The U.S.-China climate deal is historic, but it will still take more to save the planet

for the first time working to significantly prevent the warming of the planet. "If China, the U.S., and the E.U .… got in a room, that's about 60 percent of global emissions right there," said Princeton climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer. Despite the burst of activity, however, climate experts warn that even these ambitious efforts are unlikely -- without concerted further action -- to solve the world's climate challenges. On Wednesday, for example, a grim report released by the International Energy Agency suggested that the world is on track to pump so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2040 that it will cause irreparable harm to the planet's ecosystems. The IEA says that humans can only emit about 1,000 additional gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (one gigatonne is equal to a billion metric tons) into the atmosphere before passing a dangerous threshold. Climate scientists warn that pumping more carbon dioxide than that into the atmosphere would likely cause a more-than-2 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures over levels that existed before the rise of industry in the 19th century. Such a rise could cause dramatic sea-level rise due to the melting of the planet's ice sheets, threats to agriculture, and more severe weather. Experts were scrambling on Wednesday to determine how the new U.S.-China agreement affects the 2 degree target. "The answer we’ve come to so far is that it depends," said Taryn Fransen, a senior associate at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank. "I think the big question in terms of total emissions is going to be when and at what level China peaks" its emissions. According to But global emissions are also still on a rise, meaning that in coming years the global annual number is projected to exceed 40 gigatonnes. The International Energy Agency says under current its projections -- which do not account for the brand new U.S.-China agreement -- the world will produce the threshold-breaking 1,000 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide by 2040. Forecasting changes to emission patterns is extremely difficult and imprecise, and it's not clear just how significant an impact the new agreement would have on these projections. But climate experts say that it's unlikely the new agreement -- without further action by both developing and developed countries -- would be enough to avert some of the worst outcomes. "Obviously, if only the U.S. and China were doing something, then we’d fall short,"


The Switchboard: Before it crashed, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo faced years of problems

epa04 SpaceShipTwo (VSS Enterprise) glides toward Earth on its first test flight, in 2010, after being released from WhiteKnightTwo (VMS Eve) over the Mojave Desert in California. SpaceShipTwo crashed on Oct. 31. (Mark Greenberg/Virgin Galactic via European Pressphoto Agency) Published every weekday, the Switchboard is your morning helping of handpicked stories from the Switch team. Problems plagued Virgin Galactic rocketship long before crash. Taylor Swift’s Spotify paycheck mystery. The split between Obama and the FCC on net neutrality, in plain English. Harry Reid moves for Senate vote on NSA reform. FTC chair wants clearer disclosures to protect privacy.


Remember Solyndra? Those loans are making money

with the whole idea of the loans if you like, but you can't claim that the program has been mismanaged or call it a failure or a boondoggle anymore. Welcome to Wonkbook. To subscribe by e-mail, click here. Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. Follow Wonkblog on Twitter and Facebook What's in Wonkbook: Chart of the day: The number of people working part time who would prefer to be working full time doubled during the financial crisis. It's since fallen significantly, but remains around 60 percent above its level before the recession. Why so many people are working part time is a matter of debate. Some economy say the job market just needs more time to recover. Nick Timiraos in The Wall Street Journal. 1. Top story: Congress to vote on the Keystone XL pipeline Landrieu will use the vote to appeal to constituents in Louisiana's runoff. Still, the proposal might not have enough votes to pass a filibuster. The official report on the pipeline might understate the greenhouse gas emissions involved. MILBANK: Congress is doing what's best for Landrieu, not for the country. 2. Top opinions: Jonathan Gruber, the climate deal, and a dilemma for Christie IRWIN: Jonathan Gruber reveals Washington's dirty secret. GREENHOUSE: The Supreme Court oversteps its authority in taking a challenge to Obamacare. FRIEDERSDORF: Pregnant pigs' welfare KRUPP: The agreement with China on global warming changes the game. YGLESIAS: To raise wages, eliminate unnecessary zoning ordinances and land-use laws. WILLIAMS: Democrats will likely reject Obama's education policies in 2016. Kindergarten interlude: 3. Court allows gay marriage in Kansas The Supreme Court lifted a stay on gay-marriages licenses in Kansas Wednesday night. Also on Wednesday, a lower court in South Carolina ruled against that state's ban on gay marriage. FELDMAN: Will the justices trade votes on Obamacare and gay marriage? 4. Banks fined in foreign-currency fixing investigation Six major banks agreed to pay regulators $4.3 billion to settle claims that they rigged markets. Agents of these firms were allegedly getting together to manipulate foreign-currency prices. More penalties may be on the way. LEVINE: How much money did the banks make illegally? 5. In case you missed it Manhattan's D.A. found funds to process rape kits. The deal with China won't stop climate change. What happens when young professionals push the poor out of cheap apartments? "Alpha House" is out, and it's hilarious.


climate


Toxic levels of a chemical in plastic medical devices could endanger preemies

Eric Mallow, who is the study's author and a senior research program coordinator at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. "The role of these synthetic materials in the clinical course of our patients remains almost completely unexplored." Most medical devices are made of a plastic called polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The devices often provide life support to premature infants whose vital organs may be underdeveloped. But the tradeoff can be significant. The study found that a four-pound preemie can be exposed daily to toxic levels of DEHP that are 4,000 times the level desired to prevent toxicity that affects the male reproductive organs, and 160,000 times higher than desired to prevent liver damage. In some cases, high exposure to the DEHP occurs though breathing tubes used to deliver support with a ventilator. But the exposure to toxic chemicals could be one of the reasons why preemies whose breathing is managed without a ventilator have better lung outcomes, researchers said. "We were floored by how high the exposures are when you look at all of the devices together," said Mary Fox, an assistant professor in the school's Department of Health Policy and Management and co-author of the study. "It's a population that we know is vulnerable to begin with. They're struggling to survive. And the concern now is whether this phthalate exposure is actually contributing to their problems when these medical products are supposed to be helping them get better." The results were published online in the Journal of Perinatology on Thursday. DEHP is one of many compounds called phthalates that are added to plastics to improve their flexibility, transparency or durability. It is the only phthalate approved for use in medical settings -- but it isn't regulated. Researchers say that immediate steps can be taken to evaluate where exposure to DEHP is happening in a medical setting and to reduce it where possible. Using alternate non-DEHP products should also be explored. The European Union announced in 2011 that it would begin phasing out the chemical by 2015. In France, DEHP will be prohibited altogether in tubing for the care of neonatal and maternal patients by 2015. "We do have to make tradeoffs and we want to save these babies," Fox says. "But can we save them by using alternative products that reduce their exposures to substances that may be harming them? It seems like we could." [This post has been updated.]


Bear cubs born at National Zoo

Andean bear Billie Jean Congrats to Billie Jean, the Andean bear who gave birth this week to two cubs at the National Zoo. Keepers at the zoo said they don’t know the sex of the cubs yet, so they haven’t named them, but they plan to try to do so in the coming weeks once mama bear — Billie Jean — lets the keepers get closer to the newborns. (Quiz: Name that National Zoo animal) For now, zookeepers are giving mama bear her food and water and watching her on a closed-circuit camera. Once Billie Jean starts moving about more and “feeling more confident” about leaving her cubs for small amounts of time, zoo officials said they’ll start doing routine examinations of the little ones. Zoo officials said they haven’t yet decided whether they will name the cubs internally or take suggestions from the public. The birth of the cubs is a big deal for the zoo and the Andean bear population. The cubs are one of four litters born in North American zoos in the past nine years, according to zoo officials. It is estimated that there are only 2,000 Andean bears left in the wild. They are the only bear species in South America and live in the Andes mountain range. For 8-year-old Billie Jean, it isn’t her first time at motherhood. In 2010 and December 2012, she gave birth to bears Bernardo, Chaska, Curt and Nicole. “Billie Jean is once again proving herself to be an attentive mother,” said Karen Abbott, animal keeper in a zoo press release. “Right now, the best support we can give the family is to watch them from a distance and provide Billie Jean with a peaceful, quiet spot to nurse and bond with her young.” The father of the two latest bear cubs is 21-year-old Cisco, who came to the National Zoo in September from the Queens Wildlife Center. The couple bred in April. But zoo officials said it is difficult to figure out exactly when she became pregnant because the fertilized egg “does not attach to the uterine wall until several months after breeding occurs,” zoo officials said in an online posting about the bears. In late August zookeepers began doing ultrasounds, and in mid-October an ultrasound showed two live fetuses. Zookeepers said the two new cubs are “active and vocal” and they are “cautiously optimistic that the cubs will


Metta World Peace’s panda sneakers go from concept to reality, so do Cubs prospect Kris Bryant’s Wrigley Field inspired kicks

The inspiration for this year’s most stylish (or at least weirdest) sneakers. (Chimelong Safari Park/AFP/Getty Images) The 2004 NBA defensive player of the year, ex-New York Knicks and L.A. Lakers star Metta World Peace and current Chinese Basketball League Sichuan Blue Whales small forward The Panda’s Friend may all be the same person, but only one iteration of the man once simply known as Ron Artest wears sneakers that could double as a toddler’s favorite stuffed animal buddy. We’ll let you guess which one that is. Although the sneakers have been talked about as lore for nearly two months now, the world has finally been graced with a picture of them in action and they are phenomenal. CBA players aren’t the only athletes touting their sneaker game this week, though. Chicago Cubs prospect Kris Bryant is tweeting out his interesting new kicks, as well. From my phone to my hands. Check out the #miZXFLUX app by Adidas. Wrigley Field ivy on my shoes! @adidasoriginals http://t.co/4cCmabkiUc MLB aficionados might recognize that shoe’s print — it’s the ivy that grows on Wrigley Field’s outfield walls. Bryant designed the shoes himself with the help of his iPhone and the Adidas Originals #miZXFLUX app, which allows customers to upload any picture they want (that Adidas then vets to deem appropriate) and get printed on a sneaker. Basically, Bryant just made Adidas millions of dollars because crazy cat owners everywhere (Hi!) are probably crashing Adidas’s servers to get custom sneakers featuring their pet’s visage. That said, Bryant — who hasn’t yet been named on the Cubs’ major-league roster — probably just tweeted that for free. Although the minor league player of the year’s agent has been pushing Bryant to score an opening day roster spot, new Manager Joe Maddon hasn’t yet taken the bait. But his time is coming, Yahoo Sports’ Mark Townsend writes: “Though they might prefer holding him back until June for financial purposes, the Cubs will likely give him an opportunity to turn heads and force a tough decision in spring training.” The shoes should only help his cause.


Five local vendors to check out at the Emporiyum

available only online for now. The pair hopes to expand with a pop-up or brick-and-mortar store, and partner with shops in New York and Washington to carry their products. Farmers market produce bags from Magpie Cookshop. (Courtesy Lauren Volo Photography) Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. The pop-up biscuit shop recently found a more permanent home on weekends at Union Market. The Emporiyum, though, is where the brand will introduce its line of retail products, says chief executive Ayeshah Abuelhiga. She and her team perceived demand for frozen biscuits; those vacuum-packed biscuits probably will be available in packs of six or 12. They aren’t baked and will require a brief thawing before going into the oven. By way of endorsement, Abuelhiga is convinced that the baked-from-frozen biscuits are better than when they’re baked from fresh dough. Also available: preserves, such as cranberry or citrus spreads. Pre-order a holiday cookie wreath from Wildflour Baking Co. (Courtesy Heather Roth) Wildflour Baking Co. Pastry chef Heather Roth, currently on staff at L’Academie de Cuisine, has worked at such Washington establishments as Hook and Equinox. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, she took time off to focus on her health and looked to baking for solace. Now she’s going into business for herself, considering the Emporiyum her launch date. “After five years cancer-free, I’ve gotta do this. What am I waiting for?” she says. She’s working to place her sweet treats at local shops but hopes to one day open at a place like Union Market. At the Emporiyum, expect to see desserts along the lines of decorated sugar cookies, cupcakes and macaroons. Roth will also be taking orders for Thanksgiving and Christmas cookie wreaths. Udderly Nuts This year-old business is based out of culinary incubator Union Kitchen. Ryan Keating started making his own almond milk when he was on the Paleo diet. Except for a version that includes honey for a touch of sweetness, Udderly Nuts contains only two ingredients: almonds and filtered water. “People say, ‘Wow, this really tastes like almonds.’ They’re not used to that,” Keating says. The almond milk, which Keating compares in consistency to one-percent cow’s milk, comes in 32-ounce plastic bottles, which are sold in a handful of locations in the District. Smaller bottles are under consideration and may be available at the Emporiyum. Udderly Nuts Almond Milk, produced in Washington at Union Kitchen. (Courtesy Ryan Keating)


Rosetta mission scientist cracks sex jokes while wearing a shirt covered in scantily clad women

Project scientist Matt Taylor wears an interesting shirt during an interview with moderatoe Monika Jones about the Rosetta mission. (ESA) The European Space Agency's Matt Taylor looks more like a rock star than the stereotypical scientist. Instead of a lab coat, he answered questions about the Rosetta mission covered in tattoos. He looks like the kind of guy you might expect to push boundaries a little bit, making science seem like an act of rebellion. In short, he makes it seem cool. But during appearances tied to Wednesday's historic landing of the Phildae probe on a comet some 300 million miles away, Taylor may have gone too far. Asked during an ESA webcast why the Rosetta mission was pursuing a comet, Taylor responded with a cheeky double entendre, calling Rosetta the "sexiest mission there's ever been." "She is sexy, but I never said she is easy," he joked, before actually answering the question. But it was Taylor's choice of shirt that really raised eyebrows during the interview: A retro-looking, short-sleeved button-down covered in scantily-dressed women along the lines of pulp science fiction classic "Barbarella." Female scientists and technology journalists were quick to voice concerns on Twitter. Katie Mack, a theoretical astrophysicist, said: I don't care what scientists wear. But a shirt featuring women in lingerie isn't appropriate for a broadcast if you care about women in STEM Maggie Koerth-Baker, a journalist and Nieman-Berkman Fellow at Harvard, tweeted that it showed that the space agency didn't notice "casual misogyny" among its employees. #ThatShirt is a problem, because it shows that Taylor thinks women are a punchline. It shows @esa doesn't notice casual misogyny. Rose Eveleth, who covers technology for the Atlantic, sarcastically pointed out why the shirt hit so many nerves: No no women are toooootally welcome in our community, just ask the dude in this shirt. https://t.co/r88QRzsqAm http://t.co/XmhHKrNaq5 (She was later bombarded with tweets from angry fans suggesting she kill herself.) The whole debacle even resulted in a hashtag: #shirtstorm. ESA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Taylor's choice of attire. During a recent online chat with the Wall Street Journal, Taylor talked about how he gained acceptance as a scientist despite his tattooed look. "The people I work with don’t judge me by my looks but only by the work I have done and can do. Simple," said Taylor, who has worked for ESA since


How Wikipedia reading habits can successfully predict the spread of disease

(Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images) The ability to forecast the spread of an infectious diseases weeks in advance can make a world of difference when it comes to public health responses. For decades, scientists have been trying to create models to predict how something like the flu will spread. People's Internet usage has opened a new door for predictive data. There are already some tools out there, such as Google Trends, which tries to "nowcast," or show what's happening right now with the spread of certain diseases in the world. There have been studies, too, on whether Twitter can accurately predict how a disease is spreading. But getting access to Google Trends or Twitter data is not always easy -- or cheap. So a team of mathematicians, biologists and computer scientists got together to see if they could use something that's completely open and free: Wikipedia. As it turns out, they could accurately forecast how influenza and dengue spread based purely on people's reading habits of Wikipedia articles. Last week, they showed how their algorithm could predict flu season in the United States. The full results of their research are published in this week's PLOS Computational Biology. "Nowcasting is cool, but ideally you want to provide information to public health departments and policymakers so they can plan ahead of time," said Sara Del Valle, a project leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory whose team worked on the study. "Because if you really want to make a difference in how people are treated when they come to clinics and hospitals, it's better for them to be prepared. If they know in advance, we will see people in a couple of weeks, four weeks, they can better prepare." Researchers looked at seven diseases and 11 countries over a period of three years, starting in 2010, and compared page views on Wikipedia articles about those diseases to official data from health ministries. By looking at readers' habits, they successfully predicted the spreads of influenza in the United States, Poland, Thailand and Japan and dengue in Brazil and Thailand at least 28 days in advance. Official government data -- usually released with a one- or two-week lag time -- lagged four weeks behind Wikipedia reading habits, according to Del Valle; people, she said, are probably reading about the illnesses they have before heading to the doctor. But not all the diseases or countries yielded such results;


‘Scandal’ recap Season 4, Episode 8: ‘The Last Supper’

B613 files that Jake had stealthily placed in David Rosen’s care to incriminate Rowan. As if trying to stop her father’s evil deeds wasn’t enough of a project for Olivia, she decided to take on a new client — Elizabeth North, or as Cyrus calls her, Lizzie Bear. Liz was concerned that her phone had been hacked and hired Olivia to find out who was behind it. The assignment proved to be a conflict of interest since Cyrus was the one who hacked into Liz’s phone — in an effort to find out what information she’d gotten from his prostitute friend, Michael. When Olivia confronted Cyrus about the hack, he told Olivia the truth about Michael. “I knew that he was a whore and I was willing to go along with that because it was fun and weird and not real.” I usually go see a movie when I’m looking for that kind of thing, but no worries, Cy, I won’t judge. Olivia double crosses her client to get a full picture of what Liz has on Cyrus and it’s a lot — pictures and videos of him with Michael, in addition to the recent leaks about Fitz’s plan to close military bases and the false information about West Angola that Cyrus fed to Liz in last week’s episode. The West Angola plotline continued this week– a car bomb went off right as VP Andrew was leaving a speech about the situation there. (ABC/Mitchell Haaseth)<br />Fitz and Cyrus in the situation room. Andrew wasn’t seriously hurt, but the bomb raised a terror alert and made quite the impression on his ex-lover, Mellie, who ran to his side. The two picked up where they left off last season. But here’s where it gets complicated. Olivia finds out (from Michael of all people) that Elizabeth has a standing hotel suite. Huck wires the place and stakes it out later that night, with his son, Javi, in attendance. Note to Huck: there’s a reason it’s not called take your son or daughter to stakeout day. Stakeouts are dangerous. Not to mention, Huck’s wife has no idea that Javi has contacted his father. Huck runs into Quinn, who is still on her long-running assignment of finding out why someone is taking (and going to great lengths to hide) photos of Olivia. They realize they’re on the same stakeout as they watch Liz talk to


Making your own beer is becoming easier than ever before

Brewie wants to make brewing your own beer almost as easy as pushing a button. (Brewie) Throughout much of human history, making your own beer was the way to go. Thats how the Romans and Greeks got their buzz. Even founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and George Washington had personal breweries on their estates. Though the introduction of mass-distribution has since changed all that, the practice is far from going away entirely. In fact, homebrewing has undergone a bit of resurgence as of late. And leading the charge are enthusiasts who often tout the nearly boundless experimentation that home brewing allows for, as well as significant cost savings over commercially-sold speciality beers. Still, the methods used tend to be quite laborious. A lot of time and effort goes into completing all the necessary steps. The techniques, involving careful roasting and mashing, are also somewhat crude, which makes it a real challenge to achieve to the kind of consistency you’d get with beer sold by commercial breweries that use a more standardized and tightly-controlled process. We are, though, living in what’s considered the modern maker age. Rapidly advancing technologies such as 3D printing have made it possible to easily replicate nearly anything these days, whether it’s toys or meals. Surely then, the same can be done for booze, right? Recently, a handful of personal brewing machines have cropped up claiming to do just that. In 2011, New Zealand start-up WilliamsWarn introduced what they called “The world’s first personal brewery.” By applying an engineer’s precision, brewing and fermentation can now be streamlined down to a period of just seven days, rather than weeks. And last year, UK-based Cargo launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for their own brewing appliance, the Brewbot, which further automates much of the process according to programmable recipes. Then there’s the PicoBrew Zymatic, which debuted roughly around the same time and boasts similar automation features, but in a more compact package. Here’s a quick overview of starting the brewing process. (Brewie) Now, come December, beer lovers will have another option, this time from a team of Hungarian entrepreneurs. Like its competitors, the Brewie offers homebrewers an unprecedented level of precision. For breweries, it can be employed as a test lab of sorts to experiment with new formulations. Casual consumers who know virtually nothing about brewing beer can simply stick to the company’s selection of 20 or so recipes, and


Scientist apologizes for his sexist shirt, but the Internet still wants women to shut up and die

Matt Taylor, who's a great scientist and seems to also be a pretty cool dude, gave a teary, heartfelt apology for his choice of attire on the day of Rosetta's probe landing. "I made a big mistake, and I offended many people," Taylor said at Friday's media briefing, his voice trembling, "and I'm very sorry about this." With that, the briefing moved onto the science (as it should -- Philae's days are numbered, and we want to find out as much as we can from the little probe that could). Taylor seemed to have trouble speaking for a few minutes, but perked up by the end. Many praised his apology on Twitter, and whether or not he was aware of that response, it seemed to have taken a weight off his shoulders. .@RachelFeltman @edyong209 Good for Taylor. Point of #shirtstorm not 2 cast him 2outer darkness, but 2 counter barriers to women in science .@mggtTaylor’s apology seems heartfelt and genuine, and he’s still the amazing scientist he was before wearing the wrong shirt Because none of the people calling out Taylor's attire wanted him blacklisted from science, or punished, or to run into a corner and cry. The coolest people in the world (like the ones who land probes on comets) should also be held to the highest standards -- they're the ones that the children of the world are watching for cues. And for young women in the world, a shirt covered in hyper-sexualized women does not send a good message, conscious or otherwise. Of course, I personally hope that one day (when he's a little less busy) Taylor will say a bit more on the subject, and show that he understands why the shirt wasn't okay. Science is not a welcoming place for women, even today, and the only people who can truly make it more welcoming are the men who run the show. If a stellar scientist walks into work -- and then says hello to the whole world -- wearing a sexist shirt, what kind of message are we sending to future scientists? And some still have their doubts in regards to Taylor's understanding of the issue: .@RachelFeltman If only he weren't still posting pictures of him in that shirt. Like today. http://t.co/fSaBwAgFIr\ But one thing is for sure: Taylor's apology didn't stop the Internet rage machine on the other side of the argument. This tweet


Women without bank accounts are on the verge of launching a mobile money revolution

the financial crisis of 2008 were in low-income neighborhoods. There’s an easy solution to this problem. Since 6 out of every 10 post offices happens to be located in what’s known as a “bank desert” — a Zip code that has no or just one bank — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says that banks should be allowed to open branches in the local post offices. However, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House committee with oversight over the post office, doesn’t like this idea. He says that the U.S. Postal Service should stick to delivering the mail and not embark on a “massive expansion” of government power. Even if they can find a bank, in many cases the bank won’t allow them to open an account because they have a history of banking problems — maybe they bounced too many checks — or they don’t have the proper identification — maybe they don’t have a driver’s license. These women, of course, still have bills to pay, checks to cash, and deposits to make. So, where do they conduct their financial transactions? Many of them turn to alternative lenders and some of them find themselves overwhelmed by debt. All you have to do is watch this video that reveals the devastating financial troubles that some people who use these services face to know that these alternatives aren’t a very attractive way to do banking. Yet, contrary to popular belief, most people without bank accounts aren’t using payday loans, pawning their jewelry or putting their car up as collateral for an auto title loan. No, most of them are using rather common and widely accepted means to manage their finances. They’re getting money orders or using check-cashing services with what the FDIC calls “non-bank, alternative financial services (AFS) providers.” According to the FDIC, among all the unbanked households that used alternative financial services in the past year, 75 percent of them obtained a money order without using a bank and 57 percent cashed a check at a non-bank location. By contrast, 15.6 percent used pawnshops, but only 4.3 percent took out a payday loan and just 2.7 percent obtained an auto title loan over that same time period. More than 80 percent of the unbanked population has never taken out a payday or auto title loan. Money orders and check cashing services are common ways to get money and pay bills


Pentagon wants at least $7.5 billion to fix nuclear weapons programs

military’s nuclear force is healthy. “The good news is that none of this has endangered America, Americans, or put our security at risk. That’s all good news,” Hagel said. “But if we don’t pay attention to this, you know, if we don’t fix this, eventually it will get to a point where there will be some questions about our… security.” Hagel called for the reviews in January After internal and external reviews, Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel announced Friday several changes to be made to the military's nuclear programs, for which he plans to request "billions of dollars of additional funding." Shortly after Hagel called for the reviews, a similar scandal emerged at the Naval Nuclear Power School in Charleston, S.C. The service eventually expelled at least 34 senior enlisted sailors after finding that they had shared answers on an engineering watch qualification test. An external review, carried out by retired Air Force Gen. Larry D. Welch and retired Navy Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., found that rank-and-file U.S. troops in the nuclear force are meeting the demands of their mission, but with increasing difficulty and are “paying an unsustainable price.” The reviews, released Friday, found problems with manpower shortages, aging infrastructure, and an inspection system that created a culture of perfection, which troops couldn’t satisfy. In total, the reviews recommended more than 100 changes. Some of them already have been implemented, officials said. The Pentagon will allow the Navy to hire 4,000 civilians to catch up on maintenance at its submarine shipyards, and the service has already begun hiring, Adm. Michelle J. Howard, the vice chief of naval operations, told reporters on Friday. The Air Force also will exempt 4,000 airmen working in the nuclear force from ongoing manpower reductions, and add nearly 1,00 military and civilian jobs to Global Strike Command, which oversees both bomber and missile wings. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said the Pentagon currently spends about $15 billion to $16 billion on nuclear programs each year, and will need to increase that by about 10 percent over each of the next five years to buy new helicopters for the troops who protect missile silos and make other improvements. Conservatively, that amounts to at least $7.5 billion in new spending. The Pentagon also will upgrade Global Strike Command to have a four-star general oversee it. Currently it is commanded by Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, who took


U.S. CTO on net neutrality critics: ‘Are you supposed to argue with physics?’

and crisis that the engineers are very much at the table. Vannevar Bush, the first science adviser, came [to D.C.] after World War II to do the Manhattan Project. It was basically the beginning of [the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where the CTO team is housed]. He actually invented something called a memex, which was one of the first ideas of an Internet. It was a mechanical sort of thing, but it could retrieve anything. It was basically a World Wide Web, but mechanical. What besides neutrality is in your policy portfolio? Macgillivray: And then on the proactive side, we're still defining that a little bit. But one of the things we're taking a hard look at is how do the new things happening in technology impact how we regulate. So that's everything from that it's easier and easier to launch a company -- two people in a garage can reach 100 million people -- what that means as regulators to figure out what all those people are doing all over the county and to ensure we protect the American people, and what it means to be two people in a garage and all of the sudden have a regulator concerned with the stuff that you're doing. It's really making sure that the United States continues to be the best place in the world for science and technology innovation. Smith: Alex, when you were appointed, some people said, "This is the guy who stood up to government. Now he's going into government, and he's not going to have a lot of friends, especially in the intelligence community." Macgillivray, laughing: Within government, it's amazing to me how open people are to us. This is in large part thanks to the two CTO's offices that proceeded us. When they think of the CTO, they think of people who come in and bring fresh ideas, new eyes on a problem, and are willing to do the work and get something done. I definitely haven't had anybody, you know, be mean to me. [Laughs.] My experience with people in government even on the outside was of a whole bunch of good, very smart people all trying to do the right thing. That's been my experience on the inside, too. I didn't expect people to be holding a grudge, and that's definitely not something that's happened. Smith: How is President Obama's T.Q.? Smith:


Why Whole Foods is moving into one of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago

jobs. This is part of the food paradox of Englewood today: People don’t have much access to fresh produce, even though it’s grown in the neighborhood. What they do have access to is chips and soda, which are cost-effective to stock on corner-store shelves, or higher-cost perishables like milk that benefit from none of the economies of scale of a large supermarket. As a result, snacks are cheap and many staples are not. People with less money wind up paying more for their food. Whole Foods could, in theory, bridge the disconnect between Growing Home and its own neighborhood. Since announcing plans to come to Englewood, Whole Foods has donated money to the farm — $100,000 for a new hoop house that extends the growing season to 10 months — and helped install a walk-in cooler that extends the life of the produce once it’s picked. Both of these could help Growing Home become a Whole Foods supplier, as the company and the farm hope. Near the Whole Foods site, the other odd food incentives in Englewood are on display. Walgreens is two blocks away and has several grocery aisles. It sells cut fruit in plastic containers alongside salad greens and a few baskets of apples and oranges. A display shelf for “smart buys,” though, features an 81/2-ounce bag of Uncle Ray’s sour cream-and-onion chips for a dollar. Walgreens sells just-add-water and microwaveable pasta sides, but no boxes of plain pasta. The food section has a sign to Walgreens’ valued customers that “this location accepts SNAP benefits.” It’s mounted in the chip aisle. A block farther is the Aldi’s. Plastic-wrapped stacks of flour and boxed gallons of juice line the dimly lit aisles the same way they might in the behind-the-scenes storage of a more mainstream supermarket. The milk is cheap — $2.09 for a gallon (it’s $3.69 at Walgreens). Customers are limited to four gallons, because the corner stores shop here, too. They, in turn, charge customers twice as much for that gallon. “Those type of experiences,” says Kristopher Murray, executive director of the Washburne Culinary and Hospitality Institute at Chicago’s Kennedy-King College, “they only exist in areas like this.” A rendering of the plans for the Whole Food site in Englewood. Courtesy of DL3 Realty / Ethos Workshop. Needing a catalyst The culinary school has a restaurant, Sikia, that looks out on what will be the Whole Foods.


USAJobs.gov board for feds to be revamped, OPM chief promises

digital Town Hall for federal workers and others interested in joining the government. “Let’s take a look at the language we’re using [in job announcements]. Let’s make sure we don’t have redundant questions,” she said. In short, let’s try again to streamline a process that has confounded applicants for years. “We’re looking at USAJobs from beginning to end,” Archuleta said, calling the redo “USAJobs 2.0.” Archuleta, a year into her tenure as personnel chief, took questions via Google Hangouts, live streaming and Twitter, Instagram and Facebook on the government’s efforts to recruit young people, veterans’ preference in hiring, telework and how to keep civil servants engaged in their work after years of salary freezes, furloughs and Republican-led efforts in Congress to reduce some of their benefits. Steve Ressler, founder of GovLoop, the popular social networking site for feds, served as facilitator for the meeting, which was streamed live on YouTube from OPM headquarters in downtown Washington. Archuleta said she has traveled the country in the past year to meet with federal workers about their concerns and recruit new employees, including veterans, to a government focused on “how we develop the next generation of leaders” now that thousands of retirement-age civil servants are leaving. She acknowledged the the millenial generation tends to view federal service as one stop in a career that includes private-sector and nonprofit jobs. To keep the younger generation in government, “We’re looking at young leadership and how to grow it,” she said. “How are we making sure we keep our employees engaged so they feel good about what they’re doing?” Asked to respond to concerns that the government is giving veterans such a leg up in hiring that non-veterans have trouble getting in the door, Archuleta said that veterans “bring a richness and talent” to government: “We need to take advantage of all we’ve invested in our military.” USAJobs.gov, the main job site for federal employment, has discouraged applicants for years, with its lengthy résumé requirements and voluminous questions. Applicants complain that they apply for open positions only to hear nothing from the agency that posted the job. They also say that getting through the process is based less on talent and more on how well they tailor their résumé to keywords in the job listing. OPM spent millions of dollars in 2011 to revamp the site, but the launch was plagued by delays and computer glitches.


Are there too many consultants in the world?

Sometimes leaders fall in the trap of falling in love with the role. I think you should define the role, not let the role define you. And by that I mean, you have to be comfortable with who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish. Too often people get focused on the short term and the bottom line, particularly today with public companies. Q. A. I spend a lot of time with clients talking to them about where they should use us and where they shouldn’t. And I’ve spent a lot of time talking with our people about how we should only do work when we can really make a difference with the company. If we can’t, then it doesn’t end up well for the company or for us. Not every consultant is good for every issue. First of all, our clients are really smart. They’ve gone to all the same schools we have. They’ve been working in the industry for a very long time. It’s just that they’re faced with an issue or a challenge they’ve never seen before. That’s where consultants come in. In those times and those situations we can be invaluable, but not in every situation. I think it can also become a crutch. I believe what you’ll start to see is that the compensation for consultants will be more and more based on the value we deliver. Right now, about 20 percent of our portfolio is value-based work. And we have been pretty dramatically shifting to do even more. It changes the dynamic. We become business partners, and it forces a clarity of expectations on both sides about what needs to get done. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. “College boy, you’ll never amount to anything! What are you doing? You’re not thinking!” He was right. It was a good lesson in that I really should have stepped back, thought about it and gotten the right tool. Taken time to think, right? In fact, one of my mentors on my first consulting project made a similar point. We were all cranking on our analysis, and he just walks in and goes, “Shut the computer. Just step back and think. It’s not just in the numbers. You actually have to get a chance to process.” Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. What that really gave me was the license to step back and


Minot Air Force Base troubles highlighted in nuclear weapons review

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Bonebreak, left, with the 91st Security Forces Group, signals to direct other troops during an exercise at the Minot Air Force Base missile field complex near Minot, N.D., in 2013. The base was cited in a new Pentagon report for its crumbling infrastructure, extreme isolation and bad weather. (Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp/ U.S. Air National Guard) Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel traveled Friday to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota after announcing that the Pentagon will address a series of problems it found in a review of nuclear weapons programs this year. It’s no accident: the base is cited at length in the review for its crumbling infrastructure and the effect on troops of its bad weather and extreme isolation. Officials warned that if “the current trend of complacency” in managing the facility continues, it could lead to failure with major consequences. The base is less than 50 miles from the Canadian border in oil-rich central North Dakota, and is the only military installation in America that includes both nuclear missile silos and bomber planes that drop nuclear bombs. But many of the troops stationed at it leave as soon as they can in the face of limited resources, the review’s report said. “This unique and challenging set of circumstances should call for special attention and additional support at Minot AFB,” according to the report, which includes an entire section devoted to concerns about the base. “Instead, there are important instances where the opposite has occurred.” Retired Air Force Gen. Larry D. Welch, who led the review with retired Navy Adm. John Harvey, told reporters Friday that at the height of the Cold War, service members at Minot prided themselves on having the toughest mission in the Air Force. As the emphasis in Washington shifted to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that sense of importance gradually disappeared. “So then when you look at Minot today, you find some of the oldest maintenance facilities in the Air Force,” said Welch, who served as the service’s top officer from 1986 to 1990. “You find an extreme reluctance to accept an assignment to Minot.” The weather has always been brutal, with sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow common in the winter. But troops on base face other issues, too. On-base day care hours do not accommodate a 12-hour shift, although that is standard


1990. “You find an extreme reluctance to accept an assignment to Minot.” The weather has always been brutal, with sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow common in the winter. But troops on base face other issues, too. On-base day care hours do not accommodate a 12-hour shift, although that is standard for troops working maintenance jobs, the report said. The base commissary store’s hours also have been reduced; it is closed on Monday and frequently short on perishable food items on the weekend. “Further issues include reduced manning at the base medical clinic while the load on the off-base facilities has increased,” the report said. “The wait at the clinic pharmacy is often an hour or more.” Nuclear launch officers and enlisted security forces all are required to drive to missile silos that are spread across hundreds of miles of terrain. They’ve raised concerns in the past about whether they had appropriate vehicles to do so in bad weather — something the service will address now, with the purchase of 26 four-wheel drive vehicles. Air Force officials said a number of other upgrades will occur at Minot as the service works to make service in the nuclear force more appealing. That includes redirecting about $10 million to buy maintenance parts and equipment and adding $1 million to improve quality of life programs on base and missile launch facilities. The service has funded 48 separate projects at Minot to renovate buildings, improve storm drainage, add airfield lighting and refurbish missile alert facilities. Current Air Force personnel policy also has played a role in the problems at Minot, the report said. A “base of preference’ program allows troops at Minot to be transferred out three years into a four-year enlistment, creating a brain drain. “Given the lengthy nuclear training and qualification process, an Airman in critical specialties, such as missile maintenance, is likely to have just reached an effective level of proficiency at the three-year point,” the report said. In October, Air Force officials added incentive pay of up to $300 per month to encourage service members to stay in the nuclear force. Global Strike Command, which oversees Air Force nuclear weapons, also has added 303 new positions on the base, part of a broader effort that calls for 1,00 new civilian and military jobs. Of the new jobs at Minot, 234 will be in the 91st Missile Wing, which oversees nuclear missiles.


Why we all fell in love with Rosetta’s Philae lander

Philae's first panorama, with the lander's position illustrated. (ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA) In 1969, the whole world crowded around their televisions to watch mankind make its first moon landing. On Wednesday, it seemed as if the whole world crowded around their computers instead – this time to watch the European Space Agency drop a probe onto the surface of a speeding comet. Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is currently about 300 million miles away from the Earth, whizzing around the sun at a speed of 84,000 miles an hour. The Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004, and has spent the past decade traveling over 4 billion miles in order to match the comet’s orbit. To get in sync with the ancient, misshapen hunk of ice and rock, Rosetta swung around the Earth three times to pick up speed, and spent nearly three years in hibernation due to its distance from the sun. Finally, in August, it fell into stride with the comet, which is less than 3 miles across. The world wasn’t immediately interested in Rosetta’s success: After all, while the orbiter was collecting data on the comet from the moment it approached it (and will continue doing so for a year), there was no real climax of the story – no “giant leap,” as Neil Armstrong said back in the day, for the world to hang on. That is, until the little probe named Philae came along. It had all the makings of a great story: Rosetta, after years and years of work, would drop its payload. Philae was instantly cast as an underdog. It lacked any propulsion system – so once ejected, it had a seven hour free-fall. The Rosetta mission team, which included scientists from both the ESA and NASA, were very clearly prepared for the worst. In preparing for the landing, every interview seemed to emphasize how successful Rosetta had been and would continue to be — even if Philae never sent back data from the comet. Philae could fail to land or land upside down (a tragedy, as the probe has no way to flip over). And no matter what happened, viewers of the ESA’s livestream would only be able to watch the mission control room in Darmstadt, Germany. They’d see the faces of scientists apprehensively reading data from the probe’s sensors, and they’d be treated to periodic updates. But the only thing the landing could promise with any certainty was


Why Peter Kassig’s conversion to Islam didn’t save him — or other Islamic State victims

Peter Kassig, the U.S. aid worker beheaded by Islamic State militants, was remembered Sunday for his devotion to helping Syrians. President Obama praised Kassig as a humanitarian killed in “an act of pure evil.” For more about Peter Kassig’s life of service, click here. In the months since Peter Kassig’s capture in October 2013, even as other Islamic State hostages were brutally killed, a hope glimmered. For this hostage’s name was no longer Peter. It was Abdul Rahman Kassig. He had converted to Islam — a conversion that appeared to lend his distraught parents some small card to play. In an early October appeal, his mother, Paula Kassig, her delicate features shadowed by a hijab, read a statement that mentioned her son’s choice. “As Muslims around the world, including our son Abdul-Rahman Kassig, celebrate Eid ul-Adha, the faith and sacrifice of Ibrahim, and the mercy of Allah, we appeal to those holding our son to show the same mercy and set him free,” the parents said. That glimmer of hope was extinguished in horrific fashion on Sunday morning with the release of an Islamic State video that showed the beheading of their son. Other men were also slaughtered, the camera lingering on their bloody corpses for long moments. It then showed Kassig’s remains beneath the militant who has come to be known as “Jihadi John.” “This is Peter Kassig, a U.S. citizen of your country,” the killer said, declining to use Kassig’s Muslim name. “Peter, who fought against the Muslims in Iraq while serving as a soldier under the U.S. Army, doesn’t have much to say. His previous cellmates have already spoken on his behalf…. The spark has been lit here in Iraq, and its heat will continue to intensify until it will burn the rest of the crusaders. And here we are, burying the first American crusader in Dabiq, eagerly awaiting the remainder of your armies to arrive.” It would seem intuitive for Islamic State hostages to convert to Islam in order to win some modicum of mercy from captives who proclaim profound religiosity. But it clearly doesn’t work, according to accounts and stories from Somalia to Syria. And why should it, since the Islamic State has proven itself willing to massacre people of all faiths by the thousands? The only out for a hostage seems to be ransom or escape. Conversion to Islam appears fairly common among jihadists’


Peter Kassig: ‘Here, in this land, I have found my calling’

his parents last June. “If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need.” In a video released Sunday, the Islamic State beheaded Kassig, 26, the fifth Western hostage murdered by militants on video. It came weeks after the group said it would kill him because of the U.S. bombing campaign in Syria. Peter Kassig, the U.S. aid worker beheaded by Islamic State militants, was remembered Sunday for his devotion to helping Syrians. President Obama praised Kassig as a humanitarian killed in “an act of pure evil.” On Sunday, his parents asked people not to focus on his murder and, instead, to keep “his legacy alive.” “We prefer our son is written about and remembered for his important work and the love he shared with friends and family, not in the manner the hostage takers would use to manipulate Americans and further their cause,” they said in a statement reported by the Indianapolis Star. Peter Kassig with his parents, Ed and Paula Kassig. (AP Photo/Courtesy Kassig Family) Kassig was an only child who grew up in Broad Ripple, Ind., a small town outside Indianapolis. His father taught science, and his mother worked as a nurse. He ran track and played guitar. And after he graduated from high school, he reportedly joined the U.S. Army Rangers and served four months in Iraq. Then he was honorably discharged for medical reasons. He got married and divorced. He took some college courses. He trained as an emergency medical technician. Then, in 2012, he told his parents he finally found his calling. Kassig wanted to help others. During spring break in 2012, he flew to Lebanon while studying political science at Butler University. Then he canceled his return flight home. “Here, in this land, I have found my calling,” he wrote in an e-mail to friends and teachers, the Indianapolis Star reported. “Yesterday my life was laid out on a table in front of me. With only hours left before my scheduled flight back to the United States, I watched people dying right in front of me. I had seen it before and I had walked away before…. I have run until I could not run any more.” A certified EMT, Kassig spent several months volunteering at a


up in Broad Ripple, Ind., a small town outside Indianapolis. His father taught science, and his mother worked as a nurse. He ran track and played guitar. And after he graduated from high school, he reportedly joined the U.S. Army Rangers and served four months in Iraq. Then he was honorably discharged for medical reasons. He got married and divorced. He took some college courses. He trained as an emergency medical technician. Then, in 2012, he told his parents he finally found his calling. Kassig wanted to help others. During spring break in 2012, he flew to Lebanon while studying political science at Butler University. Then he canceled his return flight home. “Here, in this land, I have found my calling,” he wrote in an e-mail to friends and teachers, the Indianapolis Star reported. “Yesterday my life was laid out on a table in front of me. With only hours left before my scheduled flight back to the United States, I watched people dying right in front of me. I had seen it before and I had walked away before…. I have run until I could not run any more.” A certified EMT, Kassig spent several months volunteering at a refugee hospital in Tripoli. Lebanon. Then he moved to Beirut and, at age 24, founded SERA, an aid organization that provides medical training and treatment in areas that other humanitarian organizations can’t reach, including corners of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. Those who knew him said it was his drive that set him apart. “While friends drank beer at bars on Gemmayze Street, Kassig grabbed camping gear and set out for the mountains,” journalist Joshua Hersh wrote in the New Yorker. “He visited the Palestinian refugee camps that dot the landscape around Beirut, thinking about ways to bring solar power and other utilities into those neglected communities. Later, as the war in Syria encroached on Lebanon’s borders, sending desperate and wounded civilians into rural communities in the north, Kassig traveled to Tripoli to volunteer his services at a clinic, suturing wounds and comforting the dying.” Before his capture, Kassig said in an interview that he hoped he made an impact in some small way. “How much did I impact the political situation inside Syria? None. How much did I impact the political situation back home? None,” he said in the recording. “But — what I did do is over a period


French wonder if Islamic State executioner is one of their own

An image grab made on November 17, 2014 and taken from a propaganda video released on November 16, 2014 by al-Furqan Media allegedly shows members of the Islamic State jihadist group, with among them a jihadist believed to be French citizen Maxime Hauchard (R), also known as Abu Abdallah al-Faransi, before taking part in the beheadings of at least 18 men described as Syrian military personnel. AFP/Getty Images On Sunday, the Islamic State released video of the beheading of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, previously known as Peter, a U.S. aid worker. Kassig is the fifth Western hostage and third American who have have been killed by the extremist group that controls large areas of Iraq and Syria. His death was a blow for many around the world, including not only Kassig's family and friends, but also anyone who cared about the humanitarian ethos that brought the young man to Syria. For the French, however, it brings a special anguish: The murder may involve one of their own. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters on Monday that there was a “strong presumption” that a French citizen was one of the executioners in the video, which also featured the killings of more than a dozen Syrian soldiers. In particular, authorities were looking at Maxime Hauchard, who was born in 1992 in the department of Eure in northwestern France, though French media are also reporting that a second French citizen could be involved. Hauchard converted to Islam at the age of 17 and first became known to French authorities in 2012 when he traveled to Mauritania for "religious education," according to the Interior Ministry. When he returned last year, French authorities opened a preliminary investigation against him on suspicion that he might be planning terrorist acts. In 2013, Hauchard traveled to Turkey where he said he wanted to work on a humanitarian mission. He then headed toward Syria, joined the Islamic State and assumed the name Abou Abdallah al-Faransi, according to French investigators: Al-Faransi can be translated as "The Frenchman." This summer, French investigators issued a search warrant for Hauchard. In July, Hauchard gave an interview to France’s BFM television in which he explained how he got to Syria. "I took a flight for 162 euros [$200] which was pretty cheap," Hachard said of his arrival in Turkey. "At the security check they opened my bags, looked at it; I smiled and they smiled back.


Your kid is 136 times more likely to be poisoned by diaper cream than by weed

for kids drinking contact lens fluid, and over 4,000 for children who ate birth control pills. Calls for caterpillar stings were twice as common as calls for marijuana exposure, and ingestions of liquid fabric softener were nearly three times as common. Thirty-five thousand concerned parents called poison control when their offspring ate diaper creams, nearly 40,000 calls were for ingestion of acetaminophen, and 50,000 were related solely to kids eating too much ibuprofen. Across all substances, the vast majority of cases were for kids 5 and under. These numbers don't tell us about the disposition of these calls - that is, whether parents were told to bring their kids to the hospital, or to just take it easy and put the diaper cream on a higher shelf in the future. They also shouldn't be construed to mean that pot is safer for your kids than say, ibuprofen or diaper cream. As a parent of one-year-old twins, I would be much more worried if my kids ate a pot cookie than if they snuck a dab of toothpaste when nobody was looking. The numbers are partly a function of the fact that ibuprofen and diaper cream are much more common than marijuana in households with small kids. But they suggest that parents who do smoke weed are, generally, doing a pretty good job of keeping it out of kids' reach. Even drilling down to the Colorado numbers, let's recall that the most widely-cited study unearthed a grand total of 14 kids going to the E.R. for accidental marijuana ingestion between October 2009 and December 2011. That represents about 2.4 percent all ingestion-related E.R. visits for that age group over that period. While nobody wants to see a kid go to the hospital, every single one of the 14 was sent home, and "none of these exposures resulted in permanent morbidity or mortality," according to the study. These numbers are almost certain to inch up as Colorado's marijuana market matures. Frankly they have nowhere to go but up, as they are almost literally at rock-bottom now. Legalization opponents will continue to use them as fodder for their arguments, and as evidence of the need for tougher regulations. But it's important to keep them in perspective: nationwide, kids are 136 times more likely to be poisoned by their diaper cream than by pot, yet nobody is calling for stricter labeling requirements on Desitin.


Logan Circle rowhouse breaks record for highest residential sale price

(Courtesy of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty) The 1885 rowhouse at 1322 Vermont Ave. NW in the District sold Monday for $3.9 million. It is the highest residential sale ever in Logan Circle, according to a TTR Sotheby’s spokesperson. Ann K. Luskey is the buyer. The sellers’ names were not disclosed. “The significance of this sale is a huge win for the Logan Circle neighborhood as records continue to get broken as buyers seek a more exciting and central location compared to our western neighborhoods,” said Peter Lane of TTR Sotheby’s who represented the sellers. Susan Koehler, Daryl Judy and Kimberly Casey of Washington Fine Properties represented the buyer. The 9,200-square-foot home was originally listed at $4.445 million and sold in a little more than two months after going on the market. The five-level rowhouse has 11 bedrooms, seven bathrooms and nine fireplaces. (Courtesy of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty) (Courtesy of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty) (Courtesy of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty) (Courtesy of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty) This post was updated on Nov. 18 with the real estate brokerage that represented the buyer.


Reflections on the Arab uprisings

Egyptian anti-government protesters chant slogans as they stand atop an Egyptian army tank during a protest in Tahrir square in Cairo on Jan. 29, 2011. (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP) ‘Tis the season to reflect upon the course of the Arab uprisings. Over the last few weeks, I have participated in three major workshops including nearly 50 scholars – and had to miss yet another in favor of a quick trip to Tunisia. It is not difficult to understand this intense urge to take stock, given the sorry state of the region and catastrophic results of virtually every one of the 2011 uprisings. The overblown criticisms of the field of Middle East political science over its failure to predict the uprisings have been thoroughly aired by this point. But what about the field’s performance during the Arab uprisings? Academics have written an unprecedented amount of real-time analysis and commentary over the last few years. What did we miss, misinterpret, exaggerate or rush to premature judgments about along the way? The first of the workshops focused explicitly on this question. I asked a group of the authors from my edited volume “The Arab Uprisings Explained: New Contentious Politics in the Middle East” to write short memos assessing their contributions critically after having another year to reflect. Those memos have now been published as POMEPS Studies 10 “Reflections on the Arab Uprisings” (free PDF available here). Their auto-critique is full of worthy observations: We paid too much attention to the activists and not enough to the authoritarians; we understated the importance of identity politics; we assumed too quickly that successful popular uprisings would lead to a democratic transition; we under-estimated the key role of international and regional factors in domestic outcomes; we took for granted a second wave of uprisings, which thus far has yet to materialize; we understated the risk of state failure and over-stated the possibility of democratic consensus. One point that emerged in the workshop discussions is the extent to which we became too emotionally attached to particular actors or policies. Caught up in the rush of events, and often deeply identifying with our networks of friends and colleagues involved in these politics, we may have allowed hope or passion to cloud our better comparative judgment. That’s a fine quality in activists, but not so helpful for academic rigor. Intriguingly, as the workshop’s discussion brought out, this may also apply to today’s


Outgoing DCCC Chair Steve Israel: ‘We fundamentally made the right decisions’

refinancing college debt when people are being just saturated with news about how Ebola would sweep the country.” But some of the losses this cycle weren't strictly about money or messaging; sometimes the messenger bore a share of the blame. For political watchers, lackluster candidates such as Sean Eldridge in New York’s 19th Congressional District and Aaron Woolf in New York’s 21st Congressional District — neither of which managed to break through to voters — raised questions over the committee's candidate recruitment this cycle. Israel dismissed criticism that the DCCC made any serious strategic miscalculations on recruiting, insisting that the tough electoral map dealt a blow to those efforts early on. “It’s easy for people who have never recruited to criticize recruitment. In the case of Domenic Recchia, we began a very aggressive recruitment process. We talked to many people and every single one of them with the exception of Domenic Recchia chose not to run,” he said, referring to the Democrat who lost against indicted GOP lawmaker Michael Grimm in New York. “There are criticisms that people make," he said, "but when one candidate and one candidate only expresses an interest in running, and raises a million dollars and builds out an infrastructure when no one else is willing to run, slamming the door on that one candidate would be rather foolish, wouldn’t it?" Part of the challenge in recruiting this cycle was the fact that would-be candidates realized the tough electoral map gave Democrats a slim chance of success. Many potential recruits “proactively told us that they didn’t see a path in 2014” but “said that they were extremely interested in running in 2016.” And Israel says that recruiting for 2016 is already beginning. On election night he began making “several recruitment calls,” and the next day began receiving calls from 2014 recruits interested in jumping in for 2016. (He did not specify who.) That, however, will be a job for Luján to finish. Speaking before that announcement was made, Israel pointed to several challenges the incoming chair will have to manage in what appears as though it could be a more hospitable cycle for his party than this one -- including the competition for attention with the presidential race and several high profile Senate races which could decide control of the upper chamber. "The presidential will be a vacuum cleaner sucking up every penny under every couch


Credit scores can measure how healthy a person is, too

(Norm Betts/Bloomberg News) Credit scores — those pesky three-digit numbers that dictate where you can live, what job you can get, even what cellphone plan you can purchase — are so intimately intertwined with our lives that maybe it's not the craziest idea to ask a dating partner for this number. (That's just me? Okay.) But a credit score can say a lot more about a person than just giving a snapshot of of their financial stability. The scores can even be used to describe how healthy a person is, according to a paper publishing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers looked at a comprehensive study of more than 1,000 people in New Zealand, whose lives had been tracked from the time they were born, in the 1970s, until they were 38; the researchers found that the adults with lower (meaning, worse) credit scores also had higher "heart ages," which is a measure of cardiovascular health. Each 100-point increase in a credit score was associated with a nearly one-year drop in heart age. (Smoking status, blood pressure and cholesterol levels went into determining a person's heart age.) But it wasn't simply that people with higher credit scores earned more money and were therefore healthier. The connection between heart health and credit scores came independently of income — and because the study was done in a country with universal health care, health emergencies weren't responsible for wrecking people's credit scores. Rather, credit scores provided a rough psychological snapshot, said one of the paper's authors, Salomon Israel of Duke University. The people in the New Zealand study had been measured as children for personality traits, such as self-control, socioeconomic background and IQs. "Educational attainment" was taken into account when they were adults. Israel said credit scores capture the traits that influence how a person deals with money. "The same kind of behaviors used to manage your finances are also useful for managing your health," he said. "Pushing back that second dessert or not making that purchase when our budget might not be able to afford it have roots in the same personality factors." Self-control and showing the ability to delay gratification as a child actually had the single-biggest effect; kids with the strongest self-control grew up to have credit scores at least 100 points higher and heart ages four years younger than the adults who had


‘GOTHAM’ TV RECAP (Ep. 9): Heads-up! From Wayne Manor to Harvey Dent, double trouble abounds

there is a weekly mystery villain, Edward Nygma guides Bullock and Gordon the baddie — this time to where the mystery explosives expert, Hargrove, will be. Turns out that Fish was working with the Russians (despite them no longer having a leader). She ordered them to break Hargrove out and use his genius with explosives to break into a very hard-to-crack vault where Falcone keeps his rainy-day cash. Gordon and Bullock arrive before the Russians can get away with Hargrove and the cash. GCPD has the Russians surrounded. Butch, Fish’s No. 1 guy, is watching from afar and blows up the getaway car with the cash. Fish doesn’t care that she didn’t get the money — she just wanted to make Falcone suffer a little. Hargrove is sent to Arkham, which by order of Gotham’s mayor will now be used to “treat” the criminally insane, since they now seem to be the ones starting up all the trouble in the city. Before Gordon has time to digest how horrible of an idea the Arkham project is (Arkham is more than 200 years old, he points out), he’s calling Barbara and leaving a message that he wants her to come back home and that he still loves her. We see Barbara lying in bed, possibly listening to the message on her phone, but there’s something just a little too romantic about this “spare” bed Barbara has found. Before we can figure out whether she’s paying Gordon’s message any attention, we see an arm reach around and hug her. Surely, this can’t be Montoya, who is supposed to be part of Gordon’s new team of cops he can trust. Montoya and Gordon are on the same team. She wouldn’t do this… But it is Montoya. She and Barbara kiss each other. Something is going on (or has already happened). If you are a fan hoping Gordon and Montoya end up becoming loyal, death-do-us-part allies like in the comics and cartoons, well….we’re not really sure how that’s going to happen when Gordon finds out about this. And he will. This is a TV show, after all. Barbara is still mentally unstable after her kidnapping, and Montoya seems all too eager to take advantage of her confusion. What this will do to the team of allies that Gordon is trying to build? Till next week, it remains to be seen. [‘GOTHAM’ EPISODE 8 RECAP


A mysterious Russian space object could be the return of the ‘satellite killer’

An artist’s conception of a Soviet anti-satellite weapon destroying a satellite in 1984. (Defense Department Photo) There was a time, not too long ago, when some of the world’s brilliant rocket scientists didn’t think of space as something to conquer, nor monetize, nor explore — but as a means to make war. During the Cold War in the 1960s, they eyed outer space as a potential theater of conflict, where human-piloted space vessels would engage in gravity-free dogfights and fire missiles. The ambitions were unrealistic. But they did nonetheless give birth to a Soviet anti-satellite weaponry program simply called “Istrebitel Sputnikov” — the “satellite killer.” It was thought the killer was retired. It was thought the Soviet empire’s collapse had grounded it. But now, as the Financial Times first reported, there are whispers of its return out there in the blackness of space. As news of the Virgin Galactic crash, Antares explosion and Rosetta exploration filled science pages, another space drama has quietly unfurled. In May, Russia launched a rocket to add several satellites to its existing constellation. In the process, it deployed what was first believed to be a piece of space debris but has now become a matter of great speculation. “I have no idea what it is!” space security expert Patricia Lewis of the think-tank Chatham House told The Washington Post in a phone interview. Few do. Russia did not declare its orbit, FT reported, and now the U.S. military, space experts and amateur sleuths have been closely tracking its movements, each of which has been deliberate and precise. The unidentified satellite — called Object 2014-28E — recently navigated toward other Russian space objects, its voyage culminating in its recent hookup with the remains of the rocket stage that originally launched it. In May, Russia launched a rocket to add several satellites to its existing constellation. In the process, it deployed what was first believed to be a piece of space debris but has now become a matter of great speculation. The satellite could be nothing. It could be space junk. It could be a search-and-rescue mission or some innocuous method to clear space debris — the bane of satellite navigation. Or it could be something more. The Russian Ministry of Defense didn’t immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment. “There’s always confusion with these sort of things, because no one knows exactly what these


How pot helped shrink one of the most aggressive brain cancers

A Cannabis plant in Rovigo, about 40 miles from Venice. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters) Widely proscribed around the world for its recreational uses, cannabis is being used in a number of different therapeutic ways to bring relief for severe medical conditions. Products using cannabinoids, the active components of the cannabis plant, have been licensed for medical use. Sativex, for example, which contains an equal mixture of the cannabinoids tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), is already licensed as a mouth spray for multiple sclerosis and in the United States, dronabinol and nabilone are commercially available for treating cancer-related side effects. Now, in a study published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, we’ve also shown that cannabinoids could play a role in treating one of the most aggressive cancers in adults. There are more than 85 cannabinoids, which are known to bind to unique receptors in cells and which receive outside chemical signals. These receptors feed into signalling pathways, telling cells what to do. Recent studies have shown that some cannabinoids have potent anti-cancer action. For example, both THC and CBD have been shown in a number of laboratory studies to effectively induce cell death in tumor cells by modifying the faulty signalling pathways inside these cells. Depending on the cell type, this can disrupt tumor growth or start to kill it. The psychoactivity associated with some cannabinoids, principally THC (which gives people a cannabis high), is also mediated via the same receptors. Because these receptors are found in the highest abundances in brain cells, it follows that brain tumors also rich in these receptors may respond best to cannabinoids. We wanted to investigate the anti-cancer effects of Sativex in glioma cells. High-grade glioma is an aggressive cancer, with very low long-term survival rates. Statistics show that just over a third (36 percent) of adult patients in Britain with glioma live for at least a year, while the five-year survival rate is 10 percent. Depending on the individual, treatment can consist of surgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy with the drug temozolomide. However, due primarily to the intricate localization of the tumor in the brain and its invasive behavior, these treatments remain largely unsuccessful. However, as our study showed, combining radiotherapy with cannabinoid treatment had a big effect. Finding the right dose We first had to perform lab tests on cells to optimize the doses of the cannabinoids, and showed that CBD and THC combined favorably. We found


Why the dangers of secondhand smoke could change the innovation dynamics of the marijuana industry

2013 American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference found that marijuana use actually doubled the risk of stroke among young people. Using marijuana in conjunction with other drugs, such as tobacco, may also have unknown consequences. And, says the AHA, there have yet to be any comprehensive tests on edible marijuana — a fast growing, tricky-to-regulate product that may carry its own share of health risks. Not only could the marijuana industry lose some of its “harmless” and “beneficial” image that it has acquired in the popular culture, it may catalyze the secular trend toward bigger companies better capable of commercializing specific products and responding to regulatory and health risks. That’s what we’ve seen with Big Pharma and Big Tobacco. And that’s why we might see with Big Marijuana as well. The logic is simple: Big companies handle big risks better than smaller companies. As the cost of doing business increases and as the risk exposure within an industry changes, this has an impact on the structure of the industry. Assuming at some point that smaller marijuana businesses must comply with new rules and regulations concerning secondhand smoke – even if it’s only labeling their products with new warnings — all of this carries a very real cost. Right now, there’s a “Gold Rush” mentality in states like Colorado, where everybody has a new idea for a new marijuana business. Denver’s “green mile” is full of people with ideas for pot businesses the same way that Silicon Valley is full of people with ideas for new mobile apps. Anyone who dares to call out the risks and hazards of marijuana legalization — such as the UN drug czar, who recently spoke out about U.S. marijuana legalization measures — is basically labeled a fuddy-duddy. All of that could change, however, if the narrative starts to shift in favor of outlining the potential health risks of marijuana use. We could start to see factors favoring the emergence of larger, more cautious companies and the decline of smaller, more experimental companies. Suddenly, the amount of innovation we’re currently seeing in the marijuana industry could change. This is an important point. We’re innovating so fast in some areas of the marijuana industry that we’re barely even stopping to see what the long-term implications might be. We’re so focused on the potential economic benefits of a potential $40 billion annual business that we haven’t focused enough


Why customers are less and less happy with their banks

Photographer Ron Antonelli/Bloomberg Americans are less happy with their banks in 2014 than in previous years, marking a dip in what looked like an upward trend in customer satisfaction with the industry. And they're even more fed up with their health insurers, whose scores from customers in the American Customer Satisfaction Index have sunk to a 10-year low. The ACSI, one of the broadest measurements of customer experiences, released its report Tuesday on the finance and insurance sectors, based on input from roughly 6,800 Americans about more than 230 companies. For several of the industries involved, the news isn't good. Customer satisfaction scores for retail banks dropped 2.6 percent, nearly reversing two years of improvement. Overall happiness with health insurers fell for the first time in three years, dropping 4.1 percent to an industry score that's only a notch above America's most-reviled industries: airlines, cable companies and Internet service providers. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with higher premiums led to lower scores for other insurers, such as life, home and auto insurance providers. Americans are much happier, meanwhile, with their credit unions, which held steady with the second highest industry score of all. And fueled by a booming stock market, satisfaction with online brokerages ticked upward, with scores rising 2.5 percent in 2014. And yet, the research found a growing unease with banks. According to the report, this was partly due to less competitive interest rates and harder-to-find branches and ATMs. Leaders in these industries might also want to work on how quickly financial transactions are completed, how courteous and helpful their staff are with customers, and how easy it is to understand information and make changes to accounts — all factors that got poorer scores this year. The dip in customer satisfaction also coincides with a rise in fees, said ACSI Director David VanAmburg, particularly among smaller banks, where scores fell the most. The ACSI measures customer satisfaction by asking about both the quality of the service a customer receives and the value they believe they're getting. Fees are playing both a direct and indirect role in shaping those impressions, VanAmburg said. On the one hand, customers are unhappy with banks that make them pay fees. On the other, banks that charge fewer fees often do so by cutting into service levels, which also yields unhappy customers. "As banks try to get fees and aren't successful at doing so, they have to


Bob Marley-branded marijuana will soon be available thanks to legalization

said in a news release. “He viewed the herb as something spiritual that could awaken our well-being, deepen our reflection, connect us to nature and liberate our creativity.” “Marley Natural is an authentic way to honor his legacy by adding his voice to the conversation about cannabis and helping end the social harms caused by prohibition,” she added. It will offer organically grown heirloom Jamaican marijuana strains, in keeping with Marley’s preference for high-quality marijuana grown without the use of fertilizer. And it will be available in jurisdictions that allow recreational or medicinal marijuana sales. The brand also plans to offer cannabis- and hemp-infused products such as lotions and sun-repair creams. Marley reportedly smoked as much as a pound of marijuana per week. But at the time of his intense fame in the United States and around the world, he was viewed as a nonconformist symbol. Marley has become even more of a global icon and brand in the years since his death, but that it’s now happening in a world in which marijuana is decriminalized in some places is something even he didn’t foresee. “Legalize herb? Boy, I jus’ don’ know. It’s kinda legalized already,” he noted in a 1976 interview with High Times. He was referring to the widespread use and cultivation of marijuana in Jamaica, where the drug has actually been illegal for over 100 years. And change is coming there, too. In late September, the Jamaican government announced that it is considering support for a proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of what Marley and Rastafarians called the “holy herb” if it is being used for medicinal, and eventually, religious purposes. That is a direct result of the loosening of legalization laws in some U.S. states– though marijuana remains an illegal schedule I substance under Federal law. Over the years, critics of harsh marijuana laws have argued that the penalties have done little to stamp out organized crime associated with the trafficking of black market drugs, including marijuana, through the island. And of course, there is potentially huge financial upside, as the investment firm Privateer Holdings has sought to demonstrate with its recent business ventures in the marijuana space. “The time has come to provide an opportunity for Jamaicans to benefit from the marijuana industry,” said Kingston’s mayor Angela Brown Burke recently, according to the Associated Press. According to a release, the brand will have


This train could take you from D.C. to New York in less than an hour

An L0 series magnetic levitation (maglev) train, developed by Central Japan Railway Co., travels along on an elevated track during a trial run at the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track site in Tsuru, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, on Oct. 21, 2014. (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg) The Central Japan Railway Company recently began test runs of a maglev train that can reach 500 kilometers per hour (that's about 310 mph). In the below video from the BBC, you can watch the train's gleeful first passengers go for a ride, their cameras and small kids in tow. That scene is both a testament to Japan's commitment to high-speed rail, and a reminder of how far the U.S. lags. The fastest train Amtrak's got, the Acela, tops out along its route from Washington to Boston at around 150 miles per hour. And the gulf between these two speeds is important: It's the difference between a trip from D.C. to New York that feels like long-distance travel, and and one that feels like a transit commute. If we had a train on the East Coast that traveled the speed of Japan's new maglev, you could commute from D.C. to New York in under an hour. You could get there about as fast as it takes some local commuters to travel from one end of the Silver Line to the other. The implication is that truly high-speed rail could make intercity travel akin to intra-city commuting (maybe not between Denver and Seattle, but along the mid-Atlantic or within the Midwest). You could work in Washington and buy a cheaper home in Philadelphia. You could hire workers in Boston for your firm in New York. Speed, in other words, changes geography. There's a potential downside to this — fast cars (and highways) made suburban sprawl possible by opening up whole new territory within commuting distance of downtown jobs. But fast trains also have the potential to further knit together the economies of nearby cities just too far apart for commuting today. They have the potential to open job prospects, or to expand your pool of affordable housing. Of course, the cost of a ticket on-board would affect who can actually afford to commute out of state instead of just across town. But Japan is clearly thinking about the benefits of bringing cities closer together through transportation. The ultimate route the Central Japan Railway Company is currently building will stretch from


Trust Tony Hawk: Hoverboards are real

Hoverboards are real — a dream come true for countless kids who grew up watching Marty McFly ride that pink Mattel hoverboard in “Back to the Future Part II.” Tuesday, the RIDE channel uploaded a video of the world’s most famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk, giving the Hendo Hoverboard a spin. Tony Hawk Rides World's First Real Hoverboard - Hendo Hover Hawk was hesitant to appear in the Hendo Hoverboard video — he already starred in a Funny or Die hoverboard hoax video. “Nobody believes me anymore,” Hawk told RIDE. “I’m the boy who cried hoverboard … It can’t be me.” But the Hendo Hoverboard is real. It uses a magnetic field to hover roughly an inch off of the ground from a conductive surface. Martha Mendoza of the Associated Press reported “four dinner plate-sized hover engines on the bottom of the board create a magnetic field that induces a secondary magnetic field in a conductive surface, in this case copper, although aluminum — even under concrete — works as well.” It’s the same technology that powers some trains in Asia. The board, which will cost about $10,000, looks wider and broader than a skateboard and has a running time of only 15 minutes. But Arx Pax, the firm that developed the board, believes the technology’s application has many different uses. “This is not the end, this is just the beginning of where this technology can go,” the company’s co-founder Greg Henderson told the AP. “When you discover that you can levitate a dynamic load in a stationary position, can you think of anything more exciting than a hoverboard?” The Hendo project has already surpassed its $250,000 goal on Kickstarter. Those interested in supporting future hovering should know: The crowdsourcing campaign ends Dec. 15.


Adroit Theory in Purcellville, Va., to serve stuffing-flavored beers for Thanksgiving

Adroit Theory Brewing Company’s craft brews draw a diverse crowd to its off-the-beaten-path warehouse. (Jason Hornick/For Express) When Dan Segall’s 4½-year-old son drew him a picture of potato chips and peanut butter, he did what any awesome dad would do: He used it as inspiration to create a beer flavor. Segall is the manager of Adroit Theory Brewing Company, a devil-may-care nano-brewery and tasting room in Purcellville, Va., that specializes in small-batch brews in head-scratching flavors. Previous hits include Thai noodle soup (made with Sriracha, lemon grass and ginger) and bloody mary (made with tomatoes, celery salt and horseradish). The operation is housed in a nondescript warehouse in an industrial park, and you’d never know such a treasure existed. But inside, the room is always packed with visitors who range from kids in pigtails to aging punks with gauged ears. Founded in January by former government contractor Mark Osborne, Adroit Theory eschews traditional brews in favor of experimental drafts available in limited quantities that once they’re gone, they’re gone. In just 10 months, the brewery has made more than 140 distinct beers. “I don’t think the traditional model is bad, where people have a go-to beer and they know what it will taste like,” Osborne says. “But I wanted to push the envelope and do things people would want to try.” Adroit Theory’s beers are sold exclusively at the tasting room in Purcellville or through the Black Heart Society, its private membership club that ships anywhere in Virginia. But earlier this month, Osborne’s wife, Nina, started a distribution company that will circulate beers to local liquor stores and restaurants in Loudoun County. In the meantime, here are three reasons to make the hourlong drive from D.C. to Purcellville: Adroit Theory is about to debut a cranberry saison, a stuffing stout and a sweet potato casserole porter in celebration of Thanksgiving. “I thought, wouldn’t it be awesome if all people needed to do was bring in their own turkey or a leftover Thanksgiving sandwich the next day and enjoy,” says head brewer Greg Skotzko. Most of the flavor magic happens inside the mash tun, where grains steep and create sugar. For these beers, Skotzko adds dried cranberries and lemon zest; packs of stuffing mix; or roasted sweet potatoes mixed with brown sugar and molasses. The drafts will be available starting next Wednesday (the tasting room will be closed on Thanksgiving). There


This year’s housing market was slow; 2015 may not be better

(Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images) David Howell, executive vice president and chief information officer at McEnearney Associates, writes an occasional column about market conditions in the Washington region The significant differences in the real estate market among the various jurisdictions in the Washington area were more evident than usual in 2014, and we anticipate more of the same in 2015. We look at new contract activity as the most important indicator of the direction of the market, and the general slowdown in 2014 actually started in October 2013 for the Northern Virginia suburbs and December 2013 for the District and Montgomery County. However, the slowdown never came to Prince George’s County. Although we still have a couple of months left, it looks as though Northern Virginia and Loudoun County will see a drop of about 10 percent in the number of new contracts, Montgomery County will be off by 5 percent and the District will only be down about 1 percent. Prince George’s County is the big winner in 2014, with an increase of 4 percent over last year. Why are there such dramatic differences? Prince George’s was impacted by short sales and foreclosures more than any other jurisdiction in our area, and there was still a lot of distressed inventory to move. And it moved in 2014. Our region’s other areas had already cleared the vast majority of those upside-down properties, so there simply weren’t as many homes to sell. Prince George’s also benefits from having the lowest average sales price in the region, so investors and first-time buyers had more opportunity there. The Northern Virginia suburbs fared better in 2013 than D.C. and the Maryland suburbs, so a lot of the drop in contracts occurred because so much pent-up demand was absorbed last year. D.C. is simply the “hot” place to be, with lots of new development. And folks in D.C. don’t have to put up with the long commutes that characterize suburban life. None of this means that 2014 was a bad year — it just wasn’t as good as 2013. Average sales prices are up compared to last year in every jurisdiction, and properties on average are selling anywhere from 37 days (D.C.) to 50 day (Montgomery County). Those are signs of still-healthy markets. The biggest change we saw in 2014 was a jump in the number of homes on the market. Compared to this


How Islamic State beheadings are changing the debate on paying ransom

In this undated photo provided by the Kassig Family, Peter Kassig, is shown with a truck loaded with supplies. The Islamic State group released a graphic video on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, in which a black-clad militant claimed to have beheaded U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, who was providing medical aid to Syrians fleeing the civil war when he was captured inside Syria on Oct. 1, 2013. His friends say he converted to Islam in captivity and took the first name Abdul-Rahman. (AP Photo/Courtesy Kassig Family) This weekend's beheading of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, a U.S. aid worker previously known as Peter Kassig, marked the fifth killing of a foreigner to be filmed and released by the Islamic State. So far, the extremist Islamist group has killed three American citizens and two British citizens in this manner. There is one remaining Western hostage, an American woman. The nationality of those killed is important. While these U.S. and British citizens were killed, those of other nationalities have been released by the Islamic State. The New York Times has reported that citizens from Italy, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Peru, and Sweden are believed to have been freed after ransoms were paid. While most countries agree, in theory, to not pay money to kidnappers, many covertly do. The United States and Britain do not. And the logic that drives that strategy is being called into question by the brutality of the Islamic State. On Monday, Shane Harris of the Daily Beast reported that the White House may reevaluate its policy on ransoms. In particular, the White House will review the opposition the U.S. government has shown to families paying ransoms to kidnappers. In the past, Washington has refused to facilitate these payments, and the families of both James Foley and Steven Sotloff -- two American journalists killed by the Islamic State -- claimed that they were threatened with prosecution by White House counterterrorism officials if they raised money and paid a ransom privately. In this handout image made available by the photographer, American journalist Steven Sotloff (Center with black helmet) talks to Libyan rebels on the al-Dafniya front line, 25 km west of Misurata on June 02, 2011 in Misurata, Libya. (Photo by Etienne de Malglaive via Getty Images) This seems to be an acknowledgement that U.S. policy on paying ransoms is flawed, but it brings up a worrying question: What would be


Dear Republicans: Stop treating the shutdown like a stunt

all leverage Republicans have with government funding.” Anti-immigration writer Mark Krikorian says, “This creates a Catch 22 for Obama, if only the GOP has the wit to exploit it.” You’ll notice, though, that McConnell makes his case with poll numbers, that Erickson focuses on the political fallout, that Limbaugh pretends that the stories of hardship during the shutdown the lamestream media reported didn’t actually exist, that National Review thinks this is all about leverage, and that Krikorian just thinks of all this as a political “Catch 22.” There’s no significant mention of how the government shutdown would affect real Americans. The fact is, though, that the last shutdown cost the U.S. economy $24 billion and 0.6 percent of fourth-quarter GDP growth. Had that shutdown lasted more than two weeks, the consequences would only have snowballed: Veterans would start not getting benefits. Programs for small businesses would start to lose funding. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration would have to shutter important public health and food safety programs. Programs like Head Start, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and even food stamps would eventually come under threat. Going forward, even if Republicans only end up forcing a limited shutdown, shuttering the Department of Homeland Security is just asking for trouble. And this doesn’t include the effects of America’s broken immigration system, which tears thousands of parents from their children. As my Post colleague Harold Meyerson writes, if House Republicans block immigration reform as long as hold onto their majority, “the number of broken families could easily rise into the millions.” To be fair, some Democrats and progressives are making the same mistake when they practically beg Republicans to shut down the government. But, whatever Ted Cruz claims, Democrats are not the ones threatening a shutdown, full or partial. While there is a serious constitutional debate to be had about the president’s immigration plan, conservatives seem determined to discuss the fallout of their possible responses in purely abstract terms. Any discussion of the effects in Americans’ daily lives is negligible, except when dismissing evidence of past shutdowns’ effects. The entire Republican calculus seems to be, “Let’s figure out how to stop the president without people blaming us.” As long as they don’t talk about how their actions will affect Americans, they should expect voters to treat them with exactly the same level of respect.