Running the “Nearly Naked Mile” in 50-degree temperatures (PHOTOS)

took first place with a time of 4:19. (Leanne Littman) Many of us stood in boxer shorts at the starting line. Potomac River Running gave out flannel boxer shorts to the runners instead of race T-shirts. I’ll admit, I wore my boxer shorts over a pair of running shorts, just to be safe. The wind gusted into our faces as the race announcer organized us at the starting line. It was a cold wind but the sun helped to reduce the chill. With loud announcement, “Take your mark” and “Go,” the race started. The mile is a race that goes out fast and we were sprinting directly into the wind. I felt the wind quickly chill my body. The excitement and adrenaline rush associated with of the start, however, helped me to take my mind off of the cold. The top finishers in the women’s competitive mile. Tadesse Desta took first place with a time of 5:00. (Leanne Littman) Soon, I noticed many shirtless and boxer-clad runners pulling ahead of me. I was not going to join the leaders in this nearly naked race. I was happy to settle back into the pack. The crowd cheered as we finished the first lap of the two lap race. When I entered the second lap, there was no sense of cold. All I felt was a sense of gasping for breath. As I approached the last quarter mile of the race, I began my kick. Immediately, I my left leg cramped. I thought, “Yep, that’s what you get for running nearly naked in 50-degree weather.” The cramp may have been a result of my lack of training or improper stretching but I’ll blame it on the cold weather and cold muscles. Fortunately, I was able to maintain my pace for the finish of the race. A few of the runners before the race. (Leanne Littman) Most of the runners were slow to put their clothes back on after finishing the race. Even a mile run will generate quite a bit of body heat. After about 10 minutes, most runners were clothed again. By November standards, the weather was very nice for the race. Potomac River Running got lucky for the third straight year regarding the weather. If this race continues every year, however, there will be a cold, raw race day in the future. It’s just a matter of time given our


This map shows why the Philippines is so vulnerable to climate change

The Philippines is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change for two main reasons: geography and development. As my colleague Brad Plumer points out in an excellent piece on what the Philippines' experience with Typhoon Haiyan tells us about global efforts to adapt to climate change, a recent United Nations report identified the country as the third-most at-risk from climate change in the world, ranked behind the South Pacific island nations of Vanuatu and Tonga. But the Philippines isn't just susceptible to climate change because it's an island nation located in a part of the world that gets a lot of big tropical storms. This map, from a report by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources, shows how other specific geographical factors contribute to its particular vulnerability. Regional wind patterns, for example, can worsen the risk posed by extreme rainfall events. The map divides the country's offshore areas into 11 zones and identifies specific risks for each of them from the effects of climate change. These are the five different risk factors it identifies: a rise in sea levels, extreme rainfall events, extreme heating events, increased ocean temperatures and a disturbed water budget. Given the Philippines' vast shorelines and built-in geographic susceptibility, any one of these could be disastrous. Tropical storms, which hit the country on average eight to nine times a year and are expected to increase in severity because of climate change, exacerbate the risk. Some of the worst damage from these storms comes from surging sea levels. As levels rise -- about eight inches by 2050, some studies project, and an additional three feet by 2100 -- storms will be much more dangerous. But it's not just geography -- some developmental factors make the Philippines susceptible as well. "Owing to their proximity to the sea, island states are particularly exposed to the natural hazards of cyclones, flooding and sea level rise," the U.N. report explains. "Very high exposure is a significant risk driver, although a high development level can counteract this substantially, as the example of the Netherlands shows." The kind of infrastructure necessary to reduce the damage of regular natural disasters is really expensive -- see, for example, Japan's tremendous spending on earthquake-resistant office buildings. But it's not just about national wealth.


The more, the merrier

D.C. restaurateur Andy Shallal, center, kicks off his bid for mayor Tuesday at Ben’s Chili Bowl. (Aaron C. Davis/The Washington Post) D.C. officially got two new mayoral candidates Tuesday. Busboys & Poets owner Andy Shallal kicked off his first political campaign at Ben’s Chili Bowl with a few gentle swipes at incumbent Vincent C. Gray — saying, The Post’s Aaron C. Davis reports, that Hizzoner spends too much time “counting cranes” and that the city needs a better vision than the anodyne “One City.” But are voters ready for a candidate who pledges to put artists “at every meeting, at every table” and who proposes letting 17-year-olds vote in city elections? (More from WTTG-TV, Loose Lips, WAMU-FM, DCist, WUSA-TV, AP) Meanwhile, D.C. Council member Vincent Orange (D-At Large) cleared up any lingering doubts about his intentions in a interview Tuesday, saying he’s in it to win it with a populist message calling for ramped up government spending on affordable housing, job training and more. Shallal and Orange have been invited to join the four other major mayoral candidates tonight at the first candidates forum of the campaign season, hosted by the D.C. Bar. A few seats are still available! In other news: Ron Kirby, regional transportation guru, is shot dead in his Alexandria home, shocking city political leaders (Post, Dr. Gridlock, WBJ) Reta Lewis discusses her outsider candidacy (DCist) Tommy Wells solidifies his advantage in celebrity-chef endorsements (@chefjoseandres) Michelle Obama kicks off college-attendance push at Bell Multicultural High School (Post) Hey Vince, Ted Leonsis has a donation waiting for you — but can you fix the traffic lights first? (Post) Interim UDC president says he is not sticking around for long (Post) D.C. man, 69, his daughter and grandson are killed in Virginia crash (Post) Southern Avenue home invasion involved gruesome sexual assault (WaTimes) Transgender inmates get limited exemption from D.C. jail razor ban (Metro Weekly) Texas-based charter school chain with controversial past wants in on D.C. (Post) DCPS unveils redesigned report cards (WRC-TV) Michael Brown would very much like to spend Christmas in Florida (AP) Inside the downtown start-up scene and its “nerdy, almost obsessive devotion to the minutiae of politics and policy” (The Switch) Hey, another NoMa movie theater proposal! (Capital Business) What Ralph Nader’s lawyer believes should have been included in my recent West End Library story (Post letter) “Million Mask March” protester brought guns, bomb materials


Janet Yellen faced the Senate today. Here’s everything you need to know.

supplement their income. They may have children or grandchildren who are out of work or who are going to college and are hoping to put their skills to work. . . When those people who worry about our policies think of themselves as savers take into account the broader array of interests they have in the economy, they may see our policies as broadly beneficial." 11:44 a.m.: Regular meetings on bank regulation? Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pushed Yellen to see the Fed's responsibilities for bank regulation as deeply important, and she raised the idea of having regular meetings for Fed governors to consider bank supervision issues just as the Feds meet regularly to discuss monetary policy. "Do you think the board should have regular meetings on supervisory and regulatory issues, as well, making clear both of those are important to the Fed?" Warren asked. Said Yellen, "I absolutely believe our supervisory responsibilities are critical and that we need to take them just as seriously, to devote just as much time and attention to them as we do to monetary policies." At the same time, fulfilling Warren's specific proposal might be problematic, Yellen said. "The Board operates under a variety of restrictions," she said. "When you suggest the board meet to discuss regulatory matters, our ability to do so outside of open meetings is very limited. So we tend to handle those by meeting individually with staff or meeting with small groups. We have a committee system where committees are put in charge of managing particular areas and making recommendations to the board." The problem, in short: The Board of Governors is bound by open meetings rules and so must meet to set policy in public. But to openly discuss bank supervision matters, one must discuss confidential reports on the situations facing individual banks. It's hard to reconcile the two. But, Yellen continued. "I remember in the 1990s that the board did regularly meet to discuss supervisory issues . .. I did consider those very valuable. I think that's a very worthwhile idea." 11:31 a.m.: What about the volatility? Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) asked an important question: Is Yellen worried about the wild swings in global financial markets that have accompanied communications from the Fed? "Can we expect more volatility in the future?" Hagan asked. Responded Yellen: "We’re trying as hard as we can to communicate clearly about monetary policy, both


Five key questions – and answers – about the leaked TPP text

see how strongly other countries are pushing back against U.S. demands, especially on issues related to access to medicines, Internet Service Provider liability, damages, and copyright in digital media. People call it a Hollywood wish list – why? Some provisions of the text resurrect pieces of SOPA and PIPA and ACTA that many found to be objectionable. The entertainment industries (movies and music) championed these agreements and sought stronger protections in the digital realm. These industries were stunned when SOPA and PIPA got killed. Only the United States and New Zealand oppose a provision that would require compensation for parties wrongfully accused of infringement (QQ.H.4). The United States is alone in proposing criminal procedures and penalties “even absent willful trademark, counterfeiting or copyright or related rights piracy”. Only the United States and Australia oppose a provision limiting Internet Service Provider liability (QQ.I.1); U.S. copyright holders would like ISPs to be held liable for hosting infringing content. The United States also proposes extending copyright to life plus 95 years for corporate-owned copyrights. Hollywood consistently presses for longer copyright terms and it is doing so here. What are the implications for access to medicine worldwide? The United States is proposing a number of provisions designed to strengthen and extend brand-name pharmaceutical companies’ monopoly privileges. For example, several provisions would support the pharmaceutical firms’ practice of “ever-greening” in which a firm will hold a patent on drug ‘x’ in tablet form, then later obtain a patent on drug ‘x’ in a gel cap, and later still obtain another patent on the same drug in capsule form. This extends patent life on a known substance, despite no new medical efficacy; thus it delays generic competition. The United States seeks patents for new uses of a known product (all other countries but Australia oppose this). The United States alone proposes damages for patent infringement of up to three times the amount of injury suffered. The United States and New Zealand oppose compensation for victims of enforcement abuse (QQ.H.4.4). The United States also proposes giving customs officials ex officio powers to seize goods in transit that are suspected of being counterfeit. Several years ago European seizures of lawfully produced Indian generic drugs en route to customers in Africa and Brazil threatened to disrupt generic supply chains, and India threatened to take its dispute over this practice to the World Trade Organization. Other U.S. proposals would create


Weekend “Beaver” Moon to dull Leonid meteor shower; comet ISON emerging?

The waxing moon looms above the Washington Monument on November 14 (Kevin Wolf via Flickr) This weekend the moon is full, there’s a meteor shower, and a spectacular comet may be visible to the naked eye. But clouds may challenge viewing, depending on your location. The moon “Beaver” is the common name for this month’s full moon, which occurs Sunday. “[T]he name can be traced to the activity of these industrious rodents, which are working hard to gather food and fix their dens for the upcoming winter,” writes Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory. The moon is also sometimes referred to as the “frosty” moon, given the time of year. In Washington, D.C., it will appear mostly full both Saturday and Sunday nights, reaching official fullness Sunday morning at 10:16 a.m., when it is not visible. Moonrises on Saturday and Sunday evening occur at 4:27 and 5:08 p.m. and moonsets Saturday and Sunday mornings occur at 5:47 and 6:45 a.m. Leonid meteor shower This meteor shower peaks between Saturday evening and Monday morning. Unfortunately, the nearly full moon will make viewing the shower difficult. EarthSky says to expect about 10 to 15 shooting stars per hour, but the actual number you can spot, given the moon’s brightness, may well be lower. If you want to give it a go, NASA says the best time to view the shower is after midnight. EarthSky recommends getting out of town: …the best place to watch a meteor shower is always in the country. Just go far enough from town that glittering stars, the same stars drowned by city lights, begin to pop into view. City, state and national parks are often great places to watch meteor showers. Comet ISON The much-anticipated comet ISON underwent an abrupt brightening on November 14, and now is viewable to the naked eye in some circumstances. Writes NASA in its latest ISON status update: Comet ISON’s brightness appears to be around two orders of magnitude brighter now, with reports of visual magnitude in the region of +5 to +6. For those with very dark skies, this now makes it a naked eye object, and even for those in urban environments it is readily visible as a fuzzy green blob about half an hour before sunrise in the south eastern skies. Binoculars and, particularly, telescopes provide a better, clearer view. Check out this telescope photograph posted to


Report slams D.C.’s federally funded school voucher program

accurate priority categories. Additionally, the Trust has not submitted its mandatory financial reports on time, despite a legal requirement that these reports be filed within 9 months of the end of the entity’s fiscal year. The Trust’s fiscal year 2010 financial report was almost 2 years late, and the Trust’s fiscal year 2011 and 2012 reports had not yet been submitted as of August 2013. In August 2013, the Trust also made amendments to its policies and procedures in three areas GAO identified. However, these amendments do not address all weaknesses identified in this report, and have not yet been fully implemented. The Department of Education (Education) has provided limited assistance to the Trust in certain areas outlined in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the District and in the cooperative agreement with the Trust. Specifically, Education is responsible for helping the Trust make improvements to its financial system, enhance its site visit policies and procedures, and improve the accuracy of information provided to parents. Trust officials acknowledged that Education has provided general assistance regarding administrative and operational functions, but it has not assisted with specific improvements in these areas. Although the MOU is a written agreement between Education and the District, it holds the Trust, as the grantee, responsible for notifying District agencies to conduct required building, zoning, health, and safety inspections of participating schools—a requirement that is not detailed in the cooperative agreement signed by Education and the Trust—but would assist the Trust in providing continued oversight of schools participating in OSP. As a result, Trust officials were not acutely aware of this responsibility, and required inspections were not being conducted in the manner described in the MOU between Education and the District. Layton’s story quotes Ed Davies, the trust’s executive director, as saying that the program “needs a major overhaul” and that his agency inherited numerous problems when it took control in 2010 from the Washington Scholarship Fund. Last year, he was quoted in the Layton-Brown story as saying that quality control was “a blind spot” but that his organization didn’t have the authority to do anything differently. Layton’s story also quotes Nadya Chinoy Dabby of the Education Department as rejecting the GAO’s contention that the department did not extend enough technical help to Davies’s nonprofit. Layton’s story says: When Congress created the voucher program, it required that the schools be financially stable and sustainable. A school


Find a ride that suits you

GETTING AROUND The Ride Matrix With a host of new ride-sharing and taxi services up and running, and with the Silver Line and D.C. and Arlington streetcars on the horizon, driving/biking/walking oneself around is starting to seem as outdated as a flip phone. We plotted a few of your many options by coolness and cost. STACKED UP Turns Out, the Grass Is Greener in D.C. Political blogger Andrew Sullivan, who internet-famously wrote of his misery upon moving to New York last year, announced this month that he’s giving up on the Big Apple and returning to the District. “I miss the oases of quiet and the energy of a new emerging city that is both a second Brooklyn and a global hub of media and politics,” he wrote. Chalk one up for D.C. in its perennial competition with NYC. And for the record, here’s how Washington stacks up against the “first” Brooklyn. THIS SHOULD BE A THING NaReNoSoDifMo National Rename November Something Different Month: the movement to increase the number of alternative names for the 11th month of the year. So far, there’s NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month; NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month; SPAM, Sweet Potato Awareness Month; and Movember, during which men grow their mustaches to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer. Here’s to hoping Nationals’ star Bryce Harper’s brother Bryan, a minor-league baseball player, will regrow his award-winning ’stache. We’re pretty sure the yet-to-be named panda is smiling at us. NATIONAL ZOO GO FIGURE 200,000 The approximate number of votes cast the last time the National Zoo held a baby-panda-naming poll. The public chose Tai Shan, or “peaceful mountain,” for the cub born in 2005. Flash-forward to today: The Zoo’s newest giant panda cub, a girl born Aug. 23, now needs a name. The public can pick from five options at Smithsonian Magazine , so if you haven’t voted yet, hop to it! Polls are only open until Nov. 22, with the winning name to be announced when the little lady turns 100 days old — a Chinese tradition — on Dec. 1. Have suggestions for the page? Email us at fwiw@wpost.com or tweet us @WaPoExpress using the hashtag #FWIW.


Along came a cider

let craft brewers have all the fun?” Sherrer says.) Fermented apple juice has come a long way since its heyday in the Colonial era, when cider’s strongest selling point was that it was safer and more palatable than water. In the late 1800s, as the soft drink industry emerged and beer competed for American taste buds, cider fell out of favor. Then attitudes about alcohol shifted. “Prohibition put the nail in cider’s coffin,” says Charlotte Shelton, co-founder of Albemarle Ciderworks, near Charlottesville, Va. Teetotalers co-opted the term “cider” to refer to juice, which is why the alcoholic version is called “hard” today. Overlooked for a century, the hard stuff is finally getting the hard sell. Several big-name beer manufacturers have recently jumped into the cider business, rolling out products such as Stella Artois Cidre, Michelob Ultra Light Cider and Angry Orchard Hard Cider (from the Boston Beer Co., best known for Samuel Adams). These and other mass-produced “macro ciders” tend to be sweeter and blander than what local cideries produce. But they help whet customers’ palates for more artisanal, adventurous stuff, says Rob Miller of Distillery Lane Ciderworks. “Maybe then they’ll try a dry cider,” Miller says. “Or something not sparkling.” Or maybe they’ll even swing by Distillery Lane, where folks are invited to take a self-guided tour through the orchard (with a satchel, if they’re inclined to pick fruit to haul home). They can nibble on apple slices to get familiar with some of the lesser-known but best-tasting varietals. And then it’s $5 to belly up to the bar and sample from a rotating crop of ciders. Tastings, naturally, are at the core of the cider trail initiatives in Virginia and Maryland. Vineyards have become destinations where visitors can kick back with a drink and a stunning view, and cideries are striving for the same reputation with many of the same tricks. So, at a cider tasting, a guest can expect to get a wine glass and then a series of splashes from wine-size bottles. The person behind the counter will happily discourse on the merits of certain fruits and food pairings and possibly encourage the purchase of a bottle to enjoy on the spot. (Take it to a picnic table along with some local cheese, Shelton suggests.) If you’re worried about drinking and driving, Great Shoals Winery’s tasting room, which opened in June, is accessible by Metrobus. On


Coin’s warm reception proves the George Costanza wallet must die

to raise $50,000 via crowdfunding to cover manufacturing costs. The goal was met in 40 minutes. Its Web site was mentioned 200,000 times on Facebook Thursday, according to CEO Kanishk Parashar. A slick video promoting Coin received over 4.6 million views on YouTube in four days. Consumers are thirsting for a solution to all of the cards they have to carry around. But it’s not yet clear that Coin is the solution. (Courtesy of Coin) Coin only holds eight cards, and you probably have a lot more in your wallet. It isn’t currently designed to work with cards that have a bar code on them. Only cards with a magnetic strip work (their information is scanned into Coin with a dongle.) Parashar says his team will develop a feature in 2014 that allows cards featuring bar codes to be scanned into the app, so you don’t have to carry those cards. You could then open the app on your phone whenever you want to use those cards. Right now Coin can’t replace cards with an RFID chip in them, such as SmartTrip cards that are used on Washington’s public transportation system. You’ll still need to carry your driver’s license as well. This man could use a thinner wallet. (Undated publicity photo/NBC/Reuters) It’s also unclear what happens once the battery in Coin dies. At this point you’ll have to buy another Coin. Parashar views the two years Coin is supposed to last as a long window for his company to find a better solution. If you leave your Coin somewhere, the Bluetooth technology will alert you that you have left it behind. While that’s tremendous for people who leave their credit cards at bars, the Coin also disables itself if your phone battery dies. No smartphone means no credits cards, and that’s a problem. Parashar says Coin will eventually cost about $100. You can pre-order a Coin now for $50. Coin says it’ll ship its first batch of cards in the summer of 2014. Coin’s promotional video is slick, and its Web site flashy, but we need to see more substance. Coin is an intriguing alternative to innovations in payments such as a Square Wallet, because it has the potential to work anywhere cards with magnetic strips can be swiped. “Something like Coin, it works the day you get it. That what makes all the difference. Coin has technology in there


Russian official says timing of anti-gay law was wrong with Olympics looming

The Olympic torch relay made its way through St. Petersburg. (Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters) The Russian government made a mistake when it enacted a law banning “gay propaganda” before the Olympics take place there, the country’s sports minister said. “Perhaps the state authorities should have waited a little,” Vitaly Mutko told RBK Daily (vuia the Associated Press). ” … It was possible to calculate how much resonance it would cause in the West, especially in the run-up to the Sochi Olympics.” The law, passed in June, bans the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” and imposes fines for providing information to minors. Negative reaction to the legislation, Mutko says, resulted from suspicion of Russia. “Russia is picking up steam in all fields, including athletics. No one in the world needs this,” Mutko said. “They liked it when we were weak. And now we are gradually taking our place.”


U.S. airports offering healthier fare

Green salads are more commonly offered at U.S. airports according to a new report. (Photo by Marge Ely for The Washington Post). Your chances of finding a “cholesterol-free, plant-based entree” in a U.S. airport have improved dramatically over the past decade, according to a recently released report by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The report found that 76 percent of restaurants in 18 of the nation’s busiest airports offer at least one cholesterol-free, plant-based entrée — good news, the group says, for the 100 million folks expected to fly over the holiday season. But if your itinerary includes Las Vegas McCarran International or Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the plant-based pickings might be a little slim. Since the group first began reporting on food options at the nation’s airports, the number of airport restaurants offering green salads, veggie wraps and black bean burgers has increased. In 2001, just over half — 57 percent — of airport eateries offered at least one healthful option. The best of the 18 airports cited in the report for a cholesterol-free, plant-based meal? Denver International Airport. (The airport tops the list for the first time since 2003). Reagan National tied for third with Los Angeles International, with 83 percent of restaurants offering cholesterol-free, plant-based options, while Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall tied with Washington Dulles International with 80 percent of restaurants offering that option. “At BWI Marshall, we are committed to ensuring healthy options for our travelers,” Paul J. Wiedefeld, chief executive of BWI Marshall, said in a news release touting the airport’s top ranking. “We continue working with our concessions developer, AIRMALL Maryland, to provide healthy selections for travelers. Many BWI Marshall restaurants offer natural, organic, and healthy menu choices.” Also of note: BWI has a 12.5-mile scenic outdoor trail that encircles the airport property, which opened in 1994. It was the first major U.S. airport to offer a dedicated hiker/biker trail. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for healthy eating, preventive medicine and ethical clinical research


The best sentences we read today

--- "Gumu, the zebra who bit the keeper, was also upset by the incident, and was being kept out of public view for the day while things returned to normal." --- "'Maybe that is also a contributing factor to less linear and more diverse thinking,' said Mr. Gall, who is known to ride a unicycle on the top deck." --- "This fact may shock those of you who are either fruit flies or dedicated Politico junkies, but it is true." --- "Already that week, the hallway outside the mayor’s office, which has turned into an encampment for every media organization in Toronto, had hosted a wheelchair-bound Iron Sheik, a singing man in a banana suit, and several evangelical Christians, who came thumping bibles in the hope of saving the mayor’s tattered soul."


First D.C. Wal-Marts will open Dec. 4

The H Street NW store, seen in an early phase of construction. (Courtesy of OxBlue) They won’t be open for Black Friday, but they will be open soon thereafter: The first two Wal-Mart stores in the District of Columbia will open to shoppers Wednesday, Dec. 4, the retailer said Tuesday. The stores, located at 5929 Georgia Ave. NW and 99 H St. NW, will both open at 8 a.m., bringing to a close more than three years of public debate and political wrangling over the megaretailer’s entry into the nation’s capital — particularly over the wages it will pay its employees. The two stores set to open next month are the first of as many as six stores Wal-Mart has said it wants to open in the city. When city lawmakers moved forward on a bill that would require it and some other large retailers to pay a $12.50 “living wage,” Wal-Mart balked and threatened to abandon its D.C. plans. The bill passed the D.C. Council, but was vetoed by Mayor Vincent C. Gray, who called the bill a “job killer,” and the council failed to override the veto. The new stores will each employ about 300 workers. Wal-Mart opened two “hiring centers” near the stores in September, and said, as of Tuesday, it has received more than 23,000 applications for jobs there. It has not yet provided an accounting of how many of the applicants or new hires are District residents. The stores, Wal-Mart said in a statement, will offer “a full grocery selection, fresh produce, bakery, delicatessen, organic food items, full-service pharmacy and $4 prescription program, as well as a broad assortment of general merchandise including apparel and electronics.”


Poll: 6 in 10 support changing how military handles sex assault cases

Nearly six in 10 Americans believe that decisions on whether to prosecute allegations of sexual assault in the U.S. military should be made by an independent group of military prosecutors instead of within the military chain of command, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. U.S. soldiers pack up to walk down to meet their helicopter following a mission along Pakistan-Afghan border in June 2009. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) The Pentagon estimates that as many as 26,000 service members were the targets of unwanted sexual contact last year although only 3,374 incidents of sexual assault were reported to top military officials. The rise of such cases has earned special concern from military leaders and lawmakers. The poll results are a victory for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who is pushing to boldly change how the Defense Department handles cases of assault and rape in the ranks by stripping military commanders of any involvement in handling such cases and turning responsibility over to specialized military prosecutors. Critics charge that the changes could add millions of dollars to the defense budget and radically alter a commander’s responsibilities for good order and morale. But Gillibrand's plan is backed by national veterans groups, victims’ advocates, 17 of the 20 women senators and an impressive bipartisan coalition including Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). (Update 3:52 p.m.: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) just became the bill's 50th public supporter.) Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is pushing for different changes that also would help curb assault cases, but stop far short of Gillibrand's proposal. McCaskill's amendment would change military rules of evidence to drop the “good soldier” defense unless a defendant’s military character is directly relevant to the crime they're accused of committing. The plan also would require the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force to review any case in which military prosecutors recommend proceeding and a military commander disagrees. The amendment is likely to pass with bipartisan support. The Senate is expected to begin debating the Gillibrand and McCaskill proposals in the coming days as part of consideration of the annual defense authorization bill that sets military pay and policy. Gillibrand still lacks the 60 votes necessary to ensure her proposal is added to the bill, while McCaskill's proposal is expected to pass easily. "We will prevail," McCaskill predicted in an interview Tuesday morning. McCaskill said that


Dino plans to leave Cleveland Park and rebrand itself in Shaw

Dino co-owner Dean Gold. (Stacy Zarin Goldberg/The Washington Post) After eight years in the neighborhood, Dean Gold is calling it quits in Cleveland Park. The chef and owner behind Dino says he has signed a letter of intent to move his Italian-themed restaurant to Shaw and rebrand it into a smaller, more casual operation. Gold expects to re-emerge in the new space as early as February, in what he hopes will be a financial valentine to himself. Business at his Cleveland Park restaurant, which Gold opened in 2005, has dropped precipitously, the owner says. As diners have migrated to trendier neighborhoods, whether the 14th Street corridor or H Street NE, Gold figures his revenues have declined by 25 percent compared to last year at this time. "This June business just fell off. I’m not making enough money to keep Dino open," Gold says. "A lot of restaurants in Cleveland Park ... are complaining about how bad business is.” Because Gold remains in lease negotiations over the new location, he can't yet name the address, but he says he will be taking over an existing restaurant in Shaw, which will require mostly cosmetic repairs. The biggest project will involve installing an outdoor walk-in cooler, which Gold will need before he starts serving beer on tap. Unless there are surprises in the final lease discussions, Gold has tentatively scheduled to close Dino in January. The owner has a plan for the Shaw space as construction crews do the necessary work: He expects to host a pop-up version of his rebranded restaurant. It'll be Gold's way to conduct recon in his new neighborhood, with its far different demographics than those in Cleveland Park. "We’re ultimately going to be a neighborhood restaurant. Ultimately what we’re going to be is going to be determined by the response" of diners, Gold says. "We’re going to be very flexible at the beginning." At present, Dino's menus break down roughly into thirds, Gold says. They're one-third Italian, one-third dishes with an Italian sensibility and one-third "fun stuff," like the Dino burger. The owner expects the same ratios at the new location, but with a reduction in the overall number of dishes (if not the line of burgers, which he plans to expand with variations such as a "salumi burger"). Likewise, his wine list will be pared down from about 300 selections to 3o to 50; there will be


Video of the panda cub taking her first steps

(Screengrab from the video) The panda cub at the National Zoo has begun taking her first tentative steps. Thankfully, the zoo’s panda cameras captured this glorious footage and they posted it online today. Look, maybe you don’t want to watch this. But maybe you do want to watch a growing panda cub do her best to push herself up on all four paws and start lumbering around. Maybe that’s exactly what you need to get you through the rest of this Tuesday afternoon. Maybe you just want to get to the video already because you saw “panda cub takes first steps” and you want to see whether the video could possibly live up to your expectations (good news: It does!). Here you go: In a momentous occasion, the baby panda at the National Zoo took her first tentative steps.


Hijack customers’ computers to generate bitcoins? New Jersey has a problem with that.

video games. But the complaint against the company alleges that it was trying to cheat its customers by installing on their machines malicious code that enabled the company to monitor computers even when not signed into the service and linked the computers to a botnet to mine for bitcoins. Bitcoins are created by "mining," where computers compete against each other to process Bitcoin transactions. When a computer wins the computational race, it receives a reward of a certain number of Bitcoins, currently 25. By creating a botnet that draws on the power of many computers, E-Sports could get a speed boost in that race. And the press release for the settlement suggests that it was working: It is estimated that, during a single two-week period, E-Sports took control of approximately 14,000 computers in New Jersey and across the nation, and generated approximately $3,500 by mining for bitcoins. It's unclear if that two week profit was calculated based on prices at the time or using today's skyrocketing Bitcoin value. But regardless, E-Sports and the Office of the Attorney General for New Jersey agreed to a settlement over the company's alleged actions. E-Sport will pay a $325,000 of the $1 million settlement now, but the rest is suspended and will be vacated after 10 years if the company complies with the rest of the settlement: Refraining from "deploying software code that downloads to consumers’ computers without their knowledge and authorization," submitting itself to a 10-year compliance program, and creating a dedicated page on its Web site detailing what type of data it collects and how it's used. However, Ashkan Soltani, a security researcher who worked with the New Jersey attorney general's office on the complaint, suggests that the case may have broader implications. "I think this raises the question of whether companies can leverage consumers' computers for their own gain, beyond simply collecting data for the purpose of behavioral advertising," he says, adding, "There are now a number of ad networks trying to use your computer's CPU to mine bitcoin when you visit their sites." Add-ons and plugins including BitcoinPlus and Tidbit allow webmasters to paste a code to their side, then engage the unused computing power of web visitors. But, given the New Jersey ruling, Soltani says, "we'll want to ask how far a 3rd party software developer or Web site can go to make a buck off of their users."


The five craziest moments from Gary Locke’s tenure as U.S. ambassador to China

It's been quite a ride for U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, who announced today he will be leaving the post he assumed in August 2011. Here are five of the moments that made Locke's two-years-and-change in Beijing so topsy-turvy. They're a reminder of both Locke's unusual public stature in China -- he became something of a celebrity for living like a normal person in a country where public officials carry themselves like royalty -- and the tumultuous few years of U.S.-China relations that his tenure spanned. Locke shakes hands with bystanders outside a kindergarten during a visit to Taishan in Guangdong province. (Kin Cheung/AP) August 2011: Locke becomes a celebrity in China before even arriving. While at the Seattle airport waiting for his flight to depart, Locke was photographed by a Chinese businessman while buying a coffee at Starbucks. The businessman posted the photo to Chinese social media, where it generated huge discussion. Chinese Web users were amazed to see a high-powered American official buying his own coffee and carrying his own backpack. The idea that a public official might live like a regular person is one we take for granted in the United States but is extremely rare in China; that sense of disconnect between citizens and officials is highly sensitive. Locke's regular-person lifestyle drew attention to that issue. The blog Shanghaiist summarized the popular Chinese reaction to Locke getting photographed in the coach class of an airplane like this: "Chinese internet users again think the sky is falling after Gary Lock flies coach class, like some kind of poverty-stricken farmer's cattle." Locke pays traditional tribute to his ancestors in Jilong village in Taishan, Guangdong province. (Kin Cheung/AP) November 2011: Locke visits his ancestral village. Locke was the first Chinese American to serve as U.S. ambassador to China. So when he visited his family's ancestral village of Jilong, in southern China, it was a big deal. (He'd visited twice before but never in his official capacity.) It was a symbol of the Chinese U.S. diaspora, as well as a reminder of how much success that community has found in the faraway United States. You can't fake soft power like that. Reporters watch a live feed of Wang Lijun testifying at Bo Xilai's trial. (Getty) February 2012: The Wang Lijun crisis When Chongqing police chief fled to the U.S. Consulate in nearby Chengdu and requested asylum, apparently fearing that


Is America over soup?

has taken steps to bring soup back. Over the past couple years, it's introduced and heavily marketed soup in boxes, soup in bags, soup in plastic buckets. It rolled out 38 new soups in total during 2013; they now come in "Gourmet Bisques," "Homestyle," and "Slow Kettle" varieties. It made some headway: This year, the company even thought that the category had been "stabilized" after its long decline. But the slow return seems to have stalled, and the new formats make up a "not a very significant" proportion of their sales. Campbells showed off its slow soup recovery in an Analyst Day presentation earlier this year, but the most recent quarter looked much worse. (Campbell's Soup) So, are Americans simply over soup? It's true, there are headwinds. Much has been made of the shift toward eating on the go, which is hard to do with soup (unlike yogurt, it just seems unseemly to suck it from a pouch). It's also a highly seasonal food, and with temperatures on the rise globally, soup looks set for a structural decline. Accordingly, Campbell's has diversified far beyond savory liquids, taking on the Bolthouse Farms juice line, Pepperidge Farms' snacks and bread, salsas and sauces from Prego and Pace. Campbell's soup figures, though, may be deceptive. Soup is actually selling well elsewhere: People are opting for organic and non-GMO lines from companies like Pacific Foods and Amy's, while grocery stores are offering more and more private label varieties. Frozen soup sales were up 17 percent in 2012, General Mills' Progresso soups have gobbled up market share with a boomer-friendly healthful message, and fast-casual restaurants — some soup-only! — carry the perception of quality (even if they're just reconstituted from the same powdered stuff that goes in cans). "The soups served in Panera and Au Bon Pain benefit from the consumer perception that they are fresher as well as from the accompaniment of freshly-baked bread," Euromonitor wrote in a January report. The "freshness" fetish also affects juices; Campbell's V8 line took an even bigger dive than soups, as consumers go for just-squeezed over shelf-stable. The result is something of a paradox: Euromonitor estimates that soup sales will decrease in volume by two percent over the next five years, but increase in value as marketing and quality increase, to a total market of $4.7 billion in 2017. Americans might spoon less soup overall, but they're willing


PM Update: Some clouds tonight into Thursday; winter phone alerts dropped

- Temperature Map - Temperatures: Latest D.C. area temperature map. See interactive map on our Weather Wall. Though normal temperatures are now quickly cooling through the mid-50s, highs in the 40s still felt rather chilly today. At least that pesky wind has begun to die down a little. Some clouds overspread the area tonight, and they might be hard to kick tomorrow. Through Tonight: Tomorrow (Thursday): See Dan Stillman’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter Pollen update: The moon rises over the National Mall during the evening of Nov. 19, 2013. (Kevin Ambrose) Winter cancel:


Which agencies were hit hardest by shutdown furloughs?

The furloughs that took place during the recent 16-day government shutdown hit agencies unevenly. A new graphic Among the agencies subject to furloughs, those with the lowest percentages of workers impacted included State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Justice, according to Masters-in-Accounting.com, which borrowed data from the Washington Post and USA Today to compile its numbers. National Park Service personnel remove the barricades from the World war II Memorial as the government reopens Thursday. (Astrid Riecken/Washington Post). The agencies that fared worst were NASA, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Education, and the Environmental Protection Agency, each of which sent at least 94 percent of their employees home during the shutdown. The Federal Reserve and U.S. Postal Service were protected from furloughs because they are not entirely funded by Congress. Outside of those two agencies, the only jobs that were exempt from furloughs were those deemed by agencies to be necessary for protecting human life and property or to fulfill the constitutional obligations of lawmakers and the president, as well as those that lawmakers agreed to fund during the shutdown. Image compliments of Masters in Accounting Degrees Follow Josh Hicks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Connect by e-mail at josh.hicks@washpost.com. Visit The Federal Eye, The Fed Page and Post Politics for more federal news.


The Switchboard: Wikipedia slaps PR firm with cease-and-desist over fake entries

(Wikimedia Commons) Published every weekday morning, the Switchboard highlights five tech stories you need to read. Goodlatte's patent bill advances. These companies build the technology used to spy on you. This university is the first in the world to accept Bitcoin for tuition. The underdog Internet providers head to Washington. Wikipedia blames Texas PR firm for skewing hundreds of entries.


Maya Angelou shines, sings at National Book Award ceremony

American man to win the fiction prize in 23 years. (Charles Johnson’s “Middle Passage” won in 1990). He acknowledged the ability of fiction writing to offer him solace from a string of recent heartaches — his divorce, the death of his mother and niece: “It was always nice to have somebody whose world I could just fall into and just follow him around.” The chair of the fiction committee, former New York Times Book Review editor Charles McGrath, said that the judges had received more than 400 submissions. “Not all these books were good,” he quipped. As expected, Thomas Pynchon, a finalist for his novel “Bleeding Edge,” did not attend the ceremony. Cynthia Kadohata won the award in young people’s literature for “The Thing About Luck,” a story about a 12-year-old Japanese American girl staying with her grandparents. Last week, in her review in The Post, Mary Quattlebaum wrote, “Kadohata is a master of the family drama, and this graceful novel of survival and growth abounds with all the humor and shared heartache of an authentic family.” New Yorker writer George Packer won the nonfiction prize for “The Unwinding,” his unsparing critique of modern America over the past two decades. This is a place, he writes, “where everything changes and nothing lasts.” E.L. Doctorow, whose 1975 novel “Ragtime” changed the shape of historical fiction, received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contributors to American Letters. At the opening of his acceptance speech, he wryly congratulated the “short-listed content providers” who were competing for the National Book Awards. He went on to deliver a warning about Internet culture by citing words that have taken on new meaning in the computer age: “mouse,” “web,” “platform,” etc. It all sounded MySpace-fresh and included declarations that shed little light on the complicated evolution of the publishing industry, e.g. “An e-book is not a book,” and “The techies don’t want to know that reading a book is the essence of interactivity.” He ended, though, with a rousing call for protecting free speech from censorship and surveillance. “Everyone in this room is in the free speech business.” The ceremony was hosted by Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. She seemed nervous and out of place as she strained to entertain the literati. “I’m a professional at selfies,” she said toward the end of the evening. Why can’t we have Steve Martin back as host?


Last chance to help name the panda cub

Look at her, wrestling with the unfathomable uncertainty that comes with lacking a true identity to call one’s own. (Photo by Abby Wood/Smithsonian’s National Zoo) The National Zoo’s giant panda cub is still without an official name. But she’ll have one in a little under two weeks. First, though, the contest allowing people to vote on a name has to wrap up. Panda fans have until tomorrow (Nov. 22) to vote for their favorite name. You can vote here, if you haven’t voted already. The winning name will be announced on Dec. 1, when the cub turns 100 days old. Until then, the cub will presumably be wandering her panda enclave without a formal identity, something that John Locke once said gives a being the ability to “consider itself as itself.” The zoo says the ceremony revealing the name will be open to the public, though space will be limited. Here are the contenders for the baby panda’s name: • Oh, what’s that? You missed the video of the panda cub taking her first steps released earlier this week? Fine, twist my arm, I’ll post it again: In a momentous occasion, the baby panda at the National Zoo took her first tentative steps.


How (and how much) the 50 states do drugs, in 5 maps

Rep. Trey Radel's (R-Fla.) admission this week that he used cocaine has sparked a renewed interest in the popularity of illegal drug use in today's society. Petula Dvorak noted in her column today But what about all drugs? And do red states and blue states have different drugs of choice? Here's a quick rundown: 1) Blue states like drugs more than red states Below is a 2008 study, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, of how many people 12 or older say they have used illicit drugs in the past year. You'll notice the states with the lowest drug use are more red than blue, while the blue states on the West Coast in the Northeast had the highest use rates. Apparently, Republicans listened to Nancy Reagan more than Democrats. 2) Cocaine is popular in D.C. Radel's drug of choice barely registers in much of the Midwest but is much more popular in blue states -- as well as the District of Columbia, where Radel was caught buying 3.5 grams. Radel's home state of Florida is about average for cocaine use nationwide. SAMHSA 3) California and D.C. have a problem No state has as much in the way of substance-abuse disorders as the Golden State, according to another recent SAMHSA study. And D.C. is right there too. The other state with a widespread problem: Rhode Island. Radel, by the way, comes from Southwest Florida, where substance-abuse disorders are among the lowest in the country. 4) Red states are much more into prescription drugs While red states don't do illegal drugs as much, they do have much more of an issue with prescription drugs. Of the 12 states with the highest percentage of prescription drug overdoses, just one is a solidly blue state: Rhode Island. 5) The state known for Bourbon doesn't have a problem with alcohol Let's switch to alcohol -- the substance with which Radel says he has a problem -- for a moment. Now, we expect that Utah would have one of the lowest rates of alcohol use disorders, given the prohibition on alcohol use in the Mormon Church. But the second-driest state in the Union is none other than ... Kentucky?


A handy guide to drug use in the 50 states, in five maps

An employee of Good Meds medical cannabis center in Lakewood, Colo., handles a jar of pot. (Credit: Matthew Staver/The Washington Post.) Over on Post Politics, Aaron Blake rounds up a lot of information on how Americans use and abuse drugs in each state. Blue states like them more than red ones; California and Washington, D.C., have a problem; and red states tend to abuse prescription drugs more. Check out the state-by-state maps over at Post Politics.


Hydrogen-powered cars? Get excited.

with unproven technology – we’re talking about Toyota and Honda. Not surprisingly, the argument against hydrogen vehicles is really an argument about “sunk costs.” In other words, vehicle makers have sunk so much money into developing the technology of electric vehicles and have spent a corresponding amount of time and money developing a charging network for electric vehicles that they claim it would be a terrible mistake to attempt to recreate the same fueling infrastructure for hydrogen-powered cars. That cost argument comes up again and again, especially since there are only a limited number of places in the United States that are currently equipped to refuel hydrogen-powered vehicles. As Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn recently pointed out Tetsuo Iwamura, executive vice president at Honda Motor Co. and president of American Honda Motor Co., stands on stage with the Honda FCEV concept vehicle during the L.A. Auto Show. (Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg) However, the lack of infrastructure for hydrogen cars may not necessarily be the hurdle they are making it out to be. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Hydrogen car backers, for example, argue that they can achieve economies of scale with hydrogen-powered cars by equipping huge fleets of buses first and using that momentum to build out a more robust charging infrastructure. And, to showcase the performance capabilities of these cars, Aston Martin even created a hydrogen-powered racing car — the Hybrid Hydrogen Rapide S. It’s more proof that you don’t have to sacrifice style and design when it comes to creating these vehicles. Imagine pulling up next to your neighbor’s stodgy four-door sedan with a Honda FCEV that looks like it came from the year 2033. Ultimately, hydrogen vs. electric may end up polarizing consumers as much as the automakers themselves. Top Gear fans will endlessly debate the relative performance merits of the two types of cars, the MBAs and accountants will mull over the ROI cases for both technologies, government bureaucrats will review potential new subsidies for the cars and the people who actually want to save the environment as much as they want to drive cool cars will drill down on the underlying science of the cars’ technology. While hydrogen cars may still be some ways off from being a practical reality, it’s hard not to get excited about an automotive future that feature cars that look like they could be stars of their own science fiction movie.


City Tap House bringing even more craft beer to Chinatown

A Philadelphia import will be bringing more craft beer and a meaty menu to the edge Chinatown. City Tap House, which will occupy the former 901 space near the City Center development and a short walk from the Verizon Center, will open during the second week of December. Taps at City Tap House (Maura Judkis/for The Post) "Our signature is accessibility," said Andy Farrell, City Tap House's beer steward. "Craft beer isn't a language everybody speaks yet." (Though it is a language that has been spoken fluently at the nearby RFD for years.) The exterior of City Tap House (Maura Judkis/for The Post) Farrell aims to make the menu easy to navigate, and to educate guests who are looking to try something new. He's aiming to keep about 40 percent of the taps local, but expect to see some beers from Philly that haven't made inroads in D.C. yet. Among them: Yards Brewing Company and Tired Hands. Of the 40 draft lines and two cask lines, 20 will be devoted to rotating seasonal favorites. Farrell is also planning on hanging on to some of the holiday beers that come his way so he can have a "Christmas in July" night in six months. Meat lovers will be pleased with the bar snacks, which include double-smoked bacon popcorn and duck fat fries, and the daily specials, which include beer-braised short ribs on Wednesdays, and butcher-selected steaks on Saturdays. A selection of six brick-oven pizzas includes the Tartufo, topped with roasted mushrooms, taleggio, guanciale, a fried egg and black truffle oil. Beers can be paired with three types of mussels, all served with house-made focaccia. In January, City Tap House will launch a brunch menu, with chicken and waffles with a beer gastrique as its signature dish. The entire restaurant has a rustic lodge feel, thanks to reclaimed hardwood from Lancaster, Pa., and numerous chalkboards on display around the dining room. A see-through keg refrigerator is a focal point, as are framed vintage Prohibition-era photos. There are 40 seats at the bar and a capacity of 180 total. There's a private dining room for up to 80, which can be partitioned. For happy hour, large groups can reserve an elevated room with direct access to the bar. City Tap House, 901 I Street NW. 202-733-5333. The interior of City Tap House (Maura Judkis/for The Post) The bar at City Tap House (Maura


Here’s why Obama trade negotiators push the interests of Hollywood and drug companies

has a particularly broad concept of fair use, as highlighted by a recent ruling finding that the Google Book Search project was legal under the fair use doctrine. But the leaked TPP draft makes no attempt to export this innovation-friendly portion of U.S. law. The language favored by American negotiators merely states that nations "shall endeavor to achieve an appropriate balance" in their copyright systems by adopting "limitations or exceptions" such as a right to comment and criticism. The details are left up to individual member states, leaving room for them to adopt a narrower concept of fair use than exists in the United States, or to decide that their existing laws already fit the bill. There are also at least two cases where U.S. negotiators have proposed TPP language that runs contrary to the rulings of American courts. In a March ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that American textbook publishers could not use copyright law to bar customers from purchasing textbooks abroad (where they are often cheaper) and reselling them in the United States. Yet the August TPP draft shows the United States still proposing that authors have "the right to authorize or prohibit the importation" of books that had been produced overseas. Margot Kaminski, a copyright scholar at Yale, believes this provision runs directly counter to the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law. Another example: U.S. courts are split on whether "temporary copies" of works stored in computer memories for brief periods of time can trigger copyright liability. The Obama administration has sought to enshrine into America's international agreements the principle that temporary copies do trigger copyright liability, without waiting for the courts to clarify US law. If a future Supreme Court ruling holds that temporary electronic copies do not trigger copyright liability, the US could suddenly be in violation of its treaty obligations. "Very polite" In a new paper, Kaminski argues that this pro-rightsholder bias reflects the one-sided way that USTR seeks advice on copyright and patent issues. The agency has established 16 industry trade advisory committees to provide advice about the complex issues USTR deals with in the course of its negotiations. As the name suggests, the ITACs are designed to gather feedback from industry groups. There are no public interest groups, academics, or other non-industry experts on ITAC 15, which focuses on "intellectual property" issues. And that matters because groups with ITAC seats have access


Northern Virginia is for beer and wine lovers — some tasty places to spend your holidays

At Vintage 50 in Leesburg, the beers on tap are solely their own craft brewed beers and Fritz Hahn says it’s “one of the most affordable brewpubs you’ll run across.” (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post) Here at the State of NoVa we’ve been cheering the rapid growth of microbreweries and brewpubs in our area, and provided an expansive list here back in the spring. But now The Post’s Fritz Hahn, a man who knows his bars and beers, has ventured into the State and found that Leesburg is particularly rich in breweries and craft beer bars. Hahn found that the growing scene in turn attracts more beer makers (and drinkers), and he focused on six Leesburg establishments: The breweries Crooked Run and Barnhouse, the popular brewpubs Vintage 50 and MacDowell Brew Kitchen, and the beer bars Tuscarora Mill and Leesburg Brewing Company. Each place seems to keep growing in popularity, Hahn found. His Leesburg round-up is here. Hahn also notes that Dogfish Head Alehouse, on Route 50 in Chantilly, is opening at 6 a.m. on Black Friday, so that’s also an option. Beer samples are offered at Crooked Run Brewery, a tiny brewpub and bar with outdoor patio owned by Jake Endres. Endres founded the brewery through funding from Kickstarter. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post) But that’s not all. For you wine connoisseurs, Post political columnist Dana Milbank has toured many of Northern Virginia’s finest wineries and wrote a very extensive piece for Sunday’s Post Magazine. Most of the top wineries cited by expert Jay Youmans are outside the strictly defined boundaries of the State of NoVa, but he does list Sunset Hills Vineyard in Purcellville and Tarara Winery in Leesburg as two of the top Virginia wine producers. Many of the rest are in Fauquier County, which is just one county away from NoVa. Milbank also pointed out that Decanter magazine last summer declared that “Virginia is tipped to be the next big thing in American wine” and that “Virginia wines are coming of age at the moment when American palates are doing the same.” The article counted 24 wineries in the Northern Virginia/Middleburg area, many of them also cited in Milbank’s piece. So now you have a detailed guide to the best beer and wine in our area. Your holiday weekend is set. Have a delicious Thanksgiving.


D.C. as seen on TV: Meeting the city through the lens of food and travel shows

range from the big names — Anthony Bourdain, Rachael Ray, Fieri and “Man vs. Food” binge eater Adam Richman — to the obscure shows relegated to strange time slots. But no matter how comparatively small their audiences may be, the programs still have influence. And TV crews are eager to check out the District’s newer restaurants. Earlier this month, a Cooking Channel crew for “Unique Sweets” was filming at GBD, the Dupont Circle fried chicken and doughnuts joint. An airdate for the episode has not been determined. It’s not just visitors who can discover something about Washington through TV. Sometimes the shows will highlight an under-the-radar dish that even the locals might have missed. But, more than just telling guests and residents alike what to eat, food TV tells us how others view the city: as a place for junk food, for secret lobbying over whiskey in wood-paneled rooms, for leg of lamb. And perhaps most of all, for cupcakes. From the "Bill Clinton" drink to "the best sandwich in America" only available to W Hotel guests, food shows have had quite a tall order covering the District. The Washington Post’s Maura Judkis shares some of D.C.'s best known culinary treats that you may have seen on TV. Christina Martinez Byvik for the Washington Post 1. Oohs Aahhs 1005 U St. NW. 202-667-7142. The first thing Oohs & Aahhs chef Oji Abbott added to his shrimp and grits for his appearance on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” was a little bit of cream. “I like your definition of ‘a little bit,’ ” Fieri said, as Abbott dumped a generous amount into the pot. Three years after the U Street restaurant’s appearance on the show, the grits are still sweet and creamy and it’s one of the restaurant’s best sellers. “We still get a lot of out-of-towners that have seen the show . . . and they put it on their list of things to do while they’re here,” Abbott says. “As soon as the show airs in a rerun, it will be instantaneous. You’ll get 20 to 30 calls during that whole weekend.” Thanks to the publicity it has received from the Food Network, Oohs and Aahhs is expanding. Its forthcoming second restaurant, at 5929 Georgia Ave. NW, next to the soon-to-open Wal-Mart, will offer much more space than the narrow U Street kitchen, especially for locals who don’t want to


Are hydrogen cars the wave of the future? Toyota thinks so.

The current conventional wisdom is that plug-in electric vehicles will be the clean, sleek cars of tomorrow. Think of Tesla's Model S or Chevrolet's Volt. These cars get most of the media attention, and policymakers tend to toss tax breaks their way. A Toyota fuel cell concept car was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show on Nov. 20. (Shizuo Kambayashi/AP) Not all automakers, however, are persuaded that plug-ins are the only way to go. This month, Honda, Toyota and Hyundai all announced plans to produce hydrogen fuel-cell passenger vehicles in the next few years. These cars will run on compressed hydrogen — and emit only water vapor as exhaust. For a long time, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles were seen as a tantalizing technology to help reduce society's dependency on oil. In theory, fuel-cell vehicles could charge in minutes and go for hundreds of miles before refueling — overcoming the disadvantages of plug-in electric cars with their bulky batteries and limited ranges. But the vehicles themselves were seen as forbiddingly expensive, and the challenges in setting up a hydrogen fueling infrastructure looked insurmountable. That explains why hydrogen lost its allure in the 2000s, particularly as batteries improved and electric vehicles became a reality. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy shifted its research and funding away from hydrogen and toward battery-driven electric cars. Now the pendulum may be swinging back. Plug-in electric cars aren't selling quite as well as their advocates once hoped. And the cost of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles seems to be dropping. Could hydrogen be in for a comeback? Or are the obstacles still too steep? Toyota's fuel-cell plans Toyota's emphasis on hydrogen is especially noteworthy. Sixteen years ago, the Japanese automaker was the first company to produce a commercially successful hybrid-electric car — the Prius, which features both a gasoline engine and an electric motor whose battery is charged by braking energy. That success led to a rising interest in electric cars. Yet unlike many companies, Toyota isn't focused on all-electric vehicle as the logical next step. "The reason why Toyota doesn’t introduce any major [all-electric vehicles] is because we do not believe there is a market to accept it,” said Toyota Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada during a speech in Washington D.C. back in September. Uchiyamada argued that battery technology still needs a few major breakthroughs before all-electric vehicles can compete with hybrids or traditional gasoline-powered cars — the batteries


Forget the PS4. Here’s what’s really saving the Japanese economy.

But it isn't the success of any individual company or product that will decide the success of "Abenomics," the aggressive program of Keynesian stimulus pursued by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the last year. The success of Sony and Toyota is an effect. Higher inflation is, indirectly, the cause. Here's what the two have to do with each other. On taking office, Abe and his hand-picked Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda pledged to do whatever it takes to get Japanese inflation up to 2 percent, following 15 years of generally falling prices. That was enough to drive a remarkable decline in the value of the yen on global currency markets -- from around 80 yen to the dollar a year ago to 100 to the dollar now. Japanese inflation has been very low or negative for nearly 15 consecutive years. That's just now starting to change. That 25 percent decline in the value of the yen has given Japanese companies like Sony and Toyota a remarkable advantage on global markets, essentially lowering much of their cost structure by that much within just a few months. If you're Mazda, selling cars that compete with Ford and Chrysler, or Nippon Steel, competing with U.S. Steel and Nucor, you have a more advantageous position thanks simply to words from your prime minister and central banking. But currency markets only moved the way they did because they believed Abe and Kuroda. The yen fell because investors believed that inflation would indeed return to Japan, and that yen would buy less stuff in the future. The higher inflation numbers reported on Thursday, therefore, did almost nothing to move the value of the currency; it was already priced in. The important reminder for Japan's leaders out of the latest wave of inflation data is this: The battle isn't won yet. By most standards, an 0.3 percent annual increase in inflation is still really really low; it only seems high relative to the deflation that Japan has been experiencing. Even using the inflation measure favored by the Bank of Japan, which includes energy but excludes fresh foods, Japanese prices rose 0.9 percent over the last year, which is still far below the 2 percent that the bank is aiming for. Just as currency markets priced in higher inflation last winter and spring, inflation that is just now starting to materialize, if markets perceive


Nine stories you may have missed over the Thanksgiving weekend

of Amazon's plan for using drones to deliver packages in as little as 30 minutes. (Disclosure: Amazon's founder and CEO, Jeffrey P. Bezos, is also the owner of The Washington Post.) Spending declines over Black Friday shopping weekend Shoppers spent about $1.7 billion less over the holiday weekend than they did last year, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation, with the expected total spending for the weekend falling to $57.4 billion from $59.1 billion. About 2 million more people shopped than did last year, but the average consumer’s spending dipped. Meanwhile, online spending reached a record $1.2 billion on the shopping holiday. Coalition apologizes for killing Afghan child The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan apologized on Friday for accidentally killing a 2-year-old boy during an airstrike last week. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., commander of the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to apologize. The target of the operation, a mid-level Taliban commander, was also killed. Officials wouldn’t say whether the strike was carried out by a drone or by a manned aircraft. Obama may stay in Washington President Obama said in an interview with Barbara Walters that he and first lady Michelle Obama may stay in the nation’s capital after his second term ends in 2017. The news was somewhat surprising, because Obama has regularly used D.C. as a punchline in his speeches and because he’d be the first former president to stay in town since Woodrow Wilson’s presidency ended in 1921. He said the family could stick around to allow their youngest daughter, Sasha, to graduate from Sidwell Friends School. (She would be a high school sophomore when Obama’s second term ends.) Panda cub receives a name The National Zoo’s panda cub has a name: Bao Bao, meaning precious or treasure. It was announced at a ceremony on Sunday following an online poll that saw more than 123,000 votes cast. The National Zoo has revealed the name of its 100-day-old panda cub: Bao Bao. The name, which means treasure, or precious, was voted for by the general public. HealthCare.gov meets deadline for fixes The Obama administration announced Sunday that it had met its goal of fixing the health-insurance marketplace, saying that HealthCare.gov is now working more than 90 percent of the time. But Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is still urging people to visit during off-peak hours.


Amazon Prime Air: Rounding up the skepticism on drones

FAA regulators and Senate committees who are currently considering how unmanned aircraft can be used commercially. And that message is: Don’t even think about getting in our way. By floating a teaser about the drone program, and allowing the public to freak out about it, he’s showing regulators how popular such a scheme would be, and how much backlash they’d face if they outlawed it. Amazon is diving headfirst into ostentatious R for image making. Amazon in particular could use the help: It’s still not profitable and needs to remind its ever-permissive investors that all its crazy investments in warehouses and robots will prepare it for eventual world domination. Deliveries in cities will be extremely difficult. I live in the middle of Boston on a narrow street with a steep incline that’s blanketed overhead by power lines. There’s nowhere except a thin strip of sidewalk for a drone to drop a package in front of my house, yet we have a nice, enclosed breezeway for FedEx, UPS and the mailman to leave packages. I have a tiny, tiny plot o’ land in the back of my house, but for most of the year, there’s a big patio umbrella covering about 80% of the land-able surface area. Ideally, Amazon’s drone would instead drop packages on this flat rooftop that sits outside my third-floor home office. Could a drone behead someone? This Taiwanese animation features just that scenario. As Matt Waite, who founded the Drone Journalism Lab at the University of Nebraska, told The Switch, “It’s all fun and games until little Sally loses a finger.” Amazon Prime Air: Online retailer to launch drone delivery service Don’t expect drones till 2020. But Amazon may really be trying to dominate the commercial drone market So if Amazon can become the first company with significant resources to invest in consumer drones, it could corner the market on cheap unmanned aerial vehicles the way it’s cornering the market on cheap computing power. And so far, investors have rewarded Bezos for putting long-term, wide-ranging ambition before short-term profits.Which means that however distant they are right now from Amazon’s core business, drones could become a much larger part of it. Ground vehicles, not flying robots are the future. Flying robots probably won’t be the only automated delivery technology entering the market in the coming decade. They’ll have to compete against self-driving vehicles that drive around on the


Forget the doubters, commercial drones are here to stay

This video, produced by Amazon, shows a prototype of Amazon's plan for using drones to deliver packages in as little as 30 minutes. (Disclosure: Amazon's founder and CEO, Jeffrey P. Bezos, is also the owner of The Washington Post.) While obviously there are a lot of technological, legal and regulatory hurdles to overcome before we ever see a fleet of Amazon Prime Air octocopters taking off from distribution centers across America and making door-to-door deliveries, the momentum behind the commercial drone revolution continues to build. There are now over 25,000 DIY drone enthusiasts in America, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) prototypes already exist for a number of commercial applications. By some estimates, commercial drones could boost the U.S. economy by $13.6 billion and create 70,000 new jobs within just a few years. Once the FAA finally rules on potential applications for commercial drones (expected in late 2015), it will be time for the training wheels to come off the domestic drone bandwagon. As wacky and futuristic as Amazon’s vision for Prime Air may sound, it’s actually an idea that dates back to at least 2009. FedEx, for example, has even tentatively explored plans for a giant fleet of commercial unmanned drones to deliver packages. That’s right — the entire FedEx fleet would be comprised of robotic drones. These unmanned delivery vehicles would be more along the lines of massive 777 cargo freighter drones than Amazon octocopters, but you get the idea: the logistics business is looking for a faster, cheaper delivery model and drones are going to be involved somehow. There’s even been talk of drone fleets flying in bird-like formations over cities and then disassembling as they go about their final delivery routes. In order to think about drones the way Jeff Bezos thinks about drones, just imagine any delivery service being reinvented as a drone delivery service, where robots replace humans. In densely populated urban areas, takeout orders are one example of how consumer drones could revolutionize different business models. In early 2012, for example, there was much speculation about “TacoCopters” eventually being able to deliver tacos to young tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area using a fleet of quadricopters. But think about it — any urban area full of bike messengers and pizza delivery guys could benefit from the 30 minutes or less approach of a Jeff Bezos. At some point, it’s possible to imagine


Why are the monarch butterflies disappearing?

happen again this year, it could be catastrophic. BP: You mentioned severe weather as another factor in the last two years. What happened? LB: That was a really serious drought. There was a very strong possibility that not enough butterflies made it to Mexico with enough energy to survive the winter. Then, this year, the numbers were already down, only about 60 million. So the migration comes back at the end of February and the middle of March and they move northward. These are the 5-month-old survivors that leave Mexico, migrate up through Texas, and lay eggs on milkweed. And the new generation that's produced in about three weeks moves all the way up to Canada. But when that new generation tried to migrate this spring, they were held back by a cold front that was in place for a long time. And that prevented a really good spring re-migration up into the northern breeding range. Normally over the course of the summer, that first spring generation will produce two more summer generations. But data indicates that the butterflies are missing a whole generation this year. And reports coming all over the Eastern range, from the Rockies all the way to Maine and Virginia, there are very few butterflies breeding anywhere. So the numbers getting back to Mexico are really low. And that's what we're waiting to hear, just how low are they? BP: Is climate change expected to affect the butterflies in any way? LB: BP: You also mentioned Midwestern agriculture as a third factor in the decline. What's happening there? LB: These crops are planted in the grassland ecosystems of the United States, where the monarchs do most of their breeding. And normally in that area there are milkweed growing all over the place on the agricultural fields and the edges of fields and the sides of roads. There are 108 species of milkweed in the United States — the whole monarch migration evolved in relation to evolution of this milkweed flora. Anyway, where they use these herbicides, it kills all emergent seedlings and all the emergent perennial plants. A paper last year by John Pleasants of the University of Iowa and Karen Oberhauser of the University of Minnesota estimated that 60 percent of milkweed has been eliminated from the grassland ecosystem. We're not just talking about one species, we're talking about the entire native flora being eliminated.


Adieu, Comet Ison; Hello Comet Lovejoy

a binocular object – albeit the dim Comet Lovejoy – rambles through our northern morning skies this week. At best, it’s a fifth magnitude object, which means you cannot spy Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) without binoculars or a small telescope. You may be able to find it around 5 – 5:30 a.m. – if you have a good view of north-northeast, says Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory. For reference, Comet Lovejoy loiters between the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and the Bootes constellations, but it’s moving quickly. By next week, it will be lower on the horizon, dimmer and very hard to find as it moves toward Hercules. Mike Lewis, a member of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC), caught Comet Lovejoy on camera Dec. 1 at about 5 a.m., near Aldie, Va. “Comet Lovejoy is not visible naked eye, but viewable with binoculars as a ‘fuzzy star’,” says Lewis, who explains the coma portion does not have a green tint, like that found with Comet ISON. “A small telescope will reveal a very short wispy tail.” Comet Lovejoy streaks through our northern heavens. This image taken by Mike Lewis of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club shows the comet with a greenish tint. It was taken with a 127mm refractor telescope and a digital SLR camera, near Aldie, Va.. Through binoculars and telescopes, says Lewis, the comet will not have a green tint. Another NOVAC member, James Granahan found it last Friday with 20×80 binoculars from Bealeton, Va., spying the comet about 30 degrees above the horizon, right before the sun washed away the dark starry sky. Chester says right now is as bright as Comet Lovejoy gets, as it reaches perihelion Dec. 22 – the comet’s closest approach to the sun. As for Comet ISON, images taken from the European Space Agency and NASA’s SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft have shown that the comet has disintegrated on its voyage around the sun Nov. 28. Comets are primordial dirty snowballs. When it got too close to the sun at perihelion, ISON broke apart. Scientists will continue to study Comet ISON: In mid December, the Hubble Space Telescope will trace the comet’s trajectory to see if there is any sign of a coma (or nucleus). Due to its delicate and sensitive instrumentation, the Hubble Telescope can only look for the comet when the sun is safely out of view.


Chef George Vetsch surfaces at Mount Vernon Square’s forthcoming Silo

“The beauty of working days is over,” says George Vetsch, the former chef at the lunch-only C.F. Folks in Dupont Circle. “Back to reality!” George Vetsch. (Photo by Allison Dinner) That’s the veteran chef’s way of announcing his new gig, working for first-time restaurant owner Reza Akhavan at the forthcoming Silo at 919 Fifth St. NW. The name, says the former general manager of Shaw’s Tavern, is a nod both to the industrial interior he’s created and the facility used to store grain. Akhavan’s 60-seat dining room near Mount Vernon Square will be “modern American with Swiss and French influences.” (Vetsch hails from Switzerland.) The chef left C.F. Folks in May Pending an inspection or two, Silo is expected to roll out around Christmas as a dinner-only destination, with chestnut fettuccine and frog legs with braised endive among the first courses. Entrees range from a $16 lemon-crusted chicken roulade with prosciutto and mozzarella, to a $24 grilled lamb loin with braised cabbage, barley risotto and raisin jus. In a gesture to where he’s from, Vetsch's bar menu will include macaroni and cheese -- spirited with kirsch and white wine. (Reza Akhavan)


Dolcezza’s gelato factory and coffee lab will open March 21

This post has been updated. Dolcezza's new gelato factory will swing open its doors Dec. 7 from 2 to 6 p.m. to offer freshly made samples of smoked bacon gelato and Stumptown coffees produced with posh Chemex coffeemakers. But after you've marveled at the airy space near Union Market, Dolcezza's staff will lock up the doors until spring. After announcing a Dec. 7 opening date for the factory and coffee "lab," owners Robb Duncan and Violeta Edelman now say they will wait for warmer days and for more of their food-centric neighbors to open up, creating a better environment for the shop at 500 Penn St. NE. Update: The shop has announced that it will open March 21. Violeta Edelman, left, and Robb Duncan opened their first Dolcezza in Georgetown in 2004. Now a chainlet with shops in Dupont Circle, Bethesda and Fairfax, Dolcezza's main hub of operations is moving to an industrial strip just behind Union Market. The shop is ready to go, but won't actually open till spring. (Lavanya Ramanathan/The Washington Post) The 4,000- square-foot warehouse will be the production hub for the rapidly expanding business, which now includes four retail storefronts (in Bethesda, Georgetown, Dupont Circle and Fairfax's Mosaic complex), plus a large network of restaurants serving Dolcezza sweets. All of the gelatos and sorbets had been produced in the Georgetown shop. "I worked next to a walk-in freezer for 10 years," says Edelman. Duncan and Edelman now say they can see their chain expanding to perhaps seven shops, as well as an online business, but that they're not striving for "a Dolcezza on every corner. That's not who we are," says Edelman. The portion of the factory opening to the public -- perhaps as soon as March -- will have a capacity of 30 and will be the only location where you'll be able to snag fresh-off-the-line gelatos and sorbets, served in porcelain or glass dishes -- all the better to savor flavors such as crookneck pumpkin, dulce de leche, quince and, my personal oddball favorites, salt and lime-cilantro. Also of interest: The coffee lab where baristas will experiment with new brewing methods (including the Chemex). The program is currently being tested in a pop-up at the Mosaic complex that will continue for the next three months. The production facility. (Lavanya Ramanathan/The Washington Post) The fruits of the season are stacked up at Dolcezza's new Gelato


How Ukrainian protestors are using Twitter and Facebook

popular Facebook posts on this page confirms this intuition: many posts provide news updates that generate intense discussions, but the page is also used to provide important logistical information for protestors. There are, for example, posts with maps of places to get free tea and access to warm spaces, advice on how to avoid being provoked by government agents, flyers to print and distribute around the city, as well as information on where protesters will be gathering. Most importantly, people are interacting with this information. The 2000 updates posted on the page since it was created have garnered close to 50,000 comments and over a million likes; and their content has been shared over 230,000 times. The plot below illustrates the number of daily likes (on posts), comments, and shares on the page since its creation. Here we can see that there are spikes in activity during both weekends, when protests were the largest, as well as an increase over time in the level of activity. The most widely shared posts include several with videos of police violently beating protestors with batons, another urging workers in various capacities in the government and outside it to stop working and join the protests, and one which includes quotes from Mykhailo Zhurovsky, the rector of the largest university in the country (Kyiv Polytechnic), supporting the protests. Finally, a second Facebook page was created on Nov. 30 particularly to provide legal assistance to protestors. This page has garnered 16,677 likes in 3 days. Facebook activity on public pages related to Ukrainian protests (Data: NYU Social Media and Political Participation (smapp.nyu.edu) lab; Figure: Pablo Barberá and Megan Metzger) However, if we examine the geographic distribution of the active users on Twitter, we find that 69 percent of geolocated users are tweeting from Ukraine, many of them writing in English, which suggests that this result is not driven primarily by foreign users. One possible explanation for this result is a division of purposes across social media: while Facebook is used to create content targeted to a domestic audience, Twitter appears to be a tool to convey information about the protest to the rest of the world and to draw the attention of the international community. This result is consistent with some of the work by Sean Aday and colleages on their paper “Blogs and Bullets”. Ukrainian protests tweets by language (Data: NYU Social Media and Political


Sights from Wal-Mart’s D.C. debut

Customers wait to enter the new Wal-Mart on Georgia Avenue. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) The District’s first two Wal-Mart stores opened on Wednesday morning — following months of contentious debate over wages — with ribbon cuttings and lines of customers eager to start shopping. D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) was on hand to cut the ribbon: there's the ribbon... http://t.co/vDAIHw0WhU ...And it is cut. http://t.co/fo4eFFHSjq And plenty of shoppers lined up outside the new stores on Wednesday morning. @postlocal 99H Walmart right before they opened http://t.co/ZELgwoM2Ci @Postlocal 99H street #Walmart line around the block entering this morning http://t.co/UiemJ4H6Ds Walmart opens in DC in seven minutes. First time ever. Here is the line in the Georgia Ave parking lot http://t.co/cI8Uael6hj Shoppers waiting for Walmart to officially open @wusa9 http://t.co/TlxAE3qDH1 These TVs are moving fast http://t.co/7FGMupXeOl a few dozen folks in line at Georgia Avenue location http://t.co/YuizLyRAOY More than 100 people in line out front for Georgia Ave Walmart two mins from opening http://t.co/9FTfyHv01E Wal-Mart’s stores — at 5929 Georgia Ave. NW and 99 H St. NW — will sell a mix of electronic devices, groceries, clothing and other merchandise (as well as hunting and fishing licenses). The retail giant’s plan to move into D.C. was the source of debate and uncertainty, much of it centering on the wages it pays employees. The D.C. Council approved a bill last summer that would have forced retailers like Wal-Mart to pay more to workers. Wal-Mart had threatened to abandon its D.C. plans over the legislation, which was vetoed by Gray in September. Thousands applied for the jobs It follows other big-box retailers that finally made their way to D.C. in recent years. The District’s first Target store opened in March 2008, the centerpiece of a Columbia Heights shopping center that also houses a Best Buy. Costco opened its first location in the nation’s capital last year, a Fort Lincoln store that was visited by Vice President Biden on opening day. Here are some other scenes captured before and after the stores opened: The retail giant’s registers ring up their first sales in the District after development delays and months of debate over wages. View Photo Gallery —Wal-Mart store managers are busy getting their staffs fired up as the retailer prepares to open two new stores in the District.


Report: U.S., Switzerland love to innovate together

(USISTF) The U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation recently released an index measuring the science and technology collaboration between the United States and other leading countries. A concentration of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland explains the country’s position atop the rankings, according to USISTF director Ann Liebschutz. The country has a history of grading well in innovations rankings. The report compared American ties by looking at 20 different indicators in four categories: government, private sector and industry, human capital and research and development. “We have the best scientific research institutions. We create the biggest companies,” Liebschutz said of the United States. “We have to create more companies, more multi-national companies than any other country. That’s a trend that should continue. Part of an essential element of that is being in touch with the tech talent in world.” The USISTF seeks to foster research and development cooperation between Israel and the United States. Find the full report here. (USISTF)


What surprises could climate change have in store for us?

climate system may be inevitable," they conclude, "but with improved scientific monitoring and a better understanding of the climate system it could be possible to anticipate abrupt change before it occurs and reduce the potential consequences." Here's a longer rundown of some of the abrupt changes the new National Research Council report explores, as well as how probable they are to occur this century (I've ordered them from most likely to least likely): — Sharp increases in extinction rates. (Source: Diffenbaugh and Field 2013) This concept is known as the "velocity of climate change," and the map on the right shows two different estimates of how quickly species would have to shift in order to maintain the climates of their current habitats (assuming they needed to). Some species will be able to keep up, others likely won't: There's only so far up a mountain that pikas can climb to stay cool, for instance. And coral reefs will have difficulty adapting if the oceans keep warming and become more acidic. Add it up, and it raises the prospect of extinctions for many species. Likelihood this century: Moderate. However, the report adds that scientists still need to develop a better understanding of how many species will react to these shifting climates. "It is an open question whether the climatic tolerances of local populations can evolve fast enough to keep up with rapid climate change." The report also explores the possibility of an abrupt "collapse" of the Amazon rain forest due to a combination of climate change and deforestation (say, by creating a self-sustaining cycle of fires and dryness). The report concludes that some of these scenarios are "plausible," but they're still subject to much intense debate and are very difficult to model the likelihood. — An abrupt decrease in ocean oxygen. Likelihood this century: Moderate. — Destabilization of the West Antarctic ice sheet. But what about surprises? The report notes that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet carries enough ice to raise sea levels by 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet). Right now, that massive ice sheet looks stable. But the geological record that these sheets are capable of shifting very quickly, particularly at the boundary between sea ice and land ice. "Locations where meltwater forms on the ice shelf surface can wedge open crevasses and cause ice-shelf disintegration—in some cases, very rapidly." Likelihood this century: Unknown but probably low.


El Rey, U Street’s new shipping container taqueria, will open this month

El Rey, the taqueria under construction at 919 U St. NW, has risen up out of an alley between Dodge City and a building occupied by nail and hair salons. Check out the taco window, carved out of the blue container, where you'll be able to get tacos till an hour after last call. (Lavanya Ramanathan/The Washington Post) El Rey, a taqueria and beer garden on U Street constructed largely from shipping containers, is weeks away from opening. Shocked? So are we. It's been just shy of two years since we first heard rumbles of the restaurant helmed by Eric and Ian Hilton. After releasing an initial design in March 2012, the duo instead opened the Brixton and Satellite Room. After a couple of summers came and went, we'd lost hope that we'd be drinking margaritas under the stars anytime soon. Suddenly, construction is cranking at 919 U St. NW. A trio of brightly hued shipping containers that seem to have sprung up overnight now mark the future home of El Rey, which is set to open sometime between Christmas and New Year's Eve, Ian Hilton says. Shipping container restaurants "Anything that's under cover is containers," Hilton says. "The dining seating is inside a container. The bathrooms are a container. The kitchen is a container. The outside bar is a container." The design, he says, can be described as "a rustic Mexican feel with all recycled materials." (Paxton Van Lines, the Washington-area moving firm, sourced and delivered the shipping containers, which were then dropped into place using cranes.) About 1,200 square feet of the restaurant is covered under a fixed roof. But the sight to see is a glass-like retractable roof, which will pull back onto a summer garden when the weather is amenable, or close in bad weather, leaving diners dry but with an outdoor view. Gas heaters will keep it all toasty, even in the dead of winter. The menu, he says, will be taco- and tequila-focused. Brendan Murphy is crafting a menu of not only margaritas, but other tequila cocktails. Expect eight beers on tap, most hailing from Mexican brewers, with a few lesser-known South American beers as well. Chef Jorge Pimentel will move over from the nearby Satellite Room, where he has been testing tacos for El Rey since the diner-esque restaurant opened last year. "Tacos are his thing," Hilton says. El Rey, 919 U St.


A culture of corporate at Wal-Mart

The retail giant’s registers ring up their first sales in the District after development delays and months of debate over wages. View Photo Gallery —The retail giant’s registers ring up their first sales in the District after development delays and months of debate over wages. A day before hundreds of customers snaked around H St. NW, waiting to get inside of one of the city’s first two Wal-Marts, I entered the towering 74,000 square foot store through an entrance with far less fanfare: the loading dock. Taking a press tour, I was introduced to my first taste of corporate culture at Wal-Mart. There was a receiving line set up at the back, with checklists, badges and sign-in sheets of all types on the tables and walls. One worker said, in a concerned voice, that without a badge, “they might say something.” I assured those present that if anyone asks me what I’m doing, I’ll just tell that person the truth and be fine. The employee seemed shocked. Inside, a Wal-mart is a Wal-mart. There are foodstuffs as far as the eye can see and you have to duck to make sure the falling low prices don’t hit you in the aisles. Meanwhile, this ‘urban’ Wal-mart has a custom-built interactive display for Beats By Dre and the new iPhone 5c. The bike section sits on the same row as the lacrosse sticks and yarn. There is apparel for sale of both Washington and Dallas’ NFL franchises. But for all the items, it was the employees that were impossible to ignore. Leading up to the official VIP unveiling that night, teams of associates, as they call them, were practicing their cheers while the last minute stages of the store were set up before the big day. The chants included a couple random pop culture references, such as one that included Drake’s “Started From The Bottom.” Washington's new Wal-Mart on H Street caused a stir on opening day, as D.C. residents flocked to take a look at the store's new digs. The Post's Clinton Yates takes us there. The corporate speak continues even with the most basic of pleasantries: If someone says ‘thank you’ they say “my privilege.” That reply is a twist on Chick-Fil-A’s practice of servers saying ‘it’s my pleasure’ when thanked. This is Wal-Mart’s folksy brand of customer appreciation. Most of the associates are relatively young and black. They express