The week’s best concerts: Kishi Bashi, Morrissey, Seun Kuti

smart and homey. With Buried Beds on Sunday at the 9:30 Club. Doors open at 6 p.m. 202-265-0930. www.930.com. $20. — Mark Jenkins Listen: Kishi Bashi - The Ballad of Mr. Steak (Lyric Video) Morrissey Update: The concerts at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and the Lincoln Theatre have been postponed. The Baltimore show will now be held on June 24; Morrissey's concert at the Lincoln will be June 25. "Will he show or won't he?" That's the guessing game fans of the cancellation-prone Morrissey, former frontman of the heavily influential English rock band the Smiths, have played for years. In fact, just a week before his D.C. and Baltimore shows, the singer canceled a date in Atlanta due to illness. Let's hope the always outspoken Moz will battle the bug and make it to the capital of the free world. With a new album, "World Peace Is None of Your Business," due out in July, he's likely to have plenty to say about how things are run here. After all, this is the man who once told America "where you can shove your hamburger." Morrissey. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File) As any fan can attest, however, the real connection with the maudlin crooner comes not necessarily from common political beliefs, but from shared misery. His new album, with such song titles as "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet" and "Kick the Bride Down the Aisle," is sure to have that in spades, and Moz will certainly test the new material in performance. But Morrissey knows his fans, so he'll surely play such mopey solo classics as "Now My Heart Is Full" and "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores" along with such Smiths tunes as "I Know It's Over" and "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me." Tuesday at Baltimore's Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Doors open at 7 p.m. 410-783-8100. www.bsomusic.org. Wednesday at the Lincoln Theatre. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. 202-888-0050. www.thelincolndc.com. Both shows are sold out. — Brandon Weigel Listen: Seun Kuti Seun Kuti. (Photo by Johann Sauty) Seun Kuti, the youngest son of the late Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti, began performing in his father's band when he was just a child. But only within the past decade has the Nigerian musician, now 31, come into his own as a performer. Chalk it up to nerves, maybe. He had some lofty standards to live up to. Seun's music is just as


Georgetown Day School buying Tenleytown Safeway, Martens dealership

an institution whose students and alumni include the sons of daughters of some of the most prominent movers and shakers in the Washington area, to ultimately consolidate its lower, middle and upper schools in Tenleytown. At the moment the school’s lower and middle schools are on MacArthur Blvd., about four miles away. “Georgetown Day School has been a member of the Tenleytown community for 28 years. We value the Both the dealership and the grocery store will remain open for at least 10 months through lease agreements with the school, according to school spokeswoman Alison Grasheim. Grasheim said the school was in the early stages of planning how to use the properties. “We had hoped for the opportunity for everyone to be on the same campus. We just have felt that it makes for a better school community and better connects students through grade levels and connects parents with our students and our curriculum,” she said. Selling its Tenleytown store, at 4203 Davenport St. NW, off of Wisconsin Avenue, marks an abrupt turnaround for Safeway, as it had been contemplating a mixed-use development of the site to include a much larger store with apartments on top, similar to projects in Wheaton and Petworth. The Tenleytown store was built in 1981 and is one of the California chain’s oldest stores in the region. Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle said the company had repeatedly received offers from the school before finally coming to a deal. Once the store closes, Safeway shoppers in the area will have to travel to stores in Bethesda, Georgetown or Chevy Chase Circle. “Until GDS made its offer, we were continuing efforts to redevelop the existing store,” Muckle said. Winning zoning approval has not been easy for some developers in the area. (A plan to redevelop a Giant Food store nearby took more than 10 years to be approved.) Muckle said development approvals weren’t the deciding factor in the sale but that “the offer presented by GDS provided a much quicker solution than development.” Getting city and neighborhood buy-in for changes to the corridor now falls to Shaw. The school plans to raise money for the project and Shaw said in the school’s press release that it will be relying heavily on neighborhood input in formulating its plans. “We are committed to beginning a thoughtful and deliberate conversation with our community in and Follow Jonathan O’Connell on Twitter: @oconnellpostbiz


The next mosquito-borne infection you might want to start worrying about

by the debilitating virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Similar in some ways to dengue fever, the virus, (pronounced chik-en-gun-ye) causes high fever and intense pain and swelling in joints, as well as muscle pain and headaches. It is transmitted by two kinds of mosquitoes found in parts of the United States. The disease is rarely fatal, but there is no treatment other than pain relief. And while the virus tends to run its course in a week or so, pain can linger for months and, in some cases, years. So far, there have been no documented cases of transmission from one person to another via mosquito in the United States, the CDC reported, (all the cases have been imported by travelers), but one researcher believes it's only a matter of time. "There is a high risk that there will eventually be some transmission in Florida," said Scott Weaver, director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Weaver and others, including the National Institutes of Health, are working on vaccines for the disease, which originated in Africa and has erupted in parts of the globe for centuries. The latest version arrived in the Caribbean last fall and has spread rapidly, Weaver said. The two mosquitoes that carry the virus, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, are aggressive and bite during the day, Weaver said, meaning that people must protect themselves differently than they would against night-biting mosquitoes that carry an infection such as West Nile. While that means staying vigilant against mosquitoes during the day as well as the evening, he said, residents of the United States also have two distinct advantages over people in the Caribbean and Latin America. First, because use of air conditioning and window screens is widespread in this country, many fewer mosquitoes enter homes in the United States than in the Caribbean, where windows are generally left open and unscreened to cool houses. And except in South Florida and parts of the Gulf Coast, Weaver said, the mosquitoes that carry the virus probably do not survive in large enough numbers each winter to continue a transmission cycle. But "if you're a traveler, especially to the Caribbean or Southeast Asia, what people need to understand is … that this is not the same kind of risk as something like West Nile," he said.


Friday’s Astronomy Festival hails planets above and history’s stars

Dean Howarth, a physics teacher from McLean High School. Here he portrays 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe at the USA Science Festival. He will reprise his role on Friday at the Astronomy Festival. (Courtesy Dean Howarth) The pageantry of heaven unfolds Friday afternoon into the night, as the northeastern grounds of the Washington Monument becomes filled with telescopes, binoculars and cosmic cheer. It’s the fifth annual Astronomy Festival on the National Mall, from 6 – 11 p.m., at the corner of 15th St. NW and Constitution Ave. (across Constitution Ave. from The Ellipse). The event is free. “My goal is to bring science directly to the people,” says Donald Lubowich, astronomy outreach coordinator, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., who organizes this yearly event. Link: In the fashion of star party, astronomers from many Washington area groups – the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, the National Capital Astronomers, the U.S. Naval Observatory, the Goddard Astronomy Club, the Astronomical Society of Greenbelt – will put a plethora of telescopes on the Mall and invite casual sky gazers to see Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, the moon and deep sky objects. See the sun, too. Specially filtered telescopes allow gazers to safely see the sun like you’ve never seen it before. Lubowich says there will be a half-dozen solar telescopes. (Never look at the sun through a standard telescope or binoculars. You will go blind. But in this venue, gazers do so safely.) Kerry Smith from the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers will bring his IBT – that would be the Itty Bitty Telescope – and demonstrate how home-based radio astronomers use handcrafted, easy-to-obtain materials to examine the heavens for radio emissions. While Astronomy Festival-goers move between telescopes, history arises as famed astronomers Caroline Herschel, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler – science luminaries from centuries gone-by – roam the grounds. Lynn King, an astronomer from Wilmington, Del., portrays Herschel (1750-1848), noted for her comet discoveries, was the sister of composer-astronomer William Herschel. Dean Howarth, physics teacher at McLean High School in Fairfax County, plays astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), while Jeff Jones, physics teacher at Mountain View Alternative High School, in Centreville, depicts German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Howarth, who runs a living history program with his students, explains the importance remembering the past. “[Science students] can benefit from understanding the human and historical sides of the story. I’ve always included that in my teaching. … Teaching science


unfolds Friday afternoon into the night, as the northeastern grounds of the Washington Monument becomes filled with telescopes, binoculars and cosmic cheer. It’s the fifth annual Astronomy Festival on the National Mall, from 6 – 11 p.m., at the corner of 15th St. NW and Constitution Ave. (across Constitution Ave. from The Ellipse). The event is free. “My goal is to bring science directly to the people,” says Donald Lubowich, astronomy outreach coordinator, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., who organizes this yearly event. Link: In the fashion of star party, astronomers from many Washington area groups – the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, the National Capital Astronomers, the U.S. Naval Observatory, the Goddard Astronomy Club, the Astronomical Society of Greenbelt – will put a plethora of telescopes on the Mall and invite casual sky gazers to see Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, the moon and deep sky objects. See the sun, too. Specially filtered telescopes allow gazers to safely see the sun like you’ve never seen it before. Lubowich says there will be a half-dozen solar telescopes. (Never look at the sun through a standard telescope or binoculars. You will go blind. But in this venue, gazers do so safely.) Kerry Smith from the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers will bring his IBT – that would be the Itty Bitty Telescope – and demonstrate how home-based radio astronomers use handcrafted, easy-to-obtain materials to examine the heavens for radio emissions. While Astronomy Festival-goers move between telescopes, history arises as famed astronomers Caroline Herschel, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler – science luminaries from centuries gone-by – roam the grounds. Lynn King, an astronomer from Wilmington, Del., portrays Herschel (1750-1848), noted for her comet discoveries, was the sister of composer-astronomer William Herschel. Dean Howarth, physics teacher at McLean High School in Fairfax County, plays astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), while Jeff Jones, physics teacher at Mountain View Alternative High School, in Centreville, depicts German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Howarth, who runs a living history program with his students, explains the importance remembering the past. “[Science students] can benefit from understanding the human and historical sides of the story. I’ve always included that in my teaching. … Teaching science is all the more exciting when you can bring the fundamentals ‘to life,’” says Howarth. “I think Ben Franklin, Archimedes, Curie, Kepler and Brahe would agree that science, technology, engineering and math have been pretty important for all of history.”


Climate change is getting worse. So why is Antarctica’s sea ice expanding?

of Earth’s greatest seasonal changes. Sea ice is the ephemeral lovechild born from an ocean coupled with a cold atmosphere. It is very sensitive to the complex interplay of thermodynamic (freezing and melting) and mechanical (compacting, ridging, rafting, breaking) processes driven by both parents. As such, sea ice is a canary in the coal mine for changes to polar climate. That much has certainly been obvious in the Arctic. The dramatic decline of Arctic sea ice since 1981 is now firmly in the public consciousness as proof that global warming is real, and that it is a serious and pressing issue. The Arctic canary is unwell, to say the least. However at the other end of the planet, the Antarctic canary seems to be singing away happily, as the total extent has grown, albeit weakly, over the same period. The past two years have each been record-breakers, and 2014 looks to be building the same way. You can track how it’s going here, which shows how much more sea ice there is relative to the 1981-2010 average. Highs and lows Perhaps the most important fact about the (slight) increase in total Antarctic sea ice extent is that it masks major and contrasting regional changes. For example, there has been a strong decrease in sea ice duration in the Bellingshausen Sea, while the duration has increased in the western Ross Sea. Such curiosities have led sea ice scientists to investigate several possible mechanisms, and explanations for these patterns are now starting to emerge. Trends in sea ice duration, 1979-2010, showing large regional variations. Figure from Maksym et al. 2012<br />(Guy Williams) The Amundsen Sea Low is a pattern of low atmospheric pressure in the Pacific part of the Southern Ocean, which drags warm air south and pushes cold air north. This southward flow of warm air meets Antarctica in the Bellingshausen Sea, explaining why ice in this area is now in decline. Meanwhile, the cold air is being pushed north from the western Ross Sea — where sea ice extent is increasing. So the Amundsen Sea Low can be used to explain at least two variations in Antarctic sea ice. The Southern Annular Mode (also called the Antarctic Oscillation) is a term that describes the north-south position of the westerly wind belt that encircles Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. These winds are known variously as the “roaring 40s”, “furious 50s”, and


Susan Rice compares Bowe Bergdahl controversy to Benghazi uproar

Susan Rice, right, White House national security adviser, told CNN on Friday that she regrets “the information I was provided was wrong” on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier in captivity who was exchanged by the Obama administration for five Taliban operatives. Photo by REUTERS/Larry Downing It hasn’t been an easy week for Susan Rice, President Obama’s national security adviser. A day after the Obama administration completed the exchange of five Taliban operatives for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only U.S. service member held in captivity during the Afghan war, she said that the soldier had served with “honor and distinction.” That, despite a body of evidence suggesting Bergdahl had walked off his military outpost in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, raising the prospect that he went absent without leave or deserted his position. Both are crimes in the military. CNN’s Jim Acosta pressed her on this point in an interview Friday. It seems unlikely that the resulting comments will do much to quell the criticism. The video: Asked about her “honor and distinction” comment, Rice said that she understood “there has been a lot of discussion and controversy around this.” “But what I was referring to was the fact that this was a young man who volunteered to serve his country in uniform at a time of war,” she continued. “That, in and of itself, is a very honorable thing.” Rice has been accused of being wrong on the facts in the middle of a controversy before, most notably in the days after the deadly Sept. 11, 2011, attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya. A day after the attacks, President Obama said “no acts of terror” would ever shake U.S. resolve. Rice said a few days later on Sunday political shows that the White House believed the incident at Benghazi began as a protest to an Internet video mocking Islam, and then was “hijacked” by extremists in the area. The attackers are now believed to have launched a premeditated attacks, and to have been members of Ansar al-Sharia, a Libyan militia group. Three chapters of the group were added to the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations in January. Asked Friday about her past comments on Benghazi, Rice did not shy away from comparing the two controversies. “Similarly with Benghazi, as has been recounted on many occasions, I provided the best information that the U.S. government had


Town Square | Diplomat’s retreat for sale

(Courtesy of HomeVisit) The Forest Hills neighborhood of Northwest Washington is home to an eclectic mix of residences that offer privacy and peace The home at 3225 Ellicott St. NW, a former embassy residence and currently the home of William E. Kennard, who served as U.S. Kennard also is the former managing director of the Carlyle Group and former chairman of the FCC. The fieldstone manor house, built in 1923 by architect Arthur B. Heaton, includes five bedrooms and 5.5 baths. The three-quarters-of-an-acre For more information, contact Marilyn Charity, an agent at Washington Fine Properties, at 202-427-7553, marilyn.charity@wfp.com o D.C.-area renters getting more help Urban Igloo, a residential real estate resource that helps renters find apartments and rental Founded in D.C. in 2009 by Rick Gersten, Urban Igloo recently added real estate agents with local market knowledge to cover The company plans to expand its business in the future to Anne Arundel County and Reston. In addition to providing rental For more information, visit www.urbanigloo.com. (Courtesy of Peter Evans Photography) Forest Hills mansion comes alive for parties It’s easy to imagine Gatsby-esque parties at 2842 Chesterfield Place NW in Washington. The Forest Hills estate has glass Priced at $2.375 million, this 6,245-square-foot residence has four bedrooms, three full baths and two half baths. The main But it’s the 1,300-square-foot contemporary style great room and the lovely garden that make this property stand out. For more information on this Forest Hills home, contact realty agent Erich Cabe of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage at Tip of the week If you need to sell your home for less than you owe on your mortgage, you may want to see if your loan is owned by Fannie If so, let your listing agent know that Fannie Mae recently expanded the functionality of the HomePath for Short Sales Web The Web site, open to any real estate professional working on a short sale involving a Fannie Mae-backed loan, allows listing Over the next few months, the site will be expanded further to allow agents to negotiate and receive short sale approvals For more information, go to Michele Lerner is a freelance writer. To pass on a tip or news item, contact us at realestate@washpost.com and put “Town Square” in the subject line.


Seattle do-gooders just shot themselves in the foot

Seattle’s cloudy future (Courtesy of influxnaturalliving on Creative Commons) The Seattle City Council is very pleased with itself. Answering President Obama’s call to address what he has decided is “the defining issue of our time” – income inequality – the Council voted unanimously last week to raise Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. “This is a victory for our movement,” said council member Kshama Sawant, a socialist. “Fifteen in Seattle is just the beginning.” For the sake of low-wage workers, I hope not. Increasing the minimum wage increases the cost of employing minimum-wage workers. Because of this, many economists worry that a higher minimum wage will translate into fewer jobs for these workers, as businesses take steps to keep their payroll costs down. This debate usually takes place at the federal level. A recent poll of elite economics professors asked whether raising the federal minimum to $9 from its current value, $7.25, “would make it noticeably harder for low-skilled workers to find employment.” Thirty-four percent of the professors agreed with the statement, 32 percent disagreed, and 24 percent were uncertain. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office weighed in with a recent study of the effects of raising the federal minimum from its current value to $10.10 – as Obama and congressional Democrats want to do — and concluded that it would probably cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Seattle’s new $15 minimum wage is a whole lot more than $9 or $10.10 and therefore offers more reason to be concerned for low-wage workers trying to find jobs. It’s not just the high dollar value of Seattle’s new minimum that is troubling. The current minimum wage in the state of Washington is $9.32 per hour, so Seattle’s new minimum represents a whopping 61 percent increase. Roughly one-quarter of all Seattle workers earn less than $15 per hour. So what we’re talking about is a very large increase in the minimum price of labor for a very large share of Seattle’s existing workforce. This isn’t small beer. It is true that the new minimum will be slowly phased in — depending on the size of the business, the period will range from three to seven years. But wages for low-skilled workers have been stagnant or falling for years, so the long phase-in period probably won’t mitigate much of the bite. Another major source of concern is that only Seattle-based firms are affected.


Time’s up, barefoot runners. Make way for fat-soled running shoes.

runner, said the soft ride of the Hokas has revived his own running career after a knee injury had reduced him to three miles once a week. He believes the shoes can do the same for many people whose legs have taken a pounding, especially aging Baby Boomers like me, and others seeking a cushier feel while running. "Runners get hurt just as much as they ever did, and take just as much time off to recover… One could make the argument that [in the past 30 years] we really haven’t moved the ball down the road at all," Van Dine said. Of course, barefoot and minimalist shoes made similar claims that they could prevent injuries. They have definitely revived the running careers of some people and have passionate adherents. But they also were the subject of huge embarrassment last month when barefoot pioneer Vibram agreed to pay $3.75 million in refunds to purchasers after a class action lawsuit accused the company of making claims about its iconic FiveFingers shoe that it couldn't back up. (By the way, here's the web site where you can file a claim if you're owed a refund.) Over at Brooks, which is offering the thick-soled Transcend, Jon Teipen, senior product line manager, said "the reality is that most people weren't going to try to run barefoot... The majority of the market still likes cushion, still likes support, still likes a more substantial shoe. But the industry wasn't talking to them." He has a point. According to this excellent article in Running Times magazine last year, minimalist shoes comprise just 11 percent of the U.S. running shoe market, and only 4 percent if the Nike Free isn't included. Ultra-marathoners were the first to try the new shoes, which quickly became popular among them. According to Outside Magazine, a third of the 275 runners who finished the July 2013 Utah Speedgoat 50K were wearing Hokas. Van Dine believes that any negative reactions to the oversize shoe will go the way of initial sentiment toward oversize tennis racquets and golf clubs, which have become mainstream equipment in those sports. The company, now owned by Deckers Outdoor Corporation, which also makes Ugg boots and Teva sandals, sold $10 million worth of the shoes in 2013, and expects to sell $35 million this year and $100 million in the next couple of years, he said. "The minimalist thing has


Four things everyone should know about wartime sexual violence

understanding where — and helping us test theories of why — rape has occurred in recent conflicts. Efforts to mitigate sexual violence in future conflicts may be strengthened by holding accountable perpetrators of past crimes. Accomplishing this goal necessitates careful documentation and analysis of patterns of sexual violence, particularly because direct proof of command responsibility is often elusive. To that end, we have recently released the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict dataset, which tracks reports of seven forms of sexual violence (rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization/abortion, sexual mutilation and sexual torture) against noncombatant victims (both women and men) by all major armed groups involved in wars over a recent 20-year period. (The SVAC data include reports of sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups only, not interpersonal violence or violence by groups not related to the conflict, such as abuses by local police). For more details, please see this article, or the FAQ section of the SVAC dataset Web site.) Findings from these data, along with results from other work of ours, challenge some of the conventional wisdom on wartime sexual violence and may offer guidance to summit-goers as they consider solutions later this week. Among the important, and policy-relevant, patterns we find: 1. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are reported in many conflicts and by many armed groups — but not all. During the study period, 14 percent of the conflicts were characterized by reports of massive sexual violence, whereas 43 percent of conflicts had no reports of sexual violence. Turning from variation across conflicts to variation across groups within conflicts, we find that 42 percent of state armed groups were reported as perpetrators of sexual violence at some point during the study period, compared with only 24 percent of rebel groups and 17 percent of pro-government militias. Scholars have argued that this variation in and of itself is very hopeful news; the fact that some armed groups exercise restraint implies that sexual violence is not inevitable during wartime and that it can be effectively prevented. A key future area of research will be to better understand the features of those armed groups that perpetrate widespread rape versus those that are successful at preventing it — whether it is due to socialization, education, training or something else altogether. 2. State militaries are more likely to be reported as perpetrators of sexual violence than either


rebel groups or pro-government militias. Indeed, 42 percent of state militaries engaged in conflict were reported as perpetrators of sexual violence at some point during the study period, while only 24 percent of rebel groups and 17 percent of pro-government militias were. As we have argued elsewhere, this presents an opportunity for policymakers: Research suggests that states can be effectively shamed by international campaigns, and it is likely that states are more susceptible to such campaigns than are rebel groups. 3 The members of some armed groups engage in high levels of rape even though they were not ordered (even implicitly) to do so. To be sure, commanders ordered their combatants to rape civilians in some well-documented cases; common forms of strategic rape include cases of rape carried out during some (but not all) campaigns of ethnic cleansing and rape as sexual torture of prisoners. Widespread rape that is not ordered but is tolerated by commanders is best understood as a “practice.” Such commanders tolerate rape by their combatants because prohibition would mean disciplining otherwise-capable troops, as well as expending scarce resources on an issue that the commander does not see as serious, withholding what combatants see as “booty” of war — or because they themselves engage in rape. Groups that forcibly abduct new members often forge social cohesion through participation in gang rape. Of course, where commanders have effective control over troops, even if they did not order their combatants to rape, they are legally responsible if they knew or should have known of its occurrence. 4. Sexual violence by armed groups can continue to be reported into the “post-conflict” period, sometimes at very high levels. We collected data on reports of sexual violations by armed groups for the first five years that those groups were considered “inactive” (using the standard definition of no longer killing at least 25 people per year). We find that 21 percent of state actors, 13 percent of rebel groups and 5 percent of pro-government militias were reported to perpetrate acts of sexual violence after the groups were considered no longer active. Of these, 3 percent of the reports of sexual violence perpetrated by states, 6 percent of that perpetrated by rebels and 3 percent of that perpetrated by pro-government militias were at high or severe levels. This suggests that “conflict-related” sexual violence can continue even after the lethal violence of the conflict has


Steal this job: Beer brewer

worked for no pay — just experience, food and drink — for two years. A lot of what he did was grunt work — hauling bags of ingredients, milling malted barley. He later worked for two breweries in Ann Arbor, Mich., and came back to the D.C. area to work for Flying Dog Brewery (4607 Wedgewood Blvd., Frederick; 301-694-7899) in Frederick, Md. A friend introduced him to Skall, who was interested in starting a packaging brewery and had the business experience Hancock lacked. The two men raised $600,000 from 26 private investors, got Skall’s father, a lawyer, to do some paperwork and have never looked back. DC Brau was named the fifth-fastest growing brewery in the U.S. by business news site The Street in 2013. “It’s a good problem to have when you can’t brew enough beer,” Hancock says. Who Would Want This Job: Brewing also requires attention to detail, because the tanks that hold the beer must be squeaky-clean, lest they grow bacteria. “You can come up with great recipes in your head, and they could win medals or awards, but if you’re not keeping your brewery clean,” the beers won’t taste right, Hancock says. Brewing is more about technical prowess than natural talent, he says. So while a good sense of smell (and taste) can come in handy, even more important are neat-freak tendencies. How You Can Get This Job: As craft beer’s popularity rises, there are more opportunities for wannabe brewers. Consider finding an unpaid apprenticeship like Hancock. To get one, ask around at local brewpubs. Or you could start off at a packaging brewery in a low-level job, such as a technician on the bottling line, and work your way up. Or you could attend a brewing school or get a brewing certificate at a university. Hancock took a distance course from the Siebel Institute of Technology & World Brewing Academy in Chicago. If you want to start your own brewery, bone up on business skills, or find a market-savvy partner like Hancock did. And you’ll have to make a few sacrifices. “Be ready to take a severe pay cut, work long hours hunched over in a wet environment, and lift 55 pounds [of ingredients] repeatedly,” Hancock says. The payoff is in the pour. Hancock loves going to a restaurant and ordering a “physical, tangible” drink that he created. “That feeling never gets old,” he says.


Maryland road projects to watch this week

will split in Baltimore, the Capital Beltway will temporarily close overnights in Silver Spring and Cedar Lane is blocked in Bethesda. Construction projects in the the Baltimore and D.C. areas will mess with travel plans this week. In Baltimore, the traffic pattern on northbound Interstate 95 will change and a speed camera will be installed. On the Capital Beltway, all lanes in Silver Spring will be closed for 15-minute periods overnights. In Bethesda, a street just north of the medical center is blocked off for most of the summer. I-95 in Baltimore MDTA image shows the lane split on the northbound side of I-95. The split around the work zone between the Canton Caton Avenue on-ramp and the Fort McHenry Tunnel is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Monday and continue through mid-July. If you’re going to events in Baltimore, stay to the right of the split. Drivers in the left lane won’t be able to use exits 52 through 55. Those are the exits for Camden Yards, the Inner Harbor, Fells Point, downtown Baltimore and Fort McHenry. Beginning Tuesday, a speed camera will be deployed along the four-mile work zone on the northbound side. For the first 21 days, the camera unit will issue warning notices to the registered owners of vehicles going at least 12 mph over the 50 mph speed limit. After that, it’s $40 tickets. Be alert for other changes in this are through the summer. On June 20, for example, the ramp from southbound I-395 to southbound I-95 will be cut to a single lane for about two months. This is the ramp many drivers use to get from Camden Yards and Inner Harbor back to the D.C. area. Capital Beltway Drivers will begin to see work zone signs — and brake lights, too — as they approach Exit 28 (New Hampshire Avenue) from the outer loop side or Exit 30 (Colesville Road) from the inner loop side. Bethesda BRAC project During the closing on Cedar Lane, drivers will be directed to Strathmore Avenue/Knowles Avenue), Rockville Pike and Summit Avenue. They won’t be able to reach Elmhirst Parkway from Cedar Lane. Ride On bus Route 34, which takes passengers between the Wheaton and Medical Center Metro stations, will bypass Cedar Lane between Parkhill and Beach drives, skipping three stops in each direction. A map on the Ride On Web site shows the Route 34 detour.


Will this investigation ever end?

developer Jim Abdo is trying to remake Little Washington (Digger) D.C.’s “tax expenditures” add up to $3 billion in foregone revenue (WBJ) Capital Pride edges further into the corporate mainstream (Post) Wilson students counter-protest Westboro Baptist this morning (Post) During parade, Vince Gray reportedly tried to put Pride beads on a Westboro protester (@JustinCSnow) “If the D.C. Council does not approve the deal for a new D.C. United soccer stadium, the deal will die. D.C. United will leave. And Buzzard Point will languish for another decade.” (WBJ) Virginia Avenue Tunnel study is coming any day now (Dr. Gridlock) Acting DDOT chief on moveDC’s price tag: “We’re not going to adjust the vision based on today’s budget battles” (Housing Complex) Behold the libertarian pushback (Cato) Requiem for the paper farecard: “It’s a brilliantly made machine. For 1968.” (Post) Silver Line restrooms will be easier to find — but you’ll still need a station manager to let you in (Post) D.C. public school students “who are black, male, in foster care, homeless, or who have mental health needs” are more likely to be suspended or expelled (DCist) How to develop residential property in Georgetown without too much hassle (UrbanTurf) Stan Voudrie and Warren Williams will develop Scripture Cathedral site in Shaw (District Source) How Dutch cyclists and drivers manage to get along (Post) Capitol Heights man is shot to death early Friday on Buena Vista Terrace SE (Post) One dead after car plunges into Anacostia near Sousa Bridge (WRC-TV, Post) Man is shot and wounded in Saturday daytime shooting near Woodson HS (Post) Arrests made in multiple shooting early Sunday in NoMa (Post) Homeless man killed in Ivy City had studied at Colgate University, earned master’s degree (WJLA-TV) Wilson pool employee accused of rape has been fired but not charged (WRC-TV) Superior Court employee is seriously injured by dump truck outside courthouse (WUSA-TV) Ice cream truck driver is accused of robberies (Post) Toddler is found wandering alone near Barry Farm (D.C. Crime Stories) Help identify these persons of interest in Wednesday murder (Homicide Watch) An optimistic voice on the Corcoran breakup (Post op-ed) Mary’s Center courts a more affluent clientele with happy hour (WBJ) A new entrance for Navy Yard Metro station? (JDLand) Inside D.C.’s historic speakeasies (Smithsonian) Watch Arne Duncan school the Goodman League (YouTube) From the Prince’s lips: “If this happens this’ll be the next Le Diplomate in DC…” (PoPville)


Five numbers you need to know from the Veterans Affairs department audit

puts it, "Imposing this expectation on the field before ascertaining the resources required and its ensuing broad promulgation represent an organizational leadership failure." The addition of dozens of necessary syllables doesn't change the reality -- the VA shouldn't have promised it could get veterans appointments in 14 days because it never had the resources to do so. The demand isn't that surprising when you look at America's veteran population by age. Twenty-one percent of Americans over the age of 65 are veterans. The VA plans to publish data on wait times twice a month now and start contacting patients on wait lists to get them to the doctor as soon as possible. 2. 13 percent of VA schedulers were told by higher ups to input incorrect appointment requests to make wait times look shorter. The audit found at least one instance of falsified records at 76 medical centers. The audit adds, "In at least 2 clinics, respondents believed someone else (not a scheduler) was routinely accessing records and changing desired dates in order to improve performance measures." At 24 medical centers, schedulers reported that they were threatened or coerced into changing the appointment requests. At two audit sites, schedulers were punished for not falsifying appointment requests. The VA announced in the report that they plan to take action against employees who falsified records. 3. The report found that the biggest barrier to getting veterans medical care was a lack of open appointment slots with approved providers. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) are working on a bill that would let veterans facing long wait times go to out of network for health care providers. It would also provide about $500 million for the agency to hire additional medical personnel. Other reasons for wait times included a lack of staffers trained to schedule appointments, inadequate training of staffers and the complexities of the VA's computer scheduling system. Many schedulers are not using the computer system to track appointments -- making it nearly impossible to have an accurate system-wide account of scheduling. The report also signaled that calling veterans to remind them about upcoming appointments was something the VA was not doing enough. 4. The VA conducted 3,772 interviews to prepare the internal audit. Each interview lasted about 45 minutes. At each of the 731 medical centers, audit teams interviewed one person in leadership, like


Most Americans say Bergdahl release came at too high a price

FILE - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. (AP Photo/U.S. Army) Fifty-six percent of Americans say the U.S. paid too high a price to secure the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a new CBS News poll released Tuesday shows. Among veterans, the percentage saying the price was too high rises to 65 percent. Overall, a 45 percent plurality of Americans say they disapprove of the deal and 37 percent say they approve. Bergdahl's release from Taliban custody was secured last month in exchange for the release of five Taliban commanders who had been held at Guantanamo Bay. Some lawmakers have criticized the Obama administration -- both for not informing Congress in advance and of setting a precedent they say could put U.S. troops at risk in the future. The CBS News poll comes a day after a USA Today/Pew Research Center survey showed 43 percent of the public saying they disapprove of the deal and 34 percent saying it was the right thing to do. There is a partisan divide when it comes to opinions of the deal, the CBS News poll shows. While most Republicans say they disapprove of the deal, a majority of Democrats say they approve of it.


This is the way the world ends

complex, energy-intensive, neurobiologically robust life forms, such as fish, much less big-headed engineers. But let’s also ignore that on the grounds that once again it is inconvenient for my narrative. In my imaginary planet there is a civilization! Creatures swimming, singing, dancing, scooting around in submarines, building cities, holding big sporting events, partying in each other’s hot tubs (which are actually pockets of hot air). The neo-Europans have all kinds of new, nifty technologies, but they also have a conundrum. The ice is melting. Right? You see where I’m going. There are scientists who declare that the interior sea is getting hotter and melting the icy crust! And they say this is bad. They say this cannot continue. The neo-Europans must change their ways! But it’s too hard. So some folks say, no, wait, your science is all wrong. We’re not actually warming our sea, and the ice isn’t melting, and even if the ice is melting (pivoting in their science-doubting) it’ll all be fine, and someday we’ll be able to, you know, swim to the surface and stare at the stars and become surfers, etc. I worry about those icy worlds. And about the Earth-like, rocky worlds, too. And about this one, by the way. My guess — lacking any data — is that intelligent, technological life is very rare in the universe but that the number of planets (or habitats) with engineers and scientists is still more than one. You can do the Drake Equation yourself and come up with whatever result you want, since it’s mostly guesswork. I’m in the “functionally alone” camp, which doesn’t mean there’s no one else out there — just that we’re all scattered across a very large space. But here’s the point I’m slowly dog-paddling toward: Any intelligent, technological species will need to understand its habitat quickly and make adjustments in behavior lest the unintended consequences of technology render that world uninhabitable. I believe the climate-change debate, or something like it, is happening all over the universe — that it’s a phase every planet has to go through. Here on Earth this discussion should go beyond climate change, since there are other possible problems that could someday become urgent and disruptive on a global scale — say, the continued deterioration of the human microbiome due to overuse of antibiotics, or a global nuclear conflagration, or a terrorism event involving an exotic pathogen.


change


Got milk? From a cow or a plant?

Our milk doesn't just come from animals anymore. (June 2011 file photo by James Buck/The Washington Post) Just a few years ago, the term “milk” was synonymous with the stuff that came from cows. But now, the dairy market is awash in plant-based alternatives, made from soy, rice, almonds, coconut and hemp, driven largely by consumers’ hunger for low-calorie, low-sugar, lactose-free companions for their morning cereal and coffee. Milk alternatives control just eight percent of overall milk sales in the United States, but for the past few years, they've represented the fastest-growing part of the dairy market, according to Mintel, Inc., a Chicago-based research firm. Sales of milk alternatives rose to nearly $2 billion in 2013, up 30 percent since 2011, driven in large part by the popularity of almond milk. In that same time period, the entire milk category grew by just 1.8 percent, to $24.5 billion, according to Mintel. Non-dairy milk's growth is expected to continue outpacing dairy milk's at least through 2018. Plant-based alternatives can be a saving grace for anyone with food allergies or lactose intolerance, or those who follow vegan diets. (While the true prevalence of lactose intolerance is unknown, an estimated 12 percent of Americans suffer from the condition, according to the National Institutes of Health.) Probably the more powerful factor driving the popularity of milk substitutes is a consumer group that Sandy Krueger, executive and practice leader at IRI Worldwide, a Chicago-based market research firm, calls the “healthy chic” -- people who look at labels and are drawn to new products with attributes that promise to improve health and wellness. “There’s a sort of health halo” to plant-based milks, says Krueger. “There’s a general perception that they’re healthier than cow’s milk, and taste better.” (By Nate Parsons/The Washington Post) With the proliferation of new flavors and varieties – some 52 new milk-substitute products have been rolled out so far in 2014 -- the growth is sure to continue, she says. The nutrition profile of each milk substitute varies widely, so different products appeal to people with different health priorities, says Jessica Crandall, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. People counting calories might reach for almond milk, which has less than half the calories of a glass of skim milk, and no sugar. Those who want to boost protein intake may choose soy milk, which has 8 grams


We’ll never meet the real ET because of climate change

may be climate change. It is not that advanced civilizations always destroy themselves by over-heating their biospheres (although that is a possibility). Instead, because stars become brighter as they age, most planets with an initially life-friendly climate will become uninhabitably hot long before intelligent life emerges. The Earth has had four billion years of good weather despite our sun burning a lot more fuel than when the planet was formed. We can estimate the amount of warming this should have produced thanks to the scientific effort to predict the consequences of man-made greenhouse-gas emissions. These models predict that our planet should warm by a few degrees centigrade for each percentage increase in heating at Earth’s surface. This is roughly the increased heating produced by carbon dioxide at the levels expected for the end of the 21st century. (Incidentally, that is where the IPCC prediction of global warming of around three degrees Celsius comes from.) Over the past half-billion years, a time period for which we have reasonable records of Earth’s climate, the Sun’s surface temperature increased by four percent, and terrestrial temperatures should have risen by roughly 10 degrees Celsius. But the geological record shows that, if anything, on average temperatures fell. Simple extrapolations show that over the whole history of life, temperatures should have risen by almost 100 degrees Celsius. If that were true, early life must have emerged upon a completely frozen planet. Yet, the young Earth had liquid water on its surface. So what’s going on? Get Lucky The answer is that it’s not only the Sun that has changed. The Earth also evolved, with the appearance of land plants around 400 million years ago changing atmospheric composition and the amount of heat Earth reflects back into space. There has also been geological change with the continental area steadily growing through time as volcanic activity added to the land-mass. This too had an effect on the atmosphere and Earth’s reflectivity. Remarkably, biological and geological evolution have generally produced cooling, and this has compensated for the warming effect of our aging sun. There have been times when compensation was too slow or too fast, and the Earth warmed or cooled, but not once since life first emerged has liquid water completely disappeared from the surface. Our planet has therefore miraculously moderated climate change for four billion years. This observation led to the development of the Gaia hypothesis that


Americans have never had so few options in deciding what company makes their meat

Pepsi and Coca Cola, after all, control some 72% of the overall soda market. But meat is a different, and more dangerous game. Consumers are becoming increasingly more concerned with how their meat is produced. Part of that is born from a demand for more humane practices—the meat industry's malpractices are well documented—and part of that stems from a heightened awareness about what people are putting into their bodies—the meat industry has come under fire for both its questionable practices and potential for large-scale contamination. An ever-shrinking pool of options will only make it more difficult for consumers the fair opportunity to appropriately decide whom they do business with. Tyson Foods won the bidding war from Pilgrim's Pride in the food fight over Hillshire Brands. Tyson outbid Pilgrim’s Pride offer by about $1 billion to seal the deal. The great American beef consolidation So why has the beef industry tended toward near monopolies? A healthy appetite for the kind of acquisition that Tyson is about to make by purchasing Hillshire, which makes Jimmy Dean sausages, ball park hot dogs, packaged deli meats, and a horde of other popular, branded meat products. Tyson is reportedly offering to buy Hillshire for $7.7 billion. “We want to buy this business for what it can become, not just for what it is now," Tyson chief executive Donnie Smith told investors in a conference call. What Hillshire can become is the latest vertical integration by the nation's largest meat company. Unlike Tyson, which primarily packages the sort of unbranded meats lapped up by restaurants, cafeterias, and supermarkets around the US, Hillshire instead focuses on the end product—branded, value-added, packaged meats. Think pepperoni, sausage, and hot dogs—most of which just so happens to be made with Tyson's, or one of its competitors', unbranded offerings. The move is merely par for course, since Tyson has been gobbling up its meat suppliers, buyers, and competitors for decades, and, in doing so, forcing other beef behemoths to do the same. Brazil-based meat packer JBS, the second largest beef provider in the US, now churns out 3.3 million pounds of supermarket-ready meat each day. "Companies like Tyson are swallowing up all the independent brands," Leonard said. "It's not only true of beef, but poultry, too." Tyson, mind you, was the king of chicken before it usurped the American beef throne as well. Tyson is basically forcing its competitors to mimic


This is the amazing design for NASA’s Star Trek-style space ship, the IXS Enterprise

mind-boggling. An over-simplified explanation is that the concept seeks to exploit a “loophole” in Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity that allows travel faster than the speed of light by expanding space-time behind the object and contracting space-time front of it. Io9 explains more: Essentially, the empty space behind a starship would be made to expand rapidly, pushing the craft in a forward direction — passengers would perceive it as movement despite the complete lack of acceleration. White speculates that such a drive could result in “speeds” that could take a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri in a mere two weeks — even though the system is 4.3 light-years away. White, whose title is “Advanced Propulsion Theme Lead for the NASA Engineering Directorate,” has mathematically calculated a plausible way to accomplish this using far less energy than required by the original theory, which was proposed in 1994 by physicist Miguel Alcubierre. His concept requires using large rings that surround the spacecraft (which you can see in the image above) to greatly reduce the amount of energy needed to warp space-time in front of and behind the spacecraft. “The rings are most important as they will form the Warp bubble,” Rademaker said in his e-mail. “The way they are designed now will reduce the energy requirement needed to form the bubble. (By quite a large factor.) Also we tried to fill up as much space within the rings, it’s expensive to leave that open or unused.” White and his team at NASA’s Eagleworks Labs are now working to create a “proof of concept” for this idea. So how quickly can this all become a reality? According to White, in an interview with i09, proving that the math can become a reality in the lab is the first and probably most important step in the process: What White is waiting for is existence of proof — what he’s calling a “Chicago Pile” moment — a reference to a great practical example. “In late 1942, humanity activated the first nuclear reactor in Chicago generating a whopping half Watt — not enough to power a light bulb,” he said. “However, just under one year later, we activated a ~4MW reactor which is enough to power a small town. Existence proof is important.” Faster than Light: Warp Drive - SpaceVision 2013 Rademaker’s design is posted in his Flickr account, and we’ve included the images with his permission:


Was it ‘crazy’ for this scientist to re-create a bird flu virus that killed 50 million people?

Yes, there is a danger, but it’s not arising from the viruses out there in the animals, it’s arising from the labs of grossly ambitious people.” A virologist at the renowned Pasteur Institute in Paris was similarly fretful. “It’s madness, folly,” Simon Wain-Hobson explained to the Guardian. “It shows profound lack of respect for the collective decision-making process we’ve always shown in fighting infections. If society, the intelligent lay-person, understood what was going on, they would say, ‘What the F are you doing?'” What the F he is doing, Kawaoka claims, is trying to alert people to how easily another pandemic could occur. He said the laboratories he works with have top-notch security and the critical researchers “do not understand how highly regulated this work is.” “This is information for those making decisions about surveillance and pandemic preparedness,” explained Kawaoka, who was ensnared in another controversy in 2012 when the American scientific advisory panel said key details in a study he did on the bird flu should be censored to keep terrorists from creating a biological weapon. (The panel later dropped its objections.) Such dramas nonetheless lay bare one of the defining questions of this scientific epoch: Just because science can do something, should it? Outbreaks of disease continue to saturate the globe. In West Africa, Ebola has killed more than 220 people in less than three months. In Saudi Arabia, Middle East respiratory syndrome has killed 282 since 2012. Science, some researchers contend, should do what it can to help. Still, countervailing studies posit the risk of such work is far greater than any potential benefit. “Risk evaluations surrounding biomedical research have not kept pace with scientific innovations in methodology and application,” Marc Lipsitch wrote earlier this year in Plos Medicine. Even by “conservative estimates,” he said, if 10 labs similar to Kawaoka’s performed high-risk experiments in the next 10 years, it “would run nearly a 20 percent risk of resulting in at least one laboratory-acquired infection, which, in turn, may initiate a chain of transmission.” Lipsitch expounded on those ideas in an interview with the Guardian. “I am worried that [Kawaoka’s work] signals a growing trend to make transmissible novel viruses willy-nilly, without strong public health rationale. This is a risky activity, even in the safest labs. Scientists should not take such risks without strong evidence that the work could save lives, which this paper does not provide.”


How Starbucks is using your crummy smartphone battery to boost its business

Starbucks is bringing wireless charging stations to all of the national coffee chain's 7,000-plus stores. The plan, announced Thursday in conjunction with Duracell Powermat, which makes the wireless charging stations, is to install some 100,000 charging stations — roughly 13 per store — in the coming few years, Scott Eisenstein, global vice president of communications for Powermat, said in an interview. Starbucks has been testing the new technology in both Boston and San Jose since late 2012. San Francisco will be the first new city to have the devices — Starbucks is committed to installing them in every one of that city's stores by the end of the year — followed by other major markets next year and finally the rest of its national branches, which will have them by the end of 2016. The charging stations, which look like coasters and will be found on tables and bars, will work by magnetic induction. Customers will be given small reusable rings that they can attach to their mobile devices to enable their use. The rings look like this: Starbucks customers can expect the stations to replenish their battery just as quickly as their own standard chargers. "The Powermat charges phones as fast as any traditional cable," Eisenstein assured. Powermat's wireless charging technology isn't the only one on the market, but it's vying to become the only relevant one. The company has been working to develop a charging standard across multiple phone providers—part of that effort includes the formation of a not-for-profit called Power Matters Alliance, which companies like AT&T and Sony have joined. Powermat's wireless charging technology is still far from mainstream, but many feel that the entry of a player as powerful as Starbucks, which will help flaunt the new devices in front of millions, is exactly the kind of exposure needed to push it into the limelight. But the unleashing of wireless mobile chargers is, of course, great for Starbucks, too. On the one hand, the swanky new charging stations simply mark an improvement in the customer experience offered by the coffee chain. The coffee giant used free WiFi, which it began offering back in 2010, as a means of differentiating itself from its competition. While other coffee houses may follow suit, much as they did with WiFi, and install wireless charging stations, Starbucks will already have earned itself the upper hand by association. Now a caffeinated beverage,


Elon Musk: Take our Tesla patents, please!

Customers and journalists examine a Tesla Model S sedan at an April 22 event in Beijing. (Ng Han Guan/AP) Tesla Motors announced Thursday that is making the patents for its technology available to potential competitors, hoping to inspire innovation in the electric car market. "Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology," Tesla founder and chief operating officer Elon Musk said in a blog post. Musk also described a personal shift on the patent issue. "When I started out with my first company, Zip2, I thought patents were a good thing and worked hard to obtain them," he wrote. But, Musk said, he quickly realized "receiving a patent really just meant that you bought a lottery ticket to a lawsuit." Tesla, he said, felt compelled to patent their technology at first -- fearing that more established auto manufacturers would overwhelm the company. But that wasn't the case, said Musk. "The unfortunate reality is the opposite: electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn’t burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales. " Musk also cited environmental concerns. "Given that annual new vehicle production is approaching 100 million per year and the global fleet is approximately 2 billion cars, it is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis," he said. "Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the world’s factories every day." Musk has hinted at wanting to do something different with the car company's patents in the past, and rumors swirled earlier this week that the company would share patents related to its charging technology. But this isn't the first time Musk, who is also the man behind SpaceX, has open-sourced transportation technology plans. Following a month of hype last year, he released plans for a speculative form transportation system dubbed the "hyperloop," saying anyone was free to pursue its development because he was too busy. Tesla delivered 22,477 vehicles in 2013 and has said it expects to sell more than 35,000 this year. Musk has sought to boost sales with free recharging stations, leases and guarantees of resale value. A May 7 letter to shareholders revealed the car


Audit details problems with federal background-checks

Questionable work, poor oversight and lack of training have weakened background checks for federal employees and contractors, according to a recent report from the Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general. Federal auditors determined that OPM, which oversees U.S. government background checks, must strengthen its controls over the firms that conduct screenings. Concerns about federal background checks increased last year after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked sensitive information about the government’s electronic surveillance programs and Navy contractor Aaron Alexis killed 12 people in the Washington Navy Yard shooting. A police officer during the Washington Navy Yard shooting rampage in September. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post) The Pentagon determined that the government missed opportunities to restrict Alexis’s access to military installations, despite warning signs that he was mentally unstable. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in January saying that the support-services firm USIS, which handled most of the government’s background checks, filed more than 660,000 cases without properly reviewing them. Lawmakers have criticized OPM for allowing its contractors to review their own screenings. In a statement on Thursday, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who heads the Senate Financial and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee, described improper background checks as “nothing short of a threat to our national security.” She said the government needs to tighten its controls over the system. OPM Director Katherine Archuleta said in a statement Thursday: “I remain deeply committed to ensuring the integrity and efficacy of our program and products, which is why OPM has enacted a number of reforms in the months since the cases analyzed in this audit were processed.” OPM announced in February The agency has also said it established a new internal team to audit contractors’ performance, in addition to increasing the number of inspections it performs and implementing an automated tracking tool to ensure that reviewers meet investigative standards before closing cases. The inspector general’s analysis looked at the processes OPM and its contractors used for reviewing background checks and laid out recommendations for improving the system. USIS declined to comment on the audit Thursday. The other two firms have not responded to requests for remarks. Below are some highlights from the report, which was released June 4. (See the full document at the bottom of this article, or click here if you have trouble viewing it). USIS claimed to be working impossibly fast The report said at least two USIS employees


New Columbia Distillers is turning DC Brau into … something

John Uselton of New Columbia Distillers with two cans of DC Brau, which were poured into the still behind him. (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post) Peer inside the bubbling copper still at New Columbia Distillers' Ivy City facility and you expect to see a mash of winter wheat being turned into some lovely Green Hat Gin. But on Thursday, the elixir cooking away was beer. DC Brau beer, to be exact, being distilled into, well, something. When the seasons change, explains DC Brau co-founder Brandon Skall, his brewery's canning line acts up. In the last week, roughly 65 cases of canned beer were sealed while only half or two-thirds full. "It's perfect beer, but the cans are just too shallow to go to the market," Skall says. The brewery staff prepared to get rid of the beer, but "it breaks my heart to just dump it down the drain," Skall says. Then he had a brainstorm. "I'd heard about people who distilled with beer, so I called John [Uselton, the owner of New Columbia Distillers] and asked him if we could do something with it." Uselton is used to making gin. He had never distilled using beer as a base instead of a grain mash, but he was intrigued. So on Thursday morning, the DC Brau crew brought over the spare beer – about 65 percent Corruption IPA, with the rest a mix of El Hefe Speaks! hefeweizen and Public Pale Ale – and cracked the hundreds of cans open by hand, pouring them into New Columbia's copper still. After hours of running through the column still, Uselton and his partner and father-in-law, Michael Lowe, had a clear, potent white dog spirit. Checking in at 160 proof, it's hot and fiery, but with a noticeable beer flavor of toasted malt and soft caramel. ("I get some of that biscuit character from the Corruption," Skall says.) The New Columbia distillers expects to eventually produce around 15 gallons of the DC Brau spirit, although they haven't figured out what they're going to do with it. After it's blended, it may become an unaged white whiskey, or it may be put into oak barrels and aged like an eau de vie, which means it wouldn't be ready for anywhere from 4 to 10 months. "Right now, I'm trying to figure out how this gets classified," Lowe says. "We probably can't call it a whiskey


Soon, you might be able to charge your dead phone with your clothes

the garment moves, the movement of their clothes can be captured and channelled into recharging the battery where it can be stored. The advanced fabric is woven from special conductive fibres made by coating conductive metal layers onto textiles, such as wool or cotton. At the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology researchers have developed a wearable device that can convert heat into an electrical current to charge a battery. The device is made from glass fibres and is flexible, thin and lightweight as well as relatively efficient at generating power. A similar project at the University of Southampton is finding ways to print conductive film onto fabric using rapid ink jet and screen printing processes. The film converts movement and heat made by our bodies into electricity which can be used to power personal devices. You may have noticed a problem: batteries aren’t flexible. So scientists have had to come up with batteries that flex and move. In the US, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois created a battery which can be stretched to three times its normal size to make them softer and more comfortable. Powering innovation These new batteries — new ways to power small, portable devices — have immediate applications in the military. They can help reduce the amount of batteries soldiers carry for computers, phones and other electronic devices. Indeed these military applications are a big driver for academic research into new solutions. In a market which is coming to rely more and more heavily on electronic devices, there is a demand for more sustainable energy use and decreasing the amount of time spent plugging in and charging up. At the moment though, these new technologies are too costly for everyday users. The next step in mainstreaming this technology will thus depend on finding ways to make wearable energy storage and harvesting more cost effective, straightforward and attractive products. Researchers have a way to go before they find exactly the right material and product that can bend to and endure our everyday lives, wash it off, and look like something we would want to carry around, and it may be that commercial research partnerships facilitate this development. But given the number of groups, companies and individuals with an interest in solving the problem, it is probably only a matter of time. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


What underage drinkers drink when they binge drink

people is highly prevalent, with 67 percent of all drinks consumed by youth aged 13 to 20 done so as part of binge drinking episodes. And their brand preferences are clear: Leading the charge is Anheuser-Busch's Bud light, which nearly 14 percent of those surveyed reported having drunk in excess at least once, followed by Jack Daniel's bourbons, which some 7 percent reported having drunk, Smirnoff malt beverages, which 6.8 percent reported having drunk, Budweiser, which 6.5 percent reported having drunk, and Coors Light, for which the percentage was 6.1 percent. The 25 most cited brands are an eclectic group of beers, vodkas, whiskeys, rums, malt beverages, and even cognacs. The list of the most popular alcohol brands among America's heavy-drinking youth might appear somewhat disjointed at first glance. Some of them, after all, are difficult to comprehend—Jack Daniel's bourbons, for one, is significantly more expensive than other lower shelf whiskeys, and yet ranks as the second most popular brand across all spirits and beers. But there's actually a reasonably clear thread that could be tying them all together: millions upon millions of dollars in marketing. "Why are these brands the most popular? Is there something in their marketing? There could be messages in their marketing efforts that are encouraging the use of these not just by youths but also in excess," Siegel said. "We need to take a closer look at the marketing practices of these larger brands." The top 25 brands accounted for over 46 percent of all binge episodes across the nearly 900 alcohol brands included in the study. Alcohol use among middle and high school students has been falling in recent years, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but a large swath of high school students are still illegally finding and downing their fair share of booze, and a surprisingly high percentage of those are doing so excessively—roughly 51%, according to the study. What's more, underage drinking is still tied to hundreds of thousands of hospital visits each year. Currently, national and state-level policies aimed at curbing underage drinking are more focused on the point of purchase and consumption than on the time of potential indoctrination that precedes them. A deeper delve into what drives underage and excessive drinking, as well as the combination of the two, could help inform sounder policies and restrictions on marketing practices that encourage both illegal and irresponsible imbibing.


How high schoolers use pot, in three maps

tracks all kinds of risky behaviors among the nation’s children. Among its other conclusions are that rates of teen drinking, smoking and fighting have declined. More than 13,000 high school students voluntarily and anonymously responded to the survey last spring, with parental permission. Data for some states was unavailable in 2003, 2013 or both, and males across the board and across all states reported higher rates of pot use than females. Tried pot before the age of 13: 8.6 percent Slightly more than 1 in 12 high schoolers last year reported having tried marijuana before their 13th birthday, according to the data. New Mexico was home to the highest rate by far. There, 17.3 percent reported trying marijuana that young. Slightly more than 1 in 10 reported trying pot as a youth in four other states: Mississippi, Alaska, Hawaii and Tennessee. Rates were below 1 in 20 in Utah and Idaho. In no state was the rate last year statistically higher than a decade earlier, according to CDC’s estimations. In 15 states, the 2003 rate was higher in a statistically significant way. The rate was statistically no different in 13 states. Used marijuana at least once in 30 days before survey: 23.4 percent Nearly 1 in 4 high schoolers reported smoking pot within the 30 days before they were asked. Exactly one in four high school boys reported smoking pot recently, while 21.9 percent of females reported the same. Rates were highest — greater than 1 in 4 — in Delaware, Vermont, Connecticut and New Mexico. In New Mexico, 27.8 percent of high school respondents reported recently smoking pot, more than in any other state. Rates were lowest, below 15 percent, in Kansas, Nebraska and Utah. Just 7.6 percent of Utah high schoolers reported smoking marijuana within the past 30 days. In nine states the rate was higher in 2003 than last year, in a statistically significant way. In 21 states, there was no statistical difference. Ever used marijuana: 40.7 percent Just over 2 in 5 high schoolers reported having tried marijuana. Rates were higher than the national average in seven states, with Arizona being home to the most high schoolers who have tried pot: 43.3 percent. The rate was lowest in Utah, where 16.8 percent of high schoolers reported trying marijuana. Twelve states had higher rates in 2003, while 13 showed no difference between that year and last year.


We don’t need to think big about climate change. We need to think small.

I’ve been researching the effects of climate change on ecosystems for 15 years. Even still, I was shocked by the news, earlier this spring, that much of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet will collapse. Within two centuries, melt water released from the glaciers could raise sea levels by up to 10 feet, scientists say. The potential rise is equivalent to, as one of them said, a permanent Hurricane Sandy storm surge. Recently, I teamed up with environmental researchers from six universities to explore the potential for “climate engineering” — large-scale strategies to reduce global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or reducing solar input to Earth. We spent the past two years working on the first scholarly attempt to rank these approaches, to see if we could find solutions that offer real hope to “engineer” our way away from human-induced climate change. We looked at technical feasibility, cost, ecological risk, public opinion, capacity to regulate and ethical concerns. And — at least so far — we can’t engineer away climate change. Our findings showed that the most effective way is to reduce carbon emissions through fuel conservation, increased energy efficiency and switching to alternative low-carbon fuels. Together, these steps offer the most promise of diminishing the nine gigatons of carbon dioxide being released each year. Best of all, technologies to take these steps already exist. So why aren’t we going full force to implement emissions reductions? Certainly, significant economic restructuring would need to happen. There are political and economic hurdles to shifting our energy infrastructure, and consumers get cranky about being told what kind of car to drive. Another underlying issue is that people like to fix problems — not do less. However, as our study indicated, what’s needed is the hard, unsexy work of reducing emissions. And while some approaches to climate engineering hold promise, their benefits are mostly supplemental. The best, lowest-risk strategy to complement emissions reductions is helping nature to sequester carbon through biological means. Plants already convert atmospheric carbon into solid materials. Curbing the destruction of forests and promoting growth of new forests could tie up as much as 1.3 gigatons of carbon in plant material annually. Deforestation now adds one gigaton of carbon to the atmosphere each year — but stopping it requires alternative sources of economic growth in developing countries. Improved soil management is also promising. Over time, agricultural tilling has led


A simple question, with an increasingly complicated answer.

Welcome to CapBiz A.M., your morning primer on business news with a focus on Washington. Homeless start-ups: No slowing down: Cyber pattern Telecommuting on steroids: Shooting for the stars: Stepping into new space: Navy’s finest: Moving abroad: U.S. medical device maker Medtronic Inc. on Sunday announced plans to buy Irish rival Covidien PLC for $42.9 billion, with the former moving its executive headquarters to Ireland. Why? Look no further than the two nations’ tax rates. (REU) An expensive entree: Priceline has announced plans to purchase OpenTable for $2.6 billion in a deal that would let the travel booking company do for restaurant reservations much of what it does for hotel bookings. (AP) On Wall Street Stocks suffered their first weekly loss in a month last week. All eyes will be on Janet Yellen Wednesday at the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s Open Markets Committee’s upcoming meeting. (Get the latest updates here) What’s on tap today Treasury International Capital report (9:00 a.m.) Industrial production report (9:15 a.m.) Housing market index (10:00 a.m.) Help: Follow: Extra: Moving abroad: An expensive entree:


Forget touchscreens, 3D holographic displays are coming

the possibility of chips small enough to be incorporated seamlessly into eyeglasses and other wearables, or to turn a car’s windshield into a heads-up display. “The highest resolution images, of course, are holograms,” El-Ghoroury adds. “And because we can pack so many pixels, it’s enough to create these kinds of images.” Ostendo recently demonstrated the technology to The Wall Street Journal. During the test, a prototype comprised of six chipsets laid together was combined to generate a 3-D hologram of green dice spinning suspended in the air. The paper described the object and its movement as “consistent, irrespective of the position of the viewer.” You can see a shot of the image below: (Ostendo) Getting the resolution of a holographic image to where it looks comparable to objects rendered on two-dimensional screens, however, would require a beam that generates three times as many pixels. To get there, El-Ghoroury’s team has been testing a method for making the pixels smaller, and with further refinement, expects to have a fully capable version of the chipset for the consumer market by 2016. In the meantime, they’ve also tackled some of the concerns consumers often have with any new feature, mainly the likelihood of increased power consumption and costs. “It’s a fairly low-power chip and, yes, it will add to the cost of the device,” he says. “But the benefits are that apps will be able to do more and users can do more. And since the whole ecosystem has more to gain more, there should be enough support all around to make it happen.” At the very least, the company has financial the backing of deep-pocketed industry heavyweights such PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who’s contributed to the $90 million in total venture capital funding. They also received $38 million from government agencies. Investor Moran Bar-Kochva of New York-based venture firm Unison Capital envisions the Quantum Photonic Imager chipsets eventually having the sort of impact that more recent mainstream advancements like LCDs did at the turn of the century. “It’s breakthroughs like this that later led to the thin modern laptops and flatscreen TVs we are used to today.” he says. “So it’s not hard to imagine a day when it’s incorporated into something like a pair of Prada glasses and used to generate things like a 3D map to show you where you need to go as you can walk down Fifth Avenue.”


Who’s ready to be the next commander in chief?

not a leader looking to bolster the executive branch he may seek to lead. As if to underscore the importance of executive wartime powers, we also learned about the actions of an American-turned-terrorist. The New York Times reported on a recruitment video: Although the recruitment video has circulated among extremist groups for some days, intelligence analysts now believe the man with the blurred face is a 22-year-old from Florida who blew himself up last month in a suicide attack on Syrian government forces that killed 37, according to senior American government officials. The man, Moner Mohammad Abusalha, who took his own life in a truck bombing mission, is one of roughly 100 Americans who have tried to travel to Syria to fight alongside Islamic extremists, or who have actually done so. American officials express deep concerns that the video may inspire others to follow his path. The Times opines (albeit in a “news” report) that “there was little the United States could do to stop him because there are no American or allied forces in Syria, and certainly none who could have taken action inside the militant organization that Mr. Abusalha had joined, according to government officials.” But with adequate intelligence (impossible if we dismantle or shackle programs like the NSA data collection programs) and with drone technology, we can locate and kill terrorists who have taken up arms against the U.S. This is precisely why the far left and right’s aversion to drones – based on a misreading of the 14th Amendment’s application to wartime – is so untenable and dangerous. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has made his views clear about drones — he thinks the Constitution applies overseas to Americans engaged in war with the West. But what about Hillary Clinton and other 2016 contenders? They should let us know whether, if they had Abusalha in their sights, they would act on intelligence and use of drone weaponry to prevent a mass killing. While he missed the mark with his drone-targeting legislation, Rubio showed presidential-caliber leadership on Iraq with an impressive floor speech. Arguing that we must first secure our own personnel and implore the Iraqi government to crack down on corruption and repair its breach with Sunnis, he nevertheless was candid about our responsibilities: [T]he U.S. must continue to provide lethal assistance to the extent possible to help these Iraqi forces, particularly those concentrated in Baghdad, to


LeVar Burton on ‘Reading Rainbow,’ the future of ‘Star Trek’ and why Google Glass freaks him out

me and continues to be to me. And they have all, without exception, said an immediate, unhesitating yes. And I love that about my friends. It’s hard for me to ask for help. It was a very difficult to publicly ask for money for "Reading Rainbow," actually. It was not easy. And once we made the decision to go ahead and use the crowdfunded method, for financing our growth, there was no looking back. Why was that such a difficult decision? To me, it seems very logical. As you say, you have two generations of adults who grew up with it. Well, in hindsight, it seems very logical. But, you know, I am the steward of the brand now. This company, RRKidz, was created to carry that stewardship forward. On a business level, it was risky taking a 30-year old platinum brand and asking very publicly for financial support. Had it gone horribly wrong, it could have meant the end of the brand. Because we’re a Washington audience, I’m interested to know if there are other technology and policy issues that you are interested in sharing an opinion about. Going forward, bandwidth is certainly going to be an issue for classrooms. And that’s something we’ll need to work together on in a public-private partnership. I really believe that the model going forward, the sustainable models, is one where we do not expect the business sector to bear all the burden and we do not expect government to bear all the burden. But that it is a partnership. It is a joint venture. And when you talk about bandwidth and broadband, are you talking about in schools, particularly? What do you think about programs to help students on lunch assistance programs to get broadband at home? Well, let’s start with schools. Because if you come from a family that has no ability to access these technologies, your child is more likely, then, to have access at school. Really shifting gears here, I have two more, off-topic questions. One is to ask you about what you think about Google Glass, as sort of the original man with the wearable tech, what do you see as the potential of wearable tech and Google Glass? I’m a big fan of technology of all sorts. And I’ve been surprised at my own reaction to wearable tech, certainly where Glass is concerned. I was very excited


classrooms. And that’s something we’ll need to work together on in a public-private partnership. I really believe that the model going forward, the sustainable models, is one where we do not expect the business sector to bear all the burden and we do not expect government to bear all the burden. But that it is a partnership. It is a joint venture. And when you talk about bandwidth and broadband, are you talking about in schools, particularly? What do you think about programs to help students on lunch assistance programs to get broadband at home? Well, let’s start with schools. Because if you come from a family that has no ability to access these technologies, your child is more likely, then, to have access at school. Really shifting gears here, I have two more, off-topic questions. One is to ask you about what you think about Google Glass, as sort of the original man with the wearable tech, what do you see as the potential of wearable tech and Google Glass? I’m a big fan of technology of all sorts. And I’ve been surprised at my own reaction to wearable tech, certainly where Glass is concerned. I was very excited about Google Glass, certainly very interested in it. And then when I encountered it for the first time, my first question was, “Well, are you recording me?” So the issue of discernment and privacy comes up for me. And I just believe that we will need to do a much better job of being transparent, no pun intended, in how we interface with these technologies before they reach critical mass. I believe there’s just way too much skepticism still. And the first adopters are really taking the brunt for all of us in terms of being the first wave of those who are getting this first response that, certainly, surprised me. As much a fan as I am of technology, my first reaction was one of self-preservation. Finally, what would you like to see come about in the future for "Star Trek," now that it's been rebooted? I’d love for Gene’s hopeful vision of humanity’s outcome to return. I’d love to see some of the core values of "Trek," of "Star Trek," come into these new movies. That would be very cool for me; that would be the best of both worlds:terrific entertainment, wonderful action pictures with values that "Star


Meet Ahmed Abu Khattala, an alleged ringleader of the Benghazi attack

memorably described as drinking a strawberry frappe in a New York Times correction.) Few confirmed photographs of him exist. During the 2011 uprising against Gaddafi, he became a military leader, forming a small Islamist militia called Obeida Ibn al-Jarra — a group that gained notoriety for its alleged involvement in the killing of rival rebel leader Abdul Fattah Younis. Abu Khattala, widely thought to have links to al-Qaeda and openly opposed to the United States, came to ally himself to Ansar al-Sharia — Partisans of Islamic Law — a militia that espouses an extremely conservative Salafist strain of Islam. Other groups bearing its name later appeared in Libya and Tunisia. The evening of Sept. 11, 2012, brought an unprecedented level of scrutiny to Islamist groups in Benghazi. That night, Islamist militias attacked the U.S. diplomatic mission in the city, then assaulted a nearby CIA compound early the next morning. The chaotic assault left the diplomatic post in flames and resulted in the deaths of Stevens and three other Americans. To this day, the attacks are a controversial topic in U.S. politics. Abu Khattala has always denied involvement in the Benghazi attacks, but U.S. officials have repeatedly pointed the finger at him and Ansar al-Sharia. In August, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed charges against him. Abu Khattala has also been named a “specially designated global terrorist," allowing officials to freeze his financial assets and bar American citizens and companies from doing business with him. Multiple journalistic sources have linked him to the attacks: A long 2013 investigation by the New York Times referenced a number of witnesses who placed Abu Khattala at the scene during the attack on the diplomatic post and said he appeared to be directing it. Attempts to capture Abu Khattala or others suspected of involvement stalled, however, and became a source of frustration. “He’s as free as a bird,” a U.S. intelligence official told The Post's Adam Goldman and Sari Horwitz in 2013. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said then that the United States had not "adequately resourced or operationally planned to remove Khattala or those involved in the Libyan 9/11 attacks." Abu Khattala appeared to revel in his freedom, giving numerous interviews to American reporters. “He seemed to be confident,” CNN reporter Arwa Damon said after interviewing him last year. “His demeanor most certainly [was] not


D.C. writer wins $25,000 PEN/Bellwether Prize

Ron Childress, author of “And West is West.” Washington writer Ron Childress has won the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. The $25,000 prize, which is awarded every other year, goes to an author of an unpublished novel “that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships.” Founded by Barbara Kingsolver in 2000, the prize also includes something potentially more valuable: a publishing contract with Algonquin Books in Chapel Hill, N.C. Childress accepted the Bellwether award Tuesday night at a party in New York. His winning manuscript, called “And West is West,” addresses both the recent financial crisis and the war on terror. It tells the story of an Air Force drone operator in Nevada and a Wall Street programmer who develops a way to profit from military crises abroad. In a statement released before the party, the judges said, “By taking us into the lives of these and other characters, ‘And West Is West’ reveals how the lower-order participants in corrupt systems take the fall when things go badly. Even more so, it’s about the impossibility of steering clear of corruption both on Wall Street and in the military.” Childress, the first Washington resident and the first man to win the Bellwether prize, used to run a marketing company with his wife, the artist Sondra Arkin. He has written four previous novels, but never got them published. “I was more interested in the writing process than the part when you have to go out and get an agent and all the other stuff,” he says by phone from his home near Dupont Circle. When a writer friend inspired him to submit “And West Is West” to the Bellwether Prize, he never dreamed that he’d win; he just hoped for some helpful advice. “This is the only contest I’ve ever entered,” he says. “I thought if I send this and somebody reads it and gives me some commentary, I could legitimately get an agent. And then Barbara Kingsolver called me.” The plot of his winning novel stems directly from recently history and is based on the work of relatively new professionals: drone operators who can strike targets on the other side of the world and Wall Street “quants” who compute algorithms for high-speed traders. “We were so saturated during the middle Obama years with the drones and the quants that I thought those


Leadership lessons from science

The barred spiral galaxy M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel, is seen in a NASA Hubble Space Telescope mosaic released January 9, 2014. NASA/Handout via Reuters France A. Córdova Córdova spoke about her experiences and her current role leading the NSF with Tom Fox, a guest writer for On Leadership and vice president for leadership and innovation at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. Fox also heads up their Center for Government Leadership. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Q. What drew you to the world of science? A. Q. What are some of the lessons you learned as chief scientist at NASA? A. I also gained insights from working with other agencies, scientific societies and the national academies. We considered issues ranging from rebuilding NSF’s South Pole research station to cross-agency public communication of science. Q. What are your goals for the National Science Foundation? Credit: Sandy Schaeffer/NSF A. Q. What are some workforce challenges that you are facing? A. Q. What can the federal government do to attract scientific and technical talent? A. Q. Who are some of your leadership role models? A. Read also: What astronauts know about leadership Like On Leadership? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


David Petraeus issues warning about U.S. military involvement in Iraq

Gen. David Petraeus appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a June 2010 confirmation hearing for his nomination to be the top U.S. commander of the war in Afghanistan. Considered one of the brightest military minds in the world, he issued a stark warning Wednesday about the United States getting involved in ongoing fighting in Iraq. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) The Army general who oversaw the U.S. military’s surge of troops into Iraq in 2007 issued a stark warning Wednesday on any further military action, saying a number of preconditions should be met before Washington intervenes in the growing crisis. Retired Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw the war in Iraq from February 2007 to September 2008, told a group at a foreign policy conference in London that the United States should not offer military support unless Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is able to adjust political conditions there so that his Shiite-led government is seen as fair and representative throughout the country. “If there is to be support for Iraq, it has to be support for a government of Iraq. That is, a government of all the people, and that is representative of and responsive to all elements of Iraq,” Petraeus said, according to The Spectator. “President Obama has been quite clear on this: This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight. It has to be a fight of all of Iraq against extremists.” Petraeus’s comments stand in contrast to his record of calling for more U.S. troops for both the 2007 surge in Iraq and a similar effort in Afghanistan that began in late 2009, underscoring the complexity of the current situation in Iraq. Maliki has long been accused of refusing to work with Iraq’s Sunni minority and using military aggression to force obedience. Protests against his actions have grown across Sunni areas of Iraq for at two years. Petraeus’s comments come as Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and other prominent lawmakers call for President Obama to authorize airstrikes in Iraq to break the momentum of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an extreme offshoot of al-Qaeda that has seized several key cities across the country and threatened security in Baghdad, the capital. Ironically, McCain called for Obama’s national security team to be fired last week, and suggested Obama should consult with


New York firefighters will now respond to every report of a possible gas leak

Workers at the East Harlem explosion site on March 16. (John Minchillo/AP) The New York Fire Department will now respond to any reports of gas odors in the city, a change that follows an explosion earlier this year that killed eight people in upper Manhattan. This change, which was announced in a new report on New York’s underground infrastructure issued by city agencies, is meant to improve the response time to such calls. In addition to responding to every report of a gas odor, authorities are going to urge people to call 911 if they smell any gas and shunt calls to 311 about these odors to 911. Previously, some people had been directed to call their gas provider to report a leak. That guidance was still listed on the New York City Office of Emergency Management’s site and on utility Con Edison’s site as of Wednesday afternoon. The new policy comes three months after an explosion caused by a gas leak leveled two buildings in East Harlem. Eight people were killed and dozens injured in the accident, which investigators attributed to a leak found in a gas main near one of the buildings. Con Edison said it received a call shortly before the explosion regarding a gas odor in the area, but its crews arrived after the explosion. The FDNY says it can handle all of these calls, even if the volume rises considerably, according to the report. Con Edison reports that it receives about 31,000 calls a year about gas leaks and that no leaks are found for about 40 percent of those calls. The company said its average response time to such calls last year was 22 minutes; the FDNY, by comparison, averages under eight minutes in responding to non-fire emergencies (like reports of gas leaks). In addition to outlining this change, the report recommends investing more in infrastructure improvements, noting that the city’s “gas infrastructure is aging and increasingly fragile.” You can read the full report here: New York City Infrastructure Report – June 2014