suits today’s dinner rush. Freekeh is available in many grocery chains, from brands like Bob’s Red Mill and Freekeh Foods, as well as in health food stores. Use it just like you would whole-grain rice: as a bed for a stew, a base for a grain bowl, in a pilaf or chilled in a salad. Chayote (Cha-yo-tey) Chayote is far from unknown to those familiar with Mexican, Caribbean and South American cuisines, but its mention still gets plenty of quizzical shrugs throughout the United States. Recently, though, I’ve seen chayote celebrated in cooking magazines, tasted it served in creative new ways in restaurants and have come across several posts about it on my Instagram feed. It’s time to get to know this wonderful fruit (which, like a tomato, is considered a vegetable from a culinary perspective). Odds are you have walked by chayote — light green and pear shaped with wrinkly ridges — while grocery shopping; it’s sold at many regular grocery stores. It tastes like a zucchini with a crisper, juicier texture, and it can essentially be used like one — raw, cooked (sautéed, simmered in stews and soups) or roasted. It is especially rich in folic acid, vitamin C and fiber. You can prepare a chayote peeled or unpeeled: halve it lengthwise, remove its pit, and then slice or dice it as you wish. Dukkah (Doo-kah) Dukkah is a nutty, aromatic Middle Eastern spice blend that is traditionally sprinkled on olive oil-slathered pita bread, but it can also be used to season fish, poultry, meat, grains and vegetables. It also happens to be deliciously appealing on Instagram-famous dishes such as avocado toast, grain bowls and hummus, which could help explain its spike in popularity. It’s not only boldly flavorful, it’s healthful, too, because it’s made from ground nuts (such as almonds and pistachios) seeds (sesame seeds, fennel seeds) and spices (cumin and coriander) which, together, are rich in good fats, protein, fiber and antioxidants. One sign that dukkah is trending is that Trader Joe’s now makes its own blend, so you can pick some up there, as well as at many regular grocery stores, and specialty markets. You can also easily make your own and store it in the freezer for up to a month. My guess is it won’t last that long though, because once you try it, you’ll go through it much sooner than that. localliving@washpost.com


Want a wild birthday party? You can now rent the entire National Zoo — for $150,000.

November and December alone, the museum held 15 parties, ranging from 800 people for an NPR reception to 200 for an anniversary party for the Hausfeld law firm. The broader rules should increase special-events revenue by 20 percent, Stebich said. “Currently I have three special-event staff,” she said. “I want to make sure I have the staff support. We have to deliver in terms of making it a memorable experience.” Stebich and other Smithsonian officials are adamant that the private events won’t encroach on public programs. That could limit some of their appeal, since most museums are open to the public daily until 5:30 p.m. Museum and research center directors decided which of five categories of special events they would host in their spaces and what types of events they would permit. If a museum accepted a category — such as corporate and nonprofit receptions or personal social events for adults — it will have to accept any group covered by it, said Karen Keller, director of Smithsonian special events and protocol. That means that an anti-climate-change group could hold a fundraiser in the Natural History Museum or that a white-nationalist group could seek space in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “We are federal buildings, so we cannot deny any group or organization based on viewpoint,” Keller said. The museums, however, can’t be rented for political events or public programs, such as a concert that would sell tickets to the public. Event planners are enthusiastic about the availability of new venues. “The city center has a limited number of venues for large groups,” said Aimee Griffin, owner of A. Griffin Events. “The idea of having beautiful architecture, a space that is interesting? We are excited.” The Arts and Industries Building, the historic brick building next to the Smithsonian administration building on the southern edge of the Mall, is expected to be a popular choice because of its flexibility. The National Historic Landmark has no collection of artifacts or regular visitor hours, and its interiors can be sectioned off for small events or opened to accommodate 900 people seated and 2,000 standing. In fact, an evening reception there for 600 people was booked for April on the first day of the new policy. “I get to make this beautiful space available and make money doing it,” said Goslins, its director. “Hard to think of a downside.” peggy.mcglone@washpost.com


Cooking Vietnamese food in America used to require a trip to an Asian market. No more.

of and fascinated by them. I regularly roam the aisles to look for ingredients to use for Vietnamese dishes, much like my mom did when we first arrived. In the past few years, I’ve noticed that supermarkets have become much friendlier to Asian cuisines. Better and more authentic ingredients are available, as inventories have grown to an average of 40,000 items per store from about 9,000 in 1975. Checking out the Asian food sections wherever I travel in the United States, I’ve found excellent fish sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, coconut milk and rice at such markets as Giant Eagle, Kroger and Publix. Lemongrass, daikon and hot chilies are often found in the produce departments. Rice paper is easy to find, too. How did those changes happen? I called Phil Lempert, founder and editor of SupermarketGuru.com and a food industry analyst for more than 25 years. The trend started with the Silent Generation, many of whom served in the Pacific during World War II, he explained. After coming home, they wanted to continue eating foods that they had tried while abroad. Their children, the baby boomers, wanted more Chinese and Japanese foods. These days, with globalization and the Internet, there’s broader knowledge, and people are more educated and curious. “Supermarkets were losing market share to Asian markets. The distributors were doing volume at little stores,” he said. “With demographic changes and more acculturation in food, retailers understood that they ought to carry more Asian products. The supers want to be one-stop shops.” Young people have affected inventories, too. “Millennials and Generation Z go to Instagram and look at a food photo and they re-create it. They’re willing to experiment,” Lempert said. “They don’t care to be introduced to the chef in the backroom and would rather just have great food no matter where it comes from. They’re value-conscious, do not want to be overcharged and want great quality.” Decades ago, the initial growth of food television resulted in many hip foods being sold at gourmet stores and associated with expensive restaurants and celebrity chefs. “That has changed a lot. Look at the rise of Aldi and Lidl,” he said, referring to two popular discount grocers that have helped democratize food. Increased interest in global flavors combined with a strong natural food movement has also pushed such ingredients as fresh turmeric, coconut water and virgin coconut oil to mainstream stores. Those


broader knowledge, and people are more educated and curious. “Supermarkets were losing market share to Asian markets. The distributors were doing volume at little stores,” he said. “With demographic changes and more acculturation in food, retailers understood that they ought to carry more Asian products. The supers want to be one-stop shops.” Young people have affected inventories, too. “Millennials and Generation Z go to Instagram and look at a food photo and they re-create it. They’re willing to experiment,” Lempert said. “They don’t care to be introduced to the chef in the backroom and would rather just have great food no matter where it comes from. They’re value-conscious, do not want to be overcharged and want great quality.” Decades ago, the initial growth of food television resulted in many hip foods being sold at gourmet stores and associated with expensive restaurants and celebrity chefs. “That has changed a lot. Look at the rise of Aldi and Lidl,” he said, referring to two popular discount grocers that have helped democratize food. Increased interest in global flavors combined with a strong natural food movement has also pushed such ingredients as fresh turmeric, coconut water and virgin coconut oil to mainstream stores. Those items may be wonderful health boosters to some people, but to me, they’re game changers for creating flavors that beautifully capture what I’ve enjoyed in Vietnam. For example, I’ve long chased the alluring flavors of a golden-hued coconut rice that my parents adore. Now, I can easily render the vibrant rice whenever I want. When the rice noodle selection is poor or I want to enjoy noodles in whole-grain form, gluten-free pastas come to the rescue. Brown rice capellini is excellent for refreshing bun noodle salad bowls and rice paper rolls; its heftier spaghetti sibling is perfect for spicy bun bo hue noodle soup. Late last year, Whole Foods issued a trend report for 2019, putting strong bets on Pacific Rim flavors and citing dried shrimp and fruits such as guava, jackfruit and dragon fruit as ways for people to better experience “the world through their palates.” More of the exotic and unfamiliar is moving from the margins into the mainstream. American supermarkets welcomed my family more than 40 years ago. We mined those grocers as well as Asian markets to replicate the flavors we feared had been lost. It was an issue of cultural survival. Nowadays, I shop less


Five times Justin Trudeau made (bad) headlines

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in a political pickle. Trudeau and his team are accused of pressuring Canada’s first Native Canadian attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to make a deal with a Quebec-based engineering firm, and of demoting her when she refused. The firm, SNC-Lavalin, was accused of paying bribes to get Libyan government contracts. The deal would have allowed the firm to avoid criminal conviction. If convicted, the firm would have been banned from receiving federal contracts for a decade. SNC-Lavalin employs thousands in Quebec, Trudeau’s home province, and Wilson-Raybould said that Trudeau worried about people losing those jobs. The whole thing is messier than poutine. Jane Philpott, another senior member of team Trudeau, resigned Monday. Gerald Butts, a top Trudeau aide, resigned last week, and is delivering testimony Wednesday. Some are wondering whether Trudeau himself will be able to hang on. The whole story is particularly scandalous because Trudeau, elected in 2015, was a media darling for years, perceived as a champion of women and indigenous rights. But though this is arguably the first time Trudeau’s golden boy status has been tarnished, the shine had faded a few times before. Below, a look at Trudeau’s previous — albeit far lower stakes — scandals. The time Trudeau explained quantum computing In spring 2016, Trudeau was at a news conference at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. A reporter half-jokingly asked the prime minister to explain quantum computing. He did. The moment went viral, because of course it did. But wait! It then turned out that, earlier that day, he said that he had hoped someone would ask him about quantum computing! It was staged! A setup! “Is Justin Trudeau just a big, hot phony?” asked Jezebel, answering: “Yes. The answer is yes.” The time Trudeau broke the ethics act In December 2017, Canada’s ethics commissioner ruled that Trudeau had violated Canadian ethics laws with two all-expenses-paid trips to the Bahamas. The island was owned by the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims (and a billionaire). Trudeau and his family took an undisclosed trip to the island at the end of 2016, and his wife took another in March of that same year. Trudeau tried to say that taking trips on a private helicopter to the island wasn’t a violation of the Conflict of Interest Act because he and the Aga Khan were friends, and public


The Technology 202: Ex-Facebook manager says it’s ‘absolutely necessary’ Congress scrutinize Big Tech’s diversity problem

even though local governments in Virginia are limited in what they can require from companies. “Arlington County Board chair Christian Dorsey (D) said the county can still put pressure on Amazon to provide benefits to working-class and poor residents, and never intended to include those ‘asks’ in the narrowly written agreement, which the County Board will discuss and vote on March 16,” according to my colleague. NIBBLES: The tech industry is the sector of the U.S. economy that represents the biggest antitrust problem, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said in an interview with The Washington Post's Brian Fung. Klobuchar, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, told my colleague that the United States has “a major monopoly problem.” BYTES: As the World Wide Web turns 30, its inventor is calling on companies, governments and citizens to be part of a “midcourse correction” “We need — the Contract for the Web is about locking in a midcourse correction, a change of momentum; pointing it back toward constructiveness, back toward science, facts, and democracy,” he said at the event. The Contract is a set of principles that would defend a free and open Internet, which Berners-Lee hopes will help people rebuild their trust in it. He hopes companies, governments and individuals can all play a role in shaping these principles. He says these constituencies need to come together to address some of the thorniest questions facing the Web, about privacy or hate speech. — The Yavapai County Attorney in Arizona said Uber is not criminally liable in a fatal crash involving a self-driving vehicle from the company last year — Facebook is barring foreign political ads on its platform ahead of elections in Indonesia in April — Some owners of shopping centers see Amazon's expansion of its physical retail locations as a potential opportunity as traditional retailers including Sears and Macy's close down stores — More technology news from the private sector: — A group of liberal Democrats including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) asked regulators to prevent T-Mobile and Sprint from merging — Russian lawmakers are pushing a bill that would tighten authorities' control over Internet traffic in the country — France wants to make it easier for tech professionals to come work in the country — More technology news from the public sector: -- Snap made payouts


Stop calling artificial intelligence research an ‘arms race’

We see the phrase everywhere — the United States and China are in an artificial intelligence “arms race.” It manifests in op-eds, news articles and television segments. It’s in books, think tank pieces and government documents. All this to capture the fear that another country might develop AI more powerful than our own. But calling the AI competition an “arms race” is both wrong and dangerous. It suggests AI development is winner-take-all, in that two isolated national AI sectors struggle for total domination, leading to policies that cut off valuable interconnection. Simultaneously, it misrepresents AI research more generally by implying that this varied field is a single technology, almost inevitably focusing too heavily on AI’s military applications. The premise that AI research is a zero-sum endeavor is especially easy to debunk. In reality, American firms invest billions of dollars in Chinese AI companies, and Chinese firms have invested tens of billions of dollars in the other direction. American firms also depend heavily on Chinese manufacturing, which will have an even greater impact on AI development, as artificial intelligence is increasingly deployed in hardware such as that of drones and robots. The interconnections between U.S. and China AI development are also knowledge-related: To name just a few examples, China’s Tsinghua University opened in June an Institute for Artificial Intelligence, where Google’s AI Chief, Jeff Dean, is an adviser; Baidu, the Chinese search company, belongs to the U.S.-based Partnership for AI, which aims to develop best practices for AI technology; and China’s largest retailer has a research partnership with Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab to fund research areas such as computer vision, machine learning and forecasting. The open-source nature of some elements of AI research further contributes to a near-constant flow of information across borders. To speak of AI as an arms race is also to ignore the many areas of AI development, such as the potential for improved public health outcomes, that may benefit both countries. Algorithms that better detect cancer, for instance, could notably reduce costs of care and increase the accuracy of early-stage cancer prediction. This could benefit the United States and China at once, not to mention other countries around the world. With a winner-takes-all “arms race” framing, though, U.S. policymakers may enact policies that hurt American AI development and foreclose opportunities by cutting off vital pipelines of funding, knowledge and other resources. Trump’s sweeping export controls on


Sanctions on North Korea don’t just punish North Korea. They also protect us.

was dealing in conventional arms and equipment suitable for building weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This is one reason U.N. restrictions on banking transactions, asset freezes, travel bans on North Korean government and trading officials, the chartering of North Korea aircraft and ships, and the use of export credits or trade financing were imposed by the United Nations in 2006 in the first place. The same inspection regimes that allow states to inspect North Korean cargo are key to preventing not just the shipment of banned commercial goods but also proliferation-sensitive items. The United Nations even incorporated a “catch all clause” so governments could seize items that appeared innocuous but were suspected for use in Pyongyang’s WMD programs. Where things go now is not clear. If negotiations continue on the contours of the deal discussed there, Trump and Kim must step back from leader-level meetings and instead delegate negotiations to truly empowered diplomats and technical experts. As in the Iran deal, when U.S. and Iranian negotiators engaged in a painstaking process to identify the “nuclear-related” sanctions to be relaxed, determining which sanctions might be lifted in return for verifiable North Korean actions on denuclearization will require careful negotiation and calibration. By using a scalpel rather than an ax, the United States could retain the strict measures designed to curtail North Korea from expanding its WMD and missile programs or proliferating technology to others, while also allowing for limited commercial activity. There could be tightly crafted carve-outs for specific types of trade, coupled with a monitoring regime to prescreen exports to North Korea and confirm that they are used for strictly civilian purposes. U.S. negotiators also should take a page from the Iran deal and incorporate a “snap back” mechanism, an innovative process that would allow the United States to move quickly in the U.N. Security Council to reimpose sanctions on North Korea if it violates its nuclear commitments. If the negotiations falter, having lost momentum after the Hanoi summit, the de facto freeze-for-freeze — North Korea has halted its nuclear and missile testing, while the United States and South Korea have halted their large-scale military exercises — could become a more permanent status quo. Especially in this case, continued enforcement of existing sanctions will be critical to protecting U.S. national security, preventing proliferation and potentially getting North Korea back to the negotiating table. Sanctions enforcement already slipped over the past


Cherry blossoms: Peak bloom forecast for April 3, National Park Service says

April 14. It will include old favorites — the parade, kite festival and fireworks show — as well as additions, including a cherry blossom-themed night with D.C. United and a Sailor Moon musical from Japan at the Warner Theatre. Gregory O’Dell, chief executive of Events DC, the District’s convention and sports authority, said 1.5 million people are expected to visit the city during the festival’s four-week run, pouring about $100 million into the economy. “Just to put it in perspective: We may have a million people come to our convention center in a year’s time, but we have a million and a half people coming in four weeks,” O’Dell said. Festival events will take place in all eight of the District’s wards, including a picnic at Oxon Run Park in Ward 8, where the city’s second-largest grove of cherry trees resides, D.C. acting secretary of state Kimberly Bassett said. Bringing more tourism to areas east of the Anacostia River is among the city’s priorities for this year’s festival, she said. Pop singer Meghan Trainor will headline the Blossom Bash, a concert event April 5 at the Anthem that premiered along the Southwest Waterfront during last year’s festival. Other events also were brought back this year because of their popularity, including a made-for-Instagram flower crown workshop at the Watergate Hotel, a pop-up cherry blossom-themed bar in Shaw from the Drink Company and pet-friendly events like Paws and Petals, a happy hour at Milk Bar in the Logan Circle neighborhood for dogs and their humans. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, considered the world’s largest U.S.-Japanese celebration, celebrates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the District from Tokyo. “The trees have brought our two countries closer together as a lasting symbol of Japan-U.S. friendship,” said Takehiro Shimada, minister of communications and cultural affairs for the Embassy of Japan. Today, the District is home to about 3,800 trees, officials said. Each tree has a life span of about 40 to 50 years, Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said, which means the agency is constantly caring for and replacing trees — at a rate of about 90 replacements per year. “These cherry blossoms should not be taken for granted,” Mayhew said, announcing an endowment fund created to aid the Park Service in caring for and replacing the trees. Peak bloom occurs when 70 percent of the blossoms along the Tidal Basin are open.


A poll found Mexicans think relations with the U.S. are better than before. Ignoring Trump may be the secret.

— held a positive view of the United States, and appeared to mark a return to the generally favorable views of the United States held by Mexicans for decades. The survey also found that Mexicans were less pessimistic about the bilateral relationship than they had been the year before, with only 25 percent saying the ties were deteriorating, compared with 61 percent in 2017. (Buendia & Laredo’s research involved face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23, 2018; the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.) The survey did not ask specifically about Mexicans’ views of Trump himself. One poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in the spring found that just 6 percent of Mexicans had confidence that the U.S. president would do the right thing when it came to global affairs, the lowest number of all nations surveyed. That poll also found that just 32 percent held favorable views of the United States in general. There is no indication that Trump himself is viewed any more positively now: Just one month before Mexico’s presidential election, the local consulting firm Consulta Mitofsky found that more than 80 percent of the country had a negative view of the U.S. leader. But Mexicans may be putting their views of the American president to one side in assessing U.S. ties — perhaps following López Obrador’s lead. As his campaign gathered steam last year, López Obrador appeared to be the perfect foil to Trump. After all, López Obrador was an austere leftist and a vocal advocate for migrants’ rights. Trump, on the other hand, was Trump. But once it became clear that López Obrador would win the election, he shifted his language addressing his future U.S. counterpart. Though he had once called Trump a “neo-fascist” and compared him to Hitler, after his victory, López Obrador wrote him a seven-page letter detailing his domestic agenda and proposing “a new stage in the relationship.” Trump, in return, has called his Mexican counterpart an “absolute gentleman.” Since entering office in December, the Mexican president has focused mostly on domestic issues and found areas of cooperation with the Trump administration. Having earned a landslide victory, López Obrador is not encumbered by the numerous scandals that dragged down the administration of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto. Esteban Guzmán Saucedo, survey research director at Buendia & Laredo, suggested that there


Pakistan, on verge of eradicating polio virus, faces human hurdles

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — The one-minute video, recorded in a village in northwestern Pakistan last month, was a poignant cry from one of the world’s last pockets of polio. A man in a woolen shawl, cradling a tiny child in his lap, stared morosely at the camera. “We did not vaccinate our son. Now his feet cannot feel anything,” the man said in Pashto. “I ask you all to vaccinate your children. If one child becomes a victim, it is a loss for all.” Yet some parents are still not convinced, even after the immunization of tens of millions of Pakistani children, fatwas from Islamic scholars declaring the vaccine safe, and a sharp drop in the number of childhood cases nationwide, from 20,000 in 1994 to 12 last year. And though the virus is tantalizingly close to eradication in Pakistan, it has recently reappeared in drain and sewer samples from eight urban areas. Four new cases of paralyzed children have been confirmed since Jan. 1. The reason for this stunning setback, officials say, is not medical, financial or environmental, although fetid streams and ravines of garbage mar some poor urban communities where the virus keeps being found. With international support, Pakistan has enough vaccine to immunize every child a dozen times over. In January alone, it inoculated 39 million. The reason is mistrust, born of ignorance and rumor-mongering. Although it is illegal for a parent to refuse the vaccine, thousands of families do so. Their fear is fanned by cultural taboos, religious propaganda and tales of foreign plots. Just six months ago, an online video of unknown origin, showing a Pakistani child purportedly crippled by the vaccine, went viral. “The only thing standing between us and a polio-free Pakistan is lack of parental awareness,” said Babar bin Atta, the federal official heading a new, national anti-polio crusade. He noted that some Pakistanis still believe the vaccine is a secret antifertility drug. “We have to regain public trust.” Opposition to vaccines In Pakistan, the problem is especially persistent among ethnic Pashtuns, including Afghan visitors, refugees and migrants. Atta said the main route of polio virus runs from the Afghan border, down through the northwest tribal region into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and continues south. Afghanistan is the only country besides Pakistan where polio remains endemic, with 21 confirmed cases in 2018 and one this year. Aid agencies have organized repeated vaccine campaigns there,


Zhores Alferov, Nobel-winning physicist who paved way for cellphones, fiber optic communications, dies at 88

Zhores Alferov, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian physicist who developed a new form of semiconductor that was considered vital to the Internet, cellphones, laser technology and other parts of the modern information revolution, died March 1 at a hospital in St. Petersburg. He was 88. A representative of St. Petersburg Academic University, long led by Dr. Alferov, told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the cause was a heart ailment. In awarding him the prize, the Nobel committee credited him as a pioneer in creating heterostructure semiconductors. These have made possible vast improvements in transistors and are considered integral to the operation of laser diodes, modern room-temperature lasers, and modern satellite and ground-based communications. With devices made of sandwiches of different semiconductors, it became possible to operate the laser at room temperatures and make it a commonplace, everyday device. To a great degree, the room-temperature laser, which Dr. Alferove developed, provided the key to transmitting information over the network of fiber-optic cables that undergird the Internet. Although a primary allegiance was to science and to knowledge, Dr. Alferov also served in the Russian parliament. His aim there, he said, was to protect the interests of science. His name appeared on the Communist Party’s slate, but he was said not to have been a party member. He and Hebert Kroemer, an engineer and physicist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, shared half of the physics Nobel Prize in 2000 for their independent work on semiconductor heterostructures. The other half of the prize went to Texas Instruments engineer Jack S. Kilby for helping to invent the integrated circuit. Developed in the mid-20th century, semiconductors made possible the high-speed, low-power binary switching of electric currents on and off — opening the doors to the computer era and the rapid transmission of information. Early semiconductors and the transistors made from them were often fabricated from a single substance, such as silicon. But heterostructure semiconductors were fabricated from layers of two or more different kinds of semiconductors. Components often included gallium and arsenic compounds. They were more efficient and offered far higher switching speeds and other important physical properties. They proved vital in creating the practical lasers that have proliferated throughout the world and send signals through the optical fiber network that binds the world together. The Nobel committee credited heterostructure semiconductors and the integrated circuit, known as the microchip, with helping to


On Wednesday, the Twitter mob came for me

same way as we thought of our Indian Wars, which lasted roughly 300 years (ca. 1600-1890), or as the British thought about their deployment on the Northwest Frontier (today’s Pakistan-Afghanistan border), which lasted 100 years (1840s-1940s).” To get the word out about my column, I tweeted a link to it along with an abbreviated version of the sentence about the Indian Wars. Big mistake. I was instantly deluged by Twitter attacks, mostly from progressive journalists and academics, accusing me of advocating racism and genocide. As one professor wrote: “Max Boot wants genocidal war to be our model.” In the next few hours, this “hot take” was endlessly retweeted. It was, to be sure, only a tiny Twitter storm compared to the Category 5 social-media hurricane set off by the clash on the Mall, but when the rain cloud is directly over your head, you’re still getting soaked. At first, like many of those caught in the eye of the hurricane, I felt like hiding under my bed and pretending it wasn’t happening. But as the tweets continued, I decided to fight back and explain my position. I tweeted: “I wasn’t endorsing the Indian Wars and I apologize if I gave that impression. My point was simply that guerrilla wars can be lengthy and not result in a clearcut resolution.” I further noted that “U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Syria aren’t carrying out war crimes. They are preventing them. ISIS and Taliban are among worst war criminals on earth.” Clarifying what I was saying and apologizing for any misunderstanding mollified some of the attackers. But other critics kept popping up who reacted to the original tweet and did not see my follow-up. So about three hours after I posted my first tweet, I decided to delete it, explaining my decision by noting that it was distracting attention from the point of the article — which was to defend the U.S. deployments in Afghanistan and Syria, not the Indian Wars. I also revised the column for later editions of The Post to make clear that my analogy was not an endorsement of the Indian Wars but simply an attempt to point out that guerrilla wars are “inevitably lengthy and frustrating.” But by then my original tweet had gone viral, and it continued to be retweeted by those who had taken a screen shot of it. Even the Russian propaganda site RT got


Trump is covering up for MBS. The Senate must push for accountability.

IT HAS been a month since the Trump administration flouted a legal requirement to report to the Senate on the responsibility of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Rather than comply with the law, on Monday it dispatched midlevel officials from the State and Treasury departments to obfuscate before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They provided no new information about the killing and would not say when or whether the White House would issue a finding on the crown prince. Reactions from senators, including Republicans, were scathing: “Worthless,” was the summary of Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). The bipartisan outrage is justified. In his zeal to cover for Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA concluded ordered Khashoggi’s murder, President Trump is defying Congress’s authority under the Global Magnitsky Act, which provides for U.S. action in cases of gross human rights abuses. The law allows legislators to require a finding by the president in specific cases; that provision was invoked last year by then-Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and ranking Democrat Robert Menendez (N.J.), who asked for a determination of Mohammed bin Salman’s responsibility. The Senate’s view is already clear: It unanimously approved a resolution in December holding the crown prince responsible. Now the question is whether the Senate will act to uphold its authority under the law and prevent the Saudi ruler from escaping accountability for the gruesome murder and dismemberment of a journalist who was a Virginia resident and a contributor to The Post. Not only the question of justice for Khashoggi is at issue: The crime is part of a pattern of reckless and destructive behavior by Mohammed bin Salman that ranges from the bombing of civilians in Yemen to the imprisonment and torture of a number of Saudi female activists, as well as a U.S. citizen. Several pieces of legislation addressing the Yemen war or the Khashoggi case are pending in the Senate and House. But the broadest and most useful vehicle may be a bill sponsored by Mr. Menendez and six other senators, including Mr. Graham and two other Republicans. It would mandate sanctions on any Saudi official or member of the royal family who was “responsible for, or complicit in . . . acts contributing to or causing the death of Jamal Khashoggi,” a catchall from which the crown prince could not be easily excluded. It


Inside the financial lives of Financial Services Committee members

Tony Mecia, a former senior writer at the Weekly Standard, is business journalist in Charlotte. House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has laid out an ambitious agenda, one aimed at protecting consumers, expanding affordable housing and increasing the scrutiny of banks. “The issues before this committee are critically important for the economic well-being of millions of Americans and our whole economy,” she said at the committee’s Jan. 30 meeting. But as the House committee overseeing banking advances policies affecting the finances of the rest of us, it’s worth examining how committee members have done making financial decisions for themselves. As you might expect from a panel of 60 lawmakers with different backgrounds and ages, their personal financial pictures range from those with substantial assets to younger members with hardly any savings. But if you pore through the most recent public financial disclosures of the committee’s Democrats and Republicans, as I did recently, you’ll see that they have a mixed record when it comes to their personal finances and investments. Members of Congress are generally free to trade stocks and make investments like anybody else, though they are forbidden from using nonpublic information for personal gain and must disclose their main assets and debts annually. One of the first takeaways is that committee members carry plenty of debt. Maybe debt tolerance by members of Congress is unsurprising, given that lawmakers have allowed the national debt to surpass a staggering $22 trillion. Some of the debt held by the House banking committee members could be considered prudent investments. Fifty-eight percent reported having a mortgage, and 34 percent said they own rental properties. About 12 percent reported owing student loans — in hindsight a savvy investment if it helped win a federal job with perks and a $174,000 annual salary. Yet a startling number of committee members reported owing one of the worst kinds of debt, credit card debt. Eleven members, or nearly 1 in 5, said they owed $10,000 or more on credit cards. Owing money to credit card companies isn’t inherently shameful: Consumers might do it when in a financial pinch, and small businesses use cards as a routine source of capital. About 40 percent of U.S. households carry a balance. Financial advisers, though, generally counsel clients to avoid card debt if possible because annual interest rates are so high, often 20 percent or more. Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.)


You, too, can travel like a symphony conductor or a prima ballerina. For a price.

I was delighted with the seating arrangements on my flight to Switzerland. On my right was Vadim Karpinos, the percussionist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra whose big rock-star hair matches his large onstage presence. Behind me sat Alex Klein, the principal oboist of the CSO (whom I’d idolized since I was a teenager), along with the entire horn section of the symphony. A cello took its own seat next to owner John Sharp, who is a principal. (The cello’s name, apparently, is Cello Sharp.) In the front of the plane was conductor Daniel Barenboim. I was flying to Lucerne, where the 110-piece Chicago Symphony would be doing a week-long tour. I don’t play professionally, but I’m married to Karpinos (the wild-haired percussionist). That means that, on tour, I get to pretend I’m in the symphony, too, attending all the concerts, the rehearsals, the dinners, receptions and everything that comes with what is at essence a trip with an incredibly large family, with all its attendant drama, fun and craziness. So far, I’ve traveled with the orchestra to Switzerland, Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York. I’ve witnessed jet lag nearly steal a soloist, luring him to bed when he should have been onstage; I’ve watched tour buddies turn into marital partners, and I’ve been lucky enough to hear flute practice through thin hotel walls. Because I was an oboist through school, college and beyond, always wavering about whether to be a musician or a writer, I appreciate how these tours allow me to pretend to be one of the gang without spending hours in a practice room. Turns out, you don’t need to marry a musician to have the same experience. In many cases, you can simply donate money to your favorite nonprofit — amounts seem to start at around $2,500 — in exchange for the opportunity to tag along on an international tour with the organization. Jessine Monaghan, an adjunct professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va., took advantage of the donor perk to go on tour with the National Symphony Orchestra to Russia in 2017. (The orchestra has also toured Spain, and is in the midst of planning a tour to Asia in 2020.) She was treated to a semiprivate concert in the Moscow ambassador’s residence; she got a backstage tour of the Bolshoi Ballet; and she visited the Hermitage Museum after-hours. And then


As go the insects, so go we

Michael S. Engel’s March 3 Sunday Opinion essay, “An insect apocalypse will be our apocalypse,” was thought-provoking. Many people are not aware of the importance of our native insects and how they relate to the continuation of human life on Earth. Mr. Engel pointed out that as we continue to pollute and develop our available lands, we lose habitat critical to the survival of pollinators and other insects. People can, however, make important differences by adding a few native shrubs and trees to their gardens. Insects that have evolved with these plants can use them to feed their larvae, which in turn provide an important food source for native birds. It’s empowering to know each of us can make a critical difference. Rosemary Donaldson


Federal judge allows Trump administration’s restrictions on transgender troops

transgender troops to serve “will remain in effect until the Department issues further guidance, which will be forthcoming in the near future.” American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Joshua Block, the lead attorney for the transgender service members in Maryland, said the ruling Thursday does “concrete, severe harm.” Block called it “particularly outrageous and irrational” that the government would not accommodate five of his clients who were on the cusp of enlisting or being commissioned as officers. “It’s petty, and it is disappointing when you drill down to the level of real people who are making career plans,” he said. The case in Maryland was filed days after Trump formally ordered the Pentagon to ban the recruitment of openly transgender people. The president surprised military leaders and members of Congress by abruptly announcing the proposed ban in tweets in July 2017. In announcing the change, Trump said he was “doing the military a great favor” by “coming out and just saying it.” The Trump policy reverses an Obama-era rule allowing transgender men and women to enlist and instead bars entry to those who identify with a gender different from the one assigned at birth and are seeking to transition physically. The Trump administration’s policy also makes exceptions for about 900 transgender individuals who already are serving openly and for others who say they will serve in accordance with their birth gender. Russell’s order lifts the preliminary injunction he issued in November 2017. Three other courts — in California, Washington state and the District of Columbia — also had issued injunctions. In addition to the Supreme Court’s ruling in January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with the Trump administration, saying its restrictions on transgender troops and recruitment could stand. The appeals court said the policy is not a “blanket ban.” Lawyers challenging the proposed policy in the D.C. case said Thursday that the injunction in their lawsuit remains for at least 21 days after the court issues its final signed ruling, which it has yet to do. “The Trump administration keeps pushing to enforce a senseless and harmful ban,” said Jennifer Levi, GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project director. “There is no question this ban weakens our military by excluding from service transgender people who meet all of the military’s rigorous readiness and medical standards. With [the injunction] still in place, we will continue fighting this discriminatory ban.” ann.marimow@washpost.com


Top Pentagon officials pledge to fix military family housing, propose tenant bill of rights

The top uniformed and civilian officials in the Army, Navy and Air Force faced a rare group grilling in the Senate on Thursday over deficiencies in privatized military housing that have subjected service members and their families to hazards including lead paint, mold and vermin. The high-ranking Pentagon officials promised to remedy the problems, including by proposing a new tenant bill of rights for military families, which would include the ability to withhold payment for housing in the event of inadequate maintenance and move to new accommodations at no cost if repairs are not completed within 30 days. “The fact of the matter is we did take our eye off the ball,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said, promising to remedy the issues. “We know that.” Gen. David L. Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, recounted spending 50 of the last 60 years living in military housing, first as the child of an officer and later as an officer himself, and said he never worried about the safety of his children, infrastructure or the possibility of reprisal if he complained. He said airmen now have those concerns, a situation he described as unacceptable. “Excitement in the near term based on hearings is interesting, not compelling,” Goldfein said. “We are going to have to keep our boot on the throat of the underperforming contractors and our command chain and leadership to make sure we get after this for the long term. And we’re committed to do so.” The pledges from the top officials come in response to an outcry over poor housing for military families on certain installations where the Pentagon has contracted management out to an array of private companies. More than 55 percent of 16,779 individuals surveyed in a recent study by the Military Family Advisory Network reported a negative or very negative experience with such privatized military housing, citing issues including black mold, lead paint, faulty wiring, poor water quality, pesticides, vermin and insects in their homes. The study found that families were reporting illnesses with lifelong implications caused by poor housing conditions, and said that in some cases representatives from the housing companies tried to silence the concerns of service members. The report found that many service members feared negative impacts to their military careers if they continued to complain. “Families have little or no recourse,” the study said. “Rent cannot be withheld for poor


Hundreds of immigrant recruits risk ‘death sentence’ after Army bungles data, lawmaker says

dozen asylum claims for Chinese recruits who fear government retaliation, according to a person with knowledge of the claims who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Abhishek Bakshi, an Indian recruit, said he received the list by accident in July 2017 from an Army recruiter in Wisconsin who asked whether he wanted to schedule a security interview. The spreadsheet was disturbing, said Bakshi, whose name is on the list. “The list could be a risk to those people,” Bakshi told The Post. He filed an affidavit to support one Chinese asylum claim that has since been used for other claims. The breach, he wrote, “increases the danger of persecution of Chinese [recruits].” Margaret Stock, an immigration lawyer and retired Army officer, said she is aware of six Chinese recruits who have been granted asylum. Dozens of others are waiting on pending claims overseen by her and other lawyers, she said. All of the affected recruits were part of the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest recruitment program, which has rotated more than 10,400 immigrants into the force with promises to quickly naturalize them in exchange for needed medical and language skills. It was closed in 2017 following security fears and increased background checks that paralyzed vetting resources within the government. Chinese recruits filing for asylum are concerned that extensive background checks implemented in 2016 will deny them enlistment for innocuous reasons, and some have waited so long that their visas have expired, exposing them to deportation. That has heightened concern they may be forced into the waiting arms of hostile governments. “The Defense Department is coming up with any reason to fail them,” Stock said. Another Chinese recruit at an Army Reserve aviation unit in Fort Knox, Ky., received the list in December 2017, among other documents related to enlistment, after it was forwarded among a chain of recruiting officials. His name was also on the list. “I was shocked to receive the spreadsheet,” he wrote in an October asylum claim. “I surmised that Army personnel didn’t bother to look at the Excel attachment before forwarding it.” The lists also include the status of intelligence agency checks and background investigations that are similar to the scope of top-secret clearances. Malinowski said recruits or their families could be imperiled if adversarial intelligence networks learned of their enlistments and detained them to ask their understanding of the enlistment process, security at


‘The silence is deafening’: Major brands avoid Trump even as he promotes them from the White House

Barack Obama visited restaurants in Washington and abroad, the companies regularly highlighted the visits on social media, and some still have menu items named after him. “It was almost like winning a Michelin star,” Powills said of the presidential visits. During a White House visit by the Boston Red Sox in 2014, slugger David Ortiz took a selfie with Obama on a Samsung smartphone. Samsung, which had an endorsement deal with Ortiz, tweeted out a photo of the “historic” moment, noting that it was “captured with his Galaxy Note 3.” Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter each invited instructors from Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics to give speed-reading courses to staff in the White House, a marketing coup for the company. Today, even businesses that once sought out the Trump brand have acted to distance themselves from a president who is opposed by more than half the country in opinion polls. Since the 2016 campaign, six New York residential buildings have moved to strip the “Trump Place” logos from their facades, and several retailers have stopped selling Trump-branded apparel. Nike, which last year moved out of a Trump-owned New York location, started an ad campaign in September featuring NFL quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick. The ads put Nike squarely at odds with Trump, who had attacked Kaepernick and other NFL players for kneeling in protest during the national anthem. The company said its sales increased 10 percent in the quarter after the ad was released, despite public criticism from Trump. “For companies whose consumers are more progressive, more Democratic, being called out by the president isn’t a bad thing,” said Julie Hootkin, a partner at Global Strategy Group, a public affairs firm. “It might be a really good thing.” Consumers increasingly want companies to take action on political and social issues, according to a study published last week by Global Strategy Group. The survey found that 8 in 10 consumers want companies to take a stand, and almost half said it would be appropriate for corporations to take a position against Trump. On the other hand, there are a number of brands that have actively played up their closeness with Trump, including U.S. Steel, Boeing, Fox News and Foxconn. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell said Trump was “chosen by God.” And Trump is certainly not toxic to the thousands of


Your next FedEx delivery could be a pizza

FedEx is getting into the pizza delivery business, but no one will be greeting hungry customers at the door. As companies scramble to develop technology to get food, groceries and shipments to customers in hours, even minutes, FedEx unveiled an early model of an autonomous delivery robot on Tuesday. The shipper is teaming up with Pizza Hut, Walmart, Walgreens and other companies on the delivery program. The initiative highlights the surging demand for speedier delivery and the race to develop autonomous technology for what’s known as the “last-mile,” or the final step of the logistics journey from warehouse or kitchen to a customer’s front door. Experts say merchants and shipping companies will increasingly move toward automation to lower costs and speed up delivery, with fleets of drones and bots eventually dropping off goods without direct assistance from human staff. FedEx is developing its robot with DEKA Research and Development, whose founder invented the Segway and a powered wheelchair called iBot, the company said in a news release. FedEx’s bot is designed to traverse sidewalks and streets, building on the iBot’s technology, and is equipped with radar, laser-based lidar mapping tools and several cameras. FedEx said it will test the bot in multiple cities, pending approval, including its home base of Memphis. The robots would complement its existing same-day delivery service, which relies on uniformed employees and operates in 32 markets, the company said. AutoZone, Lowe’s and Target have also signed on to the program meant to capitalize on the latent appeal of on-demand, local delivery. On average, more than 60 percent of a retailer’s customers live within three miles of a store, according to FedEx. “The bot represents a milestone in our ongoing mission to solve the complexities and expense of same-day, last-mile delivery for the growing e-commerce market in a manner that is safe and environmentally friendly,” Brie Carere, chief marketing and communications officer at FedEx, said in a statement. In a video released by FedEx on Tuesday night, the robot resembles a cooler with the undercarriage of a mini all-terrain vehicle. The bot is shown zooming past a neighborhood shop, riding over a street puddle, mounting a curb and doorstep with tiered tires, and cruising on a sidewalk with a steep incline. According to a 2018 report from Business Insider, the final stage of delivery accounts for more than half the cost of a shipment, owing to traffic


Maryland woman charged with animal cruelty after more than 120 cats were found at her two homes

in June when animal control officers from Montgomery County were called for the report of a “cat in distress.” An officer went to the home and found that the cat wasn’t in distress but “detected a strong odor of ammonia.” That prompted the officer to “have concern about the sanitary conditions inside the residence,” police officials said. When no one answered the door, the officer left a note, but no one responded. Authorities later got in contact with Prince, who owned the home. She said she had eight cats at the home but was out of town. Officials arranged an “animal welfare inspection” of her home for mid-July, and at that time, they found 75 cats and a rabbit. An officer described the home as having “overwhelmingly unsanitary and unsafe conditions,” according to police officials. The home was later condemned by the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs as “unfit for human habitation” due to the “odor and the hoarding conditions,” according to police officials and court documents. As officers continued to investigate, they discovered more cats and rabbits at Prince’s home in North Potomac. The animals there were “infested with fleas to such an extent that it overwhelmed the animals’ normal grooming behavior and that scratching was causing hair loss,” officials said. Animal control officers also found 50 more cats and two more rabbits at her Silver Spring apartment. The animals have been treated and are improving, but taking in that many cats has overwhelmed the county’s shelter. Officials said the cats, once healthy, will be available for adoption, and they are working with rescue facilities and shelters to care for them. Koenig said it was the largest number of animals in such bad conditions that he had seen in his three years at the helm. Prince, he said, did not offer an explanation to investigators why she had so many animals. Koenig said it is possible that she may have started out breeding the cats and then trying to sell them, but that it “got away from her.” He said having so many cats in confined spaces created an ammonia-like odor of feces and urine that was dangerous for investigators. At one point, an animal control officer received several bites from fleas inside the townhouse, according to court documents. Koenig also said the flea infestation at the townhouse was “moving to a neighbor’s house.” The court documents


The West’s rebuke of Saudi Arabia won’t change its course

Want smart analysis of the most important news in your inbox every weekday along with other global reads, interesting ideas and opinions to know? The rhetorical attacks keep coming at Saudi Arabia from the West “We call on Saudi Arabia to take many full steps to ensure that all matters of the public including human rights defenders and journalists can freely and fully exercise their rights to freedom of expression, opinion, and association including online and without fear of reprisals,” read the text of the joint statement. It also urged Saudi Arabia “to disclose all information available” from its investigation into the death of Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident voice who U.S. intelligence believes was abducted, tortured and killed on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Both the Trump administration and Saudi officials have sought to shield Mohammed from scrutiny, but that hasn’t dimmed the outrage of a host of Western governments and lawmakers. In Washington, Congress is still battling the White House over the latter’s flouting of a legal requirement to report to the Senate on the crown prince’s role in Khashoggi’s death. Though U.S. politicians remain bitterly divided on most issues, they have found an unusual consensus in their antipathy toward Riyadh. On top of what happened to Khashoggi, there’s growing concern over the status of Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained physician and a dual U.S.-Saudi national who has been detained by the Saudis since November 2017 and allegedly beaten and tortured on repeated occasions. According to the New York Times, friends close to Fitaihi believe his detention has to do with the palace intrigues surrounding the crown prince’s ruthless consolidation of power. And they have expressed their disquiet with President Trump’s silence over his incarceration. “He’s gone full gangster,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at a hearing on Wednesday in reference to Mohammed, “and it’s difficult to work with a guy like that.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) added that the Saudis’ “list of human rights violations is so long, it’s hard to comprehend what’s going on there.” Several pieces of legislation are pending in the Senate and House, including a bill calling for the end of U.S. support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen and a bipartisan-sponsored measure that would effectively mandate sanctions on the crown prince. “Now the question is whether the Senate will act to uphold its authority under the law and prevent


Hollywood firm becomes among first American entities to return Saudi investment after Khashoggi murder

A bid by a Hollywood power player to return a $400 million investment to the Saudi Abrabian government after an outcry over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been fulfilled, a person with knowledge of the talks told The Washington Post. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. Endeavor, the Hollywood talent agency and content company, had accepted the money last spring from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund after, Ari Emanuel, the company’s co-chief executive, became enamored with the idea that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was on the path to reform. The capital was quickly spent as Endeavor looked to pay down debt on a host of corporate acquisitions, which in recent years have included mixed martial arts and professional bull riding leagues. But Emanuel had a change of heart after the murder of The Washington Post contributor at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. Emanuel spoke of his displeasure at the reports during a television conference in France — calling Khashoggi’s killing “very, very concerning” — and it appeared he was looking for ways to return the money. Sources in Hollywood subsequently said Endeavor was raising capital from other sources so it could pay back the $400 million. As months wore on with no news, some in the entertainment world speculated that Endeavor was quietly hoping the controversy would pass. But the negotiation was completed several weeks ago, according to the person who spoke to The Post. Representatives from both the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Endeavor did not comment. Khashoggi was killed and dismembered after entering the consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The Senate passed a resolution pointing a finger at Prince Mohammed, and the CIA and U.N. human-rights specialists believe Khashoggi was the victim of a state-sponsored murder, "Evidence collected during my mission to Turkey shows prime facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia,” U.N. human-rights expert Agnes Callamard said last month after a fact-finding mission to Turkey. The kingdom has disputed the claims as “unsubstantiated” and in December lashed out at the Senate for interfering in its affairs. President Trump has flouted an obligation to report on the murder to the Senate, prompting outrage from Republicans and Democrats. Details of the financial transaction by Endeavor were


Setting the right course on climate change in Annapolis

Mike Tidwell is executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Karla Raettig is executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. When it comes to climate change, Maryland is like a fragile ship caught in a big storm. Great swells of rising water buffet the state in the form of sea-level rise. And dark, howling skies keep opening up, triggering 1,000-year floods such as the ones that recently devastated Ellicott City twice in 22 months. Any rational captain and crew would bail water and steer rapidly to harbor in such a storm. That’s precisely what the Maryland General Assembly is being asked to do right now in Annapolis. How? By joining other states and countries in moving rapidly toward clean energy, thus reducing the source of the storm itself: greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels. The Clean Energy Jobs Act, now before the Maryland Senate and House, would mandate that 50 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. It would create a plan to get to 100 percent clean power by 2040. Large majorities of lawmakers in both chambers have said they will vote for the bill, but a few representatives want to wait. “Let’s take action next year,” they say. “Or the year after that.” Which begs the question: What ship captain, seeing water spilling over the gunwales and into the galley, with rain crashing overhead, tells his crew, “Drop the lines! Let go of the rudder. We’ll steer clear of the storm later”? A growing body of scientific evidence justifies the nautical image. Last October, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the largest scientific collaboration in human history, announced that the world has barely more than 10 years to cut global greenhouse-gas emissions essentially in half. Failure to do so would commit the entire planet to perpetually rising seas and bigger storms. A preview of that alarming world is on full display in Annapolis itself right now. Last month, a groundbreaking study by Stanford University researchers showed that, in 2017, downtown merchants in the waterfront capital lost up to $172,000 due to “nuisance flooding.” In short, rising tides linked to climate change keep pushing water up — yes, up — the drains in the City Dock district, flooding a key parking lot and streets, and keeping customers away. Those same merchants are represented by powerful House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel),


Teen arrested and charged in Northwest Washington killing

D.C. police arrested a 15-year-old Thursday on a first-degree murder charge in the killing of a man during a daylight shooting in a Columbia Heights alley last month, officials said. Authorities did not identify the teen, but said he was charged for first-degree murder while armed, felony murder and carrying a pistol without a license in the killing of Jamal Kwame Crump on Feb. 27. Crump, 23, died at a hospital shortly after police found him wounded behind rowhouses in the 1300 block of Monroe Street NW about 2:40 p.m. Shortly after the shooting, D.C. police Chief Peter Newsham said police believed the victim had been targeted after he had an altercation with three males. Surveillance video collected from the scene showed one of those men leaving the area and then returning to shoot Crump, Newsham said. Police released no details about what evidence led the teen to be charged in the case. Clarence.Williams@washpost.com


States are failing on vaccinations. The federal government must lead.

Rather, society suffers from the success of anti-vaccine advocates who pushed “vaccine hesitancy and refusal” and issued unrelenting demonization, disinformation and demagoguery against immunizations. Social media is infected with viral messaging from bots and trolls that masquerade as legitimate information outlets but instead stoke illegitimate fear of vaccines. The crisis has reached a tipping point, forcing Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to warn recently that states are “going to force the hand of the federal health agencies.” As leaders in public health, we agree. It’s time for policymakers — especially those at the federal level — to respond decisively to this threat and protect the health of our children by eliminating broad nonmedical exemptions to vaccination mandates. The medical and public-health community has overwhelming scientific evidence that demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Yet parents today can easily go to Google to find discredited anti-vaxxer pediatricians or find solace among anti-vaxxer “friends” in Facebook groups full of misinformation. Other culprits include mainstream websites and some pediatricians who publicly cast doubt on vaccine safety. The World Health Organization now lists “vaccine hesitancy” as a top-10 global health threat, joining others such as antimicrobial resistance, Ebola, air pollution and climate change. The constitutional power to compel vaccination is beyond doubt. As early as 1905, the Supreme Court upheld a law in Massachusetts requiring the smallpox vaccination. The ruling, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, affirmed the constitutionality of state and local laws across the country requiring childhood vaccination as a condition of school entry. By 1922, the court found that school vaccination laws were squarely “within the police power of a state.” Yet, federal law is virtually silent on childhood vaccinations. Although every state has school immunization requirements, cavernous gaps exist through generous exemptions. All states, appropriately, allow medical exemptions, but 47 states (excluding California, Mississippi and West Virginia) permit religious exemptions, and 17 states allow exemptions for philosophical or “conscience” reasons. After experiencing a devastating measles outbreak that began in late 2014, California entirely eliminated nonmedical exemptions. Following the law’s passage, the state experienced a major increase in vaccination rates, with a precipitous drop in measles and other outbreaks. But most states have failed to respond in a similar way, and it would be irresponsible to wait as outbreaks expanded with severe consequences for our children. What would decisive action look like? First, the federal government should immediately initiate a comprehensive


D.C. to close some streets when Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon hits the city on March 9

The annual Rock 'n’ Roll Marathon will bring more than 17,000 runners and thousands more spectators to the nation’s capital Saturday, closing streets and disrupting traffic, parking and transit across the District. The marathon, which will occur between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., will take runners through many D.C. neighborhoods. Some of the street closures will begin as early as 2 a.m., and residents and visitors should anticipate parking challenges starting the night before as D.C. police implement strict “no parking” restrictions along the route. The good news is the forecast for Saturday is calling for partly sunny and dry weather. The Capital Weather Gang is forecasting highs in the mid-40s to near 50. The marathon will start at 7 a.m. from a line on Constitution Avenue NW at 14th Street and will finish midafternoon at RFK Stadium. The course sprawls across several residential neighborhoods, including Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and Anacostia. Residents and travelers will need to plan ahead to get out of the marathon’s perimeter. Those taking public transit should note that as many as 35 bus routes will be detoured. Most of the street closings will be in effect from 6 a.m. to about 2 p.m. There is at least one earlier closure: Constitution Avenue will be closed from 2 a.m. to noon between 15th and Ninth streets NW. Here’s how the race will affect your neighborhood. A complete list of street closures provided by D.C. police is here and by the marathon organizers here. D.C. police won’t allow vehicles to remain parked along the route, which means hundreds of owners will have to move their cars before the event. The parking restrictions are part of a policy that went into effect last year to keep vehicles away from special events such as parades and races to protect pedestrians and crowds from terrorism-inspired attacks where vehicles are used as weapons. “All vehicles that are parked in violation of the emergency no-parking signs will be ticketed and towed,” police said. The event sponsors have a discount deal with SpotHero, so drivers can look for off-street parking within walking distance of the start and finish lines. Shuttle service will be provided from the finish line (RFK Stadium) to the start line. Marathoners should plan to use an alternative to Metro, which isn’t going to be an option for them because the rail system opens at 7 a.m.


will occur between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., will take runners through many D.C. neighborhoods. Some of the street closures will begin as early as 2 a.m., and residents and visitors should anticipate parking challenges starting the night before as D.C. police implement strict “no parking” restrictions along the route. The good news is the forecast for Saturday is calling for partly sunny and dry weather. The Capital Weather Gang is forecasting highs in the mid-40s to near 50. The marathon will start at 7 a.m. from a line on Constitution Avenue NW at 14th Street and will finish midafternoon at RFK Stadium. The course sprawls across several residential neighborhoods, including Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and Anacostia. Residents and travelers will need to plan ahead to get out of the marathon’s perimeter. Those taking public transit should note that as many as 35 bus routes will be detoured. Most of the street closings will be in effect from 6 a.m. to about 2 p.m. There is at least one earlier closure: Constitution Avenue will be closed from 2 a.m. to noon between 15th and Ninth streets NW. Here’s how the race will affect your neighborhood. A complete list of street closures provided by D.C. police is here and by the marathon organizers here. D.C. police won’t allow vehicles to remain parked along the route, which means hundreds of owners will have to move their cars before the event. The parking restrictions are part of a policy that went into effect last year to keep vehicles away from special events such as parades and races to protect pedestrians and crowds from terrorism-inspired attacks where vehicles are used as weapons. “All vehicles that are parked in violation of the emergency no-parking signs will be ticketed and towed,” police said. The event sponsors have a discount deal with SpotHero, so drivers can look for off-street parking within walking distance of the start and finish lines. Shuttle service will be provided from the finish line (RFK Stadium) to the start line. Marathoners should plan to use an alternative to Metro, which isn’t going to be an option for them because the rail system opens at 7 a.m. when the race starts. But, those participating in the half-marathon have a good shot at reaching the 8:30 a.m. start via Metro. The closest Metro stations to the starting line are Federal Triangle and Smithsonian.


What you’ll find at Red Bear, the new brewery bringing the Pacific Northwest to NoMa

made with champagne yeast. Red Bear should also find support from supportive communities: It bills itself as the area’s first “100 percent gay-owned” brewery, and two of the three co-founders are veterans. Van Den Oever says he wasn’t familiar with craft beer when he moved to Seattle in 2006 — “There was nothing in my 400-person town in Iowa,” he says — but fell in love with hometown favorite Elysian after walking by the brewery every day on his way to work. Raspet, on the other hand, grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where “Red Hook was my standard.” The two were introduced in 2007, and met Bee at a house party in 2014. Bee had a dream of opening a nanobrewery, and thought it would be easier in Washington, D.C., than Washington state. “In Seattle, [the beer scene] is so oversaturated,” Bee says. “Coming over here, it’s an emerging craft scene.” The name Red Bear wasn’t the owners’ first choice, but came from a Facebook poll of friends and family. “We liked other names, but people responded to it,” Bee says. “People loved the bear concept,” Van Den Oever explains, pointing to its dual meaning — bears representing the outdoors and a term for burly, hirsute gay men. (“And Simon and I are both gingers,” he adds.) After a two-year search for a building and a Kickstarter fundraiser that raised more than double the requested $10,000, Red Bear took over a 7,000-square-foot space adjacent to the popular REI flagship store last fall. The taproom they’ve created liberally mixes the two Washingtons. There are picnic tables, “stars” in the ceiling overhead (look for Ursa Major, the great bear) and a mountain range set into the front of the bar. The logo, meanwhile, combines the city’s familiar bars-and-stars flag with the outline of Mount Rainier. “Seattle is our roots,” Bee says, “but D.C. is our future.” (Still, that won’t stop Van Den Oever from trying to turn the place into a Seahawks bar.) For launch, Bee’s beers are keeping things simple: A spiced witbier called Marmalade Skies, a nod to the site of the Beatles’ first U.S. concert; a subtle and roasty porter dubbed D.C. Dirt; and Snookum, a malty and complex red ale. “It’s bit of a vanity project for me,” Bee says. “It’s a style you don’t see anymore.” The Mystic Storm IPA continues the two-Washingtons theme, drawing its


it,” Bee says. “People loved the bear concept,” Van Den Oever explains, pointing to its dual meaning — bears representing the outdoors and a term for burly, hirsute gay men. (“And Simon and I are both gingers,” he adds.) After a two-year search for a building and a Kickstarter fundraiser that raised more than double the requested $10,000, Red Bear took over a 7,000-square-foot space adjacent to the popular REI flagship store last fall. The taproom they’ve created liberally mixes the two Washingtons. There are picnic tables, “stars” in the ceiling overhead (look for Ursa Major, the great bear) and a mountain range set into the front of the bar. The logo, meanwhile, combines the city’s familiar bars-and-stars flag with the outline of Mount Rainier. “Seattle is our roots,” Bee says, “but D.C. is our future.” (Still, that won’t stop Van Den Oever from trying to turn the place into a Seahawks bar.) For launch, Bee’s beers are keeping things simple: A spiced witbier called Marmalade Skies, a nod to the site of the Beatles’ first U.S. concert; a subtle and roasty porter dubbed D.C. Dirt; and Snookum, a malty and complex red ale. “It’s bit of a vanity project for me,” Bee says. “It’s a style you don’t see anymore.” The Mystic Storm IPA continues the two-Washingtons theme, drawing its name from the D.C. and Seattle WNBA franchises. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, there’s a nitro version of Swampoodle Stout, a heavyweight imperial Irish stout brewed with the team from Ireland’s Lough Gill Brewery. Beer will be available on draft and in growlers to start, and cans at a later date. The bar will also pour cocktails made using spirits from local distilleries, and a selection of wine and cider. Bee would like to offer beer aged in barrels from local distilleries, including Cotton and Reed and One Eight. Van Den Oever says food is also in Red Bear’s future, though not for a couple of months (the plan is for customers to order and pick-up dishes at self-service windows). In the meantime, food comes from food trucks and pop-ups; the DC Fish truck will be on hand for the first weekend. Red Bear Brewing: 209 M St. NE. Open 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday, and daily after that, with the exception of Monday, March 11. Official grand opening at 3 p.m. on March 23.


D.C.’s female entrepreneurs spotlight the local woman-owned businesses they love

to 100,” and regularly hosts events. One of Donahue’s favorite woman-owned businesses is just a few blocks away: cookware store Hill’s Kitchen. “[Owner] Leah Daniels has done a fantastic job of building a community in a day and age where it’s hard to run an independent retail store,” Donahue says, noting that Hill’s Kitchen is a treasure trove full of unique items. “I can always find really awesome gifts there — she carries beautiful D.C.-themed coasters!” Pia Carusone, Pia Carusone and Rachel Gardner made history in 2016 by opening D.C.’s first woman-owned distillery, Republic Restoratives. Carusone’s current role might sound drastically different from her previous position as chief of staff to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, but the jobs have more in common than you’d think. “[As chief of staff], you’re steadying your own ship in the sea of chaos,” she says, noting that her project management skills have been essential to running her business. Within the local food scene, Gordy’s Pickle Jar is a highlight for Carusone. “Sarah Gordon and her wife, Sheila [Fain], have built a great brand, and their product is obviously delicious,” Carusone says. “They’ve grown nationally while also staying true to their roots.” Victoria Lai, Victoria Lai was a high-powered lawyer leading a double life. After she’d get home from her job at the Department of Homeland Security, Lai would spend her nights whipping up imaginative ice cream flavors in her kitchen. In 2014, she took the plunge and opened her own shop, Ice Cream Jubilee, in Navy Yard. Two local restaurateurs Lai looks up to are Bettina Stern and Suzanne Simon of Chaia Tacos, which serves vegan tacos. “Chaia in Georgetown started as a passion project that initially began at a farmers market,” Lai says. “They’re focused on local, healthy, fun-to-eat foods — like tacos and cocktails — and they’re just so keyed in to what customers want. They have a beautiful sense of flavors and styles.” Julianne Brenza, If an idea seems too offbeat for any of D.C.’s biggest venues, it most likely has a home at Capital Fringe. The 14-year-old organization began as an annual theater festival spotlighting experimental productions, and has blossomed into a bustling arts space in Northeast that will soon boast three performance stages, a full-service bar and a gallery. With a festival to plan and building renovations to manage, Capital Fringe co-founder Julianne Brenza escapes from the hustle and


veteran who started her business from her home,” Kimberly says. “I personally feel connected to businesses that started from scratch and ended up growing beyond their friends and family.” Beth Helle & Julie Drews, Beth Helle and Julie Drews were co-workers at a consulting firm who had more in common than just their jobs. The two also brewed their own beer, which led them to open their Arlington store in 2016. The Brew Shop features a draft line where customers can fill their growlers with special releases from local breweries, a variety of homebrewing essentials and even a wine club. “It’s a chance for our regulars to gather, share some wine and get two really cool bottles each month,” says Helle, above left. When not at work, both women attend classes at Blue Nectar Yoga in Falls Church. “[Owner] Jane Bahneman is opening a second spot in Crystal City, and it’s inspiring to see someone who started something for themselves grow [a business] like that,” Drews says. Rebecca Lee Funk, Rebecca Lee Funk encourages you to be outraged when you walk into her store. The Outrage opened in 2017 as an Adams Morgan pop-up shop selling feminist apparel in partnership with the Women’s March. The brand (which also has a location in Philadelphia) donates a portion of each sale to “progressive organizations fighting for social change.” In 2018, The Outrage moved into its current 14th Street location, which will soon house a community space. “We’ve gotten support from a ton of businesses in our neighborhood, including Amanda McClements of Little Leaf,” Funk says of the plant shop. “Amanda is also the owner of Salt & Sundry — her businesses all have the most stunning items, and she’s just brilliant at merchandising.” Julie Egermayer, Julie Egermayer’s Violet is a breath of fresh air for shoppers who loathe pricey designer stores that feel haughty and inaccessible. Everything inside the Shaw boutique — which offers affordable apparel for women — is under $100. “Oftentimes, I’d go into a boutique and I’d feel like I wasn’t acknowledged or my business didn’t matter,” Egermayer says about why she started Violet in 2011. “[Friendly customer service] is important, especially in how women enjoy shopping.” She cites Virginia Arrisueño, the owner of Navy Yard retail incubator Steadfast Supply, as a force in D.C.’s creative community. “I’m just in awe of her vision,” Egermayer says. “[Her store is]


A new eatery, a red carpet and hope in a part of D.C. starved for nice places to dine

It was yet another fancy-pants event in Washington — red carpet, velvet ropes, fur coats, earpiece guardians of the guest list. Ho hum? Yawn? Not this time. “We’ve waited a long time, a long time for this,” said Barbara Clark, in her full-length fur coat, just outside the party room in Southeast Washington, where guests were chanting “Barry! Barry! Barry!” nearly five years after Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry’s funeral. What? What does Marion Barry, mayor for 16 years and city councilman for almost 16 more, have to do with this? See, we’re not in any of the glitzy places of nouveau D.C., no million-dollar micro condos, no new, single-word precious restaurant with small plates and huge prices. This party was happening in historic Anacostia, in Ward 8, in Barry’s old domain. It was what he wanted for decades, for Ward 8 to have a piece of what the rest of the nation’s capital had. In this case, it’s the newest Busboys and Poets, a local restaurant chain that is known not only for its vegan tofu coconut bites, but for the coffee house music, open mike events, poetry slams, party spaces and book store. “I know that for a lot of people that live on the other side of the river, this may happen on a regular basis,” Andy Shallal, owner of the chain, told the crowd packed into the new space Wednesday night. “A new restaurant that opens, a new place and it gets kind of, you know, like, it’s what you would expect.” D.C. has had so much boom that yes, new restaurants, new businesses, new apartments are getting a little old. Who can keep track of what new places are opening? Every time I drive around the city in places that aren’t on my daily path, I’m in awe of the change. I remember corners because I was there covering a midnight vice bust or trying to get cops to talk to me at a homicide scene, and now it’s serving elderberry craft cocktails for $14 a glass. But it’s no secret that east of the Anacostia River, where so many of the city’s African American residents live, the glitz comes to an abrupt end. Every year or so, there’s a story about changes in Wards 7 and 8. More development! More condos! More Airbnb listings! But besides a few independent places that have opened up, where were


Factoring the effects of climate change into real estate investments

truly one report that President Trump — real estate developer, investor and owner — might actually want to read. Fundamentally about money, it identifies sources and impacts of “physical” risks and of “transition” risks associated with climate change. Physical risks are those caused directly by specific catastrophic events — hurricanes, sea level rise, drought, wildfires — that are ultimately attributable to climate change and shifting weather patterns. Among the many negative impacts of such events are greatly increased cost of maintaining, repairing and reconstructing seriously damaged or destroyed structures; soaring costs of property insurance; and post-event business and economic productivity losses. Less obvious are transition risks over time not attributable to single catastrophic events. Progressive climate change could depress real estate market growth and viability, as well as property values. Public policies and regulations aimed at mitigating climate change effects could increase investment and ownership expenses, including taxes, insurance, code compliance, infrastructure and financing. Essential resources, such as energy and water, could become increasingly scarce and ever more costly. The ULI-Heitman report pointedly cites insurance industry volatility stemming from uncertainty about an unknowable future and potentially skyrocketing premiums necessary to cover ever larger losses and claims. Viable and affordable insurance, a key to risk management, depends on being able to recognize and reasonably evaluate future risks. As the report explains, the challenge is figuring out how to measure and mitigate future climate change risks affecting the sustainability and physical resilience of property, as well as property value, capital appreciation, revenue and liquidity. Real estate industry professionals are beginning to address this by analytically mapping specific physical risks associated with properties they own. Mapping incorporates historical and current, site-specific data with predictive geophysical, meteorological and economic modeling. Even earthquake risk may enter into calculations. Meanwhile, LEED certified architects, engineers, real estate developers and government agencies have already taken steps to address and mitigate climate change impacts. They are using more environmentally sustainable materials, more renewable energy sources and less fossil fuels, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. Both the federal government and the District have adopted sustainability building codes and guidelines for site development and construction to create projects with zero carbon footprints and minimal adverse environmental impact. Additionally, in many American jurisdictions, including the Washington region, building within designated flood plains or wetlands is not permitted. This prudent policy protects those portions of the natural


LAPD hosts NFL players for externship program, hopes to recruit more to police force

community. He doesn’t deserve to have a job. Something about that moment [in Oakland] inspired me. These are actual good people. Not all cops are bad.” Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protests during the national anthem to call attention to racial inequality and police mistreatment of African Americans began in August 2016, a month after the high-profile shooting deaths by police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota. The protests have dominated headlines in the years since, and many players — notably those in the Players Coalition — have used the increased platform to draw awareness to social justice issues. But there is also interest among some players to pursue a career in law enforcement once their playing days are over, and the NFL Players Association recently established a week-long externship that connects its members, including Leno, with the Los Angeles Police Department. The intensive five-day program is intended to foster dialogue and better understanding, but it has another goal: to recruit NFL players to the police force. “Law enforcement is a natural progression for an NFL player,” said LAPD Lt. Chris Zine, who has helped run the annual NFLPA externship program since its 2018 launch. “You’re a part of a team of officers. Communication and working together are important. There’s a physical training component to the police academy. And they’re already active in their community, going to schools and talking to kids.” The LAPD program is one of 27 offseason externships offered by the NFLPA; they place players everywhere from Gatorade to Under Armour to Capitol Hill to prepare them for life after football. Shortly after launching the externship program six years ago, NFLPA staffers began receiving requests for law enforcement placements from players, selecting the LAPD as a host given its wide-ranging facilities and resources. All seven of this year’s LAPD externship participants were African American, as were both members of last year’s inaugural class. African Americans represent 9.6 percent of the LAPD’s sworn officers, according to departmental data, a figure nearly identical to the city’s demographic breakdown. “There’s a narrative out there that NFL players are against the police based on how some people have viewed the player protests,” the NFLPA’s Brandon Parker said. “This program is a reinforcement that our players have a great respect for law enforcement and the military.” The 27-year-old Leno, a full-time starter on a four-year,


The 81 people and organizations just looped into the Trump probe — and why they were included

III indicates that in June 2016, WikiLeaks reached out to the hackers who accessed the Democratic National Committee’s network offering to host material. Assange would probably have information on those interactions and the eventual transfer of material stolen from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. He would also be able to provide information about possible contacts with the Trump campaign or with people tangentially connected to the campaign, such as Ted Malloch. Christopher Bancroft Burnham Who he is: Burnham is the chief executive of Cambridge Global Capital (not to be confused with Cambridge Analytica). He also served on Trump’s transition team. Why he’s important: In addition to possible questions about his service on the transition team, Burnham was recently named to the board of En+ Group, the parent company of Russian aluminum giant Rusal. En+ was previously controlled by an oligarch named Oleg Deripaska, who employed Paul Manafort and Rick Gates before they were senior figures in Trump’s campaign. The U.S. government recently lifted sanctions against En+ that were imposed after the Russian interference effort in the 2016 campaign. Stephen K. Bannon Who he is: Trump’s former campaign CEO and adviser to his administration. Why he’s important: Bannon could speak to a broad range of issues within the campaign and White House. Tom Barrack Who he is: Barrack is a longtime business partner of Trump’s who also served as the head of Trump’s inaugural committee. Why he’s important: There are a number of questions regarding fundraising and spending during the inaugural period about which Barrack could presumably offer information. His long history with Trump might also be of interest. He’s already been interviewed by Mueller’s team. Tom Bossert Who he is: Trump’s former homeland security adviser. Why he’s important: Bossert received an email from K.T. McFarland after she’d spoken with Michael Flynn following one of Flynn’s conversation with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016. During these conversations, Flynn and Kislyak discussed Russia not retaliating against sanctions imposed by Barack Obama’s administration. The New York Times reported that Bossert then forwarded McFarland’s email to other transition officials, including Bannon, Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer. He disputes that report. After the inauguration, Bossert was present for a number of decisions in the White House, including some related to possible sanctions. Matthew Calamari Who he is: A longtime Trump Organization staffer who served as Trump’s bodyguard before being promoted to chief operating


The military has a white-power problem

search previous mass murders. But apart from statements by the prosecutors, both the Justice Department and armed services have been exceptionally quiet about Hasson and the problem he represents. Trump, in response to a question, merely stated, “I think it’s a shame.” For a president who found a way to both-sides a neo-Nazi rally, the hypocrisy is not surprising. But by failing to name Hasson’s white supremacist ideology, the military risks missing dangerous subcultures in its force structure and then finding ways to remove them. And there is a trend. A Military Times poll in 2017 found that about 22 percent of service members have seen evidence of “white nationalism or racist ideology within the armed forces.” For nonwhite service members, the figure exceeded 50 percent. Respondents noted racist and anti-Semitic language in casual conversations, tattoos aligned with white power groups, Confederate flag displays and swastika graffiti as evidence of hate-filled ideology. Meanwhile, the military has reported to Congress that only 18 members, out of 1.3 million serving each year, have been discharged or disciplined for racist activity since 2013. These figures suggest that the uniformed military services view this problem in terms of actionable cases, not as a systemic ideology to be identified and discarded, root and stem. If the gap between having hate-filled or racist views and engaging in conduct worthy of a discharge or discipline remains large, these polling numbers are not reassuring. The military — an institution that has often led the way on America’s path toward inclusion — needs to address the racism in its midst and the forces that can lead to radicalization. Those who hate cannot be permitted to use the skills they learn — weaponry, discipline, secrecy — while in uniform or after as veterans. The Hasson saga should lead the services to look harder for warning signs during a soldier’s recruitment and service. Federal officials reported Hasson had been an extremist for years and allegedly fed his hatred at work: He contacted other like-minded souls from his office computer. How widespread is this problem? The Pentagon needs to find out more than it knows. And it can start by giving the problem a name: the alt-right in uniform. White nationalism in uniform. Military racist extremism. Call it something. Just don’t ignore it. “To solve a problem,” as Trump said, “you have to be able to state what the problem is.” Exactly.


On the 226th try, Trump hopes you’ll simply accept that there was no collusion

“no collusion” five times while waiting to depart for Alabama and added an all-caps mention on Twitter for good measure. According to the database of Trump comments, speeches and interviews at Factba.se, these were the 221st through 226th times that he used the phrase “no collusion” since May 2017. The first time he used the expression, according to Factba.se’s data, was in his infamous interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, shortly after firing former FBI director James Comey. “This was set up by the Democrats,” Trump said of the investigation into his campaign that Comey had acknowledged under oath a few months prior. “There is no collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians. The other thing is the Russians did not affect the vote. And everybody seems to think that.” That was the first mention. Here are the other 225, including today. Notice that they often cluster around significant events in the Russia investigation or in his presidency. After significant new developments linking Trump’s team to Russia, though, he has at times been quiet. We’ve highlighted the revelation of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting in July 2017 and the September 2017 Post report that Manafort had offered campaign briefings to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska of examples of unusual quiet. Two of the busiest times were in August of last year, as Manafort was on trial. (He was convicted on eight felony charges at the same time that Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen was admitting to eight felonies of his own.) Another “no collusion”-heavy period was in the run-up to the midterm elections, when Trump would work it into his patter at campaign rallies. Bear in mind: Trump could be saying something that is true. America is divided on what “collusion” would actually mean in the context of Trump’s denials, but if you think — as Trump apparently does — that it necessitates Trump having deliberately spoken with a Russian to agree to tilt the election, there’s no evidence that happened. No collusion (under that specific definition of what constitutes collusion)! Trump could also be trying to define collusion as specifically that intimate an interaction to wave away the significance of things like the Trump Tower meeting. He could be trying not to brand his behavior as not being collusion but to brand collusion as being not what he did. If so, we all know what comes next.