Rogan: Why Guantanamo Bay should stay open

Middle East, al-Qaeda would project its terrorizing ideology across the world. This, I’m afraid, is not a point of debate. It is a fact of reality proved by the many former Guantanamo inmates who, once released, have returned to terrorism. According to the Director of National Intelligence, these “terrorist returners”account Yet it gets worst. Responding to the Islamic State’s rise, some former inmates are now re-aligned to the ISIL/Islamic State Caliphate. Their number This links to the broader issue of what relocation to the U.S. domestic penal systems offers Guantanamo terrorists. Again, the first issue is propaganda. As I’ve noted, trans-nationally minded Salafi-Jihadists do not see U.S. federal court and corrections systems as extensions of Guantanamo Bay. Instead, they see these systems as a means to proselytize for their agenda. The greater degree of openness in the U.S. domestic criminal justice is normally a good thing. The openness also offers terrorists a means to mobilize (unfortunately delusional) advocacy groups and generate anti-American lies in global media. Lies that recruit new terrorists. Just look at how Guantanamo inmates use propaganda warfare already. Whether in agitating against female military police officers, or ambushing other U.S. MPs with improvised weapons, many of these detainees show a consistent desire for jihadism however possible. The second problem posed by closing Guantanamo is security. Where, as at present, Guantanamo inmates are guarded by the U.S. military and contained in a hardened facility, any U.S. domestic prison facility would be far more vulnerable to attack. This is true in the obvious sense of inspiring attackers (in the vein of the Garland, Texas attackers) to travel to the prison location without having to cross the Caribbean. But the threat would also extend against the local communities surrounding any prison. Remember, Salafi-Jihadists take particular pleasure in symbolic targeting operations. Of course, attempting to dilute the obvious controversy of their proposals, relocation advocates would have us believe that Guantanamo’s inmate population is made up mostly of men who simply got lost on the way to an Afghan wedding. This is perfectly encapsulated in the celebrity treatment of recently released British inmate, Shaker Aamer. While Mr. Aamer is presented as a martyr against injustice, in reality he is a man who served al-Qaeda’s ideology and its senior officers. The same is true of most other inmates at Guantanamo. And don’t buy the “we create more enemies with Guantanamo” line. As the


2017: The year in preview

presidents talk about cutting budgets than actually do it. Top Washington developers have become leery of betting that the market can remain strong for much longer, but if more people keep arriving, rent will probably keep rising. — Jonathan O’Connell Restaurant-goers enjoy dining outdoors at the Cantina Marina in Southwest D.C. (Farrah Skeiky /For The Washington Post) d.c. food Restaurants headto the rivers The Potomac River and its tributaries flow in and around Washington, providing some of the most striking views in the city. You’d hardly know it, however, by drinking and dining in local restaurants, few of which take advantage of the District’s original live streams. You might as well be feasting in a Vegas casino, surrounded by desert. There’s no mystery behind this shortage of waterfront dining: The federal and D.C. governments own and operate a lot of riverfront property, much of it reserved for monuments, military use or national parks. But one strip of real estate on the Southwest Waterfront had long been a commercial eyesore until developers broke ground in 2014 for the Wharf, a multibillion-dollar project that will eventually feature between 20 and 22 restaurants and bars, some of which will debut in October. And that will make 2017 the year D.C.’s food scene finally migrates to the river. Once every phase is complete, the Wharf will boast a who’s who of Washington chefs, bartenders and restaurateurs: Fabio Trabocchi, Cathal Armstrong, Nick Stefanelli, the Hilton brothers, Todd Thrasher, Jamie Leeds, Mike Isabella and Jennifer Carroll. These people will, in turn, make locals and tourists alike realize they’d been dying for water. Diners will no longer have to travel to the Eastern Shore or — God help us — Georgetown for a chance to enjoy the Mid-Atlantic’s natural waterways with a knife and fork (or wooden mallet) in hand. Other developers have followed suit with similar mixed-use waterfront projects, including at the Portals near Maryland Avenue SW and Riverpoint on Buzzard Point, the future home of D.C. United. The Navy Yard, of course, has already introduced Washingtonians to a few restaurants with views of the Anacostia. In the years to come, that trickle will become a tsunami. Waterfront dining may one day be as common as steakhouses, those hidebound concepts that outsiders consider the mascots of D.C. dining. — Tim Carman Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin battles for position against St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex


2017: The year in preview

Church that emphasizes the marginalized. — Sarah Pulliam Bailey An employee of Amazon PrimeNow stacks shelves for customers making last-minute holiday orders at a distribution hub in New York. (Bebeto Matthews/AP) retail The Web goes brick-and-mortar In 2017, we may learn the future of retailing. Amazon plans to open its first physical grocery store in the early part of the year, a sign that even the world’s biggest e-commerce disruptor bets that physical stores will be an essential part of the shopping ecosystem for the long haul. But Amazon Go, as the concept is called, won’t be like other old-school supermarkets: In-store technology will allow shoppers to swipe in with a smartphone, fill up their baskets and depart without going through a checkout line. (Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.) The set-up will serve as a laboratory for some of the most important questions in retailing: How much do in-store shoppers value speed vs. service? How large a workforce do stores really need? Meanwhile, Macy’s is set to shutter 100 of its more than 700 stores in 2017 because executives say they simply have too many locations for the online era. It’s a sweeping, proactive move that other retailers may emulate if the department store is able to offset the lost brick-and-mortar sales with strong growth online. Still other chains are gambling on different ways to use physical retailing space. Starbucks, for example, is poised to go big with two new concepts: its Roasteries, which provide a tasting-room-like experience for small-batch coffees, and its Starbucks Reserve cafes, which are bigger and more upscale than the traditional outposts. Anthropologie plans to open stores that are roughly double the size of its typical locations. That means the troubled clothing retailer is about to find out whether sprawling lifestyle emporiums drum up more sales or if they’re merely an expensive anchor as more shopping dollars move online. Each of these experiments will provide powerful intelligence for the wider retail industry — and could shape your shopping experiences at all manner of stores going forward. — Sarah Halzack Devin Greene sits in the front seat of an Uber driverless car during a test drive in San Francisco in December. (Eric Risberg/AP) Graduating students of the City College of New York cheer. (© Mike Segar / Reuters/REUTERS) higher education College could be more affordable soon — or less How and


2017: The year in preview

move that other retailers may emulate if the department store is able to offset the lost brick-and-mortar sales with strong growth online. Still other chains are gambling on different ways to use physical retailing space. Starbucks, for example, is poised to go big with two new concepts: its Roasteries, which provide a tasting-room-like experience for small-batch coffees, and its Starbucks Reserve cafes, which are bigger and more upscale than the traditional outposts. Anthropologie plans to open stores that are roughly double the size of its typical locations. That means the troubled clothing retailer is about to find out whether sprawling lifestyle emporiums drum up more sales or if they’re merely an expensive anchor as more shopping dollars move online. Each of these experiments will provide powerful intelligence for the wider retail industry — and could shape your shopping experiences at all manner of stores going forward. — Sarah Halzack Devin Greene sits in the front seat of an Uber driverless car during a test drive in San Francisco in December. (Eric Risberg/AP) Graduating students of the City College of New York cheer. (© Mike Segar / Reuters/REUTERS) higher education College could be more affordable soon — or less How and what Americans will pay for higher education is less certain than ever in 2017. Economic woes dominated higher-ed headlines in 2016, with presidential candidates from across the political spectrum offering ideas on how to solve the student loan debt crisis, and the Obama administration cracking down on for-profit colleges. But President-elect Donald Trump didn’t make college affordability or access a priority during the campaign. What little he has said about those issues has created some confusion. Trump has said he plans to cap all student loan payments at 12.5 percent of the borrower’s income and forgive the remaining balance after 15 years, which would cost the government billions. At the same time, he has said the government should no longer be in the lending business, making it seem that he’d prefer banks to handle the market. Giving banks a larger role in student lending could bar many low-income families from access to the credit needed to finance their children’s education. It also remains unclear whether Trump, whose own for-profit education venture paid a multimillion-dollar legal settlement after the election, will end what some have deemed the persecution of for-profit colleges under the Obama administration. Shares of all the largest publicly


Man fatally shot in quiet upper NW neighborhood

A man was shot and killed Sunday night on one of the more serene and secluded streets in the District. Police said the shooting occurred at 9:15 p.m. in the 6900 block of 32nd Street NW. It occurred outdoors, police said. Little information was available beyond that, and the circumstances of the shooting could not be learned immediately. At 1:30 a.m. when the incident was reported on the D.C. police Twitter feed, investigators were still at the scene, police said. The Twitter report said police had been given no lookout, meaning no description of any assailant had been supplied. Such a report often suggests that the shooting may have been a random crime, but there are other possibilities as well. The street is relatively narrow, and in contrast to most thoroughfares in the District, at least as recently as two years ago, it lacked sidewalks. Sturdy brick houses sit behind well tended lawns about 30 or 40 feet deep, that slope up slightly from the street. The houses appear well tended, but unpretentious. Demographic information available online indicated that incomes of residents were in the $200,000 to $250,000 range. However, directories indicated that none of the residents on the block in question had a name that would be widely recognizable among the public. At one end the 6900 block of 32nd intersections Western Avenue. That street divides the District from Montgomery County. The street is about 300 yards west of the edge of Rock Creek Park, and is in the neighborhood designated as Hawthorne. It is close to the Barnaby Woods neighborhood as well.


Bistrot Lepic review: The Georgetown bistro will make you forget 14th Street

GEORGETOWN, DC - JUNE 29: Bistrot Lepic's Poulet Fermier au Curry (Chicken Curry). (Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Bistrot Lepic's poulet fermier au curry. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) GOOD/EXCELLENT This review appears in The Washington Post’s 2015 Fall Dining Guide. Chez Billy Sud Previous: -- This review was published in The Washington Post Magazine on July 19, 2015. Struck recently by NRF — New Restaurant Fatigue — I hopped off the merry-go-round of young establishments and landed in a sliver of a bistro that turned 20 this spring. My reunion with Bistrot Lepic & Wine Bar in Georgetown reminded me why snails baked in garlic butter and floating island are icons right up there with Catherine Deneuve, and more significantly, what a fine chef Washington has in Swiss native George Vetsch, 56. His résumé has taken him all over town ( C.F. Folks, Oval Room, the late Etrusco), and while I wouldn’t be surprised if he packs in a few more jobs before hanging up his apron for good, I’m tickled that he’s stirring the pot these days at Lepic, which brought him on board a year ago in April. Easier to reserve than Le Diplomate on 14th Street NW, more varied than Chez Billy Sud near the C&O Canal and friendlier than Montmartre on the Hill, Bistrot Lepic attracts a mature clientele of Francophiles, socialites and diplomats past and present. (Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry have both supped here.) Lepic’s wine bar, open seven nights a week until midnight, is one floor up and of a different character. Each retreat counts singular charms. The ground floor comes with a plat du jour (Monday through Thursday) for $20, and a 20 percent discount on Monday night carry-out orders; upstairs calls to jazz fans with live music on Monday and Wednesday, “appeteasers” and some hits from the dining room, potato-tiled salmon with baby spinach included. If you’ve never been to Lepic, its name a nod to a street in the 18th arrondissement in Paris, the menu opens with a collection of signatures that explain the restaurant’s longevity. Take those snails: tender, meaty and draped in a grass-green sauce of parsley and basil thickened with almond flour. (You’ve been warned: Ordering the appetizer means overeating bread with it.) Or kidneys accented in classic fashion, with Dijon mustard sauce. Risotto freckled


NASA awards space contracts to Boeing and SpaceX

has in a single year sent more than $400 million to Russia for these taxi rides. If the schedule doesn’t slip, and Boeing and SpaceX prove their vehicles are safe, NASA should see its astronauts launched on U.S. soil with American rockets by as early as 2017. The awards represent a significant shift for NASA, which has long owned and operated its own rockets. Instead of going to space on government-owned vehicles, NASA’s astronauts would essentially rent space on ships provided by Boeing and SpaceX. The contracts “highlight what commercial companies can accomplish and we are counting on them to deliver our most precious cargo,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s commercial crew program manager. In addition to continuing to develop and test the companies’ vehicles, each contract calls for up to six flights to the space station once the ships are certified by NASA. NASA announced that it was awarding contracts to Boeing and SpaceX on Tuesday, to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending U.S. dependency on Russia for transportation. Boeing’s contract is worth up to $4.2 billion; SpaceX’s is valued at $2.6 billion. Lueders would not say exactly why Boeing received more but indicated that SpaceX proposed doing the work for less. Both contracts “have the same requirements and the companies proposed the value for which they were able to do the work, and the government accepted that,” she said. For SpaceX, which is already the first private company to deliver cargo to the space station, the award is further evidence that it has transformed from start-up to a major a player in an industry long dominated by large, traditional companies, such as Boeing. The two companies represent vastly different cultures in the space industry. Boeing is a so-called “old space” stalwart with decades of experience, contacts and lobbying might. SpaceX is the upstart California-based company founded by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk that has gleefully played the role of disrupter. Musk, who also runs Tesla Motors, sued the Air Force earlier this year on a separate contract to launch military payloads, such as satellites, into space. He argued that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was a less expensive alternative that should be able to compete against the United Launch Alliance, the joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which currently holds the contract. Musk has relentlessly criticized Boeing for using the Atlas V, which uses a Russian-made engine. United


British court delivers blow to E.U. exit plan, insists Parliament has a say

call a general election next year “to ask the public to endorse her negotiating goals — in effect, to use an election to override Parliament,” he added. In late June, many celebrated the referendum results, and British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he will resign after Britons went to the polls. That would be a sharp break from the plan May has repeatedly outlined. She intends to trigger Brexit on her own, without Parliament’s input, and has ruled out an early election. Thursday’s decision instantly threw that plan into disarray. A three-judge panel representing England and Wales dismissed government lawyers’ arguments that May has the executive power necessary to launch Brexit talks on her own and sided with a group of plaintiffs who contended that Parliament must weigh in first. “The most fundamental rule of the U.K.’s constitution is that Parliament is sovereign and can make and unmake any law it chooses,” the judges wrote. “As an aspect of the sovereignty of Parliament it has been established for hundreds of years that the Crown — i.e. the Government of the day — cannot by exercise of prerogative powers override legislation enacted by Parliament.” The court's decision stunned British political and legal observers — just as the referendum outcome also defied predictions that voters would favor staying in the E.U. Until Thursday, most analysts had predicted the court would side with the government. The High Court in Northern Ireland had ruled as recently as last week that May's government could bypass Parliament. Thursday’s ruling sparked an immediate rally in Britain’s beleaguered currency. The pound has been battered since the referendum and has been one of the worst-performing currencies in the world this year. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, warned again Thursday of likely inflation next year and said the ruling is “an example of the uncertainty that will characterize this process.” Brexit advocates quickly denounced the decision, saying it amounted to a betrayal of the public’s will. “I now fear every attempt will be made to block or delay triggering Article 50,” tweeted Nigel Farage, a longtime Brexit champion. “They have no idea the level of public anger they will provoke.” Suzanne Evans, a candidate to succeed Farage as leader of the U.K. Independence Party, added a condemnation of “activist judges” who “attempt to overturn our will.” “Time we had the right to sack them,” she wrote.


Fatal D.C. shooting may be city’s first homicide of 2015

A man was shot to death early Saturday in Southeast Washington in what appeared to be the year’s first homicide in the District. In another violent act, a man was stabbed in a nightclub three blocks from the White House. In the homicide, police said Rahji Jerod Ross, 35, of Southeast was shot in the 2700 block of Bruce Place about 4 a.m. and died at a hospital. A resident identified the area as Woodland Terrace. On Dec. 27, six days before being inaugurated as mayor, Muriel E. Bowser visited that area, expressing determination to curb the city’s violence. “I just patrolled Woodland Terrace,” she said on her Twitter feed. “We are going to fix this problem.” The neighbor interviewed Saturday reported “at least” seven shots. Upon going outside, she said, she heard a man, apparently a companion of the victim, say, “They were trying to rob us.” Confirmation of the report could not be obtained from police. At least two other homicides have been reported in the Washington area this year. A man was killed in a parking garage in the College Park area of Prince George’s County, and a woman in a home in the Woodbridge area of Prince William County. The stabbing occurred in the New Zanzibar Nightclub, police said. The club at 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW is near the World Bank and George Washington University as well as White House. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier shut the club temporarily, a police spokeswoman said. Police said the stabbing followed an argument. They said Joseph Ricardo Johnson, 35, of Northeast was arrested and charged with assault with intent to kill. Seven days earlier, five people were stabbed in McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon, in the 2400 block of Pennsylvania.


What’s up with tough guy Vladmir Putin’s love for cute animals?

In this Aug. 31, 2008, photo, then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin locks a collar with a satellite tracker on a tranquilized five-year-old Siberian tiger in a Russian Academy of Sciences reserve in Russia's Far East. (Alexei Druzhinin/Pool-AP) While Europe and the United States have imposed sanctions against Russia to weaken President Vladimir Putin, his latest loss comes from a different source: On Thursday, an endangered Siberian tiger named Kuzya crossed the Russian border to China, apparently searching for food. It was one of three tigers Putin had personally released into the wild back in May. There are now concerns about the tiger's safety. China's official Xinhua news agency quoted local officials who were quick to say that the tiger would experience no shortage of food. The officials even said they would "release cattle into the region to feed it," if necessary. To make matters worse, on Friday, a second of the tigers was found near the Chinese border. It's a strange moment between China and Russia, which have recently seen relations flourish as the Russian president became a pariah in much of the world. Could Putin, a renowned animal lover, take it personally? Russian President Vladimir Putin pets his dog Koni before one of his meetings with officials in his office in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow in March 2004. (Reuters) While the Russian president may be a former KGB agent and expert in martial arts with a reputation as a fierce political leader, he has frequently shown his softer side around animals. He has a number of pet dogs (which he occasionally uses to intimidate rival leaders) and loves to be photographed with a variety of animals. Putin's love of animals beguiles political scientists. "Putin is very much at home with these animals," Burdett Loomis, a professor of political science at the University of Kansas, told The Washington Post, before adding: "He knows that they are great for photo opportunities." Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his countryside residence in Novo-Ogariovo outside Moscow in April 2013. (Alexey Druzhinyn/Ria Novosti/Kremlin-Pool via EPA) And photos there certainly are: Putin has been photographed with a huge variety of animals, from polar bears to dolphins and many in between. Then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, assists in polar bear research during a visit to Alexandra Land in far north Russia. (Ria Novosti/Reuters) For Jan Kubik, chair at the Department of


Suspended researcher alleges USDA tried to block work on harmful effects of pesticides

for the seeds. He wrote a paper on the potential hazards of “gene silencing” pesticides, which he said require further study to determine whether they could harm other organisms. He also peer-reviewed a report published by the Center for Food Safety called “Heavy Costs,” which was critical of neonicotinoid pesticides for providing little to no benefit to farmers and adversely affecting bees. Lundgren, a 2011 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, has given interviews on aspects of his research, including a widely distributed interview with Minnesota Public Radio, and spoke before the National Academy of Sciences. According to the complaint, his suspension was based in part on the paperwork associated with that trip. “Having research published in prestigious journals and being invited to present before the National Academy of Sciences should be sources of official pride, not punishment,” PEER staff counsel Laura Dumais said. “Politics inside USDA have made entomology into a most dangerous discipline.” The whistleblower filing culminates months of speculation about Lundgren in the small community of commercial beekeepers and researchers studying their decline. Earlier this year, Lundgren’s dispute with his superiors became evident in a scientific journal. A paper published in Environmental Science & Policy, with the sole listed author Scott W. Fausti, includes the following footnote: “I would like to acknowledge Dr. Jonathan G. Lundgren’s contribution to this manuscript. Dr. Lundgren is an entomologist employed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). However, the ARS has required Dr. Lundgren to remove his name as joint first author from this article. I believe this action raises a serious question concerning policy neutrality toward scientific inquiry.” That paper suggests that the combination of federal mandates for corn ethanol production and the advent of genetically modified corn crops have produced a host of unintended adverse consequences, including rising environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, stronger pest resistance and inflated corn prices. Increasing pest resistance is of particular concern for beekeepers, whose bee populations have been declining at rates deemed “unsustainable” by Darren Cox, president of the American Honey Producers Association. Increased resistance creates a need for stronger pesticides, bringing potential harm to bees. “Beekeepers have been heavily involved in ensuring that all scientists are free to conduct unfettered research,” Cox says. In the statement, ARS spokesman Bentley said: “As one of the world’s leading promoters of agriculture and natural resources science and research, USDA


For refugees, another risk: Schizophrenia

(Leonhard Foeger/Reuters) The trauma of fleeing persecution, war and natural disasters can leave a lasting mark on a person. And a new study underscores just how dramatic the effect of such life experiences can be for refugees. Refugees face a much higher risk of experiencing psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, than native-born residents and other migrants, according to a study of 1.3 million people in Sweden. According to the research, published Tuesday in the journal BMJ, refugees were three times as likely to experience schizophrenia and other psychoses as native-born Swedes. Refugees were also two-thirds as likely to develop such disorders compared with people who migrated from the same regions but for other reasons, such as economic factors. “The dramatically increased risk among refugees shows that life events are a significant risk factor for schizophrenia and other psychoses,” lead author Anna-Clara Hollander, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, said in a release. Refugees are already known to be especially vulnerable to developing post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. But researchers in the Sweden study say theirs is the first to examine the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses. The data researchers used came from Sweden's national registry, which tracks immigration and health status for individuals. Included were 1.3 million people who born after 1983 and followed from their 14th birthday until the end of 2011. Of this group, 3,704 experienced a psychotic disorder. Those included in the study migrated from four major regions: Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, including Russia. “These differences cannot be explained by other, important alternative explanations like differences in age, sex, income or urban residency," said co-senior author James Kirkbride of the University College London. Refugees from sub-Saharan Africa faced the greatest risk for experiencing schizophrenia, he added. The study authors write that the adversities refugees experience, including "social, economic, and health inequalities," probably contribute to an increased risk for mental health disorders. Sweden has historically taken in large numbers of asylum seekers; in 2015, it received more applications from such individuals per capita than any other European nation. But more recently, the Swedish government has changed the benefits it offers such individuals and implemented new border controls to stem the tide. "In most countries refugees undergo standard health checks, but mental health issues can be overlooked," Kirkbride said in a release. "Like all people, refugees would benefit from timely and early treatment


For some, eclipse day showcases God’s majesty. For others, it means the Rapture is coming.

an astronomer and a minister. “I would argue that God on purpose made the universe beautiful, and one of the beauties is a solar eclipse.” Ross is leading a trip to watch the eclipse for about 80 people interested in finding spirituality in science. They’re preparing Monday to travel down a dirt road into a field in Eastern Oregon, where they will wait for the sun to be blotted out. Across the country, other church groups are preparing to do the same. A solar eclipse isn’t all that rare. The moon is always revolving around the Earth, while the Earth revolves around the sun. Usually the moon appears slightly higher or lower than the sunlight hits the Earth. But twice a year, it’s right smack in front of it, and the moon blocks out the sun during the daytime, and that’s at least a partial solar eclipse. When a total eclipse occurs, the shadow falls on just a tiny part of the Earth, about 60 to 100 miles wide, and then moves about a thousand miles over the course of a few hours. Because so much of the Earth is water, this almost always happens over an ocean. The eclipse will cross America, from Oregon to the Carolinas. (Courtesy of NASA) The last total solar eclipse visible from the continental United States was in 1979, and it was only over a corner of the Pacific Northwest. Something like this summer’s event, where so many people on land can see a total solar eclipse, is exceptionally rare — although the United States actually will experience another one, crossing an opposite diagonal swath of the country, in 2024. The “path of totality” for the 2017 eclipse cuts across the entire country, and every single spot in the continental United States will see an eclipse up to 60 percent. That means that anyone in the country can step outside and see some darkness. But eclipse-watchers — including Jay M. Pasachoff, a Williams College astronomer who has traveled around the world to witness an astonishing 65 eclipses — say that one truly has to see totality to really grasp the awe-inspiring nature of an eclipse. Even 99 percent, Pasachoff said, is nowhere near as dramatic as the moment it totally goes dark, which will last for up to two minutes and 40 seconds. “You have to be in totality to do it. Basically the


This Friday, get ready to join the dark side — of a penumbral lunar eclipse

Prod the kids outside, give them hot chocolate and gaze toward the moon in the east. Enjoy the evening penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday. Hope for clear skies. Lunar eclipses occur when Earth is perfectly placed between the sun and the moon. For this eclipse, we’re lucky to be on our planet’s dark side. A total lunar eclipse is when the full moon runs through the umbral (darkest part) portion of Earth’s shadow — the bull’s eye, in dart-board terms. But this Friday, the moon goes through the shadow’s outer band, making it a penumbral eclipse. The bright full moon will begin rising here in Washington at 5:33 p.m., just as the moon enters Earth’s penumbral shadow. Very slowly, the bright moon will begin to dim slightly and turn gray. It will be easier to discern the dark gray about mideclipse, which occurs at 7:44 p.m., said astronomer Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory. “You will see a noticeable graying of the northern third of the lunar disk at that time,” Chester said. “It won’t be red like a total lunar eclipse. It will be more gray.” The moon leaves the penumbral shadow at 9:55 p.m. 2nd eclipse, planets, Spica Catch the annular solar eclipse — a ring-of-fire eclipse — on Slooh.com, with programming that begins Feb. 26 at 7 a.m. It’s not visible here. This Southern Hemisphere eclipse starts in South America, crosses the Atlantic Ocean and moves toward Africa. Drawing well-deserved attention after sunset, that luminous light in the west-southwest is Venus. Currently at -4.7 magnitude, quite bright, the sizzling planet gets more luminous in the middle of the month. Like planetary lovebirds, Venus and Mars loiter together throughout February, but the reddish Mars is substantially fainter at 1.2 magnitude, still visible with the unaided eye. The Red Planet becomes dim through the month. Find the pair throughout February in the western evening sky. Although the two planets gain more distance between them, the thin crescent of a young moon approaches both planets Feb. 27 and scoots closer Feb. 28. The giant planet Jupiter rises near 11 p.m. now in the east, hanging out in the constellation Virgo at about -2.2 magnitude, bright. The planet travels across the heavens with the double star Spica, a first magnitude object similar in brightness to Mars — dim for the Washington area. The sun washes out king of the planets


out in the constellation Virgo at about -2.2 magnitude, bright. The planet travels across the heavens with the double star Spica, a first magnitude object similar in brightness to Mars — dim for the Washington area. The sun washes out king of the planets at sunrise. The waning gibbous moon meets up with Jupiter and Spica (a permanent resident of the Virgo constellation) Feb. 14-16. Saturn Down-to-Earth events ● Sunday — “Observing Highlights for 2017,” a talk by astronomer Elizabeth Warner, who will discuss the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse across the United States, at the University of Maryland’s Observatory, College Park. See the night sky through telescopes afterward, weather permitting. 8 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ● Monday — “Stars Tonight” at the David M. Brown Planetarium, 1426 N. Quincy St., Arlington, next to Washington-Lee High School. 7:30 p.m. $3. friendsoftheplanetarium.org. ● Friday — “After the James Webb Space Telescope,” a lecture by former astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, hosted by the Philosophical Society of Washington at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, next to the Cosmos Club, 2170 Florida Ave. NW. (At the corner of Massachusetts and Florida avenues.) 8 p.m. philsoc.org. ● Saturday — “African American Pioneers in Aviation and Space,” Heritage Family Day. Enjoy hands-on activities and learn about African American astronauts, pilots and scientists. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. National Air and Space Museum, the Mall. airandspace.si.edu. ● Saturday — “Mars’ Intensifying Effect on Phobos,” a talk by NASA researcher Terry Hurford on how the Martian moon Phobos slowly spirals toward the planet. National Capital Astronomers, regular meeting, at the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. capitalastronomers.org. ● Feb. 12 — “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Meteorites,” a talk by astronomer Cal Powell, at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club’s regular meeting, 163 Research Hall, George Mason University. 7 p.m. novac.com. ● Feb. 18 — “African Skies,” find out how Southern slaves followed the “drinking gourd” north to freedom. Montgomery College planetarium, Takoma Park, 7 p.m. montgomerycollege.edu/departments/planet. ● Feb. 20 — Astronomer Drake Deming tells how scientists hunt exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system. At the University of Maryland’s Observatory, College Park. Night sky viewing afterward. 8 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ● Feb. 25 — “African American Pioneers in Aviation and Space,” Heritage Family Day. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly. Parking, $15. airandspace.si.edu. Friedlander can be reached at PostSkywatch@yahoo.com.


Despite sanctions, Russia is getting a $457.9M check from NASA

Despite ongoing sanctions, Russia is about to get a big infusion of cash from the U.S. government. NASA recently renewed a contract that allows Russia to ferry U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. The U.S. is, essentially, cutting Russia a $457.9 million check for its services -- six seats on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, training and launch prep, landing and crew rescue and limited cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station. This contract also adds additional support at the Russian launch site. NASA has announced it is cutting some contacts The move came after President Obama last month signed an executive order allowing restrictions on dealings with some of Russia's largest sectors, including financial services, energy and defense. The U.S. is currently considering additional sanctions against Russia. But some NASA initiatives just can't be stopped, underscoring the reliance the United States has on Russia for its space program. The most important is, essentially, the taxi service to the International Space Station. Hitch a ride to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/NASA, Paolo Nespoli) Although the United States operates the International Space Station, it is dependent on Russia to get astronauts there. When the United States retired the space shuttle, it left NASA with no way to get astronauts to the space station. So it inked a contract with Russia to provide rides to the Space Station, which is 240 miles above Earth. Steve Swanson NASA is partnering with private companies including Space-X and Orbital Sciences to develop rockets that will be able to send astronauts to space from American soil. But because of budget battles in Congress, those won't launch until at least 2017. The companies have made limited cargo deliveries to the Space Station. And, because this is Washington, it all comes down to those budget battles. Obama has asked for additional money toward the program that would help build equipment to launch Americans into space, but Congress has not fully funded the requests. But attitudes in Congress are changing as many realize just how much money NASA gives to Russia. Last month NASA Administrator Charles Bolden scolded Congress, saying the lack of funding essentially shuttles money to Russia. "The choice moving forward is between fully funding the President's request to bring space launches back to American soil or continuing to send millions to the Russians," Bolden wrote in a blog post last month. "It's that


Trump plans to sign new Russia sanctions bill, White House says

U.S.-Russia relationship. “President Donald J. Trump read early drafts of the bill and negotiated regarding critical elements of it,” a White House statement said. “He has now reviewed the final version and, based on its responsiveness to his negotiations, approves the bill and intends to sign it.” Two luxury retreats, in Centreville, Md., and Oyster Bay, N.Y., where Russian diplomats have gone for decades to play tennis, sail and swim, were shut down by the Obama administration in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged hacking in the presidential election. It was not clear what influence the White House was claiming Trump had exerted. The bill still includes mandatory congressional review of sanctions. Trump could have vetoed the law as a signal to Moscow of his continuing interest in rapprochement, while knowing Congress would easily override his action. Signing the bill acknowledges that his goal of better relations with Moscow is on ice. The Russian expulsion order could affect scores or even hundreds of diplomats and other embassy staff — and officials in Moscow had recently indicated that the measure was imminent. President Barack Obama expelled Russian diplomats and ordered the seizure of Russian properties in the United States in the closing weeks of his tenure, in response to the conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election to damage the candidacy of Hillary Clinton and help Trump get elected. Putin initially declined to respond with tit-for-tat expulsions of his own, a gesture to the president-elect and his pledge as a candidate to try to repair relations with the Kremlin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday that Moscow had no choice but to respond now, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Lavrov cited “a number of hostile steps” taken by the United States but also told Tillerson that Moscow was “ready to normalize the bilateral relations with the U.S. and cooperate on important international issues,” the Foreign Ministry said. “We have expressed our strong disappointment and protest,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. The U.S. protests came during Tillerson’s call with Lavrov and a meeting U.S. Ambassador John Tefft held in Moscow with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. The department did not provide an estimate of how many U.S. personnel would have to depart by the Sept. 1 deadline, but Russia’s order to reduce the number


New Zealand just abolished software patents. Here’s why we should, too.

(Photo by kafka4prez) What's wrong with the patent system? Most people cite problems with patent trolls or low patent quality. But a recent study by the Government Accountability Office makes it clear that the real problem is more specific: Patents on software don't work. Of course, the GAO doesn't quite come out and say that. The study, released last week, has the bland title "Assessing Factors That Affect Patent Infringement Litigation Could Help Improve Patent Quality." But the study is chock-full of evidence that most of the patent system's problems are really problems with software patents. The number of software patents has soared in the past two decades. In 1991, software-related patents (using a broad definition adopted by the GAO) accounted for fewer than a quarter of all patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In 2011, for the first time ever, software patents accounted for the majority of all patents issued: The rise in patent litigation is a more recent phenomenon. "The overall number of defendants in [patent] cases increased from 2007 to 2011 by about 129 percent over the 5-year period," the GAO reports. "Lawsuits involving software-related patents accounted for about 89 percent of the increase in defendants during this period." Interestingly, while trolls get a disproportionate amount of press, the GAO found little evidence that they're responsible for the growth in patent litigation. The proportion of lawsuits initiated by trolls ("patent monetization entities") and non-trolls ("operating companies") hasn't changed much over the past five years. In other words, both trolls and non-troll companies have been enforcing their patents more aggressively in recent years. What's changed is that there are a lot more patents on software than there used to be. And software patents are much more prone to litigation than other patent categories. One reason software patents produce so much litigation is that software is used so widely. For example, retail businesses have suddenly started facing software-patent lawsuits: One representative from a retail company noted that historically, all of the patent infringement lawsuits brought against the company used to be related to products they sold. However, as of mid-2012, the representative said that half of the lawsuits against the company were related to e-commerce software that the company uses for its shopping website — such as software that allows customers to locate their stores on the website... City public transit agencies have been sued


Marine Corps realigns its Special Operations, sends elite troops to Middle East

command — and the four-star geographic combatant commander. A MARSOC Marine braces for an incoming sandstorm in Farah province, Afghanistan, in February 2010. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Pilch/ U.S. Air Force) MARSOC was first established in February 2006 at the order of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as the Iraq War raged and an increasing emphasis on Special Operations emerged. It was something some Marine commanders had been against. They viewed all Marines as elite, and did not want to set apart any group of them as different. The command was established by pulling Marines from the service’s highly trained Force Reconnaissance units, however, and first sent a Special Operations company to Afghanistan in 2007. The first deployment was mired in controversy after a convoy of Marines in Nangarhar province was ambushed in March 4, 2007, and a firefight led to the death of at least 10 Afghans. Army commanders removed the unit from the battlefield, but top Marine Corps commanders ultimately found that no one involved should face criminal charges. MARSOC eventually found its footing in Afghanistan. Deployed mostly to western and southern Afghanistan, the unit trained Afghan Local Police and other Afghan troops and engaged in combat regularly with the Taliban and other insurgent groups. Twenty-eight Marine Special Operations troops have been killed in combat, and 189 have received Purple Hearts after being wounded in action, Marine officials said. Notably, seven members of MARSOC have received Navy Crosses and 19 have been awarded the Silver Star for valor. The two awards are just below the Medal of Honor in honoring heroism in combat. The command is still growing and evolving. In August, it announced that it would adopt the iconic “Raiders” name used by Marine commandos during a brutal island-hopping campaign across the Pacific in World War II. MARSOC troops had called for the change and used the Raider name for years unofficially, saying they wanted to honor an early generation of Special Operations. Step into the Arena While much of the military shrinks after years of war in Afghanistan, MARSOC is still expanding. The organization is expected to eventually have about 2,500 troops, including 830 elite “critical skills operators,” Osterman said. It currently has a little more than 700, and continues to recruit from the conventional forces to fill the empty slots. They have been brought in gradually so that their experiences and time in service will


D.C. hospital evaluating a patient who has Ebola-like symptoms

greater than 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, severe headache and vomiting. And you can only get Ebola through contact with a contagious person's bodily fluids. Several Ebola patients have been transported from West Africa to the United States, including three Americans who were in Liberia — doctors Richard Sacra and Kent Brantly and missionary worker Nancy Writebol — who have already been discharged after they were successfully treated here. A Liberian American, Patrick Sawyer, fell ill after traveling to Nigeria and died of the disease. The NIH in Bethesda recently admitted an American patient who had been exposed to Ebola. On Thursday night, NBC News announced that a freelance cameraman working for the network in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola and will return to the United States for treatment. In Maryland, all health providers and labs are required to report suspected Ebola cases to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene immediately, said spokesman Christopher Garrett. The state agency works with local health departments to ensure that proper procedures, including isolation, are followed; information has been distributed to hospitals, nursing homes, labs and other providers. Officials at several local hospitals said they have been following CDC guidelines. At the University of Virginia Health System, an emerging-infectious-diseases work group was formed earlier this year to respond to MERS; this summer, that group began preparedness planning for the possibility of Ebola infections. The system has already been tested; the University of Virginia Health System has had one patient who met CDC criteria for Ebola screening, based on travel history, fever and other symptoms. "We confirmed that concern with public health authorities and went through the formal process of admitting and evaluating that person for Ebola,” said Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology, infection prevention and control. “We ruled out the possibility of Ebola.” RELATED: Can you catch Ebola from an infected blanket? Why hasn’t the U.S. closed its airports to travelers? Family who cared for U.S. Ebola patient speaks out About 100 people may have had contact with Ebola patient A Liberian doctor is using HIV drugs to treat Ebola victims. The death toll has risen to more than 4,000 in West Africa, with the first U.S. death from disease occurring in Texas. View Photo Gallery — As the overall death toll rises to more than 3,300, the first U.S. case of Ebola is diagnosed in Texas. [This post has been updated.]


There will be no ‘reset’ with Russia

peaceful, rules-based post-Cold War order. A quarter-century later, it is clear that the first goal was not achieved. That means the next occupant of the White House will have to redouble efforts to achieve the second. The Russia challenge has radically changed since the 1990s. Today we read new allegations that Russia is interfering in the U.S. election, hacking into the Democratic National Committee and, through intermediaries, posting confidential and sometimes damaging information. Whatever the accuracy of these charges and scope of these disclosures, they seem clearly intended to sow doubts about the legitimacy of our democratic election process. From the Kremlin’s point of view, the more uncertainty and questioning the better. How should the United States respond? First, we need to understand the domestic motivations for Russia’s actions. Recent shakeups in top leadership — most notably the firing of Vladimir Putin’s longtime aide Sergei Ivanov and the creation of Putin’s own Praetorian Guard to protect him both from a Since then, Russia’s economic situation has deteriorated because of economic mismanagement, falling oil prices and Western sanctions imposed after the Crimean annexation. But the Kremlin has skillfully played a weak hand by appealing to patriotism. It blamed the United States for Russia’s economic problems and launched an air campaign in Syria last September that forced the United States to negotiate and recognize its enhanced international role. Faced with a Kremlin that defines the United States as its main adversary, how should the next U.S. president approach Russia? She or he should not seek another “reset” but accept the fact that the Russia we are dealing with today requires a different approach. Engagement for engagement’s sake does not work. The United States should continue negotiating with Russia over both Syria and Ukraine, but it should only open an intensified dialogue with the Kremlin if and when the Russian leadership is genuinely interested in offering constructive proposals. As long as Russia supports the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has already claimed 10,000 lives, U.S. sanctions should remain in place. The United States should consider enhancing its own military presence in Europe and needs to deter any further attempts by Russia to destabilize its neighboring countries. The Russia challenge is long-term and will likely outlast both the next U.S. president’s term and Putin’s time in office. The counterargument: David J. Kramer: Russia is now a threat. The U.S. should treat it like one.


Russian military claims it killed senior ISIS strategist

killed just 5,000 fighters over two years, Lukyanov said. The same month, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry told The Washington Post that he estimated civilian casualties from months of Russian airstrikes to be zero because Russian warplanes never targeted population centers. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters that U.S. officials had “no information” to support Russia’s claim that it killed Adnani. White House press secretary Josh Earnest also said he was “not aware of any facts” to back Moscow’s report. The U.S. strike was conducted by an unmanned drone firing Hellfire missiles on the northern edge of the town of Bab, about three miles from the town center, a U.S. official said. The Pentagon believes that Adnani was traveling in a vehicle at the time with at least one other person, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the attack. The Russian statement said the airstrike by a Syrian-based Su-34 bomber killed as many as 40 Islamic State fighters, including Adnani. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the strike took place near Maarat Umm Hawsh, a village north of Aleppo and about 16 miles west of Bab, which is controlled by the Islamic State. The Islamic State said one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has been killed in Syria. The United States and Russia have both intervened in the Syrian conflict with airstrikes and other military support, but they remain fundamentally opposed over the fate of Assad’s regime. Russia, which backs Assad, has portrayed its intervention primarily as a crusade against the Islamic State and other groups it deems “terrorists.” The West has accused Russia of indiscriminate bombing of civilians and more-moderate rebel groups, including those backed by the United States. If a Russian attack did kill Adnani, it would be an unusual, targeted strike against a senior Islamic State official by Moscow, exhibiting Russia’s growing capabilities in Syria and bolstering the Kremlin’s information campaign that its intervention is legitimate. The Islamic State issued a statement announcing Adnani’s death but gave no information on who carried out the attack. “Al-Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow to ISIS,” Cook said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “He has coordinated the movement of ISIS fighters, directly encouraged lone-wolf attacks on civilians and members of the military, and actively recruited new ISIS members,” Cook


Frozen strawberries from Egypt lead to 70 cases of hepatitis A in 7 states, including Va. and Md.

visit us very soon.” See it, below. Strawberries served at Tropical Smoothie Cafe have been linked to 70 cases of hepatitis A in seven states. CEO Mike Rotondo apologized in a video posted Aug. 21, 2016. A later statement released on the company’s website on Thursday stated that the company would no longer source strawberries from overseas. “We are now sourcing strawberries only from the Americas,” it read. It also stated that health officials “praised” the company for “cooperation and swift action.” The number of cases may be higher than reported, though, as symptoms don’t generally appear until a few weeks after one contracts the virus. Some don’t develop any symptoms. The symptoms include a wide-range of ailments: fatigue, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain (particular on one’s right side, under the lower ribs, where the liver resides), clay-colored stool, appetite loss, low-grade fever, dark urine, joint pain and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and/or skin). The severity of the disease varies, and it can last from several weeks to several months. It can be fatal, but rarely is in the United States. It is generally contracted when a person ingests contaminated fecal matter, which can find its way to food items via improper handling. The Mayo Clinic But it also states the disease is “highly contagious” and can be spread by “being in close contact with a person who’s infected — even if that person has no signs or symptoms” or via sexual contact. Though Tropical Smoothie Cafe was alerted of the potential outbreak on Aug. 5, the Virginia Department of Health did not publicly announce its investigation until Aug. 19. “I think it’s important for the Virginia Department of Health and Tropical Smoothie Cafe to say why they didn’t alert the public sooner,” Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety attorney who is representing outbreak victims, told Food Safety News. “By not coming forward they kept people who had been exposed from having the opportunity to protect themselves and their families from hepatitis A.” Diane Woolard, director of the health department’s division of surveillance and investigation, said the department needed to gather more information before publicly announcing the potential outbreak. “We did not know for sure where the frozen strawberries were distributed, if the risk was associated with one restaurant chain or more general to other potential sources, if it was limited to Virginia or it extended further. We wanted more information


Cosmic smash-up: BICEP2’s big bang discovery getting dusted by new satellite data

[This item has been revised and updated.] In March, scientists representing an experiment called BICEP2 announced at a news conference at Harvard that they had detected gravitational waves from a violent inflationary event at the dawn of time. The scientists had built a telescope at the South Pole and stared into the polar sky to discern the subtle polarization of light that can be caused, in theory, by these primordial gravitational waves rippling through the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). This seemingly affirmed the theory of “cosmic inflation,” which posits that, in the initial moments of its existence, the universe grew exponentially larger in a kind of hyper-expansion that has given us this very big and glamorous and sparkly cosmos. Inflation, the theorists said, puts the bang in the big bang. (Then the universe calmed down into a more stately process of expansion.) In March, scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced their discovery of gravitational waves created at the dawn of the universe. These waves were created in a period of rapid expansion called cosmic inflation. This new evidence could prove the definitive confirmation of the inflation theory. But other researchers are not convinced. But there was a second, far more prosaic, and downright boring explanation for the BICEP2 observation: Maybe they were seeing merely the effects of dust in the foreground, within our own galaxy. Dust can also polarize light. The BICEP2 team considered that possibility, and used existing estimates for dust when making the calculations. The scientists felt that their signal was so strong that it was exceedingly unlikely that dust could have caused it. But now comes Planck, a European satellite, with its own dust map. The paper, signed by a very long list of authors, was submitted over the weekend to the physics pre-print site. It is not good news for the BICEP2 team. The Planck satellite has detected galactic dust, or more precisely the effects of galactic dust, at levels that could potentially explain away the entirety of the alleged cosmological signal reported by BICEP2 scientists at their big March 17 news conference at Harvard. The dust-only possibility is something that the BICEP2 team itself acknowledged after the big controversy erupted this spring. The two teams will now collaborate and come up with a dust map based on the combined data. So the story isn’t over — the Planck data don’t rule out


second, far more prosaic, and downright boring explanation for the BICEP2 observation: Maybe they were seeing merely the effects of dust in the foreground, within our own galaxy. Dust can also polarize light. The BICEP2 team considered that possibility, and used existing estimates for dust when making the calculations. The scientists felt that their signal was so strong that it was exceedingly unlikely that dust could have caused it. But now comes Planck, a European satellite, with its own dust map. The paper, signed by a very long list of authors, was submitted over the weekend to the physics pre-print site. It is not good news for the BICEP2 team. The Planck satellite has detected galactic dust, or more precisely the effects of galactic dust, at levels that could potentially explain away the entirety of the alleged cosmological signal reported by BICEP2 scientists at their big March 17 news conference at Harvard. The dust-only possibility is something that the BICEP2 team itself acknowledged after the big controversy erupted this spring. The two teams will now collaborate and come up with a dust map based on the combined data. So the story isn’t over — the Planck data don’t rule out the possibility that there’s a cosmological signal there. Using a computer program that took five years to develop, a group of scientists from around the world, have unveiled the most realistic virtual universe ever created. But “maybe” doesn’t count as a discovery. (That sound you hear in the background is from Nobel Prizes being put on hold.) See this from the Planck paper’s abstract: This level is the same magnitude as reported by BICEP2 over this range, which highlights the need for assessment of the polarized dust signal even in the cleanest windows of the sky. The present uncertainties are large and will be reduced through an ongoing, joint analysis of the Planck and BICEP2 data sets. Bill Jones, a Princeton professor who is part of the Planck team and a co-author of the new paper, tells me by e-mail: “… a scientific claim of this sort, evidence of a fundamental connection between gravity (general relativity) and quantum physics, requires overwhelming evidence. It isn’t a question as to whether Planck or anybody else can exclude the hypothesis that there might be a cosmological signal. The point is that there isn’t any evidence to suggest that a cosmological signal exists. With


Where to find the best pupusas in the D.C. area

La Casita in Silver Spring prepares pupusas with genuine quesillo cheese. (Julie Wan/For The Washington Post) Purists will tell you that pupusas should bear the marks of a hot griddle — those black-and-brown splotches that add a hint of bitterness and indicate the corn cakes have been cooked through — but the Salvadoran pockets should also hold their form, so they don't spill their gooey guts all over the plate. I agree with this. And I reject it. Over the years, I've come to love a pupusa with a small crack (or three) in it, so the cheese oozes onto the griddle and forms an espresso-color pool that hardens into something crisp and chewy. It provides a satisfying contrast to the soft, often pillowy pupusa. Jump to: I offer this semi-confession as acknowledgement that some of my favorite pupusas are technically challenged. I mean, in a perfect world, all pupusas would adopt the characteristics of the archetypal corn patty and condiments: a filling that includes quesillo cheese, like the kind used in El Salvador; a complex, spicy and acidic curtido slaw of cabbage, carrots, onions, hot pepper and Mexican oregano; and a thin masa shell in which the dough doesn't become a solid, corn-scented curb at the edges. A poorly constructed pupusa can feel like "you're eating just masa," notes Salvadoran native Juan Rivera, chef de cuisine at Pepita Cantina and Kapnos Taverna in Arlington. "There's no filling." But here's the thing: No matter where you order a pupusa — it might be at a truck parked on blistering asphalt behind a gas station in Silver Spring or within the cool confines of a chef-driven restaurant in Shaw — they will all have imperfections of some sort. They might be too thick or uneven. They might be undercooked and flabby. Their shells might have split open to reveal their pork-and-cheese innards. Their curtido might be a single-note preparation of quick-pickled cabbage. Their salsa may be a thin tomato water without depth. Their cheese may be cheap mozzarella bought in bulk. The perfect pupusa, in short, is as illusory as the monsters you chase with a Pokémon Go app. With this in mind, I've laid out a few of my favorite pupusas. Many fall short of the ideal, which, as I just pointed out, doesn't exist anyway, at least not within the ticket-spitting rush of a hard-working pupuseria. You could say


Police say Tiger Woods was confused, unresponsive and drowsy

was and told officers that he was coming from Los Angeles and headed to Orange County. Woods, shown in 2016, has not won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open. (Lynne Sladky/AP) “As I shined my flashlight into the passenger window of the vehicle the male slightly opened his eyes and started slowly moving his arms around,” according to one officer’s account. “The male looked at me through the passenger window and appeared to be trying to open the window looking for the right button. The male appeared to struggle finding the correct window button.” Woods was given a breathalyzer test, and twice blew a 0.000, according to police. He also provided a urine sample for a toxicology test, the results of which are not yet available. At one point, an officer noted that he asked whether the golfer had taken any medication. Woods’s response is blacked out in the report. “I asked Woods if he had taken any illegal drugs,” the report continued, “to which he stated no.” Woods, in a statement released Monday night, blamed the incident on “an unexpected reaction to prescription medications.” An officer listed the medications Woods said he was taking as “soloxex,” “vicodin,” “torix” and “viox.” He added that he had not taken the last of these this year. Torix and Vioxx are anti-inflammatory medications; Vicodin a painkiller. “I didn’t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly,” Woods said in the statement. “I understand the severity of what I did and I take full responsibility for my actions.” Woods, a 14-time major champion, underwent his fourth back surgery in April. As details of the arrest emerged, the golf world was still processing the continued professional and personal struggles of one of the game’s most dominant players. “I feel bad for Tiger,” Jack Nicklaus said at a news conference to promote his tournament, the Memorial, that will be played this week in Dublin, Ohio. “Tiger’s a friend. He’s been great for the game of golf. I think he needs all our help and we wish him well.” Woods has not won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open. According to the police report, there is a dash-cam video of Monday’s incident, which could also be made public soon. Woods was charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and cited for improper stopping, standing or parking in an


A sub-two-hour marathon, once seen as ‘impossible,’ could happen much sooner than experts thought

that has been referred to by runners and coaches as a “moonshot marathon.” Rio Olympics marathon gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, 32; Lelisa Desisa, 26, of Ethiopia; and Zersenay Tadese, the 34-year-old Eritrean world-record holder in the half marathon (58:23), have all signed up for Nike’s project. The specific date and location of the race will be revealed next year. “I know one day [two hours] will be broken,” Tadese told Runner’s World through an interpreter. “I want to be a part of it.” Toward the end of his book, Caesar details the complexities of a moonshot marathon. It would require athletes who choose to forgo competing in lucrative races, a company with plenty of financial muscle, a window of a few days of potentially ideal running weather (windless and chilly) and a string of pacers to help the runners along the flat course. These are ideas Nike could make a reality, Caesar realized as he toured the Nike headquarters last month in Beaverton, Ore., while on his assignment for Wired. “I was very impressed by the seriousness in their approach to this,” Caesar said. “Whether or not they succeed is one thing, but they’re taking it seriously as something academic and practical to achieve.” Michael Joyner, an expert in human performance at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., published a paper in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 1991 stating that it might be physiologically possible for a 1:57:58 marathon runner. Earlier this year, though, Joyner, 58, backtracked, writing in Sports Illustrated that “if I am lucky, a legitimate sub-two-hour marathon will happen in my lifetime.” Some have been even more optimistic. David Martin, a statistician and running historian, told Runner’s World in 2012 that sub-two would occur in 2015. Douglas Casa, an American sports scientist, told Caesar that he believes it would happen within a decade. But to others, dropping nearly three minutes off the world record in the marathon in such a short amount of time is difficult to fathom. Olympian Meb Keflezighi, one of the United States’ top marathon runners, won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and ran a personal-best time of 2:08:37 at the 2014 Boston Marathon. The 41-year-old estimated that he was in shape to run in the 2:05 range during his prime and questioned whether runners today are ready to break the two-hour barrier. Of the three Nike runners,


This 100-year-old deal birthed the modern phone system. And it’s all about to end.

out in his study of the information industry, "The Master Switch," running the important parts of these two industries exclusively meant being able to combine those operations to create a “powerhouse of distance communications.” Later, AT&T would go on to found Bell Labs, one of the most productive research and engineering institutions the country has ever seen. A hodgepodge of small companies might not have been able to accomplish so much so quickly. Vail summarized his vision with a slogan he introduced in 1908: "One Policy, One System, Universal Service." That vision didn't leave much room for the independents. The Kingsbury Commitment As Vail went about co-opting one small competitor after another in market after market, he attracted unwelcome attention from the federal government. Americans, and American regulators, were beginning to be more skeptical of monopolies. Antitrust law that had been passed decades earlier was beginning to be enforced. U.S. officials ended a key railway monopoly in 1904. Standard Oil was famously broken up into more than 30 different companies in 1911. The same year, the American Tobacco Company was also deemed an unacceptable monopoly. But AT&T would become an important exception, in part because it waged one of the nation's first successful public-relations campaigns. (National Geographic) "AT&T constantly gave speeches about how their highest duty was to the public, how the public mattered more than profit, how building the nation's infrastructure was their first duty," Wu said in an interview. "They spoke in the way we might expect the military to speak today." AT&T was also viewed a little differently from its peers because of its role as a technology leader, not a commodity monopoly. Beginning in the 1910s, people started to associate science and technology with size and speed and centralization, a feeling that only grew with time. A whole artistic movement, futurism, sprung up to articulate the world's fascination with machines and the shrinkage of time and distance they wrought. AT&T fit squarely into this popular conceptual category. AT&T's charm offensive laid the groundwork for the letter Vail directed Kingsbury to write in 1913. In exchange for being allowed to continue as a private monopoly, which Vail argued was necessary to build a great telephone network, AT&T made several promises to federal regulators. First, AT&T would get out of the telegraph business by divesting from Western Union. Next, it would agree to stop acquiring independent phone


Bring back the draft? Let’s at least talk about it

When debating the merits of a military draft, we should not inflate the success of the all-volunteer force or exaggerate the challenges of the draft. Unfortunately, Elliot J. Feldman’s April 28 op-ed piece, “A military draft is not the answer,” did both. The all-volunteer force struggles to maintain quantity and quality, even though we keep the military artificially small by using as many civilian contractors as we have people in uniform. We entice non-citizens to enlist with promises of citizenship because we cannot find enough American volunteers. We pretend quality is high even though a recent Center for Naval Analyses study found that more than a third of Army recruits are unable to complete a single term of enlistment. We claim we have all the people we need even though we have huge shortages of medical and mental-health personnel. It has also become popular to denigrate draftees as unmotivated and unqualified, but George Q. Flynn’s definitive book on selective service found that Vietnam-era draftees were higher in quality, on average, than volunteers. That was true even in a system with college deferments, which no longer exist in draft law today. The draft didn’t lower the quality of the military; it kept it from getting worse. We resist any serious discussion of national service because a distant and disconnected military is far too convenient, both for the military and for civilians. We need to decide whether the military is important enough to apply the full breadth and depth of the United States to its success and welfare. Diane H. Mazur, Gainesville, Fla.


Navy analysis found that a Marine’s case would draw attention to Afghan ‘sex slaves’

that aspect alone, the Navy loses.” Acting Defense Undersecretary Brian P. McKeon, said in a letter to Hunter last month that Gen. John “Mick” Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, reaffirmed in May “tactical guidance” for U.S. troops that directs them to report potential instances of sex abuse to their commanders. “General Nicholson also issued a specific human rights policy directing further education of U.S. and coalition military personnel on their responsibilities to report human rights violations,” McKeon wrote. The Marines killed by the police chief’s servant were Staff Sgt. Scott Dickinson, Cpl. Richard Rivera Jr. and Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley. A fourth Marine suffered five gunshot wounds but survived. The teenager who killed them has been identified by the Marine Corps as Ainuddin Khudairaham. He is said to have bragged about the attack afterward, boasting “I just did jihad.” A 300-page, declassified copy of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) probe of Brezler’s case filed this week as part of his lawsuit said that an officer in Afghanistan, Capt. Brian Donlon, sought information about Sarwar Jan because he recalled being told that he was “a bad guy who raped and tortured the people.” The police chief and Brezler had encountered each other previously in another part of Helmand province, Now Zad district, and Brezler had helped get him removed from his job. Donlon did not open the file Brezler attached to an email sent from the United States and reported his violation, Donlon told investigators afterward. Donlon sent an email to Brezler informing him the document he sent was classified, and then both Marines reported it to their respective commanding officers. Marine officials have said that while Brezler did send a classified email to Donlon, he actually faced scrutiny from the Marine Corps because he had other classified documents illegally stored that he planned to use while writing a book. Brezler’s attorney has countered that virtually no instances of inadvertently spilling classified information have led to penalties as stiff as his, and that if he had not voluntarily turned over his electronics after reporting his violation, he would not be in trouble now. Read more: Afghanistan sees rise in ‘dancing boys’ exploitation Marine’s defense for disseminating classified information will cite Hillary Clinton’s case The Marines just lost a ‘Viking warrior.’ His friends won’t forget him 15 Marine drill instructors face allegations of hazing and assault at Parris Island


Part I: The life and slow death of a former Pennsylvania steel town

Sight: How did Aliquippa come to a point where its primary steel industry left and much of its infrastructure is so dilapidated? Marovich: The town was renamed to Aliquippa in 1928 and, in the early 1940s, the town’s population swelled to over 27,000, and as many as 9,000 people were employed at the Aliquippa Works. The beginning of the economic disaster came in 1984. LTV Corp., which was formed when J&L merged with Republic Steel, closed most of the Aliquippa Works, immediately laying off about 8,000 workers. It was not surprising since most of the other steel plants in the region had already shuttered or cut operations, But the impact of workers leaving the area to look for work and the skyrocketing unemployment decimated the local economy. It was not long before the tax base followed since LTV Corp. sought out and received drastic tax revaluations of its real-estate holdings. As a result, Aliquippa’s population dropped to 11,734 according to the 2000 Census. Today the population hovers just above 9,000. A tribute to composer Henry Mancini adorns an abandoned building along Franklin Ave. in Aliquippa. (Pete Marovich) Bartender Lisa Nicely talks with West Aliquippa resident Chuck Forrester in Mahoney’s bar in West Aliquippa. (Pete Marovich) A check from the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation is taped to a display cabinet in the home of 86-year old Frank Purrachio. Purrachio, a retired millwright, has lived in West Aliquippa all of his life. (Pete Marovich) Angelo “Tubby” Galzarano, 79, speaks to a customer on the phone in his repair shop, Tubby’s Auto Service, in West Aliquippa. (Pete Marovich) Sammy Jaber, left, works with his brother Jerry at the Plan 12 Market in Aliquippa. “I wish the mill was still here. People would make a better living for themselves and their family. I keep hoping that someone comes in and builds some kind of factories here for the people to get better jobs,” said Jaber. (Pete Marovich) Jehad “Jerry” Jaber has owned the Plan 12 Market in Aliquippa for nine years. The market supplies food staples, household goods, tobacco products and food prepared by his brother Sammy to the residents of Plan 12. (Pete Marovich) A once bustling community, West Aliquippa now has empty storefronts. In its heyday, West Aliquippa boasted grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, hardware stores, shoe repair shops and banks. Today one bank remains and is open on only certain


IOC decides not to ban full Russian team from Rio Olympics

these Summer Games. In a statement, the IOC said it “would like to express its appreciation for Mrs. Stepanova’s contribution to the fight against doping and to the integrity of sport,” and extended an invitation for Stepanova to attend the Rio Games as a spectator. Tygart, the USADA CEO, said that “the decision to refuse her entry into the Games is incomprehensible and will undoubtedly deter whistleblowers in the future from coming forward.” Before a single Olympic event has been contested, doping has already emerged as a dominant story line of these Summer Games. The IOC and WADA have been trying to cleanse the Rio Games of known cheaters and have been retesting samples from the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. They found 98 athletes who tested positive for prohibited substances, including at least 23 medalist from the Beijing Games. Since competing under the Russian flag, the country has been among the top three or four medal winners in each of the past five Summer Olympics. Russia, which has traditionally been a power in track and field, wrestling and gymnastics especially, won 79 medals at the 2012 London Games, trailing only the United States (103) and China (88). Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and won more medals there than any other country – 13 golds and 33 overall — a feat that might not stand the test of time after the IOC and WADA completes their doping inquiry and metes out individual punishments. The absence of any number of Russian athletes will surely have a major impact on the medal hopes of athletes competing in almost every sport. Russian typically sends an Olympic team of more than 400 athletes at the Summer Games. The last time Russian athletes missed the Summer Games was 1984, when the then-Soviet Union was among 14 communist nations to boycott the Olympics. That year the United States won 83 gold medals at the Los Angeles Summer Games, which is still an Olympic record. More Rio Olympics coverage Toilets fail stress test at Rio Olympic Village Nothing can prepare an Olympian like advice from someone who has been there Built from the fires of 2004 failures, Team USA Basketball is now built to last In chasing Katie Ledecky, freestyler Leah Smith makes a name for herself Sally Jenkins: Rio de Janeiro is not ready for the Olympics, and the IOC is to blame


Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t.

U.S. bought 57.6 million pounds in 2012, with 2013 imports projected at 68 million pounds. And yet, prices are skyrocketing; they tripled between 2006 and 2011, and now hover between $4.50 and $8 per pound on the shelf. What's driving the increase? Part of it is that Peru itself, already the world's biggest consumer of quinoa, patriotically started including the stuff in school lunch subsidies and maternal welfare programs. Then there's the United Nations, which declared 2013 the International Year of Quinoa, partly in order to raise awareness of the crop beyond its traditional roots. But it's also about the demographics of the end-user in developed countries--the kind of people who don't think twice about paying five bucks for a little box of something with such good-for-you buzz. A few blocks away from Freshii in Washington D.C. is the Protein Bar, a four-year-old Chicago-based chain that uses between 75 and 100 pounds of quinoa per week in its stores for salads and bowls that run from $6 to $10 each (Their slogan: "We do healthy…healthier"). Right now, the company has so far decided to absorb the higher prices, which still aren't as much of a cost factor as beef and chicken. It will even pay a little extra to ship the good stuff from South America, rather than the grainier variety that Canada has developed. "As much as I don't like it--you never want to pay more for your raw materials — it's central to our menu," says CEO Matt Matros. "I'm pretty positive that as the world catches on to what a great product is, the supply will go up and the price will come back down. It'll come down to the best product for us. If we find that the American quinoa is as fluffy, then we'll definitely make the switch." Andean Naturals predicts quinoa prices will drop, and wants to establish a fair trade price floor to help sustain small farmers. (Andean Naturals) Cracking the quinoa code The Andean smallholders are trying to keep up with the demand. They've put more and more land into quinoa in recent years; Bolivia had 400 square miles under cultivation last year, up from 240 in 2009. The arid, cool land that quinoa needs was plentiful, since little else could grow there. And thus far, that trait has made it difficult to grow elsewhere. But that doesn't mean the rest of


What it looks like when one galaxy pulls another apart

NG 7714 has bent itself out of shape to form a star-sucking bridge to a neighboring galaxy. (ESA, NASA) Galaxy NGC 7714 looks a little loopy in this new image from the Hubble, but don't be too harsh on the poor dear. This misshapen spiral galaxy is displaying the tell-tale signs of a merger in progress. In other words, it got too close to a neighboring galaxy, and now they're having a tug-of-war. NGC 7715 isn't in this shot, but the smaller galaxy is the cause of NGC 7714's bent spiral and smokey glow. Streams of star material have been pulled out of the spiral to form a bridge between the two galaxies, which the European Space Agency reports must have drifted too close to each other between 100 and 200 million years ago. Don't cry for the bent spiral; NGC 7714 is actually the winner of this cosmic fight for star power. As the larger galaxy, it's funneling material from NGC 7715 along the pipeline it's created. That's why the center of the spiral galaxy looks so bright -- it's full of new star formation. Read More: Only 5 billion years until The Milky Way gets gobbled up A great view of colliding galaxies, thanks to magnifying glasses in the sky


Rocket launch successful after failed 2014 attempt

A successful Orbital Sciences rocket launch in September 2013. (Orbital) 8 p.m. update #Antares liftoff seen from Washington, DC @capitalweather https://t.co/dX3gIcx7nI Lift off! @OrbitalATK's #Antares rocket launches to deliver science & supplies to @Space_Station. Keep watching:… https://t.co/WTKnonDPpR Lift off!!! @OrbitalATK's #Antares rocket launch from #WoodleyPark DC. Way to go!!! @NASA @Space_Station… https://t.co/4uUslt42Ed Original Post (This story, originally published Friday, has been updated.) Almost two years ago, Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket exploded just seconds after liftoff from Wallops Island, Va. On Monday evening, the company (now called Orbital ATK) will try again, weather (and other circumstances) permitting. If successful, the launch will be viewable across much of the Mid-Atlantic region. (Orbital ATK) Liftoff is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. Eastern time. To see the rocket, look toward the southeast if you’re in the D.C. area. At its highest, the rocket will zip about 10 degrees above the horizon. It should be visible about 90 seconds after launch. “Antares should appear as a bright, moving star,” Space.com says. “Observers who use binoculars might also be able to see a short contrail.” (Orbital ATK) Be aware that it is not at all uncommon for rocket launches to be scrubbed due to weather, technical issues or security concerns. Monday’s launch was originally scheduled supposed to occur at 8:03 p.m. Sunday, but was postponed “due to a ground support equipment (GSE) cable that did not perform as expected during the pre-launch check out.” In 2014, a launch was pushed back a day because of the presence of a small, unidentified sailboat not far from the launch site. Right now, Monday evening’s weather appears promising with mostly clear skies and light winds predicted. Orbital ATK is launching the rocket as part of its International Space Station resupply mission. After reaching low Earth orbit, the rocket ejects a cargo-carrying capsule — named Cygnus — that then attaches to the International Space Station. #Cygnus is ready to go! Mate to #Antares is scheduled for later today. #OA5 https://t.co/JqvdspFvx3 Orbital has conducted several prior launches as part of this mission. After the last launch of an Antares rocket failed Oct. 28, 2014, Orbital launched two other rockets, named Atlas V, from the United Launch Alliance in Cape Canaveral. The return to Wallops Island for a launch has been delayed many times, according to Space Policy Online, as Orbital ATK attempted to replace Antares’s engine. The rocket now has a brand-new


Getting more women into Army leadership

says she personally involved herself after the guidelines were issued, going to the personnel officers and sharing stories about her hair falling out after years of using relaxers and having to take steroids for treatment. (The guidelines banned some natural hairstyles for African American women, prompting claims of racial bias.) She says the official convened a group that has led to "changes in the works to update a more inclusive approach to grooming." Currently, women make up 15.7 percent of the U.S. Army — a figure that Anderson says "basically has not changed since 2002. We need to start thinking about how to fix this." About 16 percent of the officer corps and just seven percent of top generals and admirals across the armed forces are women, according to a 2013 report. Anderson says that opening up combat positions should help bring more women into top leadership roles. "It has some parallels to business," she said. "If you look at major corporations, people who rise to senior leadership positions are not from the soft skill areas," but from the profit and loss part of the operation. "The same is true for the military. Our parallel would be combat leaders." She also spoke about the lack of a formal mentoring program, and how critical such a program is for more women to get ahead. "We talk about mentoring in the military, but don’t have a formal approach to it," she said. Leaders in the military need to "get outside their own personal comfort zone. It's important for us to start talking about mentors making themselves uncomfortable, because they’re going to learn something too." Finally, Anderson offered her thoughts on the sexual assault epidemic in the military. She says the problem is a reflection of broader U.S. culture. "We’re recruiting those same high school boys and college young men who are also committing sexual assault" outside of the military, she said. "We talk a lot about culture and ethics and respect, but it's going to be hard for us to undo 18 years of conditioning. We need to have a larger conversation in this country." Still, Anderson concedes that getting to greater parity in armed forces leadership will help change the culture, too. Read also: On sexual assault in the military, the service chiefs look oblivious Google admits it has a diversity problem Like On Leadership? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


Boston Marathon bomb blasts kill at least three, leave scores injured

they thought the rough part of the day was behind them. Deborah Capko, 49, a breast cancer surgeon at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center running in her first Boston Marathon, had just crossed the finish line and taken her first few sips at the water tent when she heard the explosions. “You had little doubt what it was,” she said. “Unfortunately, it brought back all the memories of 9/11.” Capko’s first thought was to retrieve her phone from the storage depot and call her family. She kept dialing without luck. Finally, her husband, John Cambria, reached her. “Are you okay?” he asked. At last, he heard her voice: “I’m fine. I’m fine.” They met near Boston Common, where hundreds of police and National Guardsmen gathered. They passed many others frantically looking for loved ones. Along the race path, runners stopped. “We didn’t know what was going on,” said Linda Scavarda, 29, of Huntsville, Ala., who was half a mile from the finish line. “Then someone said an explosion. Then someone said bombs. Then someone said two bombs,” said fellow runner Robert Buemmer, 53, from New York. Runners retreated, then searched for the bags holding their street clothes, which were kept on buses near the finish line. Police shooed them away, leaving runners shivering in their shorts in Boston’s historic Public Garden. For those who had trained for months or years to run the marathon, the abrupt end of the race was as disturbing as it was tragic. Mary Gibson, a Peace Corps employee who traveled from Columbia Heights to run her first Boston Marathon, finished more than half an hour before the detonation and met her parents, aunts and uncles. Gibson ran a personal best of 3 hours, 30 minutes and 56 seconds. Now she is not sure she will return. “An event like this is the perfect target for someone who wanted to do harm and cause panic,” she said. “Lots of people in one place . . . many out-of-town tourists who really don’t know where they are going. I know this: Marathons in big cities will never be the same.” Ruediger Korbel, 53, a professor of veterinary medicine from Munich, crossed the finish line about a minute before the first bomb went off. Hours later, his ears were still ringing from the concussive force. He had been basking in the enthusiasm of the crowds as he ran


Beer Madness 2016: 21st Amendment Toaster Pastry wins the public voting bracket

1623-1183. On the other side of the bracket, 21st Amendment Toaster Pastry, representing the West region, beat Schlafly Grapefruit IPA in a fiercely contested battle, 18,256-17,021. Schlafly won the public bracket last year with its Kolsch, and fell just short of becoming the first brewery to appear in back-to-back finals. At this point, it’s worth noting again that none of these four beers wowed the blind-tasting panel as much as they impressed online voters, so we won’t have a consensus Beer Madness champion. Third round voting results Once again, the Final Four on the public voting bracket looks nothing like the Final Four chosen by our blind-tasting panel. (Last year, the two panels had only one beer in common at this stage.) In the public semi-finals, Allagash Saison takes on local entry Port City Optimal Wit, while early favorite Schlafly Grapefruit faces the surging 21st Amendment Toaster Pastry. Pick your favorite in the bracket below. The panel of judges, meanwhile, have chosen their four regional champions: Maine Beer Company’s Another One IPA (Northeast), The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout (South), Jester King Black Metal Imperial Stout (Midwest), and Avery Liliko’i Kepolo (West). Tasting notes and judges’ comments are on the updated blog post. [Beer Madness 2016: The Final Four is set as Liliko’i Kepolo wins again] Finally, thanks to everyone that came to the Beer Madness Taste-Off on Tuesday at the Washington Post HQ. Whole Foods chef Benjamin Nola prepared appetizers to be paired with four of our Beer Madness finalists, and we asked attendees to vote for their favorite beer. The winner: Epic’s Big Bad Baptist, an imperial stout flavored with coffee and cocoa nibs, and aged in used whiskey barrels. It’s strong (around 12 percent ABV) and not subtle, but it’s delicious. Voting for the Final Four in the public bracket is open through Monday; voting for the Beer Madness champion begins Tuesday. Second round round voting results: The second round of Beer Madness voting is when the differences between our public bracket and blind-tasting panel become clear. The first-round vote saw judges and online voters agreeing on 11 of the beers that made it to the Sweet 16. But in the latest poll, voters and judges agreed on just three of the eight beers to advance: Dogfish Head’s Romantic Chemistry IPA, Cigar City Jai Alai IPA, and Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale. The bigger story might be that the


The high cost of climate change

In a technical sense, the key point in the July 18 editorial “Climate change” was correct: No heat wave or single weather event can be directly attributed to the increased levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, even though, as the editorial noted, “the basic precepts of physics” point to such effects. Such reasoning, however, ignored the most important fact about the scientific experiment that humanity is conducting: Within human time scales, it is essentially irreversible. If the scientists are right, more warming will occur even if the world stopped using fossil fuels tomorrow. Roughly half of the carbon dioxide from these fuels would remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. Every day of inaction makes the trend stronger, the certainty greater and the impacts worse. Metaphorically, the world is canoeing down a turbulent river that is rapidly gaining speed, and the thunder of a waterfall is growing in the distance. We can pretend that the noise is coming from jumbo jets flying too close to the ground, or we can paddle as hard as we can to get to shore before we are swept over the edge. May we choose wisely — and fast. Reid Detchon, Washington The writer is the U.N. Foundation’s vice president for energy and climate. ●


Metro’s SafeTrack program prompts Marine Corps Marathon changes

during Marine Corps Marathon weekend.” During the day, eight-car trains will run on the Blue and Yellow Lines, and Yellow Line train frequency will increase through 9 a.m. Blue Line service will be expanded through 4:30 p.m. The MCM 10K, which normally coincides with the marathon start, will now begin at 9:15 a.m. The race’s starting line will move from the Mall to the Pentagon North parking lot, and the event will take place entirely in Arlington. Organizers also adjusted the marathon course, shaving nearly two miles off the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway portions to allow runners to pass on-course benchmarks, such as “The Gauntlet” earlier. Another benchmark, “Beat the Bridge,” at 14th and D streets SW, has been moved up to Mile 18 rather than Mile 20 to allow runners to pass it by the 1:15 p.m. cutoff. “All of the changes have been governed by the principle that every participant deserves a fair chance to accomplish the goal of finishing the Marine Corps Marathon within the required 14-minute-per-mile time limit,” Nealis said in a statement. Spectator shuttles will run from the Gaylord Hotel to the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station from 6:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from Ballston to Pentagon City from 5 to 9 a.m. The marathon is offering limited free parking in Crystal City, at the intersection of 23rd Street and Crystal Drive. Paid parking will be available at City Mall in Arlington, the Reagan building in the District and the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington. The Marine Corps Marathon, held annually, is the sixth-largest marathon nationwide. Nicknamed “The People’s Marathon,” it is the largest such event worldwide that doesn’t offer prize money. The event features runners from 50 states and more than 50 countries, organizers say. Nealis said marathon officials understood Metro’s position, although they wished the transit agency could have made one exception. Regardless, he said, officials have confidence in the plan put into place. “When you realize that we have a track record of ridership [and] profit for Metro, you would say, ‘This is an opportunity to make money,’ ” he said. “It’s not about a one day making profit. It’s staying on message of ‘the maintenance has got to get done. We need safety.’ And [Wiedefeld] basically has been true to his maintenance plan that they were not going to give a one-day waiver to us and have to explain why.”