Details, Hamburg, Germany

details GETTING THERE Multiple airlines offer one-stop flights from Washington Dulles and BWI Marshall to Hamburg, Germany, with mid-September fares currently starting at $1,000 round trip. WHERE TO STAY Hotel Pacific Neuer Pferdemarkt 30-31 011-49-40-4395095 www.hotel-pacific.de For their final series of gigs at the Star-Club, the Beatles graduated to the relative luxury of this St. Pauli hotel. Today, it’s a well-situated family-run hotel. Rooms from $70. Hotel Atlantic Kempinski An der Alster 72 011-49-40-28880 www.kempinski.com On the Alster lake in the heart of Hamburg, this is Paul McCartney’s preferred accommodation in town. Rooms from $175. WHERE TO EAT Kemp’s English Pub Mittelweg 27 011-49-40-444512 www.kempspub.de Charming English pub run by Gibson Kemp, who was a drummer with a number of bands in the Hamburg scene of the 1960s. The walls are decorated with photos from the era, many by Astrid Kirchherr. Kemp cooks up some tasty dishes and is a most welcoming host. Entrees start at $20. Restaurant Haerlin Neuer Jungfernstieg 9-14 011-49-40-34943310 www.restaurant-haerlin.de Hamburg is considered one of Germany’s culinary capitals, and at the top of the fine food chain, with two Michelin stars, is this restaurant in the Fairmont Four Seasons Hotel. Four-course meal from $120. WHAT TO DO Beatles tours beatles-tour.com Start from Grosse Freiheit 39 in front of the Highway Pub, Thursday-Sunday at 4 p.m. About $25 for a tour lasting just over an hour. Alster cruises 011-49-40-357-4240 www.alstertouristik.de Hamburg is a city dominated by water — the great River Elbe, and the huge Alster lake in the city center. Cruises around both river and lake start throughout the day from the piers at Jungfernstieg. One-hour lake tour $16 per person; two-hour river tour $20. INFORMATION english.hamburg.de D.O’D.


Malawi’s Joyce Banda ushers in a new kind of African leadership

By the standards of most African leaders, President Joyce Banda is a renegade. Since taking office less than four months ago, she has threatened to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted for war crimes, if he tries to enter her country. She has suggested that Malawi repeal laws criminalizing homosexuality, at a time when many other African countries are moving to strengthen theirs. And in a part of the world where repression of journalists is widespread, she has ushered in media freedoms. “For me, Malawi comes first,” said Banda, 62, the country’s first female president and Africa’s second, after Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. On a continent where many leaders cling to power, driven by ego and ill-gotten wealth, Western diplomats and aid workers are hailing Banda as a new kind of African leader. When she was sworn into office on April 7, after President Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart attack, few expected her to pull her troubled Southern African nation from the brink of an economic meltdown. But today, she is doing just that — and more. “The message she sends is that principled leadership for the benefit of the people is the right thing to do,” said Jeanine E. Jackson, the U.S. ambassador to Malawi. “She cares about the people, while a lot of African leaders are more caring about themselves.” The case of the presidential jet, many say, is evidence. Mutharika bought the $12 million aircraft, earning the wrath of international donors who considered it a wasteful use of funds. Banda instantly decided to sell it, along with most of the government’s fleet of 60 luxury cars, preferring to use the money to help her nation, one of the poorest in the world with an estimated three-quarters of its 15 million people living on less than $1 a day. “The jet has to go,” she said. “It is expensive even just parked.” Her critics charge that she is a lackey of the United States and other international donors, that she is determined to implement Western economic prescriptions, even if they cause additional hardships for the population. Banda denies the allegations, arguing that she could have pushed through more painful reforms if she wanted to appease donors. The main question many here ask is this: Will Banda remain committed to her reformist path or will she transform into yet another African autocrat? They remember how their previous


Steven Pearlstein: Shattering the Glass-Steagall myth

way of a good screenplay? Facts such as that Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch — three institutions at the heart of the crisis — were pure investment banks that had never crossed the old line into commercial banking. The same goes for Goldman Sachs, another favorite villain of the left. The infamous AIG? An insurance firm. New Century Financial? A real estate investment trust. No Glass-Steagall there. Two of the biggest banks that went under, Wachovia and Washington Mutual, got into trouble the old-fashioned way – largely by making risky loans to homeowners. Bank of America nearly met the same fate, not because it had bought an investment bank but because it had bought Countrywide Financial, a vanilla-variety mortgage lender. Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo — two large banks with big investment banking arms — resisted taking government capital and arguably could have weathered the crisis without it. Did U.S. investment banks create a shadow banking system and derivatives market outside the normal regulatory framework that encouraged sloppy lending and created what turned out to be toxic securities? You betcha. And did regular banks make some of those bad loans and buy up some of those toxic securities? Yes, they did. But that was as much a problem at the banks and investment banks that combined as those that remained independent. More significantly, the bulk of the money that flowed through the shadow banking system didn’t come from government-insured bank deposits. It came from money market funds, hedge funds, pension funds, insurance companies, foreign banks and foreign central banks. Confronted with these inconvenient facts, the conspiracists like to double-down and argue that the real damage caused by repeal of Glass-Steagall is that it triggered a wave of bank consolidation — which has now left more than half of the country’s banking assets under the control of a handful of institutions that are so big that the government has no choice but to bail them out if they risk a meltdown of the financial system. No doubt about it — too-big-to-fail is a problem. It turns out, however, that it was also a problem in 1984, when Continental Illinois, the seventh-largest U.S. bank with a whopping $40 billion in assets, had to be rescued. It was a problem a few years later when the Fed quietly rescued Citicorp because of mountains of loans to Latin American governments that


Tips for the dollar store

A woman walks past a dollar discount store in Brooklyn, N.Y. Ninety-nine cent stores, also called dollar stores, have been growing in popularity throughout the U.S. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Dollar stores once had a reputation for selling low-quality products on the cheap. Sure, you could buy paper towels there, but would you buy something edible? Isn’t everything expired? “People have the perception that you’re buying weird, off-brand or expired goods, but dollar stores have reinvented themselves,” says Jody Rohlena, senior editor of ShopSmart magazine. “In this economy, everyone is looking to save money. Three out of four women polled said they’ve shopped in a dollar store at least once this year. You can find very good prices.” And chain dollar stores, such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree, are expanding across the country to meet the demand. These stores offer a wide array of merchandise for low prices (often more than a buck though) on everything from groceries to personal-care items. But what should you buy? What should you avoid? Here are some tips for shopping the reinvented dollar store. Tips on what to buy, what to avoid It’s not just a dollar The name might be deceiving. While some outlets do only sell dollar products, the larger chain stores sell a wide variety of items on discount. Much of the time, you’re going to pay more than a dollar for products, but the variety of prices means you’ll get a wider array of goods. Buy dollar-store brands ShopSmart recommends checking out a store’s branded items. “We found savings of over 37 percent on items like quick oats and cereal.” Sure you may not be getting Quaker, but you’re getting a similar product for much less. ShopSmart also found that their secret shoppers saved 26 percent on pantry items such as flour. “We have tested a lot of private-label brands from the dollar stores, and some are as good or better than national brands.” Take your grocery list Rohlena advises shoppers to check out the food items at dollar stores, as many of the stores have become substitutes for major grocery chains. “You’re going to see freezer cases, condiments, packaged foods, soups and spices,” she says. “And they’re offering a lot more everyday items than what you find at the grocery store.” On packaged foods and single packs, prices are often much better at dollar stores. Check expiration dates While


Slain Arlington shopkeeper Tommy Wong known for kindness and generosity, son says

As Arlington County police continued to search for the killer of a Columbia Pike jewelry store owner, the victim’s son on Sunday described the slain shopkeeper as a dedicated family man who was known for his kindness and generosity to friends. Tommy K. Wong, 52, was killed Friday about 4 p.m. during a robbery at his store, Capital Jewelers, at 3219 Columbia Pike, his son confirmed Sunday. “He was a great father. He’s always been hard-working and very dedicated to his family,” his son, Desmond Wong, 25, said at the family’s home in Herndon. “He was a great husband to my mom.” Police said the shopkeeper was found dead inside the locked store shortly before midnight Friday after family members contacted police because he had not returned home. Surveillance video showed the suspect wearing a brightly colored traffic vest inside the store. Police said the suspect was inside the jewelry store for less than 20 minutes and that he took jewelry. In Virginia, a slaying during a robbery can be charged as a capital offense and could carry the death penalty in the event of a conviction in the case. Officer Dustin Sternbeck, an Arlington police spokesman, declined to identify the jewelry store victim or provide additional details about the crime when reached Sunday. It was the second killing within days in a jurisdiction that rarely has homicides. Three days before the fatal armed robbery, an apparent murder-suicide in the Fairlington neighborhood became the county’s first homicide in more than two years. The store was registered to Wong and his wife, Elizabeth. Tommy and Elizabeth Wong had been married about 26 years and owned the store for about six years or so, his son said. Customers who reviewed the shop on Yelp.com praised him for his quick handiwork and kindness. One customer wrote that he kept the store open late once so that the customer could pick up a repaired piece of jewelry after leaving work. “It’s just a shame to have him pass away in such a tragic way,” Desmond Wong said, adding that the family was too distraught to say much more.


D.C. food bank to open $37 million facility to combat ‘growing hunger crisis’

food bank’s founders, said the new center is a far cry from the leaky warehouse off Bladensburg Road where the original food bank was founded in 1980 in response to federal cuts in food-stamp programs. “We had dented cans salvaged from food stores, whatever we could get,” Brake said. “It’s been an evolution.” The operation has grown from a small outfit helping a few people a year to serving more than 480,000 through partner agencies in the District, Northern Virginia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Much of the funding for the building — more than $15 million — came from the District’s Office of Housing and Community Development. Donald E. Graham, chairman of the board and chief executive of The Washington Post Co., co-chaired the capital campaign with hotel executive J.W. Marriott Jr. and the late sports team owner Abe Pollin. In 2010, billionaire philanthropist William E. Conway Jr., the founder and managing director of the private equity firm Carlyle Group, donated $5 million through his family foundation that paved the way for construction to begin last year. “I think it’s great,” Conway said. “It’s too bad this huge need exists. . . . We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re making progress.” Washington is one of several metropolitan areas that have built large food distribution facilities in recent years, according to Ross Fraser, a spokesman for Feeding America, the nationwide consortium of food banks. New food banks have opened in Dallas, Las Vegas, Orange County, Calif., and the Chicago suburbs as charities try to meet increasing needs and expand refrigerated space. Although the local food bank will give away more than 15 million pounds of produce this year, it has had to use rented space to store the produce and other perishables. “When our truck picks up food, there is rarely enough fresh produce or meat for our needs,” said Richard Gerlach, the executive director of SOME (So Others Might Eat), which serves about 800 daily in its District meal program. “It is often slim pickings when searching for a variety of canned and dried food at the food bank.” Locally, efforts to expand the food bank have been met mostly with praise, although neighbors near the facility have worried about traffic, noise and rodents. They say the food bank did not do a good job updating them on the construction project; food bank officials say


GeoEye merger brings company’s rocky trajectory to an end

GeoEye seemed to have finally overcome years of setbacks in 2010 when the Herndon-based company won a hefty portion of a $7.3 billion contract to provide the federal government with satellite imagery. But shortly after ink dried on the 10-year deal, government funding for the EnhancedView program began to erode. Just last month, GeoEye learned that money allotted for the coming fiscal year would be delayed at best, and significantly cut at worst. “GeoEye was the scrappy survivor within the industry,” said Chris Quilty, senior vice president at Raymond James. Then “they secured a contract that ensured the company’s long-term solvency and growth opportunities, so it was devastating for them to lose this contract.” Uncertainty about the contract’s future was the impetus for the announcement last week that GeoEye agreed to be acquired by longtime competitor DigitalGlobe. For a company with a story line of perseverance, the deal marked an anticlimactic end. “It certainly appears from where we sit today, knowing what we know about the fiscal environment coming at us, that this was really a prudent move,” said Keith Masback, president of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, a trade group. “And really the only option that made a lot of sense for the investors and stockholders of these companies, and probably for the nation, moving forward.” Today, GeoEye employs nearly 750 people, including about 430 in the Washington area. In addition to providing satellite images of Earth to government and corporate clients, the firm has a sizable team of analysts who help decipher them. But the trajectory that brought the company to its current state has been punctuated by ups and downs. Once called Orbimage, the company encountered a significant defeat in September 2001 when a rocket propelling one of its satellites into space didn’t have enough power to complete the task. The spacecraft plummeted to Earth and was lost somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Orbimage then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2003 and the reorganization allowed the company to cut ties with its majority owner at the time, Dulles-based Orbital Sciences. The following year, Orbimage was awarded a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency contract worth as much as $500 million to provide high-resolution satellite images for defense and national security purposes. “The satellite business is a risky business in and of itself,” Gary Adkins, then Orbimage’s vice president of federal and national security programs, told The Washington Post in


Washington area business diary for week of July 30

Short takes on the week's announcements and deals. Acquisitions District-based private equity firm Carlyle Group said it will acquire a majority stake in Dallas-based auto body repair chain Service King Collision Repair Centers. Terms were not disclosed. Carlyle Group also said it will invest $800 million in Greenwich, Conn.-based Genesee & Wyoming as part of the railroad holding company’s $2 billion acquisition of Jacksonville, Fla.-based railroad company RailAmerica. In addition, Carlyle said it has agreed to acquire Windsor Locks, Conn.-based aerospace and industrial manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand Industrial from Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies in a $3.46 billion deal, partnering with New York-based private equity firm BC partners. District-based Hellerman Baretz Communications said it has acquired a minority stake in Arlington-based technology and marketing firm Burwell Group. Terms were not disclosed. Alexandria-based technology contractor DCS Corp. said it has acquired Ann Arbor, Mich.-based research and engineering company OptiMetrics. Terms were not disclosed. Call for entries The Herndon-based U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation is accepting nominations for its annual awards program. Deadline for nomination is Aug. 17. More information: usgiforg/community/usgifAwards. Expansions Cypress, Calif.-based restaurant chain Baja Fresh has opened a location in Frederick: 5594 Spectrum Dr., Frederick, MD 21704; 301-378-0909. Rockville-based Coestar VMS, a provider of appraisal management services and technology, said it has opened an operations center in Virginia Beach. Potomac-based Seva Search said it has expanded its Seva Call service, which connects customers with local businesses over the phone, to the Baltimore area. McLean-based hotel chain Hilton Worldwide said it is building a 300-room hotel and spa in Erbil, Iraq. Dallas-based frozen yogurt chain Red Mango has opened a store in Clarksville: 6040 Daybreak Cir., Columbia, MD 21029. Denmark-based audio and video retailer Bang & Olufsen has opened a store at 5001 Wilson Lane, Floor 1, Bethesda, MD 20814. Funding Bethesda-based start-up Quixote Computing said it has begin a campaign to raise $25,000 through crowdfunding service Indiegogo. Quixote Computing said it is developing software that can run a handset device as an Android smartphone and a PC at the same time. Rockville-based payment processing technology company SecureNet Payment Systems said it has received $18 million in a new round of funding. Vienna-based security company Alarm.com said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing has received a $134 million investment. Chevy Chase-based New Enterprise Associates said it has closed its 14th fund at $2.6 billion. Chantilly-based software company PhishMe said it has raised


As Americans embrace Ethiopian cuisine, its farmers grow more teff

always goes to Africa and tells them things they ought to do. Well, Ethiopians also know what they’re doing, and maybe one of their cultural treasures can be transferred to us.” He noticed that the geology and climate of Idaho were similar to those of Ethiopia and, in 1984, he began importing and cultivating the seeds. He was alone for a while, but over the years he’s trained at least 50 other American farmers to grow teff, he says. “I thought it would be a natural fit, especially as the Ethiopian community grew.” Demonstrating just how competitive the industry is, Carlson pleaded guilty last spring of harassing a rival teff grower, Tesfa Drar, an Ethiopian American and general manager of Teff Farms in Minnesota. Carlson was sentenced to a year’s probation in what the local media termed the “teff tiff.” The Carlsons say the charges were false and intended to destroy their business. Ethiopian American business leaders such as Maru hold Carlson in high regard, and view the incident as proof that everyone wants in on teff. The science of injera The massive machine at Zelalem Injera in Washington was invented by Kassahun Maru’s cousin, Wudneh Admassu, chairman of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Idaho. In Ethiopia, women make injera over a wood fire by pouring the batter in a circular motion on a concave clay griddle. Concerned about the depletion of natural resources and the health of women who inhale the smoke, Admassu began planning a machine that could make injera in a different way. (One day, he hopes, they will be used in his native country.) “I dabbled in a lab,” Admassu says. “My wife helped me since she knows many things that are not written. And after about three or four years I came up with this machine.” I t’s anything but simple: Making injera is a delicate undertaking that includes a week-long, temperature-controlled fermentation process followed by careful measuring of the mixture’s viscosity “to monitor the consistency of the batter,” he says. The machine then drops, spreads and bakes the mixture, creating the flat 15-inch discs. In August, Admassu will visit the Ethiopian Heritage and Culture Camp in Harrisonburg, Va., to speak to adopted Ethiopian American children about his Willy Wonka-esque contraption. But they shouldn’t expect too much specificity, he says with a chuckle. “It’s a secret recipe for a


At London Olympics, empty seats have organizers scrambling, giving away tickets to children and soldiers

said. “There are a whole bunch of the military actually sitting in those seats at the moment,” he said. “And we can and we have moved them in there. And we can do that because you are not actually impacting on the operational integrity of those venues and security.” Coe also insisted the large majority of venues were brimming with fans, and that the issue would disappear after the preliminary rounds when interest would grow. This isn’t the first time organizers have come under fire for ticketing mishaps. Earlier this month, they withdrew 500,000 tickets for soccer matches following meager demand in large stadiums dotted around the country. They also announced in July they were offering refunds to thousands of ticket holders in the 10-meter platform diving event because the position of their seats meant that the divers would briefly jump out of view. Following the embarrassing images of unfilled seats, a resale system was introduced over the weekend whereby people leaving an event early can return tickets that can later be sold to people already in the Olympic Park. On Saturday, nearly 300 tickets for handball were recycled this way. Organizers also said they would try to sell unused tickets to the public. On Saturday night, nearly 1,000 tickets for gymnastics previously earmarked for the “Olympic family” were put on sale to the public. They were immediately snapped up. Faisal Lalani, 48, who had tried and failed last year to get tickets for swimming, came to the Olympic Park on Sunday hoping to snag one of the unused tickets he read about. Standing outside of the entrance to the Olympic Park, with grandiose views of the Aquatics Centre and Orbit tower, he said, “I feel cheated.” His 17-year-old son Daniel added: “I think it’s quite sad they are unused. I think athletes especially need [the fans’] support.” Mike Wise contributed to this report from London. More 2012 Olympics Vollmer sets world record in 100-meter butterfly Wise: Wimbledon? Been there, got wet Douglas, Raisman advance to all-around final without Wieber Rhode captures fifth Olympic medal in skeet shooting Durant leads Team USA to opening win over France Jenkins: Solo could learn from Chastain Swimming: France rallies past U.S. in 4x100 relay Photos: The best from Day 2 in London London Eyes: Share sights and sounds Photos: Scenes from the London Olympics Follow the Olympics live on our London Games blog


Woman’s labored breathing was not caused by allergy, smoking or poor air quality

one normal and one damaged gene are considered carriers and may live healthy lives, particularly if they do not smoke. Among the 100,000 Americans with the most severe form, studies have estimated that only about 6 percent know they have the condition. Although infants can show symptoms, most “alphas” develop initial signs of the disease, often shortness of breath, between ages 20 and 50. There is no cure; treatment involves weekly infusions of intravenous medications including Prolastin, which replaces the missing protein. Some patients require lung transplants; others develop liver cancer or may need liver transplants. “Most doctors don’t even think about the diagnosis, unfortunately,” said allergist Timothy Craig, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., who has treated McCathern for the past five years. “That’s unfortunate, because the test is really easy.” Many physicians assume that a patient with breathing problems is suffering from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, particularly if he or she smokes. McCathern says she never did. “Early diagnosis can make a big difference in the outcome,” Craig said. “If you’re an alpha and you smoke, your chances of having serious lung disease vastly increase.” Craig notes that medical guidelines recommend that people with an asthma diagnosis who are not responding to treatment should be tested for alpha-1 deficiency. A methocholine challenge, the test McCathern sought in the mid-1990s, would probably have accelerated the diagnosis because it would have revealed that she did not have asthma. By the time McCathern received her diagnosis, she was battling emphysema and bronchiectasis, a condition that results from injury to the airways and impedes the ability to clear mucus. “Her lung disease is advanced,” Craig observed, “but not to the point that she can’t carry on a normal life.” McCathern began receiving weekly infusions of Prolastin almost immediately. Close relatives, including her daughter, were tested; some were found to have inherited one damaged gene, but, she said, “I’m the only one that has both.” For several years, McCathern has participated in studies of the disease. As a coordinator for AlphaNet, a national support group, she speaks with other patients, many of them new to the diagnosis. McCathern says she wishes she had known what was wrong much earlier, because treatment could have blunted the severity of her illness. “I could have been on medication in 1988, not 2004,” she said.“Just


U.S. men’s gymnasts lose grip, finish out of team medals

Britain and knocking Ukraine, which initially was credited with bronze, out of the medals entirely. In Olympic team finals, each country fields three athletes in six mandatory events: the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar. Because all three gymnasts’ scores count, a country is best served by having three technically and mentally sound performers on each apparatus rather than a few high-strung stars. That should have served the U.S. men well, based on their solid showing in qualifying. But Monday, only Horton and Jake Dalton, who competed in the fewest events, avoided costly errors. In the interviews that followed, none of the U.S. gymnasts said they had been nervous or felt paralyzed by the pressure and the stage. With only slight variation, they chalked up their poor performance to an “off day,” as if the outcome could have been different on another day. “I don’t think we were all super-nervous or anything like that,” said Leyva, 20, of Miami. “I honestly think we all had somewhat of an off day. It wasn’t our day today. It’s all right. We’re going to use this as fuel for the next time.” The pity is, Olympic finals come but once every four years — a fact that seemed to elude this young U.S. team. And there’s no certainty that any one of them will qualify for Brazil in 2016. No Olympic athlete wants to leave the Games without a medal, but it’s a disappointment most manage to bear as long as they know they performed their best. What’s unbearable, veteran athletes say, is to leave an Olympics knowing that you failed to do your best. And that’s the burden some of these American gymnasts will bear for another four years, assuming they’re fortunate enough to return in 2016, or longer, if this is their finale. “Right now, it’s over,” Orozco said. “I don’t feel fantastic about it. All I can do is look forward to the future.” More 2012 Olympics Jenkins: Franklin isn’t kidding around Wise: Lochte can’t escape Phelps’s legacy In Britain, betting is part of the experience U.S. women’s volleyball digs deep against rival Technology for Olympic sports stays step ahead A medley of emotions for U.S. swim team Photos: All the highlights from Day 3 London Eyes: Share sights and sounds Photos: Scenes from the London Olympics Follow the Olympics live on our London Games blog


At London Olympics, technology tries to stay a step ahead

on a suit and be fast,” Lochte said. “If I had it my way, I’d go back to old school when we were all wearing banana hammocks.” The experience in Beijing has led to somewhat more caution in London. Many manufacturers have been working on innovations since the closing day of the Beijing Games, but sports engineers are now designing within parameters implemented by Olympic regulatory committees, which have prohibited certain advances out of fear of what many are now calling “technology doping.” But retaining the purity of sports in the face of innovation has been an ongoing struggle and, purists say, a series of innovations ahead of 2012 still fall within a certain gray area. The new Speedo Fastskin3 suit, for instance, was created to work together with the matching swimming cap and goggles. Designed using 3D scans to create a flow of water around a swimmer’s body, the combined set appears to reduce drag by 16.6 percent in comparison with standard-issue equipment. “Tech has a key role in the sport to keep it growing and evolving, but there needs to be a line drawn. We can’t turn athletes into super humans,” Joe Santry, research manager for Speedo’s Aqualab, said. In addition, Nike’s Pro TurboSpeed uniforms, the official suits for the U.S. track and field team, have been proven to provide an edge to sprinters. The new two-piece uniforms have been aerodynamically engineered with a dimpled texture to imitate the exterior of a golf ball and can shave up to 0.023 of a second more over 100m than Nike’s previous uniform. But what may seem like a miniscule gain can affect medal standings. For instance, that 0.023 second gain would have left US sprinter Walter Dix coming home with silver, rather than bronze, in the men’s 100m final in Beijing. Steve Haake, director of the Center for Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, said that, like it or not, such innovation can make all the difference in close groups such as the 24 runners competing behind Jamaican Usain Bolt in the 100-meter sprint. “Improvements are fair if these technologies are available to all athletes,” Haake said. “Where people don’t like it is if some countries are spending more money on research – a poor little country in Southeast Asia for example can’t do that.” Andrew Wheating “It’s a mental game,” Wheating said. “If I think it’s


With failure in Syria, Kofi Annan’s legacy gets bruised

U.N. chief, “The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power.” ‘The secular pope’ In March, after appeals from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other key players, Annan was asked by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to come out of retirement and serve as a mediator in Syria. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate — dubbed “the secular pope” by some — Annan seemed a natural choice, in part because he enjoyed the trust of all the key powers. While Annan has been associated with some of the United Nations’ greatest failures, having headed up the U.N. peacekeeping department during the mass killings in Bosnia and Rwanda, he also racked up diplomatic achievements such as guiding East Timor to independence from Indonesia and, more recently, brokering a complex peace-sharing agreement in Kenya. He also had a track record of working with Assad. In his upcoming memoir, Annan says he bore no illusions about Assad’s commitment to peace when he took on his latest assignment but also believed Assad was a “modern man” ready to initiate reforms in Syria. Annan writes in “Interventions” that Assad’s response to the popular uprising “confirmed my more troubling suspicion that he was a man . . . willing to employ any means to retain power.” In many ways, the peace plan Annan developed for Syria played to Assad’s strengths. It suspended talk of U.N. sanctions and reframed the U.N. debate from one that required Assad’s departure to one that would place him firmly at the center of any political settlement. Asked by Assad what the transition would portend, Annan answered that it “would lead to whatever you agree at the negotiating table,” according to a diplomat close to Annan who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting. April cease-fire Shakeeb al-Jabri, a Beirut-based Syrian activist, said the April 12 cease-fire Annan brokered had provided tangible benefits, bringing about a lull in the violence and imposing constraints on Assad’s security forces, particularly in the area of Idlib. But over time, Annan’s standing diminished as Syrian tanks shelled residential areas with impunity, forcing the United Nations’ unarmed monitors to suspend their patrols and undercutting the prospects for political talks. This month, demonstrators throughout the country carried banners calling for the “toppling of Annan the servant of Bashar and Iran.” The opposition realized that Assad would not go peacefully


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among cases received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5054. That number provides recorded information on such topics as the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering. For baby rabbits, all’s well that ends well Walk turns scary for woman and her Lab: Pets available for adoption Rockville Germantown Lucky Dog Animal Rescue will have dogs available for adoption at the following location. For information, call 202-741-5428 or visit www.luckydoganimalrescue.org. Montgomery Village Unleashed by Petco18306 Contour Rd.Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday Shelter has adoptable cats Gaithersburg Free spay and neuter services: — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Child marriage robs girls of their opportunities

Graça Machel was the first education minister of Mozambique. Desmond Tutu is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. They are members of The Elders, a group of independent leaders working for peace and human rights. “If adults know child marriage is wrong, why do they allow it to happen?” a teenage girl asked one of us during a visit this year to Bihar , a state in northeast India where, despite national law to the contrary, 69 percent of girls are married before age 18. For far too long, “tradition” has been the default answer. Child marriage happens, we are told, because it has been arranged for generations, because that is “the way things are.” But traditions are man-made, and we believe that when people realize a tradition or practice is detrimental, they can and do change them. Wherever we visit as members of The Elders, girls and boys step forward and ask for their rights and dignity to be respected. In Bihar, The Elders met youths from the Jagriti campaign who, under the slogan “My life, my decision,” have gathered more than 20,000 signatures from other teenagers, pledging not to marry early. In the rural Amhara region of Ethiopia, girls participating in the Berhane Hewan project told us they had formed clubs and were determined to support friends vulnerable to early marriage. As adults we have to ask ourselves: Are we doing enough to fulfill our responsibility to these young people and respect their rights in law and in action? The answer, sadly, is no. Child marriage happens because adults believe they have the right to impose marriage upon a child. This denies children, particularly girls, their dignity and the opportunity to make choices that are central to their lives, such as when and whom to marry or when to have children. Choices define us and allow us to realize our potential. Child marriage robs girls of this chance. The effects of child marriage are devastating. Child brides tend to drop out of school, making them far more vulnerable to a life of poverty, ill health and abuse. Child brides are more susceptible to death or injury in childbirth than are women in their 20s. They are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence. These marriages are inextricably linked with global concerns such as food security and maternal health, as The Post noted in a recent


a semiautomatic pistol to kill 12 and injure 58 in a packed movie theater. As with most mass shootings, the backdrop was pedestrian. The targets, random — the opposite of what happens at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where Rhode and other members of USA Shooting practice their sport. Yes, they have thoughts on Aurora. Yes, gun violence affects these gold medalists. Yes, mass shootings will always impact the sport. “Our event as a sport is completely different from an isolated incident,” Rhode said during Thursday’s news conference, according to press accounts. “It’s very important to us that our sport is not generalized. The lines get blurred between news and a sport that teaches discipline.” Most other athletes get a pass on the podium. Swimmer Ryan Lochte won’t be asked about drownings in community pools. Gymnast Gabby Douglas will not be asked to comment on freak accidents at school jungle gyms. But with 30,000 firearms deaths in the United States each year, half of which are suicides, questions of gun violence are almost inevitable for sports shooters. The team counters images of violence with stories of Olympic success. “The biggest challenge in our sport is the education piece,” said Dave Johnson, national rifle coach for USA Shooting. “Whether in the sport or out of it, everyone was horrified [by Aurora] and we’re not different, but the questions sometimes show that folks don’t know what the sport is about.” “We are one of the safest sports going,” said Vincent Hancock, 23, a U.S. Army soldier who won a gold medal in skeet shooting Tuesday. “There are more injuries in Ping-Pong than there are in shooting.” “Some of the nicest, most gentle people I have ever met are shooters,” said Matt Emmons, 31, a 2004 gold medalist competing in London. “It’s unfortunate these incidents are reflected upon us.” Katie Yergensen, spokeswoman for USA Shooting, the Olympic-chartered governing body for the sport, says the team is well aware of stigmatization. “It comes hand-in-hand with the nature of the sport. It is generalized in the public, because what we do is different than other traditional sports. . . . But that’s why we are always emphasizing safety, accountability and team building.” Remembering Munich Forty years ago in Munich, American shooter Lanny Bassham, now 65, had already won the silver medal in the men’s 50-meter rifle when Israeli athletes were killed by armed


Grocery stores, gas stations balking at the proposed swipe fee settlement

Grocery stores and gas stations operate on smaller profit margins than most retailers, and they aren't thrilled with the proposed swipe fee settlement. (Sageworks) The National Grocers Association this week became the latest group of retailers to reject a proposed settlement agreement to litigation over credit-card fees, and new data from Sageworks Inc., a financial information company, shows why some merchants might be more inclined to balk at the deal than others. The proposed settlement Sageworks conducted a financial statement analysis of privately held companies across several major retail categories and found that owners of gas stations and grocery stores have some of the slimmest net profit margins in retailing. For every dollar of sales they generate, they earn less in profit, on average, than other types of retailers, such as clothing stores and health and beauty shops. That leaves less padding to absorb so-called swipe fees when they rise, and consumer spending is shaky enough that many retailers are skittish about the alternative: passing the fees along to customers. “There are certain industries that should show extra caution when it comes to credit card swipe fees—those retail industries with already-slim net profit margins,” Sageworks analyst Libby Bierman said. ”They don’t have as much wiggle room as other industries to bear the additional fees.” Grocers have historically made their money on volume, making only a few cents on the dollar, Bierman noted. “If these grocery stores are unable to pass increased credit card fees on to consumers, they could risk their profitability — a particular concern now, when their food costs from suppliers are inching higher thanks to this summer’s drought,” she said. “Gas stations, too, have slim margins, and my guess is that, given their pay-at-the-pump setup, many gas station customers rely on credit card payments,” she said. “The outcome of this settlement and future negotiations could be the difference between staying in the black or not.” The National Association of Convenience Stores, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, earlier this month rejected the settlement, saying the deal doesn’t “introduce competition and transparency into the broken credit card swipe fee market.” More than 80 percent of convenience stores sell gasoline, and it’s often the only purchase customers make. Wal-mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. have also criticized the agreement, which must still receive court approval. Gas stations For private companies across all types of industries, net profit margins over the


Georgetown biochemist Thomas Sherman aims to teach medical and graduate students personal nutrition

nutrition was more than just moving from molecular science to food science. It was a different kind of information; one that doesn’t allow for making hard-and-fast conclusions. He wanted to teach them to think critically, but broadly. Some students would say, “ ‘I hear you should eat this because it’s good’ [for you].’ But that’s almost a meaningless statement, because nobody eats one thing. “You eat a whole bunch of things,” he points out, “and what you want at the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of the month, is that the foods you ate improved your health or sustained your health rather than put you at risk for things.” Not everybody in the medical school agrees with everything Sherman believes. He has gone a few rounds with his colleague in the office next door over cow’s milk. “This guy here,” Sherman says eyeballing the wall that separates them, “is an unabashed whole-milk drinker, and I just don’t understand it.” Adam Myers, a 28-year-veteran in the department of pharmacology and physiology, believes that the personal nutrition classes are a good idea — and so is drinking milk. Counters Sherman: “One: The special role of milk in the American diet is purely a function of marketing using false scientific data and the creation of invented deficiencies in calcium and protein and the risk of osteoporosis. The vast majority of the world’s population ceases to drink milk at weaning and does just fine, if not better. Two: If you drink milk because you like the taste of milk, then by all means drink it.” Myers, who was among the faculty members who wanted the school to develop a broader view of nutrition, says he’s making sure that Sherman doesn’t go too far into the popular nutrition realm. So, the Krispy Kreme doughnuts and beer nuts that Myers has been known to bring to Sherman’s potlucks? Just keeping him balanced, Myers says. Sherman acknowledges that some students get really into nutrition in a manner that’s not realistic or sustainable. He says he has never been one for fads. He experimented with vegetarianism during graduate school, thinking it would increase his running endurance. “It didn’t,” he says. He paid more attention to the foods he ate. But he missed a good cheeseburger. *** Alacia Strafford, who suffers from anemia, says she has not only discovered how to


Information about Loudoun’s Child Awareness Day

Child Awareness Day in Loudoun Saturday’s event, which will be from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Junction Plaza Shopping Center in Ashburn, will include specialty units from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, including the motor unit, crime scene unit, bicycle unit and underwater search and evidence recovery teams. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will also participate, officials said, and the Virginia Indent-A-Kid program will offer parents cellphone electronic child identification along with a traditional child ID card. The sheriff’s office offers these tips to help parents prevent their children from becoming crime victims: → Engage in proactive parenting — be involved in the child’s life. → Monitor cellphone activity. →Monitor Internet usage, social media contacts, Facebook, etc. → Be educated in the trends and online behavior of today’s youth. The sheriff’s office also advises children and teens to be cautious about befriending others on the Internet; to never provide personal information online; and to never make arrangements to meet with people they don’t know. Anyone with information regarding the slaying of Erica Heather Smith is asked to call the Loudoun Crime Solvers anonymous tip line at 703-777-1919 or 877-777-1931. If the information leads to an arrest and indictment, the caller is entitled to a cash reward. For information on the Erica Smith case and for case updates or to submit a tip online, go to www.loudoun.gov/ericasmith.


Egypt’s new cabinet to be dominated by technocrats

Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi, left, meets with the minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hesham Kandil in Cairo. On July 24, Morsi named Hesham Kandil prime minister designate and tasked him with putting together a new Cabinet to replace the current military-appointed one. (Ahmed Mourad/AP) CAIRO — The list of 18 nominees released Wednesday includes mostly low-profile technocrats and officials who served under ousted president Hosni Mubarak. The government is expected to announce the complete list of 30 nominees Thursday. Morsi has come under increasing criticism for taking so long to form a cabinet as labor protests and economic problems have intensified in recent weeks. The names announced so far include only two figures with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, which engineered Morsi’s upset victory in June. The relatively small Brotherhood footprint in the new cabinet suggests that Morsi was wary of the backlash a cabinet stacked with allies would probably have generated from segments of Egyptian society that fear the Islamization of politics. Prominent figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and senior members of the large political parties that emerged after the revolution last year are conspicuously absent from the partial list released by state television and newspapers. Morsi’s recent announcement of his pick for prime minister, former water resources minister Hesham Kandil, was received with dismay and shrugs by Egyptians who had hoped the country’s new leaders would bring some symbolic heft and dazzle to the dawn of democratic rule here. “If I had to think of the most uninspiring group of people to appoint, I would have come up with the current list,” said Shadi Hamid, an Egypt expert at the Brookings Doha Center. “Those who were looking for Morsi to send a strong message with his cabinet picks are going to be disappointed.” As expected, the Defense and Interior ministries will continue to be run by senior officials who served under the deposed regime. Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the military chief who ran the country after Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, will remain defense minister. Maj. Gen. Ahmed Gamal Eddin, the closest subordinate of the current interior minister, will be tapped to replace his boss. Eddin’s selection, in particular, angered human rights activists who have called on Morsi to carry out sweeping reforms of a police force that has for decades acted with impunity and, at times,


Olympic gymnastics: Has athleticism overtaken artistry and joy?

LONDON — Forty years later, women’s gymnastics have become so technically rigorous and physically demanding that the battle for Olympic gold leaves little room for the artistry and joy that have made the sport one of the Games’ most popular. At the 2012 Olympics, where Thursday the world’s top 24 women’s gymnasts compete for the prestigious individual all-around title, grimaces have outnumbered smiles on the competition floor, as gymnasts gird for two-and-a-half twisting vaults that defy gravity and gulp lungs-full of oxygen to complete tumbling sequences that hammer joints and limbs. The bliss seems to come only afterward. And even then, it often looks more like colossal relief over having escaped unscathed to earn a hug from an approving coach. No doubt, there’s a danger of reading too much into a grin or the lack of one. But with the sport’s difficulty escalating so rapidly, it’s no wonder the “game face” of modern-day gymnasts tends to be a clenched jaw rather than a radiant smile. That’s because the sport’s judging criteria, known as the code of points, rewards difficulty over artistry. While it was intended to take much of the subjectivity out of judging and encourage the evolution of gymnastics skills, some fear it has done so to a fault. Even Bruno Grandi, head of the sport’s international governing body, has sounded an alarm over a system he feels is out of whack, calling it “a time bomb that we are wholly unable to contain.” What troubles Grandi is that the line between gymnastics and acrobatics is blurring. The former is intended as an artistic statement; the latter, purely athletic. In their quests for higher “difficulty” scores, today’s gymnasts are packing their routines with so many demanding, high-risk skills that there’s little room left for artistry. It’s particularly evident in floor routines. In Korbut’s day, the space in between tumbling stunts was filled with dance elements and expressive movements that wove a routine together. Today, in the rush to rack up as many difficulty points as possible, the space in between stunts has beeen de-valued. It serves as the gymnastics equivalent of a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike, affording gymnasts a moment to suck in a gulp of air before attacking the next skill. “There’s a lot more at stake in terms of the skills that they’re performing,” explains 1984 Olympic gold medalist Peter Vidmar, 51. “But we’re


Mariel Zagunis loses her fencing semifinal bout, and the Olympic spirit

third time, you start to realize a lot more the significance of it. “Perhaps that means you have to make yourself focus more and not be bubbly and happy and walking and talking to everybody else.” Perhaps that means you need to laugh and smile more, because you made it to the Olympics again. Miss Flag Bearer went down. Hard. Three points away from her third gold-medal match at the Olympic games and she became too aggressive, trying to force the action while Kim patiently counter-attacked and scored. “I wish I could tell you what I was thinking, but I wasn’t thinking,” she said. There was one moment I felt for Zagunis. At the very end of her interview session, she said, “The only thing I can really look forward to now is Rio. Now I can enjoy life and the rest of my time in . . . where am I? London. “I’m in disbelief right now. Ever since I lost that lead to Kim and lost that bout. And now I don’t have a medal. It’s just really strange because I’ve never been in this position before at the Olympics.” But I felt worse for Dagmara Wozniak, the Polish-born kid from Woodbridge Township, N.J., who lost a tough quarterfinal match. She cried and cried after it was over, realizing the moment had passed, maybe understanding the unwritten Aug. 13 rule. That is, no one but fencers care about fencing after the Olympics are over. And nothing is as over as when the Olympics are over. So while they’re going on, niche athletes need to savor the Games and smile more often for those two weeks, give opponents that beat them credit more often — because they really matter to most of us only every four years. More 2012 Olympics Photos: All the highlights from Day 5 Jenkins: A badminton scandal? Really? U.S. men’s eight falls .03 of a second short of medal Has athleticism overtaken artistry in women’s gymnastics? Wise: No Olympic spirit in Zagunis’s semifinal bout Williams bounced from singles tennis draw Drought continues for U.S. men’s boxing U.S. women add 4x200 relay gold to medal haul Americans Dumais, Ipsen win synchronized diving bronze London struggles to strike economic gold Photos: Who has won gold? Instagram: Post staffers keep their cameras out London Eyes: Share sights and sound Follow the Olympics live on our London Games blog


Badminton debacle prompts soul-searching in China

appears to be quitting the sport altogether in the wake of the scandal. The Associated Press reported that a comment posted late Wednesday on a verified account for Yu on the Tencent microblogging service stated: “This is my last game. Farewell Badminton World Federation. Farewell my dear badminton.” Chinese officials made no official announcement on Yu’s status. The disqualification amounted to a national shame here at a time when China was still suffused with pride at emerging as an international sports powerhouse following its record medal haul at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many are asking whether the winning-is-everything mentality has fostered a mentality where anything goes in the pursuit of gold. “The incident sends a warning to the entire Chinese sports world,” wrote the Global Times, a daily newspaper owned by the Communist Party’s main mouthpiece, People’s Daily. “While carefully planning their winning strategy, they mustn't forget that the Chinese public also cares about how the medals are won.” The paper noted that the other disqualified badminton players also came from Asia (South Korea and Indonesia, to be specific), where the obsession with winning seems especially strong. “Gold medals have nothing to do with national strength, nothing to do with people’s daily life, nothing to do with people’s health,” wrote a microblogger who uses the name “Jidelai.” “When a country still can’t take care of its elderly and sick patients, even more gold medals can’t prove that you’re not the sick man of East Asia.” Media reports on the scandal also recalled other recent examples of how Chinese athletes have tried to game the rules in international contests. For example, in 2002 the Chinese women’s volleyball team was forced to apologize to fans after deliberately losing games to South Korea and Greece in early stage matches to draw a weaker opponent for the elimination rounds in that year’s women’s volleyball world championships. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Chinese badminton was similarly tainted by controversy. Two Chinese individual players, Gong Zhichao and Ye Zhaoying, faced off against each other in the semifinals. Their head coach, Li Yongbo, later admitted to state-run CCTV that he instructed Ye to throw the game to Gong, on the assumption that Gong would be the stronger player in the final. Ye did lose to Gong, and Gong won gold against a Danish opponent, but her win was stained by the revelation of match-fixing. “Chinese attitudes toward


Harold Meyerson: Los Angeles gets innovative on jobs, traffic

against that stream and accelerate the construction to just 10 years? Building all the rail lines in one decade, Hunter estimates, would create close to 400,000 construction jobs, and the multiplier effect of those jobs would create, well, a whole lot of employment in a mega-city and mega-state that desperately need it. Villaraigosa traveled to Washington — repeatedly — searching not for grants but for loans that the sales tax would repay. Problem was, the federal government — having no infrastructure bank — didn’t do loans. Undeterred, Villaraigosa assembled a nationwide coalition (called America Fast Forward) of state and local officials urging the creation of such a loan program through federally guaranteed bonds. He also persuaded both Democratic and Republican members of Congress that, with interest rates at an all-time low, this was an idea whose time had come. The bipartisan transportation bill that Congress passed and President Obama signed last month included funding for just such a program. Sufficient funds have already been raised by the sales tax to commence work on a number of lines; indeed, some are up and running. But the federal loans will speed construction of the broader system. The project is groundbreaking in more ways than one. As part of its agreement with the county’s transit agency, Hunter’s Building Trades Council has set aside half of its apprenticeships on the project for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars and residents of low-income Zip codes. Since the ’80s, any transit project getting federal funding — whether grants or, now, loans — has had to comply with federal rules forbidding local-hiring preferences. The effect has been to exclude many inner-city residents from construction jobs — to the dismay of the multitude of mayors who’ve sought to boost local hiring. This set-aside is not locally based — the low-income Zip codes can be anywhere in the United States — although it likely will increase employment in some of Los Angeles’ most beleaguered communities. As a result, the city’s labor and transit activists who crafted the set-aside — chiefly, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, the nation’s most creative low-income advocacy organization — enabled the Federal Transit Administration to authorize funding for the project. In a nation wracked by joblessness and poverty, this kind of set-aside — much like the vast construction project in which it is situated — is exactly what America needs. meyersonh@washpost.com


D.C. man arrested in killing of Arlington jeweler

Arlington County police have arrested a man they think was involved in the killing of a Columbia Pike jewelry store owner on July 27. James Sylvester Caroline, 52, of the District was arrested Wednesday on a probation violation, and police say they expect to charge him in the homicide. Tommy K. Wong, 52, was killed during a robbery at Capital Jewelers. Police released a video of a suspect in the killing who entered the store wearing a traffic safety vest. Police said the man was inside the store for less than 20 minutes and that he took jewelry. Caroline is being held without bond at the Arlington County Detention Facility, police said. Dustin Sternbeck, a county police spokesman, declined to say how detectives identified Caroline. “The detectives worked around the clock to locate this individual, and using various methods, they were able to identify him,” Sternbeck said. Authorities declined to release additional information about the case, including how Wong was killed, because charges were pending against Caroline. D.C. police and the FBI helped county police arrest Caroline, Arlington authorities said. Online court records in the District, Maryland and Virginia indicate that Caroline has a record of arrests for crimes including larceny, credit-card fraud and failing to appear in court. A week before Wong was killed, Caroline was charged in Arlington with failing to obey a traffic signal. In Virginia, a slaying that occurs during a robbery can be charged as a capital offense and could result in the death penalty. Wong, who lived in Herndon, was found dead inside the locked store shortly before midnight Friday. Family members contacted police because he had not returned home. Relatives remembered him as a dedicated family man who was kind and generous to his friends. The Wong slaying was the second in the county this year. It came days after a man killed his wife and then himself near Fairlington. That marked Arlington’s first homicide since March 2010. Josh White and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.


Remember the war in Afghanistan? Obama and Romney don’t seem to.

of them have said they want to transition responsibility for the country’s security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014 — a deadline agreed upon by NATO allies — but they have been vague about how many troops they would withdraw next year. (By Election Day, there will be about 68,000 uniformed U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.) Both say they would consider conditions on the ground and listen to the advice of commanders. But what are their gut feelings? Does Romney plan to suspend further troop reductions next year, as some Republican lawmakers have urged? When Obama said this year that he wants to “effectuate this transition in a way that doesn’t result in a steep cliff at the end of 2014,” did he foreshadow an intention to order significant drawdowns next year? There is an even more important reason that both men should be talking about Afghanistan: The war is not going away anytime soon. It will continue for the first half of the next presidential term. Then the situation gets even more complicated. The Pentagon will probably want to keep some troops there to conduct counterterrorism missions and continue training the Afghan army. And the Afghan government is going to need substantial U.S. financial support to sustain its security forces, run its ministries and provide basic services to its people. That could cost as much as $4 billion a year, by some estimates. Given the size of the tab — about $1 billionmore than we provided last year to Israel, the next-largest recipient of U.S. assistance — whoever resides in the White House next year will need to make the case to Congress and the American people about the importance of supporting Afghanistan. This is the time to begin laying that groundwork. If voters in both parties do not start hearing about the need to help the Afghans once our troops leave, it will be much harder for the winner to generate the political consensus to secure the funding, especially during a time of domestic economic crisis. It sounds expensive, but it is far cheaper than $100 billion a year. If some of the gains in security and governance that have resulted from the surge are to be sustained, and if the United States wants to decrease the chances of Afghanistan slipping into another civil war, it will have to keep writing checks to Kabul. Both camps


Clinton offers stern advice in South Sudan, a country U.S. helped create

JUBA, South Sudan — Make lasting peace and an oil deal with Sudan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, one day after a United Nations deadline for the countries to make progress toward resolving their bitter differences. Sanctions on both are possible if fighting continues. “A percentage of something is better than a percentage of nothing,” Clinton said, reflecting the U.S. view that South Sudan is only hurting itself by turning off an oil flow on which both countries rely. On Saturday, a key mediator said the countries had reached an oil deal, according to Reuters. Backed by millions of dollars in U.S. and European aid, South Sudan is the world’s newest country and by some measures its least developed. It is locked in a deadly embrace with Sudan, its detested former overlord, that U.S. officials fear is becoming a war of attrition that the northern country is far better placed to win. Disputes over oil and territory threaten to destroy a landmark 2005 peace deal that ended what was then Africa’s longest-running civil war. Sudan’s predominantly Christian and animist south seceded from the largely Arab north in July last year, but the arrangement left borders porous and details about oil production messy. The two Sudans came to the brink of war in April. The fighting has contributed to the displacement of more than 200,000 people — one of the worst refugee crises in the world. Just a day after Clinton’s visit, Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president and African Union mediator in Sudan, told reporters in Ethiopia that an oil deal had finally been struck. “It’s an (oil) agreement about all of the matters. The issues that were outstanding were charges for transportation, for processing, transit,” Mbeki said, according to Reuters. He gave no details but said Sudan and South Sudan would soon determine when to resume exports of southern oil through the north. Clinton later issued a statement welcoming the agreement, saying it reflected “leadership and a new spirit of compromise on both sides.” She praised the “courage” shown by South Sudan’s leaders, adding, “As I said in Juba yesterday, the interests of their people were at stake.” The Khartoum government, too, deserves credit, Clinton said. “If Sudan would now also take the steps to peace in Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur, and if it will respect the rights of


D.C. man sentenced for murder at Halloween craps game

A District man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Friday for killing a man during a Halloween night dice game in the Park View neighborhood in 2007. Gerald Anderson, 22, of Southeast was sentenced for killing 39-year-old David Mayo after the two got into an argument while shooting dice in a parking lot in the Park Morton apartment complex, officials said. A D.C. Superior Court jury found Anderson guilty of first-degree murder and a gun offense in April. D.C. police responded to a shooting at 630 Park Road NW at about 1 a.m. on Nov. 1, according to court documents. They found Mayo unconscious on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds to his neck and body, the bullets having severed his spine and lacerated several major blood vessels. Mayo was rushed to a hospital, according to a sentencing memo filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but he died. A witness described seeing Anderson and Antonio Ingraham, 23, in a dice game with Mayo behind the three-story apartment building, according to court documents. The three men argued, authorities said, and another witness told police Anderson left the area, went home and then returned to the site of the game. Anderson fired several times at Mayo, according to authorities, then approached Mayo as he lay on the ground, firing several more rounds. A bystander was hit by a stray bullet but survived, according to authorities. The documents state that a witness heard gunshots and then saw Anderson standing over Mayo. Ingraham yelled “Finish him off” and “Let him know we are not to be messed with up here” as Anderson fired, the witness told police. Authorities say Anderson shot Mayo nine times, using two handguns. Ingraham, 23, was shot dead in Northwest in March 2008.


Climate change is here — and worse than we thought

James E. Hansen directs the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. When I testified before the Senate in the hot summer of 1988 , I warned of the kind of future that climate change would bring to us and our planet. I painted a grim picture of the consequences of steadily increasing temperatures, driven by mankind’s use of fossil fuels. But I have a confession to make: I was too optimistic. My projections about increasing global temperature have been proved true. But I failed to fully explore how quickly that average rise would drive an increase in extreme weather. In a new analysis of the past six decades of global temperatures, which will be published Monday, my colleagues and I have revealed a stunning increase in the frequency of extremely hot summers, with deeply troubling ramifications for not only our future but also for our present. This is not a climate model or a prediction but actual observations of weather events and temperatures that have happened. Our analysis shows that it is no longer enough to say that global warming will increase the likelihood of extreme weather and to repeat the caveat that no individual weather event can be directly linked to climate change. To the contrary, our analysis shows that, for the extreme hot weather of the recent past, there is virtually no explanation other than climate change. The deadly European heat wave of 2003, the fiery Russian heat wave of 2010 and catastrophic droughts in Texas and Oklahoma last year can each be attributed to climate change. And once the data are gathered in a few weeks’ time, it’s likely that the same will be true for the extremely hot summer the United States is suffering through right now. These weather events are not simply an example of what climate change could bring. They are caused by climate change. The odds that natural variability created these extremes are minuscule, vanishingly small. To count on those odds would be like quitting your job and playing the lottery every morning to pay the bills. Twenty-four years ago, I introduced the concept of “climate dice” to help distinguish the long-term trend of climate change from the natural variability of day-to-day weather. Some summers are hot, some cool. Some winters brutal, some mild. That’s natural variability. But as the climate warms, natural variability is altered, too. In a normal climate without global


Two coyote attacks on pets, one fatal, reported

Coyote attacks on family pets, one of them fatal, were reported last month in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. In Fairfax city, three coyotes wounded a dog in Daniels Run Park July 30 or 31, city authorities said. The dog, which was not leashed, “most likely got too close to a coyote den,” according to the city’s Web site. About 10 days earlier, on July 20, two coyotes fatally injured a 13-year-old cat in the Pasadena area of Anne Arundel County, said the cat’s owner, Lori Reaney. It happened outside her home, “right in front of me,” Reaney said. Two days later, she said, she was standing near a car with its headlights on, and a coyote approached to within 20 feet and “just stared at us.” Coyotes, once seen as a symbol of the West, have spread throughout the country. A Fairfax County Web site said they generally pose little threat to people but have been known to prey on small pets.


RUNNING FOR MY LIFE One Lost Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong with Mark Tabb.

In the summer of 2000, Lopez Lomong was 15. Nine of those years he’d spent in a refugee camp in Kenya. He had never seen a television and had no idea what the Olympics were. But when several of his friends walked five miles to watch the Games on a grainy black-and-white set powered by a car battery, he went along. The highlight was the 400-meter dash, and the winner was the great American sprinter Michael Johnson. Lomong recalls the walk home: “In my mind’s eye I watched Michael Johnson run his race over and over again and I knew that someday, I, too, would run in the Olympics.” That wasn’t all: “I wanted to run with those same three letters across my chest: USA.” Talk about an impossible dream. Yet it came true. Eight years later, Lomong represented America in the Beijing Olympics, making the semifinals in the 1,500-meter race before a cranky hamstring ended his medal hopes. This time he will compete again for his new country, moving up to the 5,000-meter run. This book tells how it all happened, and I defy any reader to remain unmoved. When I saw a picture of Lomong in his Olympic uniform, tears came to my eyes. More than 40 Olympians on the U.S. squad are foreign-born, and that’s particularly fitting because immigrants contribute so much to our national culture and character. The great genius of America is that it draws newcomers from all over the world who are particularly resilient, talented and tenacious. Some build houses, as my grandfathers did after arriving from Russia 100 years ago. Others crate groceries or create Google. A few jump very high and run very fast. In fact, when Lomong was born in the tiny Sudanese village of Kimotong, his parents prophetically named him Lopepe, which means “fast” in their native dialect (Lopez is a nickname). The family lived in a mud hut with no running water or electricity. The village had no school, and his parents were illiterate. They didn’t own a plow and planted their crops entirely by hand. When rebel soldiers kidnapped all the children at a church service and threw them into the back of a truck, it was the first time the boy had ridden in a vehicle of any kind. ‘Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games’


Oscar Pistorius: Let’s put the controversy to rest and celebrate his achievement

over able-bodied competitors? “The moment in athletic history when engineered limbs outperform biological limbs has already passed,” two scientists told Sports Illustrated in 2009. Their findings were released in the Journal of Applied Physiology. They came out after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a ban by track and field’s international governing body and allowed Pistorius to compete against able-bodied runners in international competition. Though the research has been equally refuted and supported by scientists, doctors and lawyers on both sides of the issue, the fight won’t go away: Is a double amputee more fortunate than any of us realized? To all who ask, to those who have spent more money and hours on the science of “leg-swing times” than they have ensuring another child isn’t born without bones beneath his knees, I want to know: Would you swap your two legs for Pistorius’s prosthetics to find out? Johnson, the world record holder in the 400 (and formerly in the 200) and a friend of Pistorius, nonetheless declared, “My position is that because we don’t know for sure whether he gets an advantage from the prosthetics that he wears it is unfair to the able-bodied competitors.” To Johnson, I want to know: Are record times so much of your identity that you stay up late, worrying that a man with prosthetics is somehow a precursor to your marks being shattered by a Transformer — or, worse, a human Norelco razor? To type-A track world, our gatekeepers of the almighty split time, how many more words will be spent explaining to able-bodied runners that, contrary to popular thinking for 2,000 years, athletes born without limbs were, in actuality, the lucky ones? “If the blades give so much of an advantage, then why aren’t other athletes who have them running as fast as me?” Pistorius asks rhetorically. “People say I must have an advantage because my legs are lighter. But I’ve got less blood running through them and don’t have the tendons in my ankles. People don’t talk about that. “What I believe in is the fairness of sport,” he added. “It isn’t an advantage. In my heart, I know what’s right and I wouldn’t be running if I had any doubt.’’ Nearly every one of his able-bodied peers supported him when asked after their 400-meter heats Saturday whether they thought Pistorius should run. They essentially gave up their Olympic moment


At Olympics, fourth place is cruelest fate of all

LONDON — “There was a lot of tears, a lot of regrets, a lot of rewinding in my mind,” Lorig said some 24 hours later. “Why did it happen?” When the London Olympics end in a week, 955 medals will have been awarded to individuals and teams, testimonies to the years of work that went into it all. There also will be 249 stories such as Lorig’s: those of athletes and teams that have put in the same work, the same hours, the same sacrifice — yet finished fourth, just missing the medal podium and thus without a glistening piece of gold or silver or bronze to wear home. Lorig’s fate happens to all sorts of athletes in every sport, often by the tiniest margins and with all manner of ramifications. The American men’s eight rowing team placed fourth here — by three-tenths of a second. Michael Phelps, who now has a record 22 Olympic medals, would have 23 had he swum the 400-meter individual medley 35 hundredths of a second faster. Reese Hoffa solidified his standing in American track and field annals when he put the shot 21.23 meters, good enough to win bronze. Noted further down the page: Hoffa’s heave cost American Christian Cantwell a medal of his own — by four centimeters. Medals have been won and lost here both by performance and protest, by obvious decisions and obscure rules. And whether the athletes realize it or not, their lives have changed because of it. “There’s a huge difference in third place and fourth place,” said James Carter, a former Olympic hurdler from Baltimore. “I always tell people that an Olympic bronze medal will open a lot of doors that fourth won’t.” It is a fact that is acknowledged, mostly out of the spotlight, around these Games. When British swimmer Stephanie Proud pulled herself from the pool in a semifinal earlier this week, she sobbed as a BBC reporter approached for a live interview. She had finished ninth, one spot out of an opportunity to swim the final. “Ninth,” she cried, “is so hard.” The announcer patted her on the shoulder, offering consolation. “Fourth, though, is the worst,” she said. “Yes,” Proud said, perking up. “Fourth is probably worse.” And so many know it. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Carter was a brash 22-year-old, relatively new to the international track scene. Now, he is a 34-year-old IBM


Repeal of Glass-Steagall: Not a cause, but a multiplier

Act played in the financial crisis. The Depression-era regulation that separated Main Street banks from Wall Street investment firms had a huge impact on the finance sector. The repeal of Glass-Steagall may not have caused the crisis — but its repeal was a factor that made it much worse. And it was a continuum of the radical deregulation movement. This philosophy incorrectly held that banks could regulate themselves, that government had no place in overseeing finance and that the free market works best when left alone. This belief system manifested itself in damaging ways, including eliminating regulation and oversight on derivatives, allowing exemptions for excess leverage rules for a handful of players and creating dangerous legislation. As the events of 2007 to 2009 have revealed, this erroneous belief system was a major factor leading to the credit boom and bust, as well as the financial collapse. I have been unable to find any evidence that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act — the legislation that repealed Glass-Steagall — was a primary cause of the financial crisis. Imagine a “but for” scenario where Glass-Steagall had not been overturned but the rest of the deregulatory actions had still taken place. Would the crisis have occurred? Without a doubt, yes. The Fed still would have taken rates down to unprecedented low levels. This would have led to a global spiral in asset prices. The nonbank, lend-to-sell-to-securitizer mortgage originators were still going to make subprime-mortgage loans to unqualified borrowers. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers would still have overwhelmingly increased exposure to subprime mortgages. AIG would still have written trillions of dollars in credit-default swaps and other derivatives with zero reserves set against them. The largest security firms and deposit banks would still have charged headlong into the subprime securitization business. And Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would still have belatedly chased these banks into the same subprime market, just at the peak of the housing boom. Lastly, housing prices would still have run up to absurd levels and then collapsed. So no, the repeal of Glass-Steagall was not a proximate cause of the crisis. But its impact was both nuanced and complex. Consider the context in which it occurred: ● The repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 was part of a broad deregulatory push, championed by the likes of Fed chief Alan Greenspan, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, that eliminated much of the oversight


Olympic women’s marathon goes to Tiki Gelani after Americans Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan fade

small child. . . . I was confident before the race I could win it.” Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, the reigning world record holder, and American Desiree Davila, who has battled hip problems, did not start because of injury. Flanagan and Goucher, who train together under Jerry Schumacher, ran in the front of a massive lead pack in the early miles of the race, which started and finished in driving rain, under gray skies and on slick streets. Though officially sixth at the halfway point, Flanagan was on pace with the leaders at 1:13:13, and Goucher was just a second behind, officially 16th. But that’s about when the marathon became a battle. Reigning world champion Edna Kiplaget of Kenya started pushing the pace in the second half, and the American pair immediately fell off. Kiplaget eventually faded herself, finishing 20th in 2:27:52, but the damage was done. At just more than 15 miles into the race, Flanagan had fallen five seconds off the leaders and Goucher was six back. At the 21-mile mark, Flanagan ran by herself, seven seconds back of a lead pack that included three Kenyans and two Ethiopians, while Goucher had fallen 24 seconds behind. “I went for it,” Flanagan said. But “when they made a big move at 25k, I feel like I suffered a little bit.” Goucher said her right calf started cramping, then the pain began to creep into her back. The Americans, who have experimented with road racing in recent years, said they were bothered by the sharp twists and turns of the winding three-loop course, which started near St. James’s Park and extended nearly to the Tower of London. “It was sort of like a losing battle,” Goucher said. “The body just wasn’t happening.” Said Flanagan: “The turns and the ups and downs were really, really hard.” More 2012 Olympics Photos: Scenes from Day 9 Photos: Bolt dominates a day on the track Bolt repeats as men’s 100-meter champion Wise: Expect anything less from Bolt? Richards-Ross wins women’s 400 gold Olympic medal count Jenkins: Mangold is worth her weight in nerve Video: Gym owner on Mangold’s training Phelps wakes up to life as former athlete Durant’s father cheers from afar Murray thrills British fans with gold medal Instagram: Post staffers keep their cameras out London Eyes: Share sights and sound Follow the Olympics live on our London Games blog Monday’s Olympic TV listings


Second-tier apartment vacancy remains chronically low but rent growth is limited

though this trend is moderating. The Washington area Class B apartment vacancy rate rose slightly to 2 percent at the end of second quarter 2012, from 1.9 percent one year earlier. Garden and low-rise apartments posted a 1.9 vacancy rate as of mid-2012, unchanged from this time last year. The vacancy rate for garden and low-rise properties increased 70 basis points from a year earlier in Northern Virginia to 2.3 percent and fell in suburban Maryland by 90 basis points to 1.5 percent. Vacancy for mid-rise and high-rise buildings is 2.2 percent, slightly up from the end of the second quarter of 2011. Geographically, Class B mid-rise and high-rise vacancy rates at the end of the second quarter of 2012 were 2 percent in Northern Virginia, 2.4 percent in suburban Maryland and 2.7 percent in the District. Accounting for discounts, rents at Northern Virginia properties grew 2.3 percent over the past year, with growth in a majority of neighborhoods. Suburban Maryland performed less well, with an increase of just 0.2 percent, and the District’s 5.7 percent growth rate was the strongest. The average effective rent for all Class B property types was $1,580 per month. Class B mid-rise and high-rise rents are growing at a mixed pace throughout the area, with the average effective rent now at $1,818 per month. The District had the best high-rise rent performance over the past year, with a 6.7 percent increase since this time last year. Effective rents in Northern Virginia are up 2.8 percent from this time last year, and high-rise rents in suburban Maryland decreased by 6.7 percent year-over-year. Effective rents are the highest in the District at $1,892 per month, and continue to be the highest on a per-square-foot basis at an average of $2.37. Turnover Turnover at Class B properties is lower than for Class A communities, slowing rental growth. With so few units available, rent growth is statistically under-reported and appears to be lower than might otherwise be expected. Outlook Class B rent growth is likely to be constrained in 2012 due to extremely tight vacancy in the region, allowing for little turnover and thus fewer opportunities to raise rents. With more high-end apartments arriving on the market, there may be pressure to lower rents in 2013. Chris Dubberly is an associate at Delta Associates. Staff at Delta Associates contributed to this article. For more information, please visit www.deltaassociates.com.


Journalist jailed in Ethiopiais championed in D.C., abroad

erupted across the Arab world in the spring of 2010. “He was absolutely fearless, but he paid a heavy price,” said Mohammed Keita, Africa advocacy coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York. He cited several blogs that upset the Meles regime: for instance, one that drew parallels between unrest in Ethiopia and protests in Egypt and Yemen, and another that questioned the detention of a dissident actor in his 70s. As other journalists fled, Nega defended them in his blogs, which were blocked at home but read by a widening audience abroad. In September, he was arrested again, this time on much more serious terrorism charges. Prosecutors alleged that he and others were conspiring with armed opponents, including rebels from neighboring Eritrea and an opposition group called Ginbot 7. Keita described their court hearing as a “show trial with no credibility” and said the judge accused Nega of trying to spark an Arab Spring-style uprising. Officials at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington could not be reached last week for comment. As Nega languished in prison, his blogs fell silent, but his plight gained international attention. More than 30 international rights groups circulated petitions for his release and lobbied Congress for help. Sympathetic features and indignant editorials appeared in respected journals and magazines. In May, the PEN America organization awarded Nega its prestigious press freedom prize. Fasil, an elegant and poised woman, caused a sensation when she appeared at the New York awards ceremony to represent her husband. Although Nega found a few champions on Capitol Hill, notably Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), his high-profile case remains a source of tension and embarrassment to the Obama administration. The Meles government, despite its increasingly harsh treatment of domestic opponents, is a rare, reliable U.S. ally in a chaotic and impoverished region beset by ethnic strife and threatened by radical Islamic militancy. The regime in Addis Ababa has provided soldiers for international peacekeeping efforts. It recently agreed to host a base for unmanned U.S. drones. Ethiopia has received more than $2 billion in U.S. aid since 2010 and major project investment from the World Bank and other international agencies, in part because of its promising economic policies and in part to stave off famine. Last month, the State Department issued a statement saying it was “deeply concerned” about the convictions and sentences of Nega and his co-defendants, including an exiled


With NASA Mars rover Curiosity safely on surface, time to take inventory

of exploration, we guarantee new discoveries and new applications from all we learn.” The landing could not come at a more opportune time for NASA, which is facing significant budget cuts. Some of the largest budget hits are to the Mars and planetary sciences programs, cuts that many now say could and should be scaled back. The United States now has two active rovers on the planet and two orbiters, a high point for the nation’s presence on or around Mars. While the landing provided high drama and a look at the highest-quality, made-in-America technology and expertise, the mission has only begun, and soon the scientists will begin their work. More than 300 of them gathered at JPL for the landing, as anxious as the engineers about the rover’s fate. Curiosity’s overall mission is to search for the building blocks of extraterrestrial life on Mars and to identify habitats where it may once have flourished. The Gale Crater landing site was selected because orbiting satellites have determined it was once covered in water and still shows a large “alluvial fan,” where river water or meltwater once ran. In addition, it is known to contain clays and minerals that can be formed only in water — the kind of terrain that could house and preserve the carbon-based organic compounds that are essential to life as we know it. Curiosity also will be providing images and videos of a type and quality never seen before. The first photos were primitive black-and-white fisheye images taken by the hazard cameras at the bottom of the vehicle, used to look for potentially harmful boulders. But future pictures will be in high-definition color, and some will be taken from Mount Sharp — the three-mile-high mountain in the center of the crater that Curiosity will climb in the months ahead. The image of Curiosity’s descent was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In the photo, the Curiosity rover was still connected to its 51-foot-wide parachute as it descended toward its landing site at Gale Crater. “If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape,” said Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist at JPL. She said the team had been preparing to take the photo since March and finally uploaded commands to the satellite only 72 hours


Shopping malls spring up across Africa as middle class grows

Soweto residents shoping at the Maponya Mall in Soweto, South Africa, on March 19, 2010. (Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images) LAGOS, Nigeria — “It’s a good place to shop,” Animashaun said. “Everything is arranged nicely, and the prices are not bad.” From Lagos in the west to Nairobi in the east and Lusaka in the south, trendy shopping malls have sprung up across Africa as the continent’s mushrooming cities modernize and its emergent middle class swells. With more cash in their pockets, increasing numbers of Africans are looking to shop in modern centers rather than the small, rundown, poorly stocked, often informal stores that have been the norm in the past. It is a phenomenon that last year lured Wal-Mart, the U.S. group, to become the first mass retailer to enter the continent with a $2.4 billion deal to secure a majority holding in South Africa’s Massmart. And it reflects the strong growth Africa has enjoyed in recent years, with sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product expanding at an average annual rate of more than 5 percent throughout the economic crisis that has swept across the world since 2008. “We think of ourselves as Wal-Mart’s African investment vehicle,” said Grant Pattison, Massmart’s chief executive. “I think the global economy has got so bad that there’s a realization that with South America, India and Asia tapped . . . there’s only one large billion-sized population left in the world, and that is Africa.” So far, it has been South African companies, the continent’s largest and most sophisticated, that have been leading the charge. Shoprite, Africa’s biggest retailer, last month announced the opening of its first store in Kinshasa, capital of Congo, a country better known for conflict and crisis than shopping. Shoprite has operations in 17 African countries and about 115 supermarkets outside South Africa. Woolworths, a Cape Town-based retailer, has plans to open 14 stores outside its home market this financial year and to almost double its stores across the continent, excluding South Africa, to 104 in the next two to three years. John Fraser, who heads Woolworths’ international division, said the expansion has been encouraged by the conscious effort African governments are making to diversify their economies away from dependence on resources. But, he added, “the other thing that’s happening for us is increasing urbanization in Africa . . . and a growing middle class, which is really our target customer.” Woolworths


Robots might mine asteroids for water; article renews debate over rabies treatment

Space Travel A three-step plan to plunder the stars Popular Mechanics, August This month’s issue of Popular Mechanics looks at Planetary Resources, a company that’s dedicated to mining asteroids. Backed by such tech-world gurus as Google chief executive Larry Page and “Avatar” director James Cameron, they’ve developed a three-step plan for extraplanetary prospecting. First, they have to find the appropriate rocks. Because asteroids don’t reflect much light, they’re hard to spot from Earth. By the end of 2013, Planetary Resources hopes to launch a series of telescopes into orbit that will be able to pick out interesting-looking asteroids. Then a robot probe will be sent on a flyby mission to assess the rock’s value and, if necessary, stake a claim. Finally, a team of miners — not pickaxe-wielding humans, but spiderlike robots — will collect the loot. So, what kind of exotic ore do they expect to pull out of a space rock? Plain old H2O. Water can be broken down into its elements to produce rocket fuel, but regularly hauling it up into orbit from Earth would be prohibitively expensive. In the long run, mining asteroids might be a more efficient solution. Pathology A possible remedy for rabies Wired, August In 2004, a teenage girl came to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin suffering from fatigue, vomiting, vision disturbances and slurred speech. A few weeks earlier, it turned out, she had been bitten by a bat. Doctors diagnosed rabies, which, according to conventional wisdom, was basically a death sentence. For thousands of years, the disease has been considered 100 percent fatal. But Rodney Willoughby, a specialist in pediatric infectious disease, improvised an experimental treatment: He induced a coma and kept the girl in it for a week, hoping to buy her immune system some extra time to fight the disease off. She survived. In a Wired magazine article based on their book “Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus,” Monica Murphy and Bill Wasik examine Willoughby’s treatment and the debate surrounding its usefulness in other situations. Since 2004, the procedure has been used on 41 other patients, with five of those pulling through. But some experts suggest that the successes may just be a fluke; a small percentage of rabies victims may survive with no treatment at all. — Aaron Leitko


3 Stars Brewing’s debut: A big, boozy porter

Stars will officially launch its beers at Birch & Barley/ChurchKey and the Big Hunt. Soon after, 20 or so more bars and restaurants will carry its products. The Big Hunt is an appropriate venue for the beer’s debut because McGarvey, the brewery’s 39-year-old chief executive and head brewer, and Coleman, its 35-year-old president, met there nearly a decade ago. (Both are longtime District residents, and Coleman left the Big Hunt in the spring, having served as beer director for the past six years.) McGarvey got into home-brewing, and about three years ago the friends laid the groundwork for their brewery and delved into serious recipe development. The process they adopted, unusually scientific for home-brewers turning pro, speaks to the pair’s methodical pursuit of jaw-dropping beers, despite relying more on five-gallon pots than on state-of-the-art brewing equipment. For each test batch, McGarvey simultaneously brewed a basic recipe and four variations. One might use entirely different hop varieties, another a different yeast strain. Assigning ratings to each iteration, McGarvey and Coleman identified their favorite, then repeated the process until they made something they considered truly special. Most 3 Stars beers have gone through three to five rounds, some even more. The first to emerge was Pandemic, which Coleman jokingly calls “the beer that changed the world.” “It was the first beer and recipe that we developed on our own that we felt really is a differentiated product,” McGarvey says. “The beer industry is incredibly competitive, and I think if you’re going to go into it, you have to be serious about what you’re going to produce and what experience you’re creating that’s going to differentiate you.” The other two releases 3 Stars is introducing this week are flavorful and offbeat as well. Instead of starting with more common beers, such as American pale ales and German styles, McGarvey and Coleman offer Urban Farmhouse saison, a Belgian-influenced ale brewed with white and green peppercorns and citrusy American hops, and the Southern Belle, a malty imperial brown ale finished with toasted pecans. Three Stars’ brewers say they hope to begin releasing an almost comically large selection of India pale ales, the beers best known for showcasing the fruity, herbal and piney aromas and flavors of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus. Inspired by some of McGarvey and Coleman’s favorite examples of the style, such as Bell’s Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale and the Alchemist’s Heady Topper,