2012 London Games: Jeneba Tarmoh needs some lessons about competition

Oscar Pistorius But he shouldn’t have to. Neither Pistorius nor anyone else should have to teach an Olympic athlete the importance of competing. Tarmoh had a chance to compete for the final women’s spot in the 100 meters in a run-off with Allyson Felix, and she turned it down. She turned down a chance to run in the glam event of track and field. No one doubts that Tarmoh was feeling bruised after what happened last week in Eugene. She thought she finished third, earning an automatic spot in the event. She celebrated on the track. It wasn’t until the news conference that she learned the finish might be in question. Everyone has seen the shot of the photo finish. That’s almost unheard of — so much so that USA Track and Field had no plan in place to deal with such a finish. Officials scrambled and came up with this — runners could choose between a run-off or a coin flip. Felix and Tarmoh met Sunday night and decided on the run-off to be held Monday night and televised by NBC. But Tarmoh almost immediately began to waffle, and eventually backed out in an e-mail to Felix, ceding her third place and the 100 spot. Tarmoh is still going to London. She’ll be in the pool for the 4x100 relay. That means she’ll run heats and try to qualify the United States for the final, when the faster runners will take over. If they win a medal, she wins a medal. USATF made a breathtaking number of mistakes. 1. No procedure in place to break a photo finish tie? Really? 2. Officials took 24 hours to come up with a tiebreaking procedure — coin flip or run-off. It took a day to come up with that? 3. Their decision essentially forced the two athletes to choose between the two. No, no, no. 4. They patted themselves on the back for a job well done. “. . . I’m proud to say that based upon the work of a comprehensive group of people, we put a process in place that we think was first and foremost in the best interest of the athletes,” USATF President Stephanie Hightower said. 5. “The best interest of the athletes” turned out to make Tarmoh feel she was boxed in and forced to give in to a run-off. Then she just gave up. (Frankly, the


Ethiopian soccer tournament promoting unity leads to division

Sebsebe Asefa, Eyaya Arega and Gebru Amanuel, who defected to the United States in 1979 when they were players for the Ethiopian national team. They were part of a wave of defections stemming from a bloody crackdown by the then-ruling Marxist dictatorship. When that government fell, it was replaced by the current prime minister and de facto dictator, Meles Zenawi. Differences about politics have split Ethiopian churches and communities abroad, including in the Washington area. But the split now is over how people feel about the current regime. The region is home to about 200,000 people of Ethiopian descent, the largest population outside Ethiopia, according to the Ethiopian Embassy. The soccer federation managed to escape such division until 2010, when it invited Birtukan Mideksa, a political opposition leader in Ethiopia, as a guest of honor for its next national soccer tournament. A faction of board members, including Asefa and Arega, opposed an invitation to a figure as polarizing as Mideksa, a former judge who was imprisoned and is sometimes referred to as Ethiopia’s Aung San Suu Kyi. The faction asked that she be uninvited. After a board election that didn’t turn out in their favor, the dissenters left to form their own group. The new organization was called the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America One and got financial backing from Mohamed Amoudi, an Ethiopian-born billionaire and ally of the Zenawi government. The two leagues went to court over their names. The older group prevailed, securing a court order that forced the upstart to opt for the All Ethiopian Sports Association. The two organizations immediately began planning rival soccer tournaments for the first week of July. The older federation is hosting a tournament in Dallas; the newer one plays its games in the District. With both tournaments on the calendar, vendors, performers and players had to choose which one to attend. Several soccer clubs split into two. There are now two D.C. Ethio Stars teams, one lead by Asefa, and the other by his fellow defector Amanuel. “It was a decision everybody had to make. The ones that went to Dallas, we said good luck,” said Teddy Fekade, 43, a coach for the D.C. Ethio Stars. “Those are our brothers. It was as tough for them as it was for us. There is no animosity.” The same can’t be said for the other side, which accuses the defectors of aligning


Un-American burgers? Please.

Hamburgers un-American? Oh, for Pete’s sake. Let’s get serious. The July 1 Outlook piece “Why your hamburger hates America” should have been run on April Fool’s Day. What a lot of malarkey. The general drift seemed to be that efficiency and lower prices are evil. Yes, I can shed a tear over the demise of mom-and-pop stores, but I can also shed a tear over the auto industry, which, a hundred years ago, was largely mom-and-pop-sized. Want to try that now? I also would refer you to the article on Italy’s gross inefficiency (“It’s the culture, stupido,” Business) in the same edition of The Post. And if Wal-Mart is so evil, tell it to the folks, mostly working-class, who shop there (as I do). Many Americans who live where there is poor access to supermarkets would have better access if more cities would open their doors to Wal-Mart. Instead, the rich live well paying Fresh Market prices for “organic” foods while denying the less-well-off access to Wal-Marts. Gordon White, Deltaville, Va.


Prince George’s County Animal Watch

Prince George’s County The following cases were received recently by the Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Resources Animal Management Group. Call 301-780-7200 for directions to the county animal shelter, hours of operation, and adoption and licensing procedures. The shelter’s Web site is www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/der/amg. Citizen tethers stray dog: Dog awaits owner from closet: Raccoon chases woman’s dog: Chocolate Labrador awaits pickup: Sick stray rests on man’s lawn: — Compiled by Gerri Marmer


Oscar Pistorius has earned his way into the Olympics

a reproach to our averageness, and, more importantly, our average habits. They are creatures of extreme practices, stresses and obsessions; they seek marginal improvements in hundredths through all sorts of artificialities, hypoxic chambers, wind tunnels, high tech fabrics, and extreme diets. Maybe what lies behind this fixation on enhancement is fear. We are desperate to maintain the dream that the average, regular, everyday person can win something big. It’s a self-lie. No, you can’t. As my friend Eugene Robinson once wrote, “There is no drug on Earth that can enable me — or you — to drive a 95 mph fastball over the left field wall.” Trying to legislate level equality in sport is a fool’s quest; it is rife with artificial advantages. Kenyans and Ethiopians have a competitive advantage in distance running — they live at higher altitudes than the rest of us and train in thin air. Why don’t we outlaw the Eldoret Highlands? There is one unnatural substance that is more enhancing and advantageous than any other on this earth: money. A sprinter’s custom made shoes can cost $10,000. “It’s absurd to look at a star line-up of athletes and think that they all have an equal shot,” observes former Georgetown runner Aimee Mullins, on the technology blog Gizmodo. Mullins, who competed in NCAA track and field on Cheetah blades, has grown into one of our best thinkers on this subject. She continues: “We don’t cry foul play when an athlete from the United States, with the best access to training facilities, coaching staffs, and nutritional science is up against someone from say . . . Uzbekistan.” Athletes suffer all sorts of gaping deficits and internal and external impoverishments, and the truth is that the earmark of elites is that they transform circumstances to their advantage. Mullins’s term for this is “the opportunity of adversity.” You want to breed a transformational athlete? Remove his legs from the knees down when he is 13 months old. Give him a mother named Sheila who was apparently an incomparable teacher, and who, when she told his siblings to put on their shoes, turned to him and said, “Put on your legs.” The best profile of Pistorius to date is Carillo’s for NBC, which aired on Rock Center. It contains this story: When Pistorius was a small boy his family took him to the beach. He noticed that he left marks


Mr. Putin tightens the screws

officer in the KGB, grew highly suspicious of nongovernmental organizations after the protests known as the Orange Revolution swept Ukraine in late 2004. The demonstrators were seen by the Kremlin as tools of foreign sponsors seeking regime change. A Russian law imposed cumbersome new requirements on foreign groups in the country in 2006. Now the screws are being tightened anew. On Friday, the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, dominated by Mr. Putin’s allies, gave tentative approval to legislation that would force nongovernmental groups that take overseas contributions and influence public policy to label themselves as “foreign agents” and submit to multiple inspections and audits, or face stiff fines. The term “foreign agent” carries pejorative connotations from the Cold War years. Final approval is expected as soon as next week. Never mind that the Russian Federation itself gladly took cash from overseas when it was in need after the Soviet collapse. Did all those bailouts make Boris Yeltsin a foreign agent? Hardly. The chairman of the president’s advisory human rights commission said that the new law violates the Russian constitution. In the Duma, authors of the legislation claimed that it was similar to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, but the comparison is flawed. The U.S. law requires registration of those who lobby for foreign governments and political parties, but it clearly exempts activities solely of a religious, scholastic, academic, scientific or fine arts nature, as well as money for humanitarian work. The Russian bill would put pressure on just such groups. The Duma bill looks like another agitated Moscow response to legislation moving through the U.S. Congress that would sanction Russian officials involved in human rights violations. The bill is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who uncovered an embezzlement scheme by Russian officials, after which he was imprisoned and mistreated, and died in jail. It is strange to respond to the Magnitsky bill by punishing groups that would protect human rights. But that is entirely in keeping with the Soviet mind-set of Mr. Putin, who has shown he can tolerate neither protest on the street nor the principle that civil society is essential to a healthy democracy. More on this debate: The Post’s View: Punish the Russian abusers The Post’s View: Mr. Putin’s government moves to quash public dissent The Post’s View: Ukraine’s windfall offers freedom from Russia Jackson Diehl: Obama’s misguided wooing of an uninterested Putin


For one war widow, moving on is a marathon

In DUPONT, Wash. Lisa Hallett’s 26-mile run begins before sunrise in a gravel parking lot on the edge of Puget Sound. She climbs a steep hill bracketed by thick woods that double as an Army training range. By 6 a.m., she is moving through streets clogged with soldiers commuting to nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Hours pass, and the ache in her legs builds. A cold morning rain soaks her shirt. Around Mile 14, she turns onto a narrow running trail. The nervous energy that buzzes in her head starts to fade. It is at this moment that he arrives. He is walking next to her in a red shirt and khaki shorts. “Stop walking,” she tells him. “I am running as fast as I can, and you are always walking. It makes me feel bad.” The man she is seeing has been dead nearly three years. He is her husband, Capt. John L. Hallett III, who was killed in August 2009 in Afghanistan when insurgents exploded a bomb underneath his armored vehicle. In those first days, she wondered if she’d ever sleep again. She spent much of the first year clinging to the irrational hope that he might return. Now the war that claimed John’s life is increasingly an afterthought, and Lisa, 31, is one of thousands of widows from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq trying to get on with their lives. Everyone seems to be moving on, including the other soldiers and spouses from John’s unit who have left for other bases and other assignments. Lisa, meanwhile, remains. “Stuck” is the word she uses sometimes to describe her life. It is a life in which she is in constant motion, trying to get people to remember wars they’d rather forget and the soldiers who have died in them. She sometimes wonders if she should be handling her loss better. Three other soldiers were killed in the blast that killed John. In the first months after he died, Lisa and another woman who was widowed in the same explosion often stayed up late exchanging messages on Facebook. They discussed what to do with their husbands’ clothes, whether to move away from Lewis-McChord and when to take off their wedding rings. “I will never find the right person if I leave this ring on my finger. But I can’t take it off,” Lisa wrote. “I don’t want to live this


D.C. is no Milwaukee or Portland, but the city’s growing infatuation with beer has driven an expansion of local beer menus, festivals and tasting rooms. The landscape for connoisseurs of hops would be further expanded if Alan Newman could find some suitably located industrial property. Newman co-founded Magic Hat Brewing and now heads Alchemy & Science, of Burlington, Vt., where he is looking to open breweries in partnership with local brewers across the country. As a subsidiary of Boston Beer Co., the start-up enjoys financial backing from the publicly traded brewer of more than 50 styles, led by the flagship Samuel Adams label. He said his new company began in 2011 after Boston Beer executives asked him to expand the reach of small, independently owned beers. “They encouraged me to find ways of growing the craft business — the craft beer marketplace in America,” he said. In January, Newman announced one of his first deals, that Alchemy & Science would take over Angel City Brewing of Los Angeles, which had opened independently but fallen on tough times. Newman said he frequently visits D.C. (where his fiancee lives) and, seeing the growth of interest in locally brewed beer, hired a broker to find 7,000 to 15,000 square feet where he could open a brewery that would not only distribute beer but offer tours and samples, and sell ceramic jugs to visitors. However, the city — decades removed from an era when cars, textiles and other goods were manufactured downtown — has relatively little industrially zoned land. There are large swaths along New York Avenue in Northeast, and a stretch west of South Capitol Street, east of the Nationals Park. Newman said he was close to leasing some land — he wouldn’t identify where — but had to ask the landlord if he could hold off on paying rent until he got city approval for the brewery. The landlord signed a deal with another tenant. “It was a great location for me. The problem was I needed a contingency for it in my lease to accommodate the zoning changes,” he said. “Landlords are not going to sit and give a contingency because if it’s a decent location, they can rent it to someone else without that problem,” he added. Local beer brewers are already beginning to populate the area with alternatives to mass-produced national labels. D.C. Brau became the first brewery to


Sprinkles to open a cupcake ATM in Georgetown

the pastries fresh. Nelson said the machine is a customer favorite in Beverly Hills, home of the bakery chain and where the first cupcake dispenser opened in March. She estimates that the machine there doles out 1,000 cupcakes a day. At that rate, sales should more than cover the $100,000 cost of the machine any day now. Nelson is guarded about discussing finances, but said the machine has been a successful venture for the private company. “It’s been a nice surprise for us,” said Nelson, who runs the company with her husband Charles. “We thought it would a fun innovative addition to our store, but we weren’t anticipating how much business it would drive.” Nelson came up with the idea for the vending machine late one night when she was pregnant. “All I wanted at the time was cupcakes, but nothing was open at that hour,” she said. “I thought ‘I own a cupcake shop and I can’t even get my hands on one. Just think of all of those pregnant women out there who would love a cupcake vending machine.’” Nelson began working with a European company on a design for the machine. Sprinkles is installing the dispensers in nine markets across the country this summer, including New York, Chicago and Houston, where it has existing stores. “We pay rent whether or not we’re open, so why not be able to sell to people 24-hours a day? We certainly don’t want to staff a store into the middle of the night, so this has been a nice way to bring in some additional revenue,” Nelson said. The technology could allow the company to expand without opening additional brick-and-mortar locations, saving millions in build-out and operations costs. “We could just use our production facility and restock the ATMs across town,” Nelson said. “It’s an interesting consideration for us, but we’re going to wait and see how the ATMs do before making any moves.” In the meantime, Sprinkles is heading abroad with 34 stores planned in 10 countries in the Middle East, including Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. The company in June signed an agreement with M.H. Alshaya Co., a Kuwait-based franchise operator, to bring the bakery to the region. The first store is scheduled to open in Kuwait in December. Nelson is not only venturing into new countries, but also new desserts with the May opening of Sprinkles Ice Cream in


For black Americans, financial damage from subprime implosion is likely to last

parents. “I had number-one credit before this happened,” Whitley said. “I don’t know whether I’ll ever be able to rebuild.” Groups such as the NAACP and the National Urban League worry that stories such as Whitley’s are signs that the nation’s financial crisis has ushered in a new era of de facto economic segregation. Some community leaders are calling the rebuilding of wealth in black communities the next frontier for civil rights. “Folks are going to have to work longer and work harder to even try to maintain a standard of living,” said Kendrick Curry, pastor at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church in the District. “It really speaks to a backward movement.” Credit scores The Federal Reserve is collecting data on how the recession has affected credit scores by race, in what is expected to be significant research on the issue. But the widespread belief among economists, consumer advocates and community leaders is that black Americans are falling behind. Credit scores summarize consumers’ financial past and help project their future behavior. A critical factor in deciding who qualifies for a loan, they are designed to give lenders a quick way to assess the risk of a customer. FICO and VantageScore are the two primary companies that generate the scores. For most people, credit is the key to accessing the trappings of the American Dream, such as higher education and homeownership. That makes the scores, and the detailed personal financial reports that accompany them, one of the most important factors in determining financial opportunity. And for black Americans, that means they are starting at a disadvantage. Even near the height of the country’s economic boom, blacks had lower credit scores than whites. Data collected by the Federal Reserve from 2003 — in the most comprehensive study on race and credit scoring to date — showed that less than a quarter of blacks had prime credit scores. Meanwhile, about 65 percent of whites were in this top tier. The gap got wider as black and white Americans grew older, the Fed found. By age 75, the average black consumer’s credit score still had not reached the national average. “It’s one more way that credit scoring . . . sort of sets in stone income and wealth disparities between minorities and whites,” said Chi Chi Wu, a lawyer with the National Consumer Law Center. “The playing field was never level.” Banks and industry groups


International group urges sanctions on Russians

The death of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow jail has prompted an outcry over prison conditions in Russia and questions about the Kremlin’s ability to stand up to corruption in the security services. (Hermitage Capital) MOSCOW— An international body devoted to security and democracy Sunday chided Russia—one of its 56 members—on its human rights record and urged governments to impose sanctions by banning visas and freezing the assets of Russians connected to the death of a crusading lawyer named Sergei Magnitsky. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), representing the United States at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, which was convened in Monaco, spoke urgently in favor of the resolution approved Sunday, calling Magnitsky’s death an example of pervasive and systemic corruption in Russia. A similar law, named in memory of Magnitsky, is already making its way through Congress, with the energetic support of Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D.-Md.), who is vice president of the OSCE parliamentary assembly. Magnitsky was working for an American law firm in Moscow, advising the Hermitage Capital investment firm on tax issues, when he uncovered a $230 million tax fraud. After he accused tax officials and police investigators of the crime, Magnitsky was arrested and charged instead. He died in 2009 after a year in pre-trial detention, denied medical care and showing signs of having been beaten. “Not one person has been held responsible,” McCain said, calling Magnitsky’s treatment tantamount to torture. Russia put up a spirited defense Sunday, arguing that an investigation of Magnitsky’s death was very much underway and that the sanctions amounted to conviction by public opinion rather than a court of law. It was overruled by an overwhelming show of hands in favor of the resolution. Speaker after speaker criticized official impunity, the lack of a convincing investigation and the absence of punishment for Magnitsky’s death. He was 37 when he died. Valdis Liepins of Latvia pointed out that Russia was a signatory to OSCE conventions and that the resolution urged similar action against anyone connected to gross abuses of human rights. “It is not against anything but evil itself,” he said. “I believe that supporting the rule of law is pro-Russia,” McCain said. “I believe that defending the innocent and punishing the guilty is pro-Russia. . . .Let us align this assembly to the aspirations of the Russian people and for Sergei’s aspirations for


South Korea tries to curb mounting household debt and avert a crisis

Koreans have borrowed more, they have turned increasingly to “non-banks,” institutions that offer money far more freely, sometimes at exorbitant interest rates. The non-banks have targeted low-income borrowers, and in a recent report, South Korea’s central bank raised concern that borrowers would encounter “serious difficulties” in repaying their debts in the event of a major shock, such as a drop in housing prices. The vast majority of non-banks are regulated only by local governments, not by the central government’s Financial Supervisory Service. By law, they can charge a maximum interest rate of 39 percent, as opposed to 4 percent or 6 percent at major banks. But those that want to charge even more simply hand in their licenses and continue to operate. “About 1,000 every year are essentially going back to the black market,” said Lee Jae-sun, general manager of the Consumer Loan Finance Association, which represents 250 of the larger non-banks. He added that there were 18,500 registered non-bank companies in 2007; now there are 12,000. The government recently launched a task force to crack down on the loan sharks, who it says sometimes visit borrowers homes at night and threaten physical assault. A few loan companies, the government said, have set up women with prostitution services so they pay back their money. The non-banks have proliferated for a key reason. In South Korea, it is hard to get a sizable mortgage loan from a major bank. Typically, mortgage loans cannot exceed half of a home’s value. Meanwhile, annual payments for the principal and interest typically cannot exceed 40 percent of a borrower’s income. In the United States, by comparison, mortgage loans were often nearly the size of house prices, meaning that borrowers would go underwater with just a slight drop in the real estate market. South Korea’s lending restrictions are a “risk bible for banks,” said Kwon Joo-an, senior research fellow at the Korea Housing Institute. A recent IMF working paper said South Korea’s limits have proved to be “effective tools to tame real estate booms and contain the associated risks.” Troubled borrowers After the government announced its measures last June, debt continued to soar for half a year — and then it dipped. Meanwhile, the number of people failing to pay back their loans is at the highest level in 51 / 2 years. Four out of five troubled borrowers who show up at the nonprofit Credit


Dozens killed, including 6 U.S. troops, in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan

KABUL — The American service members lost their lives when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle Sunday in Wardak province, which lies just west of Kabul and has recently become one of the country’s most dangerous areas. The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack, one of the bloodiest incidents in months for U.S. forces. Also Sunday, 23 Afghan civilians were killed by multiple blasts in the Arghistan district of southern Kandahar. In another attack, five Afghan police officers were killed by remote-control bomb in Bamian province, regarded as the most secure part of Afghanistan, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said. There were three separate attacks in the city of Kandahar on Monday, by 14 attackers. Three police officers and six civilians were killed when the police headquarters and a local market were targeted. The assailants were also killed. A top Afghan prosecutor, Mohammed Ali Ahmadi, was fatally shot by gunmen in a separate attack in restive southern Ghazni, officials said. Also Monday, U.S. and Afghan officials condemned what NATO forces called the “Taliban’s public execution of a woman” outside Kabul. In a video circulating throughout the capital, a man is shown firing his weapon at a woman accused of adultery. The scene, which recalled the public executions during Taliban rule, was carried out by insurgents, according to U.S. officials. “Let’s be clear, this wasn’t justice, this was murder and an atrocity of unspeakable cruelty,” said Gen. John R. Allen, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. “The Taliban’s continued brutality toward innocent civilians, particularly women, must be condemned in the strongest terms.” Javed Hamdard contributed to this report. More world news coverage: - South Korea tries to curb its mounting debt - Morsi moves to restore Islamist parliament - International group urges sanctions on Russians for human rights issues - Read more headlines from around the world


Science news in the media

Seven huge statues (moais in Rapa Nui language) face the sea, in Ahu Akivi on Easter Island, 3700 km off the coast of Chile. The Chilean island, located in the Polynesian archipielago, has many archeological sites including its Rapa Nui National Park. (MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) Archaeology Moving the moai National Geographic, July The title of Hannah Bloch’s story about Easter Island and its famous monoliths is “If They Could Talk” — but maybe it should be “If They Could Walk.” Bloch describes theories about the collapse of the Rapa Nui civilization, which created those mysterious stone visages, or moai, and she goes on to give the latest ideas about how the monoliths were hauled out of the quarry and around the island. The moai, which can weigh more than 80 tons, were not easy to lug around, especially since the islanders had no draft animals. For years, scientists have tested several possibilities, including dragging the maoi, rolling them on logs and swinging them forward a few steps at a time from a wooden hoist. The most recent effort drew on the island’s oral tradition, which maintains that the statues stood up and walked. With that in mind, archaeologists Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo tried moving a statue by hoisting it upright with rope and using three teams – two to push, one to stabilize – to swivel it forward. They found that, by using the walking technique, as few as 18 people could move a five-ton statue a few hundred yards “relatively quickly.” Biochemistry The game of life Wired, July EteRNA is an online puzzle game that asks players to design strands of ribonucleic acid, or RNA — the molecules that help to build proteins and regulate genes. Players who succeed in crafting intricate designs get more than just bragging rights on a high-scores list; they also get the chance to see how their designs fare in real life after being synthesized in a laboratory. As Brendan Koerner describes in an article in Wired, EteRNA was developed by researchers at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon universities who hoped that it could serve as a scientific crowdsourcing tool, a way to rally large amounts of human brainpower to help gain deeper insight into how RNA molecules function. While computer-based algorithms work very well in systems where the rules are fully understood, such as chess, they aren’t as reliable in situations that involve


Battling IEDs has to be about more than money

support the Pentagon’s overall counter-IED agency, the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) and its Counter-IED Operations/Intelligence Integration Center (COIC). This potentially five-year contract could reach $900 million if all options are exercised, according to SAIC. This is not SAIC’s only counter-IED contract. It also has one from the Marine Corps that could bring up to $500 million through 2014. Bet your head is spinning right about now. There are so many deals and dollars flying about. Congress has taken notice of this counter-IED, counterinsurgency contracting. It tried to rein in some of the spending in the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill. For example, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, focused on JIEDDO’s “duplication of effort with the military services, excessive contractor support costs, and organizational inefficiencies.” His committee reduced next year’s spending by $200 million, although that still left $1.4 billion for efforts to reduce the IED threat. Congress should go further. Why does the Army continue to hire contractors to carry out counterinsurgency intelligence and counter-IED work? Is it related to the reduction in troop levels? It appears that prime contractors such as SAIC and Harding/Six3 are turning to subcontractors who are former military personnel. As subcontractors, they almost always do the same job they did while in the service, just at higher pay. On its Web site, Six3 is seeking all-source analysts for its counter-IED targeting program. Applicants must have top secret/SCI (sensitive compartmented information) clearances, at least five years of military service and “especially” deployment in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Vancro, a Washington-based company, notes on its Web site that it was “originally founded by veterans of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom” in May 2009 and specializes in counter-IED work. Vancro, too, is advertising for a senior IED and insurgent-network analyst with five years of military service and top secret/SCI clearances who will work in Charlottesville with the possibility of travel and the ability to coordinate with “other NGIC offices.” There’s something unsettling about so much outsourcing — however necessary some of it may be. When it comes to IEDs and the lives of our people, we need the best and brightest. Period. pincusw@washpost.com More world news coverage: - In Niger, hunger crisis raises fears of more child marriages - Cellphone carriers report surge in surveillance requests - Morsi moves to restore Islamist parliament - Read more headlines from around the world


D.C. news in brief

at 202-783-5144 or info@dcpreservation.org. National Philharmonic to teach music at charter school Beginning in the fall, the National Philharmonic will partner with William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts, 705 Edgewood St. NE, to provide music education at the school. Students will receive daily music instruction from the orchestra’s musicians and music teachers, including daily Suzuki-based violin instruction for all kindergarten through second-grade students. Music students in grades six through eight will have two-hour classes customized for their individual projects. In addition to the orchestra, the school has partnered with Shakespeare Theatre and the Kirov Academy of Ballet to provide instruction in theater and dance. All of these services will be free to Doar school families. The school serves approximately 500 students. For information, go to www.wedjschool.us. D.C. AIDS activist receives national education award Adam Tenner, executive director for the nonprofit community health group Metro TeenAIDS, recently received the 2012 Ryan White Award for HIV/AIDS educational work from the National Education Association Health Information Network. Tenner and Metro TeenAIDS have been involved in HIV/AIDS counseling and education among young people in the District for more than 20 years. The group provides HIV testing services at several clinics in the city and through a Friday-night van outreach to youth on the streets. They also host Freestyle, a drop-in center, from 4 to 8 p.m. weeknights at 651 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Freestyle offers peer support and educational activities about HIV prevention, sexual health and substance abuse prevention. For information, go to www.metroteenaids.org. The award is named for White, a hemophiliac who received an AIDS diagnosis in 1984, at age 13. White spent the remaining five years of his life combating prejudice against people living with AIDS. D.C. police complaint board is on Facebook The D.C. Office of Police Complaints has launched a Facebook page featuring news pertaining to police oversight in the District and nationally. Updates on the page will include community outreach events, policy recommendations, annual reports, board meeting dates and agency job listings. To view the page, go to www.facebook.com/officeofpolicecomplaints. Click ‘Like” to receive updates. AmeriCorps grantsgo to education groups Three District-based nonprofit organizations have received AmeriCorps grants totaling more than $2 million from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Serve DC, the city agency for volunteer work, will distribute the funds to the three organizations. The agency will also announce $600,000 in formula-funding grants


How to grow lilies

root growth and also get nice and cold in the ground. This chilling is required for them to flower well the next season. Further, lilies planted in the autumn seem to be much more robust in their first season, and bloom earlier than if they had been planted in the spring. Mark where you plant them with a little bamboo stick so you don’t slice them when planting your spring bulbs. One of the entries at the Garden Club of Virginia's 70th Annual Lily Show. (Adrian Higgins/ADRIAN HIGGINS) Spring planting poses other problems: Unlike tulips or daffodils, lily bulbs can dry out if mishandled. The worst way to acquire lily bulbs is to buy small, cheap bulbs that have been sitting around a store where they can dry out and start sprouting. Party-stopping factoid: Many lily varieties, like sweet corn, put down feeder roots where the stalks emerge from the ground. If a bulb has already sprouted on the shelf, the plant’s ability to later set those feeder roots is compromised, said Dianna Gibson, of B&D Lilies in Port Townsend, Wash. After the flowers fade, it is helpful to remove the buds before the plant puts energy into developing seed. But keep the leaves and the central stalk, whose chlorophyll continues to feed the bulb. The stalk also acts as a marker if you need to lift and divide the bulb, or when you come to plant spring bulbs in November. (Can you tell I expect you to plant lots of spring bulbs?) As with roses, tomatoes, azaleas and daylilies, to name a few, lilies are eaten by deer. If you have voles, which are mouselike creatures that eat the roots of perennials, dig extra-large planting holes so you can surround the bulb with pea gravel. Aphids are drawn to lilies, and they should be hosed off because their feeding not only damages the plant but transmits viruses. Most lilies go through life with a virus or two, but the best defense is to grow them well to avoid stress. They like ample moisture when they are growing and budding, and enriched soil will keep them sated. When removing the old blooms, some fastidious growers dip their pruners in rubbing alcohol between snips to prevent virus spread. Asiatic and L.A. varieties tend to get crowded after two to three years, with reduced flowering, and should be lifted and divided in


Speedy Olympians scrutinized as much as celebrated in modern age of sports

At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Ben Johnson dominated what had been billed as the greatest footrace in history, easily beating American Carl Lewis to win the gold medal. Johnson’s record time of 9.79 seconds vaulted him to hero status in Canada and turned him into an instant international icon. The only sports news that made bigger headlines around the world came three days later: Johnson had tested positive for steroids. His fame turned to infamy, Johnson was stripped of his gold medal and declared a cheater. And in many ways, a new era in sports had begun. “It was stunning, absolutely stunning,” said Don Catlin, an anti-doping chemist who was one of the first to review Johnson’s sample at the Seoul lab, confirming that it showed the presence of stanozolol. “The Games literally stopped in their tracks for 24 hours. People were wandering around in disbelief. The first major drug bust in sports history produced a change in perception that was never undone, and which has colored nearly every world record and many Olympic gold medals since. The London Summer Games, which begin later this month, surely will produce moments when victorious athletes are scrutinized as suspects rather than hailed as champions — never mind that better nutrition, technology, training methods and sports science suggest that records should continue to fall. “The question they always ask the winners is, ‘Are you clean or are you dirty?’ ” said U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon, the U.S. champion in track’s 200 meters. The pall cast by doping might be the most lasting legacy of 21st century sport. Hardest hit are the sports and athletes that deal in the currency of speed. Doped-up offensive linemen only indirectly affect the outcome of football games. Drug-enhanced hitters drive more baseballs out of ballparks, but the drugs themselves can’t place a bat squarely on a 90-mph pitch. In sports in which athletes engage in straight-up racing against other athletes and a clock, drugs don’t just matter, they distort and destroy. Events that once romanced fans and delivered records with enduring clarity — one second in 1900 is the same as one second in 2012 — lost their aura and significance. Two of the last four men to hold the men’s 100-meter world record, the same one Johnson held, were stripped of the marks because of drug bans. Even worse, the expectation of drug use does as


hailed as champions — never mind that better nutrition, technology, training methods and sports science suggest that records should continue to fall. “The question they always ask the winners is, ‘Are you clean or are you dirty?’ ” said U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon, the U.S. champion in track’s 200 meters. The pall cast by doping might be the most lasting legacy of 21st century sport. Hardest hit are the sports and athletes that deal in the currency of speed. Doped-up offensive linemen only indirectly affect the outcome of football games. Drug-enhanced hitters drive more baseballs out of ballparks, but the drugs themselves can’t place a bat squarely on a 90-mph pitch. In sports in which athletes engage in straight-up racing against other athletes and a clock, drugs don’t just matter, they distort and destroy. Events that once romanced fans and delivered records with enduring clarity — one second in 1900 is the same as one second in 2012 — lost their aura and significance. Two of the last four men to hold the men’s 100-meter world record, the same one Johnson held, were stripped of the marks because of drug bans. Even worse, the expectation of drug use does as much damage as the reality of it. It doesn’t matter if you are clean, if nobody actually believes it. Ben Johnson’s bust “tainted the field,” said Curtis Frye, a longtime U.S. track and field coach. “The best guy isn’t the best guy, he’s the best-assisted guy. It hurt track and field in a tangible, personal way with Joe Citizen.” American track star Lashinda Demus, the reigning world champion in the 400-meter hurdles, said the questions are so justifiable that she finds herself asking them. “You have suspicions when somebody runs fast,” Demus said. “I’m sure people have suspicions of me.” Problems at home Brooks Johnson, a longtime U.S. Olympic track coach, speculated that justification for doping began to emerge soon after World War II, as nations whose youth had been decimated through combat felt they had the right to enhance their reduced ranks of young athletes with steroids and other substances. By the 1960s, questions about performance-enhancing drug use began to emerge among Olympic insiders, especially in sports such as weightlifting. Athletes got bulkier and acne — a side effect of steroid use — started showing up on the backs of sculpted stars. In 1967, a British cyclist who had


God particle discovery is a win for science over superstition

The author is a contributor to The Washington Post's local faith leader network. A lot of people don’t know that many of the great discoveries in particle physics are largely exercises in statistical analysis. Flipping a coin a dozen times will provide a very limited understanding of probability. A run of a million tosses will sharply define the limits of probability. Getting seven heads in ten tosses is not especially noteworthy. Getting seven hundred thousand heads out of a million tosses would reveal something real at work on the coin. So it goes in particle physics. Small things need lots of samples to paint a complete picture. Instead of flipping coins in the air, the physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, use two beams of protons traveling in a vacuum at 99.9999% of the speed of light around a 17-mile-long magnetic ring. The two beams are traveling in opposite directions and are magnetically maneuvered to collide within a detector the size of a house. Each experimental run produces hundreds of quadrillions of collisions. Those collisions are individual data points that, cumulatively show the presence of... something, right where the Higgs boson, and nothing else, ought to be. To paraphrase Joe Biden, it’s really kind of a big deal. The 40-year-long search for the Higgs boson is a fascinating and inspiring story of really smart people doing really smart things. The technology manifest in the Large Hadron Collider is dazzling in scale, complexity and vision. It is the largest most complex machine ever devised by humans, and is being used to slowly, meticulously peel back the layers to get a glimpse of the of the inner workings of the Universe. The very asking of the question, what causes stuff to have mass, has more profound implications for understanding reality than when Isaac Newton first noticed that gravity was a thing. The discovery of the Higgs boson has already shown us something about the universe - something deep and fundamental - that we did not know a week ago. And it’s only running at half power. As a species, we are all richer for the discovery of the Higgs boson in ways that may take decades, or centuries, to understand. Those with less propensity for fascination want to know what are the practical applications for such a discovery? Ask a person in 1957 what the laser could be used


London Olympics, cloudy with a chance of chaos

planning and potentially affecting the medal count. Athletes, experts say, are competing at levels so high that every advantage counts, with inclement weather sometimes throwing even top competitors off their game. For example, Jesse Williams, the 2011 world champion in the high jump, struggled in the rain during Olympic qualifying and barely made the U.S. team. With a history of not performing his best in precipitation, Williams has shifted most of his training from Manhattan, Kan., where temperatures have topped 100 degrees, to Eugene, Ore., where the damp, temperate climate more closely mimics the conditions in London. England’s soggy lead-up to Olympics (The Washington Post/Met Office, U.K.’s national weather service) “He’s been challenged by inclement weather before, but he’s recognized what he’s likely to encounter in London, and he’s decided to train more in Oregon,” said Kansas State’s Cliff Rovelto, who coaches all three U.S. high jumpers. “It’s just one factor, one that’s been at the back of his mind.” Others, meanwhile, are praying for rain. American Khadevis Robinson, competing in the 800 meters, said the wet weather has in the past proved to be a problem for Kenyan David Rudisha, the favorite. “You know, he’s only lost twice in the last couple of years, both times in rain, which, by his own admission, is something he says is challenging for him,” Robinson said. “As an athlete, you use this to tell yourself, ‘Okay, maybe this gives me an opening, maybe this gives me a chance.’ Because it’s London, and you know it’s going to rain.” London Olympics planners, acutely aware of the weather challenges, have gone to great lengths to minimize potential disruptions. They’ve planted special grass and built a filtration system into the equestrian courses, a move that could prevent a repeat of two recent events in the English countryside that were canceled because of heavy rains. Officials ordered a tailor-made cover for the BMX track in East London to ensure it keeps dry. Five sailing routes have been identified to cope with possible weather issues. Olympic Park will have five full-time meteorologists, with staffing 24 hours a day. And additional days of competition are being built into several sports — such as rowing and tennis — that could be affected by weather. To be sure, weather plays a role at all Summer Olympics. In Athens in 2004, for instance, marathon runners had to practice at the crack


Tridium’s Niagara Framework: Marvel of connectivity illustrates new cyber risks

much thought to the security of commercial control systems on the Internet. Tridium executives said attacks seemed unlikely, because hackers had not traditionally targeted such systems. In interviews, the executives said they and their customers generally assumed that control systems were buffered somewhat by their obscurity. Rios and other “white hat” hackers — those who seek to improve security by exposing flaws — noticed Niagara systems popping up online in recent years, as office buildings, apartment complexes and other facilities automated heating systems, security and other operations. One researcher documented thousands of “portals” online. Others shared details about Niagara locations and speculated about their security. But the interest did not take hold beyond a small cadre of security specialists, because few people grasped the implications of Tridium’s business and its expanding reach. Commercial control systems rely on computer software, microprocessors and networks. They do not have to be as quick or as finely calibrated as the industrial control systems that run power generators, manufacturing equipment and other heavy machinery. But they are far more numerous. In 1996, Sublett and five colleagues wanted to give customers options to connect a wide variety of devices into a single network. At the time, devices had to be controlled separately by each manufacturer’s software. The team formed Tridium and designed Niagara to leverage the technology that is at the core of the Web. The Web uses the universal Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, to facilitate computer-to-computer communication over the Internet. In 1999, Tridium introduced the software framework to the market. Niagara permitted other companies to tailor the software to incorporate any device. At its core, Niagara serves as a kind of middleman that transforms the electronic babble of every network-connected device into a single manageable language. Like the Web, Niagara was easy to use, and word spread in the world of control systems. Over the next few years, so many smaller companies began licensing Niagara to use in building automation projects that the big makers of commercial control systems began to follow suit. In 2005, as the notion of connecting machines to cyberspace was gaining momentum, Honeywell International bought the company for an undisclosed amount and allowed Tridium to operate independently. Sales of the system soared, and Tridium’s promotional materials include examples of Niagara’s growing presence around the world. In Chicago, the Niagara software manages heating, lighting, security and more for two federal government


Mike Daisey on the truth and facts of ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs’

shared. “I offer these things as points of interest and points of engagement, but they’re not excuses,” Daisey says evenly, working on a second latte and ignoring his roast beef on brioche. “People are very allergic to excuses from me. People will hear anything I say as an excuse. If you live inside of it, and we all talk about it, this is what I think about. But they’re not excuses.” His topics are broad, and Daisey — dressed in his familiar black outfit of trousers and open collar shirt — riffs through issues like a seasoned but wounded pundit. His primary targets: Apple. China. Theater. Journalism. He says he understands what the endpoint of this particular journalistic exercise will be. “It will be a piece of fiction,” Daisey says, “woven from the things that happened here, that we said to each other, in an attempt to tell the truth.” ‘I would still do it’ Talking without a break for nearly three hours, the post-scandal Daisey is contrite. But also combative. Seemingly open. Certainly not sounding like a heavyweight ready to deliver his own requiem. ● On “fiction”: “I wish I could separate my unethical behavior from the conversation about the complexity of truth in fiction. That’s aggravating because it’s actually a very complicated, fascinating topic.” He smiles, and here comes the mandatory asterisk. “But that does not mean that my path through this particular situation is complex and fascinating. A lot of mine is very straightforward unethical behavior.” He contends that the modern cultural bias that devalues topical issues in fiction — certainly in U.S. theater — lured him toward the “nonfiction” billing for “Steve Jobs.” “Some facts were injured in the telling of this story. The truth, however, remains unharmed.” So read the acknowledgments page of “21 Dog Years: Doing Time @Amazon.com” a decade ago; thus has most of his work been received. “There was a lot of talking about it,” Daisey says of the “Steve Jobs” fiction/nonfiction tempest. “I don’t know how much of it was fruitful. That’s the part that kind of bums me out.” ● On the impact and fallout of “Steve Jobs”: “I would still do it. And since I would still do it, I think they should take their best shot at me. Anybody who’s upset, they should go ahead and be upset.” ● On the climate around him: “What is the weather?


Frustrated by Iran talks, Congress presses for harsher sanctions

undermine efforts to build an international consensus against Iran. In private meetings, White House officials have warned that overly broad restrictions could prove costly for Iran’s neighbors such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, countries that have supported U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran. “After a while it comes a question of ‘Who are you hurting,’ ” said a congressional aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with administration officials. “If you completely cut off Iran’s ability to make payments to some of its neighbors, that’s going to affect these countries’ enthusiasm for helping us further.” Iran’s response to the sanctions has been mixed. After years of dismissing the effect of sanctions, a growing chorus of officials and lawmakers there has acknowledged serious financial harm and called for measures to prop up the country’s economy. But Wednesday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reverted to rhetoric he frequently used before the recent round of nuclear talks began in April. In a speech posted on his Web site, he said Iran was “100 times stronger” today because of three decades of economic sanctions. “These days Westerners are being sensational about sanctions,” Khamenei was quoted as saying, “but they don’t understand that they themselves vaccinated Iran through their sanctions imposed over the last 30 years.” Iranian officials also have taken steps to limit local news accounts describing the economic toll of the sanctions. In commentary on official Iranian Web sites, the head of Iran’s Culture Ministry cautioned journalists against publishing reports contrary to the official line. “Our country is not in a position to allow the media to publish news or analysis which is not compatible with the regime’s and national interests,” the culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, was quoted as saying. Despite the warning, local newspapers and broadcasters have carried numerous reports highlighting the deteriorating fortunes of key industries such as petroleum and automobile manufacturing, which is down 40 percent over the past year. “We cannot say that this situation is simply because of sanctions,” said Roohollah Beigi, a cleric and member of parliament. “A large part of the issue of high prices is due to mismanagement by the authorities.” Rezaian reported from Tehran. More world news coverage: - Cloudy, with a chance of chaos - Marvel of connectivity illustrates cyber risks - At Checkpoint Charlie, battle of visions - Read more headlines from around the world


With mixed record of success, Jim Webb eyes last Senate battles

at its base.” “Against some advice, and [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid will be happy to confirm that,” Webb recalled with a laugh, “I wrote my own speech and put economic fairness at the top of it. We forced that issue.” On foreign policy, Webb has helped push the nation toward its recent strategic pivot to Asia, combining increased military resources in the region and enhanced partnerships with the countries that ring China. “We’ve become the office up here in terms of the reconnection with East and Southeast Asia,” Webb said. “We led that.” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said Webb has been “very influential” on Asian policy, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), another committee member and fellow veteran, made a similar point. “He’s taken a real keen interest and it goes back decades, and the interest is both to recognize the emerging strategic and economic impact of Asia, and do it in a thoughtful way,” Reed said. When the United States restored diplomatic relations with Burma this year, a senior State Department official singled out Webb in a background briefing for reporters. “He has pioneered many of these actions,” the official said. “He was one of the first senators on the ground pushing for the release of political prisoners, asking for the United States to engage actively. And I think [Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton] wanted me to underscore our gratitude for his service not only in the Senate but basically as a diplomat in the Senate, and that has been significant.” At times, Webb seems more likely to talk about water rights on the Mekong River and stability in the South China Sea than the James River or the Chesapeake Bay. Unlike many colleagues, he does not appear concerned about ginning up good press back home. “It’s not glitzy stuff,” he said. “It’s not the kind of thing you’re going to see on a talk show, but we’ve made enormous contributions in that area.” ‘Doesn’t really fit into either party’ Webb does make headlines — and sometimes the kind that lead to headaches for fellow Democrats. Republicans frequently invoke his departures from party orthodoxy to criticize Obama and, more recently, Timothy M. Kaine (D), who is running against Allen — Webb’s 2006 foe — to replace Webb. A typical release issued in April by the National Republican Senatorial Committee was headlined: “Webb’s straight


Russian lawmakers approve harsh rules for election monitors, NGOs

the United States. Russia has received more than $2.6 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development since 1992, allocated for social and economic development. The agency has proposed spending about $52 million here during 2013, the bulk of it — nearly $32 million — going to democracy and human rights organizations. But about $9 million is intended for peace and security programs and $11 million for health and environmental projects. Those programs, overseen by Russian government agencies or with a government stake, were exempted from the new law in an amendment ordered this week by Putin, who is now president of Russia. Russian activists and liberal leaders have argued strenuously against the law, to no avail. So have U.N. officials and the United States. “Civil society organizations should be entitled to foreign funding to the same extent as governments are entitled to international assistance,” Maina Kiai, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, said Thursday in Geneva. This week, Patrick Ventrell, a State Department spokesman, said the United States had conveyed “deep concern” to Russia after the Duma approved the first reading of the bill July 6. “We believe that people everywhere should enjoy the same fundamental freedoms and universal human rights,” he told reporters in Washington. The bill also requires NGOs to label any materials or literature they distribute as the work of a foreign agent, a phrase tantamount to “spy” to the Russian ear. Putin employed harsh anti-U.S. rhetoric during his campaign for the presidency, and he has returned sporadically to that theme since his inauguration in May. His critics say he has always relied on the specter of a threat beyond Russia’s borders to rally the nation behind him. But as opposition to his 12-year rule as president and prime minister has grown, Putin and his government have been clamping down on dissent and those who enable it. On Friday, the Duma also passed a law, 238 to 91, making slander a criminal offense and strengthening the penalties for it. Fines for besmirching someone’s honor or dignity can be as much as $15,000 or compulsory labor up to 160 hours. Falsely accusing someone of a serious crime carries a fine of up to $150,000 or 480 hours of compulsory labor. Earlier in the week, the Duma passed a hastily drafted law permitting the government to impose some limits on the Internet.


Buying in bulk: Is it a bargain?

in the winter. “I’m reluctant to buy food in bulk during the summer, but dried goods, pastas, dried beans and canned goods are good things to buy in bulk,” Marks says. Bugs Buying flour or other food you plan to keep open in the kitchen? Marks warns of spoilers other than heat. “There are bugs in the summer that can penetrate open packages,” he says. Know your habits The amount of food your household consumes varies with the seasons. Because of vacations, summer camps and increased outdoor activity, it’s possible that you’re drinking more and eating less. Stocking up on nonperishable liquids is recommended in the heat. Remember that hearty foods — breads, meats, cheeses, vegetables — may not be in demand. Warehouse test It’s still cheaper to buy in bulk Consumer Reports conducted its supermarket ratings report by comparing four common shopping methods: the impulse shopper, the savvy shopper, the off-brand shopper and the warehouse clubber. By comparing the prices of the same grocery basket purchased in four ways, here’s what it found about shopping in bulk: Impulse shopper: $164 A basket of 30 items regardless of sale items and coupons cost more than $160. Savvy shopper: $93 The savvy shopper bought the same brand items in sizes on sale and saved about $70. Store-brand customer: $66 Shopping off-brand, or replacing the 30 items with store-brand products rather than national brands, saved almost $100. Warehouse club: $68 Shoppers who bought the 30 brand items at warehouse stores saved almost $100 (after converting the purchase to units to compare weight). Bottom line: Expert tips Institutional size vs. Multipack Marks reminds us that shopping in bulk can be done two ways: buying institutional sizes of product (such as a six-pound can of tomatoes) or buying multipacks. If you’re buying food, it’s smartest to buy multipacks so most of the food remains sealed until you need it. Ignore the fee Marks estimates that about 100 million people in the United States belong to some sort of warehouse club. That’s because they’re a good deal. “The fee is nominal,” Marks says. “You’re not just buying groceries. You’re buying services, prescription drugs, travel . . . and also clothing and electronics. You can pay off the cost of membership in one purchase.” Go in with a friend For singles in the city who worry about spoilage, Marks suggests splitting bulk-food purchases with a neighbor


Mexico’s Congress presents the ‘unpresentable ones’

While all eyeballs in Mexico were glued to the presidential election this month, the seats of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies were quietly being filled. By the “unpresentable ones.” As they are known in the Mexican news media, los impresentables are legislators whose names do not appear on ballots, who often do not campaign, who, in fact, may be kept out of sight. But based on how many overall votes their respective parties receive at the polls, they are named to the legislature. They are some of the most powerful people in Mexico. They include the heads of major unions — or their grandchildren. Party stalwarts or party hacks, depending on one’s point of view (and party). And the president’s younger sister. They are former governors, government ministers, plus a presidential spokesman or two, and the infamous ex-mayor of Monterrey. These pols are called legisladores chapulines, or grasshoppers, who jump from post to post. And a lot of them, coincidentally, are current or former executives and associates for Mexico’s duopolistic television broadcasters, who are facing the specter of having their airwaves opened to competition. The composition of the Mexican Congress is the product of the country’s proportional system of parliamentary representation. It is constitutional, time-honored and sometimes a little embarrassing. In the Chamber of Deputies, 300 seats are won by direct vote, while 200 are distributed among the parties, in proportion to how many votes overall each party won. In the Senate, which has 128 seats, 96 go to top vote-getters and 32 are the “proportional members.” These proportional seats often go to political heavy hitters who work the back rooms in their respective parties, the seats awarded to repay favors or to share power among interest groups or, to put it in the most favorable light, to keep the best and brightest — be they popular or not — in the nation’s deliberative body. Another advantage in Mexico: Being in Congress grants a politico immunity from prosecution. “While the political parties will deny this, there have been lawmakers over the years that are relieved to find that once they are in Congress, it is more difficult for investigators to question them, to bring them to trial,” said Jeffrey Weldon, a political analyst at the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, a private research university in Mexico City. Places for family members Among the freshman class in the new Congress


Central Japan Railway Co.’s magnetic levitation train running at 311 miles per hour. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg) A small privately owned Washington company is lobbying to develop a high-speed rail system that would take passengers from the District to Baltimore in 15 minutes and to New York in an hour. The Northeast Maglev, a downtown D.C. firm with 30 employees, is working with Central Japan Railway Co. — which operates the Shinkansen bullet train in Japan — to develop a maglev network that would connect Washington and New York, with stops in Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadelphia, including BWI Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. Eventually, the company wants to extend the line to Boston. Trains that use maglev technology, or magnetic levitation, typically travel faster than traditional rail — Shanghai’s maglev train runs at an average of at least 139 miles per hour, compared to Acela Express that runs at an average 84 miles per hour. The only commercial maglev lines are in Aichi, Japan, and Shanghai. Maglev vehicles are suspended above the track and use magnetic propulsion. The project is unrelated to a proposal by Amtrak to build a high-speed rail system in the region by 2040. Amtrak, which runs the Acela Express, last week released a $151 billion proposal to redevelop and build out a high-speed rail network that would enable travel between Philadelphia and New York in 37 minutes, and between Washington and New York in 94 minutes. It is not the first time there’s been an interest in building a maglev system in the Northeast, but previous attempts were halted by lack of support from lawmakers and funding shortfalls. In 2001, officials with the Maryland Department of Transportation, the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Baltimore County and the Maryland Transit Administration formed the Baltimore-Washington Maglev Project, which competed for Federal Railroad Administration consideration to develop a 39-mile maglev line linking Camden Yard in Baltimore, BWI Airport and Union Station in D.C. But the project, which in 2007 was estimated to cost $5.1 billion, was cost-prohibitive and lacked legislative support, Maryland Transit Administration spokesman Terry Owens said. Owens said Northeast Maglev has not yet met with anyone at MTA. The Northeast Maglev project is still in its infancy, according to an attorney advising the company on regulatory and governmental issues. “It hasn’t launched all the way yet,” said John Merrigan, who co-chairs the lobbying practice at DLA


London 2012: Olympics force hard choices for those who fell short of making team

has yet to subside. “I’m trying to use this as opportunity to not feel defined by wrestling or defined by a loss,” she said. “It’s extremely hard to do when four years comes down to one day. To me, that’s been the hardest thing to process.” Once the shock of the loss subsided, Maroulis told friends she was finished with wrestling. “In my mind, I was retired,” she said. But a week later, she was training again. At least Maroulis has the option of continuing. Though all athletes eventually must contemplate second careers, in some cases the timetable is out of their hands. “Clearly, if the Olympics were still in the picture, I’d be training and playing right now,” said Ashley Hansen, one of the top college softball players in the country the past four years. “But I’m not. Yeah, it’s devastating, but that’s the reality.” The Stanford infielder was so good, she was invited to try out for the U.S. Olympic softball team in 2008, when she was still in high school. Growing up in Arizona, a softball hotbed, playing in the Summer Games had always been her dream. Softball first appeared at the Olympics in 1996. But baseball and softball were both removed from the program for these London Games, the first sports in 69 years to be dropped. In August 2009, Hansen was on a conference call where she learned the sport wouldn’t return in 2016. “My dreams were shattered right in front of me,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever fully get over that it was taken away. It felt like I was so close. I guess I was born at a bad time.” Instead of living in the Olympic Village in London and preparing for a gold medal game, one of the world’s best softball players will instead enter the workforce this summer, beginning a new job as a business development associate for Inflection, a Silicon Valley technology startup. “Obviously, I wish I was heading to London pretty soon, but that’s not the case,” she said. “You can’t dwell on what could’ve been. You have to live in reality and the reality is there aren’t many options for me to continue playing softball and support myself or someday support a family.” Last week, Hansen received an e-mail asking if she’s interesting in pitching for the corporate softball team. Pressing forward “Jab! Jab! Jab!” Ford


Israeli plantation grows no-high marijuana as a medicine to ease pain

A worker tends to a cannabis crop at an Israeli plantation developing marijuana that can alleviate symptoms without getting patients high. (BAZ RATNER/REUTERS) SAFED, ISRAEL — Here, at a medical marijuana plantation atop the hills of the Galilee, researchers say they have grown marijuana that can ease the symptoms of some ailments without getting patients high. “Sometimes the high is not always what they need. Sometimes it is an unwanted side effect. For some of the people, it’s not even pleasant,” said Zach Klein, head of development at Tikun Olam, the company developing the plant. Cannabis has more than 60 constituents called cannabinoids. THC is perhaps the best known, less for its medical benefits than for its psychoactive properties that give people a “high” feeling. But cannabis also contains cannabidiol, or CBD, a substance that some researchers say has anti-inflammatory benefits. Unlike THC, it hardly binds to the brain’s receptors and can therefore work without getting patients stoned. “CBD plants are available in different forms all over the world,” said Klein, adding that his are THC-free and very high in CBD. Tikun Olam began its research on CBD-enhanced cannabis in 2009 and about six months ago came up with a strain called Avidekel, Klein said. It contains 15.8 percent CBD but only traces — less than 1 percent — of THC. Recreational marijuana is illegal in Israel, but medicinal use has been permitted since 1993, according to the health ministry. It is used to treat 9,000 people in Israel suffering from illnesses such as cancer, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder. In some countries, Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals sells an under-the-tongue spray called Sativex that is designed to minimize highs by manipulating ratios of active ingredients. Raphael Mechoulam, a professor of medicinal chemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said Avidekel is thought to be the first Israeli-developed CBD-enriched cannabis with no THC. Ruth Gallily of the Hebrew University, who works for Tikun Olam and has been studying CBD for more than 12 years, said she has found that the substance has impressive anti-inflammatory qualities. She has been testing the company’s CBD-enhanced cannabis on mice and expects clinical trials to begin in a few months. Avidekel is a new strain of a plant that is already permitted for medical use, so there is nothing stopping patients who are already being treated with marijuana from trying it. About 10


Fauquier County pet adoption

Jake is an adult male hound mix. Pretty is an adult female domestic shorthair. The Fauquier SPCA is at 9350 Rogues Rd., Casanova. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays; noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. For information, call 540-788-9000.


In Afghan village, fears that government can’t provide after Americans leave

KARZ, Afghanistan — As for the Afghan government, it remains all but invisible, even though Karz is the ancestral home of President Hamid Karzai. “The government itself has not done anything,” said Abdul Ali, a village elder. The United States and its allies have devoted years of effort and billions of dollars to improve the delivery of basic services in rural Afghanistan. If Afghan leadership were to have taken hold anywhere, it might well have been in Karz, a farming area on the outskirts of Kandahar city still populated by relatives and tribesmen of the man who has ruled Afghanistan through a decade of war. Instead, what is emerging in ever starker relief is a governance vacuum as U.S. forces begin to draw down. As the Americans leave, taking with them a main source of economic stimulus, U.S. officials and residents say what worries them most is the weakness of the local and provincial governments being left behind, which command virtually no resources and almost no authority. That lack of government progress is apparent every day in Karz with the line of villagers beating a path to Hashmat Karzai’s door. Karzai holds no official post; his prominence in the village stems from his status as a prosperous and powerful tribal elder and his relationship with the president. He is the former owner of a private security company, Asia Security Group, which sent men to guard U.S. bases, and he currently rents out land for a hotel near NATO’s Kandahar Airfield. And yet each day the villagers of Karz file into Karzai’s courtyard with a fresh list of problems they say they can find no audience for in the offices of government. One by one they plead for electricity for their irrigation pumps, a clinic for their sick children, or information on the whereabouts of a relative detained by American troops. “Where should he go? Which door should he knock?” Hashmat Karzai said as he motioned to one of his supplicants. “This is what’s killing the people of Kandahar. You go try to see the governor, it’s impossible to see him. The police chief? The mayor? It would take a month to see them.” “There’s a distance between locals and the government. There’s a big gap,” Karzai said. “How are you going to cover that gap? I haven’t figured it out yet.” ‘Not delivering the services’ By September, the number of


U.S., Russia try to reset and retrench relations, but Magnitsky bill threatens process

themselves as foreign agents. Russian activists say the foreign agent law, which the upper house, the Federation Council, is expected to rubber-stamp this week, was pushed along in retaliation for the Magnitsky bill. Such are the challenges of the reset, a course President Obama set upon while taking office to transform deteriorated relations by finding areas of common interest. On those grounds, the administration declares it a success, with agreement on the New START nuclear weapons treaty, Russian membership in the World Trade Organization, cooperation on Iran and permission to supply Afghanistan through Russian territory. Now comes the retrenchment, with Russia blocking U.S. initiatives to resolve the conflict in Syria, threatening retaliation if the West proceeds with a missile defense system in Europe and cracking down on democracy-building organizations that receive U.S. funds. Magnitsky’s death Between lobbying Congress and meeting with administration officials, Malkin was off to Chicago, where he promoted the opening of a Russian consulate and met with political, financial and cultural figures. In Washington, his delegation was trying to convince American leaders that they were wrong about Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian who was working for an American law firm in Moscow when he uncovered a $230 million tax fraud. When Magnitsky accused Russian police and tax officials of the crime, they arrested him. After nearly a year in pretrial detention, he died in prison at 37. Russia’s presidential human rights commission has rejected official explanations that Magnitsky died of natural causes and suggested that he may have been tortured. U.S. and European officials have asserted that Russia has covered up the facts and have been considering sanctions, with U.S. legislators naming a bill in Magnitsky’s honor. Russia’s leadership regards the bill as an insulting interference in its domestic affairs. In Washington, the Malkin delegation presented documents that it contended were produced by a parliamentary investigation and showed Magnitsky was lying, a drunk and out of shape. The documents also showed that Magnitsky’s client, Hermitage Capital, run by American-born William Browder, was guilty of tax evasion, the delegation said. In an interview Tuesday, Valery Borshchev, who as a member of Russia’s presidential human rights commission conducted a detailed inquiry into Magnitsky’s death, said the Russian parliament had done no investigation. “What they said was nonsense, complete nonsense,” Borshchev said. His commission found that investigators prevented Magnitsky from receiving medical treatment and that he was handcuffed and beaten with


As London Olympics loom, so do problems

LONDON — Even as athletes begin arriving in London for the 2012 Summer Games, Olympic organizers are coming under fire over bungled security staffing and other issues that have prompted the British media and opposition lawmakers to already declare the event a “fiasco.” On Tuesday, organizers said they would withdraw half a million tickets for soccer matches and reduce stadium sizes because of scant demand in farther-flung host cities including Glasgow and Cardiff. A day earlier, U.S. and other athletes were hauled around for hours on at least two buses that lost their way en route to the Olympic Village in East London. That joy ride, however, paled in comparison with the security blunders casting a shadow ahead of the Games. The private contractor hired to provide guards — British giant G4S — conceded last week that it was at least 3,500 personnel short, sending the military scrambling to make up the gap. On Tuesday, furious lawmakers summoned the company’s chief executive, Nick Buckles, before Parliament for an emergency hearing. They grilled him on management failings and reports that even more G4S staffers were ill trained or were failing to report to work at Olympic sites across Britain, forcing police departments to step in to provide additional security in some areas outside London. “It’s a humiliating shambles for the country, isn’t it?” said David Winnick, a member of the opposition Labor Party. Buckles replied, “I cannot disagree with you.” Meanwhile, the press issued fresh diatribes against Olympic traffic planning in London, where dedicated lanes for Olympic-related transport were reportedly confusing motorists and complicating what is already one of the world’s busiest rush hours. Many drivers appeared not to realize that most of the newly labeled lanes could still be used until next week. But at least one major transit spot was getting relatively high marks — Heathrow Airport, which had its busiest day ever Monday as athletes began pouring in. Heathrow is notorious for its long immigration lines, particularly as border control staffing has been cut in recent months. But on Monday, officials said, the maximum wait time for the more than 236,000 arriving passengers was about 24 minutes. “We have spent seven years preparing for the Games’ challenge,” said Nick Cole, head of Olympic planning with the British Airports Authority. “Now we are putting that planning into action with thousands of extra staff and volunteers on hand to welcome


Israeli coalition unravels as centrist Kadima party quits over draft dispute

Israel's Kadima party, led by Shaul Mofaz, quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition in a dispute over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military. (Baz Ratner/Reuters) JERUSALEM — The defection ended one of the largest coalitions in Israel’s history, a little more than two months after Kadima rocked Israeli politics by joining Netanyahu’s hawkish government. That union rescued Netanyahu’s alliance, which had been on the verge of collapse over the draft issue, and Tuesday’s split revived the possibility of early elections. Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz, a former military chief, had pledged to push through a new military draft law that would end exemptions for ultra-Orthodox seminary students. On Tuesday, he accused Netanyahu of pandering to smaller religious factions in the coalition by blocking a solution that would sharply accelerate recruitment of the religious students. That gave Kadima “no choice” but to abandon the alliance, Mofaz said. Netanyahu “chose his own interests above the interests of the Israeli people,” Mofaz told reporters. “I was ready for historic compromises, but I had a red line, which I could not cross.” The draft is one of the knottiest domestic issues in Israel, where a large part of the national identity is premised on universal service in what is called the “people’s army.” Citing that principle, the Israeli Supreme Court early this year struck down a law that exempted religious students, an exemption that has fueled resentment among Israel’s secular majority. Coalition parties were engaged in heated arguments as an Aug. 1 deadline to replace the law approached, but an agreement looked less likely by the day. Last week, Netanyahu disbanded a committee he had tasked with drafting a new law. He has said he is committed to expanding the draft but wants to do it more slowly to avoid sparking a culture war. “I regret your decision to give up on an opportunity to make a historic change,” Netanyahu wrote in a letter to Mofaz, part of which was released by the prime minister’s office Tuesday. “The only way to implement this on the ground is gradually and without tearing Israeli society apart.” Kadima’s decision to join the government in May gave the coalition 94 of 120 parliamentary seats and was deemed a political coup by Netanyahu, who was then facing threats of defection by religious and secular right-wing parties over the military draft law. The large majority raised some hopes for breakthroughs on


South Korea outpaces the U.S. in engineering degrees

Helble, dean of the engineering school at Dartmouth College. American universities pride themselves on their freedom and on nurturing independent thinking in their students. “But if you need to rapidly develop technology and train many people, a tightly controlled system works,” he said. To entice the best students into science and tech fields, the South Korean government also created a flagship university -- Kaist, or the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The nationally sponsored school—similar to military academies in the United States, but dedicated to furthering South Korea’s economy—showcased engineering as a prestigious profession fundamental to the nation’s success starting in 1971. South Koreans who had gone abroad to study were lured back with handsome salaries to teach. And the best students in the country were recruited with the promise of free tuition and an exemption from mandatory military service, in return for a promise to work in a government lab for three years after graduation. Over the years, Kaist graduates have filled government research institutes and top jobs at companies like Samsung and Hyundai. Admission became so prized that parents in the countryside would wave banners and host a banquet for the village if their son or daughter was accepted. Lee, now 33, remembers watching a popular television drama called “Kaist” about life and love in the laboratory when he was a teenager, and imagining himself there. “I never missed an episode,” he said. He earned a master’s degree there after finishing first in his undergraduate class at Sogong University in Seoul. On a warm spring afternoon, the grassy fields at the 300-acre campus south of Seoul were deserted but the labs were full. Students were designing exercise equipment for people with Alzheimer’s disease, studying the olfactory systems of fruit flies, and fine-tuning an electric bus that recharges wirelessly as it drives over electric strips embedded in the road. Kaist president Suh Nampyo, a former mechanical engineering professor and department head at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he wants to make the school not just the best in South Korea, but one of the top 10 science universities in the world. (Kaist was 94th on the 2011-12 Times Higher Education world ranking, up from 132 in 2007). He has launched a series of reforms to stir competitiveness, offering all-English instruction and overhauling the admissions system. International applications are up, particularly from Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.


Not so fast on blaming global warming

CAN YOU BLAME the scorching weather on climate change? Not really. Or at least not yet. In a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report released last week, researchers attempted to determine how much they could attribute six extreme weather events last year to human-caused global warming. Even now, months on, some experts worry that drawing conclusions is precipitous. Figuring out what caused a flood in Thailand or a drought in Texas is hard. Doing it quickly is harder. Scientists involved in NOAA’s report reckoned that climate change did significantly increase the likelihood of last year’s warm winter in the United Kingdom and heat wave in Texas, though their calculations are admittedly imperfect. Experts also determined they could not show that global warming contributed to flooding in Thailand — the level of rainfall wasn’t historically unusual. The upshot? Anyone who, in the midst of a hurricane here or a heat wave there, simplistically blames greenhouse gas emissions is wrong. But it’s also wrong to blame all extreme events on forces beyond human control. Recurring climate patterns such as El Niño and La Niña can influence extreme weather. So can chance fluctuations in a massive, complicated Earth system. But natural variability doesn’t mean human activity hasn’t been playing an increasing role in the formation of extreme events, or in the scale of the resulting damage. Most obviously, more people are living in environmentally precarious zones. Stripping land or degrading wetlands can leave humans more vulnerable to floods, as in Thailand, or hurricanes, as in New Orleans. And the planet is certainly warming. Humans releasing heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere are almost certainly responsible for much, if not all, of that warming; the particular patterns of warming, comparison to the historical record, and the basic precepts of physics all indicate this. On average, more energy in the system probably increases the intensity or frequency of certain extreme weather events, such as very high temperatures, across the planet. Patterns emerge. In recent years, there have been more record-breaking heat events and fewer record-breaking cold ones. Scientists are also beginning — but only beginning — to assess how much particular incidents can be attributed to climate change in anything like real time. So, while the science of attribution improves, what can you say the next time you’re suffering through a sustained heat wave? That this is the sort of thing will get more common


Stepping lightly on the moon: Anticipating tourists, researchers want to preserve Apollo 11 sites

protect the lunar landing sites. It received a virtually unprecedented request from Google Lunar X Prize contestants to explore how to visit the six Apollo landing sites and several unmanned Surveyor spacecraft from the 1960s. Last year, a team of senior NASA engineers, researchers and lunar scientists as well as external experts in historic preservation drafted recommendations for any group or nation interested in visiting U.S. lunar sites. The paper, “NASA’s Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts,” recognizes the significance of the sites and takes an important first step toward protecting them. It defines excluded areas within the historic sites, identifies concerns, and makes recommendations associated with descent and landing, surface mobility and contamination. Google Lunar X Prize announced in May, during a news conference with NASA, that it intended to honor the NASA recommendations when judging teams’ mobility plans. But Google is not legally bound to this pledge, and no one is required to observe the NASA proposals. The legal requirement to preserve American history is embedded in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which created the National Register of Historic Places. Some properties on the list are exceptionally important to our heritage and become national historic landmarks. Tranquility Base meets that criterion. Once a property is such a landmark, it can be nominated by the United States for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which recognizes properties around the globe that are of universal significance. Following the lead of California and New Mexico, which listed the lunar landing sites on their respective state historical registers in 2010, we have worked with Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) and his staff to draft legislation to make Tranquility Base a national historic landmark. On this anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, we urge the leaders of our nation, which launched the most ambitious dream on Earth and made it happen, to again take the lead in bringing nations together — this time to protect humanity’s extraordinary lunar heritage. We must ensure that our shared history is not trampled when people revisit the moon. We did the right thing in 1969, and we can honor that achievement by working together again to protect these sites for future generations. Read more about this debate: Five myths about NASA The Post’s View: What's missing from the bold plans for human spaceflight


London Olympics 2012: Moratorium begins on athletes marketing themselves

an issue that continues to rear its head in every Games,” said Lisa Baird, the USOC’s chief marketing officer. “There are ambush marketers out there that want to imply an association with the Olympics. They’ll take terminology; imagery, and they will get very close or crossing the line to really imply that they are a sponsor. That hurts us.” Several athletes and their representatives, though, believe the athletes suffer more. “Absolutely terrible,” said Erika Wright, who represents Lochte. Evan Morgenstein, the chief executive of PMG Sports — whose client list includes several prominent swimmers, gymnasts, skiers and other athletes — said the USOC “has rendered these kids indentured servants.” “It’s the big issue at this time of year, because the athletes’ eligibility is at stake,” said Peter Carlisle of Octagon, Phelps’s longtime agent. “Whatever your opinion might be, the stakes are high.” The IOC allows official association with the Games — use of the Olympic rings, images of venues and the like — to 11 “worldwide” sponsors, companies such as Coca-Cola, General Electric and McDonald’s. Such deals have been estimated to be worth $100 million for every four years, a period encompassing one Winter and one Summer Games. The USOC receives 20 percent of the revenue generated from those deals. The USOC also has relationships with a long list of companies — Deloitte, Hilton, Kellogg’s, Nike, among others — that grants those companies rights to use Olympic themes in its ads domestically. Those relationships go a long way toward funding the U.S. Olympic program. “In a sense, the Olympics are kind of favoring the sponsors over the athletes,” said Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert at Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco. “But that’s where the money comes from.” The rules have been in place for decades, but they have been increasingly contentious as more athletes try to build their individual brands around their Olympic performances. This applies to someone like Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games and has become a marketing juggernaut. But it also affects lesser-known Olympians. Take Conor Dwyer, a 23-year-old swimmer who will make his first Olympic appearance in London. Wright, his agent, wanted to help him sell shirts that say, “Go Dwyer” or “Team Dwyer” during the Games. The USOC said no. “They take your name away,” Wright said. “It’s almost like they stifle free speech. . . .


Washington Latin charter expected to move into old D.C. school building

grades 5 through 12. “It’s just going to be a great step forward for our program to have a permanent home in one location.” The school opened in 2006 in a church and then moved to its current arrangement: three different properties along 16th Street Northwest in Ward 4. Older students sometimes walk three blocks to get from one class to the next. They will get to learn under one roof at the old Rudolph site, on Second Street NW, as early as the 2013-14 school year. But first, that building — which was closed because of low enrollment in 2008 under then-Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee — will need millions of dollars in renovations. Typically, a charter school receives a year’s free rent for each $1 million it invests in renovation, up to a maximum of 15 years, city officials said. Terms of Washington Latin’s lease are still to be worked out. While a number of old D.C. public school buildings now house charter schools, others have been turned over to commercial developers or other city agencies — a source of frustration for charter advocates. The Department of General Services controls eight surplus public school buildings, including Rudolph, to which charter schools have the “right of first offer” under D.C. law. City officials solicited bids for four of the buildings in April, and eight charter schools submitted proposals. Only Washington Latin was successful. The other seven applications were rejected, and the other three buildings — Young, J.F. Cook and Langston, all in Ward 5 — remain unassigned for now. “It’s always a victory when any building gets awarded to a charter school in this town,” said Robert Cane, executive director of Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, a pro-charter group. “As for the other three, we’re really disappointed,” he said. The unsuccessful applicants included DC Bilingual and Washington Yu Ying, which had both applied for the Rudolph site; Richard Wright, Eagle Academy and Washington Math Science Technology, which had applied for Young; and Mundo Verde and Booker T. Washington for a combined project at J.F. Cook and Langston. Wright said the seven proposals failed for a range of reasons, including poor academic performance, inadequate financial capacity and incomplete paperwork. He said applicants will be able to hear critiques from city officials and submit revised proposals when solicitation for bids on the three buildings begins again in the next few weeks.


Nanotechnology, the science of small, is growing in Montgomery

In the cult classic “Fantastic Voyage,” scientist Jan Benes escaped the Iron Curtain only to be attacked on American soil, nearly taking the key to indefinite miniaturization of matter to the grave. With the aid of a microscopic submarine, a five-person team had 60 minutes to travel through his body, remove the blood clot threatening his life, and escape. The promise of the movie — machine-aided shrinking — has yet to be fulfilled. But nanotechnology — which uses an ability to see, measure and manipulate matter at the atomic scale — is changing the way we store computer data, make clothing and treat cancer, according to documents from Debra Kaiser, chief of the ceramics division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg. The federal agency encourages this emerging sector by working with U.S. industry to make and measure things on the nanoscale, said Lloyd Whitman, deputy director of NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. “A lot of people think of nanotech as the people who are going to build that submarine [from ‘Fantastic Voyage’],” said Robert Celotta, director of the Center for Nanoscale Science at NIST. “We’re already dependent on it.” Public and private organizations in Montgomery County are making it happen. Nanotechnology is the science of small. If you take a dime and cut it into 1,000 layers, that is a micrometer. Slice a layer into 1,000 more layers, you have a nanometer, which is just a few atoms thick. There is no official definition of nanoscale, but Kaiser said it generally is regarded as anything smaller than 100 nanometers. Nanoparticles have been used for thousands of years to color stained glass, and are commonly used in cosmetics and personal-care products. NIST is helping find out whether they are safe for humans and the environment. It features four labs and two facilities that allow private business to use million-dollar pieces of equipment to prototype parts. The $5 million electron beam lithography system, which can be used to create computer chips and other products, costs about $350 per hour, Celotta said. The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, a NIST user facility that enables research and development at the nanoscale, has helped improve dental implants and magnetic computer storage, and recently hosted IBM, which was prototyping parts for its next super-computer, he said. “You can make a nanomaterial out of almost anything,” said Vincent Hackley, a