anemia because of iron deficiency. Family meals have been reduced to one a day, normally a broth made from whatever can be scraped together. “What keeps us going is the hope that things will get better, that we will get out,” she said. She tried to leave three times in an evacuation effort brokered by a pro-government nun this month. But the effort was aborted when shells hit just yards from the area where hundreds of civilians were


Skywatch: Want to see a partial solar eclipse? Better get up before sunrise Nov. 3.

November’s heavens offer a cornucopia of cosmic abundance: bright planets, an eclipse, a comet . . . and a night of extra sleep, sort of. Next Sunday, we turn back our clocks an hour, returning to Eastern Standard Time, officially at 2 a.m. Nov. 3. We get an extra hour to sleep. But here is nature’s kicker: If you want to catch the last remnants of a partial solar eclipse, you’ll have to wake up before sunrise. Hours later, exactly at sunrise and barring any clouds, we awaken to a partial solar eclipse starting at 6:38 a.m., says Geoff Chester, an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory here. The moon takes a significant chunk from the sun at that time, but the eclipse ends for Washington at 7:10 a.m. (Next Sunday’s eclipse is an annular/total eclipse – a hybrid eclipse. Some of the world sees annularity, where the moon aligns with the sun, but the lunar disk doesn’t completely hide the sun. Parts of the world get a short totality. The centerline runs from the Atlantic Ocean to southern Africa.) Warning: Do not look directly at the sun during a partial eclipse and do not look at the sun through unprotected binoculars or a telescope, or you could severely damage your eyes. Instead, go old school: Put a pinhole in cardboard and project the sun’s image on a piece of paper. For information, see eclipse expert Fred Espenak’s Web site: www.mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html. Find Venus – amazing and gorgeous – high in the west-southwestern sky at dusk now. The planet looks like a beaming, gigantic LED flashlight aimed directly at you. The planet appears brighter at -4.8 magnitude (extraordinarily bright) by month’s end. The young moon casually visits Venus on Nov. 6. Jupiter The middle of November gives sky-gazers an excellent chance to see Mercury, a zero magnitude object. From about Nov. 11 to Thanksgiving week, find the fleet planet in the south-southeast, low in the sky. Saturn (a zero magnitude object) returns from the sun’s glare. While you’re packing the minivan for Grandma’s house, Mercury appears to pass Saturn within a degree on the morning of Nov. 26. Our red neighbor, Mars, loiters in the eastern morning heavens. By midmonth, the first magnitude Mars rises (east-northeast) around 1:30 a.m., standard time. The moon accompanies the Red Planet on the morning of Nov. 27. As we loosen our belts from a fattening


Inside the hidden world of thefts, scams and phantom purchases at the nation’s nonprofits

people,’ ” said the group’s president, John D. White. “They’re exactly right The Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association says it had no idea the 'queen' of regattas was quietly spending tens of thousands on things like NFL tickets, vacations and cable TV. The Post’s Lee Powell explains how a nonprofit group got taken. And the 200-year-old Maryland Bible Society of Baltimore disclosed that it had been defrauded of an undetermined amount by an unnamed former employee. “It’s sadder when it happens to a nonprofit,” said the Rev. Raymond Moreland, a Bible Society official who said in an interview that a former secretary took $86,000 by falsifying checks and misusing credit cards, then concocted fake audit reports to cover her trail. “You go out of your way to trust a nonprofit. People give their money and expect integrity,” he said. “And when the integrity goes out the window, it just hurts everybody. It hurts the community, it hurts the organization, everything. It’s just tragic.” The former secretary was convicted of theft, Moreland said, but “the scar is still there.” Legacy’s big loss The American Legacy Foundation is a revealing case study. While some challenges it faced were uncommon, fraud examiners said many resemble those they see time and again. Legacy was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1999 out of the Master Settlement Agreement that resolved health claims brought against cigarette companies on behalf of the public by authorities in 46 states and the District. With $50 million in annual expenditures and $1 billion in assets, Legacy is perhaps best known for its edgy anti-tobacco advertising campaign known as “Truth.’’ In one high-profile stunt, Legacy filmed young people piling hundreds of body bags outside a cigarette company’s headquarters in Manhattan, graphically depicting the daily toll of tobacco-related illness. “Being an honest and dependable source of information is our bread and butter, because the minute we start bending and manipulating the truth, we’re no better than the tobacco industry,” the organization says on its “Truth” Web site. Its board includes Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden (R), its chairman; Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D); Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R); and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller (D). Janet Napolitano, the recently departed U.S. secretary of homeland security, served on the board, When first asked by The Post about gaps in their disclosure report, Legacy officials declined to provide full details. But they said they


2013 Marine Corps Marathon: Girma Bedada win men’s race; Kelly Calway wins women’s

The 38th Marine Corps Marathon route went through Arlington, up Rock Creek Parkway, along the monuments and past the Pentagon, finishing at the Marine Corps War Memorial. Girma Bedada grabbed an energy snack and took a few bites during the 13th mile of the Marine Corps Marathon, a mid-run picnic as he cruised around Hains Point along the Potomac River. He looked calm. Boats glided in the water. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Fans cheered for Bedada, without another runner in sight. There was the applause for him Sunday, and then there was the applause for everyone else. Bedada created separation at the gun and never looked back during a dominant performance, finishing in 2 hours 21 minutes 32 seconds to win the 38th annual Marine Corps Marathon on a brisk morning in Washington. Alexandria’s Patrick Fernandez finished second with a time of 2:22:52. Colorado resident Kelly Calway finished first among the women (2:42:16) with Virginia Beach’s Gina Slaby (2:48:04) second in a race that drew nearly 30,000 total participants. In a stark contrast from last year’s finish, Sunday’s result came as no surprise: Bedada, from Ethiopia, was one of the favorites heading into the race. But his margin of victory was particularly stunning. The 33-year-old became a one-man pack shortly after the first mile, pulling away from the durable Fernandez, who won the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon in May. Burkeville’s Richard Morris finished third in the men’s competition with a time of 2:24:02. Bedada “was way out of sight. It would’ve been nice to be able to catch him, but there’s always more race,” said Fernandez, who took control of the second spot near Hains Point. “I hadn’t realized he had got that far ahead.” Aside from ramped-up security in the wake of April’s Boston Marathon bombing, the event also featured a slightly restructured course that flattened the terrain between its sixth and ninth miles. Runners ventured through Rock Creek Park instead of a steep stretch past Georgetown Reservoir as in years past, which contributed to faster times. Running alongside their fellow marathoners thousands of miles away in Washington D.C., troops at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan also took part in the Marine Corps Marathon. Like Bedada in the men’s division, Calway trampled the course — and the field. She stayed within striking distance through the first eighth of the race, which weaves from Arlington to the District, took over the lead


By proving itself to NASA, Orbital Sciences opens door to new opportunities

Cygnus (Orbital Science) What Orbital Sciences had been hoping for happened last week: Cygnus, its cargo spacecraft, disintegrated into a billion pieces when it reentered Earth’s atmosphere. Although that might not sound like good news, it was for the Dulles-based space company. The craft’s destruction was a planned event, the final step in a crucial test to show NASA that the company could successfully transport supplies to the crew of six astronauts on the international space station. That achievement marks a significant milestone for Orbital, one of two private companies NASA has turned to since it retired the space shuttle. NASA handed over the resupply missions to Orbital and SpaceX, a Hawthorne, Calif.-based company, so that it can focus on deep-space journeys. Now, having completed two successful launches of its Antares rocket, Orbital can proceed as planned with eight more flights scheduled through 2016 as part of its $1.9 billion cargo resupply services contract with NASA. The latest accomplishment positions Orbital well to re-compete for the next cargo resupply contract, which is expected in a year or two. But perhaps just as significant, the strong performance by Antares opens the door to new opportunities. “With two really good launches now under our belt, things are picking up in terms of customer interest,” Orbital president and chief executive David W. Thompson said in an Oct. 17 conference call with investment analysts. “We have one specific pursuit that we’re engaged in now with a commercial customer.” Thompson did not identify the customer. Any additional interest in Antares beyond NASA could prove to be a windfall for Orbital. “They put all this money into the Antares rocket to develop it,” said William Loomis, managing director at the financial services firm Stifel Nicolaus. “The more they can use it outside of NASA . . . you’re leveraging your past investments and getting higher incremental returns.” Five years ago, when NASA picked Orbital over giants in the space industry such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, it was quite a coup for the local maker of small- to medium-size space systems. The win brought the commercial space industry to the Washington area. Orbital’s highly anticipated launch of the Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Va., on Sept. 18 was visible in the region. Its Cygnus payload docked with the space station about 10 days later, and the craft offloaded about 1,500 pounds


With product dubbed HawkEye, KEYW seeks to win commercial cyber market

than simply trying to prevent them. If HawkEye “continues to perform as it has been, I anticipate using it,” Ramsbottom said. Moving forward As KEYW went through the beta process, it naturally found bugs and made tweaks to HawkEye, Fedde said. But perhaps more importantly, it realized that what commercial users sought was far more extensive information than the early version of HawkEye made available. “What we learned was they loved the awareness factor, they wanted us to give them more and more dashboards, they wanted more feedback as to what’s really going on in their network,” Fedde said. KEYW’s experience does not surprise Tim Sullivan, the chief executive of Chantilly-based cybersecurity company nPulse Technologies and founder of Fidelis Security Systems, the General Dynamics acquisition that now serves as a hub for the contractor’s commercial cybersecurity business. Government agencies as well as banks and telecommunications companies are using nPulse’s technology, he said. Sullivan said it makes sense to start with a government customer, because the government is generally more concerned with what the technology does. What commercial companies want is a more polished, easy-to-use product. When preparing nPulse for banks and and other private companies, Sullivan said his team added new features and analytics. “Ground zero for cybersecurity is Fort Meade,” home to U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, he said. “If you’re solving their problems, you’re solving the toughest problems.” That’s the mind-set that keeps companies such as KEYW pushing into commercial work — despite the difficulties that other contractors have encountered when seeking to move outside their traditional arena. “The problem with having one foot in defense and the other in commercial is that it requires a company to maintain parallel cultures,” said Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant. “It hasn’t been done very well.” Still, KEYW is determined to try and doesn’t plan to walk away from government contracting. Leonard E. Moodispaw, KEYW’s founder and chief executive, said it’s important that Hexis be separate from KEYW so that it doesn’t get tangled up in government contracting bureaucracy. The contractor plans to fully separate the two by the end of the year, meaning Hexis employees will have separate benefits plans and timekeeping rules. But he doesn’t want to divide them so far that they can’t share technology and information. “There is a great deal of benefit to having the two companies being sister companies,” he said.


Capital Buzz: Battelle working on new ways to keep data safe

Battelle Memorial Institute Battelle, founded in 1929, has partnered with a Swiss firm to build software to protect data from being tapped in the future, when current encryption technologies are no longer viable. Battelle is pursuing the program, called QKD, with its own investment money. The company wants to work fast. Battelle believes current secrets could be deciphered within five years. It wants to have the new generation of encryption ready by then. Much of this kind of research is done in cyber labs (called “cyber cells”) — one is in Arlington and one is near Fort Meade. Battelle takes on a variety of cyber challenges, whether it is trying to predict attacks on government servers, or finding ways to detect and identify malicious insiders within a global financial institution. “Current technologies have limitations that are becoming well known,” said Tim Sample, Battelle’s vice president for special programs and an editor of a company book on cyber doctrine called “CyberDoc: No Borders — No Boundaries.” “What we are working on is the next generation of technologies that will provide the type of security that will be demanded worldwide.” Battelle has offices in Northern Virginia, the District and Maryland. Factoid of the Week $25M Hitting the right note The Buzz took in some classical music last week when Elizabeth and Jan Lodal and Glenmede, an independent investment and wealth management firm founded by the Pew family, hosted a reception for “From the Top,” a Boston-based nonprofit that promotes musical talent in gifted young people. “From the Top” is broadcast on Classical WETA 90.0 FM, Sundays at 6 p.m. (Disclosure: The Buzz’s wife works at WETA.) The reception at the Lodal’s Northern Virginia home included performances by three young musicians who are members of “From the Top.” Each is also a recipient of a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award, named for the late billionaire and owner of the Washington Redskins. Christopher O’Riley was the host and played the piano. Jan Lodal was founder and chairman of Intelus and co-founded American Management Systems. He is past president of the Atlantic Council of the United States and sits on its board of directors. He was a senior official in the Defense Department and White House under Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton. Elizabeth Lodal is the former principal of Fairfax County’s elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Attendees


Business technology spending slow but steady, earnings show

really good job,” she said, outpacing gloomy sales forecasts from analysts. Reports from the International Data Corp. and Gartner suggest that PC sales fell 8 to 9 percent. Intel registered a decline in personal computing but similar gradual growth in commercial cloud revenue. Although revenue for the third quarter grew to $13.48 billion, from $13.46 billion last year and $12.8 billion last quarter, Intel saw a marked decrease in revenue from its PC segment since last year — about 3.5 percent. The business market “for PCs strengthened in the third quarter, and the consumer market in the U.S. and Europe appear to have bottomed out,” Stacy Smith, Intel’s chief financial officer, said during an earnings call last week. Intel’s data center group, responsible for server equipment, saw 6.2 percent growth since the last quarter and 12.2 percent growth since last year. Cloud revenue was up 40 percent since last year — cloud storage grew 20 percent and high performance computing by 27 percent. This was driven by a “resumption of growth in the enterprise market segment,” Smith said. But corporate technology spending could be stronger, Morningstar analyst Andy Ng said. Compared with previous quarters, businesses seem hesitant to spend on new technology across the industry. “Uncertainty with government spending hasn’t really helped at all.” Intel’s PC head winds will probably persist, Ng wrote in a recent Morningstar report, especially because of competition from other technology companies and the increasing popularity of high-end tablets, which could be a substitute for personal computers. But these market struggles could be offset by growth in Intel’s server processor segment, he added. IBM also saw cloud revenue growth but a drop overall. Quarterly revenue fell 4 percent, to $23.72 billion this quarter, compared with $24.7 billion a year ago. (Net income rose 5.7 percent percent, with $4 billion, or $3.68 a share, since the last quarter, driven by improvement in IBM’s productivity and shifts in currency exchanges, according to the company.) IBM’s global cloud revenue was up 70 percent from the same quarter last year — in July, the company completed its acquisition of SoftLayer, a Dallas-based cloud firm. “For the first time, we delivered more than $1 billion of cloud revenue in a quarter, of which about $460 million is delivered as a cloud service,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said in an earnings call last week. He also noted a slight decline in


Apps help users track the flu; Men’s Health offers strategies for dealing with baldness

Flu shots administered by the Cape May County Health Department. (Dale Gerhard/Associated Press/The Press of Atlantic City) Does your neighbor have the flu? WebMD cold and flu map The warnings have already begun: The flu season is on the horizon. If you want to know how close that horizon is to your front lawn, WebMD has a map that will tell you. Its cold and flu map — available this year through WebMD’s mobile site — can tell you the prevalence of flu in your neighborhood. Using a combination of geolocation data and symptom information reported by WebMD users, the map pinpoints sickness hot spots, labelling them mild, moderate or severe, right down to the Zip code. This map is not the only program of this sort — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers similar information on its flu tracker site, as does Google’s flu trends site. But WebMD says its information, updated weekly, is more current than that used by the CDC, which “uses physicians’ reports after patients seek treatment.” (The WebMD map is based on patient reports, which are arguably less reliable than doctor diagnoses.) Knowing that flu is on the rise in your area may not prevent you from catching it, but the WebMD site offers tips on how to stem the spread of infection, including setting up “sanitizer stations” and using paper towels, which it says are less likely to carry germs than those made of cloth. Better yet, get a flu shot now. Baldness: Life beyond the comb-over Men’s Health, October edition Despite a recent report of a major breakthrough in lab-grown human hair, a cure for baldness remains elusive. Thankfully, men have options beyond toupees and hair plugs. The October issue of Men’s Health sorts through them, offering warnings and tips in a field with a reputation for quackery. Among them: Try to find the cause. Not all hair lossis a genetic inevitability: There are also nutritional and hormonal factors, the magazine reports, and a dermatologist can help you find the root of the problem, so to speak. The article also weighs the benefits of drugs such as Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil). They may be FDA-approved, “but both are better at maintaining what you have than regrowing what you lost,” dermatologist George Cotsarelis says in the article. Be wary of shampoos that say your hair will look thicker: “Only one ingredient


Italy’s train wars show the bumpy ride into competition

An Italo train, right, from the private Italian company NTV, sits in Venice Santa Lucia station near a regional Trenitalia train. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images) ROME — Offering sumptuous leather seats, top-shelf prosecco and a cinema car showing first-run movies, Italo high-speed trains — operated by a Rome-based company whose investors include the chairman of Ferrari — began running last spring. But even as they whisk passengers from the canals of Venice to the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at speeds around 200 mph, Italo trains have become less a symbol of the future than a cautionary tale of what can happen when you mention the “C word” — competition — in crisis-hit Europe. Italy’s rail wars have become a litmus test for efforts to inject more dynamism into ailing European economies. For Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), the company that operates Italo trains, the results so far have been tragicomic, a reminder of how hard it can be to wrest power from state-run companies — a process that economists say is essential to putting the continent on firmer ground. “They were going to treat us like the enemy,” Paolo Ripa, NTV’s chief operating officer, said of Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiene, Italy’s national rail giant, which was founded in 1905. In Rome’s Ostiense station, for example, a six-foot-tall fence was erected without warning one night last year — in front of Italo’s new customer center and only two weeks before the high-speed service was to launch. A Ferrovie subsidiary admitted responsibility but said safety was its motive; only later did the company install a gate that restored direct access to the train platform. “What, someone is going to run out of our ticket office and jump onto the track?” Ripa said. “I don’t think so.” Another company official likened the state-run company’s approach to “many small acts of sabotage.” ‘This is Italy’ Ferrovie was divided more than a decade ago into subsidiaries that operate under the same parent company and whose shares are still held by the Italian state. One subsidiary, Trenitalia, operates trains, including its own high-speed rail service, that directly compete against Italo. Another subsidiary, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), oversees rail infrastructure, including train stations. In theory, RFI — the company responsible for what Italo officials decried as the “cage” in the Rome station — is supposed to treat competitors equally. But Italo says that in vital ways, RFI and Trenitalia


FDA seeks to curb abuse of prescription painkillers

United States in 2008, up from 4,000 in 1999. Nearly half a million emergency-department visits in 2009 were because of people misusing or abusing prescription painkillers, according to the CDC, while nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs health insurers up to $72.5 billion annually. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an important action aimed at reversing this dangerous trend. The FDA recommended that the federal government add so-called hydrocodone combination products to the list of Schedule II drugs, which would make it significantly more difficult for people to obtain more than a 90-day supply without visiting a doctor for a new prescription; no phone or fax prescriptions would be allowed. Under current rules, it is possible to get six months’ worth of pills on a single, refillable prescription. Unlike pure hydrocodone, which was already on Schedule II because of its high potential for abuse, the combination products, with trade names such as Vicodin or Lortab, include an opioid and a non-narcotic such as acetaminophen. In 2011, they were the most frequently prescribed medications in the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). But an FDA advisory panel found that the combination products are more habit-forming and susceptible to wider abuse than previously thought. The FDA recommendation is not the government’s final word on the subject, but the DEA and Department of Health and Human Services are likely to ratify it. The only bad news is that it took so long for the federal bureaucracy to reach this sound conclusion. The DEA asked the FDA to reevaluate the scheduling of hydrocodone combination products four years ago, when the prescription-drug epidemic was well underway. Congress also weighed in, in the form of proposed legislation by then-Rep. (now Sen.) Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). But opponents ranging from pharmaceutical companies to the American Cancer Society objected that tighter controls would unduly inconvenience patients. Actually, the FDA’s decision represents a modest step toward controlling the black market. It won’t stop “doctor shopping” by drug-seeking patients; probably nothing could. The FDA has struck the right balance, based on its correct assessment that the public interest lies not in more use of pain medicines but in the proper use of them. Read more from Opinions: Marc Thiessen: The Obamacare fiasco Robert J. Samuelson: The Greenspan paradox E.J. Dionne Jr.: The wrong problem Jackson Diehl: Foreign policy fantasies


Proposal to end shutdown threat meets resistance, some political, some practical

The statue of Grief and History is pictured in front of the U.S. Capitol Dome in Washington, Oct. 16, 2013. (KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS) There is a way to prevent government shutdowns. A change in U.S. law would keep federal workers on the job and ensure that treasured sites such as the Statue of Liberty and Yosemite National Park stay open during a budget fight instead of becoming political pawns. The idea has been around for three decades, but even after a 16-day shutdown this month that cost billions of dollars and outraged voters, it’s a tough sell in Washington. Why? Without the risk of a shutdown, there’s no telling how long politicians might put off hard budget decisions. The United States could end up with government by autopilot. Even those who say an anti-shutdown law could avoid that trap find it tricky to come up with a plan that’s acceptable to the factions locked in budget gridlock these days. Nevertheless, a prominent fiscal conservative is reviving the idea as lawmakers seek a budget deal to head off the risk of another shutdown in January. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will use his spot on the House-Senate negotiating team to push his prevention measure, said his spokeswoman Caitlin Dunn. Portman, a former White House budget director in the George W. Bush administration, wants to goad lawmakers to finish their overdue appropriations work by cutting spending as time goes by. If lawmakers miss their Oct. 1 deadline, agencies would stay at the previous year’s spending level for 120 days. After that, spending would drop by 1 percent every 90 days. “It’s appealing to take the risk of shutdown off the table,” said Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan group seeking to curb the national debt. “But it has its risks.” Money to fund the federal government is appropriated each fiscal year, but Congress almost never finishes its regular appropriations bills on time. The usual solution is to approve “continuing resolutions,” which let agencies keep going at the current spending levels. Without spending power, they must send workers home. Shutdowns are so disruptive that politicians rarely resort to them. This month’s was the first in 17 years. While many government operations stopped, the closing of national parks and related sites — from the museums and monuments along the Mall to the Statue of Liberty to Rocky Mountain National Park


Sports in brief

3½ hours of delays, and fading light Sunday forced organizers to complete the tournament the next day. Moore scrambled just to make the playoff, hitting an awkward 60-yard wedge shot on the 18th hole Sunday that dropped within several feet of the hole and allowed him to salvage par. He and Woodland finished regulation at 14-under 274. In the playoff, Moore hit a strong approach with an 8-iron to the same green. The ball stopped about five feet from the cup, setting up his winning putt. “I had a great opportunity there on 18 with my third shot and it was just an absolute perfect number,” he said. “It was coincidentally the exact shot I was working on on the range.” It had been about a year since he won his second title, at the 2012 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. misc. Lindsey Vonn Instead, she made what she calls a “wise” decision. The Olympic downhill champion skipped last Saturday’s season-opening race in Austria. She will stick with her original plan to come back at home at the event in Beaver Creek, Colo., from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. After training in Chile in August went better than expected, Vonn flirted with the idea of coming back for the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria. She decided last week to wait. Her right knee felt great in training. But she could tell her body just wasn’t quite ready to race. Every decision centers on making sure she’s healthy and in top form for this winter’s Sochi Olympics. The four-time overall World Cup winner shredded her anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in a crash at the world championships last February. . . . Lawyers for Major League Baseball are seeking a speedy dismissal of an Alex Rodriguez lawsuit accusing the league and Commissioner Bud Selig of trying to drive him out of baseball. U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. . . . Marin Cilic Cilic tested positive for a banned stimulant in May but claimed he ingested it inadvertently though a glucose tablet bought at a pharmacy. . . . Phoenix Coyotes center Martin Hanzal has been suspended two games by the NHL for charging Edmonton defenseman Jeff Petry. — From news services and staff reports


WHO confirms polio outbreak in Syria

A Syrian refugee girl helps her brother, who the family suspects has polio, in a mosque compound in Shebaa, Lebanon. Following news of polio outbreak in Syria, the country and its neighbors announced emergency vaccination programs. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters) BEIRUT — Health officials warned of a significant risk of the highly infectious disease spreading after the cases were confirmed in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour. In addition to those cases, the officials said, 12 other children suffering from paralysis associated with polio are awaiting test results, meaning that thousands more are likely to be infected, because just 1 in 200 of those who contract the disease show such symptoms. “The confirmed cases are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Bruce Aylward, assistant director general for polio and emergencies at the WHO. “It could explode.” The 2 1 / 2-year-long conflict in Syria has created optimal conditions for the spread of communicable diseases, devastating the country’s health-care system and disrupting routine immunization programs. Health workers have warned that the unsanitary conditions in which many of the millions of displaced Syrians live are breeding grounds for diseases such as polio, which is transmitted through contaminated food or water supplies. With as many as 4,000 refugees fleeing the country every day, the risk of the disease spreading is particularly serious. “It’s the perfect storm into which to drop the polio virus,” Aylward said. “This isn’t a Syrian problem. This is a Middle Eastern problem, which is going to require a massive multi-country response.” That response is already underway. Seven countries in the region, including Syria and neighboring Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, have launched emergency programs to vaccinate 20 million children over the next two months, with follow-up rounds in the most at-risk areas into the new year, he said. The outbreak marks a setback in the campaign to eradicate polio worldwide. The disease paralyzed 1,000 children a day when the global effort to stamp it out, led by the WHO, the Rotary Foundation and UNICEF, began 25 years ago. Despite the more than 99 percent drop in cases, the final push has proved challenging. The disease, which usually affects children younger than 5, can cause permanent paralysis within hours. Some cases result in death as respiratory muscles freeze up. There is no known cure. The cases confirmed in Syria are the first in the country in 14 years. Most involve children younger


Dream Chaser has rough landing in test flight, but firm hails ‘successful day’ for space plane

in space; the first such mission, unmanned, will probably take place in 2016, Sirangelo said. NASA’s “commercial crew” program has offered subsidies to Sierra Nevada along the way. According to NASA, Sierra Nevada had received $229.1 million in payments from NASA through the end of September under a series of agreements and contracts. Among the companies that have also received commercial crew subsidies are SpaceX and Boeing. SpaceX, founded by tycoon Elon Musk, is taking cargo to the space station and hopes to add astronauts to its manifest in the near future, and Musk is vocal about his desire to send people to Mars. Boeing is an aerospace giant for which human spaceflight is essentially a side business. Sierra Nevada, however, is more narrowly focused. “We’re not trying to land on the moon or Mars,” Sirangelo said earlier this year. “That’s not our mission. Our mission is to take over low Earth orbit so that NASA can go on and do something else.” Next year, NASA is expected to do a “down-select” in its commercial crew program and will presumably pick two companies to move forward. Officials have said they do not want to rely on a single provider. Congress in recent years has not funded the commercial crew program at the level requested by the administration. The goal is to have commercial rides to space by 2017, although NASA officials have said that could slip without full funding of the program. The space shuttle was retired in 2011 after three decades of flight. Currently, the only way U.S. astronauts can reach the space station, or return to Earth, is via Russian rockets. U.S. astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins are among those in orbit. SpaceX and Boeing are developing crew capsules that would reenter the atmosphere the way Apollo capsules did nearly half a century ago, with the final descent slowed by parachutes. SpaceX would launch its capsule atop the company’s own rocket, the Falcon 9, while Boeing’s capsule would, like the Dream Chaser, ride atop an Atlas 5, the rocket owned by United Launch Alliance, a 50-50 joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Sierra Nevada believes that the relatively gentle flight profile of a winged vehicle will be appealing to NASA and other space agencies seeking to bring experiments and cargo back to Earth. Related stories: NASA’s mission improbable The international space station: What is it for?


Big beer brewers seek ‘craft’ cred

vehicles: “Nowhere in the advertising for Lexus do they mention the parent company, Toyota. But you don’t hear people say, don’t buy a Lexus, it’s really a product of Toyota.” “I don’t think we’re trying to fool anyone,” says Peter Kraemer, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president of supply and its chief brew master. He says beer-savvy drinkers, the ones who care most about where their brew originated, are likely to have apps that will give them that information with a few taps on a smartphone. It has been a smoldering issue, and the magazine Consumer Reports might have thrown more gasoline on the fire when it awarded its CR Best Buy stamp of approval to Shock Top Wheat IPA in a tasting of “craft” beers that appeared in its August issue. In fairness, not all of the specialty beers flowing out of large breweries’ tanks attempt to hide their origins. On Monday, Anheuser-Busch released its second annual Project 12, a variety 12-pack of three experimental lagers fermented with the Budweiser yeast. The packages and labels carry the Bud logo, and the beers take their names from the Zip codes of the plants where they’re produced. One of the three is Batch 23185, a bourbon-and-vanilla lager from the company’s brewery in Williamburg, Va. Senior brew master Daniel Westmoreland created the recipe, aging the tawny lager on barrel staves from a Virginia distillery and sacks of Madagascar vanilla beans. He first brewed the beer in 2012 and upped the flavor this time around in response to customer comments. Could Batch 23185 become part of the company’s regular product line? An amber lager from last year’s Project 12 assortment was rechristened Budweiser Black Crown and promoted to year-round status. “That would be the ultimate honor for a brew master,” says Westmoreland, but he cautions that his recipe is labor-intensive and, needing one oak stave per barrel of beer, would require a large and steady stream of used distiller’s wood. Regardless of the size of the brewery, a beer can’t be cost-prohibitive. It has to sell briskly enough to justify its continued production. That’s a bigger challenge when you’re brewing in increments of 500 barrels (the batch size in Williamsburg) instead of 25 or 50. Apparently, Shock Top Wheat IPA didn’t make the grade. Ironically, the brand had been yanked by the time Consumer Reports bestowed its plaudits. Kitsock is the editor of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News.


Marathons are a test of endurance, too

I have thought of myself as a runner for many years. I do long runs, hill workouts and sprints to improve my time, and I am religious in my running schedule though I’m not a competitive runner. Running helps control my weight, makes me feel strong and, most important, boosts my confidence. I am training for my first marathon in March, which I set as a goal to reach before turning 60 in two years. Imagine my surprise when I read that, according to Brian Danza, president of D.C. Road Runners [“City of the long run,” Style, Oct. 25], my goal “isn’t worth the effort” since I just want to finish the race within the 5.5-hour time limit. I run for my health and am disheartened that a group of runners, with Mr. Danza as its leader, would disparage would-be marathoners and discount their valid reasons for running a race. Mary Ann DiMola, Bethesda


D.C. news in brief

Leaf collection begins Friday; residential street sweeping ends Leaf collection will begin Friday and is expected to continue through Jan. 12 except during snowfall, the Department of Public Works has announced. Thursday is the last day for residential street sweeping until March 3. Loose leaves raked into tree boxes and bagged leaves will be collected and composted. Leaves will be collected at least twice during the season and should be raked into tree boxes by the weekend before each collection cycle. Tree limbs, dirt and other hard materials are not allowed because they damage vacuuming equipment. From Dec. 29 to Jan. 11, the department will collect holiday trees and other greenery. Residential street sweeping is suspended during the winter months because the water spray released by the sweepers can freeze, creating hazards for vehicles and pedestrians. Overnight sweeping along major D.C. roadways, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Constitution and Independence avenues, will continue all winter as weather permits. Motorists should observe the street-sweeping signs posted along these streets. For information and collection schedules, go to www.dpw.dc.gov. Financial Planning Day offers free workshops, counseling Metro Washington Financial Planning Day, a program of free workshops and counseling with certified financial planners, will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Columbia Heights Educational Campus, 3101 16th St. NW. Financial planners will be available for one-on-one meetings on debt relief, retirement planning, investments, income tax, insurance, mortgages, foreclosures and other topics. Planners will not sell services. Workshop topics will include financial planning for women, retirement planning and investment basics. The event is sponsored by the D.C. government, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and several financial-planning trade groups as part of a national program. For information, go to www.financialplanningdays.org/dc or call 877-861-7826. Lung cancer group to hold fundraising walk Sunday The Breathe Deep D.C. 5K, a fundraising walk by the LUNGevity Foundation to benefit lung cancer research, is scheduled Sunday at 12th Street and Jefferson Drive SW on the National Mall. Check in is 9 a.m., followed by an opening program at 9:30 and the walk at 10 a.m. The course is open to strollers, wheelchairs and pets on leashes. There will be children’s activities during and after the walk. For information, go to www.lungevity.org/dc. Public meeting Tuesday on Broad Branch project The D.C. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration will hold a public hearing Tuesday on an environmental assessment of


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among the cases received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5054. That number provides recorded information on such topics as the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering. Now caseworker double-checks addresses Dog fugitives chase pedestrian Montgomery County Humane Society: Dogs, cats and other pets will be available through the Montgomery County Humane Society at the following locations. To confirm the schedule, call 240-793-4201 or visit www.mchumane.org . Gaithersburg Petco Unleashed18306 Contour Rd.Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday Rockville Cats and kittens will be available for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County no-kill shelter at the following location. For information, call 301-740-2511 or visit www.awlmc.org. Gaithersburg — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Transcript: President Obama’s Oct. 30 remarks on the new health-care law in Boston

good the prices for quality health insurance through these marketplaces really are. Now, ultimately this website, HealthCare.gov, will be the easiest way to shop for and buy these new plans because you can see all these plans right next to each other and compare prices and see what kind of coverage it provides. But look, it -- there's no denying it. Right now, the website is too slow, too many people have gotten stuck. And I am not happy about it. And neither are a lot of Americans who need health care. And they're trying to figure out how they can sign up as quickly as possible. So there's no excuse for it. And I take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed ASAP. We are working overtime to improve it every day -- every day. (Cheers, applause.) And more people are successfully buying these new plans online than they were a couple of weeks ago. And I expect more people will be able to buy conveniently online every single day as we move forward. We're going to get these problems resolved. Now, in the meantime, you can still apply for coverage over the phone or by mail or in person because those plans are waiting. And you're still able to get the kind of affordable, reliable health insurance that's been out of reach for too many people for too long. So I am old enough to remember when there was not such a thing as a website. I know that -- (laughter) -- I know that's shocking to people. (Laughter.) But the point is, I'm confident these marketplaces will work because Massachusetts has shown that the model works. And we know what's being offered by these insurers. (Cheers, applause.) We know it's going to work. And so far, choice and competition in the new national marketplaces have helped keep costs lower than even we projected. In fact, nearly half of all single uninsured 18-to-34-year olds may be able to buy insurance for 50 bucks a month or less, less than your cellphone bill, less than your cable bill. (Applause.) And -- and one study shows that nearly six in 10 uninsured Americans may find coverage for a hundred bucks a month or less, even if they're older than 34. And frankly, if every governor was working as hard as Deval or Governor O'Malley in Maryland or Governor Cuomo


Daniel Sneider: The U.S. can facilitate healing between Japan and South Korea

Japanese companies still in operation used such workers. Japanese policymakers are alarmed that Japanese company assets could be seized if they refuse to pay, further fraying relations. But rather than seeing this as a threat, the Japanese should view this is as an opportunity to provide justice for those victims, most of whom are in their final years. Japan should follow the model of the German Fund for the Future, formally known as the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.” The 5.2 billion euro fund, founded in 2000, is a joint project of the German government and the German private corporations that used forced labor during World War II. In cooperation with international partner organizations, it has compensated more than 1.6 million survivors in almost 100 countries. The foundation continues to conduct research and education programs. Senior Clinton administration officials, led by then-deputy Treasury secretary Stuart Eizenstat , played a central role in the complex negotiation with multi-nation governments and citizen groups that led to the formation of the German fund and a similar one in Austria. Their involvement was prompted in part by lawsuits filed against German firms in U.S. courts. U.S. officials saw it as in the country’s national interest to reduce tensions with Germany and resolve the issue for all forced laborers, not just those filing suit. Washington needs to play the same role today with Japan. For their part, Korea and China and groups representing victims of forced labor should publicly accept this solution as a final settlement of all issues of compensation. The Japanese need assurance that this would bring real closure. This would, of course, be a bold and politically difficult step for all nations involved. The United States must abandon its position of neutrality on wartime history issues, as it is not really a neutral party, and step forward. Japanese leaders must break with the habits of defensiveness about the past and take the initiative. And Japan’s wartime victims must be ready to relinquish the use of history as a political weapon. Only this kind of effort can break the dangerous stalemate about the past that threatens the future of Northeast Asia. Read more about this issue: The Post’s View: The United Nations’ duty in Haiti’s cholera outbreak The Post’s View: Mr. Uribe’s send-off Menachem Z. Rosensaft: The Jewish future through the eyes of an American statesman Michael Gerson: Where Obama can be bold


‘Scandal’ recap: We got Poped

Huck had some great exchanges, though Jake wins hands down for “were you even in B613?” Burn. Jake also calls Olivia out about her Fitz Phone (is it just me or is that thing an actual flip phone?) and we learn that Olivia always vetted Fitz’s WHCD jokes, waah. When Olivia and Fitz finally spoke on said phone, she encouraged him to take all of his moral shortcomings and “dive in. own it.” it was easily the most annoying, adolescent exchange of the episode. Fitz: “I’m hiding from Mellie in the bathroom.” (like, totally) Olivia: ”I just dug the phone out of the trash.” (O.M.G.) This episode was truly a Tale of Two Olivias — and the levelheaded one proved that her gut still worked as Josephine realized Olivia would not steer her wrong. I’m liking Lisa Kudrow’s arc enough to not bring up Smellycat (whoops). The other Olivia, the one who is gaga for Fitz, takes Jake to the Correspondents Dinner. He feels used (and he is), but would you look at that dress? And the strut that goes with it? I liked Jake even more when he told Olivia he wouldn’t “play second fiddle to anyone, not even the president.” The president, it should be noted, makes some jokes that are beyond uncomfortable given Mellie’s presence. Ironic that she would be the person willing to play second fiddle. Our first lady puts her pride aside and begs Olivia to come and work for Fitz’s campaign. It's always right when you find someone new that your old flames come crawling back. Am I right? While everyone was courting Olivia, sadly, our Dabby date was foiled. But how sweet was it when they finally discussed the reason? And how gorgeous was Abby’s pale green gown? This dinner sure seemed short and devoid of afterparties. By the end, Huck thinks he’s discovered Fitz’s role in Operation Remington, one that means that the president himself is responsible for the death of Olivia’s mother. How will the writers of “Scandal” play this? Will we think Fitz killed Olivia’s mom for several episodes only to learn that he didn’t or that she’s still alive? I wish I could say I have no problem with waiting until next week, but I have to admit it: I’m waiting with bated breath. Parents: Where did you hide the candy? Hey, at least I owned it. Lingering questions


The Education Issue: Studying Chinese to reach his parents

it’s likely she thought over our first words. She offers me a fresh set of slippers and a bottle of water at the door before we take a seat on the living room’s leather sectional. We sit in front of a large flat-screen television and sturdy glass coffee table. Mrs. Chen’s feet dangle above the shimmering faux hardwood floor. Her short, dark hair shivers as she giggles more, asking — through Bing — if I’ve had breakfast. By the end of our interview, she’ll have offered chocolates, more water, coffee, breakfast again, lunch, a red envelope full of money (a Chinese New Year tradition for guests), a place to stay for the night as well as at any point in the future, the red envelope again, and her family’s company if I ever travel to China. She’ll even tell me how good a person she thinks I am. All this in an hour. Sitting with her, it’s hard to imagine how — with enough time together — Daniel wouldn’t have maintained his Chinese when he was younger. She considers how much she thinks Daniel could understand when they spoke during his childhood. “If he asked for what he wanted to eat, he could express himself,” she says through Bing, “but if it were academic-related, we were not able to help him.” I ask Mrs. Chen if there was any guidance she wanted to give him when he was a child but couldn’t because of the barrier, and she responds with the same realization that Daniel must have come to in order to pursue Chinese — that everything she’s ever done has been for him. “Since he couldn’t understand complicated stuff, I just told him not to cause troubles, not to get into arguments with others. Overall, I just wanted him to be a good person,” she says. “I just want him to be a useful person. All my hope is kind of on him.” Since Daniel was young, she has gone between jobs such as one at the garment factory and janitorial work. Now she spends the night shift cleaning a Madison Square Garden office building. She likes the work for one main reason: “Not too much English.” She’s glad, all smiles really, to see Daniel at a university and learning Chinese. Before he started college, she took him back to China to re-meet relatives and inspire connection with his


Washington state fight over GMO labeling is expensive and polarizing

Scott Smith tosses a fresh salmon to a colleague behind the counter at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle in October 2010. In television ads featuring Pike Place Market fishmongers, organic farmers and others, supporters have hammered the consumer’s right to know whether the foods they buy were produced with genetic engineering, noting it’s not different from other food labels. (Elaine Thompson/AP) Flip on a television anywhere across Washington state, and within minutes the barrage of advertisements makes this much clear: The latest fight over whether to require companies to label foods containing genetically modified ingredients has turned expensive and polarizing — not to mention perplexing for many people. On Tuesday, residents will vote on Initiative 522, which would force manufacturers to disclose their use of genetically altered crops such as corn and soy, which are widely used in processed foods. If the initiative is approved, Washington will become the first state to pass such labeling requirements. The outcome could have broad implications for the rest of the country, where the issue has demanded increasing attention in recent years. Dozens of states have begun to consider legislation requiring genetically modified foods to be labeled, and a measure similar to I-522 failed in California last year after a bruising fight between activists and the food and industrial agriculture industries. The vote in Washington has attracted record amounts of money — much of it from outside the state — from consumer activists who favor the measure and from biotech and food giants, such as Monsanto, PepsiCo and General Mills, that oppose the labeling requirement. Patty Lovera of consumer rights groups Food & Water Watch explains what labeling genetically modified products could mean for your wallet. Supporters of labeling have framed the vote as an issue of consumer choice and transparency. They note that scores of other countries have required labeling of genetically altered foods and say the United States should follow suit, given that as much as 80 percent of packaged foods in the country include genetically modified ingredients. “People have a right to know what is in their groceries,” said Elizabeth Larter, a spokeswoman for the Yes on 522 campaign. “This is about letting you and me decide, and not having this information concealed from us. . . . We should be more transparent in our food system.” Opponents have attacked the initiative as complex, costly and rife with exemptions;


Scientists find planet that’s similar to Earth

An artist's rendering shows a comparison between the Earth and planet Kepler-78b, which is located in the Cygnus constellation hundreds of light-years away. (David A. Aguilar/Associated Press) Scientists have found a planet way out in the cosmos that’s close in size and content to Earth: an astronomical first. But hold off on the travel plans. This rocky world is so close to its sun that it’s at least 2,000 degrees hotter than here, almost certainly too hot for life. Astrophysicists reported last week in the journal Nature that the exoplanet (that’s a planet outside of our solar system) Kepler-78b appears to be made of rock and iron, just like Earth. They measured the planet’s mass to determine its density and content. It’s actually a little bigger than Earth and nearly double its mass, or the amount of matter it contains. Kepler-78b is located in the Cygnus constellation, which is about 400 light-years away. (A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles.) Incredibly, the planet orbits its sun every 81 / 2 hours, which is a mystery to astronomers. Until now, they hadn’t found a planet that formed or moved so close — less than 1 million miles — to a star. They agree the planet will be sucked up by the sun in a few billion years, so its time remaining, astronomically speaking, is short. An illustration shows NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, which found the planet. (Associated Press) NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope discovered Kepler-78b while looking for planets that could possibly sustain life. The planet’s presumably liquid surface and searing temperatures make it unsuitable for life, but two independent teams of astronomers wanted to follow up the discovery with ground-based measurements to try to determine the density of Kepler-78b. Using different telescopes, the teams zeroed in on how strongly the planet’s gravity tugs at its parent star, information that could be used to figure out Kepler-78b’s weight and composition. In two papers in last week’s journal Nature, the teams report that not only were they successful, they also came to the same conclusion: Kepler-78b has roughly the same density as Earth, suggesting that it too is made primarily of rock and iron. Scientists would like to be able to make the same measurements of Earth-size planets in more life-friendly orbits, but that is beyond today’s technology. Kepler-78b is one of more than 1,000


Marine Corps Marathon creates unexpected boon: Used clothes for D.C. area homeless

the pile. The tragic Boston Marathon bombing is changing security procedures at races everywhere, but dedicated runners are not deterred. Rick Nealis, Race Director for the Marine Corps Marathon, tells Nia-Malika Henderson about security for this Sunday's race, and the spirit that comes with running this particular marathon. “We had about two tons stuffed into the truck, and there’s more yet,” said Moses Robbins, the company’s 68-year-old founder and director. Actually, there were two trucks, one for the marathon and one for the 10K. Runners could check their warm-up clothes before the start of the races and pick them up at the end, but many runners, like Ocampo, chose to wear their old sweats and warm-up jackets until the last minute and then tossed them as the races began. It was cold at the start, so this year’s haul was even larger than normal — about 5,000 pieces of clothing, Robbins said. Quietsweep, a street-sweeping company contracted by the marathon to clean up the course, collected an additional three truckloads. By Wednesday morning, seven staffers at the Clothing Recycling Company’s warehouse in Springfield had sorted the marathon discards by size and type. Like many clothing collectors, the nonprofit organization doesn’t wash clothes. Fortunately, there wasn’t much sweat on the sweatshirts discarded before the marathon began. (Those that were too dirty to wear were immediately thrown away.) The company delivers clothes that are relatively clean and in season to local charities in weekly shipments throughout the year. Most of the clothes go to the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, the Washington Interfaith Network or Christ House. Actress, talk-show host, philanthropist—and marathoner. Oprah Winfrey’s Marine Corps run in 1994 had an impact on many, and to race director Rick Nealis, perfectly embodied what makes this race “the people’s marathon.” “I guess the way to think of it is this great big stream of clothing — of people getting rid of clothing,” Robbins said. “In Washington, we’re just trying to take one small part of this humungous stream and divert it into something that’s used locally.” This local emphasis differentiates the Clothing Recycling Company from Planet Aid, a nonprofit organization that collects clothes in yellow collection bins scattered throughout the District and ships them abroad. But keeping the clothing effort local brings its own set of challenges, Robbins said, because there is often a disconnect between the supply of donated clothes and demand


Yang Jianli: China hasn’t earned a spot on Human Rights Council

Yang Jianli is founder and president of Initiatives for China. He was imprisoned in China from 2002 to 2007 for attempting to observe labor unrest. While it is debatable whether the United States should intervene in criminal cases in China, such as that of the recently executed street vendor Xia Junfeng, it is unacceptable for Washington to ignore China’s human rights record when it can raise the issue without being accused of “interfering in internal affairs.” Washington will have such an opportunity when the U.N. General Assembly chooses new members of its Human Rights Council this month. China, after a year of leave, is seeking a three-year term on the council. It is critical for the United States to show Beijing’s new leaders that their horrific treatment of citizens matters. U.S. government agencies, Congress, U.N. human rights monitors and human rights organizations show the atrocious extent of Chinese repression. Putting China on the U.N. Human Rights Council would be like picking the fox to guard the henhouse — while it was still wiping feathers off its mouth. Yet the Obama administration appears to approve of doing so. For many reasons, China is unfit to sit on a council charged with protecting human rights: As the Congressional-Executive Commission noted in its 2012 annual report, forced abortions and sterilizations are still common in China. The State Department’s 2012 report on human rights said that the denial of religious freedom in China remains pervasive and was particularly severe against Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs, Falun Gong practitioners and members of house churches. China tortures its citizens. This is a violation of the Convention Against Torture, to which Beijing is a party. Beijing also returns refugees to North Korea, where they will be imprisoned and tortured. This is a violation of the Convention on the Status of Refugees, which China has signed. A collection of Tom Toles cartoons about international news. Dungeons across China hold tens of thousands of Tibetans, Uighurs, Mongols, Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong and Han Chinese who bravely seek to defend the human rights of those persecuted for their faith or ethnicity or for seeking the rule of law. China is the only country in the world that detains a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Tibetans are driven to self-immolation by their continued oppression. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China annually details gross violations of human rights. China’s brutal actions belie its claim that


Container Store IPO is big success; U.S. manufacturing is up

Investing Container Store shares double in IPO Shares of the Container Store more than doubled in value Friday in their market debut, the latest in a string of hot initial public offerings this year. The retailer, which specializes in shelving, storage bins, boxes and related organizational items, priced its initial public offering at $18, above the projected range of $14 to $16 per share. The stock, trading under the symbol TCS, jumped to $36.20 by the end of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dallas-based company raised $225 million in the offering. The Container Store, which has 62 stores nationwide, is unprofitable. But its revenue is growing after taking a hit during the recession. Sales have increased 28 percent over the past five fiscal years. The company is the seventh this year whose shares have doubled on the first day of trading, according to Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida. — News services Manufacturing U.S. factory growth is fastest in two years The manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in October, according to an industry report, signaling a strong start to fourth-quarter factory activity despite the partial government shutdown during the first half of the month. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its index of national factory activity rose to 56.4 in October, its best showing since April 2011, handily beating expectations of a slight slowdown in the growth rate. — Reuters Also in Business ● ● U.S. stocks rose, ending the first two-day losing streak in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index in three weeks, as optimism about corporate earnings offset concern that improving economic data could prompt the Federal Reserve to trim stimulus. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent Friday and has advanced 0.1 percent in the past five days, its fourth consecutive weekly gain. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.80 points, or 0.5 percent, Friday. ● Lululemon is fielding new complaints about quality, a few months after the retailer pulled yoga pants from shelves because they were too sheer. Though new yoga pants are on shelves, complaints are piling up on the Lululemon Facebook page and Web site about pants that are still too sheer. There also are complaints about pants pulling after a few months of wear and about seams coming apart. The company’s pants can cost $100 or more.


At oyster festival, underdog Cuccinelli searches for pearls of good news

Ken Cuccinelli made clear where he thought the race stood. “The other side has all the money, they’re telling all the lies,” Cuccinelli’s father said. “We’re beating them with shoe leather.” Cuccinelli will soon be aided by some non-family members: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former representative Ron Paul (R-Tex.) will all campaign for him in the coming days. McAuliffe will be joined on the trail by President Obama and Vice President Biden. “They’re going to help us motivate our folks by bringing the president in,” Cuccinelli assured one group of parade-goers. “Clarity is a good thing.” Not quite everyone in Urbanna was a supporter. “Cuccinelli, you suck!” a man yelled from the window of a crowded bar. “Too much beer,” Cuccinelli muttered as he continued walking. Another man confided in Cuccinelli that he had gotten a mailer from the National Rifle Association telling him to vote for the Republican. “Who’s going to take my guns away? Not him,” the man said, pointing at the attorney general. Cuccinelli heard more than once about the Affordable Care Act, which he has long bragged about opposing. Doug McMinn, the owner of the soon-to-open Chesapeake Bay Oyster Co., told Cuccinelli he needed the Republican to win for that reason. “The health care thing is going to affect my company and my employees,” McMinn said, explaining that his insurance company had told him his premiums would increase by more than 40 percent. Conversely, polls have suggested Cuccinelli was hurt by the 16-day partial federal government shutdown, as the Republican brand and the tea-party movement — closely identified with Cuccinelli — have been bleeding popularity. But Cuccinelli claimed to have heard little about the shutdown on the campaign trail. “Not much, not anymore,” he said in an interview at the end of the parade route. “The only people who ask about that are press people. . . . I haven’t had a voter ask me about that since the beginning of the week.” Asked whether he was “catching fire too late” in the contest, Cuccinelli said: “I don’t know. We’ll know in four days. But Virginia races break late. . . . And it’s moving fast our way. You get to this point, and the polls actually become useless.” From there he went into a packed beer garden, where a band played the Journey anthem “Faithfully,” to find more votes.


Organizers line up big names to push new high-speed rail line linking D.C. to N.Y.

former chief executive of Northwest Airlines Doug Steenland; former transportation secretaries Mary Peters and Rodney Slater (now a lobbyist at Patton Boggs); and George Pataki, Christine Todd Whitman and Ed Rendell, former governors of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively. The board is being led by former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, who is now an adviser at DLA Piper, the international law firm that the Northeast Maglev has hired to lobby on its behalf before Congress. The rail line would include stops at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. The project is unrelated to Amtrak’s $151 billion plan to develop a high-speed rail system — that would go from Washington to New York in 94 minutes — in the Northeast corridor by 2040. The Northeast Maglev chairman Wayne Rogers said his firm does not have a cost estimate for the entire project but that the Washington-Baltimore leg would cost at least $10 billion. He said he expects it to take at least three years to navigate the regulatory, environmental and planning process and another 10 years for construction. The company is working closely with engineers from Central Japan Railway, which operates the bullet train in Japan. In Washington, they are considering station locations on K Street, near Metro Center, near the convention center and around Union Station, Rogers said. “Lots of items that go into that selection [process],” he said. “Connectivity to Metro is one consideration, constructability is another consideration, connecting with the population and business centers — where office centers will be — it’s a complicated equation,” he said. “All those are being studied and put together. We’re looking to be able to connect near Metro. . . . Our goal is to connect city centers and airports.” Roger said his company has met with representatives from the Maryland Transit Administration and D.C. government. It is not the first time there’s been interest in building a maglev system in the Northeast, but previous attempts were halted by lack of support from lawmakers and funding shortfalls. In 2001, transit officials from Maryland, the District and Baltimore formed the Baltimore-Washington Maglev Project, which competed for Federal Railroad Administration consideration to develop a 39-mile maglev line linking Camden Yards in Baltimore, BWI and Union Station in Washington. But the project, which in 2007 was estimated to cost $5.1 billion, lacked legislative support.


Syria’s polio outbreak demands an immediate response

ON TOP of all the human misery inflicted upon the people of Syria by civil war, now comes the polio virus. The disease, which can lead to irreversible paralysis and death and strikes mostly children 5 and younger, can be spread in situations with poor hygiene and sanitation. The World Health Organization has confirmed 10 cases of wild polio virus in samples taken from Deir al-Zour province in northeastern Syria. This is the scourge of war. Most of the polio cases are children 2 or younger, born and infected in the years in which Syria has been ravaged by violent conflict. The estimated polio immunization rate in Syria was 91 percent in 2010, but it fell to only 68 percent in 2012. The outbreak is a sign of what happens when health-care systems collapse. Most ominous, about half a million Syrian children have not been immunized. Vaccination is the most critical tool in the battle against polio, and a large-scale effort is being mounted to reach the unvaccinated children. Still, the World Health Organization has warned that the risk of further spread in the region is high, given the war, tides of refugees fleeing battle zones and big gaps in immunity. Efforts are being intensified to immunize children in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Israel and Egypt. Elsewhere, impressive progress has been made in fighting polio. At the start of this year, the disease was endemic in only Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Cases in these three countries are down 40 percent compared to last year, and southern Afghanistan has been free of it for a year. A major concern is North Waziristan, where vaccinators have been unable to reach children for more than a year, and where cases are on the rise. A severe outbreak in Somalia and one in Kenya have been tied to Nigeria. But polio has been stopped before in regions of conflict, and there is still hope that the disease can eventually be eradicated. Earlier this year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, an umbrella group, unveiled a promising strategy to reach zero cases in five years. Last year, the world saw only 223 polio cases, the lowest level in history. This year, the total is 322 and rising. Until genetic analysis is complete, it won’t be possible to pinpoint the origin of the Syrian polio virus, but there are fears it spread from Pakistan. The challenge for


Syrian conflict: Persian Gulf officials, tired of waiting for U.S., move to boost aid to rebels

Secretary of State John F. Kerry prepares to board his aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Saturday. Kerry is heading to the Middle East for the next week. (Jason Reed/Reuters) Persian Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are moving to strengthen their military support for Syrian rebels and develop policy options independent from the United States in the wake of what they see as a failure of U.S. leadership following President Obama’s decision not to launch airstrikes against Syria, according to senior gulf officials. Although the Saudis and others in the region have been supplying weapons to the rebels since the fighting in Syria began more than two years ago and have cooperated with a slow-starting CIA operation to train and arm the opposition, officials said they have largely given up on the United States as the leader and coordinator of their efforts. Instead, the Saudis plan to expand training facilities they operate in Jordan and increase the firepower of arms sent to rebel groups that are fighting extremist elements among them even as they battle the Syrian government, according to gulf officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve comity with the United States. What officials described as a parallel operation independent of U.S. efforts is being discussed by the Saudis with other countries in the region, according to officials from several governments that have been involved in the talks. Unhappiness over Syria is only one element of what officials said are varying degrees of disenchantment in the region with much of the administration’s Middle East policy, including its nuclear negotiations with Iran and criticism of Egypt’s new government. Secretary of State John F. Kerry Kerry will also stop in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Israel, all of which have expressed concerned at what they see as a weakened U.S. posture in the region. The 11-day trip also includes visits to the West Bank, Poland, Algeria and Morocco. Egyptian state media reported Friday that Kerry will begin his trip with a brief stop Sunday in Egypt, his first visit there since the military ousted President Mohamed Morsi this summer. The State Department declined to confirm the visit. Officials in several countries that had pledged to support a U.S. strike on Syrian targets after confirmation that President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons described their stunned reaction to Obama’s abrupt decision in late August


TV and radio listings for Nov. 3

NFL 1 p.m. San Diego atWashington » WUSA (Channel 9),WJZ (Channel 13),WTEM(980 AM) 1 p.m. New Orleans at New York Jets » WBFF (Channel 45) 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Oakland » WTTG (Channel 5) 4:25 p.m. Baltimore at Cleveland » WUSA (Channel 9), WJZ (Channel 13), WFED (1500 AM) 8:20 p.m. Indianapolis at Houston » WRC (Channel 4),WBAL (Channel 11),WTEM(980 AM) NBA 6 p.m. Washington atMiami » Comcast SportsNet,WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM) 7 p.m. Phoenix at Oklahoma City » NBA TV MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 1 p.m. Exhibition: Catholic at Maryland » WSPZ (570 AM) GOLF 4:30 p.m. Champions Tour: Charles Schwab Cup Championship, final round » Golf Channel TENNIS 9 a.m. ATP Tour: BNP Paribas Masters, final » Tennis Channel SOCCER 8 a.m. English Premier League: Everton at Tottenham » CNBC 10:55 a.m. English Premier League: Swansea at Cardiff » NBC Sports Network 3:30 p.m. MLS Eastern Conference semifinal Game 1: New York at Houston » WRC (Channel 4), WBAL (Channel 11) 9 p.m. MLSWestern Conference semifinal Game 1: Salt Lake at Los Angeles » ESPN AUTO RACING 7:30 a.m. Formula One: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix » NBC Sports Network 3 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: AAA Texas 500 » ESPN RUNNING 9 a.m. 43rd New York City Marathon » ESPN2 HORSE RACING 11 p.m. Golden State Million Futurity » MASN WOMEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL 2 p.m. Florida at Texas A&M » ESPNU


Music review: Irish flutist James Galway entertains with grace

Irish Chamber Orchestra. (Columbia Artists Management Inc.) At 73, Irish flutist James Galway still likes to be thought of as “a bit of a lad,” not like those other stuffy classical musicians who roam the musical world. He began his program with the Irish Chamber Orchestra at the George Mason Center for the Arts on Saturday with comments about the two Irish composers on the program and with digs at the British empire and its relations, past and present, with Ireland. Then, as if just remembering himself, he reminded the audience that, as Sir James, he was probably part of the establishment he was decrying. Nevertheless, he is, to the flute, what Pablo Casals was to the cello and Andres Segovia to the guitar — the name everyone knows — and he puts on a great show, not just musically and technically, but also as an entertainer. He danced gracefully through the Mozart D Major Flute Concerto (originally for oboe), the luscious tone he gets from his shiny gold instrument rising easily over the small orchestra in the delicate arabesques and curlicues of the outer movements and in the long legato lines of the Andante (although, to my ears, his flute was tuned just on the high side of the pitch). He romped happily through the Irish tunes that inspired Hamilton Harty’s “In Ireland,” and then he and his wife, Lady Jeanne Galway, another splendid flutist, teamed up on “Carolan Variations,” a nicely crafted work by Philip Hammond, playing with a beautifully coordinated ensemble in which even their vibratos synchronized. For encores preceding the intermission, Galway tossed off a movement from a Mozart piano sonata, “Jingle Bells” for “the little girl in the front row” (that woke up the children near me in the audience), an Irish jig and, with his wife, a dance movement from the Bach Suite No 2. The applause was huge. After intermission the orchestra, with JoAnn Falletta at the helm, returned with a performance of Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41 that struggled with the problems that had plagued the orchestra throughout, the absence of a common understanding of how the music should be shaped. Phrase endings had little character. Rhythms had either no outlines (in the symphony’s first movement) or no subtlety (in the Minuetto) and, although individual performances were good, the different sections of the orchestra did not seem to speak to one another.